Voices and influences
Albert Barnes
The Philadelphia pastor who rose at four every morning to write Bible notes for his own Sunday school, and sold a million volumes of them.
Summary
This site quotes Albert Barnes 8,265 times across 66 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived 1798 to 1870.
- Quoted here most in Isaiah: 746 of 8,265.
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Albert Barnes
- Lived
- 1798 to 1870
- Tradition
- Presbyterian
5 of 8,265 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because Albert Barnes died in 1870 and these works are out of copyright. Each citation below names its edition and its year. A citation naming a modernised text means that edition makes its own editorial changes, and that edition's terms are not in this site's record.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts - Interpreters have differed in regard to the connection of this verse with the preceding.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
It is evident, I think, that it is properly connected with the subject of pardon; and the sense must be, that the plans and purposes of God in regard to forgiveness are as far above those of people as the heavens are higher than the earth, Isa 55:
Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. BSB
He hath shewed thee - Micah does not tell them now, as for the first time; which would have excused them. He says, “He hath shewed thee;” He, about whose mind and will and pleasure they were pretending to enquire, the Lord their God.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
He had shewn it to them. The law was full of it. He shewed it to them, when He said, “And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him and to serve the Lord, thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command thee this day for thy good?” Deu 10:12-13. They had asked, “with what outward thing shall I come before the Lord;” the prophet tells them, “what thing is good,” the inward man of the heart, righteousness, love, humility. And what doth the Lord require (search, seek) of thee? - The very word implies an earnest search within. He would say (Rup.), “Trouble not thyself as to any of these things, burnt-offerings, rams, calves, without thee. For God seeketh not thine, but thee; not thy substance, but thy spirit; not ram or goat, but thy heart.” : “Thou askest, what thou shouldest offer for thee? Other thyself. For what else doth the Lord seek of thee, but thee? Because, of all earthly creatures, He hath made nothing better than thee, He seeketh thyself from thyself, because thou hadst lost thyself.” To do judgment - are chiefly all acts of equity; “to love mercy,” all deeds of love. Judgment, is what right requires; mercy, what love. Yet, secondarily, “to do judgment” is to pass righteous judgments in all cases; and so, as to others, “judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” Joh 7:24; and as to one’s self also. Judge equitably and kindly of others, humbly of thyself. […]
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? BSB
(Compare Exo. 39:1-31.) Moses is now commanded to commit all that pertains to the offerings made to the Lord in the sanctuary to the exclusive charge of the members of a single family, who were to hold their office from generation to generation.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
In the patriarchal times, the external rites of worship had generally been conducted by the head of the tribe or family, in accordance with the principle involved in the dedication of the firstborn Exo 13:2; Num 3:12-
Exodus 28:1 “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests. BSB
The leper was to carry about with him the usual signs of mourning for the dead. Compare Lev 10:6 and margin reference.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
The rest of the quotation
The leper was a living parable in the world of the sin of which death was the wages; not the less so because his suffering might have been in no degree due to his own personal deserts: he bore about with him at once the deadly fruit and the symbol of the sin of his race. Exo 20:
Leviticus 13:45 A diseased person must wear torn clothes and let his hair hang loose, and he must cover his mouth and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ BSB
Chambers - (Margin, floors). Rather, a lean-to, which completely surrounded three sides of the building, the north, the west, and the south.
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Undated in the archive this site cites.
1 Kings 6:5 Against the walls of the temple and the inner sanctuary, Solomon built a chambered structure around the temple, in which he constructed the side rooms. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Albert Barnes 8,265 times across 66 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Albert Barnes was born at Rome, New York, on December 1, 1798. He was headed for the law. At Hamilton College he was converted, changed direction, and went to Princeton Theological Seminary instead, graduating in 1824. His first pastorate was Morristown, New Jersey, from 1825 to 1830. In 1830 he was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, where he preached until 1867 — thirty-seven years in one pulpit. The habit that made him famous was the alarm clock. Barnes rose at four every morning and wrote until nine, before the day's pastoral work began. What he wrote were notes on the Bible for his own Sunday school teachers and Bible class — plain explanations, verse by verse, aimed at people with no Greek and no library. He published them, beginning with the Gospels in 1832. They did not stop. Notes, Explanatory and Practical eventually covered the whole New Testament and much of the Old — Job, the Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel — and sold more than a million volumes in his lifetime, an astonishing number for the period. Generations of American laymen learned their Bible out of Barnes. He was also tried for heresy. His 1829 sermon The Way of Salvation, and then his notes on Romans in 1835, were charged with departing from the Westminster Confession on original sin and the atonement; Barnes taught that Christ's death was a provision made for all rather than a payment restricted in advance to the elect. The Presbytery of Philadelphia suspended him from the ministry in 1835, and the General Assembly reversed the suspension in 1836. He was acquitted, but the fight was one of the fuses of the Old School–New School division that split the American Presbyterian church in 1837. Barnes stood on the New School side. He fought slavery hard and early. An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery (1846) took up the biblical arguments the Southern churches used and dismantled them one at a time; The Church and Slavery followed in 1857. The books were read widely in the North during the years the country came apart. His eyesight failed badly in later life, and he kept working with help. He resigned the pulpit in 1867 and died in Philadelphia on December 24, 1870, at seventy-two. What he left is unusual for a scholar. Not a monument — a tool. A working pastor's commentary, written before breakfast for people who had no one else to explain the text, still in print and still free more than a century and a half later. Sources: Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the New Testament and An Inquiry into the Scriptural Views of Slavery; the published minutes of the Presbyterian General Assembly, 1835–1837; Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church; George Marsden, The Evangelical Mind and the New School Presbyterian Experience.
8,265 quotations across 66 books
Where this voice is quoted
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
“Increase our faith - This duty of forgiving offences seemed so difficult to the disciples that they strongly felt the need of an increase of faith.”
While Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.
“The midst of Samaria and Galilee - He went from Galilee, and probably traveled through the chief villages and towns in it and then left it; and as Samaria was situated “between” Galilee and Jerusalem, it was necessary to pass through it; or it may…”
When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice.
“One of them ... - This man, sensible of the power of God and grateful for his mercies, returned to express his gratitude to God for his goodness.”
“Were not all ten cleansed?” Jesus asked. “Where then are the other nine?
“Where are the nine? - Jesus had commanded them to go to the priest, and they were probably “literally” obeying the commandment. They were impatient to be healed and “selfish” in wishing it, and had no gratitude to God or their Benefactor.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well!”
“Go thy way - To the “priest;” for without “his” certificate he could not again be restored to the society of his friends, or to the public worship of God.”
Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
““Lo here! or, Lo there!” When an earthly prince visits different parts of his territories, he does it with pomp. His movements attract observation, and become the common topic of conversation. The inquiry is, Where is he? which way will he go?”
People will tell you, ‘Look, there He is!’ or ‘Look, here He is!’ Do not go out or chase after them.
“And they shall say ... - Many false Christs, according to Josephus, appeared about that time, attempting to lead away the people. See the notes at Mat 24:23-27.”
It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
“They did eat ... - They were busy in the affairs of this life, as if nothing were about to happen. The same day ... - See Gen 19:23-25. “It rained.” The word here used “might” have been rendered “he” rained.”
“Where, Lord?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.”
“See the notes at Mat 24:26. Where, Lord? - Where, or in what direction, shall these calamities come? The answer implies that it would be where there is the most “guilt and wickedness.” Eagles flock where there is prey.”
Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray at all times and not lose heart:
“A parable - See the notes at Mat 13:3. To this end - To show this. Always - At all times. That is, we must not neglect regular stated seasons of prayer; we must seize on occasions of remarkable providences as afflictions or signal blessings…”
And there was a widow in that town who kept appealing to him, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’
“A widow - This is a circumstance that gives increasing interest to the parable. Judges were bound to show special attention to widows, Isa 1:17; Jer 22:3.”
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
“Shall not God avenge ... - We are not to suppose that the character of God is at all represented by this judge, or that “his” principles of conduct are at all like those of the judge.”
To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable:
“Unto certain - Unto some. Which trusted in themselves - Who confided in themselves, or who supposed that they were righteous. They did not trust to God or the Messiah for righteousness, but to their own works.”
The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
“Stood and prayed thus with himself - Some have proposed to render this, “stood by himself” and prayed.”
But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven.
“Standing afar off - Afar off from the “temple.” The place where prayer was offered in the temple was the court of women.”
Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be…
“See the notes at Mat 20:17-19. By the prophets - Those who foretold the coming of the Messiah, and whose predictions are recorded in the Old Testament. Son of man - The Messiah.”
He was trying to see who Jesus was, but could not see over the crowd because he was small in stature.
“Who he was - Rather “what sort of person,” he was, or how he appeared. He had that curiosity which is natural to people to see one of whom they have heard much.”
When Jesus came to that place, He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down, for I must stay at your house today.”
“Abide at thy house - Remain there, or put up with him. This was an honor which Zacchaeus did not expect.”
And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!”
“Murmured - Found fault, complained. To be a guest - To remain with, or to be entertained by. A man that is a sinner - All publicans they regarded as great sinners, and the “chief” of the publicans, therefore, they regarded as especially wicked.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham.
“Salvation is come to this house - This family. They have this day received the blessings of the gospel, and become interested in the Messiah’s kingdom.”
While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently.
“He spake a parable - This parable has in some respects a resemblance to the parable of the “talents” in Mat 25:14-28, but it is not the same.”
Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.
“Ten servants - Nothing in particular is denoted by the number “ten.” It is a circumstance intended to keep up the narrative.”
Then another servant came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have laid away in a piece of cloth.
“A napkin - A towel. He means by it that he had not wasted it nor thrown it by carelessly, but had been “very careful” of it; so much so as to be at the pains to tie it up in a towel and put…”
For I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man. You withdraw what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’
“An austere man - Hard, severe, oppressive. The word is commonly applied to unripe fruit, and means “sour,” unpleasant; harsh.”
His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words.
“Out of thine own mouth - By your own statement, or your own views of my character. If you “knew” that this was my character, and “knew” that I would be rigid, firm, and even severe, it would have been the part of wisdom in…”