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 mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.
“Bringeth forth ... - As a tree full of life and sap brings forth its fruit. So the “froward tongue” is like a tree that brings forth evil and not good fruit; it “shall be cut down.””
Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
“This emphatic reproduction of the old rule of Deu 25:13-14 is perhaps a trace of the danger of dishonesty incidental to the growing commerce of the Israelites.”
When the wicked man dies, his hope perishes, and the hope of his strength vanishes.
“Significant words, as showing the belief that when the righteous died, his “expectation” (i. e., his hope for the future) did not perish. The second clause is rendered by some, “the expectation that brings sorrow.””
By the blessing of the upright a city is built up, but by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.
“The blessing of the upright - Probably the prayers which he offers for the good of the city in which he dwells, and which avail to preserve it from destruction (compare Gen 18:23-33); or “the blessing which God gives the upright.””
A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.
“The man who comes to us with tales about others will reveal our secrets also. Faithfulness is shown, not only in doing what a man has been commissioned to do, but in doing it quietly and without garrulity.”
For lack of guidance, a nation falls, but with many counselors comes deliverance.
“Counsel - See Pro 1:5 note. This precept may well be thought of as coming with special force at the time of the organization of the monarchy of Israel. Compare 1Ki 12:6.”
He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.
“See the marginal reference. The play upon “sure” and “suretiship” in the the King James Version (though each word is rightly rendered) has nothing corresponding to it in the Hebrew, and seems to have originated in a desire to give point to the proverb.”
The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
“Deceitful work - Work which deceives and disappoints the worker; in contrast with the “sure reward” of the second clause. Omit “shall be” and render, “but he that soweth righteousness worketh a sure reward.””
Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.
“literally, “hand to hand.” The meaning of which is, “Hand may plight faith to hand, men may confederate for evil, yet punishment shall come at last;” or “From hand to hand, from one generation to another, punishment shall descend on the evil doers.””
A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
“Liberal soul - literally, “the soul that blesses,” i. e., gives freely and fully. The similitudes are both of them essentially Eastern.”
He who searches out good finds favor, but evil will come to him who seeks it.
“Procureth - Better, striveth after. He who desires good, absolutely, for its own sake, is also unconsciously striving after the favor which attends goodness.”
If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
“The sense would appear to be, “The righteous is requited, i. e., is punished for his lesser sins, or as a discipline; much more the wicked, etc.” Compare 1Pe 4:18.”
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
“Brutish - Dumb as a brute beast. The difference between man and brute lies chiefly in the capacity of the former for progress and improvement, and that capacity depends upon his willingness to submit to discipline and education. Compare Psa 49:12.”
Better to be lightly esteemed yet have a servant, than to be self-important but lack food.
“Two interpretations are equally tenable; (1) as in the King James Version, He whom men despise, or who is “lowly” in his own eyes (compare 1Sa 18:23), if he has a slave, i.”
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
“The contrast is carried on between the life of industry and that of the idle, “vain person” of the “baser sort” (the “Raca” of Mat 5:22).”
The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.
“The meaning seems to be: The “net of evil men” (compare Pro 1:17) is that in which they are taken, the judgment of God in which they are ensnared.”
He who speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit.
“The thought which lies below the surface is that of the inseparable union between truth and justice. The end does not justify the means, and only he who breathes and utters truth makes the righteous cause clear.”
Deceit is in the hearts of those who devise evil, but the counselors of peace have joy.
“The “deceit” of “those who imagine evil” can work nothing but evil to those whom they advise. The “counselors of peace” have joy in themselves, and impart it to others also.”
A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.
“The word rendered “roasteth” occurs nowhere else; but the interpretation of the King James Version is widely adopted. Others render the first clause thus: “The slothful man will not secure (keep in his net) what he takes in hunting,” i.”
A wise son heeds his father’s discipline, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.
“Heareth - The verb of the second clause is inserted in the first, just as in the next verse that of the first is inserted in the second.”
One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
“Compare Pro 11:24. There is a seeming wealth behind which there lies a deep spiritual poverty and wretchedness. There is a poverty which makes a person rich for the kingdom of God.”
The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
“Very beautiful in its poetry is the idea of the light “rejoicing” in its brightness (compare Psa 19:5; Job 38:7). Note also the distinction between the “light” and the “lamp.” The righteous ones have the true light in them.”
Dishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.
“By vanity - literally, “by a breath,” i. e., by a windfall, or sudden stroke of fortune, not by honest labor.”
Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the faithless is difficult.
“Hard - The primary meaning of the original word is permanence (compare Deu 21:4; Mic 6:2). This may be applied as here to the hard dry rock, to running streams, or to stagnant pools.”
Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is detestable to fools.
“The connection is somewhat obscure. Either, “Satisfied desire is pleasant, therefore it is an abomination to fools to depart from the evil on which their minds are set;” or, “Sweet is the satisfaction of desire, yet the wicked will not depart from the evil which…”