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
Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
“He staggered not - He was not moved, or agitated; he steadily and firmly believed the promise. Giving glory to God - Giving honor to God by the firmness with which he believed his promises.”
being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
“And being fully persuaded - Thoroughly or entirely convinced; Luk 1:1; Rom 14:5; 2Ti 4:5, 2Ti 4:17. He was able - Compare Gen 18:14. This was not the only time in which Abraham evinced this confidence.”
Now the words “it was credited to him” were written not only for Abraham,
“Now it was not written - The record of this extraordinary faith was not made on his account only; but it was made to show the way in which men may be regarded and treated as righteous by God.”
He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.
“Who was delivered - To death; compare the notes at Act 2:23. For our offences - On account of our crimes. He was delivered up to death in order to make expiation for our sins. And was raised again - From the dead.”
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
“Therefore - οὖν oun Since we are thus justified, or as a consequence of being justified, we have peace. Being justified by faith - See the notes at Rom 1:17; Rom 3:24; Rom 4:5. We - That is, all who are justified.”
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
“And not only so - We not only rejoice in times of prosperity, and of health. Paul proceeds to show that this plan is not less adapted to produce support in trials.”
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
“And hope maketh not ashamed - That is, this hope will not disappoint, or deceive. When we hope for an object which we do not obtain, we are conscious of disappointment; perhaps sometimes of a feeling of shame.”
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
“For scarcely ... - The design of this verse and the following is, to illustrate the great love of God by comparing it with what man was willing to do.”
Therefore, since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from wrath through Him!
“Much more, then - It is much more reasonable to expect it. There are fewer obstacles in the way.”
Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
“And not only so - The apostle states another effect of justification. We also joy in God - In Rom 5:2, he had said that we rejoice in tribulations, and in hope of the glory of God.”
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that…
“But not as the offence - This is the first point of contrast between the effect of the sin of Adam and of the work of Christ.”
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
“For ... - This verse is not a mere repetition of the former, but it is an explanation. By the former statements it might perhaps be inferred that people were condemned without any guilt or blame of theirs.”
so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
“That as sin hath reigned - Note, Rom 5:14. Unto death - Producing or causing death. Even so - In like manner, also. The provisions of redemption are in themselves ample to meet all the ruins of the fall.”
What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase?
“What shall we say then? - This is a mode of presenting an objection. The objection refers to what the apostle had said in Rom 5:20. What shall we say to such a sentiment as that where sin abounded grace did much more abound?”
Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
“Know ye not - This is a further appeal to the Christian profession, and the principles involved in it, in answer to the objection.”
For if we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection.
“For if we have been planted together - The word used here σύμφυτος sumphutos, does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament.”
For anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
“For he that is dead - This is evidently an expression having a proverbial aspect, designed to illustrate the sentiment just expressed. The Rabbis had an expression similar to this, “When one is dead he is free from commands.” (Grotius.)”
Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and…
“Neither yield ye your members - Do not give up, or devote, or employ your members, etc. The word “members” here refers to the members of the body - the hands, feet, tongue, etc.”
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not!
“What then? shall we sin ... - The apostle proceeds to notice an objection which might be suggested. “If Christians are not under the law, which forbids all sin, but are under grace, which pardons sin, will it not follow that they will feel themselves…”
But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.
“But God be thanked - The argument in this verse is drawn from a direct appeal to the feelings of the Roman Christians themselves.”
What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
“What fruit, then ... - What reward, or what advantage. This is an argument drawn from the experience of Christians respecting the indulgence of sinful passions.”
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“For the wages of sin - The word translated here “wages” ὀψώνια opsōnia properly denotes what is purchased to be eaten with bread, as fish, flesh, vegetables, etc.”
So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that…
“So then if ... - compare Mat 5:32. She shall be called - She will be. The word used here χρηματίσει chrēmatisei is often used to denote being called by an oracle or by divine revelation.”
For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
“For when ... - The illustration in this verse and the following is designed to show more at length the effect of the Law, whenever and whereever applied; whether in a state of nature or of grace. It was always the same.”
What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law.
“What shall we say then? - The objection which is here urged is one that would very naturally rise, and which we may suppose would be urged with no slight indignation.”