Voices and influences
John Gill
The self-taught Baptist Hebraist who pastored one London congregation for fifty-one years and wrote a comment on every verse in the Bible.
Summary
This site quotes John Gill 5,991 times across 66 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived 1697 to 1771.
- Quoted here most in Psalms: 639 of 5,991.
John Gill
- Lived
- 1697 to 1771
- Tradition
- Reformed Baptist
5 of 5,991 quotations
Own words
Quoted in full, because John Gill died in 1771 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.
A bruised reed shall he not break,.... Various are the thoughts of interpreters, about what is meant by this, and by the smoking flax shall he not quench.
Undated in the archive this site cites.
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Some think the Scribes and Pharisees are designed, whose power Christ could easily crush, and their wrath and fury restrain, but would not, till the time of his vengeance was come. Others that the publicans and sinners are intended, of whose conversion and salvation there were more hope than of the Scribes and Pharisees; and which Christ greatly sought after, and therefore cherished and encouraged them in his ministry and conversation.
Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory. BSB
And Cain talked with Abel,.... Or "said", or "spoke unto" him (l); either what the Lord God said to him in the foregoing verses, as Aben Ezra; or he spoke to him in a kind and friendly manner, and thereby got him to take a…
Undated in the archive this site cites.
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walk in the field with him.
Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. BSB
And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord,.... This, as Ben Gersom observes, is distinguished from a burnt offering; for though it was to be perfect, and without blemish, yet not obliged to be a male as that, Lev 3:
Undated in the archive this site cites.
Leviticus 22:21 When a man presents a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without blemish or defect to be acceptable. BSB
So David and Abishai came to the people by night,.... Josephus (l) wrongly says, that he took with him both Abishai and Ahimelech; he chose to have but one, for the greater secrecy.
Undated in the archive this site cites.
1 Samuel 26:7 That night David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp, with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. And Abner and the troops were lying around him. BSB
Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam,.... Calamities, destruction, and ruin: and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall; not leave a dog of his, or rather a male, see 1Sa 25:22.
Undated in the archive this site cites.
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and him that is shut up and left in Israel; in garrisons or in prisons, in cities or in fields, or in whatsoever situation or circumstances they may be.
1 Kings 14:10 Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone! BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes John Gill 5,991 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
John Gill was born at Kettering in Northamptonshire on November 23, 1697, the son of a wool merchant who served as a deacon in the dissenting congregation there. Because the family were Nonconformists, the local grammar school effectively closed to him around the age of eleven. So he taught himself. What he taught himself was languages. He worked through Latin and Greek on his own, then Hebrew — and then kept going, into the Targums, the Talmud, and the medieval rabbis. Almost no English Christian of his century read Jewish sources as widely as Gill did, and he read them in the original. He was baptized in 1716, began preaching, and in 1719 was called to a small Particular Baptist congregation at Horsleydown in Southwark, south London. He stayed fifty-one years, until his death. That pulpit had a long life ahead of it: the congregation later moved and eventually became the church that called Charles Spurgeon a century afterward, and Spurgeon spoke of Gill as one of his predecessors. The work he is remembered for is the commentary. Gill wrote an exposition of the entire Bible, verse by verse, book by book — the New Testament first, in three volumes (1746–1748), then the Old Testament in six (1748–1763). It was the first complete verse-by-verse commentary on the whole Bible written by a Baptist, and it is thick with rabbinic material nobody else was bringing to English readers. He also wrote The Cause of God and Truth (1735–1738), a four-part defense of Calvinist doctrine against the Arminian arguments of Daniel Whitby, and late in life A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity (1767–1770), the first full systematic theology produced by an English Baptist. The University of Aberdeen gave him a doctorate in divinity in 1748; he remarked that he had neither asked for it nor deserved it. His theology was high Calvinism, and he pressed it further than most. Gill held to eternal justification and was reluctant to make a free offer of Christ to all who heard him — a position later called hyper-Calvinism, and one that Andrew Fuller and then Spurgeon worked hard to undo among the Baptists. Historians still argue about exactly how far he went. Robert Hall's jab has followed the commentary ever since: it was, he said, a continent of mud. But the mud kept getting reprinted. Augustus Toplady defended him fiercely. Spurgeon kept him on the shelf and praised his learning in Commenting and Commentaries, while rejecting outright his restraint about inviting sinners to come. He preached his last sermon in 1771 and died at Camberwell on October 14 of that year, aged seventy-three. Fifty-one years in one pulpit, a comment on every verse in the Bible, and a body of theology his own denomination has been arguing with ever since. Sources: John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments and A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity; John Rippon, A Brief Memoir of the Life and Writings of the Late Rev. John Gill, D.D.; C. H. Spurgeon, Commenting and Commentaries; Timothy George and David Dockery, eds., Baptist Theologians.
5,991 quotations across 66 books
Where this voice is quoted
So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
“So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves,.... As they were ordered, and in the manner they should: to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel; for though it was chiefly the work of the Levites, yet the priests might do it…”
And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.
“And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders, with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded, according to the word of the Lord.”
So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berechiah; from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah;
“So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel,.... The grandson of Samuel the prophet, 1Ch 6:33. and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; a famous singer, often mentioned in the Psalms, 1Ch 6:39.”
The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals.
“So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan,.... The three principal of them: these were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass; for as there were three sorts of musical instruments, 1Ch 15:16 these three chief singers had one of those instruments appropriated to them, one…”
And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.
“And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah,.... These six were appointed to sound: with harps on the Sheminith to excel; which Sheminith some take to be an harp with eight strings, or the beginning of a song, or a musical…”
Chenaniah the head Levite was the director of the music because he was highly skilled.
“And Chenaniah chief of the Levites was for song,.... But the chief for the song were Heman, Asaph, and Ethan; rather for the burden, as the Targum; for the lifting up and bearing the ark: he instructed about the song; or about the taking up…”
Berechiah and Elkanah were to be guardians of the ark.
“And Berechiah, and Elkanah, were doorkeepers for the ark,.... Either while it was at Kirjathjearim, and at Obededom's house; or rather after it was put in the tabernacle David had prepared for it; though it may be best of all to understand it, that those…”
Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer—the priests—were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were also to be guardians of the ark.
“And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God,....”
And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.
“And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord,....”
Asaph was the chief, Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel. They were to play the harps and lyres, while Asaph sounded the cymbals
“Asaph the chief,.... Of those that were now appointed: otherwise, of the three principal singers, Heman was the chief, and Asaph next, 1Ch 6:33.”
On that day David first committed to Asaph and his brothers this song of thanksgiving to the LORD:
“Then on that day,.... The ark was brought to Zion, and the above persons appointed to minister before it: David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren to be sung by them now, and on every…”
Then cry out: ‘Save us, O God of our salvation; gather and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name, that we may glory…
“And say ye, save us, O God of our salvation,.... The author of temporal, spiritual, and eternal salvation; the words are a direction to the singers, and those that sung with them, to express the prayer and doxology in the next verse, which both are…”
So David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to minister there regularly according to the daily requirements,
“So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren,.... Whom he, that is, David, had appointed for the service of it: to minister before the ark continually; in singing the praises of God: as every day's work…”
along with Obed-edom and his sixty-eight relatives. Obed-edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were to be gatekeepers.
“The Levites, the brethren of Asaph and Obededom, these were left before the ark to minister there: Obededom also the son of Jeduthun; or Ethan, which some take to be another Obededom; but the ו, "vau" may be explanative, "even Obededom": and Hosah to be…”
And David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the LORD at the high place in Gibeon
“And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests,.... These he left, having appointed them to be before the tabernacle of the Lord, in the high place that was at Gibeon; namely, the tabernacle of Moses, which was removed from Nob thither in the days…”
Then all the people departed for their homes, and David returned home to bless his household.
“And all the people departed, every man to his house,.... Having accompanied the ark to its place, and having praised the Lord for it, and been refreshed with food, see 2Sa 6:19.”
David provided a large quantity of iron to make the nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, together with more bronze than could be weighed
“And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings,....”
and more cedar logs than could be counted; for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought a large quantity of cedar logs to David.
“Also cedar trees in abundance,.... To be sawed into boards and planks for the cieling, wainscotting, and flooring of the temple, and other things: for the Zidonians, and they of Tyre, brought much cedar wood to David; from Mount Lebanon, which was chiefly in their…”
He is the one who will build a house for My Name. He will be My son, and I will be his Father.
“He shall build an house for my name,.... For the worship of God, and for his honour and glory: and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; see 2Sa 7:13 and which is applied to Christ, Heb 1:5.”
Now, my son, may the LORD be with you, and may you succeed in building the house of the LORD your God, as He said you would.
“Now, my son, the Lord be with thee, &c. Or "shall be with thee" (r), as some; and if it be as a prayer, it was no doubt a prayer of faith; the Targum is,"may the Word of the Lord be thine help:" and prosper…”
Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
“Then shall thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes,.... See 1Ki 2:2 where the same things are said as here: which shows that this was spoken by David a little before his death.”
When David was old and full of years, he installed his son Solomon as king over Israel.
“So when David was old and full of days,.... Perhaps was now in the last year of his age, about seventy years old, though before he was bedridden; see 1Ch 28:2, he made Solomon his son king over Israel; declared him to be his successor…”
4,000 are to be gatekeepers, and 4,000 are to praise the LORD with the instruments I have made for giving praise.”
“Moreover four thousand were porters,.... At the east, north, and south gates of the temple, in their turns: and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments; were singers in the temple, which in all made up 38,000: which I made, said David, to praise…”
The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.
“Of the Gershonites were Laadan and Shimei. These two were the immediate posterity of Gershon; are the same with Libni and Shimhi, and heads of families, Exo 6:17.”
The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
“The sons of Shimei,.... Not him that was the son of Gershon, but a descendant of Laadan, his son, as Kimchi observes: Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, these were the chief of the fathers of Laadan; of the families that sprang from him.”