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
And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
“And the sons of Shimei,.... The son of Gershon, and brother of Laadan, according to Kimchi, which seems right: were Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei; descendants of his in the times of David.”
Jahath was the first and Zizah was the second; but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one family and received a single assignment.
“And Jahath was the chief,.... The prince and head of a family: and Ziza the second; the same with Zina in 1Ch 23:10, and is there read Ziza in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; so as…”
As for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.
“Now concerning Moses the man of God,.... Raised up by him as a prophet, admitted to great familiarity with him, a lawgiver from him, and the ruler and guide of Israel under him through the wilderness: his sons were named of the tribe of Levi…”
The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first.
“Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief. Of the posterity of Gershom in the times of David, called Shubael, 1Ch 24:20, the Targum makes him to be the same with Jonathan, Jdg 18:30. (l). (l) So in Hieron. Trad. Heb. in Paralipom. fol.”
The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
“And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the chief,.... The first and only begotten, as it follows: and Eliezer had none other sons; before nor after him: but the sons of Rehabiah were very many; or greatly multiplied; not, as the Targum says, above 600,000…”
The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth—three in all.
“And the sons of Mushi,.... The other son of Merari: Mahli; so called from his uncle, his father's brother: and Eder and Jerimoth, three; mentioned again 1Ch 24:30.”
So now the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles for its service.”
“And also unto the Levites,.... Or with respect to them: they shall no more carry the tabernacle: on their shoulders, from place to place, as they had done: nor any vessels of it for the service thereof; and so the service of it did not…”
They were also to stand every morning to give thanks and praise to the LORD, and likewise in the evening.
“And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord,.... The office of others of them was to sing the praises of God, both vocally and with instruments of music, at the time of the morning sacrifice: and likewise at even; at the time…”
These were the divisions of the descendants of Aaron. The sons of Aaron were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
“Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron,.... Into the classes or courses following: the sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar; 1Ch 6:3, these were the immediate sons of Aaron; but the division or distribution of them into classes are…”
But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did, and they had no sons; so Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
“But Nadab and Abihu died before their father,.... While he was living, see Lev 10:1. and had no children, therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priests' office: otherwise, as Jarchi observes, had their brethren left children, they would have come into the office before them.”
With the help of Eleazar’s descendant Zadok and Ithamar’s descendant Ahimelech, David divided them according to the offices of their service.
“And David distributed them,.... The posterities of Eleazar and Ithamar into certain classes or courses: both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar; these were the two principal men of the respective families, the one was high priest, and…”
From the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth.
“Of Heman: the sons of Heman,.... The third chief singer: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel; the same with Azareel, 1Ch 25:18. Shebuel; called Shubael, 1Ch 25:20.”
Also to his son Shemaiah were born sons who ruled over their families because they were strong, capable men.
“Also unto Shemaiah his son,.... His firstborn, 1Ch 26:4. were sons born, that ruled throughout the house of their father; were heads of families, eminent and principal men: for they were mighty men of valour; which their office sometimes required them to be, to guard…”
Shemaiah’s sons were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad; his brothers were Elihu and Semachiah, also capable men.
“The sons of Shemaiah,.... The same before mentioned, the firstborn of Obededom: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, and Elzabad, whose brethren were strong men; Elihu and Semachiah; which may rather denote their valour and courage, as before, though strength of body was needful, particularly to…”
All these were descendants of Obed-edom; they and their sons and brothers were capable men with strength to do the work—62 in all from Obed-edom.
“All these of the sons of Obededom,.... And grandsons: they and their sons and their brethren, able men for strength for the service; men of fortitude of mind and strength of body, as before observed: were sixty two of Obededom: that sprung from him, which…”
Meshelemiah also had sons and brothers who were capable men—18 in all.
“And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, strong men, eighteen,.... He had seven sons, 1Ch 26:1 and therefore must have eleven brethren or kinsmen.”
Hosah the Merarite also had sons: Shimri the first (although he was not the firstborn, his father had appointed him as the first),
“Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons,.... Who was a fellow porter of Obededom's at the ark, 1Ch 16:38.”
They cast lots for each gate, according to their families, young and old alike.
“And they cast lots,.... To determine at which gate each should stand, who at this gate, and who at the other, &c.”
As for the court on the west, there were four at the highway and two at the court.
“At Parbar westward,.... A gate at the western wall; the Jewish writers generally interpret it an outward place, but Dr.”
These were the divisions of the gatekeepers who were descendants of Korah and Merari.
“These are the divisions of the porters among the sons of Kore, and among the sons of Merari. For among those Levites which descended from Kore, a grandson of Kohath, and which sprung from Merar, a brother of Kohath, the porters only wore; see 1Ch…”
From the descendants of Ladan, who were Gershonites through Ladan and heads of the families of Ladan the Gershonite, were Jehieli,
“As concerning the sons of Laadan,.... The same with Libni, see 1Ch 23:7. the sons of the Gershonite Laadan; so called, to distinguish him from another Laadan, as Kimchi thinks: chief fathers, even of Laadan the Gershonite; that sprung from him: were Jehieli; and his…”
From the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites:
“Of the Amramites and the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites. Who sprang from the four sons of Kohath, Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, Exo 6:18 with respect to the concerns they severally had in the trust of the treasures, the account follows, all but…”
Shebuel, a descendant of Gershom son of Moses, was the officer in charge of the treasuries.
“And Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses, was ruler of the treasures. This is the first time that any of the posterity of Moses are taken notice of, as being in any office of honour, authority, and trust; by the Targum he…”
but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has spilled blood.’
“But God said unto me, thou shalt not build an house for my name,.... This he said by Nathan the prophet, 2Sa 7:5. because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood: see 1Ch 22:8.”
And He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him as My son, and I will…
“And he said unto me, Solomon that son, he shall build my house,.... See 2Sa 7:13. and my courts; in the house or temple: for I have chosen him to be my son; predestinated him to the adoption of children, Eph 1:5.”