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
Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But David mourned for his son every day.
“But Absalom fled,.... As before related, but here repeated for the sake of what follows: and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur: his mother's father, see 2Sa 3:3, where he might hope for protection and safety: and David mourned for his…”
And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he had been consoled over Amnon’s death.
“And the soul of King David longed to go forth unto Absalom,.... In like manner it is supplied and paraphrased in the Targum, because the word rendered "longed" is feminine; though it may be used to denote the effeminateness of David's disposition and carriage on…”
So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint…
“And Joab sent to Tekoah,.... Which Kimchi says was a city in the tribe of Asher, and others in the tribe of Benjamin, but it seems rather to be in the tribe, of Judah, 2Ch 11:5; according Jerom (s), it was twelve miles from Jerusalem…”
When the woman from Tekoa went to the king, she fell facedown in homage and said, “Help me, O king!”
“And when the woman of Tekoah spake to the king,.... Or after she had spoken to him, being introduced by Joab, as is probable; when she had saluted him with God save the king, or May the king live, or some such like expressions: she…”
Then the woman said, “Please, may your servant speak a word to my lord the king?” “Speak,” he replied.
“Then the woman said, let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak one word unto my Lord the king,.... Having gained her point, and gotten a decree from him confirmed by an oath, that her son though he had killed his brother should not die; she…”
So Joab got up, went to Geshur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
“So Joab arose and went to Geshur,.... Where Absalom was with his grandfather, the king of the place; see 2Sa 13:37, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem; from thence, which, according to Bunting (t), was the distance of eighty eight miles from it. (t) Travels, &c.”
Now Absalom lived in Jerusalem two years without seeing the face of the king.
“So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem,.... After his return from Geshur: and saw not the king's face; all that time; which was owing either to the king's resentment of the fact committed by him, or to state policy.”
For your servant made a vow while dwelling in Geshur of Aram, saying: ‘If indeed the LORD brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the LORD in Hebron.’”
“For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria,.... When at his grandfather's court there: saying, if the Lord will bring me again indeed to Jerusalem; which he might be sincerely desirous of: then I will serve the Lord; but it…”
So Zadok and Abiathar returned the ark of God to Jerusalem and stayed there.
“Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem,.... That is, ordered it to be carried, and took care that it was carried, by the Kohathite Levites, and they themselves attended it: and they tarried there; at Jerusalem; though their two sons…”
So David’s friend Hushai arrived in Jerusalem just as Absalom was entering the city.
“So Hushai David's friend came into the city,.... The city of Jerusalem, by the direction and persuasion of David, and in obedience to him, in order to serve him to the uttermost: and Absalom came into Jerusalem: just at the same time; so that he…”
Perhaps the LORD will see my affliction and repay me with good for the cursing I receive today.”
“It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction,.... Through the rebellion of his son, and now aggravated by the cursing of Shimei; that is, with an eye of pity and commiseration, and deliver him out of it: or "look upon my eye"…”
Finally, the king and all the people with him arrived, exhausted. And there he refreshed himself.
“And the king, and all the people that were with him, came weary,.... With their journey, and through grief and trouble at what they met with: and refreshed themselves there: that is, at Bahurim, with food and rest; which revived their spirits, and put as…”
Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give me counsel. What should we do?”
“Then said Absalom to Ahithophel,.... Having two such able counsellors as he and Hushai, he directs his speech to Ahithophel, as being his first and chief counsellor: give counsel among you what we shall do; he orders them to form a counsel, consult among themselves…”
So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel.
“So they spread Absalom a tent on the top of the house,.... On the top of his father's palace; this, as houses in Jerusalem and Judea were, was built flat, Deu 22:8; and it was on the very spot from whence David had a sight…”
Hushai replied, “This time the advice of Ahithophel is not sound.”
“And Hushai said to Absalom,.... Having leave to give his opinion freely: the counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time; he owns that Ahithophel was a good counsellor, and that the counsel he gave was for the most part, if not…”
Then even the most valiant soldier with the heart of a lion will melt with fear, because all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man who has valiant…
“And he also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt,.... That is, whoever should hear of Absalom's forces, or a part of them, being routed, would be intimidated, though ever so courageous, or of such a lion-like…”
Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.
“Therefore I counsel,.... My advice is as follows: that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude: not all the inhabitants of the land, but such as are fit to bear…”
So David and all the people with him got up and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, there was no one left who had not crossed the Jordan.
“Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and passed over Jordan,.... Taking the advice of Hushai: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan; they travelled all night, and before it was morning…”
So the Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
“So Israel and Absalom pitched in the land of Gilead. Which belonged to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; here the Israelites that were with Absalom encamped, in order to give battle to David and his men.”
During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.”
“Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken,.... Had taken it into his head, had of himself devised it, as Kimchi explains it; he contrived the following scheme to perpetuate his memory: and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: or…”
“No matter what, I want to run!” he replied. “Then run!” Joab told him. So Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain and outran the Cushite.
“But howsoever (said he) let me run,.... Be it as it may, I beg I may have leave; and being so very importunate, it was granted: and he said unto him, run; since he would take no denial: then Ahimaaz ran by the way of…”
The king asked the Cushite, “Is the young man Absalom all right?”
“And the king said unto Cushi, is the young man Absalom safe?.... The same question that was put to Ahimaaz, 2Sa 18:29; which shows what lay nearest his heart, and was uppermost in his mind: and Cushi answered, the enemies of my lord the king…”
But Absalom, the man we anointed over us, has died in battle. So why do you say nothing about restoring the king?”
“And Absalom, whom we anointed over us,.... To be king; which either was really done by Absalom's party, or in effect by proclaiming and appointing him king: is dead in battle; which shows the thing was not of God, and by which means they were…”
So the king said to Shimei, “You shall not die.” And the king swore an oath to him.
“Therefore the king said unto Shimei, thou shalt not die,.... This day by my hands, or order, or by the sword, 1Ki 2:8, and the king sware unto him; that he should not die for that offence, or for that only; but if he committed…”
“My lord the king,” he replied, “because I am lame, I said, ‘I will have my donkey saddled so that I may ride on it and go with the king.’
“And he answered, my lord, O king, my servant deceived me,.... His servant Ziba, who, instead of saddling an ass for him by his order, went off with that and another himself, 2Sa 16:1; for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass; he…”