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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. Painted by George Vertue. The file is marked public domain. This site's record does not give the artist's death year, which is what settles the painting's own rights. The file record

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.

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Undated in the archive this site cites.

The rest of the quotation

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…

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Undated in the archive this site cites.

The rest of the quotation

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:

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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.

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

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.

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Undated in the archive this site cites.

The rest of the quotation

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

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

Colossians 1:10Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of…

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord,.... The Vulgate Latin version reads, "of God"; to which the Ethiopic version agrees; but rather the Lord Jesus Christ seems to be designed: and to "walk worthy" of him, is to walk by faith in him; to…

Colossians 1:22Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—

In the body of his flesh through death,.... Or "through his death", as the Alexandrian copy and some others, and all the Oriental versions, read.

Colossians 3:1Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

If ye then be risen with Christ,.... The apostle having observed in the former chapter, that the believing Colossians were dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, were buried with him in baptism, and were risen with him through the faith of the…

Colossians 3:4Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,.... The Vulgate Latin version, and some copies, read, "your life".

Colossians 3:6Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

For which things' sake,.... Those sins above mentioned, Col 3:5, the wrath of God; the effects of it in temporal judgments, and eternal ruin and destruction, the wrath to come, which all are deserving of, and there is only deliverance from by Christ: cometh upon…

Colossians 3:15Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,.... By "the peace of God" is meant, either the peace believers have with God, which is his gift, and passes all understanding, and flows from a comfortable apprehension of interest in the blood, righteousness, and…

Colossians 3:18Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands,.... The apostle proceeds from those duties which related to them as church members one towards another, for their mutual good and edification, and the glory of God, to such as concerned them in their own houses and families…

Colossians 3:19Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Husbands, love your wives,.... See Gill on Eph 5:25. and be not bitter against them; turning love into hatred of their persons; ruling with rigour, and in a tyrannical manner; behaving towards them in a morose, churlish, and ill natured way; giving them either bitter…

Colossians 3:20Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

Children, obey your parents,.... Both father and mother; See Gill on Eph 6:1. in all things; not in things sinful, which are contrary to the law of God, and Gospel of Christ; in things repugnant to the duties of religion, the ordinances of the Gospel…

Colossians 3:21Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they will not become discouraged.

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger,.... See Gill on Eph 6:4. lest they be discouraged; or disheartened and dispirited; their spirits be broke through grief and trouble, and they become indolent, sluggish, and unfit for business; or, despairing of having any share in the…

Colossians 4:2Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,

Continue in prayer,.... This is not said particularly to masters, as in the foregoing verse, but to all the members of the church in general; for the apostle having taken notice of some special duties relating to persons in different stations of life, returns to…

Colossians 4:3Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

as you pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am…

Withal, praying also for us,.... The persons to be prayed for are next directed to; and these are not only themselves, though their concern is very near and great, but others also, all the saints and people of God, yea, all men, and in particular…

Colossians 4:7Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.

All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you,.... This Tychicus was an Asian by birth; see Act 20:4. His name signifies "fortunate", and is the same with "Fortunatus" in Latin, which name is mentioned in 1Co 16:17 whether he is the same person may be…

Colossians 4:9Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

With him I am sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.

With Onesimus,.... Who had been Philemon's servant, ran away from him, and was met with and converted by the Apostle Paul, of whom he says many things in his epistle to his master.

Colossians 4:15Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Greet the brothers in Laodicea, as well as Nympha and the church that meets at her house.

Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea,.... Where there was a church mentioned in the following verse, of which see on Gill Rev 2:10.