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
Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
“Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father,.... Not all of them, see Gen 31:19; but a great part of them; his flock was much lessened by those means, and more were taken away, and came to Jacob's share, than if Laban had…”
And Rachel and Leah replied, “Do we have any portion or inheritance left in our father’s house?
“And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him,.... One after another, and their answers agreeing, are put together; it may be Rachel answered in the name of Leah, and for herself, since she is mentioned first, and the verb is singular.”
On the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had fled.
“And it was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob was fled. Three days after Jacob was gone he had the report of it, by some means or another; by some of his neighbours, or servants left at home, and sooner he could not…”
Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
“And Jacob sent messengers before him unto Esau his brother,.... Or "angels": not angels simply, as Jarchi, for these were not under the command, and in the power of Jacob to send, nor would they have needed any instruction from him afterwards given, but these…”
200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
“Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams. And it seems this proportion of one he goat to ten she goats, and of one ram to ten ewes, is a proper one, and what has been so judged in…”
So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.
“So went the present over before him,.... Over the brook Jabbok, after mentioned, the night before Jacob did: and himself lodged that night in the company; or "in the camp" (c), either in the place called Mahanaim, from the hosts or crowds of angels seen…”
Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down.
“Then the handmaids came near, they and their children,.... Being foremost, and next to, Jacob, as Bilhah and her two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah and her two sons, Gad and Asher: and they bowed themselves; in token of respect to Esau, as Jacob…”
“I already have plenty, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what belongs to you.”
“And Esau said, I have enough, my brother,.... Or "I have much" (o), and stand in no need of this present, or have much more than thou hast: keep that thou hast unto thyself; for the use of himself and family, which is large; in…”
So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”
“And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor,.... And told him the whole affair, at least what a strong affection he had for Dinah: saying, get me this damsel to wife; by which he meant not only that he would give his consent that he might…”
But if you will not agree to be circumcised, then we will take our sister and go.”
“But if ye will not hearken to us to be circumcised,.... Will not agree to this condition, circumcision: then will we take our daughter; by force, as the Targum of Jonathan adds: and we will be gone: depart from this part of the country, and…”
They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, and everything else in the city or in the field.
“They took their sheep, their oxen, and their asses,.... The Shechemites hoped to have the cattle and substance of Jacob's family, and in a hypocritical manner submitted to circumcision, for the sake of worldly advantage; for that, and pleasing their prince, seem to be the…”
After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
“And God appeared unto Jacob again,.... At Bethel, as he had at Shechem, when he bid him go thither, Gen 35:1; or rather as he had at the brook Jabbok, where he said to him the same things as here, Gen 32:24, though Jarchi interprets…”
So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
“And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. Hence called Bethlehem Ephratah, Mic 5:2; with great pertinency is Rachel represented as if risen from her grave, and weeping for her children, when the children of Bethlehem, and thereabout, were…”
And Isaac lived 180 years.
“And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. He lived, forty years after he had made his will, and blessed his two sons.”
These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
“And these are the sons of Reuel,.... Another son of Esau's; this man had four sons, as follow: Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah: of whom we know no more than their names, unless Maps or Massa, which Ptolemy (z) places in Idumea, should have…”
These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah (daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon) whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
“And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife,.... See Gill on Gen 36:2; here also the Samaritan and Septuagint versions read, "the daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon": and she bare to Esau, Jeush, and…”
Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. They are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Adah.
“Duke Korah,.... Only among the sons of Eliphaz is reckoned Duke Korah, not before mentioned among his sons, and is left out in the Samaritan version; See Gill on Gen 36:7; to which it may be added, that according to Gerundinsis (a), this is the…”
These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
“And the children of Shobal were these,.... Who was the second son of Seir, and whose sons were the five following: Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam; in 1Ch 1:40 Alvan is called Alian, and Shepho is Shephi.”
These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
“And these are the sons of Dishon,.... Not of Dishon the son of Anah, but of Dishon the son of Seir, Gen 36:21; and they are the four following: Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran; the first of these is called Amram, or rather…”
These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
“The children of Ezer are these,.... Another son of Seir, who had the following sons: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Achan; the two last are called Zavan and Jakan, in 1Ch 1:42.”
These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
“The children of Dishon are these,.... The last of the seven sons of Seir, and who had two sons: Uz and Aran; from the former of these the land of Uz, inhabited by the Edomites, had its name, Lam 4:21; some have taken this to…”
These are the chiefs of the Horites: Chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
“These are the dukes that came of the Horites,.... Not that succeeded one after another, as the kings next mentioned did, but were together, at the same time, heads of respective families, and governors of them; and then the seven sons of Seir are rehearsed…”
Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.
“And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom,.... His name was not Balac, as the Septuagint version, which may lead to think of Balak king of Moab; nor is this the same with Balaam, the son of Beor, who lived ages after, as some…”
When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
“And Jobab died,.... According to Mr. Bedford, A. M. 2177: and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead; or of the land of the south, as the Targum of Jonathan, of the southern part of the land of Idumea, as it was…”
When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.
“And Samlah died,.... As is supposed, about A. M. 2283. and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead; Rehoboth was one of the cities built by Ashur, Gen 10:11; and was situated near the river Euphrates; and so the Targum of Jonathan…”