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…
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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
Then the men of Israel sampled their provisions, but did not seek the counsel of the LORD.
“And the men took of their victuals,.... That is, the princes of Israel took thereof; not to eat of them, for it cannot be thought that such personages would eat of such dry and mouldy bread, and especially as they were now in a plentiful…”
All the leaders answered, “We have sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.
“But all the princes said to all the congregation,.... That is, all the princes that went to Gibeon addressed all the Israelites that were there: we have sworn unto them by the Lord God of Israel; by the Word of the Lord God, as the…”
On that day he made them woodcutters and water carriers, as they are to this day for the congregation of the LORD and for the altar at the place He…
“And Joshua made them that day,.... Constituted and appointed them, ordered and settled them, in the post and office after mentioned; or "gave" them (u); hence some think they had the name Nethinim, persons given to the Levites for the service of the sanctuary: namely…”
After marching all night from Gilgal, Joshua caught them by surprise.
“Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly,.... Which no doubt threw them into consternation and confusion: and went up from Gilgal all night; he chose the night for secrecy and surprise, and that he might be the sooner with the enemy, and to the assistance and…”
And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as…
“And the Lord discomfited them before Israel,.... Disturbed, troubled, and frightened them, at the appearance and presence of the people of Israel; they were thrown into terror and confusion upon their approach, being so sudden and unexpected: and slew them with a great slaughter at…”
The whole army returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah, and no one dared to utter a word against the Israelites.
“And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace,.... Sound and well, as not one killed or missing, so not one wounded, as the Vulgate Latin version,"sound and in full number:" none moved his tongue against any of the children…”
Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.
“And Joshua passed from Makkedah,.... After he had taken it, and destroyed its inhabitants, and its king: and all Israel with him; that is, all the men of war he took with him from the camp at Gilgal, from whence he went to the relief…”
And Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to Lachish. They laid siege to it and fought against it.
“And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish,.... Which, according to Bunting (d), was eight miles from Libnah, and twenty miles from Jerusalem to the southwest of this city; see Jos 10:5, and encamped against it, and fought against it; for…”
And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, and Joshua captured it on the second day.
“And the Lord delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which he took on the second day,.... Either the second day from the slaughter of the kings, or rather the second day of the encampment or siege; so Kimchi: and smote it with the edge…”
So Joshua moved on from Lachish to Eglon, and all Israel with him. They laid siege to it and fought against it.
“And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon,.... Which, according to Bunting (f), was eight miles from Lachish, and twelve from Jerusalem southward, of which see Jos 10:5, and all Israel with him, and they encamped against it, and fought against it; it not surrendering at…”
Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it.
“And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron,.... Which lay in the hill country, and therefore they are said to go up to it from Eglon, which lay lower; and, according to Bunting (g), it was sixteen miles from it…”
And because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel, Joshua captured all these kings and their land in one campaign.
“And all these kings, and their land, did Joshua take at one time,.... Not in one day, but in a very short time, in a few days, as the history clearly shows: because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel; which is the true…”
All these kings joined forces and encamped at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.
“And when all those kings were met together,.... At some certain place, which Jabin had appointed: they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom: Josephus (a) says it was at Berotha; perhaps it should be Merotha, a city of upper Galilee, not far…”
The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction. Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.
“And they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them,....”
As the LORD had commanded His servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. That is what Joshua did, leaving nothing undone of all that the LORD had commanded Moses.
“As the Lord commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua,.... Which was to destroy the people of the land, Deu 7:1, so did Joshua, he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses; both with respect to the destruction of the…”
from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon.
“Even from the mount Halak, that goeth up unto Seir,.... Or the "smooth" and "bald" mountain, which had no trees on it, as some interpret it, observed by Kimchi; it was a mount on the borders of Edom, to which the land of Canaan reached…”
the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is near Bethel, one;
“The king of Jericho, one,.... Who was first taken, and so named first, Jos 6:21, the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; who was next taken and though Bethel was so near Ai, it had a king of its own, after mentioned, see…”
the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one;
“The king of Jerusalem, one,.... Whose name was Adonizedek, and was one of the five kings taken and hanged, Jos 10:1, the king of Hebron, one; another of the five kings, whose name was Hoham, Jos 10:3.”
the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one;
“The king of Jarmuth, one,.... Whose name was Piram, a third of the five kings before observed, Jos 10:3, the king of Lachish, one; another of them, whose name was Japhia, Jos 10:3.”
the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one;
“The king of Eglon, one,.... The last of the five kings, and his name was Debir, Jos 10:3, the king of Gezer, one; who came up to help Lachish, and his name was Horam, Jos 10:33.”
the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one;
“The king of Hormah, one,.... Which was formerly called Zephath, Jdg 1:17; see Jos 15:3, the king of Arad, one; perhaps the same with Arath, which, Jerom (i) says, is the border of the land of Judah, and is twenty miles distant from Hebron to…”
the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
“The king of Libnah, one,.... Taken at the same time as the kings of Makkedah, Debir, and of other places were, Jos 10:29, the king of Adullam, one; a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:35; Jerom says (k) there was a village in…”
the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one;
“The king of Makkedah, one,.... In a cave near to which five kings hid themselves, and were taken out and hanged, and the city afterwards was taken by Joshua, Jos 10:16; which fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:41, the king…”
the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one;
“The king of Madon, one,.... Whose name was Jobab, Jos 11:1, the king of Hazor, one; whose name was Jabin, and of him and his city; see Gill on Jos 11:1.”
the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
“The king of Shimronmeron, one,.... See Jos 11:1, this place fell to the tribe of Zebulun, Jos 19:15, the king of Achshaph, one; see Jos 11:1; this city fell to the lot of Asher, Jos 19:25.”