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
let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
“A wise man will hear,.... With great attention, and hearken to the proverbs and wise sayings herein delivered; for here are many things entertaining to men of years and wisdom, as well as instructive to young men and simple ones; and will increase learning; or…”
Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse”—
“Cast in thy lot among us,.... Or "thou shall cause thy lot to fall among us" (u); though just entered, as soon as any booty is taken thou shalt cast lots with us, and have thy full share with those that have been longer engaged…”
But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
“And they lay wait for their own blood,.... While they lie in wait for the blood of others, they lie in wait for their own; and when they shed the blood of innocent persons, it in the issue comes upon their own heads, and is…”
because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction,
“But ye have set at nought all my counsel,.... The same with "the counsel of God", Act 20:”
They accepted none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof.
“They would none of my counsel,.... Neither his doctrines nor his ordinances; nor would they attend to the wholesome counsel and advice he gave them in his sermons upon the mount, and in other discourses of his at other times and places; they despised all…”
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
“To deliver thee from the strange woman,.... As the Gospel of Christ and its doctrines, or the instructions of wisdom, are a means of delivering persons from the evil man, his company, ways, and works; so from a naughty woman, an adulteress, called a "strange"…”
for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
“For length of days, and long life,.... Or, "years of life", or "lives" (f); a long life of usefulness and comfort here, and eternal life hereafter: the law of Moses promised a long life to the observers of it; but the Gospel of Christ brings…”
Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.
“So shall thou find favour,.... Or "grace" (i); the grace of God, and larger measures of it; as Noah did, Gen 6:8; which are communicated to men when in the way of their duty: or good will, esteem, and respect, among men; as Joseph had…”
This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
“It shall be health to thy navel,.... That part of the body which is the knot of the intestines; and may be put for the bowels and inward parts, which being sound, the body is in health; and these may be put for the whole…”
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
“My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord,.... This seems to be introduced to prevent an objection that may be made to the above promise of plenty; seeing the children of God are often afflicted in this world; even the wise and pious, and…”
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,.... Some connect these words with the preceding; as if the sense was, a good man, though he is chastened by the Lord, yet is a happy man; not only because his chastenings are in love and for good…”
She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
“She is more precious than rubies,.... Or "pearls" (u), as some; which were formerly esteemed above all precious stones; the eastern were the more valuable (w), which Solomon had most knowledge of; Christ is the pearl of great price, of more value than any pearl…”
By His knowledge the watery depths were broken open, and the clouds dripped with dew.
“By his knowledge the depths are broken up,.... From whence fountains and rivers flow, and whereby that great cavity was made which holds that large confluence of waters called the sea, Gen 1:”
Do not withhold good from the deserving when it is within your power to act.
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,.... Honour, reverence, and tribute, to civil magistrates, Rom 13:7; just payment of debts to creditors, and alms to the poor, which, by what follows, seems to be chiefly intended; and the Septuagint render it, "do…”
Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.
“Devise not evil against thy neighbour,.... Or, "plough not evil" (i); turn not up thy heart to find evil against thy neighbour, as the earth is turned up by the plough; see Hos 10:”
He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.
“Surely he scorneth the scorners,.... That make a mock at sin, a jest of religion, that scoff at the doctrines of the Gospel and the professors of it; these the Lord looks upon, laughs at, and has them in derision.”
When I was a son to my father, tender and the only child of my mother,
“For I was my father's son,.... Or, "a son to my father" (p); so Solomon was to God, his heavenly Father, 2Sa 7:14; which Jarchi observes, and gives as the sense of this place: but his father David is meant, whose son he was; though…”
he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
“He taught me also, and said unto me,.... The Targum is, "they taught me,'' his father and his mother; and so the Septuagint version, "who said and taught me;'' and the Arabic version, "they both taught me, and said unto me;'' but in the Hebrew…”
Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
“Wisdom is the principal thing,.... Or principal, one; the principal of persons and things; the principal of persons, angels or men: Christ is superior to angels, having a more excellent name and nature than they; he is the God, the Creator, and head of them…”
She will set a garland of grace on your head; she will present you with a crown of beauty.”
“She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace,.... This, and the following clause, explain what that honour is Christ promotes and brings his followers to here and hereafter: he gives them grace and more grace; "an increase of grace", so the Vulgate Latin…”
Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life.
“Take fast hold of instruction,.... Not the law, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it; but the instruction of wisdom, the doctrine of Christ or the Gospel; see Pro 8:1; which is an instruction into the mind and will of God, concerning the salvation of men…”
Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.
“Avoid it,.... As dangerous and pernicious, as abominable and detestable; or, "flee from it", as the Vulgate Latin version: Jarchi and Gersom interpret it, "make it void"; cause it to cease, destroy it, do all you can to hinder the wicked from accomplishing their designs…”
For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
“For they sleep not, except they have done mischief,.... Or they cannot sleep, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it.”
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
“The way of the wicked is as darkness,.... They are in the darkness of sin, ignorance, error, and unbelief; their works are works of darkness; the way in which they are leads to eternal darkness, ruin, and misery, and so must be most uncomfortable and…”
Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
“Ponder the path of thy feet,.... Consider well what path it is, whether right or wrong; or weigh it in the balances of thought, as Aben Ezra; or rather in the balances of the word, and see whether it agrees with that or not.”