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
God arises. His enemies are scattered, and those who hate Him flee His presence.
“Let God arise,.... Which, as Kimchi observes, is either by way of prayer, or by way of prophecy; and in either way the sense is the same: for, if it is considered as a prayer, it is a prayer of faith that so it would…”
As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.
“As smoke is driven away, so drive them away,.... This both describes the character of wicked men, Christ's enemies; as their darkness and ignorance, their will worship and superstition, and their detestableness to God, Rev 9:2; and the manner of their destruction; which is as…”
God settles the lonely in families; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.
“God setteth the solitary in families,.... Which the Jewish writers generally understand of an increase of families, with children in lawful marriage; see Psa 113:9; an instance of which we have in Abraham and Sarah; from which single or solitary ones, when joined in marriage…”
O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wasteland, Selah
“O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,.... In the pillar of cloud, and in the pillar of fire, as the Targum adds; and this divine Person was the Son of God, the Angel of his presence, in whom his name was, even his…”
Your flock settled therein; O God, from Your bounty You provided for the poor.
“Thy congregation hath dwelt therein,.... That is, in the Lord's inheritance, in the midst of his church and people. The word for "congregation" signifies "beasts" or "living creatures" (w): some understand them of the Gentiles, who, before the Gospel came among them, were comparable to…”
“Kings and their armies flee in haste; she who waits at home divides the plunder.
“Kings of armies did flee apace,.... Or "they fled, they fled" (y); or "they flee, they flee".”
Though you lie down among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her feathers with shimmering gold.”
“Though ye have lain among the pots,.... Kimchi takes these words to be the words of the women, or of the psalmist addressing the Israelites going out to war; that though they should lie in a low, dark, and disagreeable place, in the camp, in…”
When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like the snow falling on Zalmon.
“When the Almighty scattered kings in it,.... His inheritance, his congregation, the church, Psa 68:9. Which some understand of his diffusing, and spreading and giving, in large numbers, ministers and preachers of the Gospel, pastors and teachers; who are kings and spiritual governors, are over…”
Rebuke the beast in the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations, until it submits, bringing bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
“Rebuke the company of spearmen,.... Or, "of the reed" (d); that is, men that use and fight with spears, like to reeds, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it.”
Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.
“Princes shall come out of Egypt,.... The Vulgate Latin and all the Oriental versions render it "ambassadors".”
Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth; sing praises to the Lord— Selah
“Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth,.... Not only the Egyptian and Ethiopian kingdoms, but all the kingdoms of the world; which will now be converted to Christ, and become his, even all the Papal, Pagan, and Mahometan kingdoms; see Rev 11:”
to Him who rides upon the highest heavens of old; behold, His mighty voice resounds.
“To him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens, which were of old,.... Or "eastward" (q); the first, second, and third heavens, which were created from the beginning of time by Christ himself, Psa 102:25 compared with Heb 1:”
Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
“Save me, O God,.... The petitioner is Christ; not as a divine Person, as such he is blessed for ever, and stands in no need of help and assistance; but as man, and in distressed and suffering circumstances.”
May those who hope in You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of Hosts; may those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel.
“Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake,.... Of their expectation of redemption and salvation by the Messiah, they have been waiting upon the Lord for; when they shall see him in suffering circumstances, and even…”
Insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found no one.
“Reproach hath broken my heart,.... This was his case when his soul was exceeding sorrowful unto death, and his heart like wax melted in the midst of his bows is, Mat 26:38; and I am full of heaviness; as he was in the garden, Mar…”
They poisoned my food with gall and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.
“They gave me also gall for my meat,.... Either some bitter herb mentioned with wormwood and hemlock, Deu 29:18; or the gall of some animal The Targum renders it, "the gall of the heads of serpents:'' the poison of some serpents is in their heads…”
May their table become a snare; may it be a retribution and a trap.
“Let their table become a snare before them,.... This and the following imprecations were not the effects of a spirit of private revenge; of which there was no appearance in Christ, but all the reverse who prayed for his enemies, while they were using him…”
May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and not listed with the righteous.
“Let them be blotted out of the book of life,.... Which some understand of this animal life, or of the catalogue of living saints; of their being not written among the living in Jerusalem, or in the writing of the house of Israel, Isa 4:3.”
But I am in pain and distress; let Your salvation protect me, O God.
“But I am poor and sorrowful,.... The Messiah was poor in a literal sense, as it was foretold he should, Zec 9:9; so he was in his private life; born of poor parents, and brought up in a mean way: and in his public life…”
I will praise God’s name in song and exalt Him with thanksgiving.
“I will praise the name of God with a song,.... The "name" of God is himself, his perfections and attributes; which are to be "praised" by all his creatures, and especially his saints; and here by the Messiah, who sung the praise of God with…”
Make haste, O God, to deliver me! Hurry, O LORD, to help me!
“Make haste, O God, to deliver me,.... The phrase, "make haste", is supplied from the following clause in Psa 40:13; it is, "be pleased, O Lord", or "Jehovah".”
May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
“Let them be ashamed and confounded,.... In Psa 40:14 it is added, "together"; See Gill on Psa 40:14; that seek after my soul; or "life"; in Psa 40:14 it is added, "to destroy it"; for that was the end of their seeking after it; let…”
May those who say, “Aha, aha!” retreat because of their shame.
“Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame,.... In Psa 40:15 it is, "let them be desolate"; which seems to respect their land and houses, here their persons; See Gill on Psa 40:15; that say; in Psa 40:15 it is added, "to…”
May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, “Let God be magnified!”
“Let all those that seek thee,.... The Targum is, "that seek doctrine (or instruction) from thee.'' rejoice and be glad in thee; the Targum paraphrases it, "rejoice and be glad in thy word.''”
But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.
“But I am poor and needy,.... In Psa 40:17 it follows, yet "the Lord thinketh on me"; instead of which it is here; see Gill on Psa 40:17; make haste unto me, O God; which repeats for sense the same petition as in Psa 71:1…”