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
The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
“The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. See Gill on Psa 46:7. The Targum paraphrases it, "the Word of the Lord of hosts", as in Psa 46:7; and the same words are here repeated, to comfort those that…”
Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout unto God with a voice of triumph.
“O clap your hands, all ye people, Meaning the Gentiles more especially; see Psa 117:1 compared with Rom 15:9; who had reason to rejoice and be glad, since the ascended Lord and King here spoken of was given to be their Saviour, was the propitiation…”
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
“For the Lord most high is terrible,.... Christ is not only the Son of the Highest, but he himself is the most high God, God over all, blessed for ever.”
They saw and were astounded; they fled in terror.
“They saw it,.... Either the city or the power of God, as Aben Ezra; or, as Jarchi, God himself going forth to fight against the nations.”
Within Your temple, O God, we contemplate Your loving devotion.
“We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God,.... Jarchi interprets it, "we have waited for thy lovingkindness"; to see thy salvation; and some, as Ben Melech observes, explain it of hope and expectation; as if the sense was, "we have hoped for thy lovingkindness"; so…”
both low and high, rich and poor alike.
“Both low and high,.... Or "both the sons of Adam and the sons of men".”
My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding.
“My mouth shall speak of wisdom,.... Or "wisdoms" (m); of Christ, who is so called, Pro 1:20. He being as a divine Person the wisdom of God, and the only wise God; and having all the treasures of wisdom in him, as man and Mediator…”
I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:
“I will incline mine ear to a parable,.... In which way of speaking the doctrines of the Gospel were delivered out by Christ, Mat 13:”
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me?
“Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,.... This is the principal thing that all are before called to hearken to.”
They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
“They that trust in their wealth,.... In their outward force, power, and strength; their horses, chariots, and armies; see Psa 33:16; or in their worldly goods and substance; which seems to be the sense of the word here, as appears from Psa 49:10.”
No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.
“None of them can by any means redeem his brother,.... That is, "with their substance", or "riches", as the Targum and Jarchi supply.”
For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice,
“For the redemption of their soul is precious,.... Or "heavy" (s); it is, as Jarchi observes, "heavier than their substance": it is too weighty a matter for the richest man in the world to engage in; he is not equal to it; his riches are…”
that he should live on forever and not see decay.
“That he should still live for ever,.... Or "though he should live", &c. (w). Though the rich man should live ever so long, a thousand years twice told, as in Ecc 6:6; yet he could not in all this time, with all his riches, redeem…”
For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.
“For he seeth that wise men die,.... This is a reason convincing the rich man, that with all his riches he cannot redeem his brother from death; since he must see, by daily and constant experience, that none are exempted from dying, no, not even…”
But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.
“Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not,.... Or Adam: and some understand this of the first man Adam, who was created and crowned with glory and honour; but it did not abide with him, nor he in that: so some Jewish writers (y) interpret it.”
The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets.
“The mighty God,.... In the Hebrew text it is "El", "Elohim", which Jarchi renders the "God of gods"; that is, of angels, who are so called, Psa 8:5; so Christ, who is God over all, is over them; he is their Creator, and the object…”
I have no need for a bull from your stall or goats from your pens,
“I will take no bullock out of thy house,.... That is, will accept of none; such sacrifices being no more agreeable to the will of God, Heb 10:5; the "bullock" is mentioned, that being a principal creature used in sacrifice; as also the following, nor…”
I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine.
“I know all the fowls of the mountains,.... God not only knows them, but takes care of them; not a sparrow fails to the ground without his knowledge, and all the fowls of the air are fed by him, Mat 10:29; and therefore needed not…”
If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and the fullness thereof.
“If I were hungry, I would not tell thee,.... Or "say to thee" (w); ask for anything for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof; with which, was the former his case, he could satisfy himself; see Psa 24:1.”
Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
“Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? That is, express a pleasure, take delight and satisfaction, in such kind of sacrifices, which can never take away sin: no, I will not; wherefore other sacrifices, more agreeable to his nature…”
To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips?
“But unto the wicked God saith,.... By whom are meant, not openly profane sinners; but men under a profession of religion, and indeed who were teachers of others, as appears from the following expostulation with them: the Scribes, Pharisees, and doctors among the Jews, are…”
You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit.
“Thou givest thy mouth to evil,.... To speak evil things against Christ, his doctrines, ordinances, ministers and people; and to deliver out evil doctrines, pernicious to the souls of men; and thy tongue frameth deceit; puts and joins together deceitful words in a very artful…”
You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son.
“Thou sittest,.... Either in the chair of Moses, or on the seat of judgment, in the great sanhedrim of the nation; or, as Aben Ezra paraphrases it, "in the seat of the scornful"; and speakest against thy brother; even to pass sentence upon him, to…”
You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
“These things hast thou done,.... "These evil works", as the Targum; which they had done over and over again without remorse, with the greatest pleasure, and with promises of impunity to themselves.”
Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
“Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,.... Which supposes defilement by sin, and that very great, and such as none can remove but the Lord himself; who, when he takes it in hand, does it effectually and thoroughly; see Eze 36:25.”