PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — John
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 305,190 words · 342 reading sections
John 1:1
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. John 1:1 INTRODUCTION TO JOHN The author of this Gospel is John, the son of Zebedee and Salome, the brother of James the greater; he outlived the rest of the disciples, and wrote this Gospel after the other evangelists; and in it many things are recorded, which are not in …
3,482 wordsSECTION 2John 1:2
John 1:2 Ver. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. This is a repetition of what is before said, and is made to show the importance of the truths before delivered; namely, the eternity of Christ, his distinct personality, and proper deity; and that the phrase, in the beginning, is to be joined to each of the abov…
123 wordsSECTION 3John 1:3
John 1:3 Ver. 3. All things were made by him,.... Which is a proof at once of all that is said before; as that he was in the beginning; and that he was with God the Father in the beginning; and that he was God; otherwise all things could not have been made by him, had either of these been untrue: which is to be unders…
776 wordsSECTION 4John 1:4
John 1:4 Ver. 4. In him was life,.... The Persic version reads in the plural number, "lives". There was life in the word with respect to himself; a divine life, the same with the life of the Father and of the Spirit; and is in him, not by gift, nor by derivation or communication; but originally, and independently, and…
667 wordsSECTION 5John 1:5
John 1:5 Ver. 5. And the light shineth in darkness,.... Which, through sin, came upon the minds of men; who are naturally in the dark about the nature and perfections of God; about sin, and the consequences of it; about Christ, and salvation by him; about the Spirit of God, and his work upon the soul; and about the Sc…
319 wordsSECTION 6John 1:6
John 1:6 Ver. 6. There was a man sent from God,.... John the Baptist: he was not the Logos, or word; nor was he an angel, but a man; yet an extraordinary one, in his conception of a barren woman, and in being born when both parents were stricken in years; and whilst he was in the womb, he leaped for joy at the salutat…
257 wordsSECTION 7John 1:7
John 1:7 Ver. 7. The same came for a witness,.... The end of his being sent, and the design of his coming were, to bear witness of the light: by which is meant, not the light of nature, or reason; nor the light of the Gospel: but Christ himself, the author of light, natural, spiritual, and eternal. This was one of th…
462 wordsSECTION 8John 1:8
John 1:8 Ver. 8. He was not that light,.... He was a light; he was the forerunner of the sun of righteousness, the "phosphorus" of the Gospel day; he had great light in him; he knew that the Messiah was ready to come, and declared it; and upon his baptism he knew him personally, and signified him to others: he had gre…
282 wordsSECTION 9John 1:9
John 1:9 Ver. 9. That was the true light,.... Christ is that light, that famous and excellent light, the fountain of all light to all creatures; that gave light to the dark earth at first, and spoke light out of darkness; that light of all men in the earth, and of all the angels in heaven, and of all the saints below,…
752 wordsSECTION 10John 1:10
John 1:10 Ver. 10. He was in the world,.... This is to be understood, not of his incarnation; for the word was denotes past existence in the world, even all the time past from the creation of the world; and the world intends the world in general, as opposed to Judea, and the people of the Jews in the next verse; besid…
526 wordsSECTION 11John 1:11
John 1:11 Ver. 11. He came unto his own,.... Not all the world, who are his own by right of creation; for these, his own, are opposed to the world, and distinguished from them; and his coming to them designs some particular favour, which is not vouchsafed to all: nor yet are the elect of God intended; though they are …
693 wordsSECTION 12John 1:12
John 1:12 Ver. 12. But as many as received him,.... This is explained, in the latter part of the text, by believing in his name; for faith is a receiving him as the word, and Son of God, as the Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer; a receiving grace out of his fulness, and every blessing from him, as a justifying righteousn…
608 wordsSECTION 13John 1:13
John 1:13 Ver. 13. Which were born not of blood,.... Or bloods, in the plural number. The birth, here spoken of, is regeneration, expressed by a being born again, or from above; by a being quickened by the Spirit and grace of God; by Christ being formed in men; and by a partaking of the divine nature; and by being mad…
627 wordsSECTION 14John 1:14
John 1:14 Ver. 14. And the word was made flesh,.... The same word, of whom so many things are said in the preceding verses; and is no other than the Son of God, or second person in the Trinity; for neither the Father, nor the Holy Ghost, were made flesh, as is here said of the word, but the Son only: and "flesh" here …
10,270 wordsSECTION 15John 2:1
John 2:1 Ver. 1. And the third day there was a marriage,.... Either from the second testimony bore by John the Baptist concerning Christ, and from the call of Simon Peter, which seem to be of the same date; see Joh 1:35, or from Christ's coming into Galilee; or from the conversation he had with Nathanael; from either …
1,394 wordsSECTION 16John 2:2
John 2:2 Ver. 2. And both Jesus was called,.... Or invited, as being a relation, according to the flesh: and his disciples, to the marriage; who were bidden, on his account; and they seem to be these, Andrew, and the other disciple, that followed Jesus, and Simon Peter, and Philip, and Nathanael, who was of this plac…
361 wordsSECTION 17John 2:3
John 2:3 Ver. 3. And when they wanted wine,.... Or wine was wanting; not through the intemperance of the guests, rather through the poverty of the family, who were not able to provide very largely; and it may be by reason of a larger number of guests than were expected; however, so it was ordered by Divine Providence,…
322 wordsSECTION 18John 2:4
John 2:4 Ver. 4. Jesus saith unto her, woman,.... Calling her "woman", as it was no ways contrary to her being a virgin, Ga 4:4, so it was no mark of disrespect; it being an usual way of speaking with the Jews, when they showed the greatest respect to the person spoken to; and was used by our Lord when he addressed hi…
932 wordsSECTION 19John 2:5
John 2:5 Ver. 5. His mother said unto the servants,.... She took the reproof in good part, and by the words he said, and the manner in which he spoke them, or by the looks he gave, and the gestures he might use, she hoped, and even believed, that the thing she moved for would be done; and therefore went immediately to…
87 wordsSECTION 20John 2:6
John 2:6 Ver. 6. And there were set six water pots of stone,.... To distinguish them from other vessels made of different matter: for the Jews had "vessels made of dust, and the dung of beasts, Mynba ylk, "vessels of stone", vessels of earth, vessels made of shells, vessels of nitre, vessels made of the bones and ski…
429 wordsSECTION 21John 2:7
John 2:7 Ver. 7. Jesus saith unto them,.... To the servants that waited at the feast, fill the water pots with water. The Ethiopic version adds, "to their brims", as they did. Christ chose the water pots, and not the vessel, or vessels, or bottles, now empty, out of which they had drank their wine; that it might not …
145 wordsSECTION 22John 2:8
John 2:8 Ver. 8. And he saith unto them, draw out now,.... As soon as ever the vessels were filled with water, without any more delay, he ordered the servants to draw out of those larger, into lesser vessels; he does not say what, water or wine: and bear unto the governor of the feast; who either had the ordering and…
248 wordsSECTION 23John 2:9
John 2:9 Ver. 9. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water,.... The Persic version reads, "tasted of the wine", and adds, what is not in the text, "it was of a very grateful savour": but the sense is, he tasted of that which was before water, but now was made wine; not in such sense as the Papists pretend that…
302 wordsSECTION 24John 2:10
John 2:10 Ver. 10. And saith unto him,.... The following words; expressing the common custom used at feasts: every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; that is, it is usual with men, when they make entertainments, first to give the guests the best, the most generous, and strongest bodied wine; as being most…
615 wordsSECTION 25John 2:11
John 2:11 Ver. 11. This beginning of miracles,.... This miracle of turning water into wine, was the first miracle Christ ever wrought, either in public or private; for as for what miracles he is said to do in his infancy, there is no reason to give credit to them: and this he did in Cana of Galilee; not that this was…
251 wordsSECTION 26John 2:12
John 2:12 Ver. 12. After this he went down to Capernaum,.... After he had been at Cana, and at the wedding there: after he had wrought the miracle of turning water into wine; and after he had manifested forth the glory of his deity thereby, and had confirmed the faith of his disciples, he departed from thence, and wen…
280 wordsSECTION 27John 2:13
John 2:13 Ver. 13. And the Jews' passover was at hand,.... That feast which was kept on the fourteenth day of Nisan, in commemoration of the Lord's passing over, and by the houses of the Israelites, when he slew the firstborn in Egypt: and it is called the Jews' passover, because they only were obliged to keep it: nor…
490 wordsSECTION 28John 2:14
John 2:14 Ver. 14. And found in the temple,.... Not in the holy place itself, nor in the court of the priests, where the sacrifices were offered, nor in the court of the women, nor in the court of the Israelites, where the people worshipped; but in the court of the Gentiles, or the outward court, even all that space o…
5,387 wordsSECTION 29John 3:1
John 3:1 Ver. 1. There was a man of the Pharisees,.... The Syriac version adds, "there"; that is, at Jerusalem; and who was among those that believed in the name of Christ, upon seeing the miracles he did at the feast of the passover, in that place. This man was not a common and ordinary man, but a man of note and emi…
1,008 wordsSECTION 30John 3:2
John 3:2 Ver. 2. The same came to Jesus by night,.... Through fear of the Jews, of being reproached or turned out of his place by them; or through shame, that such a doctor as he was, should be known to go to Jesus of Nazareth, to be instructed by him; or lest he should offend any of his brethren of the sanhedrim: tho…
1,015 wordsSECTION 31John 3:3
John 3:3 Ver. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him,.... Not to any express question put by Nicodemus; unless it can be thought, that a question of this kind might be asked, what is the kingdom of God, so much spoken of in thy ministry? and what is requisite to the seeing and enjoying of it? though not recorded by the e…
654 wordsSECTION 32John 3:4
John 3:4 Ver. 4. Nicodemus saith unto him,.... Understanding him of a natural birth, to be repeated: how can a man be born when he is old? as it seems by this, he himself now was: can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born? the Ethiopic version adds, "again"; and the Arabic version, "and then be…
91 wordsSECTION 33John 3:5
John 3:5 Ver. 5. Jesus answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee,.... Explaining somewhat more clearly, what he before said: except a man be born of water and of the Spirit: these are, twnv twlm, "two words", which express the same thing, as Kimchi observes in many places in his commentaries, and signify the grace of…
540 wordsSECTION 34John 3:6
John 3:6 Ver. 6. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh,.... Man by his natural birth, and as he is born according to the flesh of his natural parents, is a mere natural man; that is, he is carnal and corrupt, and cannot discern spiritual things; nor can he, as such, enter into, and inherit the kingdom of God; see …
570 wordsSECTION 35John 3:7
John 3:7 Ver. 7. Marvel not that I said unto thee,...., For Nicodemus was quite astonished, at this doctrine of the new birth; it was altogether new to him, and unheard of by him; nor could he understand, nor conceive in what manner it could be: ye must be born again; in "four" of Beza's copies, it is read "we"; but …
416 wordsSECTION 36John 3:8
John 3:8 Ver. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth,.... For ought any mortal can say, or do to the contrary: and so the Spirit of God is a free agent in regeneration; he works how, and where, and when he pleases; he acts freely in the first operation of his grace on the heart, and in all after influences of it; as wel…
490 wordsSECTION 37John 3:9
John 3:9 Ver. 9. Nicodemus answered and said unto him,.... Remaining still as ignorant as ever, though Christ had explained the phrase "born again", at which he stumbled, by a being "born of water and of the Spirit", or of the grace of the Spirit of God; and had illustrated this by the free, powerful, and invisible bl…
161 wordsSECTION 38John 3:10
John 3:10 Ver. 10. Jesus answered and said unto him,.... Upbraiding him with his continued and invincible ignorance, which was aggravated by his dignified character: art thou a master in Israel? or "of Israel", as all the Oriental versions render it, as it literally may be rendered he was one of the larvy ymkx, "wise…
348 wordsSECTION 39John 3:11
John 3:11 Ver. 11. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know,.... Meaning either himself, and John the Baptist his forerunner, who preached the same doctrine of regeneration, internal sanctification, and evangelical repentance, as well as outward reformation, as necessary to entrance into the kingdom o…
304 wordsSECTION 40John 3:12
John 3:12 Ver. 12. If I have told you earthly things,.... Not that the doctrines he delivered were earthly ones; for he was not of the earth, but from heaven, and above all, and so spake not of the earth, but of heaven, Joh 3:31; and this doctrine of regeneration was an heavenly doctrine; and the thing itself required…
279 wordsSECTION 41John 3:13
John 3:13 Ver. 13. And no man hath ascended into heaven,.... Though Enoch and Elias had, yet not by their own power, nor in the sense our Lord designs; whose meaning is, that no man had, or could go up to heaven, to bring from thence the knowledge of divine and heavenly things; in which sense the phrase is used in De …
496 wordsSECTION 42John 3:14
John 3:14 Ver. 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,.... The history referred to is in Nu 21:8. There is, in many things, an agreement between this serpent, and Jesus Christ: as in the matter of it, it was a brazen serpent; it was made not of gold, nor of silver, but of brass, the meaner metal, and…
11,304 wordsSECTION 43John 4:1
John 4:1 Ver. 1. When therefore our Lord knew,.... Or Jesus, as some copies, as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions read; who is Lord of all, Lord of lords, the one and only Lord of saints: and who knew all things as God; every man, and what is in man; who would believe in him, and who not, and who …
474 wordsSECTION 44John 4:2
John 4:2 Ver. 2. Though Jesus himself baptized not,.... And therefore as Nonnus observes, it was a false report that was made to the Pharisees; at least in part, so far as concerns the act of baptizing: though it may be this is observed, not so much to show the falsehood of that report, as to correct what is said of C…
300 wordsSECTION 45John 4:3
John 4:3 Ver. 3. He left Judaea,.... Where he had been for some time: at the feast of the passover he went up to Jerusalem, and after a short stay there, he came into the country part of Judea, where he tarried longer; and in both about the space of eight months; for it was now but four months to harvest, which began …
240 wordsSECTION 46John 4:4
John 4:4 Ver. 4. And he must needs go through Samaria. Not the city, but the country of Samaria; for the way to Galilee from Judea, lay through the midst of Samaria; nor was there any other way, without going a great way about; see Lu 9:51; and which is also confirmed by Josephus {c}: and this accounts for his going t…
252 wordsSECTION 47John 4:5
John 4:5 Ver. 5. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar,.... Now called Neapolis {d}; the same with "Sichem", or "Shechem", as appears from its situation, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; see Ge 33:18; and is either the same, only its termination is changed from "em…
244 wordsSECTION 48John 4:6
John 4:6 Ver. 6. Now Jacob's well was there,.... So called, either because it was dug by him; or because he and his family made use of it, when in those parts, as in Joh 4:12, though no mention is made of it elsewhere, unless any reference is had to it in the blessing of Joseph, to whom this place belonged, Ge 49:22, …
391 wordsSECTION 49John 4:7
John 4:7 Ver. 7. There cometh a woman of Samaria,.... Or "out of Samaria"; not out of the city of Samaria, but out of the country of Samaria; out of Sychar, a city of Samaria: her coming was not by chance, but by the providence of God, and agreeably to his purpose, who orders all things according to the counsel of his…
286 wordsSECTION 50John 4:8
John 4:8 Ver. 8. For his disciples were gone away,.... This is related, not so much to give a reason why Christ asked the woman for water, because his disciples were not present, to minister to him; but rather to show, that Christ took the opportunity, in their absence, to converse with her; partly to avoid the scanda…
493 wordsSECTION 51John 4:9
John 4:9 Ver. 9. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him,.... In a scoffing, jeering way, how is it, that thou being a Jew; which she might know, by his language and his dress: askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? not that the waters of Samaria were unlawful for a Jew to drink of; for as "the land of t…
894 wordsSECTION 52John 4:10
John 4:10 Ver. 10. Jesus answered and said unto her,.... In a very serious manner, in a different way from hers: if thou knewest the gift of God; meaning, not the Holy Spirit with his gifts and graces, as some think, but himself; for the following clause is explanatory of it; and who it is that saith to thee, give m…
591 wordsSECTION 53John 4:11
John 4:11 Ver. 11. The woman saith unto him, Sir,.... Which was an usual, way in those countries, of addressing men, and especially strangers; and expresses no uncommon respect to Christ, of whose dignity and greatness she was, entirely ignorant; and at whom she was now scoffing; for so the following words are to be u…
252 wordsSECTION 54John 4:12
John 4:12 Ver 12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob,.... A person of greater worth and character than he, who was content to drink of this water; or wiser and more knowing than he, who could find out no better fountain of water in all these parts? she calls Jacob the father of them, according to the common notion…
429 wordsSECTION 55John 4:13
John 4:13 Ver. 13. Jesus answered and said unto her,.... In a mild and gentle manner, patiently bearing all her scoffs and flouts, and continuing to instruct and inform her, concerning this living water, showing the preferableness of it to all others: whosoever drinketh of this water; meaning in that well called Jaco…
129 wordsSECTION 56John 4:14
John 4:14 Ver. 14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him,.... Meaning, the Spirit and his grace; see Joh 7:38; and which he more than once speaks of, as his gift here, and in the context: of which, whoever truly partakes, shall never thirst; either after sinful lusts and pleasures, and his former …
533 wordsSECTION 57John 4:15
John 4:15 Ver. 15. The woman saith unto him, Sir,.... See Gill on "Joh 4:11"; give me this water, that I thirst not. The Syriac and Persic versions add, "again":neither come hither; the Ethiopic version adds here, "again";to draw. This she said also, in the same sneering and scoffing way, as her talking of not thirsti…
12,538 wordsSECTION 58John 5:1
John 5:1 Ver. 1. After this there was a feast of the Jews,.... After Christ had been in Samaria, which was four months ago, Joh 4:35, and had been in Galilee for that time, and had cured the nobleman's son, and had done other mighty works, the time came on for one of the three festivals of the Jews; either the feast o…
179 wordsSECTION 59John 5:2
John 5:2 Ver. 2. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep [market],.... The word "market" is not in the text, and of such a market, no account is given in the Scripture, nor in the Jewish writings; and besides, in our Lord's time, sheep and oxen were sold in the temple; rather therefore this signifies, the sheep gate, o…
1,168 wordsSECTION 60John 5:3
John 5:3 Ver. 3. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk,.... Sick and weak persons; who were an emblem of men under the law of works, and in a state of unregeneracy; who are enfeebled by sin, and are impotent and unable to do anything of themselves; as to keep the law of God, to which they have neither will n…
408 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.