Spurgeon on Clarke, Doddridge and Gill

The recent shot of Augustine between books on Catholicism and Protestantism reminded of a remark Spurgeon makes (in his Commenting on Commentaries). It concerns High Calvinist John Gill and the Arminian Adam Clarke (I'd misremembered it as a reference to Wesley and Toplady). Spurgeon says

I have placed next to Gill in my library Adam Clarke but as I have no desire to have my rest broken by wars among the authors, I have placed Doddridge between them. If the spirits of the two worthies could descend to the earth in the same mood in which they departed, no one house would be able to hold them. Adam Clarke is the great annotator of our Wesleyan friends; and they have no reason to be ashamed of him, for he takes rank among the chief of expositors. His mind was evidently fascinated by the singularities of learning, and hence his commentary is rather too much of an old curiosity shop, but it is filled with valuable rarities, such as none but a great man could have collected. Like Gill, he is one sided, only in the opposite direction to our friend the Baptist. The use of the two authors may help to preserve the balance of your judgements. If you consider Clarke wanting in unction, do not read him for savour but for criticism, and then you will not be disappointed.

William Brock on his father

I found this charming reminiscence in the Life of William Brock (first minister of Bloomsbury Chapel) in a life by Charles M Birrell.

“Over the bureau in our sitting-room was a shelf, with the very few but very good books which my father used, among them Scott's 'Commentary,' in three quarto volumes, which he had bought in honour of his marriage.  I have seen him take one or other of these down after service on Sunday mornings, and then, leaning his head on his two upraised hands, give himself to the examination of the passage that he had there before him — probably the passage on which Mr. Gibbons had been preaching. Thus all that I can call to mind about my father relates to the religious and the good. How pleasant this is to me, I cannot tell you. Such a parentage as mine was better to me than rubies. I feel it to have been to me beyond price!"

Deaths of Bible Commentators

A recent post listed the main evangelical whole Bible commentators. Few individuals have managed to work their way through the whole Bible preaching or commentating, though some have. Most fail part way through.

Matthew Henry, the most famous of them, preached through the Bible but his commentary only goes to Acts 28 which he reached April 17 1714, dying on June 22, 66 days later. He had done quite a bit of work on the rest, especially on Romans and Revelation but other hands had to finish it.

In his diary he sometimes noted when others died seeking to do something similar. On November 17 1707 he wrote "November 17. 2 Kings xi. to v. 16. I find that just here Peter Martyr [Vermigli] was in his learned Expositions when he fell sick and died. Lord, our times are in thy hand." I've not found any other references to this.

Calvin got to Ezekiel 20:44 in his lectures on February 2, 1564, and died shortly after, on May 27th. (He managed to finish the chapter before his death).

Matthew Poole got as far as Isaiah 58 before his sudden death on October 12, 1679.