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EXPLANATORY AND PRACTICAL,

ON THE

BOOK OF REVELATION.

BY

ALBERT BARNES.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
NOS. 329 AND 331 PEARL STREET,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by

ALBERT BARNES,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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PREFACE.

WHEN I began the preparation of these 'Notes' on the New Testament, now more than twenty years ago, I did not design to extend the work beyond the Gospels, and contemplated only simple and brief explanations of that portion of the New Testament, for the use of Sunday-school teachers and Bible classes. The work originated in the belief that Notes of that character were greatly needed, and that the older commentaries, having been written for a different purpose, and being, on account of their size and expense, beyond the reach of most teachers of Sunday-schools, did not meet the demand which had grown up from the establishment of such schools. These Notes, contrary to my original plan and expectation, have been extended to eleven volumes, and embrace the whole of the New Testament.

Having, at the time when these Notes were commenced, as I have ever had since, the charge of a large congregation, I had no leisure that I could properly devote to these studies, except the early hours of the morning, and I adopted the resolution -a resolution which has since been invariably adhered to -to cease writing precisely at nine o'clock in the morning. The habit of writing in this manner, once formed, was easily continued, and having been thus continued, I find myself at the end of the New Testament. Perhaps this personal allusion would not be proper, except to show that I have not intended, in these literary labors, to infringe on the proper duties of the pastoral office, or to take time for these pursuits on which there was a claim for other purposes. This allusion may perhaps also be of use to my younger brethren in the ministry, by showing them that much may be accomplished by the habit of early rising, and by a diligent use of the early morning hours. In my own case, these Notes on the New Testament, and also the Notes on the books of Isaiah, Job, and Daniel, extending in all to sixteen volumes, have all been written before nine o'clock in the morning, and are the fruit of the habit of rising between four and five o'clock. I do

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