Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry was born on October 18, 1662, at Broad Oak, in Flintshire, on the border of England and Wales. His father, Philip Henry, was a Puritan minister who had been ejected from the Church of England in that year, under the Act of Uniformity. He was one of the two thousand ministers who lost their livings for conscience. The family lived in modest means, on a farm. Matthew was a delicate and precocious child. He was educated at home by his father, who taught him Latin, Greek and Hebrew. By the age of eleven, he had read the Bible through several times. He was brought up in a home of devotion and Scripture reading and prayer.

He was a sickly child, and his health was always fragile. He was converted at an early age and was drawn to the ministry. He studied at an academy in Islington, London, run by a Nonconformist teacher. In 1680, he began the study of law at Gray's Inn, but he soon gave it up. He felt called to the ministry. He took up studies in theology and began to preach. In 1687, at the age of twenty-four, he was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, and he accepted a call to a congregation at Chester, a city in the north-west of England. He remained there for twenty-five years.

His ministry at Chester was marked by hard work and faithful preaching. He preached twice on Sunday and also on weekdays. He catechized the children and visited the sick. He had a rich and sound mind and a gift for plain speech. His church grew from a small group to a large congregation, which needed a new building. He also took an active part in the community. He was a friend of the poor and a man of tolerance. He worked with the Church of England clergy and was welcome among them. He was a leader of the Nonconformists in the northwest.

In 1704, he began to write a commentary on the whole Bible. It was an enormous task. He began with Genesis and worked through the Old Testament. He prepared the material from his own sermons and study. He wrote in a plain and devout style, with a gift for striking phrases. He combined learning with practical application. He aimed to help ordinary people to understand the Scripture and to apply it to their lives. The first volume, on the Pentateuch, was published in 1706. The work was a success, and he went on to complete the Old Testament by 1710 and the Gospels and Acts by 1714. He had hoped to continue, but he died before he could finish the epistles and Revelation. After his death, a group of his friends completed the work from his notes.

The commentary has been one of the best-loved works in English religious literature. It has been published in many editions and has been used by generations of preachers and laymen. Charles Spurgeon recommended it highly and said that it should be read by every minister. George Whitefield read it on his knees. It remains in print and is widely used. It is notable for its devotional quality, its pithy comments and its practical outlook. He also wrote A Method for Prayer, a guide to the language of prayer drawn from Scripture, and a number of other works.

He married Katherine Hardware in 1687, and she died in 1689 after the birth of their daughter. He then married Mary Warburton in 1690, and they had several children. He was a loving father and husband. He suffered the pain of losing his first wife and a number of children. He bore his sorrows with faith.

In 1712, he accepted a call to a church in Hackney, near London. He had a heavy workload and was in poor health. In 1714, he traveled to Chester to visit his friends, and on the return journey, he stopped at Nantwich, in Cheshire. He suffered a stroke and died on June 22, 1714, at the age of fifty-one. He was working on the commentary until the end. His life shows the power of a quiet and faithful minister who gives his life to the exposition of Scripture, and whose work lives on.