The first commentary of the Bible I every used for my teaching and study was “the Big Boy” Matthew Henry Commentary (pictured here). The one sitting on my shelf is about 5″ thick. Henry wanted to be a priest in England at a time when non-conformists like him were opposing the power of the Church of England so he was a “hidden” pastor to people in the town of Chester. He was ordained by 6 fellow Presbyterians on May 9, 1687 and as more tolerance grew Henry and his fellow believers could come out of the shadows. He would end up serving for 24 years as the Presbyterian minister of Chester, England and writing a tome in the process.
