Matthew Henry was born prematurely on the 18th day of October 1662, the second son of Philip Henry, in the village of Broad Oak, in the chapel of Iscoyd, Flintshire, Wales. His father Philip was a non-conformist and under the Act of Uniformity of 1662, he was ejected from the Church of England.

As a child Matthew was sickliness personified, yet this did not lessen his somewhat precocious learning-nature. Mr. William Turner was Matthew’s first tutor, but most of his education in the early years was due to his father. Matthew was blessed that unlike most of his fellow-sufferers, Philip Henry was possessed of private means, and was able to provide a good education for his son. On July 21st, 1680 young Mr. Henry was accepted to the academy of Thomas Doolittle of Islington, and stayed until 1682.

Then on the 30th day of October, 1683, soon after coming of age, he inherited estate of Bronington, Flintshire, from his maternal grandfather, Daniel Matthews. On the advice of Rowland Hunt of Boreatton, Shropshire, he entered Gray's Inn to study law, on May 6th 1685.

In June 1686 he began to preach near where his father lived. In January of 1687 a business matter took him to Chester, he preached in private homes, and they asked Matthew to settle in Chester taking over the duties of minister with the Presbyterian congregation. He gave his conditional assent, and returned to Gray's Inn to wrap things up there. He was ordained privately in London on May 9th 1687, at the house of Richard Steel by six ministers; beginning his ministry at the Chester Presbyterian Church on the 2nd of June 1687.

On the 19th of July, 1687, just one month after his ordination, he married Katherine Hardware; she, the only daughter of Samuel Hardware of Bromborough, Cheshire. A year and a half later Katherine died in child-birth, on the 14th of February, 1689; she was 25 years old, being survived by her new-born daughter Katherine. The following year on July 8th, 1690, Henry married Mary, the daughter of Robert Warburton of Hefferstone Grange, Cheshire. Then, when in 1691 a ministers’ fellowship was begun Matthew became a spirited member of that number.

In September of 1699 construction on a new meeting-house started; opening the following August, 1700; this was a joyous year for Matthew, for Mary gave birth to Philip their only child. In November of 1704, Reverend Henry began the labors of his Biblical commentating, which was based on his expository preaching. The church grew and in 1706 seating had to be increased to accommodate 350 congregants. Including his work at the church in Chester, he held monthly services at five villages that were nearby; he also preached to the imprisoned. The first volume of Matthew Henry’s commentary was published in 1708, and four other volumes followed, bringing the total to five and a uniformed edition appeared for the first time in 1710.

That same year of 1710, he accepted the position of pastor at Hackney, but he did not take the pulpit until May 18th, 1712. Matthew Henry was to spend only two years as pastor at Hackney, for he was at the end of his ministry. He was still in a position to complete the expository work on the book of Acts before his passing, although it was an unpublished sixth volume. He died of a cerebral stroke on June 22nd, 1714; survived by his wife Mary, his daughter Katherine and his son Philip.

As we read the commentary of Matthew Henry, we must keep in mind that the Revelation and the Epistles were written by thirteen non-conformist ministers; but we are blessed to have the whole of the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Acts by his hand. Matthew Henry, a devout Christian, a gifted pastor, an insightful commentator and a Trail-Blazer of the Church.