Ardent love or desire introduced, as passionately longing to please and glorify the Divine Being, to be in every respect conformed to him, and in that way to enjoy him.

He is buried at Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton next to Jerusha who died in February 1748 as a result of contracting tuberculosis from nursing Brainerd. Indeed classes began in Dickinson's house in May 1747 while Brainerd was recovering there. During this period he started a school for Native American children and began a translation of the Psalms.

As a result his biography has become a source of inspiration and encouragement to many Christians including missionaries such as William Carey and Jim Elliot and Brainerd's cousin the Second Great Awakening evangelist James Brainerd Taylor (1801–1829). During his short life he was beset by many difficulties.