\,
(
n
**'•*'•»' •?•• •
-
y
7
A .'•:
QUA *&&*&? #^'*&»*i *T iw'c&&*& vu*^*/*£?7r*J
i^lTIl^ &-4**,£*m
&/•($>* *#
COMMENTARY
UPON
G E N E S I S.
Imprimatur;,
Lambeth*,
JMaii
COMMENTARY
U PON THE
FirftBookof MOSES,
CALLED
GENESIS.
505695
B Y ai. 3.50
The Right Reverend Father sn GOD,\
S YMO N> Lof d BifHop of ELY.
E 0 N D 0 Ns
Primed for EK Cljlflaell, at the ^ and Crown in St. ^W's Ckurch'TanL MDCCIV,
THE
AVING been perfaaded to pnt
together fome fcattered Notes ,
which I long ago made upon fe*
veral f laces of Holy Scripture^ I
began the laft Tear to conftder fome Texts in
the Book AGENESIS. Where I
foon found there would be a nee e flit y of ma-
tyng an entire Commentary, upon a good fart
of it : And therefore J refolded to go throngh
the whole, in the fame manner as I had done
the three fir ft Chapters.
After I had fimfied the better half of nty Work^ I was informed that Monfleur TClerk had pnblifud a Critical Commentary upon
A the
r a E p A G E.
the fame Bvokj But whether lhave concurred its any thing with him^or contradt&ed him J am not able to fry, having wanted lei fife to pentfe his W<n\> by reafon of the Publicly Bti/inefs, which came upon me in the end of the lear When I lify- ivife under flood that a very Learned Friend and brother had put into the Prefs, Annota tions nfon all the Five Bool^s of Mofes. But by wwwnnictting fame of our Papers to each othjr, r^fq^iAd tkefa frvuld be no rta* fon, that eitfter of uf fhould lay a fide our Defign ^ but go on^ in our federal ways^ to make the Scriptures better under flood , by all forts of Perfons : >Fot till hetpf lyre little enough in thi* Age ^ which feems to takg plea- fure in being ignorant of the moft important Truths.
In which vre are fo particularly inftrn&ed by Mofes5 as by no other Author^ nor by all the Au thors that are, or have been known to be^ extant in the World. For to him we owe the Knowledge of the beginning of the Worlds of the fir ft Parents ef Mankind i the Inverters of Arts , the Original of Nations ; the Founders of Kingdoms and Em pires ; t he Inftitution vf Laws , the Fountain of Religious Rites , Yea, of all the ancient My- thology\ and) which is ntoft conftderable^ the
means
PREF
means of propagating that Senfe of God and of Religion j which Mankind brought into the World with them , and how rt came to be cor rupted.
Jhsre have beeittl&fe whobwe tatyn the It- btrty to fay ^t hat it is impojjihfavo give aty Me\ rable Account of the Creation 'of the World, in Six Days ; pfthe Situation of Pafadife, the Fall of our ^t^^rMtf\byth^fedn&iohof^ Serpent^ &c. But, I hope, I have made it appear , there is no ground for fuch prefuffipiuous Words : But wry good neafea to bdi&ve every thing that Mo* fes%ath Y elated ^with^t for faking the literal Sence^ and betaking ow felvesto, I do not fyiow titha*, Allegorical Interpretations^ articularly^ I find the Truth of what I have noted concernifrgP&radiki very much confirmed by a Learned and Judici* ous Dijccurfe of Monf. Huetfus ; which I did not meet withal^ till / had made an end of thefe rCommentaries: But thentovk^a review of what I had written^ aud found cattft to correct what I bad noted out of Mr. Carver \concernirig the Spring ^/Tigris a#d Euphrates. 1 might alfo have given ^aclearer Account of the ^Deluge, if lhad obferved fo we things ) which are come to my notice fwte thefe fapers went to the frefs ; But^ I hope, I
A a have
The PR. EF A c E.
have fa id enough to wince that it is not fo in ere* dible, as fowe have pretended. F0r, having made thetargeftConceJpons concerning the height b of the highefi Mountains** which^according to the old 0- pinMX* frhave allowed way he thirty Miles high, Gen.VH 19. (whereas if infleadof thirty ^1 bad faidnot above three perpendicular, I had had the be ft of the Modern Philofopbers to defend me) it appears there might be Water enough to cover the loftiest of them \ <*$ Mofes hath rela ted.
Whofe acccunt of the Families by whom the Earth wot peopled after the Flood) is fo furpri- fwgly agreeable to all the Records that remain in any Language $ the fever al Nations of theEarth% that it carries with it an uncontrouLble Evi dence of his Sincerity and frnrfe, as well as of his admirable IJniverfal Knowledge. For of there is no Writer that h#th given u$ an Account of fo many Nations <>and fo remote as he bath done : So he hath not fatted hiwfelfwitb naming them \ but acquainted m with their Original^ and told w at what r/we, and from what place, and on what occasion they were differ fed into far diftant Countries. And this with /uch brevity , that he hath informed n$ of more in one Chapter jhan we eanfnd in the great Volumes of all other Authors :
Having
The PR E F A C^E;
Uwing fhownw from whom all thofe People de» fcetidtd\ who are jpread over the Face of the Earth, from the Cafpian and Perfian Sea^ to Hercules his Pillars (as the Ancients fpeak^) that is, all the World over.
to fart, what foe ver is wo ft ancient in thofe Countries, 'which are fart heft from all Commerce with hit own, is clearly explained by Mofeg -° wkofe Writings therefore cannot but be highly va lued by all thofe who will apply their Minds feri- oufly to the fludy of them. For if they, who now have no regard to him? would but compare what he hath written on the fore-named Subject) with what they find inthvf^'tfeafhen Writers^ whom they have in the greateft veneration^ they would be forced to confefs him to be a Man of wonder ful ^nderjkanding ; and could not rzafonably doubt he had an exaSl kpowledge of the* Truth of, thofe things > whereof he wrote* To this pu*po(er I rttmmber^ the-jawows Bochartus fpeakfy who hath given the greateji Li%ht to the Tench of Genefis y wherein theft things are delivered.
And truly, it is fowe wonder, That they who (oWnchcry up the Egyptian Learnwg, fbouldnot eajily grant (unlefs they will bdteve all Hiftori* ansbxt only^ofe whom we acccurt Sacred) that
Mofes
. "The P R E F AC EC
Mofes mnft needs be qualified^ even without the help of Divine Revelation (which he certainly had^) to write both of their Original, and of all thofe who were related to them » being bred up in their Country } nay, in their Court till he wo* XL Tears old j and well verftdin all the Wifdomfhat was to be found among them, A &s VII. 22* Whith Wijdom of theirs, I doubt not, was much augmented by Abraham'/ living among them<>(a$ 1 have obferved upon XI J I 2.) but efpecially by JofephV long Government of that Country Jor the fpace of LXXX Tears :Wh&wat indued with fuch an incomparable Spirit, that the wifeft Men among them learnt of him \for he taught their Senators Wifdom* ffalm CV. 22. And^ in lify manner , Mofts lived XL Tears more among the Midia- nites5 rvhere, it appears by Jethro, there wanted not Ferfons of great Knowledge. And from thence he might enfily be inftm&td in all that the A- rabians^f?en? *• Who were no mean People (it ap pears by the Story of job and his three Friends^ and Elihu, who is Juppofed by fonie to have wrote that admirable Book^) and were near Neighbours to the mojl famom Nations of the Kaftern Conntries 5 From whom, it is evident by this Hijlory, aft Learning^ Art s^ and Sciences originally came,
I
The PR E FA c E; .-,,-,
I could add a great deal more to this purpofe ; bat the Keader^ I hope^ will find enough to fa- titjie him in the Commentary it felf. And there fore I jkall only tnakg this one Kequeft to hinh That he would taty his Bible and read every Verfe intirdy along with /^Commentary •• For I have not fet down every Word of the Text , for fear of {welling this Work^nntotoo great a Bulk*
April 10. 1694,
AN
t
Chapter I.
A
COMMENTARY
UP ON THE
CALLED
GENESIS,
THat MOSES wrote this and the Four fol lowing Books hath been fo conftantly be lieved, both by Jews, Chriftians, and Hea thens, that none, I think, denied it, till Aben Ezra (a Jewifh Doftor, who lived not much above five hundred Years ago) raifed fome Doubts about it, in his Notes upoti the Ftrjl of Deuteronomy ^ out of XII Paffages in thefe Books themfelves : Which he pretended could not be his, but the Words of a later Author. But when 1 meet with thofe places, I (hall make it appear, that all fuch Exceptions are very frivolous, and ought not to (hake our belief of this Truth, That thefe Five Books were penned by MOSES and no Body elfe.
The firft is called GENESIS, becaufe it con tains the Hiftory of the Creation of the World, with
B which
2 A COMMENTARY
Chapter which it begins $ and the Genealogy of the Patri- I, archs, down to the Death of Jojepb, where it ends. L/"VNJ It comprehends an Hiftory of Two thoufand three hundred and fixty nine Years, or thereabouts: The truth of all which it was not difficult for Mofes to know , becaufe it came down to his time5 through but a very few Hands. For from Adam to Noah% there was one Man (Metbufdali) who lived fo long as to fee them both. And fo it was from Noah to Abraham: Shew converted with both. Aslfaacdidi with Abraham and Jojeph : From whom thefe things might eafily be conveyed to Mofes^ by Amram ^ who lived long enough with Jofeph. In (hort, Mofes might have been confuted, if he had written any thing but the Truth, by learned Men of other Na tions, who fprang from the fame Root, and had the like means of being acquainted with the great things here reported by Tradition from their Fore-fathers : Who lived fo long in the beginning of the World, that they more certainly tranlmitted Things to their Pofterity. Befides, it is not reafonable to think, they had not the ufe of Writing as we have 5 whereby they conveyed the knowledge of Times foregoing, to thofe that came after.
Verfe i. Verfe i. In the beginning."] The World is not eternal, but had a beginning, as all Philofophers ac knowledged before Ariftotle. So he himfelf informs us, L. 1. de Ccehy cap. 2. (fpeaking of the ancient
Opinions concerning the Original of the World) T&6/A&W fjwv Sv a7TO7fc£ *T) pacJv, they all f aid it had a
beginning : But fome thought it might have no End 5 others judged it to be corruptible.
God created."] He who is Eternal gave a Being to this great Fabrick of Heaven and Earth, out of No
thing.
ttpon GENESIS, 5
thing. It is obferved by Eufebiu* (in the beginning Chapter of his Book De Prapar. Evang. p. 21, €^25. Edit. I. Parif.) That neither the ancient Hiflorians, nor the Philofophrs, do fo much as mention GOD, *>& p*%gi &QiAcil&., no, not fo far as to name him, when they write of the beginning of the World. But this Di vine Law-giver, defigning to hang the whole Frame of his Polity, upon Piety towards GOD, and to make the Creator of all, the Founder of his Laws, begins with him. Not after the manner of the fc~ gyptiaMs and Phoenicians, who be do wed this adora ble Name, upon a great Multitude : But puts in the Front of his Work, the Name of the fole Caufe of all Things : the Maker of whatfoever is feen or un- feen. As if he had told the Hebrew Nation, That he who gave them the Law contained in thefe Books, was the King ani Law-giver of the whole World : Which was, like a great City, governed by him. Whom therefore he would have them look upon, not only as the Enafter of their Laws 5 but of thofe alfo which all Nature obeys. See L. VII. De Pr<epar. Evang. c. 9, 10. & L. XII. r. 1 6.
The Heaven and the Earth."] The Hebrew Particle Eth, put before both Heaven and Earth, fignifies as much as with, if Maimonides underftood it aright} and makes the Sence to be this : He created the Hea vens, with att things in the Heavens, and the Earth with all things in the Earthy as his Words are in More Ne- vocMm, P. H. cap. 50, Certain it is thefe two words, Heaven and Earth, comprehend the whole vifible World. Some would have the Angels compre hended in the word Heaven^ particularly Epiphan/M, H9eref.LXV-n.45-. £>* %&*& £ yy £ vA/eAoi o«7id&ii- But others of the Fathers are of a different B 2 Opi-
4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Opinion, as Petavms there obferves. It is a pretty I. Conceit ofTbeofhlltts Antiochenvs, L\\. ad Atttolychuvr, ^x-v^^ That the Heavens are mentioned before the Earth^ to fliovv that God's Works are riot like ours : For he begins at the top, we at the bottom: That is, he firft made the firft Stars and all beyond them, (To I take the word Heaven here to fignifie) for they, had a > beginning, as well as this lower World, though they do not feem to be comprehended in ^ fix days Work* which relates only to this Planetary World^ as I may call it, which hath the Sun for its Center. And thus Phth underftood the firft word Berefchjth, in the beginning, to refpeft the order wherein things were created. God began his Creation with the Heaven^ as the moft noble Body, and then proceeded to the Earth 5 an account of which follows.
Verfe 2^ Ver, z. And the Earth was without form, &C.1] Some conned this Verfe with the foregoing, by tranflating the firft Verfe in, this manner, When God firft created^ or began to create, the Heaven and the Earth , the Earth was without form, S>c. That is, at firft be only created a rude Matter of thofe things, which after wards were fafhioned as we now fee them.
Without form. ~\ A confufed, indigefted heap, with out arvy order or fhape.
Andvold^] Having no Beafts, nor Trees, nor Herbs, nor any thing elfe, wherewith we now behold it adorned.
So thefe two words, Tohn Vabohu, are ufed in Scrip ture, where we meet with them ("which is not of ten) for confufeon and emptinefs, XXXIV. Ifaiab n. IV. jfer.ij. Beingadefcriptionof that which the An cients called the CHAOS (of which the Barbari ans had a Notion, no lefs- than the Greeks) wherein
the
upon GENESIS 5
the Seeds and Principles of all things were blended Chapter together. This is called, in the Pagan Language, by I. Epicharvtvt, Tr/saw 0^, the firft of the Gods: Be- ^~ caufe all things fprang out of this $ which wasindeed the firft of the Works of God, who, as Mofes (hows in the fequel, produced this beautiful World out of this CHAOS.
And darknefs was upon the face of the deep.~\ No thing was to be feen, for want of Light : Which lay buried, as all things elfe did, in that great Abyfs, or vaft confufed heap of Matter before-mentioned. So the Hebrew word Tehom fignifies (which we tranf- late deep) tumult and turbid confufion : The firft Mat ter being very heterogeneous, as they fpeak, i. e. of various forts and kinds, hudled together without di- ftin&ion.
And the Spirit of God moved."] Men have been ex- treamly fanfiful in the Expofition of thefe plain Words: Some underftanding by the Spirit of God, the Sun^ which gives Spirit and Life to all things up on Earth} others the Air, or the Wind: When as yet there was no Sun in the Firmament, nor any Wind that could ftir, without the Power of the Almighty toexcite it. This therefore we are to underfhnd to be- here meant } The Infinite Wifdom, and Power of God, which made a vehement Commotion, and mighty Fermentation (by raifing, perhaps, a great Wind) upon the FacecftheWaters: That is, on that fluid Matter before-mentioned, to feparate the parts of it one from the other.
Waters^] That which Mofes before called the Deep, he now calls the Waters.- Which plainly (hows that fome Parts of the confufed Mafs, wcre////d and tight 5 as other Parts vt&zfolid and heavy* The hea vy
6 A COMMENT4RT
Chapter vy naturally funk, which he calls the Earth ^ and the I. lighter Parts got above them, which he calls theff*-
L/"VNJ tcrs: For it is clearly intimated the Waters were up- pemnoft,
The Word we here tranflate moved, fignifies lite rally brooded upon the Waters, as an Hen doth upon her Eggs. So the ancient and modern Interpreters hive obferved : And Morinus, who oppofes it, hath faid nothing to make us doubt of this Sence of the Phraie. From whence fome have, not unhappily, conje&ured, the Ancients took their Notion of a ^ff&lvywov <x>%v, a fir (I laid Egg, "out of which all things were formed. That is, the CHAOS Cout of which all the old Philofophers, before Ariftotle, thought the World was produced) confifting of Earth and Water, of thicker and thinner Parts, as an Egg doth of 20/4 and White.
Now the Spirit of God thus moved upon the Wa ters, that by its incubation (as we may call it) k might not only feparate, as I faid, thofe Parts which were jumbled together 3 but give a vivifick Virtue to them, to produce what was contained in them. The Souls and Spirits, that is, of all living Crea tures, were produced by the Spirit of God, as Por phyry faith Nuwemttf underftood it. For his Opini on, he tells us, was, That all things came out of the Water Sioi&vfy w1i, being Divinely infpired : For which he quoted thefe words of the Prophets, as he called Mofes. See Porphyry, -mfi Tfc Ny/jp'Awpa, on thofe words of Homer:
Which gives us to underftand, that the Spirits of all living Creatures ( which we call their Aftive Forms)
did
upon GENESIS. 7
did not arife out of Matter, for that is ftupid; butCharter proceeded from this other Principle, the Powerful I. Spirit of God, which moved upon the Face ofthe Waters, by a vital Energy, (as St. Chryfoftom fpeaks) fo that they were no longer (landing Waters, but mo ving* having ^ornxZw) rivet, VKJUOL^V, a certain living Power in them. From whence we may alfo ga ther, that the Spirits of living Creatures are diftinft things from Matter 3 which of it felf cannot move at all, and much lefs produce a Principle of Mo tion.
And thus indeed all the Ancient Philofophers ap prehended this Matter: And fome of them havemoft lively exprefled it. For Laert twin the Life of Ana- xagoras tells us5 that he taught among other things,
all things were hndled together : And then the Mind came and fet them in order. Ahd Thales before him (zsTully informs us, L.I. de Nat, Deor.) Aquam dixit, ejje initium rerum : Deum autem earn mentew qua ex aqub cunfta fingerett) faid, Water was the beginning of wings : And God that Mind who formed all things out of the Water.
By the Spirit of God fome of the ancient Jews have under flood the Spirit of the Mejfiak, fas Hacfapa* obferves in his Cabala Judaica, n. LXVI. out of Baal Hatturim^ the Hierufalem Tdrgum, 8cc.) which ex plains the Evangelift St. John^ who in the beginning of his Gofpel fays, all things were made by the Eter nal AOFOS or WORD of God, (the fame with theN& of the ancient Philofophers) whofe Almighty Spirit agitated the vaft confufcdMafs of Matter, and put it into Form*
8 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 3. And Godfaid^] Thefe words are taken
I. notice of by Longmn^ *&*), 84**, as a truly lofty ex-
L^VNJ preffion 5 wherein appears -the Wifdom of Mofit,
Verfe 3. who reprefentsGbd like' himfelf, commanding things
into Being by his Y/ofd $ that is, by his Will: For
wherefoever we read thefe words in the Hiftory of
the Creation, Hifaid, the meaning muft beunderftood
; to be He willed, as Mdmomdes interprets ic, More
- Nev. R I. cap. 65. This Juftin Martyr demonft rates
Orphetts had "learnC'oiit of Mofcs his Books, when
he fwears by the Heaven, the Work of the Great
; and Wife God, and by the Word of the Father, which
hefpakeatfirji, when he eftablifo'd all the World
by his Couniels. So his words are in n*e£^T- &
*E/9wa$, p. 1 6.
And as there is nothing more famous in Antiquity than the TD 'Of^r <wi», Orpheut his Egg, which I be fore mentioned 5 fo it is remarkable that the F-gypti- ans famong whom Orpheus travelledj defcribed their God KENEPH, with an Egg corhing out of his Mouth: Which was a lively Reprefentation of this World (noted by the Egg) produced by God's Omnipotent Word. For how richly foever the CHAOS was furniQied with Materials, it would have brought forth nothing, without his Powerful Motion, and Wife Contrivance, by whom it was created. So Anaxagoras himfelf refolved v£v JMV «^!M? Hwhivs-i that Mind was the Principle of Motion, (as Laertivs tells us in his Life) by which Mind he un- derftood God, as others have reported his Opinion more largely in thefe admirable words. The Begin ning of aU things is 5 NSs, the Mind, who is the Caufe and the Lord of the whole World ^ and gave m%v TO^ % uwvff TO?; -aMfflJims, &c. order to things in
difordtr,
upon GENESIS. 9
and motion to things iwmoveabh, and di- Chapter to things confttfed^ and beauty to things de* I. formed.
Let there be Light J] Having fpoken of the Crea tion of all things, now follows an account of their Formation out of that rude Matter which was at firft created. And the firft thing produced was Light ; \v\\\ch Greg. Nazianzen (Ontf. XLIII. £.699. a.) calls a-rw ,ua,Tov ^ ani Aioi>, becaufe it was not yet colleffed in to a Body, as it is now in the Sun. Others think it to have been a dimmer fort of Light from the Sun, not yet perfe&ly formed. Abarbind (upon the XL ofExodxt) takes this to be the SCHECHINAH, the moft excellent of all created things, called, in Holy Scripture, the Glory of the LORD 5 which God, faith he, fealed up in his Treafures, after the Lumi naries were created, to ferve him upon fpecial Oc- caiions, (for inftance, to lead the Ifraelites in the Wildernefs, by a cloudy Pillar of Fire) when he would make himfelf appear extraordinarily Prefent. And becaule of the Perfe&ion of this Light he fanfies it is that Mofes fays in the next Verfe, That God Jaw the Light ("repeating the word Light) that it VHK good : Whereas in all the reft of the Six Days Work, he only fays, He/in? it was good^ without naming a- gain the thing he had made.
But it feems to me moft rational by this Light^ to underftand, thofe Particles of Matter, which we call F/re, (whofe two Properties, every one knows, are Light and Heat) which the Almighty Spirit that formed all things, produced as the great Inftrument, for the Preparation and Digeftion of the reft of the Matter } which was ftill more vigoroufly moved and agitated, from the top to the bottom, by this reft-
C lefs
IQ A COMMENT A RT
Chapter lefs Element, till the purer and more (bining Parts I. of it, being feparated from the grofler, and united
L/'V'NJ in a Body fit to retain them, became Light.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. And God faw the Light, that it was good.~] He was pleafed in this Work of his, as agreeable to his Oefign. Which for the preient was (we may conceive) to influence the upper Parts of the CHA OS, and to be the Inftrument of Karefaftion, Sepa ration, and all the reft of the Operations, which were neceflary to mold it into fuch Creatures, as were afterwards made out of it.
And God divided the Light -from the Darknefs.~\ Ap pointed that they fhould conitantly fucceed one ano ther 5 as we fee they do now, that this Light is em bodied in the Sun 3 and as they did then, by the cir cular Motion of this firft Light of Fire, round a-- bout the CHAOS, in the fpace of Twenty-four Hours} which made it Day to thofe Parts where it Chined^ and Night, where it did not. It is remark able how Mofes afcribes every thing to GOD, the Former of all things 5 who by making this Light move round about the Chaos, (till more prepared ,c and ex alted the remaining, indigefted, Parts: of Matter, for their feveral ufes.
Verfe 5 Ver. 5. And God calkd the Tight, day^ ajtdthe darkc nefs he called Night.'} He fetled them (that is) ia fuc.h a-conftant Courfe, that it gave them thefe di- fti,n£f Names,
And the Evening and, the Morning were the firft Day-^ In the Hebrew Language, Evening and Morning figni- fi^ a whole Day 5, which the: Motion of this Light n6a"4e, if we conceive it to have been formed about Noon, and to have gone round the fore-mentioned Heap of Matter in Twenty-four Hours.
How
upon GENESIS. ii
How long all things continued in mere Confufi- Chapter on, after the CHAOS was created, before this I. Light was extra&ed out of it, we aje not told. It L/"V\J might be (for any thing that is here revealed) a great while $ and all that time the mighty Spirit was raaking fuch Motions in it, as prepared, difpofed, and ripened every Part of it, for tuch Productions as were to appear fucceffively in fuch fpaces of time, as are here, and afterward mentioned by Mofes 5 who informs us, That after things were fo digefted, and made ready (by long Fermentations perhaps) to be wrought into Form, God produced every day, for fix davs together, fome Creature or other, till all was finifhed ^ of which Light was the very firft. Th\saMazMmldes hath very happily illuftrated,inhis More Nevochim, P. II. c. 30. where he obferving that all things were created at once, and then were af terwards feparated one from another fucceffively $ • he fays, their wife Men referable this proceeding to that of a Husbandman, who fows feveral Seeds in the Earth at the fame moment 5 fome of which are to come up after one day, others after two, and others not till three days be paft $ though the whole fowing was in one and the fame moment. Thus God made all things at the firft, which did not ap pear together ^ but, in the fpace of fix Days, were formed and put in order one afcer another: Light being the Work of the firft Day.
Ver. 6. And God faid, Let there 'be a firmament!] Verfe 6. • The next thing that God commanded to come forth of the Chaos, was the Air } particularly, that Region next to us, wherein the Fowls fly, as it is expounded after wards, verfe 20. The Hebrew word Rachia properly fignifies a Body expanded, or fpread forth, (as may be
C i feen
A COMMENTARY
feenin FaW. XXXIX, ^Ifai. XL.I9- jfer.X.p. where it can have no other meaning) but is by the LXX. tra Dilated ztpiu^, and from thence by us, Firma ment 5 became the Air, though vaftly extended and fluid, yet continues firm and ftable in its place.
In the wrJ.ft of the Waters, and let it divide the Wa ters from the (-'I aters.'] This Region pf the Air, ma- nifeftly parts the Waters above it in the Clouds, from thofe below it, here upon Earth 5 the one of which Waters bear a good proportion, and are in fome mea- fure equal unto the other 5 for there are vaft Treafures of Water in the Clouds; from whence the Waters here below, in Springs and Rivers are fupplied. This appeared afterwards in the Deluge, which was partly made by continued Rains for many days. The great Objeftion againft this Expofition is, That now there were no Clouds, neither had it, after this, rained on the Earth, Gen. II. 6. But itmuft be confidered, That neither were the Waters below, as yet gathered into one place : And therefore Mofes here fpeaks of the Air, as a Body intended to be ftretched between the Waters above and beneath, when they Ihould be formed.
That the Clouds above are called Waters in the Scripture- Language, is plain enough from PfalwClV. 3. Jer.X. 13, and other places.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. And God made the firmament, and di vided, &c."] What his Divine Will ordered, his Power effe&ed 5 by that Light which rowled about the CHAOS, and that Heat which was excited within it 5 whereby fuch Exhalations were rai fed, as made the Firmament. That is, the thicker Parts of them made this Region of the Air^ which is the low>- er firmament^ verfe 20. And the thinner Parts of
them
upon GENESIS- 13
them made the JEther, or higher Firmament^ where- Chapter in the Sun and the Planets are feated, verfe 14, 15. I.
Ver. 8. And God caOcd the firmament Heaven^] o^\^*^-* Made it fo different from the reft of the Mafs, cal- Verfe 8. led Earth, that it had the Name of Heaven, to di- fti nguifh it from the other. So all above the Earth is called, as appears by the following part of the Chapter^ in the Verfe s now mentioned. And that's the very import of the word Schamaim, which, in the Arabic^ Language, (as JEben Ezra obferves) fignifies heighth or altitude.
And the Evening and the Morning were the fecond Day^] This was the Work of another whole Day. Concerning which it is commonly noted, That it is not faid of this, as of all the Works of the other five Days, Godfaw that it was good. What thereafon of this (hould be, is enquired by all Interpreters 5 and the mod folid Account that I can find of it, is this $ That the Waters mentioned upon this Day, were not yet feparated and diftinguilhed from the Earth .- And therefore in the next Day's Work, when he did ga ther the Waters together, verfe 10. and when he com manded the Earth (which was become dry) to bring forth, verfe 12. thefe words, God faw that it was good, are twice repeated. Which made Picherellw and Ger.Fcffiw, think the two next Verfes (9, 10.) belonged to the fecond Days Work 5 and that the firft words of the ninth Verfe (hould be thus tranflated, And God had faid^ Let the Waters under the Hea ven.. &c. And fo the words in the end of the tenth Verfe > Godfaw that it was good> relate to the fecond Day. L.2,de Orig. Idolol. c. 67,
Ver,
A COMMENT ART
Ver. 9. And God faid^ Let: the Waters under the. Heaven^ All the Waters which continued mixed with the Earth, and covered the Surface of it. Verie 9. Be gathered together, &c.] Colle&ed into one Bo dy by themfelves.
And let the dry Land appear."] Diflrinft and feparate from the Waters.
There being fuch large Portions of Matter drawn out of the CHAOS, as made the Body of Fire and Air before-mentioned, there remained in a great Bo dy, only Water and Earthy but they fo jflmbled to gether, that they could not be diftinguifhed. It was the Work therefore of the third Day, to malre a 'Separation between them } by comparing together all the Particles which make the Earth, which before was Mud and Dirt $ and then, by rafifing It abdve the Waters which covered its Superficies, (as the Pfd- t»ift alfo defcribes this Work, Pfalm CIV. 6.) atid, lajlly, by making fuch Caverns in it, as were fufficient to receive the Waters into them. Now this we may conceive to have been done by fuch Particles of Fire as were left in the Bowels of the Earth : Whereby fuch Nitro-fulphureous Vapours were kindled, as roadeian Earth-quake 5- which both lifted up rtie Earth, aindailb made Receptacles for the Waters to run into 5 as the Pfalmift (othefWife I fhou Id not ven ture to mention this) feems in the fore- mentioned place to 'illuftrate it^ Pfalm CIV. 7. where he fays, At thy relmfy they (i.e.»the Waters) fled 5 at the voice of : thy" tlmnder 'they haft-ed'away. And fo God himfelf (peaks, Job XXX VII I. 10. rbrakeupfor it (i.e. for the Sea) my decreed place, and fet bars, and doors. Hifcories alfo tell us, of Mountains that have been, in feveral Ages, lifted up by Earth-quakes ^ nay,
Iflands
npon GENES! S. 15
Iflands in the mid ft of the Sea : Which confirms this Chapter Conjecture, That poffibly the Waters were, at the I. firft, feparated by this means, and Co feparated, that L/~Y"NJ they fhould not return to cover the Earth. For the Word, in the beginning of this Verfe, which we tran- flate gathered^ comes from Kav, which fignifies a Square, a Rule, or perpendicular Line : And therefore denotes they were moft exaftly collefted, and fo poi- fed in (uch juft Proportions, that they fhould not a- gain overflow the dry Land.
This Work of God (" whereby the Waters were fent down into their proper Channels, and the Earth made dry, and fitted for the Habitation of fuch Crea tures, as were afterwards created) is obferved by Strabo in his Geography as an Aft of Divine Provi dence, L. XVII. Becaufe, fays he, the Water covered the Earth, and Man is not Iv'jfr&v ££ev, a Creature that can live in the Water, God made c%o%a$ e^ ry yy ^73?v\as ^ G^O;^, See. many Cavities and Kecepta- des in the Earth for the Watery and raifed the Earth above it, that it might be fit for Man's Habitation.
Ver. 10. And called the dry Land^ Stcf) This i$yerfe i fufficiendy explained, by what hath been faid upon Ferfe 5, & 8; only this may be added, That the word Eretz, Earth, in Arabic^ fignifies any thing that is low and funk beneath, oppcfite to Schamajm, Heavens, which in that Language, as I noted before, fignifies. high and lifted up.
Ver. n. And God fatd, Let the Earth bring /orfAVerfe II grafs, the Herb yielding, 8cc«3 Or, rather, it (hould be tranflated, and the Herb yielding^ Sec. though the copula be omitted, which is ufual in Scripture : Parti cularly in Habak: III. 1 1 , the Sun, Moon, 5. e. the Sun and Muon.
Mo-
16 AGO UME NT ART
Chapter Mofes having fhown how the firft Matter, (ver. 2. I. and then the Elements of things, as we call them (ver.
L/'WJ 3,6,9, 10.) were produced, he proceeds to the Pro- du&ion of more compounded Bodies. And here an account is given of all forts of Vegetables, which are ranged under three Heads :, Grafs, which comes up every Year without fowing^ Herbs, bearing a Seed, which comprehends (as Abarbinel here notes) all fort of Corn, and whatfoever is fown^ and Trees, which alfobear Fruit. There are feveral kinds of all thefe :, which iome have caft into Eighteen^ others into Si xand thirty Clafles; none of which could at the firft fpring out of the Earth, of it felf, by the power of external and internal Heat, and of the Water mixed with it, (no, not fo much as one fingle Pile of Grafs) without the Almighty Power and Wifdom of God} who brought together thofe Parts of Mat ter, which were fitted to produce them ^ and then formed every one of them, and determined their feve ral Species ^ and alfo provided for their continuance, by bringing forth Seed to propagate their Species to the end of all things. And here it is very remarka ble, how God hath fecured the Seeds of all Plants, with fingular Care : Some of them being defended by a double, nay, a treble inclofure.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And the Earth brought forth Grafs , and the Herb^ &c.] Thefe things did not grow up out of Seed, by fuch a long procefs, as is now required to bring them to Maturity 5 but they fprung up in their Perfe&ion, in the fpace of a Day, with their Seeds in them, compleatly formed, to produce the like throughout all Generations. Thus Mofes gives a plain Account of the firft Produftion of things, ac cording to the natural Method : For fuppofing they
had
upon GEN E S I S. 17
'had a Beginning, the Herb and the Tree muft natural- Chapter ly be before the Seed they bear: As the Hen is be- I, fore the Egg (lie lays. And to make a Queftioh, L/*V*NJ which was firft (as fome of the Philofophers did) is very frivolous $ becaufe that Power which alone could produce the Seeds of all things., could as ea(I- ly make the things themfelves, with a power to pro pagate their Kind, by Seed.
It is therefore moft judicioufly noted by Abarbi- nel, a learned jfnr, That theProdudtionof Plants ih the beginning, differed from their Produ&ion ever fince in thefe two things : Firft^ That they have fprung ever fince out of Seed, either fownbyus, or falling from the Plants themfelves 5 but at the be ginning were brought out of the Earth, with their Seed in them, to propagate them ever after. And, £> cvndly^ They need now, as they have done fince the firft Creation, the influence of the Sun, to make them fprout : But then they came forth by the Power of God, before there was any Sun, which was not form ed till the next Day. Of this laft Theophilw Antio- chenv*^ long before Abarbinel took notice, jL II. ad Autolycu^ where he fays, God produced things in this order 5 forefeeing the Vanity of Philofopbers, who, faying nothing of him, made all things to be produced by the Sun, Sare iff ror^&tcw, out of the Elements. Porphyry himfelf alfo (£,. II. TO£/ ^ra- $s) could obferve out of Theophraftvs, That the Earth brought forth Trees and Herbs before Beads, Siv$£& {MV $ $» Tff%3 tyw dvlSbxt * y^ 5cc. Which Eufebivs remembers in his Prapar. Evang. L. I. c. 9. p. ^8.
Ver. 14. Let there be Lights.*] This is a different Verfe 24. word from what we had, verfe 3, fignifying, as Pan to It*
1 8 A* C
Chapter /^r Fagiw obferves, that which is made out of Light ; I I. luminous Bodies, whereby Light is comn-unicated to us : The Hebrew Particle, Mem, before a word, be ing ufed to exprefs the Inftrument of an Aftion : And lo now we are to conceive, that the Light pro duced ac firft, having for three Days circulated about the Earth, and that near unto it, to further the Pro- duftion of the things before-mentioned, was on this fourth Day diftributed into feveral Lunrinarhs, at a great diftance from the Earth. So it follows $ In the firmament of Heaven , in the upper Region,which we call the JEther-QtSkyi where the Sun and the Pla* nets are placed.
To divide the Day from the Night ~] By a conti nued circular Motion, finifhed in four and twenty Hours,- in one part of which, by the prefence of the Sun, the Day is made ^ and in the other part, by the Sun's abfence, Night is made, in a conftant fuc- ceffion.
And let them be for Signs and for Seafons.~] That IS, for Signs of the Times or Seafons ^ as Ger, Vofllv? ex pounds it, by the Figure of \v §«x>§vtiv. And by Times are meant, the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter: And, by confequence, the Seaibns for Ploughing, Sowing, Planting, Pruning, Heaping, Vintage, Sailing, dv. L. de Scienttis Mathemat*
c- 38-
And for Days^ and Tears'] By a fpeedy fwift Mo tion round, in twenty-four Hours to make Days^ and by a (lower, longer Motion to make Years 5 and a grateful variety of Seafons in the feveral Parts of the Earth, which by this annual Motion are all vifited with the Sun's Beams,
¥er.
-Apia G E N E !§ 1 S. i£
Ver. 15. 'And let them be for Light, &c/] 'i.e. Let Chapter them there continue to give conftant Light and I, Warmth to the Earth : And fo they do irnmova- iv^yXJ bly. Verfe 15.
Ver. 1 6. And God made two great Light s~] It is Verfe 1 6. obfervable, that nothing is faid to have been created, fince the firft Matter, out of which all things were made or formed. And the two great Lights, or Lu minaries, Iniightners, (as the wordfignifies) are the Sun, which Enlightens us by Day 5 and the Moon, '-.which inlightens us by Night. The Moon indeed is not to 'great as the reft of the Planets, ("for it is the 'leaftof all, except Mercury.*) but it affords the great- eft Light to us $ by reflecting the Beams of the Sun to !us, in its abfence ^ and thereby very much abating the difconfolate Dirknefs of the Night.
He made the Stars alfoJ] That is, the reft of the Planets, and their Attendants.
Ver. 17. And God fet them in the firmament of He a.- Verfe 17. <ven^ &c^ By the repetition of this fo often, Mofet intended to fix in the Peoples Mind this Notion $ That though the heavenly Bodies be very Glorious, yet they were but Creatures, made by God, and fee or appointed by his Order, to give us Light: And therefore he alone is to be wor(hippedy not they.
It is commonly taken notice of, that there is no mention of the Creation of Angels, in all this Hifto* ry$ nor was there any need of it. For the anci ent Idolatry confiding in the Worftiip of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, (as appears from the very Names of the moft ancient Idols in the Old Teflament^ fuch as Moloch, Afl}taroth,&nd the like,) which they believed to be Eternal Beings : The great Defign of Mofes
D z was
A COMMENtART
Chapter u*as to confute this Opinion, by reprefenting them? I. (over and over) as the Work of the Eternal God 5,
L^VNJ which ftruck at the very Root of Idolatry. The wor- fhip of Angels was a Jater Invention,
Verfe 18. Ver..i8- Audio rule aver the day, and over the Night."] Some have fanfied, that the ancient Idolatry fprung from this word Rule: Men looking uponthefe glorious Lights, as having a Dominion over them. Whence the Sun was called Baal, that is, Lord,or Go vernor, by the Eaftern People 5 and Moloch, that is, King, by the Egyptians. But one word fure was not the ground of fo foul an Error y when the Scope of Mofes was to (how that thefe things were made by an higher Being, and made not to, rule over Men, but over the Day and the Night 5 which the SRQ makes when it rifes and fets, by the order and ap* pointment of God.
And God farv that it wo* gooJI} He was plfcafed with this Work, asfuitable to the end&for which he intended it. The firft Light was gaod (ver. 4.^ for* the purpofe to which it ferved $ which was, by its heat, to agitate, rarifie, and feparate the Matter of the CHAOS, for the making of Air^ and gather ing together the Waters, and drying the Earth, and- producing Grafs, Herbs, and Trees ; which made it neceflary it (hould continue fome Days near to the Earth, that it might powerfully penetrate into the Matter it was to digeft : But, if it (hould have con tinued longer fo near to the Earth, it would not have been good for it 5 becaufe it would have burnt up all the Plants, that the Earth had brought forth 3 and, by its too fcorching heat, havehindred. the Pro- duaion of thofe living Creatures, which were rea dy on the next Day to be made 3 or, at leaft, made
tfe
upon GEN E S I a
the Earth unfit for their Habitation. For the Air, Chapter which alL living things, even Fifties themfelveS} L need, Cnay, the Plants alfo^ which have Veffels for WV\J conveying. Air to all their Parts,) would have been fo very hot, that it would have afforded no refrefti* menttothem: Therefore it VMS good that it ftiould be advanced into the Firmament of the Heaven, and there embodied in thofe Luminaries, which, be ing removed further from us> give fuch a moderate heat as is neceflary. for the prefervation of us, and of all things living that dwell upon the Earth.
Ver. 19, And the Evening^ &c.7|. Thus the fourth Yerfe 19, Day concluded.
Ver. 20. ArtdGodfaidi> Let the Waters, &c.] Now Verfe ttfc God proceeded to form the lower fort of Animals^ or living Creatures, viz. The Ftft9 and the fowl\ which are in many refpefts inferior to Beafts*. And the Fifties are called moving fin the Hebrew^ creep ing') Creatures v becaufe their Bellies touch the Wa» ter, as creeping things do the Earth. Both Fi(hes> and Fowls were made out of theWaters-$ that is, out of fuch Mat ter as was mixed with the Waters> which1 contained in them many things befides fimpk Wa ter 5 for the Sea. and Rivers are ftill very richly fur- nifhed with various Compounds, for the nourifhment of an innumerable multitude of Fifties. The great, congruity that there is between Filh and Fowl in* many particularSj will not let us doubt they had the fame Original: For they are both oviparotM^ which ^ makes them more fruitful than the Beafts of the Earth 3 neither of them have any Teats \ they both - direflr, (and, as I may fay, fteer) their Courfe by their Tail, &c. See Gm Rffim, de Orig. 8f Protr+Idolol. &. III. c. 78,
Ering
A COMMENT ART
Chapter Bring forth abundantly."] That is, various forts of i; both kinds 5 there being many hundred kinds of V^NOwVF/^/, and Birds'^ or Fowls $ many of the latter of which live in the Water, (which (hows their Origi nal to have been from thence,) and others of them live both in the Air and Water. The Formation of theu? Creatures is, in every part of them, very won derful, especially in thole parts whereby they are fitted to fwim, and to fly. Which demonftrate a molt wife Agent, by whofe infinite Power they were fo contrived, as to be able alfo to propagate their Kind.
'Verfe 21. Ver. 2-1. And God created great Whales'] The vafl> •C-» ill nefs of thefe Creatures, perhaps, made Mofes again ufethe word Create, ( which he had not done fmce the beginning of thz Chapter,) notbecaufe they were tnade as the C HAG S was, out of Nothing 5 but becaufe it required a greater Power to make out of the precedent Matter, moving things of fo huge a Bulk, and of fuch great Agility, than to make any other thing hitherto formed.
> The Hebrew word Tanim, which we tranflate
Wfalef, comprehends feveral forts ot great Fifhes, as
Bochartw obferves in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. I. c. 7.
where he (hows the prodigious bignefs of fome of
them. But he fhould have added, that this word
alfo fignifies Crocodiles^ which, he himfelf fliows, are
fet forth in Job XLI. as the moft aftonifhing Work
of God. For Job Ludolplw^ I think, hath demon-
ftrated, that nothing but the Crocodile can be meant
by this word Tanim, in £2,4. XXIX. 3. and XXXII.
2. and fome other places. Vid. L, I. Comment, in
.Hiftor. Mtbhf. Cap. XI. n. 86.
And
upon GEN E S I S.'
And Godfaw that it was goad.} Was pleafed with Chapter ' the Stru&ure of thefe feveral Creatures: Of the I. Birds^ who were fiumfhed with Wings to fly in the Air 5 and of the .'FiJhSs, wtrofe Fins ferve- them to iwim in the Watery' and of Water-fowl^ whofe Feet are formed fo, as to ferve for the fame ufe ; and fome of them (fuch as dive under Water) co vered fo thick with Feathers, and thofe fo fmooth and flippery, (as the Learned and Pious Mr. Ray hath obferved) that the Bodies are thereby de fended from the cold of the Watery which cannot penetrate or moiften them. See Wifdom of God in the Creation^ P. I. p. 135-.
Ver. 22. And God blejjed them, &c.] His bleffing Verfe them, was giving them a Power to multiply and in- creafe, till they had filled the Water with Fi(h, and the Air With Fowl. Which required a particular Gare of Divine Providence, as Abarbinel obferves y becaufe they do not bring forth young ones per- feftly formed, as the Beafts do ; but lay their Eggs in which they are formed, when they are out of their Bodies. This, faith he, is a wonderful thing,. That when the Womb, as we may call it, is fepa- rate from the Genitor, a living Creature like it felf fhould be produced. Which is the reafon, he fan- fie , that a Bkffing is here pronounced upon them, and not on the Beafts, that were made the next Day. The ancient Fathers are wont to obferve, That the Jfrjt r Effing was given to the Waters, as a Type of Baptilm. Theop&lus ad Autolyc. L. II» and Tertuffiaiv
J D -L'/~
de Uapttjwo, cap, 3.
And lei Fowl multiply intheEarthT} There, for* the moft part, they have their Habitation and their; Food 5 though fome live upon the Water*
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 23. See verfe 19.
I. Ver. 24. ^W Godfaid, Let the Earth bring forth.*]
<L/V^sJ Thus by a gradual Procefs, the Divine Power rpro- Verfe 2 3. duced Creatures dill more Noble : The Matter be- Verfe 24. jng mOre digefted and prepared in five Days time, than it was at firft. I do not know whether there beany weight in the Note of Abarbinel^ who obferves that Mofes here ufes a new word, which we tran- flate bring forth ^ to fhow the difference between Plants and Animals. The former of which fpriqg out of the Earth indeed, but continue fix'd in it, and ;peri(h if they be feparated from it: Whereas Ani- ntdls^ though made out of the Earth, and living up on it, have a feparate evidence, and do not ftill ad here to it.
After his /{ind."] Three forts of living Creatures are immediately mentioned, which were formed out of fuch Matter, as rtie Earth afforded, (not fimple Earth, we mu ft underftand, no more than before fimple Water 5 for it was impregnated with many other Principles 3) the firft of which, Belevtah, which we translate Cattle, always fignifies the Flocks and Herds of tame Beads, when it is diftingui(hed from Chaja^ which we tranflate in the end of the Verfc^ Beafts of the Earth^ that is, wild Beads : Between which two, he mentions a third kind of living Crea tures on the Earth, which he calls Rewe/h, creeping things 5 becaufe whatever Feet they have, they arc fo (hort and fmall, that they feem to the naked Eye to have none at all } but to crawl on their Bellies up on the Ground. Of all thefe three kinds, there are various forts wherewith God hath repleniftied the Earth: And of every kind, fome vaftly great, and -others very little .5 as Abarbinel notes even among
-Reptiles,
upon GENESIS. 35
Rtptilef, there being Serpents of a prodigious length, Chapter and other creeping things far fmaller than Ants. I.
Ver. 25. And God ma.de, &c] The Earth did L/VXJ not bring them forth by Virtue of the Influence of Ver^e 25' Heaven, upon prepared Matter : But God framed them out of the Matter fo prepared, and produced them in their full perfection, after their feveral kinds.
And Godfaw It was good."] Was pleafed with the great variety of thefe Creatures, and their compleat Stru&ure, fitting them for their feveral ufes.
Ver. 26. Let us ntake Man."] God not only re- Verfe 26, ferved Man for the laft of his Works} but doth, as it were, advife and confult about his Produ&ion. Not to fignifie any Deliberation within himfelf, or any Dif ficulty in the Work $ but to reprefent to us the Dig nity of Man, and that he was made (as Abarbinel glofles) with admirable Wifdom, and great Pru dence. To the fame purpofe S. Chryfoftom here fpeaks. And fee Greg. Nyjfin^ de Opjficio Homiwsj cap. 3. and Orat. I. on thefe words : With Greg, tfazianzev. Orat. XLIII p. 699. who obferves that God brought him into this World, as into a noble Palace, ready furnifhed with all manner of things. Which is the No tion alfoof Methodius: SzzEpjphanius^ H<eref. LXIV. n. 1 8. It is to be obferved a!fo, That God doth not fay, Let the Earth bring forth Man, as he faid before, verfe 24. of other Animals ^ for the fame Reafon : To reprefent Man as a far more noble Work, than any other upon Earth. For though he was made (as we read in the next Chapter] of the duft of the ground $ yet a greater Power and.Skill was imployed, in producing a Creature of fuch Beauty and Ma- jefty.
E Let
^ C&MMENTARr
Chapter Let u*7\ The ancient Chriftians look'd upon this L as a plain intimation of a Plurality of Perfons in the
L/"V"NJ Godhead, Infomuch that Epiphantw fays, This w the Language of God to his WORD and only Begot ten, a€ all the faithful believe^ HaoWTXXHI; n. x. and fee Htref. XLI V. n. 4. and Haref* XL VI. ». 3. where he fays, Adam was -TnTfXct^iv^ w %&& n&l&s, % ifS, ^ a'^/a wljpuvr©^) formed by the Hand of the Fa ther, and the £?«, and the Holy Ghoft. To which one cannot but incline, who confiders how poorly the Jews expound this place: Who fanfie a kind of Senate or Council of Angels^ without whom God doth nothing, (which they ground uponD^. IV. 14.) whereas there is not the leaft fignification as yet of any fuch Beings 3 much leis, that they had any hand in the making Man 5 who was not made in their Image, but in the Image of God. Yet thus Satur* mitt* foolifhly expounded thefe words, as Fpjphaniuf informs us, in the fore-named H<eref. p. 62. fi- dit. Parif. And Mofes Gervndenfc ftill more foolifb- ly imagines God fpake to the Earth, that it fhould bring forth Man, as it had done other Creatures. But b&aimonides, who magnifies that Saying of (heir Matters, (That God doth nothing without his Coun cil,.) is forced to acknowledge, (More Nevoch. P. IF. cap. 6 ) Thatit is notto be underftood, asifheaskt their Advice, or was affifted by their Judgment, but, only that he ufed them as Instruments in the pro ducing of every thing. Which is direftly contrary to the very words, which are not in the form of a Command^ but of a Confutation before Execution. Others therefore think God fpeaks after the manner of Kings $ who advife with their Council, but do things themfelves: And are wont to fpeak in the
Pin-
upon GENE S I S. ij
Plural Number, when they declare their Pleafure. Chapter But I take this to be a Cuftom much later than the I, Days of Mofes } when they fpake as the King of £- L/"V\J gypt doth tojojeph, Gen. XLI. 41, 44. 1 am Pharaoh $ and fee I have fet thee (not we have fet thee) over the Land of Egypt. In which Stile the King of Per- fa writes long after this, Ezra VI, 8. / Daritts mak? a decree.
All thefe poor fhifts are a plain Confeffion, that they found it very hard (as the Socinians do at this day) to give any account of this way of fpeaking., without granting a Plurality of Perfons in the God head. And therefore Menajjeh Ben Ifrael in his Con ciliator, mentions one of their Doftors, who, in Be- refchhh Rabba, fays, That when Mofes by God's Di- reftion was about to write thefe words, Let us makz Man, he cryed out, 0 Lord of the World, why wilt thou give Men occaflon to err, about thy moft fimple Unity? To which he received this Anfvver, Write as I bid thee $ and if any M.an love to err, let him err. The fame Scory is told by Jofeph Albo* Which (how$ that their Doftors have been long puzzled with thii manner of Speech, which unavoidably fuggefted to their Thoughts, more than One Perfon in the Dei ty : Which till they believe, they are at a lofs what to fay about it.
In our Image, after our Ukgnefs."} Two words (fome think) to exprefs the fame thing : With this diffe rence only, as Abarbinel explains it, That the laft words, after our lifymfi, give us to underftand, that Man was not created properly and perfectly in the Image of God $ but in a refemblance of him. For he doth not fay, in aur lll^nefs (fays that Author,) as he had faid m our Image, but after our likenefs :
E z Where
A COMMENTARY
Chapter where the Caph of Similitude (as they call it) abates I. fomething of the Sence of what follows^ and makes it figntfie only an approach to the Divine Likenefs, in TJnderftanding, freedom of Choice , Spirituality, Im mortality, &c. Thus Tertullian explains it, Habent it- las utique Uneas Dei, qua immortalis anrnta, qua libe- ra & fui arbitrii, qua prafcia pleruntque, qua rationa- lis, capax intellect us & fcienti<e> L. IL contra Mar riott, cap. 9. And fo Gregor. Nyjjen. cap. 16. De Qpific. Horn. Yldvlts Ta $ICLVQ£\&CVI fy 7T£ji£x/\£jtiv SujuafjjLy fyxav, 8cc. All have a Power of Confidering and Defigning, of Confulting and Fore-appointing what we intend to do. Purity and Holinefs likewife feem to be comprehended in this : As may be gathered from the Apoftle, Colojf.lll. ic. For the new Man confifts in Right eoufnejs, and true holinefs, Ephef. IV. 24. But though he was created with a Faculty to judge aright, and with a Power to govern his Ap petite, which he could controul more eafily than we can do now 5 yet he was not made immutably good, (quit hoc Sail Deo cedit^ which belongs to God alone, zsTertuIIian excellently difcourfesin that place,) but might, without due care, be induced to do evil, as we fee he did. For an habituated, confirmed eftate of Goodnefs, was even then to have been acquired ty Watchfulnefs and Exercife : Whereby in procefs of time, he might have become fo ftedfaft, that he could not have been prevailed upon by any Temptation, to do contrary to his Duty.
And let them have dominion^ Sec."] Some have thought the Image of God confifted in this alone. fSee Greg. Nyjfin. cap. 4. DeOpipc* Horn. p. 133.) Which rather follows upon Man's being made in God*s Image, z/fc. An Intelligent Being $ which gave him
Hfon GENESIS.
Dominion over other things, that are not indued, with Chapter fuch Underftanding. I conclude this Note with a I. very pertinent Observation of his in that Book, cap.i6, That Mofes fpeaks more magnificently of Man, than any Philofopher ever did : For they could fay nothing of him beyond this, That he was Mixg^c Ko^@o, a little World : But according to the Churches account, his Greatnefsconfifts not in his Likenefs to the crea ted World; but in his being made ^T &J»oW #79 ittiffBtrf^ $u0w>$i after the Image of the Nature of the Creator of all things.
Over all the Earth.'] Over all four-footed Crea tures in the Earth, though never fo wild $ as Bochar- tus obferves.
Ver. 27. And God created Mart in his own Imaged] Verfe From thefe words Or/gen gathers there is a great deal of difference between E&ay, Image, and fO/uuo&- juuzy Likenefs 5 becaufe, though God faid, verfe 26. Let us make Man in our Image, and after our Likencfs^ yet here he is faid to have made him only in his own Image ; and not, for the prefent, after his Likenefs. For that, faith he, (Lib. IV. contra Celfuvi) is refer- ved to the other World ^ when, as St. John fays, I Ep/Jl. III. 2. o/uuoiot. tiumA iav/M&ot, we /hall belike him. But this feems toa curious. No doubt God made Man juft as he defigned, in fuch a compleat refem- blance of himfelf, that there is no Creature like to Man, no more than God hath any equal to himfelf i As fome of the Hebrew Doftors explain this Matter. And therefore Mofes repeats it again, In the Image of G^d created he him: To imprint upon the Minds of Men, a Senfe of the great Dignity of Humane Na ture:, which was foully debafed by worihippingany Creature*
Mate
# COMMENT A R
Chapter Male and Female created be them.~] He
I. the fame Day he made Man^ as he did both Sexes
.C/"V*SJ of all other living Creatures, and as he made Herbs and Plants with Seed in them to propagate their Species, on the fame Day they were produced. It is plain by this alfo, That Woman as well as Man was made in the Image of God. And it feems to be per tinently obferved by Abarbinel^ That Mofes here again ufes the word Create, (and that three times) to denote the Original of Humane Souls 5 which are not made out of pre-exiftent Matter, as our Bodies are } but by the Power of God, when they had no Being at all.
'Verfe 28. Ver. 28. AttXGodBefcdthems&c^ The former part of this Blefling, be fruitful and multiply, God had beftowed before (verfe 22 .) upon other Crea tures : Unto which he adds two things here, replenift the Earth and fitbdue it. He gives them the whole Earth for their Poffeffion, with a Power tofnbdueit; That is, to make it fit for their Habitation, by bring ing under, or driving away wild Beafts. For, Se condly, he gives them the Dominion (unto which he defigned them in their Creation) over all other Creatures 5 whether in the Water, Air, or Earth. And he fpeaks to them in the Plural Number; which is a demonftration, that -Man and Woman were both created, and received his Blefling, on the fame Day. Verfe 29, Ver. 29. Behold^ I have given you ^ &c.] Here be afligns them their Food 5 and makes no mention at all of Beafts, but only of Plants and Fruits of the Earth. For Beafts being made by pairs, in their fe- ' veral Species, f we may well fuppofe) as Man and Woman were, and not being yet multiplied ^ the billing of Beafts, Birds, and Fifhes, would have been
the
upon GENESIS.
the Deftrudtion of the kind : Whereas there were Chapter Plants innumerable, and great variety of Fruit for L their Suftenance. And therefore here being no grant made to them of Animals for their Food, though no prohibition neither, it is very probable they abftained from eating Flelh, till after the Flood, (when God exprefly gave them every living thing for Meat, as much as the Herbs, IX. 2.) unlefs it were upon fome fpecial occafions : As, perhaps, when they facrificed living Creatures $ which they did in procefs of time, (IV. 4.) though not at the firft.
Ver. 30. And to every Beaft, &C."] Here he gives to Verfe the Beafts, and Fowl, and Creeping things, all Herbs for their Food, but faith nothing of fritft ; from which we cannot well think the Birds would abftain: And therefore they are included in the Phrafe, of every green Herb.
Ver. 31. Very good.'] From thefe words Eptyha- Yerfe mut confutes the Manichees, H<eref. LXVI. n. 18. where there is an explanation of this Phrafe (God faw that it was good) throughout this whole Chapter. Where it being faid at the end of every Day's Work^ God faw it was good-^ and particularly here on the Sixth Day, before he had quite ended the Work of it, he faith foof the formation oftheBeafts, ver. 25, Abarbinel will have this to relate particularly to the Creation of Man and Woman. But the beginning •- of the Verfe plainly (hows that he fpeaks of every thing that he had made : And therefore their Doftors in BeriCchethRabba (whom he mentionsj fay a great deal better, That Man is meant in the firft and prin cipal place, when Mofes fays, Godfaw every thing that he had made 5 and behold^ it was very good.
GHAP,'.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter II.
CHAP. II.
MOSES having given a ftiort Account of the orderly Production of all Things, from the meanefl to the nobleft, explains more largely in tfrs Chapter fome things, which were delivered briefly in the foregoing, becaufe he would not too much in terrupt the coherence of his Difcourfe about the Works of the Six Days. Particularly he relates how Eve was made 5 and alfo further illuftrates the Pro- duftion of Adam i Sec.
Verfe i. Ver. I. Thu* the Heavens , and the Earth."] /. e. The vifible World,
Were fin foed.~] Brought to that Perfection where in we fee them.
And all the hofl of them7\ That is, all Creatures in Heaven and in Earth 5 which are called Hoft, or Army^ becaufe of their vaft variety, and excellent order.
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. And on the feventh Day God ended his Work^\ Or rather, had ended^ (as it may be tran- flated) for he did not work on the Seventh Day : But, refted from all his Work^ which he had made $ ha ving focompleatly finifned it, that there remained no more to be done. An Emblem of the Reft that we (hall have, when we have done our Work faithfully, and left none undone, as Qrigens words are, L. VI. contra Cdfum.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. And God blcjfid the feventh Day, andfanfti- fied it.~] As God fandtified Jeremiah in after- times
from
upon GENES IS.
from his Mother's Womb, (Jer. I. 5.) by ordaining Chapter him to be a Prophet .• So he now determined and a\)- If. pointed the Seventh Day, from the very beginning of l^VNJ the World., to be obferved in Memory of its Creation. And this fettingit apart, and confecrating it to that Holy life, was h\sblejji*g it, or recommending it to be obferved, as a Day of blefling and praifing him, in all his Works of wonder : And (I know not why I fhould net add) of his beftowing Bleffings upon all his pious Worfhippers.
There is no men ion, indeed, made Q$ Adam's, or Abel's, Scc.obfervingthis Day ; which hath inclined many to conclude thefe words to have been written by way of anticipation : This Diy being fet apart in after- times by the Law of Mofes for God's Service $ but, in their Opinion, not till then. To which I can not agree $ becaufe it feems to me far more reafona- ble to think, That God took Care to preferve the Memory of the Creation in the Minds of Mankind $ and the Worftiip of Him, the One Only God, by whom it was created .- Which could not be done by any means more effe&ually, than by letting apart this day for that purpofe. Which if he had not ap pointed, yet Men being made Religious Creatures, I cannot but think they would have agreed upon fome fet time for the Exercife of their Religion, as well as fome fet place (though that be not men tioned neither) where to meet for Divine Service .• And what time more proper, wherein to Honour their Creator, with their Sacrifices, Praife% and Thanksgivings, than this Day? Which Phllo well ftiles T«^(T^8 ytviaov, the birth- day of the World : Which was fo much obferved all the World over, (though they forgot the reafon^) that the Seventh
F Day,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Day, he obferves, may be truly called PEofn*
I f. f*@^ the Univerfal Feftival, kept by all People. Jo- jfy/6//.rfpeaks to the fame purpote, and there is a great deal more faid by Artftobulus a Pmpatetick. Philo- fopher, out of He/fed, Homer, and others, in Ettfett- its his Pr<epar. Evang. L. XIII. c. 12. concerning the Sacred nefs of the Seventh, Day. Which though Mr. Sdden (L. Ml.de Jure N. &G. cap; 17, &c.); endeavours to prove is meant of the Seventh Day of the Month, not of the Seventh Day of the lVeek$.\ y,et we may look upon that as a Remain of this an cient Tradition. Which, in time, Men forgot, as they did the moft Natural Duties v having fo cor rupted their ways, (as we read Gen. VI. 10, n.) that there was nothing good among the generality of them* And therefore no wonder if they did- not regard the Service of God, every Seventh Day i- To which I (hall (how in due place, AWA,.the only righteous Man among them, had fome regard. Which; continued in the Family of Abraham after the Flood : Mofis fpeaking of it, not long after their coming out of Egyft) (where it is likely they were not fuffered to cbferve it, having no time free from their intole rable Labours,) as a Day known to them before the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai,. Exod. XVL 23, 25, 26;
Which is not to be underftood,as if the Patriarch before and after the Flood, kept fuch a Reft, as God enjoyned the Ifraelites by Mofes: For that was proper to them, for a peculiar reafon ^ becaufe they had been Slaves in Egypt; and therefore were com manded tot keep the Sabbath, without , doing any wanner of work, upon tha^ Day, Dent . V. 1 5. Which & all the Chriftian Fathers tnean> when they fay the
upon G E N E S 1 S,
Patriarchs did not Sabbatizare^ keep the Sabbath as Chapter the Jews did. (See Tertullian adv. Judteos^ cap.i^& U. 4. Iren&us.^ and others.) For in Religious Offices I U/VNJ doubt not they obferved the Seventh Day ^ as a .proper time for that Sacred Hymn ^ which Galen himfelf (L. III. de nfii partiuni) fays, we (hould all fing to the Creator of all $ // we ourfelves firft know^ an 'd then t -ell other 's $ ct@L pJiv 76£t r!w onp&i/, Sec. how wonderful he is tn\Vifdom^ how great in Power ^ and how rich in Goodnefs.
Bee ait fe that in it he had refled from all his Work^\ This is the reafon why this Day was diftinguifhed from the other Six 5 That a remembrance of Cod's refting from all his Works on this Day, might be pre- ferved 5 by Mens laying afide their other Employ ments fo long as to praife him Solemnly, by whom this great World was made.
Which God created, and Made.'] Or, as the Hebrew phrafe is, created to wake, i. e, refted from all the Six Day's Work. For he created fomething atthefirft,out of which to vtakeM the reft, in fix Days fpace ^ and now he ceafeth from all.
Ver. 4. Thefe are the generations^ &c.~] That is, this Verfe 4* is a faithful Account of the Original of the World. Which Mofes here repeats, more deeply to imprint on the PeoplesMinds, that the World was not a God, buttheWorl^tfGod: Which they were to acknow ledge every Seventh Day.
In the Day.] i.e. At that time (fo Day often fig- nifiesj when the LORD God made the Earth and the "Heavens. It is obferved by Tertullian^ That exinde Dotninus qni retro Dens tantnm^ &c. from hencefor ward (verfej, 8,9, 15, &c.) he is called Lo a D, 'who hitherto was called only God : Of which he
F 2 en-
A COMMENT 4 fit:
Chapter endeavours to give.a reafon, L. adv. Hertttog. cap. 5. II. The Hebrew Doftors obferve, that Jehovah Elohim 'v/'VNj L o R. D God} joyned together, is the full and per fect Name of God : And therefore fitly referved till this place, when the Woiksof God were perfected, and not before.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5. And every Plant in the Field, before it was in the Earth^ 8cc.] That is, before there was any Seed to produce them, God made them tofpringup, with their Seed in ihem$ as was faid before, in the firft Chapter. And Mofes here mentions thefe alone, becauie they were the firft Productions our of the Earth 5 without which there had been no Food for living Creatures.
lr or the LO R D God had not caufed it to rain on the Earth, and there was not a, Man to till the Ground7\ Here are two Reafons to confirm, that Plants were not produced, in the way they are now .• For there had been nothowers of Rain 5 nor was there any Man to prepare the Earth to receive the Seed, (~if there had been anyj both which areneceflary in the ordinary Method of Divine Providence, ever fince the World was made. From hence fome collect there was no Pr#adar/ijtes, (People before Adam,*) for then Mofes could not have faid, there was no Man to tillthe Earth.
Verfe 6. Ver. 6. But there went up a Mift, Sccf] Many think this will bed cohere with what went before, by tran* dating it, nor did there ("taking the Particle 8*7 vot, from the foregoing Verfe, as is ufualj a Mift go u$ from the Earth. Sec Drnfius, Levit. X. 6. and Hot- linger \n Hexapl. Parif. p. 89. But J fee no necef- fityofthis^ and think it moie likely there did go up bVtyoHTQi Steam out of the Earth, when it came
reek-
upon GEN E S f & 37
reeking out of the Waters, (as was fa id upon Verfe 9. Chapter of the i. Chap.) to moiften the Superficies of it 5 be- II. fore any Clouds were ra'ifed, by the Power of the L/"V\J Sun,tp give Rain.
Ver. 7. Out of the Dpft of the Ground^] Not dry,Verfe 7. but moid Duft,as theLXX* have it, r,lp^?o^i*j£j# ^m j*fe. From whence the Apoftle calls him avS^wTrw Xp'incv, i Corinth. XV. 47. which teaches us this Duft was mixt with Water : For fo %5$ fignifies , Limus^ as the Vulgar Latin hath it. Which agrees with the Hebrew jatzar, formed 3 which is ufed concerning Potters, who make their Veffels of Clay, not of dry Earth. Dhdorus Sicnlus feems to have had foine Notion of this, when he faith Man was made out of the Slime or Mud of Nik. Upon which Original of Man's Body, the ancient Fathers make many Pious Refleftions .• But none better or (horter than that of Nazlan&etfs, who fays, it is to teach us, °v omv r rf^oi/a &a %• 3v au?t\\vuutS'z, that
when we are apt to be lifted up becaufe we are made after God's Itnage^ the thoughts of the Dirt out of which we were taken, may humble and lay us low.
And God breathed into hisNoftrrts the breath of life^ This being faid of no other Creature, leads us to con ceive not only tha;t the Soul of Man is a diftind: thing, of a different Original from his Body 5 but that a more excellent Spirit was put into him by God (as appears by its OperatipnO than into other Ani mals. For though the finilple Speech of tnfpiring him with the breath of Life would not prove this, yec Mofes fpeaking in the Plural Number, that God breathed into him Nifchmath chajim, the Breath or Spirit of Lifts, it plainly denotes not only that Spirit which
makes
f8 A COMMENT 4 KT.
Chapter makes Man breathe and move , but think* alfo -reafon
•11. and cljfcoitrfe.
t/"V"SJ ^W /;e became a living &?///.] This is the imme diate refnlt of the Union of the Soul with the Bo dy. Which Eufebim thus explains, JL.VJI. Prspar. Evarrg.cap. ID. M0/e.r having laid the Foundations of Religion before- mentioned, vfa. The Knowledge of God, and of the Creation of the World, proceeds to another Point of DoftrVne molt -neceffary to be underftood 5 which is the Knowledge of a Man's felf 5 to which he leads him by (bowing the diffe rence between his Soul and his Body : His Soul be ing an Intelligent Subftance, made after the Image of God ^ his Body, only an Earthly Coveringof the Soul. To which Mofes adds a third, rnvdw £<»?£ ivurmtw rivet, % fftw&'&Tiidw SWa/x^ &c. A certain Vital Breath, whereby the other two are united and linked together by a. powerful Bond, or ftrong Tie. His Soul, it is manifeft, did not come out of the Earth, or any power of Matter 5 but from the Power of God, who infufed it into him by his Divine In- fpiration.
And this was the Original of Eve's Soul alfo, though it be not mentioned: For if her Soul had been made out of Adam^ as her Body was, he would have faid not only, She is Bone of my Bone, but Soul of my Soul 5 which would have mightily ftrengthned the Bond of Marriage, and exceedingly heightned Conjugal Affe<3ion.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. A*d the LO RD God planted^ Or, had planted 5 for it doth not feem to be a new thing. A Garden."] A moft pleafant part of the Earth. EaftrvardsJ] Or, as others tranflate it, before^ in beginning, viz. On the Third Day, when he made
all
ttpm GENESIS..
all Vegetables. And it cannot be denied that////'^- Chapter kgdem may fignifie tzwe, as well zsplace : But as the IL greateft part of Interpreters, Ancient and Modern, take it here to fignifie place $ fo Mofes hinifelf ufes it in the following part of this Book, III. 24. XI. 2. XII. 8. XIII. ii.
In Eden,"] A Country (as moft underftand it) fo called, perhaps from its Pleafure .• ToWm> Sidpo&v PATH, Slctuyt tiiigjL Aa^t^^T^fSi*, PUZO?; 7ray^cAo^,as Theo- philus ad Autolyc fpeaks, L. II. Where Eden was, there are two or three places of Scripture, that give fome direftion to our fearch, 2 Kings XIX.I2./A.XXXVII. 12. Ez*k: XXVII. 23. which (how there was a Coun try, that for many Ages after this,, retained the Name of Eden: And that Eaftward, as Mofes here tells us it was fituated. That is, Eajlwardoi Jud<eay or of the Defart of the Amorites^ where he wrote thefe Books. For the Scripture calls thofe People, the Children of the Eaft, who dwelt in Arahi^ Mefo<- fotamia, m&Perfia. But in what Country of the EaftEde^was, will be beft underftood from^ wr*
ID,
And there he put the Man* whom he had formed ."J He was formed we muft fuppofe in fome other place ;. and conduced hither by God, in Token of his fin- gular Kindnefs to him. Where he declared him, faith a Syriae Writer mentioned by Hottinger^ (in his Dif- fert. ,de Hexaplij, Parif.p. 1 1 5.) an Heir of Paradife^ and made him #311 sr\Dl 83^0 a King, a Prieft^ and a Prophet.
Ver. 9. AnAoutof the Ground.'] Of that Garden Verfe before-mentioned.
Made the L 0 R D God to grow every Tree^ &c/] The greateft variety of the choiceft Plants, Flowers^
A CO MM EN TAR?
and Fruit.' For Tree comprehends every thing that grows out of the Earth.
Pkafant to the fight?] He gratified Man's Eye, as well as his Tafte, and his Smell.
The Tree of Life?] So called, becaufe there was a Virtue in it, as feveral of the ancient Fathers think, not only to repair the Animal Spirits, as other Nou- tifhment doth 5 but alfo to preferve and maintain them, and all the Organs of the Body, in the fame equal Temper and State, wherein they were created, without any decay : Until Man fiiould have been fit to be tranflated into another World. To this pur-" pofe Iren&us^ St. Chryfbjlbm^ Theodoret, but efpecially Greg. NazJanzenfyeak) 'Et-fuvSv l^eW^sv, &c. If there* fore we had continued what we were, and kept the Cow- mandment^ we flwuld have been what we were not by coming to the Tree of Life, ci7rzS<zvct,Ti£jiv1t$ ^ 0sd2> TTAtftnaffut/TK, being Made immortal, and approaching nigh to God. Orat. XLIII. p. 699. D. And why we {hould think it impoffible or unlikely, that God (hould make fuch a Fruit, I do not fee. Nay, it feems neceffary there {hould have been fuch a kind of Food y unlefs we will fuppofe God would have pre- ferved Adam (had he continued innocentj from dy ing, by a continual Miracle .• Which is a harder Sup- pofition than the other.
But this Garden being alfo a Type of Heaven 5 perhaps God intended by this Tree to reprefent that immortal Life, which he meant to beftow upon Man withhimfelf, Revel. XXII. 2. And fo St.'dufKn in that famous Saying of his, Erat el in c<eterh lignis alimentum^ in ifto autew Sacrawentum^ L. VIII. deGen. ad Lit. cap. 4. In other Trees there was ' tfourijhment for Man 5 but in this alfo a Sacrament. Per it was
both
upon G B N E S I S. 41
toth a ty#/<W of that Life, which God had already Chapter beftowed upon Man, (who was hereby put in mind, II. that God was the Author of his Being, and all his C/'VSJ En joymentsj and of that Life he was to hope for in another World, if he proved Obedient.
In the mtdftof the Garden."] This fignifies either its Situation, or its Excellence*- For that which is moft Eminent in any place, the Hebrews fay is in the midji, XXIII. 10.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil"] So caK led, as I take it, becaufe God intended by this Tree to prove Adam and Evey whether they would be good or bad : Which was to be made known, by their abftaining from its Fruit, or eating of it. It is gene rally thought indeed by Interpreters, (of which I leave the Reader to judge,) that it had this Name afterward 5 either becaufe the Tempter pretended it would make them fo wife, as to know all things, (Tor fo g ood and evil may be expounded, (III. 5.) to fignifie as much as alt things whatfoever^) or be caufe in the event, upon the eating of this Fruit, they did actually know by miferable experience, (which they would not learn without it J the great difference between obeying, and difobeying God's Commands. That is, they who did not fufficiently attend to their Duty, nor confider what it was to Sin, and what the effeft of it would be $ prefent- ly, upon the eating of this Fruit, reflected upon both. For they faw how grievous it was to incur God's Difpleafure, by believing a Creature rather than Him, and by being fo ungrateful as not to acknowledge his Bounty in all the Bleflings they enjoyed $ with out thinking Him envious in denying them one, as a proof of their Obedience.
G Some
A COMMENTARY
Some think it was fo called, as a Caveat to them, not to ftudy Craft and Subtilty ^ but to content themfelves in a fimple, plain way of life, ( wherein God made them,) without any Curiofity to know more than was needful for them. Which they think is confirmed by III. 6. Shefaw it was good to make one wife $ i. e. cunning and wily.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. And a River went out of Eden, &c.] Thefe words affords us fuch a Key to open tons the Place where this Garden was planted, that one can fcarce doubt whereabout it was; though the precife fpot of Ground be not marked out in this defcription of it. For it lay in the Country of Eden\ and we are direfted to find that out by this remarkable Circnm- ftance, That a River went out of it. Which doth not fignifie that the Spring of the River was in Eden; but that the River run through that Country into the Garden, to water it. The Garden therefore, it ispropable, was a part of the Province of Eden$ and was water'd by that River which came from it. The only difficulty is to find what River this was. Our Country-man Mr, Carver, in his learned Difcourfe of the Terrejlrial ParaJtfe, chap. VII. endeavours to prove, that the two great Rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, having but one and the fame Fountain in A- wcnia the greater, run along for fome time in one Stream called Tigris : Upon which he thinks this Garden was feated, before this River parted into two Streams, Euphrates and Tigris: This he confirms out of the Two Epiftles of the Neftorian Cbriftians written to Rome 1552. and tranflated by Mafius $ where they called Tigris the River tfEden. And there are indeed fome ancient Authors, particularly Lucan^ and Boetius> who fay that thefe two Rivers come out
of
upon GENESIS, 4.
of the fame Spring: But their miftake arofe, its like- ly from hence, That they fprung (as Strata tells us ^haP out of one and the fame Mountain, viz. Ntyhates^ "• which is a part of Taurus : And Euphrates fprung out of the Northern fide of it, and Tigris out of the Southern 5 as Salmafius obferves upon S0//#//j, p. 621, Sec. Certain it is, that the bed: Authors, both Ancient and Modern, make them to have different Springs, from whence they hold different Courfes, Euphrates toward the Weft, and Tigris toward the Eaft : And do not make one River, till (after they have run through many Countries^ they meet and joyn together about Apamia according to Ptolomy. And then indeed they make for a long way, but one great Stream / Which I take to be the River here mentioned by Mofes, and run through the Country of Eden, which perhaps lay on both fides of the Ri ver 5 as the Garden it is plain by verfe 8. did on fa* E after* fide of it $ extending it felf to the place, where thefe united Rivers parted again. For fo it follows.
And from thence."] i.e. Below the Garden. It farted."] Or, was divided again, as it had been before into two other Streams. By which words we feem to have found the Place where the Garden end ed 5 but being not told where it began, nor how far it fpread it felf Eaftward from the River fide, I will not prefume to fay what Country or Countries it included. Certain it is there was a Country, as I obferved before, called Eden in after-times, which was part of the Kingdom of Ajjjria^ 2 Kings XIX. 12. And that Kingdom then comprehended not^only the Country anciently called AJhar, but Mefopotamiti, and Babylonia^ &c. In fome part of
G 2 which
44 A COMMENT ART.
Chapter which laft Province it is probable this Garden was> If. fcated.
And became hit o four Heads?] He doth not fay was parted into four Heads* but became into four; Heads, (whofe Names here follow,) two before they united, viz. Tygris, and Euphrates v and two after they again parted, vfe. Pifon, and Gihon. Thefe he calls Beads, or Principal Rivers, as David Chytr<ew, I think, rightly underftands it, quatuor illuftria & magnafluwiriaejjiciebant, made four famous and great Rivers. For all Divifions from the main Stream are called the Heads of a Water 5. as Sir W. Raleigh ob- ferves out of Ulpianus* And it is indifferent whe ther the Water come out of aFountain^ or out of a River, oraLake.- For that part of the River (Tup- pofej where the Branch forfakes the main Stream, is called the Head of that Branch $, which becomes a new River. Ifc like manner may Euphrates and Ti gris be called the Heads of that River which they made at their meeting : As where they part again, the beginnings (as the LXX. tranflate the word) of the other two Rivers* Pifon and Giho*% are properly called the Heads of them,
M» Ver. n. The name of the frft is Pifon, orPhifon7\ This is that Branch which runs Wefterly ^ and being neareft to the place where Mofes wrote, on the other fide of Jordan, is firft mentioned by him. It is a long time fince both this River and Gihon have loft thefe Names -.-• The Greek^ and Roman Writers cal ling them ftill, after their parting, by the Names they had: before they met, Euphrates and Tigris. But there was a remainder of the Name of Pifon prefer- ved in the Eaflerly River called Pafetigris, which is the fame with Oroatis, as Salmafius obferves in his
Exerc*
upon GENESIS, 4$
Exerc. Pliniante in Solin. f. 701, 702. And is called Chapter fas Mr. Carver notes) by Xttiopbon (imply Phyfcus $ If. in which the Name of Phifott is plainly enough re- U'VNJ tained. Which continued till the time of Alexander the Great : For. SL Curtius, as he further notes, com monly calls Tigris it felf, by the Name of P/ta/j,and fays it was fo called by the Inhabitants thereabouts. Which, in all probability, was at firft the Name of this other Ri ver Phifon $ but loft by the many alte rations which were made, for a long time, in the courfe of it, as Pliny tells us. For he fays, the Or- cheni^ and other neighbouring Nations, made great and deep Cuts or Canals to carry the Water of Eu phrates (meaning this River) into their Fields, and fo it loft its courfe, and run through Tigris and the Marfhesinto the Sea. Sir aba- faith the fame, that from thefe $i&gjy<q, as he calls them, deep Trenches which carried the Water of Euphrates into Tigris? came the Name vfPafitigris 5 that is, Pife& mixed with Tigri*. See Salmafius in the fore-named Ex- ercitations* fag. 703. where he (hows this River was not perfectly reftored to its Courfe till the times of Alexander the Great.
Thai if it) which compajfith the whole Land of Ha* vilah.] By finding where this Country was, we cer tainly find the River PIrifon. Now Mofes makes mention of two HaviUKs 5 onedefcended from 6//S, Gen. X. 7. and the other from Jottan, ver. 29, The latter of thefe cannot be here meant, for his Pofte- rity were planted Eaftward ^ but the former, who were a more Weftern People, in that part of Arabia. Fcelix which bordered upon this Stream, For the Jfhmadites (who inhabited Arabia Deferta') are de- feribed by Mofes ^ XXV. 18* as bounded by Shur to-
A COMMENTARY
Chapter wards Egypt^ and by Havilah in the way to
II. And Saul found Havilah in after-times in the very
L/"VNJ fame fituation, i Sam. XV. 7. And (till, much later,
Strabo mentions the XaeAo7a?Q« (" which are certainly
the Pofterity of Chavilalf) among the People of Ara
bia. See Boc hart's Pbaleg. L. IV. c. I r.
Where there is Gold.~] Nothing is more famous than the Gold of Arabia. : Where Dhdortts Skttlus fays it is digged up in great Lumps, as. big as a Chef- nut, L. II. p. 93. Edit. H. Stepb.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And the Gold of that Land is good."] t.e. Is excellent : For the fore-named Author fays, it isof fuch a flaming Colour, that it adds much to the Lufti e of precious Stones, that are fet in k.
There is Rddltu.ttt^\ The Hebrew word being Be- delach, ibme have thought Bdellium to come from thence, which is an Aromaticl^ Gunj. Others think Bedolach to be Chryftaly otheiS Amber ^ but ftochart rather thinks it fignifies Pearl: Which he -proves fin his Hkrozoic. P. IL L. V. r. 25.) from the Country it felf here mentioned, viz. Bavilah, which he looks upon as that Part of Arab/a, which lies upon the Per/ian Gulfh : Where, ztCatipha^ there is a great Pearl-fifiing. The Manna alfo wherewith the Ifrae* lites were fed in the Wildernefs, is defcribed Numb. XI. 7. to be round like Coriander-Seed, and of the Colour of Bedolach. Now in his former Defcripti- onMofeshys it was white, Exod. XVI, 14. which agrees to Pearls, as alfo doth roundnefs, but not to the fweet Gum called Bdellium: Of which fee S*/- maptts in his Exerc. Plin. p. 1 150,
And the Onyx Stone ~] This Country alfo was fa mous for precious Stones 5 as appears by the Report which Ncarchus (Alexanders Admiral ) made of the
Weflern
up*n G E N E S I S. 47
Wcftern Coaftof the Per/** Gnlph, \nStral>o,JL. XVf. Chapter But Brannms (L. II De Veftitu Sacerd. Hebr cap. 1 8.) {I. thinks Schoham fhould rather be rranilued the Sar- L/"VNJ do^yx. Which foever it be, Arabia was famous both for jtheO/fpcand Sardonyx^ as Salmafms obferves out of Pliny, Ib.p. 562, 563.
Ver. 15. The name of the fecond River is Gihon7\ Verfe 13* There are no footfteps of this Name remaining that (can find $ but we are directed, by the Country it is faid to compafs, to take it to be the Eaftern Stream that arofe from the parting of Euphrates and Tigris ; as Pifov I faid was the Weflern.
Cowpajfith, OT runneth along by the whole Land of JEthiopia^] QrCHfo: VVho was feared more Eafiward than his Sons, Havilah, Seka, and the reft, .(menti oned Gen. X. 6, 7.) upon the Borders of this River. For when People firft began to fpread themfelves, they kept as near to great Rivers as they could 5 for the better communion one with another, and afbrding mutual Succour and Affiftance. ft is prp- bj&le that he gave Na-me to the Country of Stifiana 5 which the Greeks called K/te<«, and is now called by the Perfi&ns Ch^zeflan^ i. e. The Province of Chus. And when his Pofterity multiplied, they went more WeJJward toward the A^i/rfw Sea : From whence his Brother Miter a;m parted into Egypt. Our Tran- flators follow the LXX. in rendring the Hebrew NameG/S, by JEthiopia : Not meaning that in Afri ca^ but this in Afia. For the Ancients frequently mention a double ^Ethiopia, as many haveobferved^ particularly Job Ludolphus, who herein juftifies the LXX. in great part, L. II. Comment, in Hrfior. JEthicp. Ctp.lll. n. 1 6.
Ver.
A COMMENTARY
Ver. 14. The name of the third if Hiddetgl.'] Which River being called by Daniel, X. 4. the great Rivbr $ cannot be, as many have fanfied, Nahar-malcai For that was but a Cut, made by Trajan to waft his Ar my out of Euphrates into Tigris, (as Amman. Mar- tdlinus tells us,) and therefore HidJekel^ is Tigris it felf. Which, as Pliny fays, was called Digtito, in thofe Parts where its Courfe was flow 5 and where it began to be rapid, it took the Name of Tigris. And fo the Arabians call this River Deglat, and Degela^ from the Hebrew word Hiddekel. Which Salmafius derives from Hadda^ or Chadda^ (harp pointed 5 and KalY fwift 5 becaufe of its very quick and hatty Mo tion „• And thence the Greeks he obferves derive the Name of Tigris ', ^CTO £ o|uT7/7(|k, Exerc* inSolin.p. 694, Rauv>oljf\n his Travels^ P. II. c. 9. fays, That when he was at Caruch, on the Confines of Media, (which was about an hundred Years ago,) Tigris was ftill called in their Language Hiddekel*
Which goeth toward the Baft of Ajjyria.^ If it make a great bend Northward, (as Pliny faith it doth about Apamia^ it muft needs run toward the Eajt of Affj- ria, for fome time. But this is not the Courfe of the River ^ and therefore the LXX. tfanflatc the word Kidt&ath^ which we Englifh toward the Eaft, fimply toward : And it is certain Tigris did run by Ajjyria 5 for Nineveh, the chief City of AJfyria* ftood upon the Eajt fide of this River, as Ro- chart hath demonftrated in his Phaleg. L. IV. cap.
20.
The fourth River is Euphrates."] None doubt that the River called here in the Hebrew Perah or Phrath, is the fame that hath been called for many Ages Euphrates. The Courfe of which was fo well
known
upon GENESIS
known in thofe Days, that Mojes gives no Defcription Chapter of it. II.
Ver. 15. And the LORD God took, the Man."] w*"V~SJ After fuch a manner as he took^ David from the Verfe *5' Sheepfolds, (Pfalm LXXVIII.yo.) by an extraordina ry Motion. For as a Prophet was fent from God to anoint him 5 fo God himfelf, I fuppofe, appeared to Adam, in a vifible Glorious Majefty, which the Jews call the SCHECHINAH, (as was noted before, I. 3.) becaufe it was a Token of God's Jpecial Prefence^ and by it he dwelt among hit People. It feems to have been a very ftintng Flame, or amazAng Splendour of Light, breaking out of a thick Cloud : Of which we afterward read very often, under the Name of the Glory of the LORD 5 which at firft appeared to Mofes, as aflame of Fire out of the mid ft of a BuQi, Exod. III. 2. To this I cannot think our firft Pa rents to have been Strangers ; but look upon it as highly probable, that this Divine Majefty conduced Adam from the place where he was formed, into the Garden of Eden.
And put him."] Or, placed him there.
To drefs ft, and to keep it."] To preferve it by his Gare and Labour, in the Condition wherein he found it. Theophilw Antiochenvt thinks it is not without a Myftery, that God's putting Man into Paradife is twice mentioned, (here, and verfe 8 ) to fignifie that after Man was caft out of one Paradife, he fhould ftill have a right to another: By being well inftru&ed in hts Banifhment, and prepared for a Restitution^ at the general Refurreflion and new Creation ^ L. II. ad Au- tolycum.
Ver. 1 6. And the LORD God commanded tke Verfe \6. Man.~] This is a further Indication, that the Divine
H Atf-
50 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Majefy appeared to Adam and fpake to him 5 as he II. did to Mofes^ out of the flame in the Bufti, fay- L/""VNJ ing,
Of every Tree In the Garden thou ntai ft freely eat.'] A very liberal Conceffion 5 which was abundantly fufficient to demonftrate that it was not Envy (of which the Divine Nature is not capable) which mo ved their Creator to abridge our firft Parents Liberty, in one particular.
Verfe 17* Ver. 1 7 . But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil^ (why fo called fee ver. 9.) thouftalt not eat of it."] This fmall reftraint it was fit to lay upon Adam^ to make him fenfible, that though he had Dominion over all things, yet he was not their Lord $ but a Servant to the moft High: Who required this AbftSnence in token of his Subje&ion, and to prove his Obedience to him. This Account many of the Fathers give of it $ particularly Tertullian^ who calls this the Primor dial Law } which was, qnap matrix omnium precept o » rum Dei, (adv.Jtfddos, cap. 2.) including, as it were, in its Womb, all the Natural Laws of God. For, as in obferving this Law he had teftified his unfpotted Love and Obedience to God ^ fo in violating it, he threw off the Divine Government, and oppofed his own Will to God's. But ftill fome ask, Why (hould his Obedience be tried, in fuch an Inftance as this > Not considering that an Experiment of it, could fcarce have been made in any of the Moral Precepts .: Which there was no occafion to violate. For what (hould tempt him to Idolatry, or to take God's Name in vain, or to murder his Wife? How was it poffible to commit Adultery, when there was no Body but he and (he in the World > How could he Steal, or what room was there thea for Coveting, when God had
put
upon GENESIS. 51
put him in poffeffion of all things? It had been in Chapter vain to forbid that, which could not be done $ and II. it had not been Vertue toabftainfrom that to which there was no Temptation } but from that which invi ted ihem to Tranfgrefs. I fpeak in the Plural Num ber $ becaufe it muft be reirombred that this Prohibi tion was given not only to Adam but to Eve alfo, (HI. 1,2.) An Account of whofe Piodu&ion imme diately follows.
Theophiltts Antiochenttf in the place before- named, hath feveral pretty Refle&ions upon this Prohibition 5 and this among the reft: That Adam and Eve being but newly brought into the World, were in fimplici- ty, to be wholly ordered and governed by the Will and Pleafure of their Heavenly Parent 5 and nor af- feft much Knowledge, (as not agreeable to their Infant State,) but to grow up in it by degrees, and not ^f' T $\ueix9 QZJV&V, to aim at Wifdom above their Age. To which purpofe Greg. Nazianzen al fo difcourfes in many places: Or^.XXXVlII.p. 619. Odf.XLII.p. 681. and Carm. Arcan.VU.p. 162. And indeed many excellent Meditations may be raifed from hence 5 particularly, That Chriftians new-born (hould not be fo greedy of Knowledge, as careful and felicitous of well-doing: For many have been ruin'd by early Speculations. Which, if one could pick any good Senfe out of fuch fluff as the Vahtimans uttered, I (hould think they intended to reprefent$ when they faid, The laft of their .#?<?#/, whom they called Wif dom, labouring to comprehend the B^Jx, or Depth, (i. e. the Father of all) had like to have loft it felf, till it was helpt by P/O/>©,, or Limit. That is, we are pre- ferved byfetting fame Bounds to our Defires after Know ledge.
H 2 Ihou
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Thou /halt furely die.*] In the Hebrew^ dying thou II. ft alt die $ to thow the certainty of it, as we rightly
L/*W; tranilate it. Which doth not fignifie, as appears by the event, that he (hould inftantly die $ but become Mortal 5 lofe the Immortality wherewith he was in- \efted, Gen. III. 19. And, as Athanafiut thinks, the doubling the Expreffion denotes, M« /uubvov Scro&tf- extiv, a/9va % £* rip T£ <3"ayaT« (pdnpot Slzjuuiv&iv, (L. DC In earn. I'erbi^) he fhould not only die^ but remain in the Corruption of Death } as we {hould all have done, had not the Second Adam obtained for us an happy Refurreftion.
I need not add, That Difeafes, Sickneffes, and Pains, the fore-runners of Death, are included in this Threatning.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. And the LORD God fold.] Or, had faid^ as it is by fome tranflated ; the berter to (how that the foregoing Precept was given to both. And to fay in this place, is as much as to refolve and de cree: As Melanflhon well explains it, in one of his Epiftles, Dicere, hoc loco fignifie aty miranda fapientia fancire^ © nobfc hoc decretum tradere ^ to fay^ here fignifies to eftablilh with wonderful Wifdom, and to deliver this Decree to us. L. I. Eptft. 126. Where he again repeats it, The LORD fatd, that is, by hit wife Cottnfel and immutable Decree^ he eftablifted this Order.
It is not good that the Manfhonld be alone."} Uncom fortable to want Society, and unfit there (hould not be an increafe of Mankind. Concerning which Pla to hath left thefe wonderful Words, L. VI. De Legi- bus : This is the Encouragement to Marriage, not on ly that humane Race may be perpetuated 5 but a Man may, ^aiSfcs <5ra*3^v «et Taf ©gdo *j&^ (TO; dv&*
cctn/
upon G E N E S I S. * 53
^5&oy, leave Children* Children behind him Chapter when he is gone, tofirve God in his ftead.
I will make him an he!p.~] For all the Neceffities U^V^vJ and Ufes ot Life.
Meet for him ] In whofe Company he fliall take Delight $ fo the Hebrew Phrafe, ^k/#re him, imports 3 being as much as, anfwerable to him, every way fit ted for him 5 not only in likenefs of Body, but of Mind, Difpofition, and Affeftion: Which laid the Foundation of perpetual Familiarity and Friendfhip. Or, as the Author of CetherSchem Tobh^ mention'd by Hackjpan, interprets it, She fiatt always be ready toob- ferve andferve him. For to ft and before any one, in the Hebrew Language, fignifies to do what is defired. See more on verfe 15.
Ver. 19. And out of the Ground the LORD God Verfe 19. formed."] Or, had formed^ 1.20.25.
Every Be aft of the Field , &c/] The Ground here muft be uoderftood to comprehend the Water alfoj out of which the /wlwere made.
And brought then* unto ADAM.'] It is common- ly thought that this Name of Adam, given to the firft Man, fignifies as much as red Earth. But Job Ludolphw hath made it far more probable, that it imports Elegant ^ or Beautiful. See his Hiftor. JEthiop. L.l. cap. 15. n. 17, 1 8. and his Commentaries upon that Chapter, N. 107. How the Beafts and Birds were brought to him, we are not told : But, it is likely, by the Miniftry of Angels 5 who were perpetual Atten dants upon the SCHECHINAH, or Divine
o fee what te would call them."] To •cercife and improve his Underftanding.
And
4 COMM£NT/fRr
Chapter And whatever Adam called^ &c/] God approved of
II. it.
VVVV Ver. 20. And Adam gave Nantes, &c.~] Or, though Verfe 20. Adam gave Names, to all Creatures 3 yet among them all, when they were brought before him, there was not a fit Companion found for him. It doth not jollow from \\\$ giving. Names, that he knew the Na ture of all thote Creatures : For the Names of them in Scripture (which they who are of this Opinion generally fnppofe were the Names given by Adam} are taken from their Voice, their Colour, their Mag nitude, or tome fuch External Difference, and not from their Nature. Therefore this impofing Names upon them, denotes rather his Dominion, than his Knowledge. The Anonymous Author of the Ckron. Excerpta. before Joh. Antiochenut Malala fays, That Adam impofed.Naines upon all Creatures, nv 0«8, bv the Commandment of God,
but his own Name and his Wife's were told him by an Angel of the Lord.
Verfe 21. Ver. 21. And the LORD God canfed a deep Jleep, Sec.] Whereby he was made lefs fenfible of the Pain, which otherwife he would ha\e felt in the opening his Side 5 if his Mind had not been wholly intent upon fomething elfe. As it was in this Sleep s> which was accompanied with an Ecftafie^ (fo the LXX tranflate this Word, and it is agreeable to what we read Job IV. i^O wherein was 'reprefented to his Mind, both what was done to him, and the Myftery of it 5 as appears by verfe 23,24. Vid. Epjfhan.Htfref. XLVIII. ^.-4,5,6.
And he took, one of hfc Ribs.'] Tho. Bartholinw^ a late famous Phyfidan, thinks it probable that Adam
had
upon GENESIS.
XIII Ribs on each Side, and that God took away Chapter one pair, with the Mufculous Parts that adhere to II. them 5 and out of them made Eve. For commonly Men have but XH Ribs, though .fometimes there have been found fas Galen and Riolanvs upon him tefti- fiej thofe who have had XIII. and, very rarely, fome who have had but XI : As Bartholin himfelf ob- ferved in a Jufty ftrong Man whom he differed. An. 1657. who had but XI on one fide, and a fmall ap pearance of a XHth on the other. Hi/tor. An atom. & Medic. Centur. V. cap. ^. It is fit here to be ob- ferved, That God did not form Eve out of the Ground, as he had done Adam $ but but of his Side: That he might breed the greater Love between him and her, as the Parts of the fame, Whole. Whereby he alfo effeftually recommended Marriage to all Man kind., as founded in Nature y and as the re-union of Man and Woman. It is likewife obfervable, That there is no mention here of his breathing a Soul into her, as into him: For Mofes only explains what was peculiar to Eve, ("which was her being made out of his Side,) the reft is fuppofed in thofe Words, verfe 19. I will make him an help meet for him ^ which the vulgar Latin rightly tranflates/^/Ve ei\ like unto him. For fo the Hebrew word KenegJo\$ ufed by the Jewifh Writers, particularly by Benjamin in his 'Iti nerary 5 where, fpeaking of the Jews ztGermttda, and naming feveral, he fays there were many more Ke- negdem, like unto them. And fo the word aVn a- mong the Greelis denotes likenefs and /im/litHcJe, as well as contrary. Of which fee Conft. L* Bmpereur, Annot. m Benj.Tudel. p. 138. The Woman there fore was in all things like him ^ only he made out of the Earth, the out of him: That he might cleav%
to
A COMMENT/fRr
Chapter to her with the deareft Love and Affeftion. It was H. alfo faid before this, I. 27. That both Man and Wo- Lrf^V'SJ man were made in the lil^enefs of God.
And clofed up the Flefl^ ivftead thereof. ~] Made the Flelh as firm, as it was before.
Verfe 22. Ver. 22. And the Rib, &c. Made he Woman.'] Which was as eafie for the Divine Power to do 5 as to make the Man himfelf out of the Earth.
And brought her to him~\ Not merely by ccn- duftingher to the fame place where he was 5 but the Divine Majefty (which now appeared to Eve*) pre- fented and gave her to him, to be his Wife. God himfelf made the Efpoufals (if I may fo fpeak) be tween them, and joyned them together in Marriage.
Verfe 23. ver. 23. And Adam faid, &c.j Now indeed I have found, what I could not fee before among all God's Creatures, another felf.
She fiall be called Woman, See.] Partake of my Name, as (hedoth of my Nature. For he called her Jjfiha, as he was called Iffcb. From whence Sephtr Cofri, and Abarbinel endeavour (in a very long Dif- courfej to prove the Hebrew to be the Primitive Lan guage. And Abarbinel obferves the Chriftians to be of the fame Opinion, quoting fora proof of it, St. AH- flm's Book, DeCivitate Dei.
Verfe 24. Ver. 24. Therefore foall a Man leave his Father and Mother, and cleave to his Wife.] Cohabit with her, rather than with his Parents, (if they cannot all dwell together,) and be joyned to her in the clofeft and moft infeparable Affeftion : As if they were but one Perfon, and had but one Soul and one Body. That's the meaning of the next words.
And
upon GENESIS 57
And they foall be one Flefi."] Moft intimately con- Chapter joyned in entire and infeparable Love. Which arofe II. from the fingular Union of the Flefh of our firft i^/"V\J Parents 5 one of them being taken out of the other. From whence Maimonides and other Hebrew Doftors infer all mixture with Beafts to be contrary to Na ture 5 who are neither one Flefh with us, nor one with another. For in this our Bodies, as well as our Souls, have a preheminence above theirs ^ which were not made one Flefh after fuch a manner as Man and Woman were. They hence alfo conclude all inceftuous Marriages^ &c. to be unlawful, as may be feen in Mr. Selden^ D. Jure N. & G. Lib. 5. cap. 2. Their Obfervation is more pertinent who take no tice, That God creating and joyning together but one Man and one Woman in the beginning ^ intend ed Mankind fhould be fo propagated, and not by Polygamy. Which in procefs of time indeed became the general practice -5 but from the beginning it was not y#,as our Saviour fpeaks in the Cafe of Divorces.Which he concludes, from th«fe very words, were againft the Divine Inftitution, which made two to be one Flefh, (Matth. XIX. 5 6, 8.) So he interprets thefe words, fandSt, Paul doth the fame, i Cor. VI. i6.J theyjhattbe one Flefh: And fo doth Jonathan's Para- phrafe, and the Samaritan Code, as Mr. SeMcn ob- ferves in the place now named.
Ver. 25. And they were both naked , the Man andy&fe. 25 his Wife!] They did not yet find any neceffity of Cloths.
And t hey were not aflamed."] Did not blufti 5 no more than little Children do, when they behold one another naked and embrace with an innocent Af* feftion. Befides3 there was no Body but they two
I who
A COMMENT ART
Chapter (who in effeft were as One) to behold them: III. And therefore they had no more reafon to blufh, than a Man doth when he is naked alone by him- felf.
C H A P. III.
EVfibiw obferves, (JL. VII. Pr^epar. Evang. cap. 9, ic.) That Mofes having fettled the great Do&rines of the Creation of the World, and the Dig- nityofMaK) made in the Image of God 5 proceeds very wifely to inftruft the Israelites, that there are none fo happy, but without due Care and Watch- fulnefs, may become moft miferable: There being Ilowf^ ^u'tuyy, (as his words are) a wicked Daemon at every Man's Elbow, /3a<7^v©u £ jjutoj»&h@^ % £ a>/9^»7toup d%%Yi3tv S^r7o«A@^ <iry7wf/a^, envious, a ha ter of thofe that are good, and from the beginning a wily undernainer of Mens Salvation.
Now this following immediately after the relati on of the formation of Eve, hath madefome fanfie, that our firft Parents fell the very fame day they were made. And thus much, I think, muft be fup- pofed, That they did not continue v«ry Jong in their happy ftate: For, if they had perfifted ftedfaftly in tiieif Duty, for a confiderable time ^ they would have acquired fuch an habit of well-doing, as would DOC have been fo eafily loft. But that they conti nued longer than a Day, there are many Circum- flances to induce us to believe. For it required fome time for AAam to be acquainted with nil other Crea- tnd to impofe Names upon them; And there
being
G E N E S I &
being none of them a meet help for him, he flept Chapter Ibme time, till Eve had taken her Beginning out of III. him. Whom, when he faw, he received, and own'd u^VNJ her for his Wife ^ and no doubt made more Refledti- onsupon God's Wifdom, Power, and Goodnefs, than are fet down in this Sacred Story. They both alfo received a Command from God, not to eat of one Tree in the Garden : Into which, when they were brought, we cannot but think they walk'd about it> and took fuch a view of it, as to be convinced, by the bountiful Provifion God had made for them, they had no reafon to complain of the fmall Reftraint he laid upon them. All which could not be per formed fo fpeedily as fome have imagined 5 for though God can do what hepleafes in an inftant, yet Man cannot ; and God himfelf did not in one Day create the World. And, befides, that fome time was neceflary for tranfa&ing all thefe things ^ it is not likely the Devil would immediately fet upon Eve, as foon as the Command was laid upon them,- but rather let it be a little forgotten. And if the time be obferved when he affaulted her, it will much con- firnrthis Opinion, which was in the abfence of her Husband 5 for that we cannot eafily believe to have been upon the fame Day they were created. The extraordinary Kindnefs they had one for the other, will fcarce allow us to think it poffible, they {hould be fo foon feparated. It is plain alfo, God fanffified thefeventh Day before their fall : Which it is highly probable they fpent in admiring and praifing the Al mighty Goodnefs.
Ver. I. Now the Serpevt.~] Or, that Serpent (as fome Verfe i think it (hould be tranflated) which the Tempter made ufe of, as his Inftrument to deceive.
I 2 ^Was
6o A COMMENTARY
Chapter Was more fubtlll} The whole Species of Serpents TIL is noted by Anjiotle (L. I. Hiftor. Animal, c.i.) to be t/~y^sJ fjwbufa, t^&X&i extremely infidious: But this was extraordinary wily. What fort it was, is not here exprefied : But all agree there is now none like it 5 the Curfe of God having degraded it St. Bafil.m his Book of Paradtfe, (p. 62 7. ) faith it was not a frightful Creature, as it is now, dfax srg^owJte % YIJLM- p(§0, but mild and gentle : Not crawling and wind ing about, in a terrible manner, upon the Ground, a?v\3 J-vjMJs £3rJ -Ttvcfcv &t£mu$9 but lofty, and going upright upon its Feet. Several of the Jews have been of this Opinion $ and our famous Mr. Mede in clines to it, DifcoMrfe XXXVIIL p. 291, &c> But I take the conjefture of another very learned Perfon, now a Bifhop of our Church, to be far more proba ble : Which I (hall endeavour to ftrengthen. There were (and ilill are in the Eaftern and Southern Parts of the World,) Serpents having Wings, and (hi- ning very brightly, like to Fire, So we read, Ifaf. XIV. 29. of aflyingfiery Serpent. Which fiery Ser- fents are called Seraphims^ in Numb. XXI. 6, 8. and termed fiery ^ not merely with refpeft to their Ve nom, which made fore Inflammations in the Bodies of thofe who were bitten by them $ but becaufe they appeared fhining like Fire, when they flew in the Air.
Whence Seraphim is the Name alfo of the higheft fort of Angels, (called the Angels of the Prefence,*) Ifai. VI. 2, 6. Who appeared, I fuppofe, in fome fuch form with flaming Wings. For otherwife, I cannot think Serpents would have been honoured as Sacred things in fo many Countries, as we find they anciently were 5 unlefs they had been the Symbols of
Angels
upon GENESIS. 61
Angels. The Devil therefore, I conceive, made ufe Chapter of fome fuch Serpent, (but of a more furpaffing III. brightnefs, than any now extant,) that he might re- L/'VNJ femble one of the moft illuftrious Angels, who ap peared fometimes in the like fhape. Which moved Eve the more readily to hearken unto the Voice of the Serpent $ taking it to be one of the heavenly Seraphim s, which (he had feen fometime, in fuch a fplendid form, attend upon the Divine Glory, or Ma- jefty : For the Angels always made a part of the ScHECHINAH. And thus, one would think, Tertullian underftood this matter, when he faid in this Book De Prefcript. B<eret. C. XLVIl. Iftttm $$$k Serpentem^ cuiEva, utfilio Dei crcdiderat, this was the Serpent, to whom Eve gave credit, as to the Son of God. Which if any one take to be the words of the Hereticks he is there fpeaking of } yet thofe are not, which we find in this Book againft die Falenti- nians, cap. 2. where he faith the Serpent was a Pri- mordio Divina imagink frado, an Ufurper of the Divine Image from the beginning. See Bp Tenifon of Idolatry^ p. 356. To which that paflage in Epi- phanitts may be added, who mentions fome Hereticks C who might have fome Truth among them) that faid, the Woman liftned to the Serpent, £ i^et^ fife 45 0«£, and believed him, or was perfuaded by him, as the Son of God, H<eref. XXXVII. n. x$. And, one would think, Rabbi Bechai had this Notion in his Mind, when he faid (upon the i4th Verfe of this Chapter,} this is the Secret (or Myftery) of the Holy Language, that a Serpent is called SAR.APH, as an Angel is called SARAPH. For which he quotes the fore-named place, Numb. XXI. 6. and then adds, The Scripture calls Serpents Seraphim^ becaufe they
were
A COMMENTARY
Chapter were Toledoth hanacaf/j hakadwoni, the off- fpring of HI. this old Serpent : Underft and this, (fo he concludes, as our Saviour fpeaks in another Cafe, whofo readeth^ let kirn under ft and^) as a Matter of great concernment. Which can have no other meaning, I think, but this } That the Devil ("whom St. John alfo calls the old Serpent, Revel. XI I. 9.) in this Sevpent^here fpoken of, counterfeited a glorious Seraphim, and thereby feduced Eve to give Credit to him.
However this be, it is moft reafonable to fup- pofe, it was fome beautiful Creature, whom Eve thought an Angel, who wifh'd them well,difcourfed with her: For (lie was not fo fimple as to think that Beafts could fpeak 5 much lefs, that they knew more of God's Mind than her felf. Nor doth it feem at all credible to me, that (he (hould have been other- ways deceived, but by fome Creature which appea red fo glorioufly, that (he took it for an heavenly M5- mfter^ who, (he thought, came to explain to them the meaning of the Divine Command.
Tea, hath Godfaid.~] This doth not look like the beginning of a Difcourfe, but the conclufion : As the Jews themfelves have obferved. And, it is not im- ' probable, that the Tempter, before he fpake thefe words, reprefented himfelf as one of the heavenly Court $ who cime,or was fent, to congratulate the hap- pinefs that God had beftowed upon them in Paradtfe : Which was fo great, that he could not eafily believe he had denied them any of the Fruit of the Garden. He defired therefore to be fatisffed from her own Mouth, of the Truth of what he pretended to have heard :, or to know how they underftood the Com mand of God. For fo thefe words may be tranfla- ted, Is it true indeed, hath God faid, Te /hall not eat
of
upon GENESIS. 63
of every Tree, 6cc. Which is a very ancient Inter- Chapter pretation, and more probable than theirs, who would III. have the Hebrew Particles, aph fy, fignifie as much L/"V^SJ as ut nt : Although God hath f aid, ye fh all not eat, not- withjia nding ye fhatt not die. So they fuppofe he was going to add, but before he had fpoken the latter part of the Sentence, Eve interrupted him faying, We may eat of the Fruit of the Tree of the Garden. This had been too grofs, flatly to contradift what God had faid : Whereas the beginning of the Verfe tells us, he went morzfttbtily to work.
Ver. i. And the Woman faid unto the Serpent, We Verfe 2. may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden."] She feems to have underftood him, as if he thought God had forbid them to eat of any Fruit in the Garden, And indeed the foregoing Queftion is ambiguous ^ like thofe Oracles of his which made him be called Aogjflfe, (oblique or crooked J by the ancient Hea then ^ becaufe they had two meanings. She truly therefore reports the Sence of God's Prohibition, in this and the following Verfe. Though there are thofe who think, (he pronounced thefe words, We may eat of the Fruit, Sec. with feme admiration, that they fhould be retrained from one Fruit, when God had moft liberally granted them all the reft. The reafon of which flie did not know, and (bowed her deftre perhaps to underftand it.
Ver. 3. But of the Fruit of the Tree, which™ mtheVerk 3. midftofthe Garden, God hath faid, ye jhallnot eat of ft, nor twch it, kft ye dlt7\ Some fiunfiethe Woman here began to prevaricate in two things : Frrff, In faying they might not touch it : Secondly, In faying only there was danger, if they nreddted vrithit, and not an abfolute threatning. Of which the Devilv
they
A COMMENT A KT
Chapter they think, took advantage ; and immediately af- IH. fured her, there was no danger at all. This laft
t^/V^SJ they ground upon the Hebrew Particle pen, which we tranllate lej}^ and exprefies a doubting. But I do not think either of thefe Obfervations are folid : For " that Particle doth not always imply a Doubt, as we may learn from the Second Pfalm, the laft Verfe, and many other places : And the touching of the Fruit, fignifies the plucking it off from the Tree, in order to eat it : Which was exprefly forbidden.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. Te flal! not furely d/e.~] You are under a miftake : Death will not be the certain Confequence of your eating this Fruit. For God is too Good to inflift fuch an heavy Punilhment, for fo fmall a Fault.
Verfe 5, Ver. 5. For God, &c."] The Particle #, which we tranflate/0r, fignifies here as much as but, (as Abarbi- nel and others obferve,) juft as in PfalmCKV. i. So che meaning is, you (hall be in no danger, but quite contrary, be great gainers by tafting of this Fruit : As God himfelf knows, who only keeps you in Awe by his Threatning, but will not be fo fevere as to execute it 5 when he fees you much improved, not impaired by eating it.
Then your Eyes (hall be opened."] For you will im- .mediately difcover abundance of things, whereof you are now ignorant.
And ye {hall be as Gods.'] Like unto us, the An gels of God : Who are frequently called Elohirn^ i. e. Gods, in Scripture. Thus Maiwonides underftands it. More Neuoch. Pars 1. c. ^. and Onk$los-> who tranflates it Princes^ meaning Angels, who are called Principalities and Powers^ &C.
owing
upon G E N E S I S.
Knowing Good and Evil."] i. e. All manner of Chapter things. Or, as fome of the Hebrews underftand it, III. •know what is fit for yon to do, without any Advice or In- -. ft mill on, and without any Reftrittion ^ being fubjeS to none, but enjoy freely what you pleafe. For to know is fometimes as much as to enjoy, in the Scripture-Lan guage : So that according to this Interpretation, he promifes them likenefs to God himfelf 3 who is abfo- lutely free, and fubjeft to none.
But in this Suggeftion the Devil proved, what our Saviour fays of him, That he was a Lyarfrom the begin ning : For there are no lefs than four Lyes (as fome reckon them) in "thefe two Verfes. Which makes it feem ftrange that Eve {hould give Credit tothefe Sug- geftions, which were very foolifh : It being incredi ble that God (hould envy them any thing, who had given them their Beings, and innumerable Bleffings. I can give no account of it, but this: that when we are fearching after the Reafon of things (as fne, I fuppofe, was of this Prohibition ) and cannot find it 3 if one be fuggefted to us, which never came into our Mind before, though in it felf unlikely, we are rea dy to catch at it, and to bepleafed with it. For when the Mind is weary with enquiring, it is fatisfied with a falfe Reafon, rather than have none. The Promife alfo of Knowledge was very tempting ; efpecially of fuch Knowledge as he gave her hope would raife and advance her, to a more noble Condition. And it is likely (tie thought an heavenly Minifter (as (he took him to bej might underftand God's meaning better than her felf.
Ver. 6. And when the Woman faw the Tree was Verfe good, &c,"] This Verfe gives a further account of that which feems very ftrange, the Difobedience of our
K firft
Chapter firft Parents. She look'd fo long upon the forbid- III. den Fruit, till (he not only had an Appetite to it, as excellent Food, but was taken with its beautiful Co lour $ and wasalfo ftrongly poffefled, by the perfua- fion of the old Serpent, that her Mind would be no lefs pleafed than her Palate, by an increafe in Know ledge and Wifdom. Thefe are powerful Tempta tions, (expreffed inthefe wOrds, good for Food, plea- fant to the Eyes, and to be defired to make one wife,} and (he could fee no Evil in the thing it (elf 5 it be ing the mere Pleafure of God, of which (he did not apprehend the Reafon, that made the eating of it a Crime. This Fruit alfo was planted, not in an ob- fcure place, but in the ntidft of the Garden, (Verfe 3 J near to the Tree of Life / Which made it the more inviting $ by its being always in her Eye, as well as very beautiful 5 and raifed, perhaps, the greater won der in her, that God (hould forbid a thing, which he hati made fo eminent for its Beauty. Hereupon (he yielded, and (as it followsj took, of the Fruit thereof and did eat.
And gave unto her Husband with her.'] Who re turned to her, it is likely, as (he was eating the Fruity and was foon perfuaded to bear her company -y for it immediately follows, and he did eat.
Ft is a quefkion whether he debated the Matter tvith her, till he was fatisfied with the Arguments that moved her to eat 3 or, his great Affe&ion to her drew him in, to do as (be did .• Without any other Confideration, perhaps, than this ; That he chofe ra ther to die, than out-live one, whom he loved moft pafTionately. To this laft, the Apoftle's words feem to incline, iTim. II. 14. Adam was not deceived : Though they do not neceflTarily (ignifie, it muft be-
con-
upon GENESIS,
confefled, That he was not feduced by the Tempter's Chapter Arguments, but only that Eve was firft feduced, .IU. and thenhelp'd to feduce him. So that he might be L/~VXJ wrought upon, both by thofe Arguments, and by his Affeftion alfoto his Wife : But could have been de ceived by neither, had he not been firft guilty of a great dvrsjttfa and patSt/juist, (""as St, Chryfoftom calls it) heedlefnefs and non-attention^ arifing from jloth and negligence. The Reflexion which Grcgor. Nazienzet? makes upon her gazing upon the beautiful Fruit, is this 3 Q&jyDuuzv m<; iv y£0is£ &$ Yifj^^dur^^^liroo/jucv^ &c. Or at. XLVHL p. 700. D.
Ver. 7. And the Eyes of them loth were opened."] Not Verfe 7* in the Senfe the Serpent promifed, but a very much different : For they foon faw their Folly, and made fad Reflections upon what they had done.
And they knew ("or feltj that they were naked~] A cold (hivering feized on them } and they perceived alfo that they were ftript of their intellectual Orna* ments, (as Athanafius expounds it, contra Gentes^ p.
4.) and blufh'd alfo at their Bodily Nakednefs, of
which they were not before at all afhamed.
And they few ed Fig-leaves together."] Of, twifted
the young Twigs of the Fig-tree, with the Leaves on
them .• Which are very broadin t he Eaftern Countries.
Pliny reckons this among the Trees that have the
largeft Leaves, L. XVI. cap. 24, And cap. 26. where he
faith, it hath folmm maximum, umbrofiiJimurnqHe* the
greateft and moft (hady Leaf of all other.
And made themfelves Aprons."] A Covering, which
they girt about them.
Ver. 8. And they heard the Voice of the LO R D Verfe 80
walking in the Gardev.~] The Sound of the Majeflatick.
Presence, or the Glory of the LORD, approaching
K 2 nearer
69 A COUMET^TAKT
Chapter nearer and nearer unto the place where they were. For III. the waling may be referred to Voice* as well as to the LORD: Signifying that the Sound* as I faid (for fo Voice is often ufed in Scripture) of the Divine Ma- jeflys approach, came flill nearer, and made a louder Nolle, to terrifie them. For thus the word walk, is applied to the Voice* (*• e. SoundJ of the Trumpet at the giving of the Law, when Mofes fays of it, (hxod. XIX. I9jpmi ^Tft it walked orjncreafed* and grew ftronger.
Juft fo, I conceive, the Sound which the Motion of the SCHECHINAH made, did at this time. And that,
In the cool of the Day^] When the Wind began to rife, (foit is in the Hebrew, in the wind of the Day,) that is, towards the Evening, as moftunderftand it.- For then there was wont to be a gentle breath of Wind ; as Ariftotle obferves of his Country, -r Zi$u- %c,v m%£$% $&\ijw TVV&V, the Weft Wind was wont to blow towards theclofe of the Day. Which being a foftand gentle Gale, the Sound they heard was the more aftonifhing, which feemed to threaten a dread ful Storm.
Onkelos thus paraphrafes the fir ft words, they heard the Voice of the WORD of the LORD: That is, of the Son of God ^ who appeared in very glorious Clouds 3 or rather, inflaming Fire, of fuch an amaz ing Brightness, that they were not able to endure the fight of it. For fo it follows .-
Adam and his Wife hid themfelves from theprefence of the L 0 R D God^ Sec.} It's plain by this there was the appearance of an extraordinary Prefence .• Which affrighted them, and made them run among the Trees of the Garden^ i. e. into the Thickets, or the clofeft places they could find there. I
N upon GENESIS,
I cannot but think the SCHECHINA H, Divine Majefty, appeared quite otherwife than for merly .• That is, not in fomild a Luftre as when they were firft acquainted with him 5 but in a more terri ble burning Light, as if it would confume them. For fo we read in after- times, that the fame L o a D who • appeared unto Mofes in aflame of Fire out of the midft of a Bu(h,(£*W. III. 2.) camedown in a more dreadful manner, at the giving of the Law, from Mount Sinai. When the Mountain was altogether on a fmoak* (Exod. XIX. 18.) becauje the LORDde- fcended upon it in Fire: And that Fire fo great, that it flamed unto the midft of Heaven, (Deut. IV. n.) with darknefs, clouds, and thick^ darknefs.
Ver. 9. And the LORD God called unto Adam.~\ Verfe 9. As he did to Mofes out of the Bufh, Exod. III. 4. and to Ifrael out of the midft of the Fire, Dent.
IV. 12.
And faid unto him.'] With a Majeftick Voice, a- gainft which he could not ftop his Ears.
Where art thou?~] Why doft thou run into Co verts, like the wild Beafts > Such Queftionsdo not argue Ignorance in him that asks them 5 but are in tended to awaken the Guilty to a confeffion of their Grimes. As appears from IV. 10. Where is Abel thy Brother ? Of whom Cain ftubbornly refufing to give an account, the LORD faid immediately,? ("to (how h needed not to be informedj the Voice of thyBro* thers Blood crieth unto me, from the Ground.
Ver. IO. And he faid, I heard thy Voice, andlwas afraid, becaufe Iwas naked, Scc.^ The very Sound of the approach of thy Prefence, fo affrighted me, be- cauie I found I had loft my Innocency -, that I hid my felf from thee. This was a foolifh and vain attempt $
but
;o A COMMENTARY.
Chapter but as Guilt makes Men fearful, fo that bereaves them IV. of all Confederation.
t^VNJ Ver. i iT And he fad, Who told thee that thou waft
Verfe *i' naked?] Divefted of thole noble Endowments, which I befrowed on thee.
Haft thou eaten, &c.]j TranfgrelTed my Command ment ?
Verfe 1 2. Ver, 12. And the Man fad, The Woman whom thon gave ft, &c.] I confefs my Guilt ; into which I was drawn by her, whom thou gaveft me for an help. Thus we are apt to excule and palliate our Faults ; by laying that Lead upon others, with which we ought to charge our felves.
Verfe i 3. Ver. 1 3. And the LORD God fad unto the Wo man, &c.~] What moved thee to violate my Com mand >
Andfljcfad, The Serpent legtoiltd we.~] My Weak- nefs was deceived, by theCunningof the Devil. Thus (he allb threw the blame upon another. But God, no doubt, convinced them both, of the greatnefs of their ,v Guilt, and the rniferable Condition into which they were fain by (heir Tranfgreffion ^ before he ended this Difcourfe with them. Which fhows the Infinite Mercy of the Creator of all, who would not abandon them $ but fought after them, to fave them, when they had loft themfelves.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. And the LORD fad unto the Serpent, Thou art curfid, Src."] It is obferved by Tertullian, That though God inflicted Punifhmenrson Adamm& Ew, yet he did not curfe them, as he did the Serpent, //* jreftitutionJs canditalos, they ftanding fair fora Refti- tution to his Favour, L. II. adv. Marcion, c. 25. And I may add, God did not begin with them 5 but firft Sentences the Serpent, before he proceeds to Judgment
upon
upon GENESIS. 71
upon them : VVhich denotes that he . (the okl Ser- Chapter pent) was the great O.fender, being the firfi: Mover IIL to Sin $ which made his Crime more grievous than theirs.
Now, to be Curfid, is to be deprived of what was before enjoyed, and doomed to a miferable wretch- ed Condition of life : The particulars of which fol low. The only Difficulty is, Why the Serpent (lite rally fo called) fhouid be curled, as it manifeftly is, (though the Devil alfo, I (hall (how is intended J being but an Inftrument which the Evil Spirit ufed ^ and had neither Will to Sin, nor yet underfhnding or Knowledge of what the Devil did ? It is com monly anfwered, That this is no more than the Curfe which God inflifted upon the Earth, (which was not capable of Sinning) for Adams fake, vcrfe 1 7. f3ut ftill the Reafon of that Curfe is required ^ which is evident enough .• Man hi mfelf being punifhed by the Curfe upon the Earth : Which did not yield its Fruit fo plentifully and fo eafily, as it had done before his Tnnfgreffion. And the Reafon of this Curfe upon the Serpent^ may be the better difcerned by another Inftance which we find Exod. XXI. 28. where an Ox which gored a Manor a Woman., that they died, is ordered to be ftoned, ani his Flefi not to be eaten. This fure was to fhow. the great value God fet upon Man's Life : VVhich he fecured alfo by this Punifh- menc^ which moved all Owners to iook well to their Beads that might indanger it. Even fo was the Serpent condemned, in Mercy to- Adam and his Wife, ("whom, it is manifeft by what follows, God intended to reftore into his Favour,) that they might be ever mindful of the foulnefs of their Gilt, and excited t'O Repentance^ by feeing a noble Creature, ('who
was
?l A COMMENT ART
Chapter was but the Inftrumentofit,) fo extreamly debafed m. into a moft vile Condition.
^?~v-*~» Upon thy Belly fialt thougo."] This (hows the Serpent was a more noble Creature before this Faft .• But changed after it, from a flying Seraph (as the word is Nnr,jL XXI. 6.) into a foul creeping Serpent 5 not moving aloft in the Air, but crawling upon the Earth, and licking the Duft. So it follows.
And duft {halt thou eat, all the days of thy life. ] There is no viler Food than this „• Which doth not fignifie the Serpent fhould feed upon nothing elfe.- But that creeping on the Ground it cannot but lick up much Duit together with its Food, whatsoever that be.
All this 5s literally the Curfe of the Serpent : But as the Devil lay hidden under the Covert of the Ser- pent) though he be not named } fo his Curfe is in tended in this Curfe of the Serpent, though it be not feparately mentioned. As appears by the following •Perfe, which hath a peculiar refpeft to the Devil, under the Name of the Serpent. And the Devils Curfe in general was this 5 to be thruft down further than before, from his ancient Heavenly Habitation 5 and condemned to live in the lower fmoaky Regi on of the Air : Where he hath loft all relifh of Ce- leftial Enjoyments, and pleafes himfelf only in his vile Endeavours to make Mankind as wicked as him felf.
Verfe 15. Ver. 15. I will put enmity between thee and the Wo man, and between thy Seed and her SeectJ] An irre- concileable Feud, throughout all Generations. Which is true of the Serpent, literally underftood, between whom and Mankind there is fuch an Antipathy, that :it difcovers it .felf both in the natural znAfenJitive
Faculties
.upon GENESIS. 73
faculties of them both .* Their Humours being Poi- Chapter fon to each other } and Man being aftonifhed at the HI. fight of a Serpent more than any other Creature ^ and the Serpent in like manner at the fight of a Man, efpecially (if Naturalifts fay true) of a naked Man. Thus Mr. Mede, Difcourfe XXXIX. p. 295. But this is far more true and certain of the Spiritual Serpent^ the Devil, and his Angels, (who joyned with him in his Apoftafie J and the Woman and her Seed, in whom thefe words are more literally fulfilled. For Maimonides juftly admires, rhat the Seed of the Wo man (hould be only mention'd, and not ofAdaw, (^without whom {he could have no Seed 5 which therefore muft be bis Seed J and that it ftiould be faid of^erSeed, not of hte9 that it bruifed the Serpent's Head. MoreNevochivt, P. II. cap. 30. Thfr, faith he> is one of the Pajjages in Scripture which is moft won- derful^ and not to be underftood^ according to the Letter ; but contains greatWifdom in it. In which Words he wrote more Truth than he was aware 5 but was not able tounfold this hidden Wifdom, as we Chriftians, bleffed be God, are able to do. For this Seed here fpokenof is Chrift, as both the Tar gums (that afcri- bed to Jonathan, and that called the Hierufalenf) ex pound it 3 and as we are taught to underftand it, by God's Words to Abraham^ when he renewed this Promife .• In thy Seed (that is Chrift, faith the Apo- b\e)jhatt all Nations be ble/ed, Gen. XXII. 18. Gal. III. 8, 1 6. For he vanquished the Devil, who had now vanquifhed Mankind. So it here follows.
ItjhallbntifethyHead.~\ \.e.ThatSEED of the Woman (hall defpoil thce of thy Power, (meaning the Devil,) and abolifh thy Tyranny. For in the Head of the Serpent (to which there is here an allu-
L fion)
74 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter fion) lies his ftrength : As Epaminondas reprefented III. to the Thebans, when he exhorted them to fee upon E^nd of Lacedemonians^ by (bowing them the Head of a vaft Snake, which he had cruftied, (r Jt*paAko T£ «3«eJ» frzotfe^Jo*.) &ying, Loofye, the Body can do no hurt, now the Head if gene .-Meaning, That if they routed the Lacedemonians, the reft of the Confede rates would fignifie nothing. Pofyen. L. II. Strateg. And therefore Mr.Mede hath rightly interpreted the Serpent's Head, to fignifie the Devil's Soveraignty, (DifcovrfeXXV.p 143. and XXXIX. p. ifi.) and that Soveraignty, is the Power of Death : Which Head (hip of the Devil, theSW of the Woman fthat is Chrift the Lord) hath broken in pieces, and at laft will utterly deftroy, i Cor. X'^. 25, 26.
There is a notable Example of this Enmity, in the ftruggle between Chrift and the Devil for the Empire, in Rev. XII. 7, 8. where Chrift deftroyed the Sove raignty of the Serpent in the Roman Empire fo ef- feftually^ that there was.** more place found^ for the Dragon and his Angels, in Heaven $ i.e. The Devil utterly loft his Soveraignty in that State 3 as Mr. Mede interprets it.
AndthoH /halt brnife his Heel.~] This Viftory over the Devil was not to be gotten without Blood .• For the Devil did all that he was able to deftroy this Seed. But that was impoffible to be done 5 he could only aflault hislowerpart, (called here the Heel,) viz. His Body or Flefli : Which, by his Inftruments, he perfecuted, defpitefully ufed, and at laft crucified. By which very means (fo admirable was the Wif- dom andGoodnefs of God) the Seed of the Woman conquered the Devil as the Apoftle (hows, Heh. II. 14, i j. For itmuft be here noted, That Chrift was
pro-
npon GEN E S 1 S. 75
properly and literally the Seed oftkeWomati^ andChapter not at all of the Man : Being born, without him, of lf-- a pure Virgin. The tender Mercy of God alfo muft ( here be acknowledged ^ which gave our firft Parents hope of a recovery, as foon as they were fain .• By making them this moft gracious Promife. Which, though here fomething obfcurely delivered, grew clearer and clearer, in every Age, till Chrift came.
It cannot be deniedTikewife, but that by Seed, may beunderftood (colle&ively) all the Faithful, who by the Power of the Lord, vanquifh all the Power of their Spiritual Enemy. (See Luke 10. 19.) Yet fo, that we muft confefs, there was one Eminent Seed here primarily intended, by whom they overcome. Un to whom another Seed is not here oppofed in this laft part of the Verfe^ (as in the former part,) but the Serpent himfelf: Which points at a jingle Corn- bate fas I may call it) between this promifed Seed and the Devil But if we will take in the other Sence alfo, unclerftand by Seed, Chrift with all his Members, then the brni/tng their Heel fignifies, ("as Mr. Mede expounds it,) the Devil's deceit and guile in aflaulting us unawares : As they do who come behind others, when they do not obferve them, and catch hold of their Heel. For that this is an Emblem olf guile and deceitful dealing, appears from the. Story of Efau and Jacob 3 the latter of whom had his*Nacne from catching his Brother by the Heel at his Birth, which Efau took for an indication of his beguiling him, as he did two times. See Difcourfe XXXVII. p. 184,
It is fit, I think, here to note further, (what the learned Mr, ^//>, hath obferved,) That God in this Promife did a particular Kindnefs to our Father
L 2 Adam,
A COMMENTARY.
Adam. Who having been feduced by his Wife to eat the forbidden Fruit, it might have occafioned & Breach between them v had not God taken Care to prevent it, by making this gracious Promife of a Redeemer, to depend upon this Union with his Wife .- Frohi whom, he affures them, one fliould defcend, that mould repair their Lofles,
The time likewife when this Promifc was made is remarkable „• Which was, before God had reje&ed 'din and preferred Setkto him , and long before any reftri&ion made to Noah's Family, or Sem\ (who derived from him,) that all the World might look upon the MESS I AH as a common Benefit to all the Sons of Adam.
Verfe 1 6. Ver. 16. Unto the Woman he faid.~] Next to the Serpent, the Woman receives her Sentence, fas MR Mede well notes,) becaufe flie was more in the fault than Adam : Being guilty, as his words are (Difcourfe XXXVIII. p. 287.) both of her own per- fonai Sin, and of her Husband's alfo. Whence it is that he, who had only finned himfelf, and not caufed others to fin* had his Judgment laft of all. This fliould be a little more confidered than it is, by all thofe, who not only do Evil themfelves, but draw others into the fame Guilt
1 r y>iU greatly multifly thy farrow and conception**] i. e. Thy forrow in thy Conception .• Which in cludes all the time of Womens going with Child § when they frequently naufeate all their Food 5 or have troublefome Longings 5 and endure many o- ther things which are very grievous to them $ efpe- cially when they arc in danger to mifcarry of their Burden*
7*
upon GENESIS. 77
In forrow /halt thou bring forth Children.] Brute Chapter €reatures are obferved to bring forth their Young, III. with far lefs pain, and difficulty, and danger, than Women commonly have in their Labour. Who, after they are delivered of their Children, are ftill in dan ger, by many Accidents : Efpecially when that ftays behind which (hould follow the Birth, (as it fome- times doth from various Caufes, noted by Bartholinus^ in his Hiftor. Anotow. & Medic. Cent. V* Htft. XXXII. n. 3.) which occafionsforc Torments, and puts their Lives in thegreateft hazard.
And thy de/ire Jhall be to thy Husband?] That is, it (hall be fubjedt to him 5 as the Vulgar Latin and AbenEzra expound thisPhrafe: Which is fo ufed, IV. 7.
And he Jhall rule overtkee^] Have Power to con- troll thy Defire. This looks like putting her more under the Will of her Husband, than was intended in her firft formation: Becaufe (he had not given. a due regard to him ; but eaten the forbidden Fruit, without flaying to confult him and ask his Advice.
Ver» 17. And unto Adam he faid^ Becaufe thou haft Verfe Learkped to the voice of thy Wife^ &c] Been fo weak, as to mind her more than me.
Curfed Jhall the Ground be^ It (hall not bring forth fo plentifully, nor fo eafilyas it did.
For tfyfake.] Becaufe of thy Sin $ which (hall be puniflied partly by its barrennefs.
In forrow flak thou eat of it.] It Ihallcoft thee a great deal of Labour and Toil., before thou reaped the Fruits of it.
All the days of thy life.'] Every part of the Year* (hall bring along with it new wearifom Labours
78 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 18. Thorns and Thiflles, &c.] It (hall coft thee III. abundance of Pains to root up the Thorns, Thirties,
IXV%J and unprofitable Weeds 5 which (hall come up in (lead
Verie 1 8- Of better Plants.
And thou flult eat the Herl of the Field.'] Be con tent with fuch things as the common Field produces $ inftead of the delicious Fruits of Paradife. Here the Rabbins cry out Menfurafro menfura, behold the Juftice of God, who ftrved Man in his kind. He was not fatisfied with the choice Fruits of the Gar den in which God put him ,• and therefore he took them from him, .and fent him to eat the ordinary- Food of Beafts 3 and that not without hard Labour. Maitnon. More Nevoch. P. I., cap. 2.
Verfe 19. Ver. 19. In thefweatofthyface, Src.^j Some con clude from hence, that the Earth brought forth, be fore the Fall, without any Pains to cultivate it. And indeed there needed none ; all things being pro duced at the firft, by the Divine Power, in full Per- feftion. But what Labour would have been necef- fary in time, if Man had continued Innocent, we do not know : only thefe words fignifie, that lefs Toil would have ferved than Men muft now take for their Suftenance.
Some of the Jews reckon up Nine Punifhrnents be- fides Death, which God infii&ed upon Adarn^ and as many upon Eve. See Pir^e Eliefer> cap. XI V« and Vorjtius upon him.
Till then return to the Ground."] i.e. Till thou dicft, and mouldreft into Duft.
For out of it thou waft takenT] From whence thou waft taken, as it is explained, verfe 23. which (hows the Particle ty is not always to be tranflated for 5 but focnetime 8>fo#re, or who/v, as IV. 25. God hath
given
Hpon GENESIS.
given me another Seed inflead of Abel^ irn ^D whom Chapter Cain flew. in.
The reft of this Verfe needs no Explication. l/VNJ
Ver. 20. Called her name Eve.'] Some think (he was Verfe 20. called Ijfcha before, and now he changed her Name intoEz;e: In belief that God would make her the Mother of all Mankind 5 and of the promifed Seed particularly $ by whom fas D. Chytraus addsj he hoped to be raifed from the Dead, to immortal Life.
Mother of all living."] Of all Men that fhould live hereafter 5 or of him that (hould give Life to Mankind. So Havah may be interpreted, viva or vivificairix : Becaufe (he was the Mother of all Mankind, or be- caufe Mankind, now fentenced to death, were by her Seed, to be made alive.
Ver. 2 1 . Vnto Adam and his Wife, did the LORD Verfe . a i, God make coats ofskjns, Scc.^ The firft Cloaths of Mankind were of the Leaves of Trees^ which they made themfelvesv being ready at hand, woven by Divine Art. The next were of t^Q Skins ofBeafts $ which were much warmer, and better able to defend them from the injury of the Cold and Weather : And thefe were made by God's Direftion. Who having: made a moft gracious Covenant with our firft Pa rents, (verfii$) it feems not unreasonable to fup— pofe, that he alfo fignified to them, they fiiould, for the confirmation of it, offer to him Sacrifices .• By the Blood of which, Covenants were ratified in after- times, from this Example. For it is not likely, that the Beafts, of whofe Skins thefe Coats were made, died of ihemfelves $ or, that they were killed mere ly for this ufe, or for their food. And therefore what is fo probable, as that, by God's Order, they
8o A COMMENTARY
Chapter wereflainfora Sacrifice to him, (the better to re- IH. prefent to them their Guilt, and that the promifed
l/"WJ Seed (hould vanquifh the Devil, and redeem them, by (hedding his Blood J and that of the Skins of thofe BeaftsGod dire&ed Coats to be made, to cloath them > But whether, by dreffing them and making Leather of them $ or, only by drying them, and Jet ting the Hair ftill continue on them, we cannot tell. Certain it is, that this was a very ancient fort of Cloathing 5 as we learn not only from Profane Au thors, but from the Sacred : Particularly, HeL XL 37. The Jewtfh Do&ors have carried this Matter fo far, as to fay, That Adam being a Prieft, thefe were his Prieftly Garments. The Skin indeed of the Burnt-Offering under the Law, is given to the Prieft, Lev. VII. 8. but not to make him Cloaths : And Eve, if this were true, mud tjave been a Prieftalfo$ for (he had a Coat made of Skins, no lefs than Adam. Who, they fanfie, left this Coat to his Pofterity 5 fo that Noah, Abraham^ and all the reft of the Patriarchs (as Abel they faid did} facrificed in the very fame Coat, till Aaron was made High-Prieft, and hadfpe- cial Garments appointed him by God. Among which, one beingcalled by this very Name of njro (Exod. XXVIIIJ it gave ground to this idle Con ceit.
Verfe 22. Vet. 22. Behold the Man is become, &c.] Man, in this place, includes Woman: And thefe words are ge nerally thought to be fpoken Sarcaftically 3 to reprove their great Folly, in thinking tocncreafe their Know ledge, whether God would or no.
jLlhf one ofusi\ Thefe words plainly infinuate a Plurality of Perfons in the Godhead 5 and all other Explications of them, feera to be forced and unna tural i
'upon G E N E S I S, 81
tural: That of Mr.Cahms being as difagreeable to Chapter the Hebrew Phrafe, as that of Socinwto the Excellen- III. cy ot the Divine Nature. This, I think, is well pro- L/"VNJ ved by Theodoricl^ Haclypan, Diffut. IV. De Locut, Sacris, n. 15, Sec.
And now, left he put forth hi? Hand, Sec."] This feems an abrupt kind of Speech 5 fomething being kept back: As, let us turn him out, (or fome fuch like words,) left he take alfo of the Tree, of Life^ and live for ever. Which many of the ancient Fathers look upon as a merciful Difpenfation 5 that Man might not be perpetuated in a State of Sin. So Irdneut, L. Ill cap. 37. and Greg. Nazianzen. Orat. XXXVIII. p. 619. God thus ordered, *lv& pti a&dvcflov YI TO w w*v-> £j yun£) ^«Aa^9^Wa YI TifAw&ct,, &C. That Sin might not be Immortal^ and the Punishment might be a, Kindnefs. Which he repeats, Orat. XLII.p. 68 1. So Eflfbaniifg alfo, Htref. XXXVIL*. i. When Man had fpoiled himfelf, God unmade him, that he might make him better. And Methodius in him, H<eref. XLIV. n. 24, 2?, 8cc. and 29. where he proceeds fo far as to fay, That Death was not fent upon Man, . £sH *a- K$ TO), out of any evil Defign to him, but as a Mercy.
Ver. 23. Therefore God fent him forth, &c.] Or5Verfe 23, caft him out 5 and that with reproach and difgracej as Aben Ezra obferves the Hebrew word, in this form, to fignifie. And fo caft him out, that he (hould not return again.
To till the Ground, from whence he was tak$n7\ This confirms what I faid upon the Second Chapter, ver. 8. That Adam was made in another place, and thence brought into Paradife: From whence being now expelled, he was fent back to the place, where he
M was
8a A COMMENTARY
Chapter was firft formed ^ there to labour in all the Toils of III. Husbandry. Though it muft be confeffed, thefe
IXVNJ words may fignifi- no more, than thofe Verfe 19. of rfihCA^ter, That he had his Original from the Earth: By the tilling of which he was put in Mind of his return thither.
Verfe 24. Vena 4. So he drove out the Man.'] (With his Wife) or, as Aben Ezra tranflates it. After he had driven him out ^ he placed, &c. This word unji is that which the Hebrews properly life in Divorces : And there fore denotes, they think, that the Lord put him a«- way from his Prefence, as a Man did his Wife, to whom he gave a Bill of Divorce : Or, as a Prince banifhes a Subjeft that hath rebelled again ft him, whom he fends into Exile out of his own Country.
And he placed at- the Eaft of the Garden."] This fhows the Entrance into Paradjfe, was from the Baft.: At which Entrance Adam, being caft out, it is likely he afterwards inhabited feme of the Eattern Coun tries. Eutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria^ faith a Mountain in Indra> which the Mahometans common ly call Sarandib, as Mr. Selden obferves, L. I. De Sy- nedr. cap. 2. p. 45 2, &c. But Aben Ezras Conjefture feems more reasonable, That hedwelt in fome Coun try, not far from Paradife.
Cherubims.'] Some of the heavenly Minifters^ that waited upon the Divine Majefty : Who were called by this Name in Mofes his time, when he wrote this Hiftory in the Wildernefs, after the giving of the Law. For the Glory of the LORD, I take it, here appeared, at the expulfion of Adam and Eve^ in a moft dreadful manner 5 to deter them from at tempting to come near this place again 3 for fear of being conftmred.
And
upon GENESIS
And a flaming Srvordr\ Or, flame of a Sword. Con- Chapter cerning which ftlatnttoiiAes thus difcourfes, P. I. More HI- Ncvoch cap. 4. Our wife Men underftand by lahat (flame) an Angel: According to tharof the VJj&mifa He wakcth his Angels Spirits : His Minifters (lobet^ a flaming Fire, Pfalm CIV. 4. That is, one of the Se- rafhiws, or a flaming Angel, in the form of a flying fiery Saraph, (or Serpent,) whofe Body moving in the Air, refembled the vibrations of a Sword, was ap pointed, with the Cherubivrs, to guard the Entrance of the Garden. For the Cherubims and Seraphims^ are frequently mentioned in Scripture, as Attendants upon the SCH'ECHINAH, or Divine Majefly : Which appeared here in great Glory, at the Paffage into the Garden of Eden $ as it did in after- times at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation of Ifrael, to their great aftonifhment.
Which turned everyway."] Angels fays Maiwonides, in the fore-named place, can turn themfelves into all forms and (hapes : Some of which ftrike greater Ter ror into thofe that behold them, than others do. But I take this Expreffion, not to fignifie mutation of Shapes, but the motion of the Angel : Which was fo very fwift and glittering, that devouring Flames feemed to come ftreaming out on every fide.
To keep the way of the Tree of Life.'] To fecurethe PafTage into the Garden of Eden^ where this Tree was 3 that none (hould dare to attempt a re- entrance. H>\\tAdam was fo far from thinking of this 5 that, if thzEaftern Traditions were to be credited, I (hould add. He plunged himfelf into the deepeft Sorrow for a long rime$ bewailing his Sin, begging Pardon,dta till God difpatcht an Angel to comfort him, and fur ther aflure him of his Favour. Which being but
M 2 pro-
84 A COMMENTARY
Chapter probable Conjectures, I fay no more of fuch Matters, III. Nor can I affert with any degree of Confidence, what our great Primate of Ireland fays in his Annals^ That it feems to have been the tenth Day of the World's Age, when Adam was caft out of Paradife : In Memory of which Calamity, the Solemn Day of Expiation, and the great Faft was inftituted in after- times, wherein all were toaffiift their Souls, JlezOt VI. 29. This indeed is the Dodrine of the Jews, who fay, The great Day of Expiation ("which was on the tenth of September) was appointed and fanftified from the Creation of the World ; But there is no other Au thority for it.
It will be more ufeful, I think, to obferve what Footfteps there are of thefe things remaining in the Gentile World. I will mention but two. One of which is noted by Eufebivf, who (hows (L.XII. Pr<e- par. Evang. cap. 1 1 >) that Plato in his Sympofium hath preferved the Memory of Paradife : His ww(&, Asos, Garden of Jupiter, being the fame with this Garden of God, in which Man was at firft placed. The other by St* Auftm^ who fays Plxrecydes, the Scholar of Pythagoras, called the Beginner of Evil, 'Qpjoon'a : That is, a Daemon in the Shape of a Serpent. So Heideggeru* obferves out of him, Exercit. IV. De. Adatno
CHAPc
upon GENESIS. 85
Chapter
; iv.
C/W CHAP. IV.
Ver. I. A ND Adam knew Eve his Wife, &c.] After Verfe i.
£\ they were thrown out of Paradife ; not before, (whatfoever fome of the JewXhDo&ors fan- lie to the contrary 5) nay, as fome will have it, after they had fpent fome time in A&s of Repentance, which is not an improbable Opinion.
I have gotten a Man from the LORD."] i. e. The promifed Mejfia-h 5 which (he imagined would have been her Firft-born. For the words of the Promife, (III. 15.) might as well be expounded of the firtl Seed the Woman had, as of any of his Pofterity.
Ver, 2. She bare his Brother Abel.~] But gives no Verfe 2 reafon of his Name, which fignifies Vanity $ as (he did of Cains, which fignifies Acquisition, or Pojfijfion. Nor is it faid who gave this Second Son the Name of Abel: But it feems they made no account of him, in comparifon with the Firft-born. Quod non pofuerunt in eofpem fa£l<e fromifponi* de Sevtjne, ut in Kain, (as Joh. Forfterus judicioufly fpeaks, in his Lexicon, on the word Hevel^) becaufe they did not place in him their hope of the promifed Seed^ as they did in Cain.
And Abel was a keeper ofSheep^ Sec."] The younger Son was a Shepherd 5 and the elder an Husbandman and Planter. For this laft feems to have been Adam's chief Imployment, both before and after his Fall, (Gen.ll. 15. 111.23.) and therefore, either chofen by Cain in Imitation of his Father, or put upon him by his dire&ion, 3S the more noble of the two*
Whence
95 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Whence the Eaftern People gave him the Name of IV. Abdalcariths ^ which (bme miftook for another Son
^.V'VNJ °f Adam : But in truth was another Name of Caw y fignifying a tiller of the Field, as Mr. Leiden (hows, I. V. DC Jure N. & G. cap. 8.
The Patriarchs indeed after the Flood, at leaft in Abrahams Family, chofc to feed Cattle : But that was becaufe it was lefs Laborious, and more fuitable to that unfettled Condition wherein they lived for ma ny Years, removing like the ancient £\oMadcs> from one Country to another.
Verfe 2. Ver. 3. In procefs of tir/te^} In the Hebrew ^ the words are, In the end of Days : That is, in the con- clufion of the Year :, or, after Harveft. So Days fig- nifie in many other places, particularly, Judg. XL 4. where, after Days, is after a Tear. This was a veiy feaibnable time to make their grateful acknowledg ments to God j who had given them a fruitful Year, and blefled them with increafe. Accordingly God ordained in future times, that the Jfraelites (hould keepafolemn Feaft, in the Years end, to thank him for the ingathering of their Fruits, Exod. XXIII. 16. XXXIV. zx. But in what Year of the World it was that Cam and Abel brought thefe Sacrifices, we have no means to know. It was, no doubt, when they were grown Men 5 and perhaps had more Brothers and Sifters befides themfelves. See Verfe 17.
Cain brought of the Fruit of the Ground^ an offering unto the LORD.~\ Thefe were the moft ancient Sa crifices among the Gentiles, both Greeks and Rowans^ as their Authors tell us 5 and therefore it is moft like ly that Adam began with thefe Oblations, of Herbs^ Flowers, Frankincenfe, Meal, &C. in which Cain fol- Jowed him 5 being of the fame Profeffion, and pro vided
*pon GENESIS. 87
vided with ftore of fuch things. Now as there were Chapter fomzfblemn Times of making their devout Acknow- IV. ledgments to God : So, I doubt not, there were fome fet Places, where they met for that purpofe. For the word in Hebrew for brought, is never ufed about Domeftick or Private Sacrifices,- but always about thofe Publick Sacrifices, which were brought to the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, to be offered by the Prieft. As Lev. IV. 4. HejhaU bring the Bullocl^to the door^ 6cc. Which occurs all along, efpecially in the ninth Chapter of that Book.
And therefore, I fuppofe, they brought thefe Sacri fices here mentioned, to fome fixed Place 5 looking towards the SCHECHINAH, or Glorious Pre- fence ofGod^ at the Entrance of the Garden of Eden, from which Adam had been expelled. For there be ing, no doubt, fome fettled Place, where they perfor med Sacred Offices $ it is moft reafonable to think it hadrefpeft to the SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majefty. Wherefoever that appeared, there they ap peared (as the Scripture fpeaks) before God .• Becaufe there he manifefted his fpecial Prefence, which mo ved them to go thither to Worfhip him, to give him Thanks, or to enquire of hivt^ as we read Rebefaak did, XXV. 2x.
What kind of Sacrifices thefe were, is aQueftion among learned Men. The Talmudifts are of Opi nion they were whole Burnt-Offerings^ and that there were no other before the Law wasgiveny ("which I (hall not now examine, ) nor would the Jews, after the giving of the Law, permit the Gentiles to offer any other at their Temple.
It is their Opinion alfo, That Cain and Abel brought thefe Sacrifices to Adam9 to be offered by him. For
which; .
''88 A COMMENTARY
Chapter which I fee no convincing Reafon: But, rather, they IV. themfelves feem to have offered them. And then X/"V"NJ this place effe&ually confutes their Opinion, who fay the Firft-born, were feparated to the Office of Priefthood : For by thefe words it is plain, the young- ett facrificed, as well as the eldeft. And ib they did in following Ages 5 when we find Jacob per* forming the Office of a Prieft, Gen. XXVIII. 18. XL VI. i. Which proves their Opinion rather to be true, who fay, That every Man anciently had the Power, in his own Family, to do the Office of a Prieft, as Job did, I. 5. But when Families combined toge ther, under one Head, Prinde, or Governor, he had the fole Right of Sacrificing devolved to him, as their common Father. Thus Mdchfaedecl^ was both King of Salem^ and Prietf of the moft High God. All which was taken away by the Law of Mofes, which permitted none to officiate among the Ijrae- lites, but the Family of Aaron $ and no Sacrifices to be offered, but at the Tabernacle of the Congrega tion, Lev. XVII. 3,4, 5.
It is a much harder Queftion, How they came to facrifice at all 5 either Meal or Beafts : Since we read of no Command from God requiring them to bring him fuch Oblations: Which had led fome to con clude, That Men did this out of a grateful Inclina tion, to return him fome of his owfa Bleffings^ though they had no Directions from him about it. But if this were true, how earned/ to believe that his Sacrifice of aBeaft, would be fo acceptable to God, as the Apoftle fays it was by Faith? Heb. XI. 4. That Faith had fomething elfe to warrant it, than barely his own Reafon. Adam^ in all likelihood, had re ceived fome order concerning it 5 and began to
facrifice
upon GENESIS. 8-9
Sacrifice fas I noted before, III. 21.) by dire&ion Chapter from the SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majeffy: IV. From whence a Voice fpake to him upon feveral oc- vVV%J cafions, II. 16, 17. III. 8, 9, ($c. This Order in deed is not recorded, no more than many other things which Mofer in this fhort Hiftory omitted, fas Enoch's Prophecy, Noah's Preaching, the Peopling of the World, &c. SezPerfe 15.) but it doth not feetn probable that Adam would have prefumed to invent a way of Worflnp, by killing Beafts, and burning their Fat : Efpecially fince one cannot perceive any Inclination to it in Nature. And therefore Eufebiw very judiciouOy refolves, in my opinion, that this way of Worfhip was not taken up by chance, or by a Humane Motion, ^m rS^a? ^ %3nvoia,v \l&ro/Sg- /gAH/^ov, but fuggefted to them by a Divine Intimati on, L. I. Demonflr. Evang. Cap. 10. Of which Plato one would think had fome Notion., when he forbids his Law-Maker (in tiisEfmoMJs) to make any altera tion in the Rites of Sacrificing, becaufe, 8 bvuj<ttw&&- vcq rjj Swry <pi)<ru rff TTH&TW Tfigji, it is not poflible for our Mortal Nature to know any thing about fuch Mat ters.
Ver. 4. And Abel he alfo brought of the Firftlings of Verfe 4 his flock^ &c.] Many have fanfied from hence, that Cain's Guilt lay in this, that he did not bring theyfr/? of his Fruit, as he ought to have done, and as the Heathens ever did, or were bound to do by their Pontifical Laws, (as Mr. Selden obferves,Chap. I. of his Hift. of Tythes) in their Pr<entejjkm, i.e. the Firft- fruits of their Corn, or their Calpar, which was the richeft of their Wine. For it is only faid, he brought of the Fruit of his Ground, when AM brought of the Firftlings of his Flock: And Mofes alfo adding,
N that
A COMMENTARY
Chapter that Abel brought of the Fat thereof, that is, the IV. very beft ^ they think Cams Fault was, that he brought not the fulleft Ears of Corn, (which he kept for himfelf,) but the lankeft, or brought them with a niggardly Hand, or a grudging Mind. Thus Pattadiw in his Life of St. Chryfoftovt fays, He was the firft that tafled the Firft- fruits, and kept the be (I things for his own Belly, Toy dur&px&v dTny^urtTD^^ T^U, ?y istjuTV faqjULcipytqp, TO 9i£orr&c £L>Aa|a$, p. 1 08. But there is no certainty of this$ and the Apoftle to the Hebrews hath dire&ed us to a better account, XL 4. Abel offered with a pious Mind -y Cam with out a due Senfe of God, and fincere Affeftion to him. He offered the Fruit of his Ground $ but did not devote himfelf to God. Therefore it fol- lows,
The LORD had refpeff unto Abel and his Offering.'} He gradoufly accepted them : and his Offering was accepted, becaufe he himfelf was accepted. It is a Metaphor from thofe who when a Prefent is made to them, look kindly upon the Perfon that brings it, if they like him and his Prefent 5 or turn away their Face, if they difdain them. .
How God teftified his Acceptance of 'Abel's Sacri fice, is the only difficulty : Which the Jews fay was by Fire coming from Heaven (or rather, I think, by a Stream of Light, or a Flame from the SCHECHINAH, or glorious Prefence of God, to whom it was offered) which burnt up his Sacri fice. Thus Theodotjon oif old tranflated thefe Words, 9A7ji£A&\£«' ^i TO$ <$i/ows£ 'A€lA5 ^ dnTrpttt:, He looked upon Abel'/ Sacrifices , andfet them on Fire. Which St. Hierom, and other ancient Writers approve. The Footfteps of which we meet withal in Gen. XW 17.
and
upon G E N E S i S. 91
and Examples df it very many, in future times : Chapter When Mofes offered the firft great Burnt-offering IV. according to the Law, I ev. IX 24. When Gideon L/"V*SJ ofter'cl upon the Rock, Judg VI. 21. And David flayed the Plague, i Chron. XXI. 56. and Solomon confecrated the Temple, 2 Chron. VII. 13. and when Elijah contended with the Baalites, i Kings XVIII. 38, dv. Whence the Ifiaeljtes> wifibingall Profperity to their King, pray that God would accept ('in the Hebrew, turn into AJhes) his burnt Sacrifice^ PfaL XX. 4. And we find fome Relicks of this among the Heathen. For when the Gretas went on Ship board to the Trojan War, H0«?er*reprefents Jupiter promifing them good fuccefs in this manner, Iliad. 2. *;. 354.
by lightning on the Right-hand of them (as it may be tranflated) or fhining gracioufly upon them, fas the ancient Scholiast expounds it) and making favourable Tokens appear to them. In like manner he gave the fame encouragement to the Trojans^ when they were going to fet upon the Greek?, Iliad. X. v. 236, 237-
3 erpJv
avjuutTx fzvow,
Jupiter giving them good figns, lightmd upon them, And Thunder fometimes accompany ing thefe Flafties of Lightning (as it did on Mount Sinaf) Virgil makes him to have eftablifhed Covenants in that man ner, JEneid. XII. v. 200. Where after JKneas had cal-
N 2 led
A COMMENTARY
Chapter led the Sun to witnefs, &c. Latinut lifts up his Eyes IV. and Right-hand to Heaven, faying,
Audi at htfc genitor^ qui fader a fulmine fancit.
Let the (Heavenly) Father hear what I fay, who blrfies Covenants with Thunder.
If fuch Paffages as thefe were attended, no confi- dering Man would think the Books of Mofes to be of lefs Antiquity than they pretend to } they opening to us the very Fountains of things, particularly of the ancient Religion.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5. But unty Cain and his Offering he had not refyeft^\ He did not fo much as (hine upon his Sheaves,* much lefs make them afcend up to Heaven in a Scnoak: Though he were the Elder Brother, and brought his Offering firft.
And Cain was very wroth."] This highly incenfed him again ft Abel : When he fhould have made fevere Reflexions on himfdf, and confidered what it was that provoked God to flight his Sacrifice $ that fo he might amend it, and procure his favour. Unto which he had not a Title by his Birthright, but by his Piety. It is poffible indeed that Eve might have inftilled an Opinion into him, that he being the Firft-born, was the Blefled Seed which God had promifed. And then this may be conceived to have enraged him the more againft his Brother 5 when he faw fuch a diftinguifti- ing mark of God's fpecial Favour to him in the very aft of Sacrificing. Which made him look upon Abel with a jealous Eye, and tempted him to kill him 5 that he might not fupplant him in his hope, of being the Fulfiller of the Oracle before-mentioned. III. 15.
And
upon GENESIS.
And hi* Countenance fell.~] He did not meerly look Chapter dejeftedly Through grief 5 but knit his Brows, and IV, had a down-look (as we fpeak) lowring and cloudy : WV% Like thofe who have evil Defigns in their Heads, and meditate nothing but Revenge.
Ver. 6. And the LORD faid unto Cain, &c.] He Verfe 6. did not intend wholly to caft off Cafo, by refuting his Sacrifice, it is plain, I think, by this Queftion. Which was, in effeft, to tell him, He had no reafon to be angry, or out of humour 5 but only to become a better Man : And then God would have refpeft unto him alfo. So it follows,
Ver. 7. If thou doft well, (halt thoti not be accep- ted? 8cc.] There are vaft varieties in the Interpre tation of this Verfe, with which I (hall not trouble the Reader. (See Theodorick, Hack/pan, L. I. Mifcel C. 4. Mercer, and L. de Dieu^ different from all, with Dr. Lightfooi) but only give the Sence of our Tran- flation. If thou doft wett, (halt thou not be accepted? Canft thou doubt that I have an impartial Refpeft to true Goodnefs, wherefoever I find it>
But if thou doft not well^ Sin (that is, the Punifhment of Sin, as Verfe 13. XIX. 15. and many other pla- cesj lieth at the doorJ} Is ready to follow the Of fence.
And. unto thee {hall be hfe de/ire^ and thou /halt rule over himl} He is ftill thy younger Brother, and fhall be fubjeft to thee, (See III. 16.) and thou (halt be his Superiour. So here are Three things fuggefted to Cain, to appeafe his Anger againft his Brother. jRrtf, That the reafon of his not being refpefted, was not in his Brother, but in himfelf: Who, if he would do well, as Abelhzd done, (houldfind favour no lefs than he. Secondly ^ That there was no reafon
he
A COMMENTARY
Chapter he that did ill.ihould fare like him that did well 5 IV. but quite contrary, {hould feel the marks of God's U'VSJ Dilpleafure. And yet, Thirdly, This (hould not al ter his civil right, nor give Abel any Authority over him: But he (hould ftill retain the Priviledge of his Birth-right ^ and need fear no harm from his Brother, who was his inferiour.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. And Cain talked with Aid his Brother^] Asked him in a friendly manner (as one Brother fpeaks to another) if he would walk into the Fields. This feems more likely to me, than that he told him how the LORD had chidden him, fas Abcn Ezra interprets it) or that he difputed with him about the other World, and the Judgment to come, as others of them expound it; Which Mr. Selden very judici- oufly concludes to have arifen from Onkelos his Pa- raphrafe on the foregoing Verfe, which is this 3 If thou amend thy Worfoip (or Service of me) (halt thou not be pardoned? but if then doft not amend /V, thy Sin foatt remain to the day of Judgment , in which thou ft alt be punifhed, jfthon doft not repent. Upon which fol lows in fome Editions of the Pentateuch^ the difpute which Cam had with Abel about the Day of Judgment, as a traditional Explication of this 8 Vkrfe. L. VII. de Jure N. & Gent. cap. 4.
When they were in the Ffeld^] When he had drawn him from Company, and had him alone.
Cain rofe up againft Abel his Brother."] Aflaulted him on a fudden $ took him at an Advantage.
And flew him.'] Gave him a ftab $ or fome other way wounded him 5 fo as to (bed his Blood. Verfe n.
Verfe 9 ver. 9. The LORD faid unto Cam, Where is thy Brother f] Which is not fpoken, as if he was Ig norant $
upon GENESIS.
norant} but to awaken Cain, and make him fenfible, Chapter that he knew what had pafled. IV.
And hefaid, I &ov> not>~\ I can give no account V-/"VNJ of him.
Am I My Brother s Keeper ?"] Was he committed like a little Child, to my care 5 to look after him, and fee he took BO harm ? Rage made him rude $ and not mind what he faid, nor to whom he fpake. Salvian indeed (L. I. de gubern. Dei) thinks this Speech proceeded from Atheifnt ^ and that, in thofe early days the Opinion fprung up, which, in his time, had infefted many, Deum terrejtria non refpicere, 8tc. That God did not mind what we do on Earth $ but the fouleft Faft may be covered ,$ith a Lye. But this Conceit is confuted by the very queftion which is put to Cain.
Ver. 10. And he faid, What haft thou done .^] Con- Verfe 1C. fider, \\hat an heinous Crime thou haft committed y which cannot be concealed from me. For,
The Voice of thy Brothers Blood cryeth^ &c] Calls for fpeedy and fevere Vengeance. In the Hebrew \i\sBloods, in the Plural Number,- becaufe, fay the Hebrew Doftors, he killed Abel and all his Pofterity, which were in his Loins: According to what we read 2 Kings IX. 26. Ihavefeen the Blood of Naboth, and the Blood of his Sons, (though we read of no body Honed but Naboth himfelf) faith the LORD, and I will requite thee in this Plat, &c. See Sanhedrim^ Cap. IV. and Excerpt. Gemara, Cap. VL N. 7. a^ Joh> Coch.
Ver. II. And now thou art curfed from the £*?'£> Vcr& £§•• which hath opened^ Scc.^ I pafs a Sentence of perpe tual banUhment upon thee, from this Country $ which hath drunk in the Blood of thy Brother. Hi therto
4 COMMENTARY
Chapter therto Adam and his Children had lived together $
IV. but now, as Aben Ezra well obferves, Cain was ba-
L/"V*\J nifhed into a Region far off from his Father : Who
dwelt in the Neighbourhood of Paradife. Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And when thou tilleft the Ground, Sec/] And wherefoever thpu (halt flee, the Earth, which thou tilled, (hall be barren 5 and not bring forth an- fwerable to thy Labour.
A Fugitive and a Vagabond/halt thou be in the Earth."] In that ftrange Country thou (halt have no reft 5 but wander up and down unquietly, and not know where to fettle: Or as the LXX. tranflate the Words, go a- 'bout groaning and trembling^ full of Anguifh in thy Mind, and with a continual (baking in thy Body. Thus St, Bajil in his //0>//#?againft Drunkennefs underftood it, when he faid, A Drunkard draws upon hiwfelfthe Curfe ofCa/n, TpifA&v ;£ ^xr^ji^^iMv©^ £)a TTZJWTD^ /S/»» Staggering and turned about uncertainly all his life long. Hen. Vahfiw thinks his Brother's Ghoft haunted him whitherfoever he went : Which made him run from place to place to avoid its Perfecution. So he para- phrafes thefe Words, (Annot. in L. III. Eufeb. Hrft* Ecclef. Cap. 6.) Umbra fratr is tut quern occiJifti, per~ fequeterte ubique^ & aderit infefta. And fo he inter prets the foregoing Words, The Voice of thy Brother's Blood cryeth to me from the Ground. Thy Brother, whom thou haft impioufly flain, requires me to a* venge him, and exaft the Puni(hment of thee, which is due for his Murder. And indeed it was a Notion, not only among the Pagans but among the Jews alfo (as he (hows) that the Ghoft of thofe who were mur dered, perfecuted their Murderers, and required Pu* smfhmentofthem*
Ver*
upon GENESIS. 97
Ver. 13. My punijhment is greater than I can bear.'] Chapter This is too heavy a Punifhment, for I fink under the IV. weight of it. Others interpret it, fas appears by the <VV"NJ Margin of our Bible?) My finis unpardonable $ or, too Verfe 1 3. great to be forgiven. Thus he, who at fir ft was not io fenfibleof his Sin as to confefs it, now thinks it to no purpofe to beg Mercy.
Ver. 14. Behold, thoti haft driven me this day from Verfe 14. the face of the Earth.'] Baniftied me (as was faid be fore, Verfe n.) from my own Native Country.
And from thy Face fhall I be hid."] And more than that, lam banifhed from thy bleffed Prefence, (as ap pears from verfe 16.) and (hall not have the liberty to come before thy Glorious Majefty. With refpeft to which he may be faid to have been Excommuni- cated, though not in the full fence of that word, as Mr. Seldm (hows, L. I. deSynedr. cap. x. p. 446, 455, &c.
And Ifoall be a Fugitive^ See."] Wandring up and down in unknown Regions.
And it Jhall come to pafs that every one that fndeth me, jhallflay me7\ I (hall be look'd upon as a Com- njon Enemy / So that whofoever lights upon me, ta king me for a dangerous Perfon, will kill me. To find another, in Scripture-language, fignifies to fall upon him by chance or unawares 5 without any pre cedent hatred .• As Bochart obferves from i Sam. XXIV. 14. and other places, L. \\.Hierozoic.P.l. cap. 2 1 .
Ver. 1 5. And the LOR Dfaid unto him, Therefore Verfe If* whofoflayeth Cain^ &c-"] Or, (as the word we tran- flate therefore may be rend red,) not fo : It (hall not be as thou fufpedteft. But Lud. de Diett gives ma ny Inftances where this word p'1? is ufed as an Af-
O firmative9
98 A COMMENTARY
Chapter firmative, fignif ying as much asfetrely. So the mean- IV. ing is, Take it for a certain Truth, that if any Man flay Cain, he (that is Cam, ) {hall be avenged feven. fold ; or, rather, through feven Generations. God will puni(h the f laughter of Cam a long time : For the Number/e^e# is do&zu T&dSus sH/uAttftx&, (as the Chronic. Except, before Job, Antiochenus fpeak,) an Indication of an indeterminate, but great Number ^ fignifyingas much, as he (hall endure many Punifh- ments. For God intended the Life of Cam (hould be prolonged, in a miferable eftate, as an Example of his Vengeance 5 to deter others from committing the like murder.
And the LOR D fet a marl^iipon Cain, &c.~) What this Mark, was, we muft be content to be ignorant. Some think God (ligmatized him with a Letter of his Name., in his Forehead $ ("or, rather, I (hould think, fet fuch a Brand upon him, as fignified him to beac- curfed $) others, that he look'dmott frightfully, fo that every Body avoided him 5 or, that his Head (haked continually $ or, fas othersj he had a trem bling in his whole Body 5 or, his Face, perhaps, was blafted by Lightning from the Prefence of the Lo a D. Certain it is, that it was fome notorious Mark of God's Difpleafure-' Which made Men fhun him* For we muft not imagine there was no Body in the World, at this time, but Adam, Eve, zn&Cain: But confider that the Defign of this Holy Book is not to give us a particular Account of the whole Race of Mankind defcended from Adam, (who, no doubt, had a great many more Children than Cam and Abel$ and they alfo had Children before this hapned ,Jf but onlyofthofe Perfons who were moft remarkable $ and wjhofe Story was neceffary to be known, for the
under-
upon GENESIS. 99
underftanding of the Succeffion down to Mofcs his Chapter time. Accordingly we read, prefently after this, that IV. Cam had a Wife 5 and more than that, he built a Ci- vx"v-v^ ty : Which fuppofes a great Company of People to inhabit it, verfe 17. And here, by the way, we need not wonder, there is no mention made of the Infti- tution of Sacrifices 3 when the firft Peopling of the World is only fuppofed, not related.
Ver. 1 6. And Cam went out ^ Not voluntarily, but Verfe 16. by the force of the Divine Curfe.
From the frefence of the LO R D.~] There was a Divine Glory, called by the Jews the SCHECHINAH, which appeared from the beginning, (as I have of ten faid before,) the fight of which Cam never after this enjoyed ; but was baniftied from it.- And God withdrawing his gracious Prefence from him, (fo St. Chryfoftow^) he was alfoforfaken by him, and put out of his fpecial Prote&ion. If Cam, after this, turned a down-right Idolater fas many think) it is very likely he introduced theWorlhipof the SW, (which was the moft ancient fort of Idolatry,) as the bed refemblance he could find of the Glory of the LO R D: Which was wont to appear in a flaming Light. And in after-times they worshipped Fire in the Eajiern Countries 5 as the beft Emblem of the Sun, when it was abfent.
And dwelt In the Land of Nod?] At laft he fettled in a Country, which had the Name of Nod ; from his wandring up and down, like a Vagabond, till he fixed here. Where it feems, he ftill continued reft- lefs, moving from one part of the Country to ano ther, till, in conclufion, he built a City, (for his fe- curity, fome think,) as we read in the Verfe follow ing.
O 2 Some
,oo A COMMENTARY
Chapter Some translate it, in the Land of Vagabonds .-And IV. £• Solomon fanfies the very Ground (hak'd under him, v'-v'*^ and made People run away from him, faying, Thk fa the cruel Maa^ that lotted hw Brother.
OntheEaftofEden^\ He ftill went Eaftwardirom that Country, where Adam fettled after he was thruft out of Paradife. SeeIIL24. Which Juntos thinks was in that Traft of Ground where fatNomadts af terwards dwelt, bordering upon Sufiana. Which is far more probable than the Conceit of the Author oC the Book Gj/r/,. (Pars II. § 14.) who would have Cain's going from theprefence of the LOR D nothing elfe, but his Expulfion out of the Land of Canaan^ where Adam dwelt after he was thruft out of Para~ dife : And, confequently, the Land of Nod was not far from the Land of Canaan. Nothing can be more ungrounded than this y which overthrows alfo.all that Mofes faith of Eden^ and the Garden planted there, from whence Adam went out on the £<?/? Jide^ and therefore not toward Canaan which was wefl- ward.
Verfe 1 7. Ver- r 7- ^*J Cam knew his Wjfe^] There hath been no mention hitherto of any Woman in the World but Eve^ much lefs of Cains having a Wife. And therefore it is uncertain whether this were a Wife he took before he killed his Brother, or after. It is moft probable before -y becaufe we may well think all the World abhorred the thoughts of Marriage, with fuch an impious Murderer, whom God alfo had ac- curfed. But whether it were before or after y I fee no reafon to conclude that this Wife was his Sifter: There being Women enough in the World befide^ before this time, as we faid before, verfe 15. For tveu in our Coyntry, in the Age before us, there
fprung
upon GENES IS. 101
fprung from two Perfons, Three hundred fixty feven Chapter Children, within the fpace of eighty Years- And IV. therefore, the World being now (when Cam ftew L/* Abel) an Hundred and twenty eight , or an Hundred and thirty Years old, according to Archbilhop Vfber, and Jac. Capellvis Chronology, we cannot but con ceive there were a great Number of People in it, defcended from all thofe Sons and Daughters which <&{*#/ begot, Chap. V. 4. We are not told how ma ny, but feme of the ancient Eajlern Traditions (in Cedrenus) fay, he had thirty three Sons, and twenty feven Daughters.
It is true indeed, That at the firft Cain could mar ry none but his own Sifters. Which was then Lawful, becaufe abfolutely necefiary / But prohi bited by God, when that Neceffity ceafed. Of which the Eajlern People were fo fenfible, that they took care to have it thought, thatd//* and Abel did not marry thofe who were neareft of Kin to him, but thofe that were at forae diftance. For their Tradi tion is, ThatEt/e, at her two firft Births, brought Twins, a Son and a Daughter, viz,. Cain with his Si fter Azron, and Abel with his Sifter Awin $ as Saidus yerfe Patricides Patriarch of Alexandria reports. Now, fuch was their Caution, not to match with thofe that were neareft in Blood, but with thofe furthfer oft, as much as was then poffible 3 Cam was not fuffered to marry his Twin-Sifter, nor Abelhis : But Adam gave Awn to Cam, and Az>ron to Abet. I cannot vouch the truth of this Story .• Which I mention only to fhow, That Mankind have had a Senfe, that all poffible Care (hould be ufed, to avoid Marriages with the neareft Relations: For though this Story was derived, per haps, from the jfea?/, yet it was believed by other
People.
A COMMENT^KT
Chanter People. See Mr. Selden, L. V. De Jure N. & G. y c. 8. Whence Diodorus Statins fays, Lib. I. it was
the common ufe of M that Brothers and Sifters (hould not be joyned in Marriage. And Plato (L. VIII. de Legib.} calls fuch Marriages fjundttfjuSs oW % Stojuuafa by no means holy, but hateful to God. For though they were not fo in the beginning of things, they became fo afterwards : That being natural m one flate of things (as Grot/us well obferves, Lib. de Jure B. d^P. t- IO.J which is unnatural in another flute.
And he built a. City~\ Not as foon as he came into this Country ^ but when he had a numerous Proge ny, able to People it: And consequently in his old Age. His end in building it, fome think, was to crofs theCurfe of wandring too and fro : Others, to defend himfelf againft thole whom his guilty Con- fcience made him fear 5 or, to fecure the Spoils which by force and violence (zsjofephus relates, L. I. An- tiq. c. 3.) he had taken from others. There are thofe, who imagine, that when he attempted to build the City, he often broke off the Work, out of a pa- nick fear .- Such an one as Romulus felt, after he had killed his Brother Remus.
And called the Name of the City^ after the Name of his Son.'] Sortfe think he declined his own Name, becaufehe knew it to be odious every where. But it is more likely, it was for that reafon, which moved Men in after-times to do the fame. For it hath been a very ancient Ufage, for great Men to call the Ci ties which they built by the Name of their Sons, ra ther than their own : Out of the great Love they bare to their Children. Thus Nimrod called Nineveh after the Name of his Son Ninus. Which the PJat-
mijl
upon GENESIS. 103
mil notes as a piece of the Vanity of Mankind, to Chapter call their Lands ( that is, the Hotifes where they dwelt, . IV. as R. Solomon Jarchi interprets it) by their own Name** to be a lading Monument of them and of their Family.
Enoch.~] There were an ancient People called by Pliny ^ Heniochi 5 by Mela,Emochi } .and by Luc an, Enochii: Some of which lived fo far Eaflward, that Sir W. Raleigh fanfies they might be the Pofterity of this Enoch.
Ver. 1 8. And unto Enoch was born Irad, Scc.^ Itisyerfe remarkable, that though Mofes gives us fome account of the Defendants of Cain^ yet he faith not a word of the Years that they lived, and carries their Ge nealogy but a little way. Whereas he deduces the Genealogy of Setkdown to the Flood, and fo to his own time, &c. And alfo relates particularly , (Chap.. V.) to what Age the Life of his principal Pofterity was prolonged. Itfeems, he look'd upon Cains Race, as fuch a Reprobate Generation, that he would not number them in the Book of the Living ^ as St. Cyril fpeaks.
Ver. 19. Lantech took, unto him two Wives.'] By ayerre fmall tranfpofition of Letters, Lantech being the fame with Malecb, which fignifies a King 5 fome of the jtap/ fanfie him to have been a great Man : For none but fuch, they fay, had two Wives in thofe ancient Times .• Though they hold it was lawful fas Selden (hows, L. V. De Jure N."& G. cap. 6.) for any Body that could maintain them, to have had more. But it is more likely that Lamech was the firft, that ad ventured to tranfgrefs the Original Inftitution: Which was obferved even by the Cainites till this time. Whenx perhaps, his earneft defire ofieeing
that
io4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter ^thztbleffedSeed which was promifed to Eve, might IV. induce him to take more Wives than one: Hoping,
U^VNJ by multiplying his Pofterity, fome or other of them might prove (o happy as to produce that Seed. And this he might poffibly perfuade himfelf was the more likely 5 becaufe the Right that was in Cain the Firft- born, he might now conclude was revived in him- felf .• Who being the Seventh from Cain, had feme reafon to imagine the Curfe laid upon him, of being pumfazd^fevenfold, i.e. for Jeven Generations, was now expired 5 and his Pofterity reftored to the Right of fulfilling the Promife.
Verfte 20. Ver. 20. He was the Father^ The Hebrews call him the Father of any thing $ who was the firft In- venter of it 5 or, a moft excellent Matter in that Art. Such was Jabal in the Art of makftig Tents, folding Flocks, and all other parts of Paftorage. Which though begun by Abel, was not by him brought to Perfedion.- Or, if it were, Jabal was the firft in the Family of Cain, that was Eminent in the follow ing Inventions*,
Of fuch as dwell in Tents?] Taught Men to pitch Tents 5 which were movable Houfes, that might ea- fily be carried from place to place, when there was occafion to remove for new Pafture. Under this is comprehended all that belongs to the Care of Cattel, in their breeding, feeding, and preferving, as appears by what follows. *
And of fitch as have Cattel.'] In the Hebrew the words are, andofCattel. Where the copulative Vau^ which we tranflate and, fignifies as much as with: And fo the words are to be here tranflated, fuch as dwelt in Tents, with Cattel ThusBochartus obferves sit is ufed, I Sam. XIV. 18. The Ark, of God was at
that
upon GENES IS. 105
ihat time^ with the Children oflfrael $ as we, with the Chapter Ancients, truly tranflate it. And fo it fhould be IV* tranflated, Exod. I. 5. All the Souls that came out 0/L/"VSJ Jacob's Loms were feventy Souls, withjofeph. For Jo- feph is not to be added fas we feem to underftand it) unto t\\z Seventy $ but made up that Number, as appears from Gen. XLVL 27. So that the Sence of this whole Verfe feems to be, That though Men fed Cattel before in good Failures 5 yet Jabel was the firft that, by the Invention of Tents, made the more Defart Countries ferviceable to them .• Where, when they had eaten up all the Grafs in one place, they might in a little time take up their Tents, and fix them in another. To this purpofe R. Solomon Jarchj. And in thefe Tents, it's likely, he taught them to de fend their Cattel, as well as themfelves, from Heat and Cold, and all other Dangers to which they were expofed in thofe Defart Places.
Ver. 'L i . Father of fitch as handle the Harp and Or- Verfe 2 1 ganJ] The firft Inventer ofMufical Inftruments, and that taught Men to play upon them. What Cinnoris, (which we tranflate //dr/>,)fee in Bochartu* his Canaan^ L. II. cap. 7. p. 808. 1 believe the firft word includes in it all Stringed, the latter all Wind Mufical Inftruments,
It is poffible that Apollo, or Linus, or Orpheus (for there are all thefe various Opinions) might be the Inventer of the Harp among the Greeks : But it was their Vanity that made them fanfie fuch Inftruments had their Original, in their Country.
Ver. 22. Tubal-Cain.~] The Arabians ftill call a Plate Verfe 2 2 of Iron or Brafs, by the Name of Tubal, ("as Bwharttts obferves out of Avlcenna^ and others, JL. III. Phaleg, oip. 12.) who as it follows in the Text, was
P
,od A COMMENT A KT
Chapter An Inftrufter of every Artificer in fyrafs andiron."] IV. *• *• Found the Art of melting Metals, and making ^x-v^ all forts of Weapons, Arms, and other Inftruments of Iron and Brafs. Many think that Vulcan is the fame with Tubal-Cain, (their Names being not un like,) particularly Gerh. Vofljus^ DC Or/g. Jdolol. L. L cap. 1 6.
His Sifters Name wa* Naamah.'] Whom Vcffius, (/<&. cap. 1 7.) takes to have been the Heathen Miner va, or Venus. Her Name fignifies Beautiful, or Fair, one of zfaeet AfpeS : And the Arabians' fay, (he in vented Colours and Painting^ as Jabaldid Mufick. See Elm acinus , p. 8.
Verfe 23. Vcr. 23. And Lantech faid unto his Wives, &c Hear ntj Vbice^ ye Wives of Lantech^ hearken unto nty Speech.'] Something had preceded thefe Words, which was the occafion of them •• But it is hard to find what it was. Jacobus Capel/us indeed (in his Hijtoria Sacra & Exotica) hath a Conceit that La ntech was now in a vapouring Humour, being puffed up with the glory of his Son's Inventions $ to whofe M*/M_and other Arts, he endeavoured to add Poetry : Which he exprefled in the following Words, that feem to him a Thrafonical Hymn, wherein he brags what Feats he would do. For fo he reads the Words, (with E£e* E*r<0 not I have flain, but I will k^U a Man with one blow of my Fift, &c. But I can fee no warrant, for this Tranflation, without a Violence to the //e£ra*> Text, and therefore we muftfeekfor another Interpretation.
/ havejlain a Man to my wounding^ &C.3 Thefe words would have a plain Expofition, (which other- wife are difficult,.) if we could give Credit to the Hebrew Tradition 3 which St. Hhrom fays feveral
Chrifti-
upon GENESIS. 107
Chriftians followed .• That Lantech being informed Chapter by a certain Youth, as he was a Hunting^that there was IV. a wild Beaft lay lurking in a fecret place, went thi- *s~>s*^ ther 5 and unawares killed &/*, who lay hid there : And then, in a Rage at what he had done, fell upon the Youth that had occafion'd this Mirtake, and beat him to Death. But, as there is no certainty of this ^ fo it doth not agree with ihe next ferfe : Which feems to fuppofe Cain to be now alive. Therefore Lud* de Dieu, following Qnkelos, reads the Words by wdy of Interrogation } Have IJlain a Man ? Or, fo ntuck as a Boy ? that you (hould be aftraid of my Life > It feems the ufe of Weapons being found out by one of his Sons, and grown common 5 his Wives appre hended that fome Body or other might make ufe of them to flay him. But he bids them comfort them- felves, for he was not guilty of flaying any Body himfelf} and therefore might reafonably hope, no Body would hurt him.
And then the Meaning of the nextFer/e is eafie.
Ver. 24. If Cain Jh all be avenged fey en fold ^ fra/yVerfe 24. Lantech feventy and feven fold7\ If God hath guarded Cam fo ftrongly, who was a Murderer, as to threaten great and long Punifhments to thofe that flay him 5 he will punilh them far more, and purfue them with a longer Vengeance, who (hall flay me, being aguilt- JefsPerfon.
There are divers other Interpretations, which I (hall not mention ; becaufe this is moft pertinent to the preceding Difcourfe.
Ver. 25. Bare a Son.~] The Jews think he was born Verfe 2$. a Year after Abelvti& killed.
And called his Name Seth.~] Mothers anciently gave Names to their Children, as well as the Fathers.
P 2 And
iq8fr A COMMENT ART.
Chapter And Eve gave this Son, the Name of Seth 3 becaufe IV. (he look d upon him as appointed (fo the word fig-
f**~*~> nifies) by God, to be what Cain^ (he thought, Ihould have been 5 till God rejefted his Sacrifice, and he flew Abel. In whofe room (he believed God had fubftituted this Son, to be the Seed from whom the Redeemer of the World (hould come.
The Arabians fay ^ ( particularly Elm<Lcinus, p. 7.) That Seth was the Inventer of Letters and Writing, (as Jubal was of Mufkk, and Tubal-Cain of Arms,) which fo much furpaffed all other Inventions, that fome fas Cedrenus tells usj called him, a God 5 /'. e. the higheft Benefactor to Mankind. Which, if it were true, we might think that thence his Children were called the Sons of God, VI. I. But it is luoft likely this miftake arofe from Symmachus his Tranfla- tion of the laft Words of the next Ferfe, which, if we may believe Stiidas, was thus, Then began Seth to be called by the Name of God. For which there is no Foundation either there, or any where elfe in Scrip ture. For though it be faid that Mofes was made a God toPharaoh^y^ he is never fimply called a God, as Jacobus CapeUtis well obferves. Nor is any King, or Prince called by that Name particularly, in Scripture, though ia general it fays of them all, That they are: Gods.
Verfe 26, Ver. 26. To him alfo was born a Son.'] When he was an Hundred and five Years old, as we read, V. 6.
And he catted his Name, Enos.~] Signifying the weak and miferable Condition of Mankind 5 which be feemed, by giving him this Name9 to deplore.
upon GENES I S, 109
Then began Men to call upon the Name of //>£ Chapter LORD."] This doth not import that Men did not IV. call upon the LO RD (which includes all his Wor- (hip and Service^ before this time : But that now fas Jac. Capellus conceives) they were awakened, by the Consideration of their Infirmity before- menti oned, to be more ferious and frequent in Religi ous Offices .- Or, rather, (as others underftand it,) they began to hold more Publick Affemblies. For Families being now multiplied, to which Religion was before confined, they joyned together and met in larger Societiesand Communion, for the folemn Worfhip of God by Sacrifices, and other Religious Services. For, to call upon God, comprehends, as 1 laid* all Religion .-Which confifts in acknowledging him to be the LORD of all $ in lauding all his Glorious Perfections ; giving him Thanks for his Benefits, and befeeching the Continuance of them.
But it being fcarce credible, that Publick Affem- blies were not held long before this, (it being pro bable that even when Cain and Abel facrificed, their Families joyned together to worfhip God,) it hath moved fome Men of Note, (fuch ^Bertram and Hack* fpanj to follow our Marginal Tranllation } then be~ ganMen (i.e. the Children of- Set h^ to call them* felves by the Name of the LORD : That is, the Ser vants or Worfhippers of the Lord 5 in diftinftion from the Cainites^ and fuch prophane Perfons, as had forfaken him.
And indeed a great number of the Jewiflj Wri ters, with whom Mr. SelJen joyns,in his DeD'ris Syrte^ Prolegofft. 5. would have the Words expounded thus^ to fignifie that Apoftafie ^ then was there Profanation v fey invoking the. Name of the LORD, For the word
# COMMENTARY
Chapter hochal, which we here tranflate began, fignifying pro- IV. phaned, in lei;. XIX. 12. (Thou {halt not prophane the awe of the LO KD thy GodJ they take Mofes his meaning co be, That the tnoft Holy Name vokicl belongs to the Creator and Poffkffor of Heaven and Earth alone, was now impioufly given unto Creatures : Particularly to the Sun. And thus the Arabhk Interpreter, in Er- peniushis Edition, Then began Men to apoftatfaefrom the Worjbip of God. But a great Number of very Learned Men have qppofed themfelves to this Inter pretation ^ and with much Judgment.- Mofes being here f peaking of the Pious Family ofSeth, and not of Impious Cain's : And the word hochal (as Halifax obfervesj with the Prepofition le following in the next word, being conftantly ufed in the Senfe of Be- ginnings, notQfProphanatfonAnd therefore they con- tept themfelves with our Marginal Translation .• Or, elfe think that God was now firft called upon by the Name of Jehovah :Or, that Liturgies^ as we call them, or