might think themselves under an obligation to love and assist each other, as proceeding from the same original and common parent. Acts xvii. 26. Bp. Kidder. male and female] That is, one male, and one female; and the female from the male. Polygamy and divorce were not from the beginning. Compare Matt. xix. 3, 4. Bp. Kidder.

He made woman the same day He made man, as He did both sexes of all other living creatures; also He made woman, as well as man, “in the image of God;" forming the male of the matter of the earth, and the female afterwards of the male, of which a more particular account is reserved for the following chapter. Bps. Patrick and Hall, Dr. Wells.

28. And God blessed them,] That is, besides the excellent endowments, which He bestowed on them, He gave them power to multiply and increase their kind. See Psalm cxxviii. 3, 4. Bp. Kidder. This power He had before bestowed upon other creatures: He adds to it here two other things, "replenish the earth, and subdue it." He gives them the whole earth for their possession, with a power to "subdue" it; that is, to make it fit for their habitation, by bringing under, or driving away wild beasts. For, secondly, He gives them the "dominion" over all other creatures, whether in the water, air, or earth. Bp. Patrick.

- have dominion] The divine writers have informed us, that God at the beginning gave mankind dominion (that is, an impressed awe and authority) over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, as a defence and security against the beasts of prey, which would otherwise have destroyed them. Dr. Bentley.

By the dominion God gave him over the creatures, Adam, though naked and defenceless, had full security that they could not hurt him; and he had a convincing proof of this by their obedience, when they were brought before him. Bp. Wilson.

29. — Behold, I have given you &c.] Here he assigns them their food; and makes no mention at all of beasts, but only of plants and fruits of the earth. The allowance was expressly enlarged after the flood, when He gave them every living thing for meat, as well as the herbs, Chap. ix. 3. Bps. Patrick and Kidder.

31.- very good.] Exactly fitted to the ends and uses, for which He designed it; and contributing, as much as it could, to the manifestation of His glory. Bp. Beveridge. The least or worst of creatures in their original is not any way derogatory to the Creator. Whatsoever is evil, is not so by the Creator's action, but by the creature's defection. Bp. Pearson.

The narrative contained in this chapter redounds greatly to the honour and glory of God: for the work of creation is an illustrious display of the Divine Wisdom, Power, and Goodness. When the Holy Psalmist had enumerated the great mercies of God to His creatures in various instances, Ps. civ. he exclaimed, ver. 24, "O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches." Every thing indeed is wisely contrived and adapted to the ends for which it was designed. 2dly, The works of Creation demonstrate the all-sufficient power of God, who made heaven and earth by His word, and "all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth:" nay, who can produce a world with no more labour than by barely willing it to be. Lastly, the Divine Goodness is highly magnified in the works of Creation. There was a time, when there was nothing but God: but there was no time, when He was not infinitely happy; therefore He was infinitely happy in Himself, and wanted not His creatures to add any thing to Him. But His good pleasure and free grace disposed Him to create them, and impart a share of His own happiness to them. Some of them He hath placed in heaven; and "the earth hath He given to the children of men:" which would have been a secondary heaven to us, had we not brought death into it by sin. Nevertheless this death shall prove the beginning of eternal life to all those, who serve God in the faith of His Son Jesus Christ, who hath "opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers." Reading.

The Mosaical account of the Creation of the World is distinguished for its simplicity and perspicuity, above all the accounts of the Romans, Greeks, Phenicians, Egyptians, and Chinese; which still, however, tend to confirm and verify it in the leading circumstances. Dr. Hales.

Chap. II. Moses, having given a short account of the orderly production of all things, from the meanest to the noblest, explains more largely in this chapter some things, which, in the foregoing, were delivered briefly, because he would not interrupt the connection of his discourse about the works of the six days. Particularly he relates how Eve was made; and also further illustrates the production of Adam, &c. Bp. Patrick.

Ver. 1.all the host of them.] That is, of each of them. The word "host" is plainly used to signify every thing that is in heaven or in earth; or, as we say, in the whole world, which in Hebrew is always expressed by these two words, "heaven and earth." Bp. Beveridge. The several creatures are called "host" or army, be

cause of their vast variety and excellent order. Bp.

Patrick.

2. And on the seventh day God ended his work] Or rather, had ended, (as it may be translated,) for He did not work on the seventh day. Bp. Patrick. The verse may be rendered, agreeably to the translation of the Seventy," On the sixth day God ended His work which He had made and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made." Dr. Wells. An emblem of the rest that we shall have, when we have done our work faithfully, and left none undone. Bp. Patrick.

3.-blessed] That is, ordered it to be observed, as a day for praising Him, and for obtaining His blessings: and no doubt it was so observed by all good men from Adam to Moses. Bp. Wilson.

-sanctified] That is, set it apart, that it might preserve to all ages the memory of the Creation and the Creator; man being by an express law obliged to commemorate them fifty-two times a year. And as the neglect of this law brought in idolatry and infidelity, so the breach of it has ever since been punished most remarkably, by a judicial hardness of heart, forgetfulness of God, and exemplary judgments; as numberless offenders have confessed. Bp. Wilson.

4. These are the generations &c.] This is a faithful account of the generation, or original, of the world. Bp. Patrick.

in the day] Or, at the time, "that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens." From henceforward the Supreme Being is called "Lord," having been hitherto called only "God." The Hebrew doctors observe, that JEHOVAH ELOHIM, (LORD God) joined together, is the full and perfect name of God; and therefore fitly reserved till this place, when the works of God were perfected. Bp. Patrick.

7.-of the dust of the ground,] Not dry but moist dust, or clay; such as is used by potters: as the Greek and Hebrew words are thought most properly to signify. Upon this original of man's body the ancient Fathers make many pious reflections; but none better or shorter than this, that it is intended to teach us, that when we are inclined to be lifted up, because we are made after God's image, the thoughts of the dirt, out of which we are taken, may humble and lay us low. Bp. Patrick.

In this instance, as in another since, God seemeth to have chosen the base things of the world, to confound things honourable and mighty, when of the dust of the ground He composed a frame, superior, in rank and dignity, to the heavens and all their hosts. Bp. Horne.

7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8¶ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst

up from, &c.

of the ground.

47.

c

45.

Heb. dust 1 Cor. 15. 1 Cor. 15.

breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;] This being said of no other creature, leads us to conceive, not only that the soul of man is a distinct thing, of a different original from his body; but that a more excellent spirit was put into him by God (as appears by its operations) than into other animals. For though the simple phrase of inspiring him with "the breath of life" would not prove this, yet Moses speaking in the plural number, that "God breathed into him the breath or spirit of lives," it plainly denotes that spirit, which makes man not only breathe and move, but think also, reason and discourse. Bp. Patrick.

8. And the Lord God planted a garden] Or had planted, probably on the third day: "eastward," that is, eastward of Judea, or of the desert of the Amorites, where Moses wrote these books, in a country, long after called "Eden" from its pleasantness and fruitfulness. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

When we think of Paradise, we think of it as the seat of delight. The name EDEN authorizes us so to do. It signifies PLEASURE; and the idea of pleasure is inseparable from that of a garden, where man still seeks after lost happiness; and where, perhaps, a good man finds the nearest resemblance of it, which this world affords. "What is requisite," exclaims a great and original genius, (Dr. Young,) "to make a wise and happy man, but reflection and peace? And both are the natural growth of a garden. A garden to the virtuous is a Paradise still extant; a Paradise unlost.” Bp. Horne.

- and there he put the man &c.] We cannot conceive such a creature, as man, to be put into a more happy state than this. The ground naturally, without any labour or trouble, brought forth every thing that was necessary and convenient, and also every thing that was pleasant and delightful. So that there was nothing for man to do, but to dress and to keep the garden for his diversion, and to satisfy himself with all the variety which it afforded. Dr. John Clarke.

9.- the tree of life] So called, because he, that ate of it, would have lived for ever, either by virtue of that tree, or by the appointment of God; as the sacraments are means of grace. Bp. Wilson. This garden being a type of heaven, perhaps God intended by this tree to represent that immortal life, which He meant to bestow upon man with Himself. Rev. xxii. 2. In other trees there was a nourishment for man; but in this also a sacrament. For it was a symbol both of that life, which God had already bestowed upon man; (who was hereby put in mind that God was the author of his being, and

25.

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

d

d Ecclus, 24. 11 The name of the first is a Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx-stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that + Heb. Cud. compasseth the whole land of + Ethiopia.

all his enjoyments;) and of that life which he was to hope for in another world, if he proved obedient. Bp. Patrick. By means of this sacrament, had Adam gone happily through his probation, and persevered in obedience unto the end, he would have been admitted, in the kingdom of heaven, to that state of eternal life with God, for which he was always designed, and of which Paradise was the earthly resemblance. Bp. Horne.

10. And a river went out of Eden &c.] It should seem that Paradise lay on the confluent stream of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, but principally on the eastern bank; which divided into two branches above the garden, and two more below it. From the description of these rivers by the ancient historians and geographers, Major Rennell collects, that in ancient times they kept distinct courses to the sea, until the time of Alexander; although at no great distance of time afterwards they became united, and joined the sea in a collective stream. The Cyrus also and Araxes kept distinct courses in ancient times. This, however, does not invalidate a primeval junction of these rivers, before the deluge, which certainly produced a prodigious alteration in the face of the primitive globe. Besides, the changes in the beds of other great rivers, such as the Nile, the Ganges, and Barampooter, even in modern times, are known to be very great. Dr. Hales.

11-Pison:] The westerly branch, by which the Euphrates empties itself into the Persian gulph. Both this river and the Gihon have long lost their names; the Greek and Roman writers calling them, after their parting, by the names which they had before they met, Euphrates and Tigris. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

-compasseth the whole land of Havilah,] That is, washes, with a winding stream, all one side of the land of Havilah; or of the eastern tract of Arabia Felix. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

12. And the gold of that land &c.] Arabia was famed for its gold, both as to its fineness and its quality; as also for its aromatic gums and pearls, whichever of these is intended by "bdellium :" and for its precious stones, whatever was the particular species signified by the word rendered "onyx-stone." Bp. Patrick, Dr.

Wells.

13.- Gihon:] The easterly channel of the two, into

The tree of knowledge forbidden.

CHRIST 4004.

|| Or, eastward to

14 And the name of the third river Before is Hiddekel that is it which goeth || toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the LORD God took || the or, Adam. man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Assyria.

18 And the LORD God said, It which the Euphrates, after its conjunction with the Tigris, is again divided. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells. Ethiopia.] Not the country so called in Africa, but another in Asia, adjoining to the easterly mouth of the Euphrates; called in Hebrew, as in the margin of our translation, Cush; by the Greeks and Latins Susiana; and now called by the Persians Chusistan, that is, the province of Chus. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

14. Hiddekel:] The Tigris. The word, which is rendered toward the east, should be rendered simply toward or before. For it has that signification, as well as the other; and so expresses better the course of the river, which does not run toward the east of the province, properly called, of old, Assyria; but does run before it, in respect to the place where Moses wrote. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

Euphrates.] In Hebrew Perath or Phrath. The course of it was so well known, that Moses gives no description of it. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.

17.-thou shalt not eat of it:] It was fit to lay upon Adam this small restraint, to make him sensible, that though he had dominion over all things, yet he was not their Lord, but a servant of the Most High, who required this abstinence in token of his subjection, and to prove his obedience to Him. But still some ask, Why should his obedience be tried in such an instance as this? not considering that a trial of it could scarce have been made in any of the moral precepts, which there was no opportunity of violating. For what should tempt him to idolatry, or to take God's name in vain, or to murder his wife? How was it possible to commit adultery, when there was nobody but he and she in the world? How could he steal, or what room was there then for coveting, when God had put him in possession of all things? It had been in vain to forbid that, which could not be done and it had been virtue to abstain, not from that, to which there was no temptation, but from that, which invited them to transgress. I speak of them in the plural number, because it must be remembered that this prohibition was given, not to Adam only, but to Eve also, Chap. iii. 1, 2. Bp. Patrick. thou shalt surely die.] This does not signify, as appears by the event, that he should instantly die, but that he should become mortal; lose the immortality with which he was invested, Chap. iii. 19. Diseases, sicknesses, and pains, the forerunners of death, are included in this threatening. Bp. Patrick.

:

The threatening implies a promise, that if he did not eat of the fruit, he should not die, but live. This was the first covenant which God made with man. Bp. Beveridge.

18. And the Lord God said,] Or had said, before the

The making of woman,

Before CHRIST 4004.

e Ecclus. 36. 24.

+ Heb. as before him.

|| Or, the

man.

+ Heb. called.

is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help + meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto || Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam † gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he

delivery of this commandment, which was given to both. Bp. Patrick.

It is not good] Not so comfortable an estate, that the man should live alone. I will make him an helper, of his own nature, meet for him. Bp. Hall.

19.-Adam] The Hebrew word, hitherto rendered Man, or the Man, is here rendered as a proper name. Dr. Wells. It is commonly thought that this name, given to the first man, signifies as much as red earth. But it is far more probable, that it imports elegant or beautiful. Bp. Patrick.

20. And Adam gave names &c.] The ancient and modern professors of Atheistical philosophy represent the faculty of articulate speech, or language, as the mere instinctive expression of the wants and desires of a herd of associated savages, gradually invented for mutual convenience of communication, and established by mutual consent. But our great Lexicographer justly remarks, that "language must have come by inspiration: a thousand, nay a million of children, could not invent a language: while the organs are pliable, there is not understanding enough to form a language; and by the time that there is understanding enough, the organs are grown stiff. We know, that after a certain age, we cannot learn a language." Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson. This is confirmed by experience. Alexander Selkirk, when cast away on the desert island of Juan Fernandez, almost lost the use of his native tongue, after some years residence. The young savage, called Peter, caught in the woods of Hanover, several years ago, though soon tamed and reconciled to society, never could be taught to speak. And lately, the young savage of Aveyron, in France, though put under the care of the celebrated Sicard, master of the deaf and dumb school, has never yet been observed to utter an articulate sound, not even to express his most urgent wants.

It is remarkable, that Adam was endued with the faculty of speech in his solitary state, and gave names to the animal tribes before the formation of Eve. Dr. Hales.

21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep &c.] Adam was thus less sensible of bodily pain; at the same time that there was represented to his mind, both what was done to him, and the mystery of it, as appears by ver. 23, 24. Bp. Patrick.

- and he took one of his ribs,] God did not form Eve out of the ground; as He had done Adam; but out of Adam's side, that He might create the greater love between him and her, as parts of the same whole. By

and the institution of marriage.

slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

Before CHRIST 4004.

22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, † made he + Heb. a woman, and brought her unto the builded. man.

f

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. f 1 Cor. 11. 8. 24 Therefore shall a man leave g Matt. 19. 5. his father and his mother, and shall 1 Cor. 6. 16. cleave unto his wife: and they shall Eph. 5. 31. be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Mark 10. 7.

this He also effectually recommended marriage to all mankind, as founded in nature and as the reunion of man and woman.

No mention is here made of God's breathing a soul into her, as into him: for Moses only explains what is peculiar to Eve: the rest is supposed in the words, "I will make an help meet for him;" which the Latin Vulgate rightly translates, "like unto him." It was likewise said before, that both man and woman were made "in the likeness of God." Bp. Patrick.

22. And the rib made he a woman,] Which was as easy for the Divine power to do, as to make the man himself out of the earth. Bp. Patrick.

and brought her unto the man.] Presented and gave her to him to be his wife. God Himself made the espousals (if I may so speak) between them, and joined them together in marriage. Bp. Patrick.

23. This is now bone of my bones, &c.] Now indeed have I found, what I could not see before among all God's creatures, a fit helper for me; even another self. Bp. Hall.

she shall be called Woman,] Partake of my name, as she doth of my nature. For he called her Isha, as he was called Ish. Bp. Patrick.

24. Therefore shall a man leave &c.] Dwell with his wife, rather than with his father and his mother, and be joined to her in the closest and most inseparable affection, as if they were but one person, and had but one soul and one body; an obligation arising from the singular union of the flesh of our first parents, one of whom was taken out of the other. Bp. Patrick.

wife] Not wives. All this must be from express revelation; for otherwise Adam knew not what a father or a mother was, nor that the affections of children and parents were great: and yet that the ties of husband and wife would be greater. But it appears from our Saviour's words, Matt. xix. 4, that this revelation was from God; that it is founded upon the law of nature, for one man to have one woman only; for God knew, and none else could know, the evil consequences of unlimited mixture, and that the number of males and females should be so nearly equal, that many of them would be deprived of the comforts of marriage, if it were otherwise than as God ordained. Bp. Wilson.

25.. were not ashamed.] Because they were innocent, and had done nothing as yet to be ashamed of. Bp. Kidder.

If we consider seriously what God is; how great,

almighty, and wise He appears to be by the creation of this heaven and this earth; and how beneficent and gracious He is to man: if further we consider what man was in his original state, how dignified and distinguished above all other visible creatures: we cannot now, in this our present forlorn condition, make any doubt of the reasonableness and justice of confessing and repenting of those sins, whereby we have degraded our nature, and offended so great, so gracious a Being, our Maker, our Benefactor, and our God. And to make us thoroughly sensible why we ought to repent, was the main design of the inspired writer, in describing to us the original and happiness of mankind, and the great riches of the Divine Goodness. That very "shame," which in a state of innocence we were strangers to, but which we now inherit by a natural descent, ought to excite our repentance and self-abhorrence. Wogan.

Chap. III. We have here an account of the state of man, both before and after his fall: that he was created in the image of God, and placed in Paradise, in a state of trial, in order to a greater happiness and an immortal life, if he should keep the covenant which God made with him and his posterity.

This covenant, through the temptation of the devil, he broke; and was therefore turned out of Paradise, became subject to sin, and to the punishment of sin, which is misery, afflictions, and death after all: and this was the occasion of that universal corruption, which we see in the world. But then this transgression gave occasion to God to manifest, together with His justice and holiness in the punishment of sin, another of His glorious perfections, His infinite goodness and mercy.

For seeing man in this deplorable condition, He had compassion on him, and forthwith made him this promise of life and comfort, "That the Seed of the woman," one who was not to have a man for his father, "should bruise the head of that serpent," the devil, which had beguiled her. Bp. Wilson.

Ver. 1.-the serpent] That this was the devil's act, in the serpent, we have the authority of Christ himself, who says, "He was a murderer from the beginning," John viii. 44; plainly in allusion to this seduction of our first parents, and the mortality thereby induced. The same appears also from the Apostle, who calls the devil or Satan, "the great dragon, that old serpent, which deceiveth the whole world." Rev. xii. 9; xx. 2, 10. And the author of the Book of Wisdom, ch. ii. ver. 24, who was well acquainted with the doctrines of the Jewish Church, tells us, "Through envy of the devil came death into the world." Bp. Beveridge, Dr. Kennicott.

more subtil] And therefore a fitter instrument for the devil, who made use of him; and also a more

deceiveth Eve.

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We eat of the fruit of may the trees of the garden:

Before CHRIST 4004.

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the a 2 Cor. 11.3. woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

1 Tim. 2. 14.

perfect resemblance of his craft and wiliness. Bp. Kidder. Yea, hath God said, &c.] The best interpreters understand this to have been spoken interrogatively, Hath God indeed said? or, Dost thou think God meant absolutely by saying, &c.? Pyle.

The devil in these words seems to question the kindness of God, in that He did not permit to man the eating of every tree in the garden. Bp. Kidder.

2.

We may eat of the fruit, &c.] She seems to have understood him, as if he thought God had forbid them to eat of any fruit in the garden. And indeed the foregoing question is ambiguous. Bp. Patrick.

4. Ye shall not surely die:] As before he called in question God's kindness to man, so does he here deny God's veracity or truth: and deserves the character, which our Saviour gives him, of "a liar," John viii. 44. Bp. Kidder. From this first lie that was told in the world by the devil himself, he seems to be more particularly called by our Saviour, "The Father" of lies. Dr. Wells.

Unbelief is not only a great sin of itself, but one great cause of all other sins. It may be truly called the Mother of sin, as the devil is the Father: for it was that, which by his instigation brought forth sin at first into the world; and it is that which still maintains and keeps it. When the old serpent assaulted our first parents, the first attack he made was upon their faith; and when that was once shaken, he soon overcame them. Bp. Beveridge.

5. For God doth know &c.] The first accuser that ever was in the world was a false accuser; and that was the devil. He was 66 a liar from the beginning;" and the first false report he raised, was of the Most High: unjustly accusing God Himself unto our mother Eve, in a few words, of no fewer than three great crimes at once, Falsehood, Tyranny, and Envy. He was then a slanderous accuser of his Maker; and he hath continued ever since a malicious accuser of his brethren. Bp. Sanderson.

-your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,] The eyes of your understanding, which are now halfshut, shall be fully opened, and ye shall be full of divine knowledge, like your Maker. Bp. Hall. Or, like the angels of God, who are frequently called " gods" in Scripture. Bp. Patrick.

Be our ends and aims what they will, unless we arm ourselves with strong resolutions beforehand, not to do any thing we know to be unlawful upon any terms, seem it otherwise never so expedient; and then afterwards use all our best prayers and endeavours by God's grace to hold our resolutions, we are gone. Satan is cunning, and we are but weak, and he will be too hard for us, if he do but find us at all staggering in our resolutions to