1._In the beginning. _To expound the term “beginning,” of Christ, is altogether frivolous. For Moses simply intends to assert that the world was not perfected at its very commencement, in the manner in which it is now seen, but that it was created an empty chaos of heaven and earth. His language the... [ Continue Reading ]
2._And the earth was without form and void. _I shall not be very solicitous about the exposition of these two epithets, תוהו, (_tohu,_) and בוהו, (_bohu._) The Hebrews use them when they designate anything empty and confused, or vain, and nothing worth. Undoubtedly Moses placed them both in oppositi... [ Continue Reading ]
3._And God said _Moses now, for the first time, introduces God in the act of _speaking_, as if he had created the mass of heaven and earth without the Word. (48) Yet John testifies that ‘without him nothing was made of the things which were made,’ (John 1:3.) And it is certain that the world had be... [ Continue Reading ]
4_And God saw the light _Here God is introduced by Moses as surveying his work, that he might take pleasure in it. But he does it for our sake, to teach us that God has made nothing without a certain reason and design. And we ought not so to understand the words of Moses as if God did not know that... [ Continue Reading ]
5._And God called the light _That is, God willed that there should be a regular vicissitude of days and nights; which also followed immediately when the first day was ended. For God removed the light from view, that night might be the commencement of another day. What Moses says however, admits a do... [ Continue Reading ]
6_Let there be a firmament _(58) The work of the second day is to provide an empty space around the circumference of the earth, that heaven and earth may not be mixed together. For since the proverb, ‘to mingle heaven and earth,’ denotes the extreme of disorder, this distinction ought to be regarded... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Let the waters... be gathered together _This also is an illustrious miracle, that the waters by their departure have given a dwelling-place to men. For even philosophers allow that the natural position of the waters was to cover the whole earth, as Moses declares they did in the beginning; first,... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Let the earth bring forth grass _Hitherto the earth was naked and barren, now the Lord fructifies it by his word. For though it was already destined to bring forth fruit, yet till new virtue proceeded from the mouth of God, it must remain dry and empty. For neither was it naturally fit to produc... [ Continue Reading ]
14._Let there be lights _(67) Moses passes onwards to the fourth day, on which the stars were made. God had before created the light, but he now institutes a new order in nature, that the sun should be the dispenser of diurnal light, and the moon and stars should shine by night. And He assigns them... [ Continue Reading ]
15._Let them be for lights _It is well again to repeat what I have said before, that it is not here philosophically discussed, how great the sun is in the heaven, and how great, or how little, is the moon; but how much light comes to us from them. (71) For Moses here addresses himself to our senses,... [ Continue Reading ]
16._The greater light _I have said, that Moses does not here subtilely descant, as a philosopher, on the secrets of nature, as may be seen in these words. First, he assigns a place in the expanse of heaven to the planets and stars; but astronomers make a distinction of spheres, and, at the same time... [ Continue Reading ]
20._Let the waters bring forth... the moving creature _(74) On the fifth day the birds and fishes are created. The blessing of God is added, that they may of themselves produce offspring. Here is a different kind of propagation from that in herbs and trees: for there the power of fructifying is in t... [ Continue Reading ]
21._And God created _A question here arises out of the word _created_. For we have before contended, that because the world was created, it was made out of nothing; but now Moses says that things formed from other matter were created. They who truly and properly assert that the fishes were created b... [ Continue Reading ]
22._And God blessed them _What is the force of this benediction he soon declares. For God does not, after the manner of men, pray that we may be blessed; but, by the bare intimation of his purpose, effects what men seek by earnest entreaty. He therefore blesses his creatures when he commands them to... [ Continue Reading ]
24._Let the earth bring forth _He descends to the sixth day, on which the animals were created, and then man. ‘Let the earth,’ he says, ‘bring forth living creatures.’ But whence has a dead element life? Therefore, there is in this respect a miracle as great as if God had begun to create out of noth... [ Continue Reading ]
26._Let us make man _(83) Although the tense here used is the future, all must acknowledge that this is the language of one apparently deliberating. Hitherto God has been introduced simply as _commanding_; now, when he approaches the most excellent of all his works, he enters into _consultation_. Go... [ Continue Reading ]
27._So God created man _The reiterated mention of the image of God is not a vain repetition. For it is a remarkable instance of the Divine goodness which can never be sufficiently proclaimed. And, at the same time, he admonishes us from what excellence we have fallen, that he may excite in us the de... [ Continue Reading ]
28._And God blessed them _This blessing of God may be regarded as the source from which the human race has flowed. And we must so consider it not only with reference to the whole, but also, as they say, in every particular instance. For we are fruitful or barren in respect of offspring, as God impar... [ Continue Reading ]
31._And God saw everything _Once more, at the conclusion of the creation, Moses declares that God approved of everything which he had made. In speaking of God as _seeing_, he does it after the manner of men; for the Lord designed this his judgment to be as a rule and example to us; that no one shoul... [ Continue Reading ]