1._This is the book of the generations of Adam_. In this chapter Moses briefly recites the length of time which had intervened between the creation of the world and the deluge; and also slightly touches on some portion of the history of that period. And although we do not comprehend the design of th... [ Continue Reading ]
2._Male and female created he them_. This clause commends the sacred bond of marriage, and the inseparable union of the husband and the wife. For when Moses has mentioned only one, he immediately afterwards includes _both _under _one _name. And he assigns a common name indiscriminately to both, in o... [ Continue Reading ]
3._And begat a son in his own likeness_. We have lately said that Moses traces the offspring of Adam only through the line of Seth, to propose for our consideration the succession of the Church. In saying that Seth begat a son after his own image, he refers in part to the first origin of our nature:... [ Continue Reading ]
4._And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth_. In the number of years here recorded we must especially consider the long period which the patriarchs lived together. For through six successive ages, when the family of Seth had grown into a great people, the voice of Adam might daily resound, in... [ Continue Reading ]
5._And he died_. This clause, which records the death of each patriarch, is by no means superfluous. For it warns us that death was not in vain denounced against men; and that we are now exposed to the curse to which man was doomed, unless we obtain deliverance elsewhere. In the meantime, we must re... [ Continue Reading ]
22._And Enoch walked with God_. Undoubtedly Enoch is honored with peculiar praise among the men of his own age, when it is said that he walked with God. Yet both Seth and Enoch, and Cainan, and Mahalaleel, and Jared, were then living, whose piety was celebrated in the former part of the chapter. (25... [ Continue Reading ]
24._And he was not, for God took him_. He must be shamelessly contentious, who will not acknowledge that something extraordinary is here pointed out. All are, indeed, taken out of the world by death; but Moses plainly declares that Enoch was taken out of the world by an unusual mode, and was receive... [ Continue Reading ]
29._And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work_. In the Hebrew languages the etymology of the verb נחם (_nacham_) does not correspond with the noun נוח (_noach_,) unless we call the letter ם (_mem_) superfluous; as sometimes, in composition, certain letters a... [ Continue Reading ]
32._And Noah was five hundred years old_. Concerning the fathers whom Moses has hitherto enumerated, it is not easy to conjecture whether each of them was the first born of his family or not; for he only wished to follow the continued succession of the Church. But God, to prevent men from being elat... [ Continue Reading ]