_A.M. 1. B.C. 4004._ This chapter is an appendix to the history of the creation, explaining and enlarging upon that part of it which relates immediately to man. We have in it, ( 1,) _ The institution of the sabbath, which was made for man, to further his holiness and comfort, Genesis 2:1._ (2,) _... [ Continue Reading ]
_The host of them_ That is, the creatures contained therein. _The host of heaven_, in Scripture language, sometimes signifies the stars, and sometimes the angels. But, as Moses gives us no intimation, in the preceding chapter, that the angels were created at this time, and as Job 38:6, evidently imp... [ Continue Reading ]
_God rested on the seventh day_ Not as if he were weary, or needed rest, as we do after labour, which to suppose would be inconsistent with his infinite perfection, Isaiah 40:28: but for an example to us. Accordingly, in the fourth commandment, God's resting on the seventh day is assigned as a reaso... [ Continue Reading ]
_God blessed the seventh day_ He conferred on it peculiar honour, and annexed to it special privileges above those granted to any other day; _and sanctified it_ That is, separated it from common use, and dedicated it to his own sacred service, that it should be accounted _holy_, and spent in his wor... [ Continue Reading ]
_The generations of the heavens_ That is, a true and full account of their origin or beginning, and of the order in which the sundry parts and creatures therein were formed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every plant before it was in the earth_ That is, when there was neither any plant, nor so much as any seed from which any could spring: and when, as is here observed, the two great means of the growth of vegetables were both wanting, rain from heaven and the labour of man. So that they were evident... [ Continue Reading ]
_There went up_ At certain times, it seems, as God appointed; _a mist_ or vapour _from the earth_ Issuing from the abyss, or great deep of water in its bowels; (see Genesis 7:14;) _and watered the whole face of the ground_ Not with rain, but with dew. By this the earth was softened and fitted to nou... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord God formed man_ Man being the chief of God's works in this lower world, and being intended to be the lord of all other creatures, we have here a more full account of his creation. The word ייצר, _jitzer_, here rendered _he formed_, is not used concerning any other creature, and implies a g... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord God planted_ Or, _had planted_, namely, on the third day, when he created _the fruit-tree yielding fruit; a garden_ A place peculiarly pleasant, a _paradise_, separated, it seems, from the rest of the earth, and enclosed, but in what way, we are not informed; _eastward_ From the place wher... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every tree pleasant to the sight_ That was calculated to render this garden the most beautiful place on earth; _and good for food_ That is, agreeable to the taste and useful to the body. So that both man's mind and body were gratified and enriched. _The tree of life also_ So called, it seems, not o... [ Continue Reading ]
_A river went out of Eden_ This river, branching itself into four streams, contributed much both to the pleasantness and fertility of the garden. _Hiddekel_ and _Euphrates_ are rivers of Babylon: but we need not wonder that the rise and situation of all these rivers cannot now be perfectly ascertain... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of the tree of knowledge thou shalt not eat_ Hitherto God has been manifested as man's powerful Creator and bountiful Benefactor: now he appears as his _Ruler_ and _Lawgiver_, and, as such, enters into covenant with him. He gives him but one positive precept, to try his obedience, which, as his Sov... [ Continue Reading ]
_God said_ Had said on the sixth day, when the woman was made. _It is not good that man should be alone_ Though there was an upper world of angels and lower world of brutes, yet, there being none of the same rank of beings with himself, he might be truly said to be _alone. It is not good:_ it was ne... [ Continue Reading ]
_God brought all the beasts to Adam_ Either by the ministry of angels, or by a special instinct, that he might name them, and so might give a proof of his knowledge, the names he gave them being perfectly descriptive of their inmost nature.... [ Continue Reading ]
_God caused a deep sleep_, &c. That the opening of his side and the taking away of his rib might be no grievance to him. While he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain. The woman was taken out of the man's side, and not out of a higher or lower part of his body, to show that sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_This is now bone of my bone_ Probably it was revealed to Adam in a vision, when he was asleep that this lovely creature, now presented to him, was a piece of himself, and was to be _his companion_, _and the wife of his covenant._ In token of his acceptance of her, he gave her a name, not peculiar t... [ Continue Reading ]
The sabbath and marriage were two ordinances instituted in innocence, the former for the preservation of the church, the latter for the preservation of mankind. It appears by Matthew 19:4, that it was God himself who said here, a man must leave all his relations to cleave to his wife; but whether he... [ Continue Reading ]
_They were both naked_ They needed no clothes for defence against cold or heat, for neither could be injurious to them: they needed none for ornament. _Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these._ Nay, they needed none for decency: they were _naked_, and had no reason to be _ashamed.... [ Continue Reading ]