The word in the text which we, following the Septuagint, translate serpent, is tiTIJ nachash; and, according to Buxtorf and others, has three meanings in Scripture. 1. It sigmfiesio viexv ox observe attentively, to divine or use enchantments, because in thern the augurs viewed attentively the flight of birds, the entrails of beasts, the course of the clouds. Sic.; and under this head it signifies to acquire knoivledge by experience. 2. It signifies brass, brazen, and is translated in our Bible, not only brass, but chains, fetters, fetters of brass, and in several places steel; see 2 Sam. xxii. 35; Job XX. 24; Psa. xviii. 34; and in one place, at least, filthiness or fornication, Ezek. xvi. 36. 3. It signifies a serpent, but of what kind is not determined. In Job xxvi. 13, it seems to mean the ivhale or hippopotamus: By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens, his hand hath formed the crooked serpent, ni2 tyPIJ nachash bariach: as ^'^3 barach signifies to pass on or pass through, and n'13 heriach is used for a bar of a gate or door that passed through rings, &c., the idea of straighlness rather than croohedness should be attached to it here; and it is likely that the hippopotamus or sea-horse is intended by it.
In Eccles. x. 11, the creature called nachash, of whatever sort, is compared to the babbler: Surely the serpent (aTlJ nachash) will bite without enchantment; and a babbler is no better.
In Isa. xxvii. 1, the crocodile or alligator seems particularly meant by the original: In that day the Lord — shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, &c. And in Isa. Ixv. 25, the same creature is meant as in Gen. iii. 1, for in the words. And dust shall be the serpent's meat, there is an evident allusion to the text of Moses. In Amos ix. 3, the crocodile is evidently intended: Though they be hid in theloltom of the sea, thence ivill I command the serpent, (lynjn hannachash.) and he shall bite them. No person can suppose that any of the snake or serpent kind can i)e intended here; and we see from the various acceptations of the word, and the different senses which it bears in various places in the sacred writings, that it appears to be a sort of general term confined to no one sense. Hence it will be necessary to examine the root accurately, to see if its ideal meaning will enable us to ascertain the animal intended in the text. We have already seen that iyplJ nachash signifies to vieiv attentively, to acquire knowledge or experience by attentive observation; so 'ntJTlJ nichashti, Gen. xxx. 27: I have learned by experience; and this seems to be its most general meaning in the Bible. The original word is by the Septuagint translated o^if, a serpent, not because this was its fixed determinate meaning in the sacred writings, but because it was the best that occurred to the translators: and
3 ^ But of the fruit of the tree which is in
they do not seem to have given themselves much trouble to understand the meaning of the original, for they have rendered the word as variously as our translators have done, or rather our translators have followed them, as they give nearly the same significations found in the Septuagint: hence we find that o^«f is as frequently used by them as serpent, its supposed literal meaning, is used in our version. And the New Tes tament writers, who seldom quote the Old Testament hut from the Septuagint translation, and often do not change even a word in their quotations, copy this version in the use of this word. From the Septuagint therefore we can expect no light, nor indeed from any other of the ancient versions, which are all subsequent to the Septuagint, and some of them actually made from it. In all this uncertainty it is natural for a serious inquirer after truth to look everyivhere for information. And in such an inquiry the Arabic may be expected to afford some help, from its great simi larity to the Hebrew. A root in this language, very nearly similar to that in the text, seems to cast considerable light on the subject. jirV*^ chanas or khanasa signifies he departed, drew off, lay hid, seduced, slunk away; from this root come ^jwJoLf akhnas, Lma>^ khanasa, and lu^kxaL khanoos, which ail signify an ape, or satyrus, or any creature of the simia or ape genus. It is very remarkable also that from the same root comes t/wlAai khanas, the devil, which appellative he bears from that meaning of [ji»/<^ khanasa, he drew off, seduced, 4"c., because he draivs men off from righteousness, seduces them from their obedience to God, &c., &c. See Goliits, sub voce. Is it not strange that the devil and the ape should have the same name, derived from the same root, and that root so very similar to the word in the text ] But let us return and consider what is said of the creature in question. Now the nachash was more subtle, D1"l^' arum, more wise, cunning, or prudent, than any beast of the field ivhich the Lord God had made. In this account we find, 1. That whatever this nachash was, he stood at the head of all inferior animals for wisdom and understanding. 2. That he tvalked erect, for this is necessarily implied in his punishment — on thy belly (i. e., on all fours) shalt thou go. 3. That he was endued tvith the gift of speech, for a conversation is here related between him and the woman. 4. That he was also endued with the gift of reason, for we find him reasoning and disputing with Eve. 6. That these things were common to this creature, the woman no doubt having often seen him walk erect, talk, and reason, and therefore she testifies no kind of surprise when he accosts her in the language related in the text; and indeed from the manner in which this is introduced it ai)pears to be only a part of a conversation that had passed between them on the occasion; Yea, hath God said, >5fC.
Had this creature never been known to speak befora
J'-^Ja. the midst of the ffarden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat oi it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
his addressing the woman at this time and on this subject, it could not have feiled to excite her surprise, and *» have filled her vv^ith caution, though from the purity and innocence of her nature she might have been incapable of being affected with/ear. Now I apprehend that none of these things can be spoken of a serpent of any species. 1. None of them ever did or ever can walk erect. The tales we have had of two-footed and fourfooted serpents are justly exploded by every judicious naturalist, and are utterly unworthy of credit. The very name serpent comes from serpo, to creep, and therefore to such it could be neither curse nor punishment to go on their bellies, i. e., to creep on, as they had done from their creation, and must do while their race endures. 2. They have no organs for speech, or any kind of articulate sound; they can only hiss. It is true that an ass by miraculous influence may speak; but it is not to be supposed that there was any miraculous interference here. God did not qualify this creature with speech for the occasion, and it is not intimated that there was any other agent that did it; on the contrary, the text intimates that speech and reason were natural to the nachash: and is it not in reference to this the inspired penman says, The nachash ivas more subtle or intelligent than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made? Nor can I find that the serpentine genus are remarkable for intelligence. It is true the wisdom of the serpent has passed into a proverb, but I cannot see on what it is founded, except in reference to the passage in question, where the nachash, which we translate serpent, following the Septuagint, shows so much intelligence and cunning: and it is very probable that our Lord alludes to this very place when he exhorts his disciples to be wise — prudent or intelligent, as serpents, (ppovifxoi, o)g ol o(peL^- and it is worthy of remark that he uses the same term employed by the Septuagint in the text in question: 0(j)ig j]v <ppovifiuraroc, the serpent ivas more prudent or intelligent than all the beasts, &c. All these things considered, we are obliged to seek for some other word to designate the nachash in the text, than the word serpent, which on every view of the subject appears to me inefficient and inapplicable. We have seen above that khanas, akhnas, and khanoos, signify a creature of the ape or satyrus kind. We have seen that the meaning of the root is, he lay hid, seduced, slunk away, <^c.; and that khanas means the devil, as the inspirer of evil, and seducer from God and truth. See Golius and Wilmet. It therefore appears to me that a creature of the ape or ouran outang kind is here intended; and that Satan made use of this creature as the most proper instrument for the accomplishment of his murderous purposes against the life and soul of man. Under this creature he lay hid, and by this creature he seduced our first parents, and dreiv off or slunk away from every eye but the eye of God. Such a creature answers to every part of the description in the text: it is evident from the structure of its limbs and their muscles that it the woman. Ye shall not surely might have been originally designed to walk erect, and that nothing less than a sovereign controlling power could induce them to put down hands in every r^ppect formed like those of man, and walk like those creatures whose claw-armed paws prove them to have been designed to walk on all fours. Dr. Tyson has observed, in his anatomy of an ouran outang, that the seminal vessels passed between the two coats of the peritoneum to the scrotum, as in man; hence he argues that this creature was designed to walk erect, as it is otherwise in all quadrupeds. Philos. Trans., vol. xxi., p. 340 The subtlety, cunning, endlessly varied pranks and tricks of these creatures, show them, even now, to be more subtle and more intelligent than any other creature, man alone excepted. Being obliged now to walk on all fours, and gather their food from the ground, they are literally obliged to eat the dust; and though exceedingly cunning, and careful in a variety of instances to separate that part which is wholesome and proper for food from that which is not so, in the article of cleanliness they are lost to all sense of propriety; and though they have every means in their power of cleansing the aliments they gather off the ground, and from among the dust, yet they never in their savage state make use of any, except a slight rub against their side, or with one of their hands, more to see what the article is than to cleanse it. Add to this, their utter aversion to ivalk upright; it requires the utmost discipline to bring them to it, and scarcely any thing irritates them more than to be obliged to do it. Long observation on some of these animals enables me to state these facts.
Should any person who may read this note object against my conclusions, because apparently derived from an Arabic word which is not exactly similar to the Hebrew, though to those who understand both languages the similarity will be striking; yet, as I do not insist on the identity of the terms, though important consequences have been derived from less likely etymologies, he is welcome to throw the whole of this out of the account. He may then take up the Hebrew root only, which signifies to gaze, to view attentively, pry into, inquire narrowly, dfc, and consider the passage that appears to compare the nachash to the babbler, Eccles. X. 11, and he will soon find, if he have any acquaintance with creatures of this genus, that for earnest, attentive watching, looking, dfc, and for chattering or babbling, they have no fellows in the animal world. Indeed, the ability and propensity to cliatter is all they have left, according to the above hypothesis, of their original gift of speech, of which I suppose them to have been deprived at the fall as a part of their punishment.
I have spent the longer time on this subject, 1. Because it is exceedingly obscure; 3. Because no interpretation hitherto given of it has afforded me the smallest satisfaction; 3. Because I think the above mode of accounting for every part of the whole trana
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.
action is consistent and satisfactory, and in my opinion removes many embarrassments, and solves tlie chief difficulties. I think it can be no solid objection to the above mode of solation that Satan, in different parts of the New Testament, is called the serpent, the serpent that deceived Eve by his subtlety, the old serpent, <Sfc., for we have already seen that the New Testament WTiters have borrowed the word from the Sepluagint, and the Septuagint themselves use it in a vast variety and latitude of meaning; and surely the ouran outang is as likely to be the animal in question as tynj nachash and o6ig ophis are likely to mean at once a snake, a crocodile, a hippopotamus, fornication, a chain, a pair of fellers, a piece of brass, a piece of steel, and a co7ijurer; for we have seen above that all these are acceptations of the original word. Besides, the New Testament writers seem to lose sight of the animal or instrument used on the occasion, and speak only of Satan himself as the cause of the transgression, and the instrument of all evil. If, however, any person should choose to differ from the opinion stated above, he is at perfect liberty so to do; I make it no article of faith, nor of Christian communion; T crave the same liberty to judge for myself that I give to others, to which every man has an indisputable right; and I hope no man will call me a heretic for departing in this respect from the common opinion, which appears to me to be so embarrassed as to be altogether unintelligible. See farther on ver. 7-14, &c.
Yea, hath God said] This seems to be the continuation of a discourse of which the preceding part is not given, and a proof that the creature in question was endued with the gift of reason and speech, for no surprise is testified on the part of Eve.
Verse 3. Neither shall ye touch it] Did not the woman add this to what God had before spoken 1 Some of the Jewish writers, who are only serious on comparative trifles, state that as soon as the woman had asserted this, the serpent pushed her against the tree and said, " See, thou hast touched it, and art still alive; thou mayest therefore safely eat of the fruit, for surely thou shalt not die."
Verse 4. Ye shall not surely die] Here the father of lies at once appears; and appears too in flatly contradicting the assertion of God. The tempter, through the nachash, insinuates the impossibility of her dying, as if he had said, God has created thee immortal, thy death therefore is impossible; and God knows this, for as thou livest by the tree of life, so shalt thou get increase of wisdom by the tree of knowledge.
Verse 5. Your eyes shall be opened] Your understanding shall be greatly enlightened and improved; and ye shall be as gods, DTlSxD kelohim, like God, so he word should be translated; for what idea could our first parents have of gods before idolatry could have had any being, because sin had not yet entered into
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it ivas ^ pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
the world? The Syriac has the word in the singular number, and is the only one of all the versions which has hit on the true meaning. As the original word is the same which is used to point out the Supreme Being, chap. i. 1, so it has here the same signification; and the object of the tempter appears to have been this: to persuade our first parents that they should, by eating of this fruit, become wise and powerful as God, (for knoioledge is power,) and be able to exist for ever, independently of him.
Verse 6. The tree v>'z,s good for food] 1. The fruit appeared to be wholesome and nutritive. And that it wsLS pleasant to the eyes. 2. The beauty of the fruit tended to whet and increase appetite. And a tree to be desired to make one ivise, which was, 3. An additional motive to please the palate. From these three sources all natural and moral evil sprang: they are exactly what (he apostle calls the desire of the flesh; the tree was good for food: the desire of the eye; it was pleasant to the sight: and the pride of life; it was a tree to be desired to make one wise. God had undoubtedly created our first parents not only very wise and intelligent, but also with a great capacity and suitable propensity to increase in knowledge. Those who think that Adam was created so perfect as to preclude the possibility of his increase in knowledge, have taken a very false view of the subject. We shall certainly be convinced that our first parents were in a state of sufficient perfection when we consider, 1. That they were endued with a vast capacity to obtain knowledge. 2. That all the means of information were within their reach. 3. That there was no hinderance to the most direct conception of occurring truth. 4. That all the objects of knowledge, whether natural or moral, were ever at hand. 5. That they had the strongest propensity to know; and, 6. The greatest pleasure in knowing. To have God and nature continually open to the view of the soul; and to have a soul capable of viewing both, and fathomin<T endlessly their unbounded glories and excellences, without hinderance or difficulty; what a state of perfection! what a consummation of bliss! This was undoubtedly the state and condition of our first parents; even the present ruins of the state are incontestable evidences of its primitive excellence. We see at once how transgression came; it was natural for them to desire to be increasingly wise. God had implanted this desire in their minds; but he showed them that this desire should be gratified in a certain icay; that prudence and judgment should always regulate it; that they should carefully examine what God had opened to their view; and should not pry into what he chose to conceal. He alone who knows all things knows hoiu much knowledge the soul needs to its perfection and increasing happiness, in what subjects this may be legitimately sought, and where the mind may make a
— '- gave also unto her husband with her, ' and he did eat. 7 And ^ the eyes of them both were open- excursions and discoveries to its prejudice and ruin. There are doubtless many subjects which angels are capable of knowing, and which God chooses to conceal even from them, because that knowledge would tend neither to their perfection nor happiness. Of every attainment and object of pursuit it may be said, in the words of an ancient poet, who conceived correctly on the subject, and expressed his thoughts with perspicuity and energy: —
Est modus in rebus: sunt certi denique fines, Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum. HoR. Sat., lib. i.. Sat. 1., ver. 106.
" There is a rule for all things; there are in fine fixed and stated limits, on either side of which righteousness cannot be found." On the line of duty alone we must walk.
Such limits God certainly assigned from the beginning: Thou shalt come up to this; thou shalt not pass it. And as he assigned the limits, so he assigned the means. It is lawful for thee to acquire knowledge in this way; it is unlawful to seek it in that. And had he not a right to do so 1 And would his creation have been perfect without it T
Verse 7. The eyes of them both loere opened^ They now had a sufficient discovery of their sin and folly in disobeying the command of God; they could discern between good and evil; and what was the consequence 1 Confusion and shame were engendered, because innocence was lost and guilt contracted
Let us review the whole of this melancholy business, i\\e fall and its effects.
1. From the New Testament we learn that Satan associated himself with the creature which we term the serpent, and the original the nachash, in order to seduce and ruin mankind; 2 Cor. xi. 3; Rev. xii. 9; XX. 2. 2. That this creature was the most suitable to his purpose, as being the most subtle, the most intelligent and cunning of all beasts of the field, endued with the gift of speech and reason, and consequently one in which he could best conceal himself. 3. As he knew that while they depended on God they could not be ruined, he therefore endeavoured to seduce them from this dependence. 4. He does this by working on that propensity of the mind to desire an increase of knowledge, with which God, for the most gi-acious purposes, had endued it. 5. In order to succeed, he insinuates that God, through motives of envy, had given the prohibition — God doth knoio that in the day ye eat of it, ye shall be like himself, &c. 6. As their present state of blessedness must be inexpressibly dear to them, he endeavours to persuade them that they could not fall from this state: Ye shall not surely die — ye shall not only retain your present blessedness, but it ahall be greatly increased; a temptation by which he tias ever since fatally succeeded in the ruin of multi- were naked; and they sewed ^ tudes of souls, whom he persuaded that being once right they could never finally go wrong. 7. As he kept the unlawfulness of the means proposed out of ■ sight, persuaded them that they could not fall from their steadfastness, assured them that they should' resemble God himself, and consequently be self-sufficient, and totally independent of him; they listened, and fixing their eye only on the promised good, neglecting the positive command, and determining to become wise and independent at all events, they took of the fruit and did eat.
Let us now examine the effects.
1. Their eyes ivere opened, and they saw they were naked. They saw what they never saw before, that they were stripped of their excellence; that they had lost their innocence; and that they had fallen into a state of indigence and danger. 2. Though their eyes were opened to see their nakedness, yet their mind was clouded, and their judgment confused. They seem to have lost all just notions of honour and dishonour, of what was shameful and what was praiseworthy. It was dishonourable and shameful to break the commandment of God; but it was neither to go' naked, when clothing was not necessary. 3. They seem in a moment, not only to have lost sound judgment, but also reflection: a short time before Adam was so wise that he could name all the creatures brought before him, according to their respective natures and qualities; now he does not know the first principle concerning the Divine nature, that it knoios all things, and that it is omnipresent, therefore he endeavours to hide himself among the trees from the eye of the allseeing God! How astonishing is this! When the creatures were brought to him he could name them, because he could discern their respective natures and properties; when Eve was brought to him he could immediately tell what she was, who she was, and for tohat end made, though he was in a deep sleep when God formed her; and this seems to be particularly noted, merely to show the depth of his wisdom, and the perfection of his discernment. But alas! how are the mighty fallen! Compare his present with his past state, his state before the transgression with his state after it; and say, is this the same creature? the creature of whom God said, as he said of all his works, He is very good — just what he should be, a- living image of the living God; but now lower than the beasts of the field? 4. This account could never have been credited had not the indisputable proofs and evidences of it been continued by uninterrupted succession to the present time. All the descendants of this first guilty pair resemble their degenerate ancestors, and copy their conduct. The original mode of transgression is still continued, and the original sin in consequence. Here are the proofs. 1- Every humaa being is endeavouring to obtain knowledge by unlawful
Adam and Eve hide themselves.
Adam and Eve's accusations.
the Lord God walking in the garden in the ° cool of the day: and Adam and his wife p hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, i and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
1 1 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
means, even while the lawful means and every available help are at hand. 2. They are endeavouring to be independent, and to live without God in the world; hence prayer, the language of dependence on God's providence and grace, is neglected,! might say detested, by the great majority of men. Had I no other proof than this that man is z. fallen creature, my soul would bow to this evidence. 3. Being destitute of the true knowledge of God they seek privacy for their crimes, not considering that the eye of G od is upon them, being only solicitous to hide them from the eye of man. These are all proofs in point; but we shall soon meet with additional ones. See on ver. 10 and 12.
Verse 8. The voice of the Lord\ The voice is properly used here, for as God is an infinite Spirit, and cannot be confined to any form, so he can have no personal appearance. It is very likely that God used to converse with them in the garden, aud that the usual time was the decline of the day, DITI ni'^S leruach haiyom, in the evening breeze; and probably this was the time that our first parents employed in the more solemn acts of their religious worship, at which God was ever present. The time for this solemn worship is again come, and God is in his place; but Adam and Eve have sinned, and therefore, instead of being found in the place of worship, are hidden among the trees! Reader, how often has this been thy case!
Verse 10. / was afraid, because I was naJced^ See the immediate consequences of sin. 1. Shame, because of the ingratitude marked in the rebellion, and because that in aiming to be like God they were now sunk into a state of the greatest wretchedness. 2. Fear, because they saw they had been deceived by Satan, and were exposed to that death and punishment from which he had promised them an exemption. How worthy is it of remark that this cause continues to produce the very same effects! Shattie and fear were the first fruits of sin, and fruits which it has invariably produced, from the first transgression to the present time.
Verse 12. And the man said, SfcJ] Wc have here some farther proofs of the fallen state of man, and a 50 woman whom thou gavest to he
with me, she gave me of the tree, and J did eat.
1 3 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, ^ The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said * unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and '^ dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
that the consequences of that state extend to his remotest posterity. 1. On the question. Hast thou eaten of the tree? Adam is obliged to acknowledge his transgression; but he does this in such a way as to shift oflf the blame from himself, and lay it upon God and upon the woman! This woman whom thou didst give to be with me, nDJ? immadi, to be my companion, (for so the word is repeatedly used,) she gave me, and I did eat. / have no farther blame in this transgression; / did not pluck the fruit; she took it and gave it to me.
2. When the w^oman is questioned she lays the blame upon God and the serpent, {nachash,) The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Thou didst make him much wiser than thou didst make me, and therefore my simplicity and ignorance were overcome by his superior wisdom and subtlety; / can have no fault here, the fault is his, and his who made him so ivise and me so ignorant. Thus we find that, while the eyes of their body were opened to see their degraded state, the eyes of their understanding were closed, so that they could not see the sinfulness of sin; and at the same time their hearts were hardened through its deceitfulness. In this also their posterity copy their example. How iew ingenuously confers their own sin! They see not their guilt. They are continually making excuses for their crimes; the strength and subtlety of the tempter, the natural weakness of their own minds, the unfavourable circumstances in which they were placed, &c., &c., are all pleaded as excuses for their sins, and thus the possibility of repentance is precluded; for till a man take his sin to hi?nself, till he acknowledge that he alone is guilty, he cannot be humbled, and consequently cannot be saved. Reader, till thou accuse thyself, and thyself only, and feel that thou alone art responsible for all thy iniquities, there is no hope of thy salvsrtion.
Verse 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent] The tempter is not asked why he deceived the jvoma7i; he cannot roll the blame on any other; selftempted he fell, and it is natural for him, such is his enmity, to deceive and destroy all he can. His fault
The serpent and the woman
1 5 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between ^ thy seed and "^ her seed; ^ it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; ^ in
admits of no excuse, and therefore God begins to pronounce sentence on him first. And here we must consider a twofold sentence, one on Satan and the other on the agent he employed. The nachash, whom I suppose to have been at the head of all the inferior animals, and in a sort of society and intimacy with man, is to be greatly degraded, entirely banished from human society, and deprived of the gift of speech. Cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field — thou shalt be considered the most contemptible of animals; upon thy belly shalt thou go — thou shalt no longer walk erect, but mark the ground equally with thy hands and feet; and dust shalt thou eat — though formerly possessed of the faculty to distinguish, choose, and cleanse thy food, thou shalt feed henceforth like the most stupid and abject quadruped, all the days of thy life — through all the innumerable generations of thy species. God saw meet to manifest his displeasure against the agent employed in this melancholy business; and perhaps this is founded on the part which the intelligent and subtle nachash took in the seduction of our first parents. We see that he was capable of it, and have some reason to believe that he became a ivilling instrument.
Verse 15. / will put enmity betioeen thee and the woman'\ This has been generally supposed to apply to a certain enmity subsisting between men and serpents; but this is rather a fancy than a reality. It is yet to be discovered that the serpentine race have any peculiar enmity against mankind, nor is there any proof that men hate serpents tnore than they do other noxious' animals. Men have much more enmity to the common rat and magpie than they have to all the serpents in the land, because the former destroy the grain, &c., and serpents in general, far from seeking to do men mischief, flee his approach, and generally avoid his dwelling. If, however, we take the word nachash to mean any of the simia or ape species, we find a more consistent meaning, as there is scarcely an animal in the universe so detested by most ioom.en as these are; and indeed men look on them as continual caricatures of themselves. But we are not to look for merely literal meanings here: it is evident that Satan, who actuated this creature, is alone intended in this part of the prophetic declaration. God in his endless mercy has put enmity between men and him; so that, though all mankind love his service, yet all invariably hate himself. Were it otherwise, Avho could be saved? A great point gained towards the conversioi\ a< a sinner is to convince him that it is Satan he has been serving, that it is to him he has been giving up his soul, body, goods, &c.; he starts with horror when this conviction
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; ^ and thy desire shall he ^ to •
thy husband, and he shall ^ rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, •= Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, ^ and hast eaten of the tree ^ of which I com
fastens on his mind, and shudders at the thought of being in league with the old murderer. But there is a deeper meaning in the text than even this, especially in these words, it shall bruise thy head, or rather, Nin hu, HE; who ] the seed of the ivoman; the person is to come by the woman, and by her alone, without the concurrence of man. Therefore the address is not to Adam and Eve, but to Eve alone; and it was in consequence of this purpose of God that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin; this, and this alone, is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the ivoma7i bruising the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to destroy hi?n who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Thus he bruises his head — destroys his poiver and lordship over mankind, turning them from the power of Satan unto God; Acts xxvi. 18. And Satan bruises his heel — God so ordered it, that the salvatioir of man could only be brought about by the death of Christ; and even the spiritual seed of our blessei Lord have the heel often bruised, as they suffer persecution, temptation, &c., which may be all that is intended by this part of the prophecy.
Verse 16. Unto the woman he said] She being second in the transgression is brought up the second to receive her condemnation, and to hear her punishment: I will greatly multiply, ox multiplying I will multiply; i. e., I will multiply thy sorrows, and multiply those sorrows by other sorrows, and this during conception and pregnancy, and particularly so in parturition or child-bearing. And this curse has fallen in a heavier degree on the woman than on any other yenia/e. Nothing is better attested than this, and yet there is certainly no natural reason why it should be so; it is a part of her punishment, and a part from which even God's mercy will not exempt her. It is added farther, Thy desire shall be to thy husband — thou shalt not be able to shun the great pain and peril of child-bearing, for thy desire, thy appetite, shall be to thy husband; and he shall rule over thee, though at their creation both were formed with equal rights, and the, woman had probably as much right to rule as the man; but subjection to the will of her husband is one part of her curse; and so very capricious is this will often, that a sorer punishment no human being can well have, to be at all in a state of liberty, and under the protection of wise and equal laws.
Verse 17. Unto Adam he said] The man being the last in the transgression is brought up last to receive his sentence: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy luife — " thou wast not deceived, she only gave and counselled thee to eat; this thou shouldst
not eat of it; ^ cursed is the ground
for thy sake: ^ in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
have resisted;" and that he did not is the reason of his condemnation. Cursed is the ground for thy sake — from henceforth its fertility shall be greatly impaired; in sorroiv shalt thou eat of it — be in continual perplexity concerning the seed time and the harvest, the cold and the heat, the wet and the dry. How often rre all the fruits of man's toil destroyed by blasting, by mildew, by insects, wet weather, land floods, &c.! Anxiety and carefulness are the labouring man's portion. Verse 18. Thorns also and thistles, <SfC.'\ Instead of producing nourishing grain and useful vegetables, noxious weeds shall be peculiarly prolific, injure the ground, choke the good seed, and mock the hopes of the husbandman; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field — thou shalt no longer have the privilege of this garden of delights, but must go to the common champaign country, and feed on such herbs as thou canst find, till by labour and industry thou hast raised others more suitable to thee and more comfortable.
In the curse pronounced on the ground iheve is much more implied than generally appears. The amazing fertility of some of the most common thistles and thorns renders them the most proper instruments for the fulfilment of this sentence against man. Thistles multiply enormously; a species called the Carolina sylvestris bears ordinarily from 20 to 40 heads, each containing from 100 to 150 seeds.
Another species, called the Acanthum vulgare, produces above 100 heads, each containing from 3 to 400 seeds. Suppose we say that these thistles produce at a medium only 80 heads, and that each contains only 300 seeds; the first crop from these would amount to 24,000. Let these be sown, and their crop will amount to 576 millions. Sow these, and their produce will be 13,8^4,000,000,000, or thirteen billions, eight hundred and liuenty-four thousand millions; and a single crop from these, which is only the third year's growth, would amount to 331,770,000,000,000,000, ox three hundred and thirty-one thousand seven hundred and seventy-six billions; and the fourth year's growth •will amount to 7,962,624,000,000,000,000,000, or seven thousand nine hundred and sixty-two trillions, six hundred and twenty-four thousand billions. A progeny more than sufficient to stock not only the surface of the whole world, but of all the planets of the solar system, so that no other plant or vegetable could possibly grow, allowing but the space of one square foot for each plant.
The Carduus vulgatissimus viarum, or common hedge thistle, besides the almost infinite swarms of winged seeds it sends forth, spreads its roots around many yards, and throws up suckers everywhere, which not only produce seeds in their turn, but extend their roots, propagate like the parent plant, and stifle and destroy all vegetation but their own.
As to THORNS, the bramble, which occurs so com- it ' bring forth to thee; and ^ thou shalt eat the herb of the field:
19 ^ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
monly, and is so mischievous, is a sufficient proof how well the means are calculated to secure the end. The genista, or spinosa vulgaris, called by soiae furze, by others whins, is allowed to be one of the most mischievous shrubs on the face of the earth. Scarcely any thing can grow near it, and it is so thick set with prickles that it is almost impossible to touch it without being wounded. It is very prolific; almost half the year it is covered with flowers which produce pods filled with seeds. Besides, it shoots out roots far and wide, from which suckers and young plants are continually springing up, which produce others in their turn. Where it is permitted to grow it soon overspreads whole tracts of ground, and it is extremely difficult to clear the ground of its roots where once it has got proper footing. Such provision has the just God made to fulfil the curse which he has pronounced on the earth, because of the crimes of its inhabitants. See HaWs Vegetable Statics.
Verse 19. In the sweat of thy face^ Though the whole body may be thrown into a profuse sweat, if hard labour be long continued, yet the/ace ox forehead is the first part whence this sweat begins to issue; this is occasioned by the blood being strongly propelled to the brain, partly through stooping, but principally by the strong action of the muscles; in consequence of this the blood vessels about the head become turgid through the great flux of blood, the fibres are relaxed, the pores enlarged, and the sweat or serum poured out. Thus then the very commencement of every man's labour may put him in mind of his sin and its consequences.
Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.^ God had said that in the day they ate of the forbidden fruit, dying they should die — they should then become mortal, and continue under the influence of a great variety of unfriendly agencies in the atmosphere and in themselves, from heats, colds, drought, and damps in the one, and morbid increased and decreased action in the solids and fluids of the other, till the spirit, finding its earthly house no longer tenable, should return to God who gave it; and the body, being decomposed, should be reduced to its primitive dust. It is evident from this that man would have been immortal had he never transgressed, and that this state of continual life and health depended on his obedience to his Maker. The tree of life, as we have already seen, was intended to be the means of continual preservation. For as no being but God can exist independently of any supporting agency, so man could not have continued to live without a particular supporting agent; and this supporting agent under God appears to have been the tree of life.
" We shall lie down as a small portion of dust our bones being dissolved "
ground; for out of it wast thou
taken: for ™ dust thou art, and ^ unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife's name ° Eve; p because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the
■Verse 20. And Adam called his wife^s name Eve; because she ivas the mother of all living.] A man who does not understand the original cannot possibly comprehend the reason of what is said here. What has the word Eoe to do with being the mother of all living? Our translators often follow the Septuagint; it is a pity they had not done so here, as the Septuagint transation is literal and correct: Kat EKaAecEv Ac5a/z TO ovofia TTjc yvvaiKoc avrov Zw??, otl [irjTrjp ivavTuv ruv ^uvTuv " And Adam called his wife's name Life, because she was the mother of all the living.''' This is a proper and faithful representation of the Hebrew text, for the nin Chavvah of the original, which we have corrupted into Eve, a word destitute of all meaning, answers exactly to the Zurj of the Septuagint, both signifying life; as does also the Hebrew 'n chai to the Greek i^uvruv, both of which signify the living. It is probable that God designed by this name to teach our first parents these two important truths: 1. That though they had merited immediate death, yet they should be respited, and the accomplishment of the sentence be long delayed; they should be spared to propagate a numerous progeny on the earth. 2. That though much misery would be entailed on his posterity, and death should have a long and universal empire, yet ONE should in the fulness of time spring from the woman, who should destroy death, and bring life and immortality to light, 2 Tim. i. 10. Therefore Adam called his wife's name Life, because she was to be the mother of all human beings, and because she was to, be the mother of HIM who was to give life to a world dead in trespasses, and dead in sins, Eph. ii. 1, &c.
Verse 21. God made coats of skins] It is very likely that the skins out of which their clothing was made were taken off animals whose blood had been poured out as a sin-offering to God; for as we find Cain and Abel oftering sacrifices to God, we may fairly presume that God had given them instructions on this head; nor is it likely that the notion of a sacrifice could have ever occurred to the mind of man without an express revelation from God. Hence we may safely infer, 1. That as Adam and Eve needed this clothing as soon as they fell, and death had not as yet made any ravages in the animal world, it is most likely that the skins were taken off victims offered under the direction of God himself, and in faith of HIM who, in the fulness of time, was to make an atonement by his death. And it seems reasonable also that this matter should be brought about in such a way that Satan and death should have no triumph, when the very first death that took place in the world was an
22 And the Lord God said, ^ Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, "^ and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever;
emhlem and type of that death which should conquer Satan, destroy his empire, reconcile God to man, convert man to God, sanctify human nature, and prepare it for heaven.
Verse 22. Behold, the man is become as one of us] On all hands this text is allowed to be difllcult, and the diflaculty is increased by our translation, which is opposed to the original Hebrew and the most authentic versions. The Hebrew has n'H hayah, which is the third person preterite tense, and signifies was, not is. The Samaritan text, the Samaritan version, the Syriac, and the Septuagint, have the same tense. These lead us to a very different sense, and indicate that there is an ellipsis of some words which must be supplied in order to make the sense complete. A very learned man has ventured the following paraphrase, which should not be lightly regarded: " And the Lord God said. The tnan ivho was like one of us in purity and wisdom, is now fallen and robbed of his excellence; he has added n^H*? ladaath, to the knowledge of the good, by his transgression the knowledge of the evil; and 7101V, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever in this miserable state, I will remove him, and guard the place lest he should re-enter. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,"" dfc. This seems to be the most natural sense of the place. Some suppose that his removal from the tree of life was in mercy, to prevent a second temptation. He before -imagined that he could gain an increase of wisdom by eating of the tree of knowledge, and Satan would be disposed to tempt him to endeavour to elude the sentence of death, by eating of the tree of life. Others imagine that the words are spoken ironically, and that the Most High intended by a cutting taunt, to upbraid the poor culprit for his offence, because he broke the Divine command in the expectation of being like God to know good from evil; and now that he had lost all the good that God had designed for him, and got nothing but evil in its place, therefore God taunts him for the total miscarriage of his project. But God is ever consistent with himself; and surely his infinite pity prohibited the use of either sarcasm or irony, in speaking of so dreadful a catastrophe, that was in the end to occasion the agony and bloody sweat, the cross and passion, the death and burial, of Him in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, Col. ii. 9.
In chap. i. 26, 27, we have seen man in the perfection of his nature, the dignity of his office, and the plenitude of his happiness. Here we find the same creature, but stripped of his glories and happiness, so
23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, ■to till the gromid from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he
that the word man no longer conveys the same ideas it did before. Man and intellectual excellence were before so intimately connected as to appear inseparable; man and misery are now equally so. In our nervous mother tongue, the Anglo-Saxon, we have found the word Irob God signifying, not only the Supreme Leing, but also good or goodness; and it is worthy of especial note that the word man ma}i, in the same language, is used to express, not only the human being so called, both male and female, but also mischief, wickedness, fraud, deceit, and villany. Thus a simple monosyllable, still in use among us in its first sense, conveyed at once to the minds of our ancestors the two following particulars: 1. The human being in his excellence, capable of knowing, loving, and glorifying his Maker. 2. The human being in his fallen state, capable of and committing all kinds of wickedness. " Obiter hie notandum," says old Mr. Somner in his Saxon Dictionary, " venit, Irob Saxonibus et Deum significasse et bonum: uti man et hominem et nequitiam. Here it is to be noted, that among the Saxons the term God signified both the Divine Being and goodness, as the word man signified both the human being and tuickedness.'''' This is an additional proof that our Saxon ancestors both thought and spoke at the same time, which, strange as it may appear, is not a common case: their words in general are not arbitrary signs; but as far as sounds can convey the ideal meaning of things, their words do it; and they are so formed and used as necessarily to bring to view the nature and properties of those things of which they are the signs. In this sense the Anglo-Saxon is inferior only to the Hebrew.
Verse 24. 8o he drove out the ynan^ Three things are noted here: 1. God's displeasure against sinful man, evidenced by his expelling him from this place of blessedness; 2. Man's unfitness for the place, of which he had rendered himself unworthy by his ingratitude and transgression; and, 3. His reluctance iQ leave this place of happiness. He was, as we may naturally conclude, unwilling to depart, and God drove him out.
He placed at the east^ CDTpO mikkedcm, or before the garden of Eden, before what may be conceived its gate or entrance; Cherubims, nDO^Dn hakkerubirn, THE cherubim. Hebrew plurals in the masculine end in general in im: to add an s to this when we introduce such words into English, is very improper; therefore the word should be written cherubim, not cherubims. But what were these? They are utterly unknown. Conjectures and guesses relative to their nature and properties are endless. Several think them to have been emblematical representations of the sacred Trinity, and bring reasons and scriptures in support of their opinion; but as I am not satisfied that this opinion is correct, I will not trouble the reader with it.
placed * at the east of the garden b^c^4004 of Eden ^ Cherubims, and a flaming
sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
From the description in Exod. xxvi. 1, 31; 1 Kings vi. 29, 32; 2 Chron. iii. 14, it appears that the cherubs were sometimes represented with two faces, namely, those of a lion and of a man; but from Ezek. i. 6, &c.; X. 20, 21, we find that they ha.d four faces and four wings; the faces were those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle; but it seems there was but one body to these heads. The two-faced cherubs were such as were represented on the curtains and veil of the tabernacle, and on the wall, doors, and veil of the temple; those with four faces appeared only in the holy of holies.
The word 31D or DIID kerub never appears as a verb in the Hebrew Bible, and therefore is justly supposed to be a word compounded of 3 ke a. particle of resemblance, like to, like as, and 31 rab, he was great, poiverful, (5fc. Hence it is very likely that the cherubs, to whatever order of beings they belonged, were emblems of the ALL-MIGHTY, and were those creatures by whom he produced the great effects of his power. The word D"l rab is a character of the Most High, Prov. xxvi. 10: The great God luho formed all; and again in Psa. xlviii. 2, where he is called the Great King, DT "j/^ melech rab. But though this is rarely applied as a character of the Supreme Being in the Hebrew Bible, yet it is a common appellative of the Deity in the Arabic language. ^••—*) ^(^^i ^^^ (j^lxll ^-rd) raVulalameen Lord of both worlds, or, Lord of the universe, are expressions repeatedly used to point out the almighty energy and supremacy of God. On this ground, I suppose, the cherubim were emblematical representations of the eternal power and Godhead of the Almighty. These angelic beings were for a time employed in guarding the entrance to Paradise, and keeping the way of or road to the tree of life. This, I say, for a time; for it is very probable that God soon removed the tree of life, and abolished the garden, so that its situation could never after be positively ascertained.
By the flaming sword turning every way, or flame folding back upon itself, we may understand the formidable appearances which these cherubim assumed, in order to render the passage to the tree of life inaccessible.
Thus terminates this most awful tragedy; a tragedy in which all the actors are slain, in which the most awful murders are committed, and the whole universe ruined! The serpent, so called, is degraded; the ivoman cursed with pains, miseries, and a subjection to the will of her husband, which was never originally designed; the man, the lord of this lower world, doomed to incessant labour and toil; and the earth itself cursed with comparative barrenness! To complete all, the garden of pleasure is interdicted, and this man, who was made after the image of God, and who would be like him, shamefully expelled from a
071 the preceding chapter place where pure spirits alone could dwell. Yet in the midst of \vrath God remembers mercy, and a promise of redemption from this degraded and cursed state 's made to them through HIM who, in the fulness of time, is to be made flesh, and who, by dying for the sin of the world, shall destroy the power of Satan, and deliver all who trust in the merit of his sacrifice from the power, guilt, and nature of sin, and thus prepare them for the celestial Paradise at the right hand of God. Reader, hast thou repented of thy sin^ for often hast thou sinned after the similitude of thy ancestor's transgression. Hast thou sought and found redemption in the blood of the Lamb 1 Art thou saved from a disposition which led thy first parents to transgress? Art thou living a life of dependence on thy Creator, and of faith and loving obedience to him who died for thee ] Wilt thou live under the curse, and die eternally? God forbid! Return to him with all thy soul, and receive this exhortation as a call from his mercy.
To what has already been said on the awful contents of this chapter, I can add little that can either set it in a clearer light, or make its solemn subject more impressive. We see here that by the subtlety and envy of the devil sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and we find that death reigned, not only from Adam to Moses, but from Moses to the present day. How abominable must sin be in the sight of God, when it has not only defaced his own image from the soul of man, but has also become a source of natural and moral evil throughout every part of the globe! Disruption and violence appear in every part of nature; vice, profligacy, and misery,, through all the tribes of men and orders of society. It is true that where sin hath abounded, there grace doth much more abound; but men shut their eyes against the light, and harden their hearts against the truth. Sin, which becomes propagated into the world by natural generation, growing with the growth and strengthening with the strength of man, would be as endless in its duration, as unlimited in its influence, did not God cheek and restrain it by his grace, and cut off its extending influence in the incorrigibly wicked by means of death". How wonderful is the economy of God! That which entered into the world as one of the prime fruits and effects of sin, is now an instrument in his hands to prevent the extension of its contagion. If men, now so greatly multiplied on the earth, and fertile in mischievous inventions, were permitted to live nearly a thousand years, as in the ancient world, to mature and perfect their infectious and destructive counsels, what a sum of iniquity and ruin would the face of the earth present! Even while they are laying plans to extend the empire of death, God, by the very means of death itself, prevents the completion of their pernicious and diabolic designs. Thus what man, by his wilful obstinacy does not permit grace to correct and restrain,. God, by his sovereign power, brings in death to control. It is on this ground that wicked and blood-thirsty men live not out half their days; and what a mercy to the world that it is so! They who will not submit to the sceptre of mercy shall be broken in pieces by the rod of iron. Reader, provoke not the Lord to displeasure; thou art not stronger than he. Grieve not his Spirit, provoke him not to destroy thee; why shouldst thou die before thy time? Thou hast sinned much, and needest every moment of thy short life to make thy calling and election sure. Shouldst thou provoke God, by thy perseverance in iniquity, to cut thee off by death before this great work is done, better for thee thou hadst never been born!
How vain are all attempts to attain immortality here! For some thousands of years men have been labouring to find out means to prevent death; and some have even boasted that they had found out a medicine capable of preserving life for ever, by resisting all the attacks of disease, and incessantly repairing all the wastes of the human machine. That is, the alchymistic philosophers would have the world to believe that they had found out a private passage to the tree of immortality; but their own deaths, in the common order of nature, as well as the deaths of the millions which make no such pretensions, are not only a sufiicient confutation of their baseless systems, but also a continual proof that the cherubim, with their flaming swords, are turning every way to keep the passage of the tree of life. Life and immortality are, however, brought to light by the Gospel; and he only who keepeth the sayings of the Son of God shall live for ever. Though the body is dead — consigned to death, because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness; and on those who are influenced by this Spirit of righteousness, the second death shall have no power.
The birth, trade, and religion of Cain and Abel, 1-7. Cain murders his brother Abel, 8. God Sails htm into judgment for it, 9,10. He is cursed, 11, 12. He despairs, 13, 14:. A promise given him of preservation, and a mark set on him to prevent his being killed, 15. He departs from God^s presence, 16. }{as a son tvhom he calls Enoch; and builds a city, which he calls after his name, 17. Cain has several children, among ivhom are Lamech, the first bigamist, 18, 19. Jabal, who taught the use of tents and feeding cattle, 20. Jubal, the inventor of musical instruments, 21. Tuhal-cain, the inventor of smithwork, 22. Strange speech of Lamech to his ivives, 23, 24. Seth born to Adam and Eve in the place of Abel, 25. Enoch iom, and the worship of God restored, 26.,
A ND Adam knew Eve his wife; ■r-— — -r-r and she conceived, and bare
* Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from
2 And she again bare his brother ^ Abel. And Abel was *= a keeper of sheep, but Cain was ^ a tiller of the ground.
Verse 1. / have gotten a man from the Lord.] Cain, yp, signifies acquisition; hence Eve says ""njp kanithi, I have gotten or acquired a man, niiT' DN eth Yehovah, the Lord. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the sense in which Eve used these words, which have been as variously translated as understood. Most expositors think that Eve imagined Cain to be the promised seed that should bruise the head of the serpent. This exposition really seems too refined for that period. It is very likely that she meant no more than to acknowledge that it was through God's peculiar blessing that she was enabled to conceive and bring forth a son, and that she had now a well-grounded hope that the race of man should be continued on the earth. Unless she had been under Divine inspiration she could not have called her son (even supposing him to be the promised seed) Jehovah; and that she was not under such an influence her mistake sufficiently proves, for Cain, so far from being the Messiah, ivas of the wicked one; 1 John iii. 12. We may therefore suppose that niri"' nx eth Yehovah, the Lord, is an elliptical form of expression for niiT' HNO meeth Yehovah, from the Lord, or through the Divine blessing.
Verse 2. And she again hare his brother Abel.] Literally, She added to bear (mS"? ^DHI valtoseph laledeth) his brother. From the very face of this account it appears evident that Cain and Abel were twins. In most cases where a subject of this kind is introduced in the Holy Scriptures, and the successive births of children of the same parents are noted, the acts of conceiving and bringing forth are mentioned in reference to each child; here it is not said that she conceived and brought forth Abel, but simply she added to bring forth Abel his brother; that is, as I understand it, Cain was the first-born, Abel, his twm brother, came next.
Abel was a keeper of sheep] Adam was originally a gardener, Abel a shepherd, and Cain an agriculturist or farmer. These were the three primitive employments, and, I may add, the most rational, and consequently the best calculated to prevent strife and an immoderate love of the world.
Verse 3. In process of time] D'O' ypD mikkets yamim, at the end of days. Some think the anniversary of the creation to be here intended; it is more probable that it means the Sabbath, on which Adam and his family undoubtedly offered oblations to God, as the Divine worship was certainly instituted, and no doubt the Sabbath properly observed in that family. This worship was, in its original institution, very sim- to pass, that Cain brought ^of the •
fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.
4 And Abel, he also brought of ^ the firstlings of his ^ flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had ' respect unto Abel and to his offering;
pie. It appears to have consisted of tivo parts: 1. Thanksgiving to God as the author and dispenser of all the bounties of nature, and oblations indicative of that gratitude. 2. Piacular sacrifices to his justice and holiness, implying a conviction of their own sinfulness, confession of transgression, and faith in the promised Deliverer. If we collate the passage here with the apostle's allusion to it, Heb. xi. 4, we shall see cause to form this conclusion.
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering] nn^D minchah, xxnio the Lord. The word minchah is explained, Lev. ii. 1, &c., to be an offering of fine flour, ivith oil and frankincense. It was in general a eucharistic or gratitude ofl!ering, and is simply what is implied in \\ie fruits of the ground brought by Cain to the Lord, by which he testified his belief in him as the Lord of the universe, and the dispenser of secular blessings.
Verse 4. Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock] Dr. Kennicott contends that the words he also brought, Nin DJ S^'^D hebi gam hu, should be translated, Abel brought it also, i. e. a minchah or gratitude offering; and beside this he brought of the first-born (nnD^O 7?iibbechoro(h) of his flock, and it was by this alone that he acknowledged himself a sinner, and professed faith in the promised Messiah. To this circumstance the apostle seems evidently to allude, Heb. xi. 4: Bi/ faith Abel offered izT^Eiova dvoLav, a MORE or GREATER Sacrifice; not a more excellent, (for this is no meaning of the word -kIemv,) which leads us to infer, according to Dr. Kennicott, that Abel, besides his minchah or gratitude offering, brought also Ovata, a victim, to be slain for his sins; and this he chose' out of the first-bom of his flock, which, in the order of God, was a representation of the Lamb of God that was to take away the sin of the world; and what confirms this exposition more is the observation of the apostle: God testifying -oig dupocg, of his gifts, which certainly shows he brought more than one. Kbcording to this interpretation, Cain, the father of Deism, not acknowledging the necessity of a vicarious sacrifice, nor feeling his need of an atonement, according to the dictates of his natural religion, brought a minchah or eucharistic oflfering to the God of the universe. Abel, not less grateful for the produce of his fields and the increase of his flocks, brought a similar offering, and by adding a sacrifice to it paid a proper regard to the will of God as far as it had then been revealed, acknowledged himself a sinner, and thus, deprecating the Divine displeasure, showed forth the death of Christ till he came. Thus his offerings were accepted, while
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, ^ and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
those of Cain were rejected; for this, as the apostle says, was done by faith, and therefore he obtained witness that he was righteous, or a justified person, God testifying with his gifts, the thank-offering and the sin-offering., by accepting them, that faith in the promised seed was the only way in which he could accept the services and offerings of mankind. Dr. Magee, in his Discourses on the Atonement, criticises the opinion of Dr. Kennicott, and contends that there is no ground for the distinction made by the latter on the words he also brought; and shows that though the minchah in general signifies an unbloody offering, yet it is also used to express both kinds, and that the minchah in question is to be understood of the sacrifice then offered by Abel. I do not see that we gain much by this counter'-criticism. See ver. 7.
Verse 5. Unto Cain'\ As being unconscious of his sinfulness, and consequently unhumbled, and to his offering, as not being accompanied, as Abel's was, with faith and a sacrifice for sin, he had not respect — He could not, consistently with his holiness and justice, approve of the one or receive the other. Of the manner in which God testified his approhadon we are not informed; it was probably, as in the case of Elijah, by sending down fire from heaven, and consuming the sacrifice.
Cain loas very wroth^ That displeasure which should have been turned against his own unhumbled heart was turned against his innocent brother, who, though not more highly privileged than he, made a much better use of the advantages which he shared in common with his ungodly and unnatural brother.
Verse G. Why art thou wroth.?] This was designed as a gracious warning, and a preventive of the meditated crime.
Verse 7. If thou doest ivell] That which is right in the sight of God, shalt thou not be accepted? Does God reject any man who serves him in simplicity and godly sincerity 1 But if thou doest not ivell, can wrath and indignation against thy righteous brother save thee from the displeasure under which thou art fallen? On the contrary, have recourse to thy Maker for mercy; ]OT nxan nnilb lappetkach chattath robets, a sin-offering lieth at thy door; an animal proper to be offered as an atonement for sin is now couching at the door of thy fold.
The words nxon chattath, and nxion chattaah, frequently signify sin; but I have observed more than a hundred places in the Old Testament where they are used for sin-offering, and translated ufiapna by the Septuagint, which is the term the apostle uses, 2 Cor. v. 21: He hath made him to be sin (ufiapriav, a sinofpering) for us, who knew no sin. Cain's fault now a
1 not be accepted? and if thou
doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And "' unto thee shall he his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother
was his not bringing a sin-offering when his brother brought one, and his neglect and contempt caused his other offering to be rejected. However, God now graciously informs him that, though he had miscarried, his case was not yet desperate, as the means of faith, from the promise, &c., were in his power, and a victim proper for a sin-offering was lying {y'2'^ robets, a word used to express the lying down of a quadruped) at the door of his fold. How many sinners perish, not because there is not a Saviour able and willing to save them, but because they will not use that which is within their power! Of such how true is that word of our Lord, Ye ivill not come unto me that ye might have life!
Unto thee shall be his desire, 4"C.] That is. Thou shalt ever have the right of primogeniture, and in all things shall thy brother be subject unto thee. These words are not spoken of sin, as many have understood them, but of AbeVs submission to Cain as his superior, and the words are spoken to remove Cain's envy.
Verse 8. Cain talked loith Abel his brother^ VTi 10>{"1 vaiyomer Kayin, and Cain said, dfc.; not talked, for this construction the word cannot bear without great violence to analogy and grammatical accuracy. But why should it be thus translated 1 Because our translators could not find that any thing was spoken on the occasion; and therefore they ventured to intimate that there was a conversation, indefinitely. In the most correct editions of the Hebrew Bible there is a small space left here in the text, and a circular mark which refers to a note in the margin, intimating jiiat there is a hiatus or deficiency in the verse. Now this deficiency is supplied in the principal ancient versions, and in the Samaritan text. In this the supplied words are, Let us walk out into the field. The Syriac has. Let us go to the desert. The Vulgate Egrediamur foras. Let us walk out. The Septuagint, AieWufiEv etc to ireScov, Let us go out into the field. The two Chaldee Targums have the same reading; so has the Coptic version. This addition is completely lost from every MS. of the Pentateuch now known; and yet it is sufficiently evident from the Samaritan text, the Samaritan version, the Syriac, Septuagint, and Vulgate, that it was in the most authentic copies of the Hebrew before and some time since the Christian era. The words may therefore be safely considered as a part of the sacred text, and with them the whole passage reads clear and consistently: "And Cain said unto Abel his brother, Let us go oat into the field: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up," &c. The Jerusalem Targum, and the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, pretend to give us the subject of their conversation: as the
' were in the neld, that Cain rose
up against Abel his brother, and ° slew him.
9 And the Lord said unto Cain, ° Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, p I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
1 0 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's i blood ^ crieth unto me from the ground.
1 1 And now art thou cursed from the earth,
piece is curious, I shall insert the substance of it, for the sake of those who may not have access to the originals.
" And Cain said unto Hebel his brother, Let us go out into the field; and it came to pass that, when they were in the field, Cain answered and said to Hebel his brother, I thought that the world was created in mercy, but it is not governed according to the merit of good works, nor is there any judgment, nor a Judge, nor shall there be any future state in which good rewards shall be given to the righteous, or punishment executed on the wicked; and 7ioiv there is respect of persons in judgment. On what account is it that thy sacrifice has been accepted, and mine not received with complacency 1 And Hebel answered and said. The world was created in mercy, and it is governed according to the fruit of good works; there is a Judge, a future world, and a coming judgment, where good rewards shall be given to the righteous, and the impious punished; and there is no respect of persons in judgment; but because my works were better and more precious than thine, my oblation was received with complacency. And because of these things they contended on the face of the field, and Cain rose up against Hebel his brother, and struck a stone into his forehead, and killed him."
It is here supposed that the first murder committed in the world was the consequence of a religious dispute; however this may have been, millions since have been sacrificed to prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance. Here, certainly, originated the many-headed monster, religious persecution; the spirit of the wicked one in his followers impels them to afflict and destroy all those who arc partakers of the Spirit of God. Every persecutor is a legitimate son of the old murderer. This is the first triumph of Satan; it is not merely a death that he has introduced, but a violent one, as the first-fruits of sin. It is not the death of an ordinary person, but of the most hohj man then in being; it is not brought about by the providence of God, or by a gradual failure and destruction of the earthly fabric, but by a violent separation of body and soul; it is not done by a common enemy, from whom nothing better could be expected, but by the hand of a brother, and for no other reason but because the ol^ject of his envy was more righteous than himself. Alas! how exceeding sinful does sin appear in its first manifestation ' receive thy brother s blood from
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be m the earth.
13 And Cain said unto the Lord, ^ My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 * Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and ^ from thy
Verse 10. The voice of thy brother'' s blood] It is probable that Cain, having killed his brother, dug a hole and buried him in the earth, hoping thereby to prevent the murder from being known; and that this is what is designed in the words, Thy brother^s blood crieth unto me from the ground — ivhich hath opened her mouth to receive it from thy hand. Some think that by the voice of thy brother''s blood the cries of Abel's widow and children are to be understood, as it is very probable that he was father of a family; indeed his occupation and sacrifices seem to render this probable, and probability is all we can expect on such a subject. God represents these as calling aloud for the punishment of the murderer; and it is evident that Cain expected to fall by the hands of some person whx), from his consanguinity, had the right of the aven ger of blood; for now that the murder is found out, he expects to suffer death for it. See ver. 14.
Verse 12. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be] Thou shalt be expelled from the presence of God, and from thy family connections, and.shalt have no fixed secure residence in any place. The Septuagint render this arevuv Kai rpe/iuv eatj, thou ihalt be groaning and trembling upon the earth — the horror of thy crime shall ever haunt thee, and thou shalt never have any well-grounded hope that God will remit the punishment thou deservest. No state out of endless perdition can be considered more awful than this.
Verse 13. My punishment is greater than I ca?i bear.] The margin reads. Mine iiiiquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. The original words, ''lYJ ShJ J^lti'J'3 gadol avoni minneso, may be translated, Is my crime too great to be forgiven? words which we may presume he uttered on the verge of black despair. It is most probable that |1^' avon signifies rather the crime than the punishment; in this sense it is used Lev. xxvi. 41,43; 1 Sam. xxviii. 10; 2 Kings vii. 9; and awi nasa signifies to remit or forgive. The marginal reading is, therefore, to be preferred to that in the text.
Verse 14. Behold, thou hast driven me out] In verses 11, 12, God states two parts of Cain's punishment: 1. The ground was cursed, so that it was not to yield any adequate recompense for his most careful tillage. 2. He was to be a fugitive and a vagabond, having no place in which he could dwell with comfort or security. To these Cain himself adds others.
God sets a mark upon him.
face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth: and it shall come to pass, '^ that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall
1. His being hidden from the face of God; which appears to signify his being expelled from that particular place where God had manifested his presence, in or contiguous to Paradise, whither our first parents resorted as to an oracle, and where they offered their daily adorations'. So in verse 16, it is said, Cain ivent out from the presence of the Lord, and was not permitted any more to associate with the family in acts of religious worship. 2. The continual apprehension of being slain, as all the inhabitants of the earth were at that time of the same family, ihe parents themselves still alive, and each having a right to kill this murderer of his relative. Add to all this, 3. The terrors of a guilty conscience; his awful apprehension of God's judgments, and of being everlastingly banished from the beatific vision. To this part of the punishment of Cain St. Paul probably alludes, 2 Thess. i. 9: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. The words are so similar that we can scarcely doubt of the allusion.
Verse 15. The Lord set a mark upon Cain] What this mark was, has given rise to a number of frivolously curious conjectures. Dr. Shuckford collects the most remarkable. Some say he was paralytic; this seems to have arisen from the version of the Septuagint, Srti-'wv Kai rpsfiuv eaij, Groaning and trembling shall thou be. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says the sign was from the great and precious name, probably one of the letters of the word ^Y^Hf Yehovah. The author of an Arabic Catena in tlie Bodleian Library says, " A sword could not pierce him; fire could not burn him; water could not drown him; the air could not blast him; nor could thunder or lightning strike him." The author of Bereshith Rabba, a comment on Genesis, says the mark was a circle of the sun rising upon him. Abravanel says the sign was Abel's dog, which constantly accompanied him. Some of the doctors in the Talmud say that it was the letter r\ tau marked on his forehead, which signified his contrition, as it is the first letter i.. the word n::rvyn teshubah, repentance. Rabbi Joseph, wiser than all the rest, says it was a long horn growing out of hi? forehead!
Dr. Shuckford farther observes that the Hebrew word nix oih, which we translate a mark, signifies a sign or token. Thus, Gen. ix. 13, the bow was to be nixS leoth, for a sign or token that the world should not be destroyed; therefore the words. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, should be translated. And the Lord appointed to Cain a token or sign, to convince him that no person should be permitted to slay him. To have marked him would have been the most likely way to have brought all the evils he dreaded upon him; a
be taken or. him ^ seven-fold. And the Lord ^ set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
16 And Cain ^went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
therefore the Lord gave him some miraculous sign or token that he should not be slain, to the end that he should not despair, but, having time to repent, might return to a gracious God and find mercy. Notwithstanding the allusion which I suppose St. Paul to have made to the punishment of Cain, some think that he did repent and find mercy. I can only say this was possible. Most people who read this account wonder why Cain should dread being killed, when it does not appear to them that there were any inhabitants on the earth at that time besides himself and his parents. To correct this mistake, let it be observed that the death of Abel took place in the one hundred and twenty-eighth or one hundred and twenty-ninth year of the world. Now, " supposing Adam and Eve to have had no other sons than Cain and Abel in the year of the world one hundred and twenty-eight, yet as they had daughters married to these sons, their descendants would make a considerable figure on the earth. Supposing them to have been married in the nineteenth year of the world, they might easily have had each eight children, some males and some females, in the twenty-fifth year. In the fiftieth year there might proceed from them in a direct line sixty-four persons; in the seventy-fourth year there would be five hundred and twelve; in the ninety-eighth year, four thousand and ninety-six; in the one hundred and twenty-second they would amount to thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight: if to these we add the other children descended from Cain and Abel, their children, and their children's children, we shall have, in the aibresaid one hundred and twenty-eight years four 'hundred and twenty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-four men capable of generation, without reckoning the women either old or young, or such as are under the age of seventeen." See Dodd.
But this calculation may be disputed, because there is no evidence that the antediluvian patriarchs began to have children before they were sixty-five years of age. Now, supposing that Adam at one hundred and thirty years of age had one hundred and thirty children, which is quite possible, and each of these a child at sixty-five years of age, and one in each successive year, the whole, in the one hundred and thirtieth year of the world, would amount to one thousand two hundred and nineteen persons; a number sufficient to found several villages, and to excite the apprehensions under which Cain appeared at this time to labour.
Yerse 16. The larid of Nod] As nu nod signifies the same as TJ nad, a vagabond, some think this verse should be rendered. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, from the east of Eden, and dwelt a vagabond on the earth; thus the curse pronounced on him, verse 12, was accomplished.
Lamech the first bigamist.
Invention of?nusical instruments.
she conceived, and bare ^ Enoch:
and he builded a city, ^ and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat '' Lamech.
19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah,
Verse 17. She — bare Enoch] As "jl^n Chanoch signifies instructed, dedicated, or initiated, and especially in sacred thing-s, it may be considered some proof of Cain's repentance, that he appears to have dedicated this son to God, who, in his father's stead, might minister in the sacerdotal office, from which Cain, by his crime, was for ever excluded.
Verse 19. Lamech took — tivo wives] He was the first who dared to reverse the order of God by introducing polygamy; and from him it has been retained, practised, and defended to the present day.
Verse 20. Jahal — was the father] The inventor or teacher, for so the word is understood, 1 Sam. x. 12. He was the first who invented tent-making, and the breeding and managing of cattle; or he was, in these respects, the most eminent in that time. Though Abel was a shepherd, it is not likely he was such on an extensive scale.
Verse 21. Juhal — the father] i. e. The inventor of musical instruments, such as the lUj kinnor, which we translate harp, and the.^:n_i; ugah, which we render organ; it is very likely that both words are generic, the former including under it all stringed instruments, and the latter, all ivind instruments.
Verse 22. Tuhal-cain] The first smith on record, who taught how to make icarlike instruments and domestic utensils out of brass and iron. Agricultural instruments must have been in use long before, for Cain was a tiller of the ground, and so was Adam, and they could not have cultivated the ground without spades, hooks, &c. Some of these arts were useless to man while innocent and upright, but after his fall they became necessary. Thus is the saying verified: God made mmi upright, but they have sought out many inventions. As the power to get wealth is from God, so also is the invention of useful arts.
M. De Lavaur, in his Conference de la Fable avec VHistoire Sainte, supposes that the Greeks and Romans took their smith-god Vulcan from Tubal-cain, the son of Lamech. The probability of this will appear, 1. From the name, which, by the omission of the Tic and turning the b into v, a change frequently made among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, makes Vulcain or Vulcan. 2. From his occupation he was an artificer, a master smith in brass and iron. 3. He thinks this farther probable from the names and sounds in this verse. The melting metals in the fire, and hammering
20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as ° dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
Jubal: he was the father of all — — '— '• such as handle the harp and organ.
22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an ^ instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamalv
23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of
them, bears a near resemblance to the hissing sound of nS]f tsillah, the mother of Tubal-cain; and 77^ tsalal signifies to tinkle or make a sound like a bell, 1 Sam. iii. 11; 2 Kings xxi. 12. 4. Vulcan is said to have been lame; M. De Lavaur thinks that this notion was taken from the noun yh'i tsela, which signifies a halting or lameness. 5. Vulcan had to wife Venus, the goddess of beauty; Naamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, he thinks, may have given rise to this part of the fable, as her name in Hebrew signifies beautiful or gracious. 6. Vulcan is reported to have been jealous of his wife, and to have forged nets in which he took Mars and her, and exposed them to the view of the whole celestial court: this idea he thinks was derived from the literal import of the name Tubal-cain; I'ZTS tebel signifies an incestuous mixture of relatives, Lev. XX. 12; and t^Jp kana, to burn with jealousy; from these and concomitant circumstances the case of the detected adultery of Mars and Venus might be easily deduced. He is of opinion that a tradition of this kind might have readily found its way from the Egyptians to the Greeks, as the former had frequent intercourse with the Hebrews.
Of Naamah nothing more is spoken in the Scriptures; but the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel makes her the inventress of funeral songs and lamentations. R. S. Jarchi says she was the wife of Noah, and quotes Bereshith Rabba in support of the opinion. Some of the Jewish doctors say her name is recorded in Scripture because she was an upright and chaste woman; but others aflSrm that the lohole ivorld wandered after her, and that of her evil spirits were born into the world. This latter opinion gives some countenance to that of M. De Lavaur. Verse 23. And Lamech said unto his tvives] The speech of Lamech to his wives is in hemistichs in the original, and consequently, as nothing of this kind occurs before this time, it is very probably the oldest piece of poetry in the world.
The following is, as nearly as possible, a literal translation:
" And Lamech said unto his wives,
Adah and Tsillah, hear ye my voice;
Wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech;
For I have slain a man for wounding me,
And a young man for having bruised me.
If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold,
Also Lamech seventy and seven."
[.ameclCs speech to his wives.
The birth of Seth and Enos.
Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for ^ I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man ^to my hurt.
24 ° If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech seventy and seven-fold.
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and ^ called his name ^ Seth ^:
It is supposed that Lamech had slain a man in his own defence, and that his wives being alarmed lest the kindred of the deceased should seek his life in return, to quiet their fears he makes this speech, in which he endeavours to prove that there was no room for fear on this account; for if the slayer of the wilful murderer, Cain, should suffer a seven-fold punishment, surely he, who should kill Lamech for having slain a man in self-defence, might expect a seventy seven-fold punishment.
This speech is very dark, and has given rise to a great variety of very strange conjectures. Dr. Shuckford supposes there is an ellipsis of some preceding speech or circumstance which, if known, would cast a light on the subject. In the antediluvian times, the nearest of kin to a murdered person had a right to revenge his death by taking away the life of the murderer. This, as we have already seen, appears to have contributed not a little to Cain's horror, verse 14. Now we may suppose that the descendants of Cain were in continual alarms, lest some of the other family should attempt to avenge the death of Abel on them, as they were not permitted to do it on Cain; and that in order to dismiss those fears, Lamech, the seventh descendant from Adam, spoke to this effect to his wives: " Why should you render yourselves miserable by such ill-founded fears? We have slain no person; we have not done the least wrong to our brethren of the other family; surely then reason should dictate to you that they have no right to injure us. It is true that Cain, one of our ancestors, killed his brother Abel; but God, willing to pardon his sin, and give him space to repent, threatened to punish those with a seven-fold punishment who should dare to kill him. If this be so, then those who should have the boldness to kill any of us who are innocent, may expect a punishment still more rigorous. For if Cain should be avenged sevenfold on the person who should slay him, surely Lamech or any of his innocent family should be avenged seventy-seven-fold on those who should injure them." The Targums give nearly the same meaning, and it makes a good sense; but who can say it is the true sense? If the words be read interrogatively, as they certainly may, the sense will be much clearer, and some of the difficulties will be removed;
" Have I slain a man, that I should be wounded? Or a young man, that I should be bruised V
But even this still supposes some previous reason or conversation. I shall not trouble my readers with a ridiculous Jewish fable, followed by St, Jerome, of
For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26 And to Seth, Uohim also there was born a son; and he called his name "^ Enos: then began men ^ to call upon the name of the ° Lord.
" Or, to call themselves hy the name of the LORD. " 1 KThgs
Lamech having killed Cain by accident, &c.; and after what I have already said, I must leave the passage, I fear, among those which are inscrutable.
Verse 25. God — hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel] Eve must have received on this occasion some Divine communication, else how could she have known that this son was appointed in the place of Abel, to continue that holy line by which the Messiah was to come "? From this we see that the line of the Messiah was determined from the beginning, and that it was not first fixed in the days of Abraham; for the promise was then only 7-encwed, and that branch of his family designated by which the sacred line was to be continued. And it is worthy of remark, that Seth's posterity alone continued after the flood, when all the other families of the earth were destroyed, Noah being the tenth descendant from Adam through Seth.
Though all these persons are mentioned in the following chapter, I shall produce them here in the order of their succession: 1. Adam; 2. Seth; 3. Enos; 4. Cainan; 5. Mahalaleel; 6. Jared; 7. Enoch; 8. Methuselah; 9. Lamech, (the second;) 10. Noah. In order to keep this line distinct, we find particular care was taken that, where there were two or more sons in a family, the one through whom God particularly designed to bring his Son into the world was, by some especial providence, pointed out. Thus in the family of Adam, Seth was chosen; in the family of Noah, Shem; in the family of Abraham, Isaac; and in that of David, Solomon and Nathan. All these things God watched over by an especial providence from the beginning, that when Jesus Christ should come it might be clearly seen that he came by the promise, through grace, and not by nature.
Verse 26. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.] The marginal reading is. Then began men to call themselves 5y the name of the Lord; which words are supposed to signify that in the time of Enos the true followers of God began to distinguish" themselves, and to be distinguished by others, by the appellation of sons of God; those of the other branch of Adam's family, among whom the Divine worship was not observed, being distinguished by the name, children of men. It must not be dissembled that many eminent men have contended that Smn huchal, which we translate began, should be rendered began profanely, or then profanation began, and from this time they date the origin of idolatry. Most of the Jewish doctors were of this opinion, and Maimonides has discussed it at some length in his Treatise on Idolatry; as this piece is curious, and gives the most probable account of the origin and progress of idolatry, I shall insert it here.
" In the days of Enos the sons of Adam erred with great error, and the counsel of the wise men of that age became brutish, and Enos himself was (one) of them that erred; and their error was this: they said, Forasmuch as God hath created these stars and spheres to govern the world, and set them on high, and imparted honour unto them, and they are ministers that minister before him; it is meet that men should laud, and glorify, and give them honour. For this is the will of God, that we magnify and honour whomsoever he magnifieth and honoureth; even as a king would have them honoured that stand before him, and this is the honour of the king himself When this thing was come up into their hearts they began to build temples unto the stars, and to offer sacrifice unto them, and to laud and glorify them with words, and to worship before them, that they might in their evil opinion obtain favour of the Creator; and this was the root of idolatry, &c. And in process of time there stood up false prophets among the sons of Adam, which said that God had commanded and said unto them. Worship such a star, or all the stars, and do sacrifice unto them thus and thus; and build a temple for it, and make an image of it, that all the people, women, and children may worship it. And the false prophet showed them the image which he had feigned out of his own heart, and said it was the image of such a star, which was made known unto him by prophecy. And they began after this manner to make images in temples, and under trees, and on tops of mountains and hills, and assembled together and worshipped them, tfec. And this thing was spread through all the world, to serve images with services different one from another, and to sacrifice unto and worship them. So, in process of time, the glorious and fearful name (of God) was forgotten out of the mouth of all living, and out of their knowledge, and they acknowledged him not. And there was found no people on the earth that knew aught, save images of wood and stone, and temples of stone, which they had been trained up from their childhood to worship and serve, and to swear by their names. And the wise men that were among them, as the priests and such like, thought there was no God save the stars
and spheres, for whose sake and in whose likeness they had made these images; but as for the Rock everlasting, there was no man that acknowledged him or knew him save a few persons in the world, as Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, and Heber. And in this way did the world walk and converse till that pillar of the world, Abraham our father, was born." Maim, in Mishn. and Ainsivorth in loco.
1. We see here the vast importance of worshipping God according to his own mind; no sincerity, no uprightness of intention, can atone for the neglect of positive commands delivered in Divine revelation, when this revelation is known. He who will bring a eucharistic offering instead of a sacrifice, while a sin-offering lieth at the door, as he copies Cain's conduct, may expect to be treated in the same manner. Reader, remember that thou hast an entrance unto the holiest through the veil, that is to say his flesh; and those who come in this way, God will in nowise cast out.
2. We see the horrible nature of envy: its eye is evil merely because God is good; it easily begets hatred; hatred, deep-settled malice; and malice, murder! Watch against the first appearance of this most destructive passion, the prime characteristic of which is to seek the destruction of the object of its malevolence, and finally to ruin its possessor.
3. Be thankful to God that, as weakness increased and wants became multiplied, God enabled man to find out useful inventions, so as to lessen excessive labour, and provide every thing indispensably necessary for the support of life. He who carefully attends to the dictates of honest, sober industry, is never likely to perish for lack of the necessaries of life.
4. As the followers of God at this early period found it indispensably necessary to separate themselves from all those who were irreligious and profane, and to make a public profession of their attachment to the truth, so it should be now. There are still men of profane minds, whose spirit and conduct are destructive to godliness; and in reference to such the permanent order of God is, Co7ne out from among them, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. He who is not determined to be a Christian at all events, is not far from being an infidel. Those only who confess Christ among men shall be acknowledged before his Father and the angels of God.
A recapitulation of the account of the creation of man, 1, 2; and of the birth of Seth, 3. Genealogy of the ten antediluvian patriarchs, 3-31. Enoch's extraordinary piety, 22; his translation to heaven without seeing death, 24. The birth of Noah, and the reason of his name, 29; his age at the birth of Japheth, 32.
rations of Adam. In the day in Hebrew, which we generally translate book, signifies a register, an account, any kind of writing, even a that God created man, in ^ the hkeness of God made he him;
letter, such as the bill of divorce. Here it means the account or register of the generations of Adam or his descendants to the five hundredth year of the life of
A. M. 1. 2 •= Male and female created he " 1 them; and blessed them, and called
their name Adam, in the day when they were
A. M. 130.. 3 And Adam lived a hundred and
. thirty years, and begat a son m his
own likeness, after his image; and ^ called his name Seth:
4 ^ And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years; ^ and he begat sons and daughters:
• were nine hundred and thirty years:
6 And Seth lived a hundred and
five years, and ^^ begat Enos
In the likeness of God made he him] This account is again introduced to keep man in remembrance of the heights of glory whence he had fallen; and to prove to him that the miseries and death consequent on his present state were produced by his transgression, and did not flow from his original state. For, as he was created in the image of God, he was created free from natural and moral evil. As the deaths of the patriarchs are now to be mentioned, it was necessary to introduce them by this observation, in order to justify the ways of God to man.
7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat * Cainan:
10 And Enos lived after he be| eight hundred and fifteen years, sons and daughters:
1 1 And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat ^ Mahalaleel:
Verse 3. And Adam lived a hxindred and thirty years, dfc] The Scripture chronology, especially in the ages of some of the antediluvian and postdiluvian patriarchs, has exceedingly puzzled chronologists, critics, and divines. The printed Hebrew text, the Samaritan, the Septuagint, and Josephus, are all different, and have their respective vouchers and defenders. The following tables of the genealogies of • the patriarchs before and after the flood, according to the Hebrevi^, Samaritan, and Septuagint, will at once exhibit the discordances.
postdiluvian patriarchs lived before their sons' birth.
Cainan (2d) mentioned ^ only by the LXX. and > Luke iii. 36.)
Total to the 70th year > of Terah, \
In this first period the sum in Josephus is 2256, which is also adopted by Dr. Hales in his New
In this second period the sum in Josephus is 1002.