Commentary on the Holy Bible

Verse 25. They icere both naked, ^c] The weather was perfectly temperate, and therefore they had no need of cloihjng, the circumambient air being of the same temperature vith their bodies. And as sin had not yet entered into the world, and no part of the human body had been put to any improper use, therefore there was no shame, for shame can only arise from a consciousness of sinful or irregular conduct.

Even in a state of innocence, when all was perfection and excellence, when God was clearly discovered in all his works, every place being his temple, every moment a time of worship, and ew'iy^ object an incitement to religious reverence and adoration — even then, God chose to consecrate a seventh part of time to his more especial worship, and to hallow it unto his own service by a perpetual decree. Who then shall dare to reverse this order of God! Had t4ie religious observance of the sabbath been never proclaimed till the proclamation of the law on Mount Sinai, then, it might have been conjectured, this, like several other ordinances, was a shadow which must pass away with that dispensation; neither c-xteuding to future ages, nor binding on any other people. But this was not so. Gcd gave the sabbath liis first ordinance to man, (see Xhi: first precept, v. 17.) while all the nations of the woilel were seminally included in him, and while he stood the father and representative of the whole human race: therefore the sabbath is not for one nation, for one time, or for one place. It is the fair type of Hea\;tn's eternal day — of the state of endless blessedness and glory, where human souls, having fully regained the divine image, and become united to the Cenrc and Source of all ptrrfectiun and excellence, shall rest in Ged unutterably ha|ipy through the immea>' surable progress of duration! Of ihis consummation, every returning sabbath should at once be a type, a remembrancer, and a foretaste to every i ious mind; and these it must be to all who are taught of God.

Of this rest, the garden of EJen, that Paradise of God, formed for man, appears also to have been a type and pledge; and the institution of marriage, the cause, bond, and cement of the social state, was probably designed lo prefigure that hajmony, order, and blessedness, which must reign in the kingdom of God, of %vhich the condition of our first parents in the garden of Paradise is justly supposed to have been an expressive emblem. What a pity, that this heavenly institution should have ever been perverted! that, instead of becoming a sovereign help to all, it is now, through its prostitution to animal and secular purposes, become the destroyer of millions! Reader, every connexion thou formest in life, will have a strong and sovereign influence on thy future destiny. Beware I an unholy cause, which from its peculiar nature must be ceaselessly active in every muscle, nerve, and passion, cannot fail to produce incessant efl'ects of sin, misery, death, and perdition, l^emeuiber, that thy earthly connexions, no matter of what kind, are not formed merely for time, whatsoever thou niaycst intend, but also for etcrniy. With what caution, therefore, shouldcst thou take fvery step in the path of life! On this ground, the observations made in the preceding notes are seriously recommended to thy consieleration.

Satan, by means of a creature, here called tlis Serpent^ deceivea Eve, 1 — 5. Both ifie and J dam transgress tlii Divine command, and fall into sin and misery, 6, 7. TLey ore summoned before God, and judged, 8 — 13. I'Ae creature called the Serpent is degraded and jtuuished, 14. T/ie promise of redemption ty the incarnatioa of Christ, 15. Eve sent{nceil, l6. Adam sentenced, 17- The ground cursed, and death threatened, \^, IfJ. Why the KOtnan ztas called Eve, 20. Adam and Eve clothed with the skins of beasts, 21. The nretclied- state of our first parents after their fall, and their eipulstonfrom the garden of Paradise, 22—24.

which the Lord God had made. And he said

unto the woman, ' Yea, hath God said. Ye shall

not eat of every tree of the garden?

Verse 1. Noiu the serpciit was more suhlil] We have hereone of the nio.st diffciilt, as well as the imi>t important narratives in the whi)le book of God. Tlie last cliapter ended with a short but strikinif acxoiint of the perfection and felicity of the first imman brings; and this opens with an account of l^'ir transgression, dctfr.idalion, and ruin. Tliat man is in a f(.lk-n state, the history of ilu- world, with that of the li*e and miseries of every human being, estabhsh beyond successful contradiction. But Iiovj, and by what (I'^cncj/ was this brought about? Here is a great mystery; and 1 may appeal to all persons who have read the various comments that have been written on the Mosaic account, whether they have ever yet been sati>fied on tills part of the srbject, though convinced of the fact itself. li ko was the serpent? Of what Iciiid, in what uay dill he seduce the fiivt happy pair.'' These are questions which remain yet to he ansivered. 'The whole account is either a simple narralion of facts, of it is an allegorj/. If it be a historical relation, its literal meaning should be sought out: if it be an allegorj/, no attempt should be made to explain it, as it would rc{|uire a direct revelation to ascertain the sense in which it shoulil be understood, ibr fanciful illustrations are endless. Helieviiig it to be a simple relation of fiicts capal>le of a satisfactory explanation, I shall take it up on this ground, and liy a careful examination of the original text, endeavour to fix the meaning, and shew the propriety and consistency of the Mosaic account of the Fall of Man. The chief difficulty in the account is found in the question. Who was the agent employed in the seduction of our first parents?

The word in the text, which we, following the Septuagint, translate ser]!ent, is iiTIJ iiacliash, and according to Biixtorf and others, has.'/oce meanings in Scripture. 1. It signifies to liVu-, or oli.ierve atlentively, to divine or nse enchantmenis, because in them the augurs viewed attentively the Jiight of birds, the entrails.of beasts, the course of the clouds, Sec. and under this head it signifies to acquire knowledge by erperience. 2. It signifies brass, brazen, and is translated in our Bible not only brass, but chain.i, fetters, fellers of brass, and in several places steel: see C Sam. xxii. 35. Job xx. i24. Psal. xviii. 34. and in one place, at least, fdtliiness or fornication, Ezik. xvi. 3n. 3. It signifies a serpent, but of what kind is nut determined. In Job xxvi. 13. it seems to mean the •w/iale or liyppopolmmis. By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens, his luii^d UathforiMd the crooked serpent, n"i3 UTU na-

2 And the woman said inito the serp^t, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 '' But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall

ckash bariach; as fTi3 bnrach signifies to ]>ass on, or pass through, and rT"i3 beriach is used for a bur of a gate or doop ihut passed through riiigs, ifc..the idea of slraightness, rather than crookeduLss, should be attached to it here; and it is likely that the liyppopoluinus or sea-horse is intended by it.

In Eccles. x. ii. the creature called nachash, of whatsoever sort, is compared to the bubbler; surely the serpent, iS*nj nachash, will bite witltout enchantment, and a babbler is no. belter.

In Isai. xxvii. 1. the crocodile or alligator seems particu— lar y meanl by the original. In that day tlie Lord shall puniih Leviathan the piercing serpent, &c. x^nd in Isai. Ixv. 25. the same creature is meant as in Gen. iii. 1. for in the vvords^ Atid dust shall be the serpent's meat, there is an evident allusion to the text of Moses. In Amos ix. 3. the crocodile is evidrnly intended. Though they be hid in the bottom of the sea, thence will 1 command the serpent, liTUH ha-nachush, and he shall bite them. No person can suppose that any of the snake or scrp nt kind can be intended here; and we see from the various acceptations of the word, and the diflerent 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 liTU nachash signifies to view attentively, to acijuire knowledge or experience by attentive observation: so 'nU'Hi nachushti. Gen. xx>;. 27. 1 have learned by experience — and this seems to be its most general meaning in the Bible. The original word is, by the Septuagint, translated opif 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 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 cpi; is as frequently used by them, as serpent, its supposed literal meaning, is used in our version. And the New Testament writers, who seldom quote the. Old Testament, but from the Septuagint translation, and ofiea do not cliange 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

not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die

4 ' And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the ^ "•'■ day ye eat thereof, then "your eyes ^' ^" '^"''*- ihall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, know.

of the ancient versions «liicb are all mh^cqurnt to the Septua gint, anrl some of tliein actually made tVoiii it. In ail this un certainty, it is natural for a serious enquirer after trutli, to look every where for information. And in such an enquiry, the Arabic may be expected to aflbrd some help from its great similarity to the Hebrew. A root in this languay,e very nearly similar to that in the text, seems to cast considerable lig-ht on the

?.ll signify an ape. or saiyrus, or any creature of the simia or ape genus. It is very remarkable also that from the same root comes ii*,Uai khands, the DEVIL, which appellative he bears from cause he draws men o^from righteousness, seduces them from their obedience to God, &c. &;c. See Golius 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? Bat let us return and consider what is said of the creature in question. How the iiachash loas more subtle, DPJ' arum more wise, cunning or prudent </((»(«// the beasts of the field which 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 walked erect, for this is necessarily implied in his punishment,— on thy belly (i. e. on all fours) shah thou go. 3. That he was endued with the gift of speech, for a conversation is here related between him and the woman. 4. That he was also endued w ith the gift of reason, for we find him reasoning and disputing witli Eve. a. That these things were common to this creature, the woman no doubt having ol ten seen him walk' erect, talk and reason, and therefore she testifies no kind of surprize when he accosts her in the language related in the text; and indeed from the manner in which this is introduced, it appears to be only a part of a conversation that had passed between them on the occasion. 1 >a, hath God said, Ifc.

Had this creature never been knuun to speak before his addressing the woman at this time, and on this subject, it could not have failed to excite her surprize, and to have filled her with caution, though from the purity and innocence of her nature, she might have been incapable of being aflected wilh^rtr. Now 1 apprehend that none of these things can lie spoken of a serpent of any species. 1. None of tlvem ever did or ever can walk erect. The tales we have liad of twofooted and four-footed fer()€nts, 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, 1. e to creep on, as they had done from their creation and must do while their race endures. 2. Tliey have no oring good and evil.

guns for sj)ecch, or any kind of articulate sound; they can only hiss. Ii 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 (jnali y 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.''peech and reason were natural to the nachash; and is it not in reference to this, the inspired penman says? The nachash was more subtle or intelligent than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had viade! Nor can I find, that the serpentine genus are remarkable for inlelligence. 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, wliere the nachash, which we translate serpent, following the Septuagint, shews 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, ^povt/j.ot a; oi o^eif; and it is worthy of remark, that he uses the same term employed by the Septuagint, in the test in question, o^if >)v (^povi/xaiTaTOi the serpent was more prudent or intelligent tlian 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 appear* to me inefficient and inapplicable. We have seen above, that, khanas, okhnas and khanoos, signify a creature of the ape or satyrus kind. We Iwve seen that the meaning of the root is, he lay hid, seduced, slunk avjay, Sfc. and that khanas means the tlevil, as the itispirer 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 sedtKed our first parents, and drew off or slunk away from every eye but the eye of God. Such a creature answers to every part of the description in the te.xt: it is evident from the structure of its limbs and their muscles, that it might have been originally designed to walk erect, and that nothing less than a sovereign controling power could induce thein to put dowa hands, in every respect 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. " The subtlety, cunning, endlessly varied pranksand tricks of these creatures, sliew them, eten now, to be more subtle and more intelligent than any other creature, man alone excepted. Being obliged now to walk on all fours, and gatlier 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

6 if And when the woman saw that the tree "u'os good for food, and that it xcas 'pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make om wise, she took of the fruit thereof, "and did eat, and ga\e also unto her husband with her j ' and he did cat.

of cleanliness, tliey are lost to all sense of propriety; and though they have r\'ery mean in their power, of cleansing the ahmeiils they gather oil' the ground, and from among the d«st, yet Ihey never, in tiieir savage state, make use of any. Add to this, llieir utter aversion to tval/c ttpriu;ht; it requires the utmost tliscipline to bring them to it, and scarcely any thing oll'i mis or irritates tiiein more, than to be obliged to do it. Long ob.iervaiion on some <jf these animals enables me to stale these fact.'i.

Sho'ild any person who may read this note, object against my conclusion.*, because apparently derived from an Arabic word, which is not e.xaclly similar to the Hebrew, though to those who understand both languages, t!ip similarity will be striking: yet, as I do not insist on the /i^t«/?Vj/ of the terms, though important conscquenres have been derived from less likely etymologies, he is welcotne to throw the whole of this out of the account. He may then take up the Hebrew root only, which signifies to gaze, to vieiv utlattively, pry into, enqiiirt nuriouly, &;c. and considtr tlie passage that appears to compare the ndduuli to the bubbler, Eccles. x. 11. and lie will soon find, if he have any acquaintance with creatures of this genus, that for enrnct, attentive, leatcliing, looking, Sic and for chattering ov babbling they have no fellows in die animal world. Indeed, the ability and propensity to chatter is all they have left, according to the above hypothesis, of their original gift of speech, of which I suppose them to have hecn deprived at the fall, as a part of their punishment.

1 have spent the longer time on this subject, 1. because it is exceedingly obscure; 2. because no interpretation hitherto given of It, has allbrdid me the smallest satisfaction; 3. because I think the above mode of accounting for every part of the whole transaction, is consistent and satisfactory; and in «iy opinion, removes many embarrassments, and solves the chief difficulties. I think it can be no solid objection to the above mode of solution, that Satan in difl'erent parts of the New Testament, is called the serpent, the serpent that deceived Eve by his subtlety, the old.serpent, &,€. for we have already seen that the New Tcstanitnt ■\\riters have borrowed llie word from the Scptuagint, and that the Scptuagint themselves use it ill a mast variety and latitude of meaning; and surely the ouran outang is as likely to be the animal in question, as IITU nuchush, and opif ophis, are likely to mean at once a snake, a crocodile, a hippopotamus, fornication, a chain, a pair of fetters, a piece of brass, a piece of steel, and a conjuror; 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 tlie occasion, and rpeak only of Satan himselt', as the cause of the transgression^

7 And ''the eyes of them both were ^- " '• opened, "and they knew that they ^ ^ '" "'*' •were naked; and they sewed % leaves together, and made themselves '^ aprons.

8 And they heard ^tlie ^^oice of the Lord God walking iu the garden in the " cool of the day;

and the instrument of all evil. If, however, any person should chuse to difter from the opinion stated above, he is at perfect liberty so to do: I make it no article of faith, nor of Christian communion; I crave the same liberty to judge for myself, that I give to olhtrs, 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 he altogether unintelligible. See farther on ver. 1 — 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 cieatnie in question was endued with the gift of reasun and speech, for no surprize is testified on the part of Eve.

Verse 3. Neither shall ye touch it.} Did not tlie woman add this to what God had before spoken? 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, lliou hast touched it, and art still alive: thou maj'est therefore safely eat of the fruit, for surely thou slialt not die."

Verse 4. i'e shall not surely dte.] Here the fa/her of lies at once appears; and appears too, in flatly contiadiiting the assertion of God. The tempter, through the nachash insinuates tlie 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 livcst by the tree of Ufe, 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 ■yods, O'n'jNO ke-elohim, like God, so the 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 the world } The Syriac has the word in the sirigtdar number, and is the only one of all the \ersion.«, which has hit on the true mc.ining. As tlie originai word is the same which is used to point out the supreme Being, ch. 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 knowledge is power,) and l)c able to exist for ever, indepeiulantly of him.

Verse 6. TAe tree was good for food] The fiuit appeared to be v\holesome and nutritive. And that it was phui.'tant to the eyes. Tlie beauty of the fruit tended to whet and increase appetite. And a tree to be de-'iired to jnake one wise, which was an additioiial motive to please the palate. From those three sources, all natural and moral evil sprung; they are ex-

and Adam and his wife ' hid themselves, from the presence of the Lord

aclly wliat tlie apostle calls the desire of the Jiei/i; the tree ■was good for food; ilie desire of the ci/e, it was pleasant to tlie sight; and t/ie pride of life, it was a tree to be desired to make one v, ise. 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 owr first parents were in a state of sufficient perfection, when we consider, 1. That they were endowed with a vast capacity to obtain knowledge. 2. That all the means of information were within their reach. 3. That there was no hindrance to th.e most direct conception of occurring truth. 4. That all the objects of knowledge whether natural cr 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 fathoming endlessly, their unbounded glories and excellencies, without hindrance or difficulty, what a state of perfection I Ti hat a consummation of bliss! This was undoubtedly the state and condition of our first parents — even the present ruins of the state are incontestible evidences of its primitive excellence. We see at once how transgression came: it was jinlural for them to desire to be increasingly wise. God had implanted this desire in their minds; but he shewed them that this desire should be gratified in a certain xvuy; that prudence and judgment should always regulate it: tliat they should carefully examine what God 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 vehat subjects this may be kgilimately sought, and ixlierc the mind may make excursions and discoveries to its prejudice and ruin. There are doubtless many subjects which angels are capable of knowing, and which God cliuses to conceal even from them, because that knowledge would tend neither to their jierfection 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 jjcrsiiicniiy and energy:

Juii modii.i in rebus: sunt ccrti dcniqiie fines, 'iiuos ultra citraque neipiit consistere rectum.

" There is a rule for all things; there are in fine, fixed aAd stated limits, on either side of which righteousness cannot be ibund." On the line of duty alone, we must walk.

Such limils God certainly assig:ied from the beginning. Thou slialt cume tip to thJF; thou shalt not puss it. And as he assigned the limits, so he assigned the means. It is law-

9 % And the Lord God called imto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

ful for thee to acquire knowledge in this wai/; it is unlawful to seek it in that. And had he not a right to do so? And would his creation have been perfect without it }

Verse 7. The eyes of them both laere 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? Confusion and shame were engendered, because innocence was lost and guilt contracted.

1. I'roin the New Testament we learn, that Satan associated himself with the creature which we term the serpent, and the original the iiachash, in order to seduce and ruin mankind, 2 Cor, xi. 3. Kev. xii. 9, xx. 2. 2. That this creature was the most suitable to his purpose, a: being the most subtle, the most inlelligcnl and cmining of all the 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 dependance. 4. He does this by working on that propensity of the mind to desire an increase of knowledge, with which God, for the most gracious purposes, had endued it. 5. In order (o succeed, he insinuates, that God, through motives of envy, had. given the prohibition — God dolh know that in the da)/ ye cut of it, ye shall he like himsef, ^^c. 6. As their [iresent slate of blessedness must be inexpres-sibly dear to them, he endeavours to persuade them that they could not fall from this state; ye shall not su7-ely die; ye shall not only retain your present blessedness, but it shall be greatly increased; a temptation by vihieli he has ever since fatally succeeded in the ruin of multitudes of souls, whom he persuaded, that being once right they could never finally go wrong. 1. As he kept the unlawfulness of the means i)ruposed, out of sight, pcr.<uadeil thein that they coulel not fiill from their stedf.istness, assureel them that lliey should resemble God hiinseUi and consequently be self-sufficient, and totally independant of iiim; they listened, and fixing their eye only on the promised good, ncalecting the positive command, anel determining to become wise and independant at all events, they took of the fruit and did eat.

1. Their eyes iierc 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 Ikllen into a stale of indigence and danger. 2. Though their eyes were opened to see their nakcdne.-s, 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 coiflmandinent of God;

10 And he said, I lieard thy voice in the garden, ' and I was al'raid, be-

1 1 And lie said, Wlio told thee that thou rvast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof

12 And the man said, " Tlie woman whom thou gavest to L<; with me, she ga\c me of the tree, and 1 did eat.

but 'it was iieitlier, to go naked, when clotliinjj was not necesoary. 3. Thry seem in a moment not only to liave lost •onnd jiiilijri'.tnt, but also rtflcctiun: a short tune before, Adam was so wise that he could name all tlie crealurcs broMuhl befuff liiin, accordins^ to tlieir respective natures and qudhties: now, he does not know that first prineiple roncerninsj the Divine Naiure, that it knaus all things; and that it isoinnii)rc.«iit, therefore he endeavours to hide himself among the trees, fi oin the eye of the all seeing God! How astonishing is this! When the creatures were brought to liim, he could n/wie them, because he could discern their respective natures.nnd properties: when Eve was brought to him, he could iniuiediately tell a-hal she was, uJio she was, and for ii-Iiat end made, though he was in a deep sleep when God t'uiMied her: and this seem? to be particularly noted, merely to shew the depth of his wisdom and the perfection of his discernment. But alas! how are the mighty fallen! Compare his prt-icnt v>'\\.h his past state; his stale befnre the transgression with his state after it; and say, is this the.same creature? '1 lie creature, of whom God said, as he said of all his Works, He is r-ery good — just what he should lie, a living inia;.'e of the Living God; but now lower than the bea.<s of the field. 4. This account could never have bten credited, had not the indisputable proofs and evitleiices of it been continued by unintcrrupttd succession to the prestnt time. All the descendants of this first guiliy pair, resemble their degenerate ancestors, and copy their conduct. The original mode of transgression is still Cdntlnued, and the original sin in consiqiitnce Here are the proofs. 1. Kvery liuman being is eniituvouring to obtain knowledge by unlawful 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 dependance on God's providence and grace, is neglected, I might s;iy, detested by the groat miijority of men. Had I no other jiroof than this, tint uum is a fiillen creature, my soul would bow to this evidence. 3. Being dc stitute of the true knowledge of God, they seek privacy for tlieu- crimes, not considtrmg that the eje of God is upon them, being only fiolicitous to hide them from the eye of man. The.se are all proofs in point; but we shall soon meet with additionnl ones. See on vcr. 10 and 12.

Vtr-e 8. The voice of the Lord) The voice is properly used lure, fur as God is an infinite Spirit, and Ciinnot be confined to auy form, so he can liave no personal appearance. It is very hkely that God used to converge with them in tlie parden, ami that the usual time was the decline of the day, Ovn nr>3 Oe much haiyom, in the evening breeze; and pro- ' fcably this was the time that our first parents cmi)loyed in tiie more solemn acts ol' their religious worship, at wliich God I 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, howoften has this been thy case?

Verse 1 0. / teas afraid, becattst I was naked) See the immediate consequences of sin. 1. SH.\ME, 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 prcw duce the very same tflci ts I Shame and fear were the first fruits of sin, and fruits, which it has invariably produced from the fi.i-st transgression to the present time.

Verse 12. ^nd the man said, ^c.'] We have here some farther proofs of the fallen state of man, and that the consequences of that state extend to his remotest jwsterity. 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 off" the blame fiom himself, and lay it upon God and upon the woman! This woman whom TilOU didst give to be with me nOl? immadi, to be ray companion, (for so the word is repeatedly used) she gave me, and I did eat. 1 have no farther blame in this transgression; / did not pluck tlie Ihiit, she took it, and gave it to me.

2. \\'lien the woman is questioned, she lays the blame upoa God and the serpent, {nachasli) the serpent begtuled me and I did eat — Thou didst make him much wiser than thou didst make me; and therefore, my simplicity and ignorance v.'efe overcome by his superior wisdom and subtlety: / can have no fault here, the fault is his, and his who made him so veise, and me so ignorant. Thus we find, that while the eyes of their bodywere opened to see their degraded state; the eyes of ihcir onderstanding were closed so that thej' could nut see the sinfulness of sin; and at the same lime their hearts were liardeneil through its deceitfulness. In this also their posterity copy their example. How few ingenuously confess their own sin! They see not their guilt — Thej' are continually raakinj excuses for their rriines: the strength and s-.;btlct\' of the tempter, the natural weakness of their own miiids, tlie unfavourable cirruinstances in which they were placed, &.c. Sec. are all pleaeUel as excuses for their sins, and thus the postibility of repentance is precluded: for till a man take his sin to himself; 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 responiiible for all.thy inic^uuies, there is no hope of thy salvation.

13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, ^\^lat is this that thou liast done? And the woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

] -t % And the Lord God said ^ unto the serpent. Because tliou 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:

Verse 14. And the Lord God said nnto the serpent] The terMptcr is not asked w/iy he deceived the ivomun? He cannot roll the blame on any other: sdf-lempted he fell; and it is natural for liini, such is his enmity, to drceive and destroy all he can. His fault admits of no excuse; and therefore God begins to pronounce sentence on hi?ii first. And here we must consider a twofold sentence, one on Satan, and the other on the ttgent he employed. The nachash who 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 ofsprech. Cnrscd art thou above all cattle, and above everij beast of the field — thou shalt be considered the most contemptible of animals — vpon thy belly shalt thou go — thou shalt no longer walk erect, but mark the ground equally with thy hands and feet — and dust shall thou cat, though formerly possessed of the faculty to distinguish, chuse 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 tliy species. God saw meet to manifest his displeasure against the agent employed in this most melancholy business; and perhaps this is founded on the part which the intelligent and subtle nachash took in the seduction of our first parents. M'e see that he was capable of it, and have some reason to believe that he became a ivilling instrument.

Verse 15. I ivill put enmity between thee and the ivoman"] Tliis 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 more 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 serjients in general, far from.seeking to do men mischief, flee his approach and g' nerally avoid his dwelling. If, however, we lake 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 univtrse so detested by most women 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 i.s evident, that Satan, who actuated this creature, is alone intt'iided in this part of the prophetic declaration. God in his

15 And I will put enmity between ^- ^^- *• thee and the woman, and between J^_;^^- " 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 j ^in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; " and thy desire shall be 'to thy husband, and he shall "rule over thee.

endless mercy has put enmity between men and hitn: so that^ though all mankind love his service, yet all invariably hate/(2»iself. Were it otherwise, who could be saved? A great point gained towards the conversion of 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 ^vlien this conviction 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, especiall}' ii» these words, it shall bniise thy head, or rather, Nin hiia, HE, who? the seed of the wo!«an, the person who 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.- thi.s and this alone, is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the woman bruising tlie head of the serpent. Jesus Christ died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to destroy him \\\\o had the power of death, that is the Devil. — Thus he bruises his head, destroys his power 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 salvation of man could only be brought about bj' the death of Christ: and even the spiritual seed of our blessed 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 ti-ansgression is brought up the second to receive her condemnation, and to hear her punishment. I will greatly multiply, or multiplying I ivill 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 female. Nothing is belter 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, (iom which, even God's mercy will not exempt her. It is added further, 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 toth were formed witli equal rights, and the

A. M. 1. 17 And unto Adam he said, * Bc- ^ ^- '"^'^^- cause thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wie, "■ anti hast eaten of the tree, ' of which I conunandcd tliee, saying. Thou shalt)iot cat of it; "cursed h the ground for thy sake; ' in sorrow shait thou cat of it all the days of thy liic j woman had probably as much right to ntle as the man; but subjection to the will oF her hu.^haud, is one part of her curse; and so very capricious is this u;// 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. And unto Adam he said] The man being the last in the transgression is brought up last to receive his sentence. Because lliou liasl hiurkencd unto the voice of tliy '.vifc — " thou wast not deceived, she only gave and counselled thee to eat — this thou shouldest have resisted;" and that he did not, is the reason of his condemnation. Cursed is ilie ground for thy take, from hencefordi its fertility shall be greatly impaired; ill sorrow 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 are all the fruits of man's toil destroyed by blasting, by nnldew, by insects, wet weather, land floods, &c. &c. Anxiety anil carefulness are the labouring man's portion.

Ver.se 18. Thorns alxo, 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 — Tliou shalt no longer have the privilege of this garden of delights, but must go to the common champaign country, and fted 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, there 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 sj/lvestris bears ordinarily i'rom twenty to forty heads, each containing from one hundred to one hundred and fifty seeds.

Another specie.", called the Acanthum ■culgare, produces above 100 heads, earh containing from 3 to 400 seeds. Suppose we say that these thistles produce at a medium only 80 heads, and that ea<;h contains only 300 seeds; the first crop from these would amount to 1^4,000. 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 twenty-four thousand 7nillions; and a single crop from these, which is on!y the third year's growth, would amount to 33 l,77t;,O(J0,OOO,0O0,00O, or three hundred and tkiriy-one thou&and, seven hundred and aevciity-six billions; and

18 '^ Tliorns also and thistles shall it ^ bring ibrth to thee; and "thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 ' In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for " dust thou art, and ' unto dust shalt thou return.

The Carduuszulgutissirnusviarum, or common hedge-thistle, besides the almost infimte swarms of winged seeds it sends forth, s]ireads its roots around many yards, and llirows up suckers every where, 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 commonly, 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 some furze, by others xvhins, 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 withoutbeing 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 j'oung plants are continually springing up, which produce others in their turn. Where it is perantted 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. — Sec Hale's Vegetable Statics. Vtrse 19. In the sweat of thy face] Though the whole body may be thrown into a profiise sweat, if bard labour be Ion" continued,, yet \.\\e face or forehead is the first part whence the sweat begins to issue: this is occasioned by the blood bcini' strongly propelled to the biain, partly through stooping, ancl principally by the strong action of the muscles: in consequence of this the blood-vessels about the head become turgid tlirou<rli 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 htm 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, dyin^ they should die; they should then become mortal, and continue under the influence of a great variety of untriendly agencies in the atmosphere, and in thenoselves, from heat*,.

20 And Adam called his wife's name ' Eve ^: because she was the mother of all living.,

21 ^ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed

colds, drou^^ht, and dainps in the one, and morbid increased and dccreascil action in tlie solids and fluids of tlie ollitr, till the epir;t, finding; its earth!}' house no lunger tenable, should rtturn 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 transi^ressed; and that this state of continual life and health depended on his obedience to his IMaker. 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 cnuld not have continued to live without a particular supporting agent; and this supporting agent, under God, appears to have been the lire of tife.

Verse 20. And Adam called his icife's name Eve, because she ti'as the mother of all living.] A man wlio does not understand the original, cannot possibly comprehend the reason of what is said here. \\'l)at has the word Eve to do with being the mother of all living? Our translators often follow the Sep/iins;int: it is a pity they had not dune so here, as the Septuaginl translation is literal and correct. Kai EKa'KEo-sv A^a/i TO 0)/o/A.a rn; yvvamoi aurou "Ziiin, on /^htd^ Travrt^jv Ti'V ^uvruv. " And Adam called his wife's n;ime Life, because she was the mother of all the livinc;" This is a proper and faithful representation of the Hebrew text; for the nin chavah, of the original, which we have corrupted into Eve, a word destitute of all meaning, answers exactly to the Zaiw of the Septuagint, both signifying tife; as does also the Hebrew 'H c//«;, to the Greek ^urvm, both of which signify the living. It is probable that God designed!)y this name to teach our first parents these two ini])ortant truths: 1. That though ihey had merited immediate death, yet they should be resj)ited, and the acconijilishnK^nt of the sentence be long delayed; ihcy should be spared to propagate a numerous progeny ot> the earth. 2. That though much misery would be tntailtd on (his posterity, and death should have a long and universal empire, yet One should, in the fulness o'' time, si)ring- from the woman, who should destroy death, and bring life and imiuortalily to light. 2 lim. i. 10. Therefore Adam caPed Ins wife's name Life, because she wa« 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 m trespasses, and dead m sins, Ephes. ii. 1, &c.

Verse 21. God made coa!s of skins] It is very likely that the skins out of which their clothing was triade, were taken off an mals whose blood had bci n poured out as z.sinofferinn to God: for as we find Cam and Abel ullering- sacrifices to God, we may fairly presume, that God had ijiven them instructions on this head; nor is it likely, that the notion of a

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 fortli his hand, " and take also of the tree of lite, and eat, and live for ever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth

sacrifice could have ever occurred to the mind of man without an express revelation from God. Hence we niav safely infer, 1. That as Adam and Eve needed tliis 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 2<ily, it seems reasonable also, that this matter should be brought about in such a way, that Satan and Death should have no tnumph, when the very first death that took place in the world, was an emblem 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 difficult; and the difficulty is iiidcaseil by our translation, which is opposed to the original Hebrew, and the most authentic versions. The Hebrew has tVn huyah, which is the third person preterite tense, and signifies xeus, 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 VfUtured the following paraphra^^e, which should not be lightly regarded: " And the Lord God said, the man "who WAS like one of us in purity and wisdom, is now fallen, and robbed of his excellence: he ha.s added n;!17 ludadt, to the knowledge of the good, by his transgression, the knowledge cf the evil: and noiu 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 Eaen," iic. 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 lemptation. He, btfore, imagined that he could uain an increase of wisdom by eating of the ti-ee of knowledge, and Satan would be disposed lo tempt him to endeavour to elude the sentence of deuiii, by eating ot tlie tree of life. Others imagine that the words aie spoken ironically, and that the Most High intenCtd by a cut(ing taunt to upbraid the poor culprit tor his offence; because be broke the Divine command, in the expectation of being like God, to know good and evil; and now he had lost all the good that God had designed for him, and got nothing but evil in its place; and therefore CJod taunts him for tlx total miscarriage of his project. Rut Cjod is ever consistent v.ith himself; and surely his infinite pity prohibited the use of either sarcasm or irony, in speaking y\. M. I. fi-om the garden of Eden, ' to till ij" at the east of the garden of Eden jf J",,,'^

taken. 24 So he drove out the. man ^ and he placed

uf so <lrcaJfiil a catnstropl-.c, t'lat was in the end lo occasion lliL- ngov.y and bloody s\vi;:i(, tiie cross and passion, tlie death anfl burial, of bin;, in whom dwelt all the fiilncss of tlie Godhead bodily, Col. ii. 9.

In chap. i. 26, 27. we have seen man in the perfection of his nature, the dignity of his oflFicc, and the plenitude of his happiness. TIcre we find the same creature, but strijiped of his glories and happiness, so that the word man no longer conveys the same ideas it did before. Blan and intdlectiiul txcellcnce, were before so intimately connected as to appear hiseparable; viitn and inhcry are now equally so. In our nervous mother ton;rue, the Anglo-Saxon, we have found liie word Iruo (iod, signifying notonlj'lhe Supreme Being, but also iiood or goodness: and it is worthy of especial note, that the word COan man, in the same language, is used to express not only ihe litiman being so called, bo'.h male and female, but also.iiiischicf, wickeJiiesf, fraud, deceit, and villuny. Thus a simple mono-iyilable, slill in use among us in its first sense, con- Mved ^l 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 bein<^ in his fallen stale, cajiable of, and committing all kinds of wickedness. " Obiter hie notandum," says old Mr. Somner, in his Saxon Dictionary, " venit, Eos Saxonibus, et DeUM sign^ficasse et BUN'U.M: uti (COan) Man, et Iiominem el nequiliain. Here it is to be noted, that among' the Saxons, tlic term GoP, signified both the D.-ciue B^ing ^nA goodness, as the word Man, signified both the Human Being and luickedness." 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 arl'itrary 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 wliith they are the signs. In this sense the Anglo-Saxon is inferior only to the Hebrew.

Verse 24. So he drove out the man"] Three things are noted here: 1. God's displeasure against sinful man, evidenced by his expelling him from this pla-e of blessedness.

2. Man's unftlneis for the place, of which he had rendered lumself uiiworlliy by his ingratitude and transgression. And

3. his reluctance to leave this place of ha])])iness. He was, as we may naturally conclude, unwilling to depart, and God droie him out.

He pieced at the east] onpo mikkedem, or before the garden of Eden, before what may be conceived its gale or entn.rce; cherubims. D3"13n ha-kerubim, TIIE cherubim. Hebrew liKuals in the ma^Luline, end in general in im: to add an s to this when we introduce such words into English, is very iiujiroper; therefore the word should be written clierubim, not cherubims. But what wcr« these.' llicy are utterly un-

ChcruV)inis, and a flamin2; sword which turned every way, to keep the way. of tlic tree of life.

known. Conjectures and guesses relative to their nature and properties are endlcs.s. Several think them to have been emblematical representations of the sacred Trinity, and bring reasons and sciij'tures in support of their opinion: but as I am not satisfied that this opinion is correct, I will not trouble the reader with it. From the description in Exod. xxvi. 1. 31. 1 Kings vi. 29..32. 2 Chron. iii. 14. il appears that the cherubs were sometimes represented witli two faces,- namely, those of a lion and of a man; but from Ezek. i. 5, &c. X. — 20, 21. we find that they had 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 tivofaced cherubs were such as w:ere represented on the curtains and vail of the tabernacle, and on the wall, doorsand vail of the temple: those with four faces appear';d only in the Holy of Ilulies.

The word 313 or 2113 kerub, never appears as a verb in the Hel;rew 15il)|e, and therefore is justly s'lpposed to be a word compounded of 3 ke, a particle of resemblance, like- to, like as, and y^ rab, he was great, powerful, Sfc. Hence it is very likely, that the cherubs, to whatever order of beings they belonged, were emblems of tiie AlL-MIGUTY, and were those creatures by whom he produced the great eflects of his power. The word 31 rab is a character of the Most High, Prov. xxvi. 10. The great God who formed all; and again in Psal. xlviii. 2. where he is called the Great King, 31 iSo melee 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_>. 7-ab, and aJIjJI »_> rab'uladlaineen. Lord of both worlds, or. Lord of I he universe, are expressions repeale<lly used to ])oint out the almighty energy and supremacy of God. On this ground, I suppose, the cherubim were eaililematical 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 liT-. This, I is.y, for a time; for it is vcrj' probable that God soon removed the tree of lite, and abolished the garden, so that its situation could never after be positively ascertained.

By the flaming sword turning eveiy way, or flame folding back upon itself, we may understand the Ibrnndable appearances which these cherubim assumed, in order to render the passage to tlie 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! 'J'he serpent, so called, is degraded — the woman cursed with pains, miseries, and a subjection to the will of her husband, which was never originally designed — the man, the lord of this loiver world, doomed to incessant labour and tbil-^aiul the cnnh 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 place where pure spirits alone could dwell. Yet, in the midst of wrath, God rememhers merty, and a promise of redemption from this degraded and curbed state is made to them, through HIM who, in the fulness of time, is to he made flesh, and who, by dymt: for tlie sin of the world, shall destroy the power of Satan, and deliver all who trust in the merit of Ivs 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 sougiit and found redemption in the blood of the Lanib? Art thou saved from the disposition which led thy first parents to transgress? Art thou living a life of depcndance 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, 1 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 ein be in the sight of God, when it has not only defaced his oxvn image li-om the soul of man, but has also become a source of natural and moral evil throughout every part of the globe. Disruption and violence ap|iear in every part of nature; vice, profligacy, and misery through all tlie tribes of men, and orders of society. It is true, that where sin hath abounded, there grace doth much more abound; but men shut tlieir eyes against the light, and harden their hearts against the truth. Sin, which becomes propagated into the world by natural generation, glowing 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 chet k and restrain it by his grace, and cut off its extending influence in the incor- 1 rigibly wicked, by means of death! How wonderful is the ceconomy of God! That which entered into the world as ]

one of the prime fruits and effects of sin, is now an instrunient in his hands, to prevent tlie extension of its contai'ion. If men, now so greatly multiplied on the earth, and fertile in mischievous inventions, were peimitied to live nearly a thousand years, as in the ancient world, to mature and perfect tlieir 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 ol 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, brinn-s in death to conUoul. It is on this ground, that wicked and bluod-thirsly 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 shouldest thou die before thy time.' Thou hast sinned much, and needest every moment of thy short life to make thy calling and election sure. Shouldest thou provoke God by thy perseverance in iniquity, to cut thee ofl" by death before this great work is done, better for thee thou liadst never been born!

How vain are all attempts to attain immortality here! For some thousands ot years men have been labouring to find out means to prevent death; and some have even boasted that they had found out a medicinfe 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 sufficient confutation of their baseless systems, but also a continual proof that the cherubim, ivith their Jluming sivords, are turning every ■wtty to keep the passage of the tree of life. Life and immortality are, however, brought to light by die 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, track and religion of Cain and Jbel, 1 — 7- Cain murders his brother Jld, 8. God calls him into judgment for it, 9, 10. He is cursed, 11, 12. lie (kspairs, 15, 14. yJ promise given him of preservation, and a mark set on him to prevent his being killed^ 15, l6. Ue departs from Gud's presence, 1(5. Has a son, whom he calls Enoch-, ami builds a cittf uhich he calls aflc;' his name, 1 7. Cain has several children, among Zihom, tire Lamccli, the first bigamist^ 18, IJ}- Jabal, icho taught thf use of tents and feeding cattle, 20. Jnbal, the inventor of mmiml inslrnmenls, CI. Tubal-cain, the inventor of smith-work, C2. Strange speech of Lamech to his wives, 2.'5, 24. Selh born to Adam and Eve in the place of Jbel, 25. Enoch born, and the uorship of God restored, 26.

AND Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare * Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the

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. / hare goltfn a man from the Lord.] Cain J»p signifies acquisition; lience Eve sajs, «njp Icaniti, I have gol- Icn or (!C(iimr:i a man, niH' HN clh Yehovah, the Lord. It i.s extremely ditVicult to ascertain the sense in which Eve used these words, which have heen as variou.^ly translated as understood. Mo.st expositors think tliat Eve imagined Cain to be tl)c promised seed, that.should bruise the head nf the serpent. 'I'his exposition really sctins too refined for that period. It is very hkely that slie meant no more than to acknowledge, that it was tiirough God's peculiar blessing that she was enabled to conceive and brinf; 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 in.^pi^ation,.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 C'lin, so far from being the Messiah, ivas of the Kicked one, 1 John iii. 12. We may therefore suppose, that niiT HK cth Yehovah, THE LoitD, is an elliptical form of expression. for ri\~' nsro meeth Yehovah, ricOM Tilt: LORD, or through tite Divine blessing.

Verse 2. And she again hare his brother Abel.] Literally, she added to bear {TnSS =lDr\1 vatoseph lakdeth) 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 sune parents are noted, the acts of conceiving and bringing lorth are mentioned in rclerence to each child: here, it is not said that she conceived and brought forth Abel, but sim]jly, she added to bring forth Abel his brother; that is, as I understand it, Cain was the first-born; Abel, his twin brother, came next.

Abel was a keeper of slieep'] Adam was originally a gardener — Abel a shepherd, and Cain an agriculturist orfurjucr. These were the //irte primitive employments; ami, I may add, the mo.st rational, and consequently the best calculated to prevent strife and an immoderate love of the world.

Verse 3. In process of time] D";' J'po mikcts i/atnim, at the end of days. 8onie think the anniver^ary of the creation to be here intended: it is more probable that it means the sabbath on which Adam and his family utidoubledly ofiered oblations to God, as the divine worship was certainly instituted, and no doubt the sabhadi projierly (jbservcd, in that family. This wor.-hip was, in Us original in-.titution, very simple. It appears to have consisted of rao parts: 1. Thanksi^iving to Cod, as the Author and Dispenser of all the bounties of na-

3 And ' in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought ^ of the fruit of the ground, an offering unto the Lokd.

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 olierinsT

ture; and o6/«iio?i.?, indicative of that gratitude. 2. Piacidar sacrifices to his justice and holiness, implying a conviction of their own sinfulness, confession of transgression, and faith in the promised Deliverer. It we collate the passage here with the Apostle's allusion to it, Heb. xi. 4. we shall sec cause to form this conclusion.

Cain brnuglu ef the fruit of the ground, an offering] r)TJO minchah, unto the Lord. The word ndnchah is explained. Lev. ii. 1, &c. to be an offering of fine flower, uith oil and frankincense. It was in general a eucharistic, or gratitude offering; and is simply what is implied in ihe 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, K'3n Sin Qi hcbia gam liua, should be translated, Abel brought IT also; i.e. ti minchah, or gratitude offering; and besides this, he brought of the first-born fMISao mibecoroth) 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. By VJilTH Abel off'ered ithuova. 6u(riav a MOKE or GKEATEIl sacrifice; not a more excellent (for this is no meaning of the word ■^Xeibv) which leads us to infer, according to Dr. Kennicott, that Abel, besides his minchah, or gratitude offering, brought also Suata a victim, to be slain for his sins; and this he chose out of the first-born of his flock, which, in the order of God, was a representation of the Lainb of God that was to take away the sin of the world; and what confirms this exposition more, is the ob.servation of the Apostle — God testifying, loig ^lopois, with his GIFTS, which certainly.shews he brought more than one. According 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 offering, 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 w ill of God, as far as it had then been revealed, acknowledged himself a sinner, and thus deprecating the Divine displeasure, shewed tbrtli the death of Christ till he came. Thus his offerings were accepted, while those of Cain were rejected; for this, as the Apostle says, was done by I'AITH, and therefore he obtained witness that he was righteous, or a justified person, God testifying with his gi(b the thank-offering and the sin-offering by accepting them, that

5 But unto Cain and to his otferinff lie had not respect. And

6 And the Lord said unto Cain, ^Vliy art thou wroth? and why is tliy countenance fallen?

faith in the promised seed was the only way in which he could accept the services and offerings of mankind. Dr. Magee in his Di.scourses on the Atonement, criticises the opinion of Dr. Kennicott, and contends, that there is no ground for the distinulion uuule hy the latter, on the words. He also brou'^ht; and.•■iiews that though the niincah in general siginfies an nuliloody oilcring, yet it is also used to express both kinds; and that tlie niincah in question is to be under-tood of the sacrifice then oll'ercd by Abel.

Verse 5. Unto Caiii^ As being unconscious of his sinfulness, and consequently unhumbled, and to lii.i offerins^, as not being accompanied, as Abel's was, with a sacrifice for sin, he liad not respect. He could not, consistently with his holiness Tind justice, ajjprove of the one, or receive the other. Of the manner in which God testified his approhaiiun we are not informed; it was, probably, as in the case of Elijah, by sending down fire from heaven, and consuming the sacrifice.

Cain u-us 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 nuieh better use of the advantage* wiiich he shared in counnou with his ungodly and unnatural brotl\cr.

Verse 6. IVIij/ art thou ivroth.?] This was designed as a gracious warmng, and a preventive of the meditated crime.

\'crse 1. If thou dost luif//] That which is right in the ^ight of God, shale thou not he accepted? Does God reject any man who serves him in simplicity and godly sincerity.'' Hut {!' thou dost not well, can wrath and indignation against thy righteous brother save thee from the disj)leasure under which thou art fallen? On the contrary, have recourse to thy Maker for mercy. {'ST nXUH PinD'? lapetach chatath robcts, a sin-offering lieth at thy door: an animal proper to be oUircd as an atonement for sin, is now couching at the door of thy fold.

The words rNUrt chalath, niid riNUn chatah, frequently sigml'y sin; but 1 have observed more than a hundred places in the Old Ti:sianient whore Ihey are u.sed for sin-qlf'ering, and translated a/jta^Tta by the Sepluagint, which is the term the Apostle uses, '2 Cor. v. 21. lie bath made him to he sin, a/xa^Tiav, A SIN' OFFERlNtl for us, who knew no sin. Cain's fault now, was his not bringing a sin-offering, when his brother brought one; and this neglect and contempt caused his other ollering to lie rejccl'^d. However, God now graciously informs him, tliat though he had miscarried, his lase was not yet desperate, as thi- means of faitli from the pioinisf, &.C. were in his [lower, and a victim proper for a

ed? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And " unto thee sJiall he his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 % And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and '^ slew him.

sin-offering was lying (r3"> rohels, 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 will not come tinlo me, that ye miihl have life!

Unto thee shall be Ids desire, t'C-l That is, thou shalt ever have the right of primogeniture, and in all things shall thy brother be subject unto thee. Tliese words are not spoken of sin, as many have understood them, but of Abel's submission to Cain as h.is superior; and the words are spoken to remove Cain's envy.

Verse 8. Cain talked laith Abel his brother] j'p IOS'1 vaiyomer kuin; and Cain said, l^'c. Not talked, for this construction the word cannot bear, without great violence to analogy and grammatical accuracj'. But why should it be thus translated.' 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 that there is a hiatus or deficienci/ in the verse. Now, this deficiency is supplied in the principal ancient versions, and in the Samarjtan text. In this the supplied words are, LET US walk OUT INTO THE FIELD. The Syriac has, Let us go "to the desart. The Vulgate, egrediumur foras. Let us walk out. The Septuagint, 'SiiXSaiMsv eii to 'TTciiOv, Let us go out into the field. The two Chaldec Tur^ums 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 tlie Hebrew, before, and some time since the Christian JE\n. The words may therefore be safely considered as a pare of tlie sacred text, and with them the whole passage reads clear and consistently. " And Cain said unto Abel,, his brother, let us go out into the field; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up, &c." The Jerusalem Targuni, and the Targuin of Jonathan ben Uzziel, pretend to give us the subject of their conversation; as the 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 Hebei, 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 lo Hebel, his brother, I thought that the world was created in mercy, but it is not

9 And the Lord said unto Cain, ' ^Micrc is Abel tliy brother? And *" I know not: Am I niv brother's

10 And he said, W]\at hast thou done? the voice of tliy brother's ■• blood '' crieth unto nie from the ground.

1 1 And now (i)-t thou cursed from the earth, which iuitli opened licr mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not hence{()rth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the eartlt,

13 And Cain said unto the Lord, ' My punishment /•'>' greater than I can bear.

14 ^ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and ^ from thy face shall I be hid: and I shall be a Amitive

governed according to the merit of good works, nor is tliere any judtfiuent, nor a.judge, nor shall there he any fiiiure state in which good rewards stiall he jriven to the ri'jjlueoiis, or piinislmieiit t-xccuttd on the wicked; and tur.v, there ia re-.spect.'f))erson.s in jiidtjnicnl. On wliat account is it that thy sacrifice has heen acccplect, and mine not received with complacency.' And Hebrl an^wrred and said, the world was created in inerc)', and it is governed accordln;^ to the I'ruit of good works; there is a jud>;c, a future world, and a coming jud'^inent, wlu re good rewards stiall be given to the liijlueous, and the impious puni.shcti; and Ihere is no respect of persons in judjj;iiient; biit because my woiki wcie better and more pit;cio(is than thine, niy oblation was received with ciimplacency. And because of these things they conlend^'d on the face of the field, and Cain rose up against Hebcl his brother, and struck a slorie into his forehead, and killed him."

It is here supposed that tlie first murder committed in the world was the consequence of a religious dispute; however Mi may have been, millions since have been sacrificed to prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance. Here, cerlainlj', originated the many-headed monster, rclis^iotis perscculion: the spirit of the wicked one, in his foil weis, impels them to afllict and destroy all those who are 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 (Icr.th of an ordintny person; but of the most holy man then in being: it is not brought about by the providence of God, or by a gradual iailure and destruction of the earthly fabric, but by a violent separati.n of body and soul: it is not done by a cnmmon enemy, from whom nothing better could be expected, but by the hand of a brother: and for no other reason, but, because the object of his envy was more righteous tlian himself. Alas! how exceeding sinl'ul does sin appear in its fust manifesialion!

Virse 10. T/ie voice nf thij brother's hlood'] It is probable thai Cain, having killed his Irolber, dug- a hole and Juried Inm in the earlh, imping thereby to prevent the murder from being known; and that this is what is designed in the word.s, thy hrotlier's blood crieth unto me ruOM THE GROUND, ivhich huih opened her mouth to receive it from tliy hand. Some think that by the voice of thy brother's blood, the cries of Alx-l's widow and children are to be understood; as it is j 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 exptcted to fiill by tlahat'.ds of.some person who, from his consan'^uiniiy, had the rigliL of the avenger of blood; for now that the murder is found out, he expects to suffer death for it. See ver. 11-.

j Verse 12. A fufi^itive and a vagabond shalt thou be] Thou i fvimily connexions, and shalt have no fixed secure residence in any plai-e. The Septuagint render this crnvav km T^sfiav zan thou ^liult be i;roaninc; and iremblin'j; upon the earlh; the i horror of thy crime shall ever haunt thee, ami tliou shalt never have any well grounded hope that God will remit the punisli-

I Ver.se 13. My punishment m greater than I can bear,"] The margin reads, mine iniijicity \i greater than that it may he forgiven. The original words 'N^ft'JO 'JIP Snj Gadol dvuni mincso mav be tran^latt-d, h my crime too great to be forgiven? Words which we may presume he nttereil on the verge of black despair. It is most probable that |1J? Avon, signifies rather the crime than the pimishmenl. In this sense it is used. Lev. xxvi. 41, 43. 1 Sam. xxviii. 10. 2 Kings vii. 9. and nifJ nusu, signifies to remit or forgive. The marginal reading is, therefore, to be preferred to that in the text.

I Verse 14. Beholil thou hast driven me out] In verses 1 I, 12, God states two parts of Cain's punishment: — 1. The

; ground was cursed, so that it was not to yield any adequate recompence for bis most careful tillage. 2. He was to be

] dwell with comfort or seciiriiy. To these Cain hims.;lf adds others. 1. His being hidden from the face of God: which appears to signify his bLitig (xpillcd from that particular place where God li.id manitestcd his |)resence, in or contiguous

I to Paradise; where our first ]>arents resorted as to an oracle; and where they oHered their daily adorations. So, in verse 16, it is said, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and was not permitted any more to associate with the family in acts of rt ligious worship. 2. The continual apprehension of bdng.slam, as all the luhabilants of the earth were at that time of the same fumih/, the parents llifinselvei; still alive, F 2

to pass, ' thai every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the Lord said unto him. Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on liim " sevenfold. And the Lord ' set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill

and each having a right to kill this niurdenr of his relative. Add to all this — 3. The teiTors of a guilty conscience, his - awful apprehension of God's judgments, and of being everlastingly banished from the beatific vi.sion. To this part of the piinislimenl of Cain St. Paul proliably alludes, 2 Thess. i. 9. IVho shull be punislted ivith ezrrlastia^ destruriicm from t!ie presence of the l^rd, and the slori/ of hh pou-er. The words are so similar, that we can scarcely doubt of the allusion.

Verse 15. The Lord set a mark upon Caui] What this mark was, has given rise to a number of frivolously curious conjectures. Dr. Shuckford collects the most rcmarkalile; some say he was pandijtic: this seems to have arisen from the version of the Septuagmt, nvm nai r^i/xav icrn, groaning and Ircmhiing shall thou he. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says, the sign was frnni the great and precious name, probalily one of the letters of the word sc^stnT Yehovah. The author of an Arabic Catena in the 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, ■\?hich constantly accompanied him. Some of the Doctors in the Talmud say that it was the letter n fau marked on his forehead, which signified his contrition, as it is the first letter in the word naillTI teshiiheh, repentance. Rabbi Joseph, wiser than all the rest, says it was a long horn growing out of his forehead 1

Dr. Shuckford farther observes, that the Hebrew word r\)ii oth, which \vc translate a mark, signifies a sign or token. Thus, Gen. ix. 13. The bow was to be ms"? leoth, for a sign or token that the word should not be destroyed: therefore the words. And the Lord set a mark vpon Cain,.should be translated. And the Lord ajipointed 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 evds he dreaded upon him: 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 allu^ion which I."iuppose St. Paul to have made to the punishment of Cain, some think that he diil repent and find mercy. I can only say, this 'joas possible. Most people who read tiiis account wonder why Cam.should dread being kdlcd, when it does not appear to them that there were any inhabitants on the earth at that

presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

17 % And Cain knew his wife: and she conceived, and bare ' Enoch: and he budded a city, ^ and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

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 sous 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 tiguye 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 fillicth year there might proceed from them in a direct line sixty-four persons; in the seventy-fourth year there would be five hundred sevent5-two; in the ninety-eighth year, four tiiousand and nintty-six; in the one hundred and twentysecond they would amount to thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight: if to these, we add the other chddren descended from Cain and Abel, their children, and their children's children, we shall have in the aforesaid one hundred and twenty-eight years, four hundred and liuenly-one thousand one hundred and sixty-four men capable of generation; without reckoning the women either old or young, or such as are und.:r 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. No^v, supposing that Adam at fine hundred and thirty years of age, had one hundred and thirty children, which is quite possible, and each of tliese 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..

Verse 1 6. The land of Nod] As mi nod, signifies the same as "U mtd, a vagabond, some think this verse should be rendered And Cain u:ent out from the presence of the Lord, from the east of Eden, and duett a -Dugabond on the earth: thus the curse pronounced on him, verse 12, was accomplished.

Verse 17. She — bare Enoch] An "pT] chanac, signifies instructed, dedicated, or initiated, and especially in sacred things, 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 mmister in the sacerdotal office, from which Cain, by his crime, was for ever excluded.

A.M.cir.iy4. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Me-

19 if And Lamech took unto liini two wives: the name of the one teas Adah, and the name of tlie other Zillah.

20 And Adah bare Jabul:' he was the father of such as "dwell in tents, and of such as liave

22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain,

and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain "was Naaniah

23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for '' I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man " to my hurt:

ikred to n^vcrsc tlic orilcr of Gotl by introducing polygamy; ami from him it lias been retailed, practised, and defended to the present day.

Verse '20. Jiibul — ivris ihe father] The inventor or toucher, for so ihc word is understood, 1 Sam. x. 12. He was the first who invented tent-making, and the breeding and mananmn- of cattle; or, he was, in these respects, the most eminent in thai time. Though Abel was a shepherd, it is not likely he was such on an extensive scale.

Verse 21. Jubal — the father] i. e. the inventor of musical instruments, such as the IIJD kinmr, which we translate harp, and the 3JV w^ab, which we render organ: it is very likely that both words are generic, the former including under j it all stringed instruments, and the latter all iviiid instruments.;

Verse 22. Tabul-cain] The first smith on record, who taught how to inakc warlike injtruments, and domestic utensils out of brass and iron. Agricuhural implements must have been \ in use long before, for Cam was a tiller of the ground, and so ] was Adam, and they could not have cultivated the ground j without spades, hooks, lie. Some of thf se arts were useless to \ man while mnocentand upright; hut iifter liis fall, they became necessary. Thus is the saying verified: God made man upright, but thiy have soughl out many inventions. As the power to get wealth IS from God, so also is the invention ol useful arts.,

M. De l.avaur, in his Conference de la Fable avec I'Histoire ' Sainle, supposes that the Greeks and Romans took their: smith-god I'ulran, from Tubal-cam, the son of Lamech. The! probability of this «ill appear — 1. From the name, which by the omission of the Tu and turning the b into v, a change friqucntly made among the Uebrevvs, (jieeks, and Romans, makes Viikain or Vulcan. 2. From his occupation, he was an attifiter, a master smith in brass and iron. 3. He thinks this farther probable from the names and soxmJs in this verse. The melting metals in the fire, and hamuiering them, bears a near resemblance to the hissing sound ot nSs tsillah, the mother of Tuhal-cain; and hS'i tsulal, signifies lo tinkle or make a sound like a bell, I Sam. iii. 11. 2 Kings xxi. 12. 4. Vulciin IS said to have been lame: M. De l.avaur thinks thai this notion was taken from the noun s'7)S iselii, which signifies a halting or lameness. 5. Vulcan had to wife Venus the goddess of beauty: Niiamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, he thinks may have given rise to this part of the fable, as her name in Hebrew, signifies ifaK///u/ or s^racjoj/s. 6. Vulcanis 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 Ihe literal import of the name Tubal-cain; hiTMebel, signifies an incestuous mixture of relatives. Lev. xx. 12. and Njp kann, to burn with jealousy; from these and concomitant circumstances the case of the delected 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 liad frequent intercourse with the Hebrews.

0( Naajnah nothing more is spoken in the Scriptures; but the Targiim of Jonathan ben Uzziel, makes her the invontrix: of funeral songs and lamentations. R. S. Jarchi says she was the wife of Noah, and quotes Bereshith Rabha in support of the opinion..Some o( the Jewish Doctors say her name is recorded in Scripture, because she was an upright and chaste woman; but others affirm that the whole world 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 wives] The speech of Lamech lo his wives is in hemislichs 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 ti'anslation;

" And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Tsillah, hear ye my voice: ^\ ives of Lamech hearken to my speech: For 1 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."

It is supposed that Lamech had slain a man in his o^vn 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 lo 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 slam a man in self-dcfcnccj might expect a sevcnty-scven-fold punishment.

24 * If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and

25 ^ And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and '' called his name " Seth "^: For God, said s/ic,

This speech is very dark, and has oiven rise to a great variety of very strange coiijecturw. Dr. Shuckford supposes there is an elhpsis of some prccechnsr speech or circumstance, which, if known, would cast hght on the subject. In tiie antediluvian times, the nearest akin to a murdered person had a right to revenge his death, by taking aw,\y the life of the murderer. This, as we have already seen, appears to have contributed nut a little to Cain's horror, verse 14. Now, ve 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 elVect to his wives: " Why should you render yourselves misGi'able by such ill-founded fears? We have slain no j)erson: we itave not done the lea^t wrong to our brethren of the oilier 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 ]iumshuicnt who should dare to kilJ him. If this be so, iIk'u 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 teven-fold 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 thein." 'I'he Taigums give nearly the same meaning, and it makes a good sense; but who can say it is the true sen.se? If the words be read interrogatively, as they cerlaiuly may, the sense will be much clearer, and some of the <hliicuUies w ill be removed:

" Have I slain a man, that I should be wovrnded? Or a young man, that 1 should be bruised.'"

but even this still supp'jscs some ])revious reason or conversation. J.-hall not trouble my readers with a ridiculous.Jewish fable, followed by St. Jercm, of Lamech having killed Cwin by a< cidcnt, &c. and after what I have already said, I inusl lea\e the passug-L — I fear, among those which are inscrutable.

Verse 2.5. (iod — liat/i appointed 7iic aiioilicr sci:d ir.stcad of yibel] Eve must have received, on this occasion, some divine cummunieation, else how could she have known that this son was appointed in tiie place of Abel, to continue Ihul holy line by which the Messiali was to come? From this we see^ ibat the line of the Messiah was delermined from the beginning; and that it was not first fixed in the days of Abrahau;, for the promise was then only rcnciwd; and ihiit branch o! his family

hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

26 And to Seth, ' to him also there was born a son; and he called his name '^Enos: then began men ^to call upon the name of the Lord ".

designated by wliich 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, ive 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 tiie family of Noah, Sliem; in the family of Abraham, Laac; and in the i"amily of David, Solomon and Nathan. All these things God watched over by an especial providtnce from the beginning, that, when Jesus Christ should come, it might be clearly seen, that he came by the promise, through grace, and riot by nature.

Verse 2G. Tlien began men to call on the naine of the Lord.\ The marginal reading is. Then began men to call themselves <y the name of the Lord: which w ords are supposed to signify, that in the time of Eno.s, 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 distinguislied by the name. Children of JMen. It must not lie dissembled, that many eminent men have contended that?nin htichal, which we translate began, shovdd be rendered began profanelj/, or then prrfaiation begun; 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 (he 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 tiiat erred; and their error was thisi They said, Ibrasmuch as God hath created these stars and spheres to govern the world, and set them on high, and imjiartcd honour unto them, and they are ministers that minister before him; it is meet that men should liiud, and glorify, and give them honuur. For this is the will of God, that we magnify and honour whomsoever he magnifieth and honouretli: even as a king would have 1 hem honoured that stand befiiie him, and this is the honour of the king himself When this thing \sas come up into their hearts.

Farther account of

the creation of Adam.

tlioy began to build tc-mples unto the stars, and to oflbr sacrifice unto tlieiii, and to laud and glorily tlitm with words, and to worship before them, that tliey niit;;ht, in their evil opinion, obtain favour of the Creator. And ibis was the root <)/ Idohitn/, &c. And, in process of lime, there stood up false Prophets among the son.-, of Adam, which said that God liad commanded and said unto them, wor.-liip such a star, or all the stars, and do sacrifice unto tlicni thus and thus; and buihi a temple for it, and make an image of it, that all the people, women, and children may- worship it; and the false prophet shewed them the image which he had feigned out of his own heart, and said it was the image of such a star, which Avas made known unto him by pro]ihecy. And they began after this manner, to make images in temples, and under ireos, and on tops of mountains and hills, and a>sembled togitlur and ■wor.shiijped them, &c. And this thing was spnad through all the world, to serve images with services dillerent 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 ought, save images of wood and stone, and temples of stone, which they had been trained up liom their childliciud to wi/rship 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 inheres, for whose sake, and in whose likeness, they had made these images: but as lor the Rock everlasting, there was no man that acknowledged him, or knew him,.save a few person; in the world, as Enoch, Methusel h, Noah, Shein, aid Hcber. And in this way did the world walk and converse, till that pillar of the world, Abraham, our Father, was born." Maim, in Mishn. & Ainsviortli in loco.