The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast array.
KJV
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Commentary
Commentary
This chapter is an appendix to the history of the creation, more
particularly explaining and enlarging upon that part of the history
which relates immediately to man, the favourite of this
lower world. We have in it,
I. The institution and sanctification
of the sabbath, which was made for man, to further his holiness
and comfort
( ver. 1-3 ).
II. A more particular account of man's
creation, as the centre and summary of the whole work
( ver. 1-7 ).
III. A description of the garden of Eden, and the placing of man
in it under the obligations of a law and covenant
( ver. 8-17 ).
IV. The creation of the woman, her marriage to the man, and
the institution of the ordinance of marriage
( ver. 18 , &c.).
1 Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of
them.
2 And on the seventh day
God ended his work which he had
made; and he rested on the seventh
day from all his work which he had
made.
3 And God blessed the
seventh day, and sanctified it: because
that in it he had rested from all
his work which God created and made.
We have here,
I. The settlement of the
kingdom of nature, in God's resting from the
work of creation, v. 1, 2 .
Here observe,
1. The creatures made both in heaven and
earth are the hosts or armies of them, which
denotes them to be numerous, but marshalled,
disciplined, and under command.
How great is the sum of them! And yet
every one knows and keeps his place. God
uses them as his hosts for the defence of his
people and the destruction of his enemies;
for he is the Lord of hosts, of all these hosts, Dan. iv. 35 .
2. The heavens and the earth
are finished pieces, and so are all the creatures
in them. So perfect is God's work that nothing can be added to it nor taken from it, Eccl. iii. 14 .
God that began to build showed
himself well able to finish.
3. After the end
of the first six days God ceased from all
works of creation. He has so ended his work
as that though, in his providence, he worketh
hitherto
( John v. 17 ),
preserving and governing
all the creatures, and particularly forming
the spirit of man within him, yet he does not
make any new species of creatures. In miracles,
he has controlled and overruled nature,
but never changed its settled course, nor repealed
nor added to any of its establishments.
4. The eternal God, though infinitely happy
in the enjoyment of himself, yet took a satisfaction
in the work of his own hands. He
did not rest, as one weary, but as one well-pleased
with the instances of his own goodness
and the manifestations of his own glory.
II. The commencement of the kingdom of
grace, in the sanctification of the sabbath
day, v. 3 .
He rested on that day, and took
a complacency in his creatures, and then
sanctified it, and appointed us, on that day,
to rest and take a complacency in the Creator;
and his rest is, in the fourth commandment,
made a reason for ours, after six days' labour.
Observe,
1. The solemn observance of one
day in seven, as a day of holy rest and holy
work, to God's honour, is the indispensable
duty of all those to whom God has revealed
his holy sabbaths.
2. The way of sabbath-sanctification
is the good old way, Jer. vi. 16 .
Sabbaths are as ancient as the world; and I
see no reason to doubt that the sabbath,
being now instituted in innocency, was religiously
observed by the people of God
throughout the patriarchal age.
3. The
sabbath of the Lord is truly honourable, and
we have reason to honour it--honour it for
the sake of its antiquity, its great Author,
the sanctification of the first sabbath by the
holy God himself, and by our first parents in
innocency, in obedience to him.
4. The
sabbath day is a blessed day, for God blessed
it, and that which he blesses is blessed
indeed. God has put an honour upon it, has
appointed us, on that day, to bless him, and
has promised, on that day, to meet us and
bless us.
5. The sabbath day is a holy day,
for God has sanctified it. He has separated
and distinguished it from the rest of the
days of the week, and he has consecrated it
and set it apart to himself and his own service
and honour. Though it is commonly
taken for granted that the Christian sabbath
we observe, reckoning from the creation, is
not the seventh but the first day of the week,
yet being a seventh day, and we in it, celebrating
the rest of God the Son, and the
finishing of the work of our redemption, we
may and ought to act faith upon this original
institution of the sabbath day, and to commemorate
the work of creation, to the honour
of the great Creator, who is therefore worthy
to receive, on that day, blessing, and honour,
and praise, from all religious assemblies.
4 These are the generations of the
heavens and of the earth when they
were created, in the day that the
L ORD God made the earth and the
heavens,
5 And every plant of the
field before it was in the earth, and
every herb of the field before it grew:
for the L ORD God had not caused it to
rain upon the earth, and there was not
a man to till the ground.
6 But there
went up a mist from the earth, and watered
the whole face of the ground.
7 And the L ORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living soul.
In these verses,
I. Here is a name given
to the Creator which we have not yet met
with, and that is Jehovah --the LORD, in
capital letters, which are constantly used in
our English translation to intimate that in
the original it is Jehovah. All along, in the
first chapter, he was called Elohim--a God
of power; but now Jehovah Elohim--a God
of power and perfection, a finishing God. As
we find him known by his name Jehovah
when he appeared to perform what he had
promised
( Exod. vi. 3 ),
so now we have him
known by that name, when he had perfected
what he had begun. Jehovah is that great
and incommunicable name of God which
denotes his having his being of himself, and
his giving being to all things; fitly therefore
is he called by that name now that heaven
and earth are finished.
II. Further notice taken of the production
of plants and herbs, because they were made
and appointed to be food for man, v. 5, 6 .
Here observe,
1. The earth did not bring
forth its fruits of itself, by any innate virtue
of its own but purely by the almighty power
of God, which formed every plant and every
herb before it grew in the earth. Thus
grace in the soul, that plant of renown, grows
not of itself in nature's soil, but is the work
of God's own hands.
2. Rain also is the
gift of God; it came not till the Lord God
caused it to rain. If rain be wanted, it is
God that withholds it; if rain come plentifully
in its season, it is God that sends it; if
it come in a distinguishing way, it is God
that causeth it to rain upon one city and not
upon another, Amos iv. 7 .
3. Though God,
ordinarily, works by means, yet he is not tied
to them, but when he pleases he can do his
own work without them. As the plants were
produced before the sun was made, so they
were before there was either rain to water
the earth or man to till it. Therefore though
we must not tempt God in the neglect of
means, yet we must trust God in the want
of means.
4. Some way or other God will
take care to water the plants that are of his own planting. Though as yet there was no
rain, God made a mist equivalent to a shower,
and with it watered the whole face of the
ground. Thus he chose to fulfil his purpose
by the weakest means, that the excellency of the
power might be of God. Divine grace descends
like a mist, or silent dew, and waters
the church without noise, Deut. xxxii. 2 .
III. A more particular account of the
creation of man, v. 7 .
Man is a little world,
consisting of heaven and earth, soul and body.
Now here we have an account of the origin
of both and the putting of both together:
let us seriously consider it, and say, to our
Creator's praise, We are fearfully and wonderfully
made, Ps. cxxxix. 14 .
Elihu, in the
patriarchal age, refers to this history when
he says
( Job xxxiii. 6 ), I also am formed out
of the clay, and
( v. 4 ), The breath of the Almighty
hath given me life, and
( ch. xxxii. 8 ), There is a spirit in man. Observe then,
1. The mean origin, and yet the curious
structure, of the body of man.
(1.) The matter
was despicable. He was made of the dust of
the ground, a very unlikely thing to make a
man of; but the same infinite power that
made the world of nothing made man, its
master-piece, of next to nothing. He was
made of the dust, the small dust, such as is
upon the surface of the earth. Probably,
not dry dust, but dust moistened with the
mist that went up, v. 6 .
He was not made
of gold-dust, powder of pearl, or diamond
dust, but common dust, dust of the ground.
Hence he is said to be of the earth, choikos -- dusty, 1 Cor. xv. 47 .
And we also are of the
earth, for we are his offspring, and of the
same mould. So near an affinity is there
between the earth and our earthly parents
that our mother's womb, out of which we
were born, is called the earth ( Ps. cxxxix. 15 ),
and the earth, in which we must be buried,
is called our mother's womb, Job i. 21 .
Our foundation is in the earth, Job iv. 19 .
Our fabric is earthly, and the fashioning of it like
that of an earthen vessel, Job x. 9 .
Our food
is out of the earth, Job xxviii. 5 .
Our familiarity is with the earth, Job xvii. 14 .
Our fathers are in the earth, and our own
final tendency is to it; and what have we
then to be proud of?
(2.) Yet the Maker
was great, and the make fine. The Lord
God, the great fountain of being and power,
formed man. Of the other creatures it is
said that they were created and made; but of
man that he was formed, which denotes a
gradual process in the work with great
accuracy and exactness. To express the
creation of this new thing, he takes a new
word, a word (some think) borrowed from
the potter's forming his vessel upon the
wheel; for we are the clay, and God the
potter, Isa. lxiv. 8 .
The body of man is
curiously wrought, Ps. cxxxix. 15, 16 . Materiam superabat opus--The workmanship exceeded
the materials. Let us present our
bodies to God as living sacrifices
( Rom. xii. 1 ),
as living temples
( 1 Cor. vi. 19 ),
and then
these vile bodies shall shortly be new-formed
like Christ's glorious body, Phil. iii. 21 .
2. The high origin and the admirable serviceableness
of the soul of man.
(1.) It
takes its rise from the breath of heaven, and
is produced by it. It was not made of the
earth, as the body was; it is a pity then that
it should cleave to the earth, and mind earthly
things. It came immediately from God; he
gave it to be put into the body
( Eccl. xii. 7 ),
as afterwards he gave the tables of stone of
his own writing to be put into the ark, and
the urim of his own framing to be put into
the breast-plate. Hence God is not only the
former but the Father of spirits. Let the soul
which God has breathed into us breathe after
him; and let it be for him, since it is from
him. Into his hands let us commit our
spirits, for from his hands we had them.
(2.) It takes its lodging in a house of clay, and is
the life and support of it. It is by it that
man is a living soul, that is, a living man;
for the soul is the man. The body would
be a worthless, useless, loathsome carcase,
if the soul did not animate it. To God that
gave us these souls we must shortly give an
account of them, how we have employed
them, used them, proportioned them, and
disposed of them; and if then it be found
that we have lost them, though it were
to gain the world, we shall be undone for
ever. Since the extraction of the soul is so
noble, and its nature and faculties are so
excellent, let us not be of those fools that
despise their own souls, by preferring their
bodies before them, Prov. xv. 32 .
When our Lord Jesus anointed the blind man's
eyes with clay perhaps he intimated that it
was he who at first formed man out of the
clay; and when he breathed on his disciples,
saying, Receive you the Holy Ghost, he intimated
that it was he who at first breathed
into man's nostrils the breath of life. He
that made the soul is alone able to new-make
it.
8 And the L ORD God planted a
garden eastward in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made the
L ORD God to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight, and good for
food; the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden, and the tree of
knowledge of good and evil.
10 And
a river went out of Eden to water the
garden; and from thence it was
parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison:
that is it which compasseth the whole
land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good;
there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth
the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward
the east of Assyria. And the
fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the L ORD God took the man, and put
him into the garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it.
Man consisting of body and soul, a body
made out of the earth and a rational immortal
soul the breath of heaven, we have, in
these verses, the provision that was made
for the happiness of both; he that made him
took care to make him happy, if he could
but have kept himself so and known when
he was well off. That part of man by which
he is allied to the world of sense was made
happy; for he was put in the paradise of
God: that part by which he is allied to the
world of spirits was well provided for; for
he was taken into covenant with God. Lord,
what is man that he should be thus dignified--man
that is a worm! Here we have,
I. A description of the garden of
Eden, which was intended for the mansion and
demesne of this great lord, the palace of this
prince. The inspired penman, in this history,
writing for the Jews first, and calculating
his narratives for the infant state of
the church, describes things by their outward
sensible appearances, and leaves us,
by further discoveries of the divine light, to
be led into the understanding of the mysteries
couched under them. Spiritual things
were strong meat, which they could not yet
bear; but he writes to them as unto carnal, 1 Cor. iii. 1 .
Therefore he does not so much
insist upon the happiness of Adam's mind as
upon that of his outward state. The Mosaic
history, as well as the Mosaic law, has
rather the patterns of heavenly things than
the heavenly things themselves, Heb. ix. 23 .
Observe,
1. The place appointed for Adam's residence
was a garden; not an ivory house nor
a palace overlaid with gold, but a garden,
furnished and adorned by nature, not by art.
What little reason have men to be proud of
stately and magnificent buildings, when it
was the happiness of man in innocency that
he needed none! As clothes came in with
sin, so did houses. The heaven was the roof
of Adam's house, and never was any roof so
curiously ceiled and painted. The earth was
his floor, and never was any floor so richly
inlaid. The shadow of the trees was his
retirement; under them were his
dining-rooms, his lodging-rooms, and never were any
rooms so finely hung as these: Solomon's,
in all their glory, were not arrayed like them.
The better we can accommodate ourselves to
plain things, and the less we indulge ourselves
with those artificial delights which
have been invented to gratify men's pride and
luxury, the nearer we approach to a state of
innocency. Nature is content with a little
and that which is most natural, grace with
less, but lust with nothing.
2. The contrivance and furniture of this
garden were the immediate work of God's
wisdom and power. The Lord God planted
this garden, that is, he had planted it--upon
the third day, when the fruits of the earth
were made. We may well suppose to have
been the most accomplished place for pleasure
and delight that ever the sun saw, when the
all-sufficient God himself designed it to be
the present happiness of his beloved creature,
man, in innocency, and a type and a figure
of the happiness of the chosen remnant in
glory. No delights can be agreeable nor satisfying
to a soul but those that God himself
has provided and appointed for it; no true
paradise, but of God's planting. The light
of our own fires, and the sparks of our own
kindling, will soon leave us in the dark, Isa. l. 11 .
The whole earth was now a paradise
compared with what it is since the fall and
since the flood; the finest gardens in the
world are a wilderness compared with what
the whole face of the ground was before it
was cursed for man's sake: yet that was not
enough; God planted a garden for Adam.
God's chosen ones shall have distinguishing
favours shown them.
3. The situation of this garden was extremely
sweet. It was in Eden, which signifies delight and pleasure. The place is here
particularly pointed out by such marks and
bounds as were sufficient, I suppose, when
Moses wrote, to specify the place to those
who knew that country; but now, it seems,
the curious cannot satisfy themselves concerning
it. Let it be our care to make sure
a place in the heavenly paradise, and then
we need not perplex ourselves with a search
after the place of the earthly paradise. It is
certain that, wherever it was, it had all desirable
conveniences, and (which never any
house nor garden on earth was) without any
inconvenience. Beautiful for situation, the
joy and the glory of the whole earth, was this
garden: doubtless it was earth in its highest
perfection.
4. The trees with which this garden was
planted.
(1.) It had all the best and choicest
trees in common with the rest of the ground.
It was beautiful and adorned with every tree
that, for its height or breadth, its make or
colour, its leaf or flower, was pleasant to the
sight and charmed the eye; it was replenished
and enriched with every tree that yielded
fruit grateful to the taste and useful to the
body, and so good for food. God, as a tender
Father, consulted not only Adam's profit,
but his pleasure; for there is a pleasure
consistent with innocency, nay, there is a true
and transcendent pleasure in innocency.
God delights in the prosperity of his servants, and would have them easy; it is owing to
themselves if they be uneasy. When Providence
puts us into an Eden of plenty and
pleasure, we ought to serve him with joyfulness
and gladness of heart, in the abundance
of the good things he gives us. But,
(2.) It
had two extraordinary trees peculiar to itself;
on earth there were not their like.
[1.] There was the tree of life in the midst of the
garden, which was not so much a memorandum
to him of the fountain and author of his
life, nor perhaps any natural means to preserve
or prolong life; but it was chiefly intended
to be a sign and seal to Adam, assuring
him of the continuance of life and
happiness, even to immortality and everlasting
bliss, through the grace and favour of
his Maker, upon condition of his perseverance
in this state of innocency and obedience.
Of this he might eat and live. Christ
is now to us the tree of life
( Rev. ii. 7; xxii. 2 ),
and the bread of life, John vi. 48, 53 .
[2.] There was the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, so called, not because it had
any virtue in it to beget or increase useful
knowledge (surely then it would not have
been forbidden), but, First, Because there
was an express positive revelation of the
will of God concerning this tree, so that by
it he might know moral good and evil. What
is good? It is good not to eat of this tree.
What is evil? It is evil to eat of this tree.
The distinction between all other moral good
and evil was written in the heart of man by
nature; but this, which resulted from a positive
law, was written upon this tree. Secondly, Because, in the event, it proved to
give Adam an experimental knowledge of
good by the loss of it and of evil by the
sense of it. As the covenant of grace has in
it, not only Believe and be saved, but also, Believe not and be damned ( Mark xvi. 16 ),
so the covenant of innocency had in it, not only
"Do this and live," which was sealed and
confirmed by the tree of life, but, "Fail and
die," which Adam was assured of by this
other tree: "Touch it at your peril;" so that,
in these two trees, God set before him good and
evil, the blessing and the curse, Deut. xxx. 19 .
These two trees were as two sacraments.
5. The rivers with which this garden was
watered, v. 10-14 .
These four rivers (or
one river branched into four streams) contributed
much both to the pleasantness and
the fruitfulness of this garden. The land of
Sodom is said to be well watered every where,
as the garden of the Lord, ch. xiii. 10 .
Observe, That which God plants he will take
care to keep watered. The trees of righteousness
are set by the rivers, Ps. i. 3 .
In the
heavenly paradise there is a river infinitely
surpassing these; for it is a river of the
water of life, not coming out of Eden, as this,
but proceeding out of the throne of God and
of the Lamb
( Rev. xxii. 1 ),
a river that makes
glad the city of our God, Ps. xlvi. 4 .
Hiddekel and Euphrates are rivers of Babylon, which
we read of elsewhere. By these the captive
Jews sat down and wept, when they remembered
Sion ( Ps. cxxxvii. 1 );
but methinks
they had much more reason to weep (and so
have we) at the remembrance of Eden.
Adam's paradise was their prison; such
wretched work has sin made. Of the land
of Havilah it is said
( v. 12 ), The gold of that
land is good, and there is bdellium and the
onyx-stone: surely this is mentioned that the
wealth of which the land of Havilah boasted
might be as foil to that which was the glory
of the land of Eden. Havilah had gold, and
spices, and precious stones; but Eden had
that which was infinitely better, the tree of
life, and communion with God. So we may
say of the Africans and Indians: "They have
the gold, but we have the gospel. The gold
of their land is good, but the riches of ours
are infinitely better."
II. The placing of man in this paradise of
delight, v. 15 ,
where observe,
1. How God put him in possession of it: The Lord God took the man, and put him into
the garden of Eden; so v. 8, 15 .
Note here,
(1.) Man was made out of paradise; for, after
God had formed him, he put him into the
garden: he was made of common clay, not
of paradise-dust. He lived out of Eden before
he lived in it, that he might see that all
the comforts of his paradise-state were owing
to God's free grace. He could not plead a
tenant-right to the garden, for he was not
born upon the premises, nor had any thing
but what he received; all boasting was hereby
for ever excluded.
(2.) The same God that
was the author of his being was the author
of his bliss; the same hand that made him a
living soul planted the tree of life for him,
and settled him by it. He that made us is
alone able to make us happy; he that is the
former of our bodies and the Father of our
spirits, he, and none but he, can effectually
provide for the felicity of both.
(3.) It adds
much to the comfort of any condition if we
have plainly seen God going before us and
putting us into it. If we have not forced
providence, but followed it, and taken the
hints of direction it has given us, we may
hope to find a paradise where otherwise we
could not have expected it. See Ps. xlvii. 4 .
2. How God appointed him business and
employment. He put him there, not like
Leviathan into the waters, to play therein,
but to dress the garden and to keep it. Paradise
itself was not a place of exemption
from work. Note, here,
(1.) We were none
of us sent into the world to be idle. He that
made us these souls and bodies has given us
something to work with; and he that gave us
this earth for our habitation has made us
something to work on. If a high extraction,
or a great estate, or a large dominion, or
perfect innocency, or a genius for pure contemplation,
or a small family, could have
given a man a writ of ease, Adam would not
have been set to work; but he that gave us being has given us business, to serve him and
our generation, and to work out our salvation:
if we do not mind our business, we are
unworthy of our being and maintenance.
(2.) Secular employments will vary well consist
with a state of innocency and a life of
communion with God. The sons and heirs
of heaven, while they are here in this world,
have something to do about this earth, which
must have its share of their time and thoughts;
and, if they do it with an eye to God, they
are as truly serving him in it as when they
are upon their knees.
(3.) The husbandman's
calling is an ancient and honourable
calling; it was needful even in paradise.
The garden of Eden, though it needed not
to be weeded (for thorns and thistles were
not yet a nuisance), yet must be dressed and
kept. Nature, even in its primitive state,
left room for the improvements of art and
industry. It was a calling fit for a state of
innocency, making provision for life, not for
lust, and giving man an opportunity of admiring
the Creator and acknowledging his
providence: while his hands were about his
trees, his heart might be with his God.
(4.) There is a true pleasure in the business which
God calls us to, and employs us in. Adam's
work was so far from being an allay that it
was an addition to the pleasures of paradise;
he could not have been happy if he had
been idle: it is still a law, He that will not
work has no right to eat, 2 Thess. iii. 10; Prov. xxvii. 23 .
III. The command which God gave to
man in innocency, and the covenant he then
took him into. Hitherto we have seen God
as man's powerful Creator and his bountiful
Benefactor; now he appears as his Ruler and
Lawgiver. God put him into the garden of
Eden, not to live there as he might list, but
to be under government. As we are not
allowed to be idle in this world, and to do
nothing, so we are not allowed to be wilful,
and do what we please. When God had
given man a dominion over the creatures, he
would let him know that still he himself was
under the government of his Creator.
16 And the L ORD God commanded
the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.
Observe here,
I. God's authority over man,
as a creature that had reason and freedom of
will. The Lord God commanded the man,
who stood now as a public person, the father
and representative of all mankind, to receive
law, as he had lately received a nature, for
himself and all his. God commanded all the
creatures, according to their capacity; the
settled course of nature is a law, Ps. cxlviii. 6; civ. 9 .
The brute-creatures have their
respective instincts; but man was made capable
of performing reasonable service, and
therefore received, not only the command of
a Creator, but the command of a Prince and
Master. Though Adam was a very great
man, a very good man, and a very happy
man, yet the Lord God commanded him;
and the command was no disparagement to
his greatness, no reproach to his goodness,
nor any diminution at all to his happiness.
Let us acknowledge God's right to rule us,
and our own obligations to be ruled by him;
and never allow any will of our own in contradiction
to, or competition with, the holy
will of God.
II. The particular act of this authority, in
prescribing to him what he should do, and
upon what terms he should stand with his
Creator. Here is,
1. A confirmation of his present happiness
to him, in that grant, Of every tree in
the garden thou mayest freely eat. This was
not only an allowance of liberty to him, in
taking the delicious fruits of paradise, as a
recompence for his care and pains in dressing
and keeping it
( 1 Cor. ix. 7, 10 ),
but it
was, withal, an assurance of life to him, immortal
life, upon his obedience. For the
tree of life being put in the midst of the garden ( v. 9 ),
as the heart and soul of it, doubtless
God had an eye to that especially in this
grant; and therefore when, upon his revolt,
this grant is recalled, no notice is taken of
any tree of the garden as prohibited to him,
except the tree of life
( ch. iii. 22 ),
of which it
is there said he might have eaten and lived
for ever, that is, never died, nor ever lost his
happiness. "Continue holy as thou art, in
conformity to thy Creator's will, and thou
shalt continue happy as thou art in the enjoyment
of thy Creator's favour, either in this
paradise or in a better." Thus, upon condition
of perfect personal and perpetual obedience,
Adam was sure of paradise to himself
and his heirs for ever.
2. A trial of his obedience, upon pain of
the forfeiture of all his happiness: " But of
the other tree which stood very near the tree
of life (for they are both said to be in the
midst of the garden ), and which was called
the tree of knowledge, in the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die; " as if he had
said, "Know, Adam, that thou art now
upon thy good behaviour, thou art put into
paradise upon trial; be observant, be obedient,
and thou art made for ever; otherwise
thou wilt be as miserable as now thou art
happy." Here,
(1.) Adam is threatened with death in case
of disobedience: Dying thou shalt die, denoting
a sure and dreadful sentence, as, in
the former part of this covenant, eating thou
shalt eat, denotes a free and full grant. Observe
[1.] Even Adam, in innocency, was
awed with a threatening; fear is one of the
handles of the soul, by which it is taken hold
of and held. If he then needed this hedge, much more do we now.
[2.] The penalty
threatened is death: Thou shalt die, that is,
"Thou shalt be debarred from the tree of
life, and all the good that is signified by it,
all the happiness thou hast, either in possession
or prospect; and thou shalt become
liable to death, and all the miseries that preface
it and attend it."
[3.] This was
threatened as the immediate consequence of
sin: In the day thou eatest, thou shalt die, that is, "Thou shalt become mortal and
capable of dying; the grant of immortality
shall be recalled, and that defence shall depart
from thee. Thou shalt become obnoxious
to death, like a condemned malefactor
that is dead in the law" (only, because Adam
was to be the root of mankind, he was reprieved);
"nay, the harbingers and forerunners
of death shall immediately seize thee,
and thy life, thenceforward, shall be a dying
life: and this, surely; it is a settled rule, the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. "
(2.) Adam is tried with a positive law, not
to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Now it was very proper to make trial of his
obedience by such a command as this,
[1.] Because the reason of it is fetched purely
from the will of the Law-maker. Adam had
in his nature an aversion to that which was
evil in itself, and therefore he is tried in a
thing which was evil only because it was
forbidden; and, being in a small thing, it
was the more fit to prove his obedience by.
[2.] Because the restraint of it is laid upon
the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
which, in the corrupt nature of man, are the
two great fountains of sin. This prohibition
checked both his appetite towards sensitive
delights and his ambitions of curious knowledge,
that his body might be ruled by his
soul and his soul by his God.
Thus easy, thus happy, was man in a state
of innocency, having all that heart could
wish to make him so. How good was God
to him! How many favours did he load
him with! How easy were the laws he gave
him! How kind the covenant he made with
him! Yet man, being in honour, understood
not his own interest, but soon became
as the beasts that perish.
18 And the L ORD God said, It is not good that the man should be
alone; I will make him an help meet
for him.
19 And out of the ground
the L ORD God formed every beast of
the field, and every fowl of the air;
and brought them unto Adam to see
what he would call them: and whatsoever
Adam called every living creature,
that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle,
and to the fowl of the air, and to
every beast of the field; but for Adam
there was not found an help meet for
him.
Here we have,
I. An instance of the
Creator's care of man and his fatherly concern
for his comfort, v. 18 .
Though God
had let him know that he was a subject, by
giving him a command,
( v. 16, 17 ),
yet here
he lets him know also, for his encouragement
in his obedience, that he was a friend,
and a favourite, and one whose satisfaction
he was tender of. Observe,
1. How God graciously pitied his solitude: It is not good that man, this man,
should be alone. Though there was an upper
world of angels and a lower world of brutes,
and he between them, yet there being none
of the same nature and rank of beings with
himself, none that he could converse familiarly
with, he might be truly said to be alone. Now he that made him knew both
him and what was good for him, better than
he did himself, and he said, "It is not good
that he should continue thus alone."
(1.) It
is not for his comfort; for man is a sociable
creature. It is a pleasure to him to exchange
knowledge and affection with those of his
own kind, to inform and to be informed, to
love and to be beloved. What God here
says of the first man Solomon says of all
men
( Eccl. iv. 9 ,
&c.), that two are better than
one, and woe to him that is alone. If there
were but one man in the world, what a melancholy
man must he needs be! Perfect
solitude would turn a paradise into a desert,
and a palace into a dungeon. Those therefore
are foolish who are selfish and would be
place alone in the earth.
(2.) It is not for
the increase and continuance of his kind.
God could have made a world of men at first,
to replenish the earth, as he replenished
heaven with a world of angels: but the place
would have been too strait for the designed
number of men to live together at once;
therefore God saw fit to make up that number
by a succession of generations, which, as
God had formed man, must be from two,
and those male and female; one will be
ever one.
2. How God graciously resolved to provide
society for him. The result of this reasoning
concerning him was this kind resolution, I will make a help-meet for him; a help like him (so some read it), one of the same nature
and the same rank of beings; a help near him
(so others), one to cohabit with him, and to
be always at hand; a help before him (so
others), one that he should look upon with
pleasure and delight. Note hence,
(1.) In
our best state in this world we have need of
one another's help; for we are members one
of another, and the eye cannot say to the hand,
I have no need of thee, 1 Cor. xii. 21 .
We must therefore be glad to receive help from
others, and give help to others, as there is
occasion.
(2.) It is God only who perfectly
knows our wants, and is perfectly able to supply them all, Phil. iv. 19 .
In him alone
our help is, and from him are all our helpers.
(3.) A suitable wife is a help-meet, and is
from the Lord. The relation is then likely
to be comfortable when meetness directs and
determines the choice, and mutual helpfulness
is the constant care and endeavour, 1 Cor. vii. 33, 34 .
(4.) Family-society, if it is agreeable,
is a redress sufficient for the grievance
of solitude. He that has a good God, a good
heart, and a good wife, to converse with, and
yet complains he wants conversation, would
not have been easy and content in paradise;
for Adam himself had no more: yet, even
before Eve was created, we do not find that
he complained of being alone, knowing that
he was not alone, for the Father was with him. Those that are most satisfied in God and his
favour are in the best way, and in the best
frame, to receive the good things of this life,
and shall be sure of them, as far as Infinite
Wisdom sees good.
II. An instance of the creatures' subjection
to man, and his dominion over them
( v. 19, 20 ): Every beast of the field and every fowl of the
air God brought to Adam, either by the ministry
of angels, or by a special instinct,
directing them to come to man as their master,
teaching the ox betimes to know his
owner. Thus God gave man livery and seisin
of the fair estate he had granted him, and
put him in possession of his dominion over
the creatures. God brought them to him,
that he might name them, and so might give,
1. A proof of his knowledge, as a creature
endued with the faculties both of reason and
speech, and so taught more than the beasts of
the earth and made wiser than the fowls of
heaven, Job xxxv. 11 .
And,
2. A proof of
his power. It is an act of authority to impose
names
( Dan. i. 7 ),
and of subjection to
receive them. The inferior creatures did now,
as it were, do homage to their prince at his
inauguration, and swear fealty and allegiance
to him. If Adam had continued faithful to
his God, we may suppose the creatures themselves
would so well have known and remembered
the names Adam now gave them
as to have come at his call, at any time, and
answered to their names. God gave names
to the day and night, to the firmament, to
the earth, and to the sea; and he calleth the
stars by their names, to show that he is the
supreme Lord of these. But he gave Adam
leave to name the beasts and fowls, as their
subordinate lord; for, having made him in
his own image, he thus put some of his honour
upon him.
III. An instance of the creatures' insufficiency
to be a happiness for man: But (among
them all) for Adam there was not found a help
meet for him. Some make these to be the
words of Adam himself; observing all the
creatures come to him by couples to be named,
he thus intimates his desire to his Maker:--"Lord,
these have all helps meet for them;
but what shall I do? Here is never a one
for me." It is rather God's judgment upon
the review. He brought them all together,
to see if there were ever a suitable match for
Adam in any of the numerous families of the
inferior creatures; but there was none. Observe
here,
1. The dignity and excellency of
the human nature. On earth there was not
its like, nor its peer to be found among all
visible creatures; they were all looked over,
but it could not be matched among them all.
2. The vanity of this world and the things of
it; put them all together, and they will not
make a help-meet for man. They will not
suit the nature of his soul, nor supply its
needs, nor satisfy its just desires, nor run
parallel with its never-failing duration. God
creates a new thing to be a help-meet for
man--not so much the woman as the seed
of the woman.
21 And the L ORD God caused a
deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he
slept: and he took one of his ribs, and
closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the L ORD God had taken from man, made he
a woman, and brought her unto the
man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of
my flesh: she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife: and they shall
be one flesh.
25 And they were
both naked, the man and his wife,
and were not ashamed.
Here we have,
I. The making of the woman,
to be a help-meet for Adam. This was
done upon the sixth day, as was also the
placing of Adam in paradise, though it is
here mentioned after an account of the seventh
day's rest; but what was said in general
( ch. i. 27 ),
that God made man male and female,
is more distinctly related here. Observe,
1. That Adam was first formed, then
Eve
( 1 Tim. ii. 13 ),
and she was made of the
man, and for the man
( 1 Cor. xi. 8, 9 ),
all which are urged there as reasons for the humility,
modesty, silence, and submissiveness,
of that sex in general, and particularly the
subjection and reverence which wives owe to
their own husbands. Yet man being made
last of the creatures, as the best and most
excellent of all, Eve's being made after Adam,
and out of him, puts an honour upon that
sex, as the glory of the man, 1 Cor. xi. 7 .
If man is the head, she is the crown, a crown to
her husband, the crown of the visible creation.
The man was dust refined, but the woman
was dust double-refined, one remove further
from the earth.
2. That Adam slept while
his wife was in making, that no room might
be left to imagine that he had herein directed the Spirit of the Lord, or been his counsellor, Isa. xl. 13 .
He had been made sensible of
his want of a meet help; but, God having
undertaken to provide him one, he does not
afflict himself with any care about it, but lies
down and sleeps sweetly, as one that had cast
all his care on God, with a cheerful resignation
of himself and all his affairs to his
Maker's will and wisdom. Jehovah-jireh,
let the Lord provide when and whom he
pleases. If we graciously rest in God, God
will graciously work for us and work all for
good.
3. That God caused a sleep to fall on
Adam, and made it a deep sleep, that so the
opening of his side might be no grievance to
him; while he knows no sin, God will take
care he shall feel no pain. When God, by
his providence, does that to his people which
is grievous to flesh and blood, he not only
consults their happiness in the issue, but by
his grace he can so quiet and compose their
spirits as to make them easy under the
sharpest operations.
4. That the woman
was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him,
nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by
him, but out of his side to be equal with him,
under his arm to be protected, and near his
heart to be beloved. Adam lost a rib, and
without any diminution to his strength or
comeliness (for, doubtless, the flesh was closed
without a scar); but in lieu thereof he had a
help meet for him, which abundantly made
up his loss: what God takes away from his
people he will, one way or other, restore with
advantage. In this (as in many other things)
Adam was a figure of him that was to come;
for out of the side of Christ, the second
Adam, his spouse the church was formed,
when he slept the sleep, the deep sleep, of
death upon the cross, in order to which his
side was opened, and there came out blood
and water, blood to purchase his church and
water to purify it to himself. See Eph. v. 25, 26 .
II. The marriage of the woman to Adam.
Marriage is honourable, but this surely was
the most honourable marriage that ever was,
in which God himself had all along an immediate
hand. Marriages (they say) are
made in heaven: we are sure this was, for
the man, the woman, the match, were all
God's own work; he, by his power, made
them both, and now, by his ordinance, made
them one. This was a marriage made in
perfect innocency, and so was never any
marriage since,
1. God, as her Father,
brought the woman to the man, as his
second self, and a help-meet for him. When
he had made her, he did not leave her to
her own disposal; no, she was his child, and
she must not marry without his consent.
Those are likely to settle to their comfort
who by faith and prayer, and a humble dependence
upon providence, put themselves
under a divine conduct. That wife that is
of God's making by special grace, and of
God's bringing by special providence, is
likely to prove a help-meet for a man.
2. From God, as his Father, Adam received her
( v. 23 ):
" This is now bone of my bone. Now
I have what I wanted, and which all the
creatures could not furnish me with, a help
meet for me." God's gifts to us are to be
received with a humble thankful acknowledgment
of his wisdom in suiting them to
us, and his favour in bestowing them on us.
Probably it was revealed to Adam in a vision,
when he was asleep, that this lovely creature,
now presented to him, was a piece of himself,
and was to be his companion and the
wife of his covenant. Hence some have
fetched an argument to prove that glorified
saints in the heavenly paradise shall know
one another. Further, in token of his acceptance
of her, he gave her a name, not
peculiar to her, but common to her sex: She shall be called woman, Isha, a she-man, differing from man in sex only, not in nature--made
of man, and joined to man.
III. The institution of the ordinance of
marriage, and the settling of the law of it, v. 24 .
The sabbath and marriage were two
ordinances instituted in innocency, the
former for the preservation of the church,
the latter for the preservation of the world of
mankind. It appears (by Matt. xix. 4, 5 )
that it was God himself who said here, "A
man must leave all his relations, to cleave
to his wife;" but whether he spoke it by
Moses, the penman, or by Adam (who spoke, v. 23 ),
is uncertain. It should seem, they
are the words of Adam, in God's name,
laying down this law to all his posterity.
1. See here how great the virtue of a divine ordinance
is; the bonds of it are stronger even
than those of nature. To whom can we be
more firmly bound than the fathers that
begat us and the mothers that bore us? Yet
the son must quit them, to be joined to his
wife, and the daughter forget them, to cleave
to her husband, Ps. xlv. 10, 11 .
2. See how
necessary it is that children should take their
parents' consent along with them in their
marriage, and how unjust those are to their
parents, as well as undutiful, who marry
without it; for they rob them of their right
to them, and interest in them, and alienate
it to another, fraudulently and unnaturally.
3. See what need there is both of prudence
and prayer in the choice of this relation,
which is so near and so lasting. That had
need be well done which is to be done for
life.
4. See how firm the bond of marriage
is, not to be divided and weakened by
having many wives
( Mal. ii. 15 )
nor to be
broken or cut off by divorce, for any cause
but fornication, or voluntary desertion.
5. See how dear the affection ought to be between
husband and wife, such as there is to
our own bodies, Eph. v. 28 .
These two are
one flesh; let them then be one soul.
IV. An evidence of the purity and innocency
of that state wherein our first parents were created, v. 25 .
They were both naked.
They needed no clothes for defense against
cold nor heat, for neither could be injurious
to them. They needed none for ornament.
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. Nay, they needed none for
decency; they were naked, and had no
reason to be ashamed. They knew not what
shame was, so the Chaldee reads it. Blushing
is now the colour of virtue, but it was not
then the colour of innocency. Those that
had no sin in their conscience might well
have no shame in their faces, though they
had no clothes to their backs.
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 2
In this chapter are contained a summary of the works of creation on the six days, and God's resting from his works on the seventh day, and the sanctification of that, Ge 2:1 and an account of various things relating to several parts of the creation enlarged on and explained, and of various circumstances omitted in the preceding chapter, which could not so well be taken notice of there; as of a mist arising out of the earth, which watered the herbs and plants before there was any rain to fall upon them, or a man to cultivate them, Ge 2:5 and of the matter and manner of man's formation, Ge 2:7 and of the planting of the garden of Eden, and the trees that were in it, and the rivers that watered it, and sprung from it, and the course they steered, the countries they washed, and what those countries abounded with, Ge 2:8 of man's being put into it to dress it, and keep it, and of the grant he had to eat of the fruit of any of the trees in it, excepting one, which was forbidden under a penalty of death, Ge 2:15 and of all the creatures, beasts and fowls, being brought to him, to give them names, Ge 2:18 and of God's providing an help meet for him, and forming Eve out of one of his ribs, and of their marriage together, and the institution of marriage, Ge 2:21 and the chapter is concluded with observing the present state and circumstances of our first parents before they fell, Ge 2:25.
Ver. 1. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,.... Perfected and completed in the space of six days, gradually, successively, in the manner before related; by the word and power of God they were on the first day created out of nothing, but they were not perfected, beautified, and adorned, and filled, until all the creatures in the were made:
and all the host them, of the heavens and the earth; the host of heavens are the sun, moon, and stars, often so called in Scripture, and also the angels; see Lu 2:13 wherefore this may be considered as a proof of their creation within the above space of time, probably on the first day, though the Jews commonly say on the second; for if all the host of heaven were made at this time, and angels are at least a part of that host, then they must be then made, or otherwise all the host of heaven were not then and there made, as here affirmed: and the host of the earth, or terraqueous globe, are the plants, herbs, and trees, the fowls, fishes, animals, and man; and these are like hosts or armies, very numerous, and at the command of God, and are marshalled and kept in order by him; even some of the smallest of creatures are his army, which are at his beck, and he can make use of to the annoyance of others, as particularly the locusts are called, Joe 2:11.
Genesis 2:2
Ver. 2. And on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made,.... Not that God wrought anything on the seventh day, or finished any part of his work on that day, because he could not then be said to rest from all his work, as be is afterwards twice said to do; and because of this seeming difficulty the Septuagint, Samaritan, and Syriac versions, read, "on the sixth day". The two latter versions following the former, which so translated for the sake of Ptolemy king of Egypt, as the Jews say {a}, that he might not object that God did any work on the sabbath day: and Josephus {b} observes, that, Moses says the world, and all things in it, were made in those six days, as undoubtedly they were; and were all finished on the sixth day, as appears from the last verse of the preceding chapter; and yet there is no occasion to alter the text, or suppose a various reading. Some, as Aben Ezra observes, take the sense of the word to be, "before the seventh day God ended his work", as they think b may be rendered, and as it is by Noldius {c}: or the words may be translated, "in the seventh day, when God had ended", or "finished his work" {d}, which he had done on the sixth day, then
he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made: not as though weary of working, for the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, nor is weary, Isa 40:28 but as having done all his work, and brought it to such perfection, that he had no more to do; not that he ceased from making individuals, as the souls of men, and even all creatures that are brought into the world by generation, may be said to be made by him, but from making any new species of creatures; and much less did he cease from supporting and maintaining the creatures he had made in their beings, and providing everything agreeable for them, and governing them, and overruling all things in the world for ends of his own glory; in this sense he "worketh hitherto", as Christ says, Joh 5:17.
{a} T. Bab. Megilla fol. 9. 1. & Gloss. in ib. {b} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 1. {c} . part. Eb. p. 144. No. 1007. Perfecerat. "ante diem septimum"; some in Yatablus. {d} lkyw "et compleverat", Drusius; "quum perfecisset", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "had finished", Ainsworth.
Genesis 2:3
Ver. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it,.... A day in which he took delight and pleasure, having finished all his works, and resting from them, and looking over them as very good; and so he pronounced this day a good and happy day, and "sanctified" or appointed it in his mind to be a day separated from others, for holy service and worship; as it was with the Jews when they became a body of people, both civil and ecclesiastical: or this is all said by way of prolepsis or anticipation, as many things in this chapter are, many names of countries and rivers, by which being called in the times of Moses, are here given them, though they were not called by them so early, nor till many ages after: and according to Jarchi this passage respects future time, when God "blessed" this day with the manna, which descended on all the days of the week, an omer for a man, and on the sixth day double food; and he "sanctified" it with the manna which did not descend at all on that day: besides, these words may be read in a parenthesis, as containing an account of a fact that was done, not at the beginning of the world, and on the first seventh day of it; but of what had been done in the times of Moses, who wrote this, after the giving of the law of the sabbath; and this being given through his hands to the people of Israel, he takes this opportunity here to insert it, and very pertinently, seeing the reason why God then, in the times of Moses, blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it, was, because he had rested on that day from all his works, Ex 20:11 and the same reason is given here, taken plainly out of that law which he had delivered to them:
because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made; which shows, that this refers not to the same time when God blessed and hallowed the seventh day, which was done in the times of Moses, but to what had been long before, and was then given as a reason enforcing it; for it is not here said, as in the preceding verse, "he rested", but "had rested", even from the foundation of the world, when his works were finished, as in Heb 4:3 even what "he created to make" {e}, as the words may be here rendered; which he created out of nothing, as he did the first matter, in order to make all things out of it, and put them in that order, and bring them to that perfection he did.
{e} twvel-arb "creavit ut faceret", V. L. "creaverat ut faceret", Pagninus, Montanus.
Genesis 2:4
Ver. 4. These [are] the generations of the heavens and the earth, when they were created,.... That is, the above account, delivered in the preceding chapter, is a history of the production of the heavens and earth, and of all things in them; the creation of them being a kind of generation, and the day of their creation a sort of birthday; see Ge 5:1
in the day that the Lord God made the earth, and the heavens; meaning not any particular day, not the first day, in which the heavens and the earth were created; but referring to the whole time of the six days, in which everything in them, and relating to them, were made. Here another name is added to God, his name "Jehovah", expressive of his being and perfections, particularly his eternity and immutability, being the everlasting and unchangeable "I am", which is, and was, and is to come: this name, according to the Jews, is not to be pronounced, and therefore they put the points of "Adonai", directing it so to be read; and these two names, "Jehovah Elohim", or "Adonai" and "Elohim", with them make the full and perfect name of God, and which they observe is here very pertinently given him, upon the perfection and completion of his works.
Genesis 2:5
Ver. 5. And every plant of the field, before it was in the earth,.... That is, God made it, even he who made the heavens and the earth; for these words depend upon the preceding, and are in close connection with them; signifying that the plants of the field, which were made out of the earth on the third day, were made before any were planted in it, or any seed was sown therein from whence they could proceed, and therefore must be the immediate production of divine power:
and every herb of the field before it grew: those at once sprung up in perfection out of the earth, before there were any that budded forth, and grew up by degrees to perfection, as herbs do now:
for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: so that the production of plants and herbs in their first formation could not be owing to that; since on the third day, when they were made, there was no sun to exhale and draw up the waters into the clouds, in order to be let down again in showers of rain:
and there [was] not a man to till the ground; who was not created till the sixth day, and therefore could have no concern in the cultivation of the earth, and of the plants and herbs in it; but these were the produce of almighty power, without the use of any means: some Jewish writers {f}, by the plant and herb of the field, mystically understand the first and second Messiah, for they sometimes feign two; see Isa 4:2
{f} Zohar in Gen. fol. 32. 4.
Genesis 2:6
Ver. 6. But there went up a mist from the earth,.... After the waters had been drained off from it, and it was warmed by the body of light and heat created on the first day, which caused a vapour, which went up as a mist, and descended:
and watered the whole face of the ground; or earth, and so supplied the place of rain, until that was given: though rather the words may be rendered disjunctively, "or there went up" {g}; that is, before a mist went up, when as yet there was none; not so much as a mist to water the earth, and plants and herbs were made to grow; and so Saadiah reads them negatively, "nor did a mist go up"; there were no vapours exhaled to form clouds, and produce rain, and yet the whole earth on the third day was covered with plants and herbs; and this is approved of by Kimchi and Ben Melech.
{g} hley daw "aut vapor ascendens", Junius & Tremellius.
Genesis 2:7
Ver. 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground,.... Not of dry dust, but, as Josephus {h} says, of red earth macerated, or mixed with water; the like notion Hesiod {i} has; or out of clay, as in Job 33:6 hence a word is made use of, translated "formed", which is used of the potter that forms his clay into what shape he pleases: the original matter of which man was made was clay; hence the clay of Prometheus {k} with the Heathens; and God is the Potter that formed him, and gave him the shape he has, see Isa 64:8, there are two "jods", it is observed, in the word, which is not usual; respecting, as Jarchi thinks, the formation of man for this world, and for the resurrection of the dead; but rather the two fold formation of body and soul, the one is expressed here, and the other in the following clause: and this, as it shows the mighty power of God in producing such a creature out of the dust of the earth, so it serves to humble the pride of man, when he considers he is of the earth, earthy, dust, and ashes, is dust, and to dust he must return.
And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; which in that way entered into his body, and quickened it, which before was a lifeless lump of clay, though beautifully shapen: it is in the plural number, the "breath of lives" {l}, including the vegetative, sensitive, and rational life of man. And this was produced not with his body, as the souls of brutes were, and was produced by the breath of God, as theirs were not; nor theirs out of the earth, as his body was: and these two different productions show the different nature of the soul and body of man, the one is material and mortal, the other immaterial and immortal:
and man became a living soul; or a living man, not only capable of performing the functions of the animal life, of eating, drinking, walking, &c. but of thinking, reasoning, and discoursing as a rational creature.
{h} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. {i} Opera & dies, ver. 60. {k} Martial. l. 10. Epigram. 38. {l} Myyx tmvn Heb. "spiraculum vitarum", Pareus.
Genesis 2:8
Ver. 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in ,.... Or "had planted" {m}, for this was not now done after the formation of man, but before; and so the word translated "eastward" may be rendered, as it is by some, "before" {n}: for the plain meaning is, that God had planted a garden before he made man, even on the third day, when all herbs, and plants, and trees were produced out of the earth. The whole world was as a garden, in comparison of what it is now since the fall: what then must this spot of ground, this garden be, which was separated and distinguished from the rest, and the more immediate plantation of God, and therefore is called the garden of the Lord, Ge 13:10 and which Plato {o} calls diov
khpov, "Jove's garden?" This garden was planted in the country of Eden, so called very probably from its being a very pleasant and delightful country; and though it is not certain, and cannot be said exactly where it was, yet it seems to be a part of Mesopotamia, since it is more than once mentioned with Haran, which was in that country,
2Ki 19:12 and since it was by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, when they were become one stream, which ran through this country, and parted again at this garden; and the country there, as Herodotus {p} says, is the most fruitful he ever saw; and it seems to be much better to place it here than in Armenia, where the fountain of these rivers is said to be: so Tournefort {q} thinks it lay in the country, or plain of the three churches (or Ejmiadzit), in Armenia, about twenty French leagues distant from the heads of Euphrates and Araxes, and near as many from the Phasis, a country exceeding pleasant and fruitful. A very learned man {r} is of opinion, that the garden of Eden was in the land of Judea to the east, by the lake of Gennesaret or Tiberias, and the lake of Asphaltites, called the Dead sea, and takes in, in its compass, the famous valley, or the great plain, and the plains of Jericho, and great part of Galilee, and all that tract which Jordan flows by, from Gennesaret to the country of Sodom; and he takes the river Jordan to be Nde ray, "the river of Eden", from whence it has its name of Jordan; and Gennesaret he interprets as if it was rv Ng, "Gansar", the garden of the prince, that is, of Adam, the prince of all mankind. He argues from the situation of the place, and the pleasantness and fruitfulness of it, the balsam of Jericho, and other odoriferous plants that grew there, and what are called the apples of paradise: and it must be owned, that this country abounded with gardens and orchards: it is mentioned in the Jewish Misnah, where the commentators {s} say, it was a country in the land of Israel, in which were many gardens and orchards, that produced excellent fruit; and the fruits of Gennesaret are spoken of in the Talmud {t} as exceeding sweet: and with this agrees the account Josephus {u} gives of it, that it is
"wonderful in nature and goodness, and through its fertility refuses no plant; everything is set here; the temper of the air suits with different things; here grow nuts, and more winter fruit; and there palms, which are nourished with heat, and near them figs and olives, which require a softer air--not only it produces apples of different sorts, beyond belief, but long preserves them; and indeed the most excellent of fruit; grapes and figs it furnishes with for ten months, without intermission, and other fruit throughout the whole year, growing old, with them.''
And it may be further observed, that it is asked by the Jewish Rabbins, why it is called Genesar? and the answer is, because
Myroyng, "the gardens of princes"; these are the kings who have gardens in the midst of it: another reason is given, because it belonged to Naphtali, a portion in the midst of it, as it is said, and of "Naphtali a thousand princes", 1Ch 12:34. {w} And it is worthy of remark, that Strabo calls , which was within this tract, "the paradise of balsam" {x}; and there, and hereabout, as Diodorus Siculus {y}, and Justin {z} relate, grew this aromatic plant, and nowhere else; it was not to be found in any other part of the world. And it appears from Scripture, that if the plain of Jordan was not the garden of Eden, it is said to be, "as the garden of the Lord", Ge 13:10 and if the "caph" or "as" is not a note of similitude, but of reality, as it sometimes is, it proves it to be the very place; and the above learned writer takes it to be not comparative, but illative, as giving a reason why it was so well watered, because it was the garden of the Lord: and the Jews have some notion of this, for they say, if that the garden of Eden is in the land of Israel, Bethshean is the door of it, or entrance into it; the gloss gives this reason, because the fruits were sweeter than any other {a}; and this was near, at the entrance of the great plain before mentioned; and before which was this place, as Josephus says {b}: and if the garden of Eden was in those parts, it may be observed, that where the first Adam first dwelt, and where he sinned and fell, Christ the second Adam frequently was; here he conversed much, taught his doctrines, wrought his miracles; and even here he appeared after his resurrection from the dead. But the opinions of men about this place are very many, and there is scarce any country in the whole world but one or another has placed the garden of Eden in it; nay, some have assigned a place for it out of the earth, in the eighth sphere. Such a garden undoubtedly there was somewhere, and it is said to be placed "eastward", either in the eastern part of the country of Eden, see Ge 4:16 or to the east of the desert where Moses was when he wrote; or to the east of Judea, as Mesopotamia was: and if this garden was in Judea, the place assigned for it by the above learned person, it was in the eastern part of that country; see
Nu 32:19. This garden was an emblem either of the church of Christ on earth, which is a garden enclosed, surrounded with divine power, and distinguished with divine grace; a small spot in comparison of the world; is of Jehovah's planting, and is his property; and is an Eden to his people, where they enjoy much spiritual pleasure and delight: or however of the place and state of the happiness of the saints in the other world, often called a paradise in allusion to this, Lu 23:43 and which is of God's planting, and therefore called the paradise of God, and is an Eden, where are pleasures for evermore: and this seems to be what the Jews mean when they say {c}, that the garden of Eden, or paradise, was created before the world was; which is no other than what Christ says of it in other words, Mt 25:34
and there he put the man whom he had formed; not as soon as he had planted the garden, but as soon as he had made man; and from hence it is generally concluded, that man was made without the garden, and brought from the place where he was formed, and put into it; and which some say was near Damascus: but be it where it will, it is most probable that it was not far from the garden; though there seems no necessity for supposing him to be made out of it; for the putting him into it may signify the appointing and ordering him to be there, and fixing and settling him in it, for the ends and uses mentioned, see Ge 2:15.
(After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of the Garden of Eden could be determined with any degree of certainty today. Ed.)
{m} ejyw "plantaverat", V. L. Vatablus, Piscator, Pareus, Drusius, Cartwright; "ornaverat plantis", Junius & Tremellius. {n} Mdqm "a principio", V. L. so Onkelos; "antes vel antequam", same in Fagius, Cartwright. {o} In Symposio, apud Euseb. praepar. Evangel. l. 12. c. 11. p. 584. {p} Clio sive, l. 1. c. 193. {q} Voyage to the , vol. 3. p. 161, 162. {r} Nichol. Abrami Pharus Vet. Test. l. 2. c. 16. p. 56. So Texelius (Phoenix, l. 3. c. 7. sect. 7.) takes it to be in the land of Promise, not far from the Dead sea, or sea of Sodom, and in the country about Jordan; and of the same opinion is Heidegger (Hist. Patriarch. Exerc. 4. sect. 42. p. 15.) {s} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maaserot, c. 3. sect. 7. {t} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 44. 1. Erubin, fol. 30. 1. & Pesachim, fol. 8. 2. {u} De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 9. sect. 8. {w} Aruch in voce rong, fol. 37. 1. {x} Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. {y} Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 734. {z} E Trogo, l. 36. c. 3. {a} T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 19. 1. {b} Antiqu. l. 12. c. 8. sect. 5. 1 Maccab. v. 52. {c} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 54. 1. Nedarim, fol. 39. 2.
Genesis 2:9
Ver. 9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food,.... That is, out of the ground of the garden of Eden; and this was done on the third day, when the whole earth brought forth grass, herbs, and trees: but a peculiar spot of ground was fixed on for man, and stocked with trees of all sorts for his use, not only to bear fruit, which would be suitable and agreeable food for him, but others also, which would yield him delight to look at; such as the tall cedars for their loftiness, spreading branches and green leaves, with many others; so that not only there were trees to gratify the senses of tasting and smelling, but that of sight; and such a sightly goodly tree to look at was the tree of knowledge, Ge 3:6. These trees may be an emblem of the saints, the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and made to grow by him through the influence of his Spirit and grace; and whom he plants in his gardens, the churches, and transplants into the heavenly paradise, and are often compared to palm trees, cedars, olive trees, pomegranates, &c.
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden; set there as in the most excellent place, where it might be most conspicuous, and to be come at; for before Adam sinned, as there was no prohibition of his eating of it, so there was no obstruction to it; and as he had a grant to eat of it, with the other trees, it was designed for his use, to support and maintain his natural life, which would have been continued, had he persisted in his obedience and state of innocence, and very probably by means of this chiefly: hence the son of Sirach calls it the tree of immortality,
"The knowledge of the commandments of the Lord is the doctrine of life: and they that do things that please him shall receive the fruit of the tree of immortality.'' (Sirach 19:19)
and it might be also a sign, token, and symbol to him of his dependence on God; that he received his life from him; and that this was preserved by his blessing and providence, and not by his own power and skill; and that this would be continued, provided he transgressed not the divine law: and it seems to have a further respect, even to eternal life; by Christ; for though it might not be a symbol of that life to Adam in his state of innocence, yet it became so after his fall: hence Christ is sometimes signified by the tree of life, Pr 3:18 who is not only the author of natural and spiritual life, but the giver of eternal life; the promise of it is in him, and the blessing itself; he has made way for it by his obedience, sufferings, and death, and is the way unto it; it is in his gift, and he bestows it on all his people, and it will lie greatly in the enjoyment of him. The situation of this tree in the midst of the garden well agrees with him who is in the midst of his church and people, Re 1:13 stands open, is in sight, and is accessible to them all now, who may come to him, and partake of the fruits and blessings of his grace, which are many, constant, and durable, Re 22:2 and who will be seen and enjoyed by all, to all eternity:
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil; so called, either with respect to God, who by it tried man, when he had made him, whether he would be good or evil; but this he foreknew: rather therefore with respect to man, not that the eating the fruit of it could really give him such knowledge, nor did he need it; for by the law of nature inscribed on his heart, he knew the difference between good and evil, and that what God commanded was good, and what he forbid was evil: but either it had its name from the virtue Satan ascribed to it, Ge 3:5 or from the sad event following on man's eating the fruit of it, whereby he became experimentally sensible of the difference between good and evil, between obedience and disobedience to the will of God; he found by sad experience what good he had lost, or might have enjoyed, and what evil he had brought on himself and his posterity, he might have avoided. What this tree was is not certain; there are various conjectures about it, and nothing else can be come at concerning it. Some take it to be the fig tree, as Jarchi, and some in Aben Ezra on Ge 3:6 because fig leaves were at hand, and immediately made use of on eating the fruit of it; some the vine, and particularly the black grape, as in the book of Zohar {d}; others, as Baal Hatturim on Ge 1:29 the pome citron, or citron apple tree {e}; others, the common apple, as the author of the old Nizzechon {f}, and which is the vulgar notion; evil and an apple being called by the same Latin word "malum": in the Talmud {g}, some say it was the vine, some the fig tree, and others wheat {h}: the Mahometans say it was a tree, called by the Africans by the name of Musa {i}.
{d} In Exod. fol. 59. 4. & in Numb. fol. 53. 3. So in Bereshit Rabba, sect. 12. fol. 155. 2. {e} Vid. Caphtor Uperah, fol. 49. 1. & 60. 2. & 63. 2. {f} P. 147. Ed. Wagenseil. {g} T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 40. 1. & Sanhedrin, fol. 70. 1. 2. So in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 15. 2. Tikkune Zohar correct. 24. fol. 68. {h} Vid. Bartenora in Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 2. {i} Leo. African. Desriptio Africae, c. 9. p. 772.
Genesis 2:10
Ver. 10. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden,.... Before man was created, as Aben Ezra observes, this river went out of Eden and watered it on every side; but what river is here meant, is hard to say. It is more generally thought to be the river Euphrates, when that and the Tigris met, and became one stream or river, and as such entered and passed through Eden; and as it was parted into four rivers afterwards, in two of which they retained their names: the learned Reland {k} thinks, this river is now lost; but the learned writer before referred to thinks, as has been observed, that it is the river Jordan; see note on "Ge 2:8" and which, as Pliny {l} says, was a very pleasant river:
and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads; after it had passed through Eden, and the garden in it, watering it, it divided into four parts or heads of water, or four chief principal rivers, hereafter mentioned; and which circumstance the above writer thinks makes it the more probable to be the river Jordan, which and with the four rivers are spoken of together by the son of Sirach, in the Apocrypha:
"25 He filleth all things with his wisdom, as Phison and as Tigris in the time of the new fruits. 26 He maketh the understanding to abound like Euphrates, and as Jordan in the time of the harvest. 27 He maketh the doctrine of knowledge appear as the light, and as Geon in the time of vintage.'' (Sirach 24)
of which in the following verses. This river may be an emblem of the everlasting love of God, that pure river of water of life, which springs from the throne of God, and of the Lamb, from divine sovereignty, and not from the faith, love, and obedience of man; that river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, and which water the garden, the church, revive its plants, and make it fruitful and delightful; the four heads or branches of which are eternal election of God, particular redemption by Christ, regeneration and sanctification by the Spirit, and eternal life and happiness, as the free gift of God through Christ; see Ps 46:4.
{k} Dissert. de Paradiso, p. 53. {l} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 15.
Genesis 2:11
Ver. 11. The name of the first is Pison,.... Not the river Nile in Egypt, as Jarchi, who thinks it is derived from "Pashah", which signifies to increase, expand, and diffuse, as that does at certain times, and spreads itself over the land of Egypt, or from "Pishten", linen, which grows there, Isa 19:9 nor the river Ganges in India, as Josephus {m}, and others; for the country where it is afterwards said to run agrees with neither Egypt nor India: rather it seems to be the same river, which is the Phasis of Pliny {n}, and Strabo {o}, and the Physcus of Xenophon {p}, and the Hyphasis of Philostorgius {q}, a river in Armenia, and about Colchis; and which is sometimes called Pasitigris, being a branch of that river, and mixed with, or arising from channels, drawn from Tigris, Euphrates, and other waters {r}
that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; this country had its name from Havilah, one of the sons of Cush, Ge 10:7 who very probably seated himself near his brother Seba, from whom came the Sabeans, who inhabited one part of Arabia; and Havilah, it is plain, was before Egypt, in the way to Assyria, and bordered upon the Ishmaelites, who inhabited Arabia Deserta, Ge 25:16. So that it seems to be a country in Arabia, near unto, or a part of Cush or Arabia Cusea, and near to Seba or Arabia Felix: and so Strabo, among the nations of the Arabians, and along with the Nabatheans, places the Chaulotaeans {s}, who seem to be no other than the posterity of Havilah: according to the learned Reland {t}, it is the same with Colchis, a part of Scythia, and Phasis is well known to be a river of Colchis; and which runs into Pontus, as appears from Pliny {u} and includes Scythia, as Justin {w} says; and then it must have its name from Havilah, the son of Joktan, Ge 10:29 and in either of these countries there was gold, and an abundance of it, and of the best, as follows:
(After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of these rivers could be determined with any degree of certainty today. Ed.)
{m} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3. {n} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 4. 17. {o} Geograph. l. 11. p. 343, 345, 364. {p} Cyr. Minor. l. 2. {q} Hist. Ecclesiast. l. 3. c. 10. {r} Curtius, l. 5. c. 3. Strabo. Geograph. l. 15. p. 501. {s} Ib. p. 528. {t} De Paradiso, p. 16, &c. {u} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 4. 17.) {w} E Trogo, l. 2. c. 2.
Genesis 2:12
Ver. 12. And the gold of that land is good,.... Arabia was famous for gold: Diodorus Siculus {x} speaks of gold in Arabia, called "apyrus", which is not melted by fire out of small filings, as other; but as soon as dug is said to be pure gold, and that in the size of chestnuts, and of such a flaming colour, that the most precious stones are set in it by artificers for ornament: and in Colchis and Scythia, as Strabo {y} relates, there are rivers which produce gold; and from whence came the fable of the golden fleece, the Argonauts went to Colchis for:
there is the bdellium, and the onyx stone; the first of these is either an aromatic gum; the tree, according to Pliny {z}, is black, and is of the size of an olive tree, has the leaf of an oak, and its fruit is like capers; it is found in Arabia, India, Media, and Babylon; but the best, according to him, is in Bactriana, and, next to that, the bdellium of Arabia: or else it is a precious stone, and which the Jewish writers {a} commonly take to be crystal; and, according to Solinus {b}, the best crystal is in Scythia. Bochart {c} would have it that the pearl is meant, because of its whiteness and roundness, for which the manna is compared to it, Nu 11:7 and the rather because of the pearl fishery at Catipha, taking Havilah to be that part of Arabia which lies upon the Persian gulf. The latter, the onyx, is a precious stone, which has its name from its being of the colour of a man's nail; and, according to Pliny {d}, the onyx marble is found in the mountains of Arabia, and the ancients thought it was nowhere else; and he speaks elsewhere of the Arabian onyx precious stone, and of the sardonyx, as in the same country {e}; and some think that is here meant; though the word is sometimes by the Septuagint rendered the emerald; and the best of these, according to Solinus {f} and Pliny {g}, were in Scythia.
(After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of these places could be determined with degree of certainty today. Ed.)
{x} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 133. {y} Geograph. l. 1. p. 31. & l. 11. p. 344. {z} Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 9. {a} Jarchi in Numb. xi. 7. David de Pomis Tzemach David, fol. 8. 3. {b} Polyhistor. c. 25. {c} Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 5. c. 5. p. 675, &c. {d} Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 7. {e} lb. l. 37. c. 6. {f} Polyhistor. ut supra. (c. 25) {g} Ut supra, (Nat. Hist. l. 36.) c. 5.
Genesis 2:13
Ver. 13. And the name of the second river [is] Gihon,.... There was one of this name in the land of Israel, which, or a branch of it, flowed near Jerusalem, 1Ki 1:33 this Aben Ezra suggests is here meant, and which favours the notion of the above learned man, that the garden of Eden was in the land of Israel. Josephus {h} takes it to be the river Nile, as do many others; it seems to have been a branch of the river Euphrates or Tigris, on the eastern side, as Phison was on the west; and so Aben Ezra says it came from the south east. The learned Reland {i} will have it to be the river Araxes: it has its name, according to Jarchi, from the force it goes with, and the noise it makes. And it seems to have its name from xwg, which signifies to come forth with great force, as this river is said to do, when it pours itself into the Baltic sea.
The same [is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia; either Ethiopia above Egypt; and this favours the notion of those who take Gihon to be the Nile: for Pausanias {k} says, that it was commonly reported that the Nile was Euphrates, which disappearing in a marsh, rose up above Ethiopia, and became the Nile, and so washed that country, and is thought to agree very well with the Mosaic account: or else that Cush or Ethiopia, which bordered on Midian, and was a part of Arabia, and may be called Arabia Chusea, often meant by Cush in Scripture. Reland {l} thinks the country of the Cossaeans or Cussaeans, a people bordering on Media, the country of Kuhestan, a province of Persia, is intended.
(After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of these rivers could be determined with any degree of certainty today. Ed.)
{h} Antiqu, l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3. Philostorg. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 10. p. 482. {i} De situ Paradisi, p. 32. {k} Corinthiaca sive, l. 2. p. 94. {l} Ut supra, (De situ Paradisi) p. 38.
Genesis 2:14
Ver. 14. The name of the third river is Hiddekel,.... A river which ran by Shushan in Persia, and retained its name in the times of Daniel, Da 10:4 where it is called the great river; and it seems it bears the same name now among the Persians; at least it did an hundred and fifty years ago, when Rauwolff {m} travelled in those parts. The Targum of Jonathan here calls it Diglath, the same with the Diglito of Pliny {n}; and according to him it is called Tigris, from its swiftness, either from the tiger, a swift creature, or from
arg, "to dart", in the Chaldee language; and so Curtius {o} says, that in the Persian language they call a dart "tigris": and with this agrees the word "Hiddekel", which in the Hebrew language signifies sharp and swift, as a polished arrow is; and Jarchi says it is so called, because its waters are sharp and swift: though this is contradicted by some modern travellers {p} who say it is a slower stream than the Euphrates, and is not only very crooked, and full of meanders, but also choked up with islands, and great banks of stone:
that is [it] which goeth towards the east of Assyria: a country which had its name from Ashur, a son of Shem, Ge 10:11 it became a famous kingdom and monarchy, Nineveh was the metropolis of it, which was built on the river Tigris or Hiddekel; and, as before observed, it ran by Shushan in Persia; and so, as Diodorus Siculus {q} says, it passed through Media into Mesopotamia; and which very well agrees with its being, according to Moses, one of the rivers of Eden. Twelve miles up this river, from Mosul, near which Nineveh once stood, lies an island, called the island of Eden, in the heart of the Tigris, about ten English miles in circuit, and is said to be undoubtedly a part of paradise {r}:
and the fourth river [is] Euphrates: or "Phrat", as in the Hebrew tongue. Reland {s} seems rightly to judge, that the syllable "eu", prefixed to it, is the Persian "au" or "cu", which in that language signifies "water"; so that "Euphrates" is no other than "the water of Phrat", so called from the fruitfulness of it; for its waters, as Jarchi says, fructify, increase, and fatten the earth; and who rightly observes that these names, and so those of other rivers, and of the countries here mentioned, are named by a prolepsis or anticipation, these being the names they bore when Moses wrote; unless it may be thought to be the Hebrew awh, "Hu, the, that Phrat"; and which the Greeks have made an "eu" of.
(After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of these rivers could be determined with any degree of certainty today. Ed.)
{m} Travels, part. 2. c. 9. p. 159. ed. Ray. {n} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 27. {o} Hist. l. 4. c. 9. {p} De la Valle & Thevenot, apud Universal History, vol. 4. p. 248. {q} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 99. {r} Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 91. {s} Ut supra, (De Situ Paradisi) p. 45.
Genesis 2:15
Ver. 15. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden,.... This is observed before in Ge 2:8 and is here repeated to introduce what follows; and is to be understood not of a corporeal assumption, by a divine power lifting him up from the place where he was, and carrying him into another; rather of a manuduction, or taking him by the hand and leading him thither; so Onkelos renders it, he "led" him, that is, he ordered and directed him thither: hence Jarchi paraphrases it, he took him with good words, and persuaded him to go thither: the place from whence he is supposed by some to be taken was near Damascus, where he is by them said to be created; or the place where the temple was afterwards built, as say the Jewish writers: the Targum of Jonathan is,
"the Lord God took the man from the mount of Service, the place in which he was created, and caused him to dwell in the garden of Eden.''
And elsewhere {t} it is said,
"the holy blessed God loved the first Adam with an exceeding great love, for he created him out of a pure and holy place; and from what place did he take him? from the place of the house of the sanctuary, and brought him into his palace, as it is said, Ge 2:15 "and the Lord God took", &c.''
though no more perhaps is intended by this expression, than that God spoke to him or impressed it on his mind, and inclined him to go, or stay there:
to dress it, and to keep it; so that it seems man was not to live an idle life, in a state of innocence; but this could not be attended with toil and labour, with fatigue and trouble, with sorrow and sweat, as after his fall; but was rather for his recreation and pleasure; though what by nature was left to be improved by art, and what there was for Adam to do, is not easy to say: at present there needed no ploughing, nor sowing, nor planting, nor watering, since God had made every tree pleasant to the sight, good for food, to grow out of it; and a river ran through it to water it: hence in a Jewish tract {u}, before referred to, it is said, that his work in the garden was nothing else but to study in the words of the law, and to keep or observe the way of the tree of life: and to this agree the Targums of Jonathan and of Jerusalem,
"and he placed him in the garden of Eden, to serve in the law, and keep the commands of it.''
And in another tract {w} it is said,
"God brought Adam the law, Job 28:27 and "he put him in the garden of Eden"; that is, the garden of the law, "to dress it", to do the affirmative precepts of the law, "and to keep it", the negative precepts:''
though Aben Ezra interprets this service of watering the garden, aud keeping wild beasts from entering into it. And indeed the word may be rendered to "till", as well as to dress, as it is in Ge 3:23 and by Ainsworth here; so Milton {x} expresses it; and some have thought Adam was to have planted and sowed, had he continued in the garden.
{t} Pirke Eliezer, c. 2. fol. 72. 2. {u} Pirke Eliezer, c. 2. fol. 72. 2. {w} Tikkune Zohar, correct. 54. fol. 91. 2. {x} Paradise Lost, B. 8. l. 320.
Genesis 2:16
Ver. 16. And the Lord God commanded the man,.... Over whom he had power and authority; and he had a right to command him what he pleased, being his Creator, benefactor, and preserver; and this is to be understood not of man only, but of the woman also, whose creation, though related afterwards, yet was before this grant to eat of all the trees of the garden but one, and the prohibition of the fruit of that; for that she was in being, and present at this time, seems manifest from Ge 3:2
saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: a very generous, large, and liberal allowance this: or "in eating thou mayest eat" {y}; which was giving full power, and leaving them without any doubt and uncertainty about their food; which they might freely take, and freely eat of, wherever they found it, or were inclined to, even of any, and every tree in the garden, excepting one, next forbidden.
{y} lkat lka "comedendo comedas", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, &c.
Genesis 2:17
Ver. 17. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,.... Of the name of this tree, and the reasons of it,
See Gill on "Ge 2:9"
thou shalt not eat of it; not that this tree had any efficacy in it to increase knowledge, and improve in science and understanding, as Satan suggested God knew; and therefore forbid the eating of it out of envy to man, which the divine Being is capable of; or that there was anything hurtful in it to the bodies of men, if they had eaten of it; or that it was unlawful and evil of itself, if it had not been expressly prohibited: but it was, previous to this injunction, a quite indifferent thing whether man ate of it or not; and therefore was pitched upon as a trial of man's obedience to God, under whose government he was, and whom it was fit he should obey in all things; and since he had a grant of all the trees of the garden but this, it was the greater aggravation of his offence that he should not abstain from it:
for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die; or "in dying, die" {z}; which denotes the certainty of it, as our version expresses it; and may have regard to more deaths than one; not only a corporeal one, which in some sense immediately took place, man became at once a mortal creature, who otherwise continuing in a state of innocence, and by eating of the tree of life, he was allowed to do, would have lived an immortal life; of the eating of which tree, by sinning he was debarred, his natural life not now to be continued long, at least not for ever; he was immediately arraigned, tried, and condemned to death, was found guilty of it, and became obnoxious to it, and death at once began to work in him; sin sowed the seeds of it in his body, and a train of miseries, afflictions, and diseases, began to appear, which at length issued in death. Moreover, a spiritual or moral death immediately ensued; he lost his original righteousness, in which he was created; the image of God in him was deformed; the powers and faculties of his soul were corrupted, and he became dead in sins and trespasses; the consequence of which, had it not been for the interposition of a surety and Saviour, who engaged to make satisfaction to law and justice, must have been eternal death, or an everlasting separation from God, to him and all his posterity; for the wages of sin is death, even death eternal, Ro 6:23. So the Jews {a} interpret this of death, both in this world and in the world to come.
{z} twmt twm Pagninus, Montanus, &c. {a} Tikkune Zohar, correct. 24. fol. 68. 1. correct. 54. fol. 90. 2. correct. 66. fol. 100. 1.
Genesis 2:18
Ver. 18. And the Lord God said,.... Not at the same time he gave the above direction and instruction to man, how to behave according to his will, but before that, even at the time of the formation of Adam and which he said either to him, or with himself: it was a purpose or determination in his own mind, and may be rendered, as it is by many, he "had said" {b}, on the sixth day, on which man was created,
[it is] not good that man should be alone; not pleasant and comfortable to himself, nor agreeable to his nature, being a social creature; nor useful to his species, not being able to propagate it; nor so much for the glory of his Creator:
I will made him an help meet for him; one to help him in all the affairs of life, not only for the propagation of his species, but to provide things useful and comfortable for him; to dress his food, and take care of the affairs of the family; one "like himself" {c}, in nature, temper, and disposition, in form and shape; or one "as before him" {d}, that would be pleasing to his sight, and with whom he might delightfully converse, and be in all respects agreeable to him, and entirely answerable to his case and circumstances, his wants and wishes.
{b} rmayw "dixerat", Vatablus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {c} wdgnk "simile sibi", V. L. Sam. Syr. {d} "Tanquam coram eo", Montanus.
Genesis 2:19
Ver. 19. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air,.... Or "had formed them" {e} on the fifth and sixth days; and these were formed two and two, male and female, in order to continue their species; whereas man was made single, and had no companion of the same nature with him: and while in these circumstances, God
brought them unto Adam; or "to the man" {f}; either by the ministry of angels, or by a kind of instinct or impulse, which brought them to him of their own accord, as to the lord and proprietor of them, who, as soon as he was made, had the dominion of all the creatures given him; just as the creatures at the flood went in unto Noah in the ark; and as then, so now, all creatures, fowl and cattle, came, all but the fishes of the sea: and this was done
to see what he would call them; what names he would give to them; which as it was a trial of the wisdom of man, so a token of his dominion over the creatures, it being an instance of great knowledge of them to give them apt and suitable names, so as to distinguish one from another, and point at something in them that was natural to them, and made them different from each other; for this does not suppose any want of knowledge in God, as if he did this to know what man would do, he knew what names man would give them before he did; but that it might appear he had made one superior to them all in wisdom and power, and for his pleasure, use, and service; and therefore brings them to him, to put them into his hands, and give him authority over them; and being his own, to call them by what names he pleased:
and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof; it was always afterwards called by it, by him and his posterity, until the confusion of languages, and then every nation called them as they thought proper, everyone in their own language: and as there is a good deal of reason to believe, that the Hebrew language was the first and original language; or however that eastern language, of which the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic, are so many dialects; it was this that he spoke, and in it gave names to the creatures suitable to their nature, or agreeable to some property or other observed in them: and Bochart {g} has given us many instances of creatures in the Hebrew tongue, whose names answer to some character or another in them: some think this was done by inspiration; and Plato says, that it seemed to him that that nature was superior to human, that gave names to things; and that this was not the work of vain and foolish man, but the first names were appointed by the gods {h}; and so Cicero {i} asks, who was the first, which with Pythagoras was the highest wisdom, who imposed names on all things?
{e} ruyw "finxerat", Drusius. {f} Mdah la "ad ipsum hominem", Pagninus, Montanus. {g} Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 1. c. 9. p. 59, &c. {h} In Cratylo, apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 11. c. 6. p. 515. {i} Tusculan. Quaest. l. 1.
Genesis 2:20
Ver. 20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field,.... As they came before him, and passed by him, paying as it were their homage to him, their lord and owner:
but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him; and perhaps this might be one reason of their being brought unto him, that he might become sensible that there was none among all the creatures of his nature, and that was fit to be a companion of his; and to him must this be referred, and not to God; not as if God looked out an help meet for him among the creatures, and could find none; but, as Aben Ezra observes, man could not find one for himself; and this made it the more grateful and acceptable to him, when God had formed the woman of him, and presented her before him.
Genesis 2:21
Ver. 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept,.... This was not a common and natural sleep that Adam fell into, occasioned by any weariness of the animal spirits, in viewing the creatures as they passed by him, and in examining them, and giving them suitable and proper names; but it was supernatural, and from the Lord, his power and providence, who caused it to fall upon him: it was not a drowsiness, nor a slumber, but a sound sleep: his senses were so locked up by it, that he perceived not anything that was done to him; and it seems to have been on purpose, that he might feel no pain, while the operation was made upon him, as well as that it might appear that he had no hand in the formation of the woman; and that he might be the more surprised at the sight of her, just awaking out of sleep, to see so lovely an object, so much like himself, and made out of himself, and in so short a time as while he was taking a comfortable nap:
and he took one of his ribs; with the flesh along with it: men have commonly, as anatomists {k} observe, twelve ribs on a side; it seems by this, that Adam had thirteen. The Targum of Jonathan is,
"and he took one of his ribs; that is, the thirteenth rib of his right side:''
but our English poet {l} takes it to be one of the left side, and also a supernumerary one {m}. God made an opening in him, and took it out, without putting him to any pain, and without any sensation of it: in what manner this was done we need not inquire; the power of God was sufficient to perform it; Adam was asleep when it was done, and saw it not, and the manner of the operation is not declared:
and closed up the flesh instead thereof: so that there was no opening left, nor any wound made, or a scar appeared, or any loss sustained, but what was made up by an increase of flesh, or by closing up the flesh; and that being hardened like another rib, and so answered the same purpose.
(Adam probably had the same number of ribs as we do today. Otherwise the genetic code for creation of an extra rib would cause at least some people today to have thirteen ribs. I know of no such case. Also, we know that acquired characteristics cannot be passed on to the next generation. A man who loses both legs in an accident, usually has children who have two legs. Ed.)
{k} Bartholini Anatomia, l. 4. c. 17. p. 516. Vid. Scheuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. tab. 27. p. 28. {l} Who stooping opened my left side, and took From thence a rib.--- Milton's Paradise Lost, B. 8. l. 465. {m} Ib. B. 10. l. 887.
Genesis 2:22
Ver. 22. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he woman,.... It is commonly observed, and pertinently enough, that the woman was not made from the superior part of man, that she might not be thought to be above him, and have power over him; nor from any inferior part, as being below him, and to be trampled on by him; but out of his side, and from one of his ribs, that she might appear to be equal to him; and from a part near his heart, and under his arms, to show that she should be affectionately loved by him, and be always under his care and protection: and she was not "created" as things were, out of nothing, nor "formed" as Adam was, out of the dust of the earth, being in the same form as man; but "made" out of refined and quickened dust, or the flesh and bones of man, and so in her make and constitution fine and lovely; or "built" {n}, as the word signifies, which is used, because she is the foundation of the house or family, and the means of building it up: or rather to denote the singular care and art used, and fit proportion observed in the make of her:
and brought her unto the man: from the place where the rib had been carried, and she was made of it; or he brought her, as the parent of her, at whose dispose she was, and presented her to Adam as his spouse, to be taken into a conjugal relation with him, and to be loved and cherished by him; which, as it affords a rule and example to be followed by parents and children, the one to dispose of their children in marriage, and the other to have the consent of their parents in it; as well as it is a recommendation of marriage, as agreeable to the divine will, and to be esteemed honourable, being of God: so it was a type of the marriage of Christ, the second Adam, between him and his church, which sprung from him, from his side; and is of the same nature with him, and was presented by his divine Father to him, who gave her to him; and he received her to himself as his spouse and bride; see Eph 5:29.
{n} Nbyw "et aedificavit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Piscator, &c.
Genesis 2:23
Ver. 23. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh,.... Of "his bones", because made out of a pair of his ribs, as some think, one on each side, and therefore expressed in the plural number, "and of his flesh", a part of which was taken with the rib; this Adam knew, either being awake while she was made, though asleep when the rib was taken out; or by divine revelation, by an impress of it on his mind; or it might have been declared to him in a dream, while asleep, when, being in an ecstasy or trance, this whole affair was represented unto him: and this was "now" done, just done, and would be done no more in like manner; "this time" {o}, this once, as many render it; so it was, but hereafter the woman was to be produced in the way of generation, as man:
she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man: her name was "Ishah", because taken from "Ish", as "vira" in Latin from "vir", and "woman" in our language from "man".
{o} Meph taz "hac vice", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Vatablus, so the Targum; touto apax, Symmachus & Theodotion; "hoc semel", Fagius.
Genesis 2:24
Ver. 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father, and his mother,.... These are thought by some to be the words of Moses, inferring from the above fact, what ought to be among men; and by others, the words of Adam under divine inspiration, as the father of mankind instructing his sons what to do, and foretelling what would be done in all succeeding ages: though they rather seem to be the words of God himself, by whom marriage was now instituted; and who here gives direction about it, and declares the case and circumstance of man upon it, and how he would and should behave: and thus our Lord Jesus Christ, quoting these words, makes them to be the words of him that made man, male and female, and supplies and prefaces them thus, and said, "for this cause", &c. Mt 19:5 so Jarchi paraphrases them,
"the Holy Ghost said so:''
not that a man upon his marriage is to drop his affections to his parents, or be remiss in his obedience to them, honour of them, and esteem for then, or to neglect the care of them, if they stand in need of his assistance; but that he should depart from his father's house, and no more dwell with him, or bed and board in his house; but having taken a wife to himself, should provide an habitation for him and her to dwell together: so all the three Targums interpret it, of quitting "the house of his father, and his mother's bed",
and shall cleave unto his wife; with a cordial affection, taking care of her, nourishing and cherishing her, providing all things comfortable for her, continuing to live with her, and not depart from her as long as they live: the phrase is expressive of the near union by marriage between man and wife; they are, as it were, glued together, and make but one; which is more fully and strongly expressed in the next clause:
and they shall be one flesh; that is, "they two", the man and his wife, as it is supplied and interpreted by Christ, Mt 19:5 and so here in the Targum of Jonathan, and in the Septuagint and Samaritan versions: the union between them is so close, as if they were but one person, one soul, one body; and which is to be observed against polygamy, unlawful divorces, and all uncleanness, fornication, and adultery: only one man and one woman, being joined in lawful wedlock, have a right of copulation with each other, in order to produce a legitimate offspring, partaking of the same one flesh, as children do of their parents, without being able to distinguish the flesh of the one from the other, they partake of: and from hence it appears to be a fabulous notion, that Cecrops, the first king of Athens, was the first institutor of matrimony and joiner of one man to one woman; whence he was said to be "biformis" {p}, and was called difuhv; unless, as some {q} have thought, that he and Moses were one and the same who delivered out the first institution of marriage, which is this.
{p} Justin. e Trogo, l. 2. c. 6. {q} Vid. Saldeni Otia Theolog. Exercitat. 1. sect. 14. p. 13, 14.
Genesis 2:25
Ver. 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife,.... Were as they were created, having no clothes on them, and standing in need of none, to shelter them from the heat or cold, being in a temperate climate; or to conceal any parts of their bodies from the sight of others, there being none of the creatures to guard against on that account:
and were not ashamed; having nothing in them, or on them, or about them, that caused shame; nothing sinful, defective, scandalous or blameworthy; no sin in their nature, no guilt on their consciences, or wickedness in their hands or actions; and particularly they were not ashamed of their being naked, no more than children are to see each other naked, or we are to behold them: besides, they were not only alone, and none to behold them; but their being naked was no disgrace to them, but was agreeably to their nature; and they were not sensible that there was any necessity or occasion to cover themselves, nor would they have had any, had they continued in their innocent state: moreover, there was not the least reason to be ashamed to appear in such a manner, since they were but one flesh. The Jerusalem Targum is,
"they knew not what shame was,''
not being conscious of any sin, which sooner or later produces shame. Thus Plato {r} describes the first men, who, he says, were produced out of the earth; and for whom the fertile ground and trees brought forth fruit of all kind in abundance of themselves, without any agriculture; that these were gumnoi kai arrwtoi, "naked and without any covering"; and so Diodories Siculus {s} says, the first of men were naked and without clothing. The word here used sometimes signifies wise and cunning; it is rendered "subtle" first verse of the next chapter: and here the Targum of Jonathan is,
"they were both wise, Adam and his wife, but they continued not in their glory;''
the next thing we hear of is their fall.
{r} Politico, apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 12. c. 13. p. 588. {s} Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
After six days, God ceased from all works of
creation. In miracles, he has overruled nature, but never changed
its settled course, or added to it. God did not rest as one weary, but
as one well pleased. Notice the beginning of the kingdom of grace,
in the sanctification, or keeping holy, of the sabbath day. The
solemn observing of one day in seven as a day of holy rest and holy
work, to God's honour, is the duty of all to whom God has made
known his holy sabbaths. At this time none of the human race were
in being but our first parents. For them the sabbath was appointed;
and clearly for all succeeding generations also. The Christian
sabbath, which we observe, is a seventh day, and in it we celebrate
the rest of God the Son, and the finishing the work of our
redemption.
After six days, God ceased from all works of
creation. In miracles, he has overruled nature, but never changed
its settled course, or added to it.
For them the sabbath was appointed;
and clearly for all succeeding generations also. The Christian
sabbath, which we observe, is a seventh day, and in it we celebrate
the rest of God the Son, and the finishing the work of our
redemption.
Sources: Matthew Henry; Gill's Exposition; Matthew Henry Concise
Commentary
Commentary