{\rtf1\ansi {\colortbl;\red0\green0\blue0;\red0\green0\blue255;\red0\green255\blue255;\red0\green255\blue0;\red255\green0\blue255;\red255\green0\blue0;\red255\green255\blue0;\red255\green255\blue255;}{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\cpg0\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\froman\cpg1252\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f2\froman\cpg1251\fcharset204 Times New Roman;}{\f3\froman\cpg1250\fcharset238 Times New Roman;}{\f4\froman\cpg1257\fcharset186 Times New Roman;}{\f5\froman\cpg1254\fcharset162 Times New Roman;}{\f6\froman\cpg1253\fcharset161 Times New Roman;}{\f7\froman\cpg1255\fcharset177 Times New Roman;}{\f8\fswiss\cpg0\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f9\fswiss\cpg1252\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f10\fswiss\cpg1251\fcharset204 Arial;}{\f11\fswiss\cpg1250\fcharset238 Arial;}{\f12\fswiss\cpg1257\fcharset186 Arial;}{\f13\fswiss\cpg1254\fcharset162 Arial;}{\f14\fswiss\cpg1253\fcharset161 Arial;}{\f15\fswiss\cpg1255\fcharset177 Arial;}{\f16\fmodern\cpg0\fcharset0 Courier New;}{\f17\fmodern\cpg1252\fcharset0 Courier New;}{\f18\fmodern\cpg1251\fcharset204 Courier New;}{\f19\fmodern\cpg1250\fcharset238 Courier New;}{\f20\fmodern\cpg1257\fcharset186 Courier New;}{\f21\fmodern\cpg1254\fcharset162 Courier New;}{\f22\fmodern\cpg1253\fcharset161 Courier New;}{\f23\fmodern\cpg1255\fcharset177 Courier New;}}\paperw12240\paperh15840 \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARIES}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 VOL. I}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE CALVIN  TRANSLATION SOCIETY,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 INSTITUTED IN  MAY M.DCCC.XLIII.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 FOR THE PUBLICATION OF TBANSLATIONS OF THE WOBKS   OF JOHN CALVIN.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARIES}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CALLED}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 GENESIS}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 BY JOHN CALVIN}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND COMPARED WITH THE FRENCH EDITION,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 BY THE REV. JOHN KING, M.A.,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, INCUMBENT OF CHRIST'S CHURCH,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 HULL}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 VOLUME FIRST}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TDW}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 BAKER BOOK HOUSE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Grand Rapids, Michigan 49516}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Calvin's Commentaries}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22-Volume Set ISBN: 0-8010-2440-4}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Originally printed for the}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Calvin Translation Society}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Edinburgh, Scotland}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Reprinted 1993 by}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Baker Book House Company}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Printed in the United States of America}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Several of the Commentaries of Calvin on different portions of the Holy Scripture having been for some time before the public, through the labours of the Calvin Society ; it is not improbable that the readers of the follow\-ing pages will have already become in a great degree familiar with the writings of this celebrated Keformer.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It may, perhaps, therefore be thought an unnecessary, if not a presumptuous undertaking, to preface the present work with any general observations on the character of Calvin's expository writings. But though the Commentary on Genesis was neither the first which Calvin wrote, nor the first which the Calvin Society has republished; yet since, in the ultimate arrangement of the Commentaries it must take the foremost place, the Editor has determined to offer such preliminary remarks as may seem desirable for a reader who begins to read the Commentaries of Calvin, as he begins to read the Bible itself, at the Book of Genesis. If, in taking such a course, he is charged with repeating some things which have been said by others before him, he will not be extremely anxious either to defend himself from the charge or to meet it with a denial.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It seems to be now generally admitted that though, in the}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 vi                       translator's preface.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 brilliant constellation formed by the master-spirits of the Reformation, there were those who, in some respects, shone with brighter lustre than Calvin, yet, as a Commentator on Holy Scripture, he far outshines them all.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 There is scarcely anything in which the wisdom of God has been more conspicuous, than in his choice of instruments for carrying into execution the different parts of that mighty revolution of sentiment, which affected, more or less, every portion of Europe during the sixteenth century.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Long before the issue of the movement was seen or appre\-hended, we behold Erasmus, the most accomplished scholar of the age, acting unconsciously as the pioneer of a Reforma\-tion, which at length he not only opposed, but apparently hated. He had been raised up by God to lash the vices of the Clergy, to expose the ignorance, venality, and sloth of the Mendicant Orders, and to exhibit the follies of Romanism in sarcastic invectives rendered imperishable by the elegant La-tinity in which they were clothed. But he did still more. The world is indebted to him for the first edition of the entire New Testament in the Original Greek.1 He had also the honour of being the first modern translator of the New Tes\-tament into Latin.2 He published a valuable critical Com\-mentary on the New Testament, which was early translated into English, and ordered to be placed in the Churches.3 Yet, great as the service undoubtedly was which he rendered to the cause of truth, he never dared to cast the yoke of}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  Home's Introduction, vol. v. Part I. chap. i. sect. iv. London, 1846.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  Ibid. vol. v. Part I. chap. i. sect. vii.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  The Editor has now before him " The first tome or volume of the paraphrase of Erasmus upon the Newe Testamente," printed in 1548, with a dedication to King Edward VI., and another to Queen Catherine Parr, by Nicolas Udal.   It appears that Udal translated the Gospels of St Matthew, St Luke, and St John; and Thomas Key, that of St Mark.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.                               Vll}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Rome from his own neck, never stooped to identify himself with the Protestant Reformers; but lived and died, as there is reason to fear, a mean, truckling, time-serving Romanist, panting for preferment in a Church, the unsoundness of which he had so fearfully exposed. It is not, however, to be de\-nied that God employed him as a most important instrument in shaking the foundations of the Papacy, and in preparing the way for the more successful efforts of more sincere and devoted servants of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Among these Luther and Melancthon in one field, Calvin and Zuingliiis in another, occupy posts of the greatest responsibility and usefulness; but Luther and Calvin are manifestly the great leaders in this cause.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 In qualifications necessary for the commencing of this great struggle, we readily yield the palm to Luther. His indomi\-table energy, his noble bearing, his contempt for danger, his transparent honesty of purpose, his fiery zeal, his generous frankness\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 though too often degenerating into peremptory vehemence of spirit and rudeness of manner\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 eminently fitted him to take the lead in a warfare where so much was to be braved, to be endured, and to be accomplished.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 There was still another qualification, which perhaps no man ever possessed in so high a degree as the Saxon Reformer, and that consisted in the prodigious mastery he had over his own mother-tongue. He seized on the rude, yet nervous and copious German of his ancestors, and taught it to speak with a combination of melody and force, which it had never known before. And his vernacular translation of the Holy Scrip\-tures, in opening to the millions of the German empire the Fount of eternal life, also revealed to them the hitherto hidden beauties and powers of their own masculine tongue.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 viii                      translator's preface.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Calvin, like Luther, was a man of courage; but he wanted Luther's fire, he wanted Luther's ardent frankness of disposi\-tion ; he wanted, in short, the faculty which Luther possessed in a pre-eminent degree, of laying hold on the affections, and of kindling the enthusiasm of a mighty nation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Calvin, like Luther too, was a Translator of the Scriptures, and it is worthy of remark, that he also wrote in a far purer and better style than any of his contemporaries, or than any writers of an age near his own. But he had not the honour, which God conferred on Luther, of sending forth the sacred volume as a whole, through that great nation in which his lan\-guage was spoken, and of thus pouring, by one single act, a flood of light upon millions of his countrymen.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 But whatever advantage may lie on the side of Luther in the comparison, so far as it has yet been carried, we shall find it on the side of Caxvin in grasp of intellect, in dis\-criminating power, in calmness, clearness and force of argu\-ment, in patience of research, in solid learning, in every quality, in short, which is essential to an Expositor of Holy Writ. We are the better able to institute this comparison, because Luther himself wrote a Commentary on the Scrip\-tures ; but the slightest inspection of the two Commentaries will convince the Reader of Calvin's intellectual superiority; and will show, that as a faithful, penetrating, and judicious Expounder of the Holy Spirit's meaning in the Scriptures, he left the great Leader of the Reformation at an immeasurable distance behind.'}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Nothing is farther from the Editor's intention than to speak slight\-ingly of Luther's Commentaries. That on the Galatians alone has laid the Church of Christ under lasting obligation to its Author. But its excellencies are not of the same order with those which mark the exposi\-tory writings of Calvin. As a defence of the Gospel of Christ against the prevailing errors of the day\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 and, alas! of our own day too\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 it}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 IX}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The doctrinal system of Calvin is too well known to require explanation in thia place. It is however a mistake to suppose that, on those points in which Calvinism is deemed peculiarly to consist, he went a single step farther than Luther himself, and the great majority of the Reformers. He states his views with calmness, clearness, and precision; he reasons on them dispassionately, and never shrinks from any consequences to which he perceives them to lead. But it would be the height of injustice to charge him with obtruding them at every turn upon his reader, or with attempting to force the language of Scripture to bear testi\-mony to his own views.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 No writer ever dealt more fairly and honestly by the Word of God. He is scrupulously careful to let it speak for itself, and to guard against every tendency of his own mind to put upon it a questionable meaning for the sake of estab\-lishing some doctrine which he feels to be important, or some theory which he is anxious to uphold. This is one of his prime excellencies. He will not maintain any doctrine, however orthodox and essential, by a text of Scripture which to him appears of doubtful application, or of inadequate force. For instance, firmly as he believed the doctrine of the Trinity, he refuses to derive an argument in its favour, from the plural form of the name of God in the first chapter of Genesis. It were easy to multiply examples of this kind, which, whether we agree in his conclusions or not, cannot fail to produce the conviction, that he is, at least, an honest Commentator, and will not make any passage of Scripture speak more or less than, according to his view, its Divine Author intended it to speak.    Calvin has been charged with}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 stands forth a masterpiece of sound argument and energetic declamation ; and as a balm to wounded consciences, it remains to the present hour without a rival.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 x                          translator's preface.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ignorance of the language in which the Old Testament was written. Father Simon says that he scarcely knew more of Hebrew than the letters! The charge is malicious and ill-founded. It may, however, be allowed that a critical exa\-mination of the text of Holy Scripture was not the end which Calvin proposed to himself; nor had he perhaps the mate\-rials or the time necessary for that accurate investigation of words and syllables to which the Scriptures have more recently been subjected. Still his verbal criticisms are neither few nor unimportant, though he lays comparatively little stress upon them himself.*}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 His great strength, however, is seen in the clear, compre\-hensive view he takes of the subject before him, in the facility with which he penetrates the meaning of his Author, in the lucid expression he gives to that meaning, in the variety of new yet solid and profitable thoughts which he frequently elicits from what are apparently the least promising portions of the sacred text, in the admirable precision with which he unfolds every doctrine of Holy Scripture, whether veiled under figures and types, or implied in prophetical allusions, or asserted in the records of the Gospel. As his own mind was completely imbued with the whole system of divine truth, and as his capacious memory never seemed to lose any\-thing which it had once apprehended, he was always able to present a harmonised and consistent view of truth to hi readers, and to show the relative position in which any given portion of it stood to all the rest. This has given a complete\-ness and symmetry to his Commentaries which could scarcely}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\loch\af0\hich\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  The reader is referred, for full information on this subject, to a small volume entitled, " The Merits of Calvin as an Interpreter of the Holy Scriptures." By Professor Tholuck of Halle. To which are added, " Opinions and Testimonies of Foreign and British Divines and Scholars as to the Importance of the Writings of John Calvin." With a Preface by the Eev. William Pringle.   London, 1845.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TRANSLATOR S PREFACE.                            XI}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 have been looked for; as they were not composed in the order in which the Sacred Books stand in the Volume of Inspiration, nor perhaps in any order of which a clear account can now be given. He probably did not, at first, design to expound more than a single Book; and was led onward by the course which his Expository Lectures in public took, to write first on one and then on another, till at length he tra\-versed nearly the whole field of revealed truth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 That, in proceeding with such want of method, his work, instead of degenerating into a congeries of lax and uncon\-nected observations constantly reiterated, should have main\-tained, to a great degree, the consistency of a regular and consecutive Commentary, is mainly to be imputed to the gigantic intellectual power by which he was distinguished. Through the whole of his writings, this power is everywhere visible, always in action, ingrafting upon every passing inci\-dent some forcible remark, which the reader no sooner sees than he wonders that it had not occurred to his own mind. A work so rich in thought is calculated to call into vigorous exercise the intellect of the reader; and, what is the best and highest use of reading, to compel him to think for himself. It is like seed-corn, the parent of the harvest.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It has been objected against Calvin by Bishop Hoesley, \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 no mean authority in Biblical criticism,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 that "by his want of taste, and by the poverty of his imagination, he was a most wretched Expositor of the Prophecies,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 -just as he would have been a wretched expositor of any secular poet."*}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 See Horsley's Sermons, vol. i. p. 72.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 In opposition to this testimony, it may be well to refer to that of Fa\-ther Simon, a Roman Catholic, who says, " Cahinus sublimi ingenio pollebat" Calvin possessed a sublime genius; and of Scaliger, who ex\-claims, " O quam Cahinus bene assequitur tnenlem prophetarum !\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 nemo melius," Oh! how well has Calvin reached the meaning of the prophets \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 no one better.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xii                      translator's prepack.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It is true, this censure is qualified by the acknowledgment that Calvin was " a man of great piety, great talents, and great learning." Yet, after all, it would not, perhaps, be difficult to show that, as an expounder of the poetical por\-tions of Holy Scripture,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 the Psalms for instance,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Bishop Horsley more frequently errs through an excess of imagina\-tion, than Calvin does through the want of it. However this may be, it is not intended here to assert, either that Calvin possessed a high degree of poetical taste, or that he cultivated to any great extent the powers of the imagination. His mind was cast in the more severe mould of chastised, vigorous, and concentrated thought. They who seek for the flowers of poesy must go to some other master; they who would acquire habits of sustained intellectual exercise may spend their days and nights over the pages of Calvin.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 But that which gives the greatest charm to these noble compositions is, the genuine spirit of piety which breathes through them. The mind of the writer turns with ease and with obvious delight to the spiritual application of his subject. Hence the heart of the reader is often imperceptibly raised to high and heavenly things. The rare combination of intel\-lect so profound and reasoning so acute, with piety so fer\-vent, inspires the reader with a calm and elevated solemnity, and strengthens his conviction of the excellence and dignity of true religion.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 On the mode in which the Editor has executed his task he may be permitted to say, that he has attempted to be faithful as a translator, without binding himself to a servile rendering of word for word, unmindful of the idiomatic dif\-ferences between one language and another. Yet it has been his determination not to sacrifice sense to sound, nor to depart from the Author's meaning for the sake of giving to any sen-}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 translator's preface.                      xiii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 tence a turn which might seem more agreeable to an English ear. He has occasionally softened an expression which ap\-peared harsh in the original, and would appear harsher still in our own language and in our own times. But in such cases, he has generally placed the Latin expression before the reader in a note. He has done the same, when any sen\-tence appeared capable of a different interpretation from that which is given in the translation. A few passages which justly offend against delicacy are left untranslated; and one it has been thought expedient entirely to omit. Some re\-marks are, however, made upon it in the proper place.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Clear as the Latin style of Calvin generally is, yet his sententious mode of expressing himself occasionally leaves some ambiguity in his expressions. Such difficulties, how\-ever, have generally been overcome by the aid of the valuable French Translation, published at Geneva in the year 1564,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 the year of Calvin's death,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 of which there is no reason to doubt that Calvin was the author. Frequent references to this translation in the notes will show to what extent assistance has been derived from it by the Editor.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 An English translation of this Commentary on Genesis, by Thomas Tymme, in black letter, was printed in the year 1578. It is, upon the whole, fairly executed; but nearly every criticism on Hebrew words is entirely passed over; and where the Translator has not had the sagacity to omit the whole of any such passage, he has betrayed his own ignorance of the language, and obscured the meaning of his author. Tymme claims for Calvin the credit of being the first foreign Protestant Commentator on Genesis who was made to speak in the English language.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 See page xlii.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xiv                      translator's preface.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The reader will find Calvin's Latin Version of the sacred text placed side by side with our own excellent Au\-thorised Translation.1 This was thought the best method of meeting the wants of the public. The learned may see Calvin's own words, which they will much prefer to any translation of them, however accurate; the unlearned will have before them that version of the Scriptures which from their youth they have been taught to reverence. Where Calvin's version materially differs from our own, and espe\-cially where his comments are made on any such different rendering, ample explanation is given in the notes.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The Editor may be expected to say something respecting the notes generally, which he has ventured to append to this Commentary. Some may object that they are too few, others that they are Superfluous. It would have been easy to have made them more numerous, had space permitted; and easier still to have omitted them altogether. But the writer of them thought it would hardly be doing justice to Calvin to leave everything exactly as he found it; for were the distinguished Author of the Commentary now alive to re-edit his own immortal work, there is no doubt that he would reject every error which the increased facilities for criticism would have enabled him to detect, and that he would throw fresh light on many topics which were,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The Translator has pleasure in adducing the following testimony to our Authorised version from the pen of that excellent Biblical scholar, Albert Barnes of Philadelphia. " No translation of the Bible was ever made under more happy auspices ; and it would now be impossible to furnish another translation in our language under circumstances so pro\-pitious. Whether we contemplate the number, the learning, or the piety of the men employed in it; the cool deliberation with which it was exe\-cuted ; the care taken that it should secure the approbation of the most learned men in a country that embosomed a vast amount of literature; the harmony with which they conducted their work; or the comparative perfection of the translation ; we see equal cause of gratitude to the great Author of the Bible, that we have so pure a translation of his Word. . . It has become the standard of our language; and nowhere can the purity and expressive dignity of this language be so fully found as in the Sacred Scriptures."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Gospels, page 17.   London 1846.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TRANSLATORS PREFACE.                            XV}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 in his day, dimly seen, or quite misunderstood. And though it belongs not to an Editor to alter what is erroneous, or to incorporate in his Author's Work any thoughts of his own, or of other men; yet it is not beyond his province,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 provided he does it with becoming modesty, and with adequate inform\-ation,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 to point out mistakes, to suggest such considerations as may have led him to conclusions different from those of his Author, and to quote from other Writers passages, some\-times confirmatory of, sometimes adverse to, those advanced in the Work which he presents to the public. Within these limits the Editor has endeavoured to confine himself. How far he has succeeded, it is not for him but for the candid and competent reader to determine.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 As it was possible that a doubt might exist whether the version of Scripture used by Calvin was his own, or whether he had borrowed it from some other source; it was thought worth the labour to investigate the true state of the case, by having recourse to the excellent Library of the British Mu\-seum. For this purpose the several versions which Calvin was most likely to have adopted, had he not made one for him\-self, were subjected to examination. It was not necessary to refer to any made by Romanists; and those made by Protest\-ants into the Latin language, which there was any probability he should use, were but two. One by Sebastian Munster, printed at Basle with the Hebrew Text, in 1534, from which the version of Calvin varies considerably; the other by Leo Juda and other learned men, printed at Zurich in 1543, and afterwards reprinted by Robert Stephens in 1545 and 1557. The last of these editions was made use of in comparing the versions of Leo Juda and Calvin; and though there certainly are differences, yet they are so slight as to leave the impres\-sion that Calvin took that of Leo Juda as his basis, and only altered it as he saw occasion.    To give the reader, however,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xvi                     translator's preface.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the opportunity of judging for himself, a few verses of the first chapter of Genesis are transcribed from each.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE VERSION OF LEO JUDA.                    THE VERSION OF CALVIN.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  In principio creavit Deus coe-       1. In principio creavit Deus coe-lum et terrain.                                  lum et terrain.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  Terra autem erat desolata et       2. Terra antem erat informis ct inanis, tenebrseque erant in superfi-    inanis, tenebrasquc erant in super-cie voraginis: et Spiritus Dei agita-    ficie voraginis : et Spiritns Dei agi-bat sese in superficie aquarum.          tabat se in superflcie aquarum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3. Dixitque Deus, Sit Lux, et fuit       3. Et dixit Deus, Sit Lux, et fuit lux.                                                 lux.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.   Viditque Deus lucem quod      4. ViditqueDeuslucemquodbona esset bona, et divisil-Deus lucem a   esset, et divisit Deus lucem a tenc-tenebris.                                          bris.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5. Vocavitque Deus lucem Diem,       5. Et vocavit Deus lucem Diem, et tenebras vocavit Noctem ; fuit-   et tenebras vocavit Noctem.   Fuit-qne vespera, et fuit mane dies unus.   que vespera, et fuit mane dies pri\-mus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  Dixit quoque Deus, Sit expan-       6. Et dixit Deus, Sit extensio, sio, &c.                                            &c.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 A similar examination was next resorted to, for the purpose of ascertaining the source of Calvin's French Version. The first printed version of the Scriptures into French was from the pen of Jacques Le Fevre d'Estaples ; or, as he was more commonly called, Jacobus Faber Stapulensis. It was printed at Antwerp, by Martin L'Empereur. Though its Author was in communion with the Church of Rome, yet the version is " said to be the basis of all subsequent French Bibles, whether executed by Romanists or Protestants."1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The first Protestant French Bible was published by Robert Peter Olivetan, with the assistance of his relative, the illustrious John Calvin, who corrected the Antwerp edition wherever it differed from the Hebrew.2 It might have been expected that Calvin would have placed this version\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 made under his own eye, and perfected by his own assistance\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 without alteration at the head of his Commentaries.    But it}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Home's Introduction, vol. v. p. 116.               a Ibid. p. 118.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 translator's preface.                     xvii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 appears that he has not done so, for though he departs but little from it, he not unfrequently alters a word or two in the translation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 While on the subject of Versions, it may be added, that in the Old English Translation by Tymme already alluded to, the Geneva version is used. This translation was made by the learned exiles from England during the Marian Persecution, and is sometimes distinguished from others by the name of The Breeches Bible, on account of the ren\-dering of Gen. iii. 7.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Prejudice has existed in some quarters against this version of the Holy Scriptures, on the ground that its Authors were too deeply imbued with Calvin's sentiments. Bishop Horsley thus speaks of it:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " This English translation of the Bible, which is indeed upon the whole a very good one, and furnished with very edifying notes and illustrations, (ex\-cept that in many points they savour too much of Calvinism,) was made and first published at Geneva, by the English Protestants, who fled thi\-ther from Mary's persecution. During their residence there, they con\-tracted a veneration for the character of Calvin, which was no more than was due to his great piety and his great learning: but they unfortunately contracted also a veneration for his opinions\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 a veneration more than was due to the opinions of any uninspired teacher. The bad effects of this unreasonable partiality, the Church of England feels, in some points, to the present day." Such language, coming from such a quarter, fur\-nishes strong testimony to the fact, (often very peremptorily and flip\-pantly denied,) that the Church of England has, at; least, some leaven of Calvinism in its composition. More accurate inquiry than Bishop Horsley's prejudice allowed him to make, would show how largely the Reformers as a body were indebted to Calvin, how conscious they were of their obligation, and how deeply their writings were tinctured with his doctrine. But this is not the place for the discussion of such a subject. It is more to the purpose to observe, that the version of which we are now speaking, passed through more editions than any other, in the early periods of the Reformation; that it was mainly based upon that of the martyr Tyndale, that it was the ordinary Family-Bible of the na\-tion, and never was superseded till the present Authorised Version was produced in the reign of James the First.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The version in question has generally been spoken of as the produc\-tion of the Exiles in Geneva; but by an accurate investigation of the subject, Mr Anderson has made it appear highly probable, that the chief, if not the sole author of this version, was William Whittingham, who married the sister of John Calvin ; and who, after the Marian persecu\-tion had ceased, remained a year and a half in Geneva to finish the work. On his return to England, he first accompanied the Earl of Warwick on a mission to the Court of France, and afterwards was made Dean of Durham. His objection to wear the prescribed habits occasioned him some trouble.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xviii                    translator's preface.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 To give the reader some notion of the order in which Calvin's Commentaries succeeded each other, the follow\-ing List, with the dates appended, taken from Senebier's Literary History of Geneva, is submitted to his consideration:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 commentary on the epistle to the eomans,           ...        1 540}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on all the Epistles of Paul,!   ....        1548}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Epistles or Peter, John, Jtjde, and James,   .        1551}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on Isaiah,.......        1551}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on the Acts of the Apostles,   .        .        .        .        1552}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ---------     on Genesis,        .......        1554}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on the Psalms,           ......        1557}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on Hosea,           .......        1557}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on the Twelve Minor Prophets,       .        .        .        1559}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on Daniel,         .......        1561}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ----------     on Joshua,2.......        1562}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Harmony op Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy,        1563}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Commentary on Jeremiah,.......        1563}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Hakmony of Three Gospels and Commentary of St John,     .      31563}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 A facsimile of the title-page of the French Translation of 1563, and of the Dedication to the Duke of Vendome, as a specimen of the French style and spelling of the age, and a further facsimile of the title-page of the English Translation of 1578, as well as of the Dedication to the Earl of Warwick by Thomas Tymme, prefixed to the latter, will be found in this edition.    An accurate copy of the Map, roughly sketched}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The circulation of this Bible in England was greatly promoted by the zealous exertions of John Bodley, Esq., a native of Exeter, an exile, during Mary's reign, at Geneva, and the father of Sir Thomas Bodley, the munificent founder of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. John Bodley obtained a patent for printing this Bible from Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1560. See " Annals of the English Bible," by Christopher Ander\-son, vol. ii. pp. 322-324.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Perfect accuracy is, perhaps, not to be expected in all these dates. Beza, in his Life of Calvin, says only that six of St Paul's Epistles were published this year, which were the two to the Corinthians, that to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 Beza places the Commentary on Joshua in 1563, and says it was the last which Calvin wrote.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 Histoire Literaire de Geneve, par Jean Senebier.    Tome I. pp. 254-256.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TRANSLATOR 8 PREFACE.                              XIX}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 by Calvin, for the purpose of explaining his hypothesis respecting the situation of the Garden of Eden, and which seems to have been the basis of the most approved theories on the subject, will be found in its proper place. The same Map is given in the French and English translations, and also in the Latin edition of Professor Hengstenberg, published at Berlin in the year 1838. It may be observed, as a coincidence, that the same sketch appears in the Anglo-Geneva Bible, to which reference has been made. A more elaborate Map accompanies the Amsterdam edition of Calvin's Works, published in 1671.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The edition now issuing from the press is also enriched by an engraving, in the first style of art, of facsimiles of various medals of Calvin never before submitted to the British public.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Hull, January 1, 1847.}\par \sectd \sbknone {\pard\plain \sb0\sa0\sl-1\slmult0\fs2\par}\sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 PAGE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 I. Translator's Preface......               v}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 II. Medals of Calvin,.....          xxiii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 III.  Fac-simile of Title-page to the First French Edi-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 tion,          .......            xxv}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 IV.  Epistle Dedicatory to the First French Edition,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 in French,......          xxvii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 V. Fac-simile of Title-page to the English Transla\-tion, by Tymme,.....         xxxix}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 VI. Epistle of Tymme to the Earl of Warwick,    .             xli}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 VII. The Epistle Dedicatory to Henry of Navarre,             xlv}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 VIII. The Argument,......              57}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 IX. Commentary on Genesis to the end of the Twenty-third Chapter,           .....              67}\par \sectd \sbknone {\pard\plain \sb0\sa0\sl-1\slmult0\fs2\par}\sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 DESCRIPTION OF THE MEDALS OF CALVIN.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Obverse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 His likeness, along with the name: Iohannes Cal-vinus, M:, (which is perhaps to be explained Magnus,1 or great.) The letters signify Andreas Karlstein, the name of the artist.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Reverse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 A hand issuing from the clouds holds a heart, which is shone upon by bright rays from above, with the marginal inscription; Pbompte et sincere in opeee Domini: Willing and upright in the work of the Lord.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Obverse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 His likeness set in ornamented borders; on the margin are these words: Ioannes Calvinus Picard[us] : Noviodun[ensis] . eccles[le] . Genev[ensis] . Pastor . That is, John Calvin of Noyon in Picardy, Pastor of the Church of Geneva.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Reverse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Winged Fame blowing a trumpet. In the left hand she holds a roll, the title of which is doc-TRINA. With the right foot she rests on a square inscribed virtus.    The marginal inscription is:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 DOCTRINA   ET  VIETUS  HOMINES  POST  FUNERA}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 clarat :  Learning and virtue render men illus\-trious after death.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 HI.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Obverse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 A similar likeness to No. I. but on a smaller scale, with the date 1696, and the letters C. W., which}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 More probably Minister.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 XXIV                        DESCRIPTION OP MEDALS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 represent the initials of the medailleur at Gotha, M. Christian Wermuth. The inscription Iohan-nes Calvinus, M.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Reverse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 This inscription,  in which Calvin is briefly de\-scribed:   Natvs   .   Noviodvni   .  A[nno]   .}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 M.D.IX. . VI . ID[lBUS] . IVLII . IN . PAEls[lNA] . AvREL[lANENSl] . ET . BlTVKl[CENSl] . ACA-DEMIIS . IVRISPRVD[ENTLE] . AC . THEOLOGLE . STUDIIS . EXCVLTVS . PATRIAM . OB . PERSECVV-TIONE8  .  DESERENS   . IN . HeLVETIAM . ABUT .}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Geneva . professor . et . pastor . anno . m.d.xxvi. . delectvs . ecclesl3: . refor-matione \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  variisqve . scriptis . et . cer-taminibvs  . celebris  .  ob[lit]  .  a[nno] .}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 M.D.LXIIII. VI . k[a]l[eNDARIUM] Ivn[h.]}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Born at Noyon in the year 1509, on the 10th of July; he pursued the studies of Law and of Theology in the Universities of Paris, Orleans, and Bourges. Having left his own country on account of persecutions, he went into Switzerland. He was chosen Professor and Pastor of Geneva in the year 1526, and having become celebrated by the Kefornaation of the Church, and also by his various writings and controversies ; He died in the year 1564, on the 27th May.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 A medal with a milled edging or border, struck on one side only, with this inscription: Ioannes . Calvinus .}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 iE[TATIs]    .    8YJE     .    XLVIII    .    QVOVSQ[ve]    .}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Domine . A[nno] \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  1552.2}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 A slight mistake on the part of the Engraver in a letter or two on the reverses of No. I. and II. will be detected by a connoisseur.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  This medal, struck between eleven and twelve years before Calvin's death, presents fewer marks of age and of premature debility than any of the others.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 A TRESILLVSTKE PKINCE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 HENRI DUC DE VENDOSME}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 EOY   HEBITIEB DB NAUARRE,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 IEAN CALUIN.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 MoNSEiaNEVB, si plusieurs reprenent mon entreprise, en ce que i'ay este si hardi de vous dedier ce mien labeur, afin qu'il fust publid sous vostre nom, il ne m'aduiendra rien de nouueau et que ie naye preueu. Us allegueront que ceci sera cause d'enflammer de plus en plus la haine que les iniques ont desia conceue" cotre vous. Mais puis que Dieu vous a dou\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  et muni d'vne telle magnanimite, voire en cest aage si tendre, et au milieu de beaucoup de frayeurs et menaces, et iamais vous n'auez este destourn6 de faire pure protestation et franche de vostre foy: ie ne voy point en quoy ie vous puisse nuire ou porter dommage, en confermant par mon tesmoignage ce que vous entendez et voulez estre notoire a tout Ie monde. Puis done que vous n'auez point honte de l'Euagile de Iesus Christ, il m'a semble que ceste liberte que vous monstrez, me donnoit iuste matiere de m'enhardir & vous congratuler de ces comencemens tant heureux, et vous exhorter en vne Constance inuincible pour Ie temps a venir. Car ce qui aduiet aux meilleures natures, assauoir d'estre ployables et faciles, est comun aux ieunes gens, iusques a ce que l'aage les ait bien du tout meuris. Toutesfois si mon affection desplaist a quelques vns, moyenant qu'elle soit ap-}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 XXV11L                                             EPISTRE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 prouuee de la Roine vostre mere, il me sera loisible de mes-priser tant leur iugement peruers que leurs detractios : pour le moins ie ne m'en soucieray gueres. Possible que ie n'ay point este assez bien auise, en ce que ie ne me suis point enquis auparauant quelle seroit sa bonne volonte, afin de ne rien attenter sans son conge. Mais s'il y a faute en cest en-droit, 1'excuse en est bien facile. Si i'eusse omis de m'ad-resser a sa maieste par nonchalance, ie me condamneroye moy-mesine, non seulement d'inconsideration, tnais aussi de temerite et arrogance. Au reste, pource que ie n'esperois pas que le liure deust estre si tost publie: d'autant que l'im-primeur me remettoit iusques au prin-temps : ie ne pensoye pas pour certaines raisons qu'il fust expedient de me haster. Cependant pource qu'il y auoit d'autres soliciteurs que moy, qui pressoyent plus instamment, on m'a signifie tout soudain que louurage seroit mis a fin quinze iours apres. Ce que iamais ie n'eusse pense, pource qu'on m'en auoit tant souuent fait refus. Or combien que ie n'aye pas este marri d'auoir este trompe en cest endroit, si est-ce que le moyen m'a este oste, d'en demander permission a la Roine vostre mere. Combien qu'en cognoissant le zele et desir feruent qu'elle a d'auancer la doctrine de Iesus Christ, et la vraye et pure re\-ligion de sa volonte, ie ne suis pas en grade peine ne souci qu'elle n'approuue volontiers mon faict, et qu'elle ne le de-fende et maintiene par son authorite. Et de faict, elle ne dissimule pas combien elle est eslongnee de toutes supersti\-tions et abus, dont la Chrestiente a este desfiguree et souillee. Et entre les horribles tempestes dont le royaume de France a este agit\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 , on a cognu a bon escient, et par certaines espreuues, qu'il habitoit en vne femme vn courage plus que viril. Parquoy il est bien a desirer qu'en la fin elle face honte aux hommes, afin qu'ils soyent picquez d'vne bonne enuie, de se confermer a son exemple. Car selon qu'elle se moderoit d'vne modestie incroyable, k grand' peine on eust pense^ qu'elle sousteint si doucement, et paisiblement des violences plus qu'impetueuses, et cependant qu'elle les repoussast si cour-ageusement. II y a bien peu de tesmoins qui sachent com\-bien Dieu l'a viuement exercee en des combats interieurs, et}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 EPISTKE.                                         XXIX}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 i'en suis vn. Quand a vous, Monseigneur, vous n'auez point a cercher vn patron meilleur ne plus propre pour vous regler a vne vraye image et entiere de toutes vertus. Et ie vous prie de penser que Dieu vous a oblige singulierement d'aspirer a ce but, et vous esuertuer d'y paruenir. Car la nature ex-cellente laquelle reluist en vous, seroit pour vous oster toute excuse, s'il vous aduenoit de vous f'ouruoyer: et la nourriture et instruction laquelle n'est pas vne petite aide pour auancer les bons esprits, est comme vn second lien, pour vous retenir en vostre deuoir. Car outre ce que vous auez este enseigne en la crainte de Dieu et honnestet^ de moeurs, il y a eu la doctrine liberate des letres. D'auantage ayant goust6 les rudi-niens, vous n'auez pas este ennuye ni fasche des letres pour en quitter l'estude: comme quasi tout plain s'y sont accoustu-mez. Mais vous poursuyuez tousiours alaigrement a polir encore mieux vostre esprit. Or Mon seigneur, ce que i'ay mis ce liure en auant sous vostre nom, mon desir a este que se fust vn moyen par lequel Dieu vous tendist la main pour vous vendicquer a soy derechef, a ce que vous faciez tant plus libre profession d'estre disciple de Iesus Christ. Et de faict, la Roine vostre mere laquelle ne peut estre assez louee pour sez vertus, ne prendra plaisir en rien que vous puissiez faire pour luy complaire, qu'en oyant que vous profitez de plus en plus en la crainte de Dieu. Or combien qu'il y ait plusieurs choses contenues en ce liure, lesquelles surmontent la capacite de vostre aage: toutesfois ie ne vous en offre point la lecture a l'estourdie, en vous priant de vous y exercer songneusement. Car comme ainsi soit que les ieunes gens se delectent a cognoistre les choses anciennes, vous approcherez tantost du temps, Mon seigneur, auquel l'histoire tant de la creation du mode, que de l'Eglise primitiue pourra occuper vostre esprit, auec vn fruict aussi grand que Ie plaisir. Et de faict, si sainct Paul condamne a bon droict la stu-pidite peruerse des homines, en ce qu'ils passent comme a yeux clos ce miroir tant clair et notable de la gloire de Dieu, qui se presente assiduellement a eux au bastiment du monde, et les'argue d'enseuelir iniquement la lumiere de verite: l'ignorance de l'origine et de la creation du genre humain, laquelle a regne quasi de tout temps, n'a pas este moins vilene}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 XXX                                          EP1STRE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 et detestable. II est bien vray-semblable que tantost apres que Babylone fut edifiee, la memoire des choses qui deuoyent estre incessamment celebrees et ramentues, s'est comme es-uanouye. Car d'autant que la dispersion laquelle adueint alors fut comme vn moyen d'emanciper les gens profanes du pur seruice de Dieu: il ne leur a point chalu de porter auecques eux en quelques regions qu'ils arriuassent, ce qu'ils auoyent entendu de leurs peres, tant de la creation du monde, que de la restauration apres le deluge. Voyla dont il s'est fait, que nul peuple except^ le lignage d'Abraham, n'a cognu par l'espace de deux mille ans, de quelle source il estoit decedu, ou quad le gere humain auoit commec6 d'estre. Car ce que le Eoy Ptolomee a eu le soin de faire translater en Grec les liures de Moyse, 9'a este vn zele plus louable que profitable (au moins pour ce temps-la) veu que la clarte laquelle il s'es-toit efforce de tirer hors des tenebres, n'a pas laisse d'estre tenue cachee, estant estouffee par la paresse des hommes. Dont il est aise a recueillir, que ceux qui deuoyent appliquer tousleurs sens, et s'esforcer a cognoistre le Createur du monde, ont plustost cerchd de malice et impiete deliberee, d'estre aueugles a leur escient. Cependant les sciences liberales ont fleuri, plusieurs nobles esprits ont este renommez, on a com\-pose" des liures de toutes sortes: mais de la creation du monde, pas vn seul mot. Mesme Aristote le principal Philosophe, et lequel a surmontd tous les autres, tant en subtilitd qu'en sauoir, en disputant que le monde est etemel, a fait seruiv tout ce qu'il auoit de viuacit6, a frauder Dieu de sa gloire. Combien que Platon son maistre ait eu quelque peu plus de religion en soy, et qu'il donne quelque signe d'auoir este embu de quelque goust de meilleure cognoissance: toutesfois les principes de verite qu'il touche sont si maigres, et il les mesle et corrompt de tant de fictions et resueries, que ceste facjon contrefaite d'enseigner nuist plus qu'elle ne profite. Au reste, ceux qui se sont adonnez a escrire des histoires: combien qu'ils fus-sent gens aigus et bien letrez, toutesfois en se vantant a plene bouche d'estre bons tesmoins et asseurez de la plus haute ancienet6, iusques a ce qu'ils soyent venus au siecle de Dauid, brouillent leurs escrits de tant de meslinges confus,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 EFISTKE.                                           XXXI}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 que ceste lie en oste toute clart\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 : quand Us veulent monter plus haut, ils amassent vn bourbier infini de mensonges: tant s'en faut qu'ils facent vne deduction pure et liquide pour mener les lecteurs a la premiere creation du monde.   Or qu'ils ayent ignore a leur escient ce qui n'estoit pas besoin de cercher loin, s'ils se fussent estudiez k apprendre, les Egyp-tiens, en donnent assez claire approbation : lesquels ayans la lampe de la parole de Dieu allumee et luisante k leurs portes, ont forg6 sans nulle honte des chronique3 de leurs actes, les\-quels ils ont fait accroire estre aduenus quinze mille ans deuant que le monde fust cree.   La fiction des Atheniens n'a pas este moins puerile et sotte, lesquels en se glorifiant estre nez de leurs terres, d'autant qu'ils appetoyent de s'atribuer vne origine separee d'auec le genre humain, se sont faits ridicules mesmes aux plus barbares.   Or combien que toutes nations ayent este enueloppees au crime d'ingratitude, les vnes plus les autres moins, toutesfois il m'a semble expediet de choisir ces deux esquelles 1'erreur est moins excusable, en ce qu'elles ont cuide outrepasser les autres en sagesse.    Au reste, soit que tous peuples lesquels ont este iadis, se soyent mis vn voile de leur bon gre^ pour ne voir goutte, ou que seulement leur paresse les ait empeschez: le premier liure de Moyse merite bien d'estre tenu pour vn thresor inestimable, lequel pour le moins nous donne certitude infallible de la creation du monde : sans laquelle, nous ne sommes pas dignes que la terre nous soustiene.   le laisseray pour ceste heure 1'histoire du deluge, laquelle contient vn miroir autant espou-antable de la vengence de Dieu, en ce que le monde a este desfait et ruin\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 , comme admirable de sa bont\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  et grace, au renouuellement du genre humain.    Ceste seule vtilit<5 doit faire priser le liure plus qu'on ne sauroit dire, c'est qu'en iceluy et non ailleurs nous voyons ce qui est tant et plus ne-cessaire a cognoistre : assauoir comment Dieu apres la cheute mortelle de l'homme a neantmoins adopte son Eglise.    Nous apprenons quel a este son vray seruice, et comment les saincts Peres se sont exercez en piet6: comment la religion pure, estant decheue pour vn temps par la paresse des hommes, a este remise en son entier, et reduite en son droit estat:}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 XXX11                                          EPISTRE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 assauoir quand Dieu a eleu vn certain peuple pour luy com-mettre comme en depost 1'alliance gratuite de salut. Nous entendons comment vne petite pongnee de gens estant pro-uenue d'vn homme sterile et caduque, et quasi demi mort, et (comme Isaie le nomme) solitaire, a este soudain augmentee en vne multitude admirable: comment Dieu a esleue et maintenu par fa^ons incroyables ceste maison d'Abraham qu'il auoit choisie, combien qu'elle fust poure et desnuee de toute protection, exposee a toutes tempestes, et cependant assiegee de tous costez de tant de bandes d'ennemis. Que chacun iuge par son experience propre, combien il est neces-saire de bien cognoistre ces choses. Nous voyos aussi d'autre part auec quelle fierete' et tonnerres les Papistes estonnent les simples sous vn titre cotrefait de l'Eglise. Or Moyse nous depeint vne forme nayue d'Eglise, laquelle en abatant telles illusions, nous deliure de telles vaines frayeurs: d'auantage ils rauissent en admiration beaucoup de gens mal auisez par leurs masques et pompes, mesme qui plus est, ils les rendent hebetez et les enforcellent. Mais si nous iettons les yeux aux marques par lesquelles Moyse nous monstre quelle est l'Eglise, toutes ces belles monstres de masquerie ne vaudront pas vn festu pour tromper. Souuent nous sommes esbranlez et quasi defaillons, voyant le petit nombre de ceux qui suy-uent la pure doctrine de Dieu : sur tout quand nous contem-plons quelle vogue et estendue ont les superstitions au long et au large. Mais comme Dieu commandoit iadis aux Iuifs par son Prophete Isaie, de regarder au rocher dont ils auoy-ent este taillez, c'est a dire a leur pere Abraham, qui n'estoit qu'vn homme seul: aussi auiourd'huy nous rap-pelant par son seruiteur Moyse a vne mesme consideration, il nous aduertit combien c'est vn iugement peruers de mesurer l'Eglise par la multitude des hommes, comme si la dignite d'icelle consistoit en grand troupe. Si quelque-fois la religion ne fleurit pas si bien par tout comme il seroit a souhaitter, si le corps des fideles se dissipe, et que l'estat de l'Eglise qui estoit bien regie s'en aille en decadence, non seulement les cceurs sont estonnez, mais aussi s'escoulent du tout.    Au contraire, quand ceste histoire de Moyse nous}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 EPISTRE.                                xxxiii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 remonstre va bastiment fait de ruines, vn recueil et vnion de pieces rompues escartees ca et la, vne telle monstre de la grace de Dieu nous doit bien esleuer en meilleur espoir que nostre sens ne comprend. Outre plus, veu que les esprits des hommes sont si enclins a controuuer des seruices estranges, voire mesme fretillent et s'y esgayent, il n'y a rien plus vtile pour nous, que d'appredre la regie de bien et deuement seruir Dieu des saincts Patriarches, desquels Moyse voulant louer la piete, insiste principalemet en ceste marque, qu'ils ont de-pedu de la seu le parole de Dieu. Car cobien qu'il y ait grade diuersit\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  et longue distance entre eux et nous quat aux ceremonies externes, toutesfois ce qui doit demeurer im-muable est commun a tous deux, assauoir que la religion soit reglee au seul decret de Dieu, et a sa volonte. Ie n'ignore pas combien il y auroit ici plus ample matiere et riche, et c5bien tout ce que ie puis dire est bas et au dessous de la dignity des choses dont ie parle : mais d'autant qu'il y aura lieu plus opportun d'en traitter plus au long et en faire plene deduction, combien que ce ne soit pas auec tel ornemet qu'il seroit requis : ce m'a este assez pour ceste heure d'aduertir brieuement les lecteurs, combien ils auront profit^ s'ils appre-nent d'approprier a leur vsage, le patron de l'Eglise anciene, tel qu'il est exprime^ par Moyse. Et de faict, Dieu nous a accopagnez auec les saincts Peres en l'espoir d'vn mesme heri\-tage, afin qu'en surmontant la longue distance des aages, la-quelle nous diuise les vns des autres, nous marchions hardi-ment d'vn accord mutuel de foy et de patience a soustenir les mesmes combats. Et d'autant plus sont a detester beau-coup de phrenetiques, lesquels estans picquez de ie ne say quel taon de zele enrage, s'efforcent incessamment de des-membrer l'Eglise, laquelle n'est desia que par trop dissipee. Ie ne parle point des ennemis declarez, lesquels se iettent et ruent de toute leur force et a main armee, a ruiner et descon-fire tant qu'il y a de fideles au monde, et en abolir du tout la memoire : mais il y en a mesme de ceux qui sont semblant de porter l'Euangile, si chagrins et ombrageux, qu'ils ne ces-sent de semer tousiours quelque nouuelle matiere de diuorce : et de troubler par leur inquietude la paix et concorde, que les}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 XXXIV                                       EPISTEE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 bons seruiteurs de Dieu et doctes nourriroyent volontiers en\-semble.   Nous voyons comment entre les Papistes il demeure vne obatination maudite a conspirer contre l'Euangile,combien qu'en tout le reste ils s'entrebatent comme chiens et chats. II n'est ia besoin de remonstrer coxnbien le nombre de ceux qui tienet la pure doctrine de Iesus Christ est petit, si on le compare auec leurs grosses bandes.    Cependant il se dresse d'entre nous de petits folets et outrecuidez, lesquels non seule-ment obscurcissent la clarte de la saincte doctrine par leurs brouees derreurs, ou bien enyuret les simples qui ne sont gueres bien exercez, les abbruua.3 de leurs resueries: mais qui pis est, sous ombre qu'ils se permettet de douter de toutes choses, ils se donent licece de renuerser toute la religion. Car come s'ils se vouloyent, tournat tout en risees et cauil-latios, approuuer estre bons disciples de Socrates, ils n'ont nuUe maxime plus agreable que ceste-ci, que la foy doit estre libre, et que les esprits ne doyuent point estre tenus captifs. Et c'est afin qu'il leur soit loisible, en mettat tout en doute et en question, tourner et virer l'Escriture a leur poste, et en faire vn nez de cire, come on dit en commun prouerbe. Or ceux qui sont affriadez de tels allechemens de disputer le pro et le contra, come on dit, profiteront si bien en ceste escole, qu'en apprenant tousiours, iamais ne paruiendront a la science de verite".    Pay traitte iusques ici selon que le lieu le portoit, touchant I'vtilit6 de l'histoire contenue au liure de Genese.    Au reste, i'ay trauaill6 (si ce n'a este auec telle grace et dexterity que i'eusse voulu, pour le moins c'a este fidelement) a ce que la doctrine de la Loy, dont I'obscurit6 a estonne^ par ci deuant beaucoup de gens, et les a reculez d'y lire, fust familierement esclaircie.    le ne doute pas, qu'il n'y en ait qui desireront vne declaration plus ample de quelques passages:   mais comme  ainsi  soit que desia de nature ie fuye prolixite, i'ay este plus restraint en cest ouurage pour deux raisons.    Car d'autant que ces quatre liures font desia peur par leur longueur a gens delicats : i'ay craint, que si ie m'estedoye libremet a les bie deschiffrer, on ne s'ennuyast encore plus pour en estre desgouste\\  D'auantage pource qu'en la procedure i'ay souuent desesper^ de viure vn mois, i'aimoia}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 EPISTRE.                                           XXXV}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 mieux en auoir recueilli vne exposition sommaire, que de laisser vn labeur imparfait. Toutesfois les lecteurs de sain iugement etentier, verront assez que ie me suis songneusement donne garde de ne rien omettre, ou par astuce, ou par negligece, de ce qui pouuoit estre ambigu ou obscur, et engendrer per\-plexity. Puis doncques que i'ay mis peine entant qu'en moy estoit desplucher et vuider tous scrupules, ie ne voy point pourquoy on se doyue plaindre de brieuete, sin5 qu'on vueille trouuer de mot a mot aux Comentaires tout ce qui est a dire d'vne matiere. Or ie souffriray volontiers, que telles gens qui ne sont iamais rassasiez de langage, se cerchent vn autre maistre. Quant a vous, Mon seigneur, s'il vous plaist de l'es-prouuer, vous cognoistrez par effet, et croirez a vous-mesme, que ce que ie di est tres vray. Vous estes enfant: mais Dieu en commandant que les Rois fissent copier vn volume de la Loy a leur propre vsage, n'a point exempte de ce rag Ie bon Iosias: mais plustost a voulu que l'exemple de cest enfant fust comme vn chef d'ceuure memorable, et vn miroir de saincte instruction pour redarguer la bestise des vieilles gens. Et ce qu'on voit en vous, monstre combie il est profitable que les enfans soyet accoustumez a bien, et duits a vertu, des qu'ils vienent a quelque discretion. Car non seulemet Ie germe de la racine viue qu'ont pris les principes de la religion dont vous auez este imbu, iette hors sa fleur, mais sent desia quelque maturite. Parquoy, Mon seigneur, efforcez-vous de tendre auec vne perseuerance inuincible au but qui vous est propose : et que vous ne prestiez point l'aureille a ie ne say quels gaudisseurs qui t'ascherot a vous desbacher, en vous faisant accroire que ce n'est pas encore Ie temps d'estre si sage, et qu'on ne doit point ainsi haster les enfans. Car d'autrepart vous auez k considerer qu'il n'y a rien plus cotraire a raison, ne moins a receuoir que de vous priuer et forclorre de ce remede contre toutes sortes de corruptions qui vous enuironnet. Veu que les delices de Cour gastent mesme et deprauent vos seruiteurs, combien les embuches sont-elles pus perilleuses aux grans Princes, lesquels regorgent telle-ment de toutes superfluitez et delices, que c'est merueille qu'ils ne s'escoulet du tout en dissolution ?    Car de faict}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 XXXVI                                      EPISTEE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 c'est quasi vne chose repngnante a nature, que de iouir de tous raoyes de voluptez sans volupte. Et il n'ap-pert que trop par l'vsage comun, que la chastete ne demeure gueres souuet pure entre les delices. Quant a vous, Mon seigneur, estimez que cest venin de tout ce qui est pour faire croistre en vous les voluptez. Car si vous estes desia maia-tenant chatouille, de ce qui est pour estouffer continence et attrempance, qu'est-ce que vous ne conuoiterez estant venu en aage d'homme ? Ceste sentence sera possible trop rude, Que tant plus qu'on a de soin de son corps, on est nonchalant de vertu: et toutesfois Caton a tresbien iuge1 parlant ainsi. A grand' peine aussi ceste sentence sera elle receue en vne facjon deviure tant desbridee qu'on la voit, Ie suis cree a vne fin plus noble que d'estre esclaue de mon corps, veu que le merspiser est ma droite liberte. Laissons doncques Ik ceste rigueur excessiue, laquelle seroit pour abatre toute ioyeusete' : mais il y a trop d'exemples pour monstrer combie le passage est glissant a tomber en vne licence de tout desbauchement, quand on est trop endormi, et qu'on se dispense a vanite. Au reste, vous n'aurez pas seulement a combatre contre la super-fluite et les pompes, mais aussi contre beaucoup d'autres vices. II n'y a rien plus delectable, que vostre humanite et modestie: mais il n'y a nul esprit si benin ni debonnaire, lequel estant enyure' de flateries, ne se desbauche a vne arrogance et cru-aute sauuage. D'auantage, Mon seigneur, puis qu'il y a des flateurs infinis, lesquels seroyent autant de soufflets pour en-flammer vostre courage en diuerses conuoitises : combien vous conuient-il estre plus attentif k vous contregarder ? Or en vous aduertissant des blandissemens de Cour qui seroyent pour vous amadouer, ie ne requier sinon questant arm^ d'attrem\-pance, vous soyez inuicible pour n'en estre point surprins. Car il a este vrayement dit par vn Payen, que la louange d'vn homme n'estoit pas de n'auoir iamais veu Asie, mais d'y auoir vescu pudiquement, et s'y estre preserue" en continence. Or veu que c'est vne chose desirable sur tout, si vous y fau-droit-il trauailler quelque difficilite qui y fust,mais Dauid vous donne vn bon abrege" si vous suyuez son exemple, quand il dit que les preceptes de Dieu ont este ses conseilliers.    Et de}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 EPISXRE.                                        XXXV11}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 faict, tout ce qui vous sera suggere" de coseil et d'auis d'ail-leurs, s'esuanouira si vous ne comecez par ce bout, a sauoir que cest de vraye prudence. II reste, Mon seigneur, que ce qui est escrit en Isaie du sainct Roy Ezechias vous reuiene tous-iours en memoire. Car le Prophete en racontant ses vertus notables le loue sur tout de ce titre, que la crainte de Dieu sera son thresor. Sur quoy, Mon seigneur, ie prieray Dieu vous maintenir en sa protection faire reluire en vous de plus en plus ses dons spirituels, et vous enrichir de toutes sortes de benedictions.    A  Geneue,  le dernier iour de Iuillet.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 M.D.LXIII.}\par \sectd \sbknone {\pard\plain \sb0\sa0\sl-1\slmult0\fs2\par}\sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Commentarie of-^ John Caluine ,  vpon   jj}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the firft booke of Mofes cal\-led Gene/is : Tranflated out        ^g|}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 o/Latine intoEnglifh, by Thomas Tymme, Minifter.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 T Imprinted at Lon-Wk     donjov IohnHarifon and}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 George}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Anno. 1578.}\par \sectd \sbknone {\pard\plain \sb0\sa0\sl-1\slmult0\fs2\par}\sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE, MY VERIE GOOD}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 LORDE AMBROSE, EARLE OF WARWICKE,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 BARON LISLE, MAISTER OF HER MAIESTIE'S ORDINANCE, KNIGHT OF THE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER, AND ONE OF HER HIGHNESSE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 PRIUIE COUNSELL, AND TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LADIE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 HIS   WIFE,   ENCREASE   OF   HONOUR, AND   TRUE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 KNOWLEDGE IN CHRIST IESVS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 If the Apostle Paule (right honorable) condemne the negli\-gence of men, because they behold not the euident spectacle of the glorie of God which is set before their eyes in the workemanship of the worlde,by which they wickedly suppresse the light of trueth; no lesse foule and shameful was that ignor\-ance of the original and creation of mankind which almost in euery age and time so greatly preuailed. The which ignorance immediately ensued the building of Babylon by the forgetting of those things which ought to haue beene dayly and howerly spoken off. For at what time godlesse men were banished from their natiue soile and dispersed, they therewithall aban\-doned the pure worship of God: Insomuch that to what part of the earth so euer they came, they had no care to bring with them that which they had heard of their forefathers, con\-cerning the creating and repairing of the worlde. And so it came to passe, that no nation, except only the posteritie of Abraham, knew by the space of two thousand yeares, either from whence or when mankind had his originall. As for the labour which Ptolome bestowed in translating the books of Moses into the Greeke tongue, it was at that time more laud\-able than fruitful: when as the light which he went about to bring out of darknes, was neuerthelesse through the careles-nesse of men extinguished. Whereby wee may perceiue, that they which ought to haue endeuored themseluea, to knowe}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xlii                                    THE EPISTLE.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the workemaister of the worlde, sought rather by their vngod-linesse howe they might be wilfully blinde and ignorant. In the meane time the liberal Sciences florished, men's witts were sharpe and quicke, greate paines euery way was taken: and yet nothing was spoken of the creation of the worlde. Aris\-totle, the prince of philosophers, dreamed of the eternitie of the world. Plato, his schoolmaister, shooting somewhat more neere vnto the marke, wandered notwithstanding some\-what from the trueth. But whether they, and all other nations with them, were wilfully blinde, or whether they were ignorant through their owne negligence, this booke of Moses deserueth to be esteemed as a most precious iewell, which certifieth vs not only of the creation of the worlde, but also howe, after the mortall fall of man, God adopted a Church to \dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9632\'3f \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 him selfe : which was the true worship of him, and with what exercises of godlinesse the fathers occupied them selues: howe pure religion, through the wicked negligence of men, was for a time decayed, and afterward restored to her former state : when God made a free couenant of eternall saluation with a certeine people: Howe, of one man withered, and almost halfe dead, there sprang seede, which sodainly grewe into a huge people : and, finally, by what wonderfull meanes God aduanced and defended his chosen familie, though it were poore and destitute of al helpe, and enuironed with thousands of enemies on euery side. Howe necessarie the knowledge of these thinges is, your Honours by the vse and experience thereof may deeme. Therefore, the Argument being so diuine, and accordingly handled by that notable instrument of God's Church, Iohn Caluine, (whose workes proclaime his praise,) and no commentarie vpon the same afore this time englished, I haue thought good to set forth the same in our vulgar tongue, vnder your Honour's protection, that a more general profite being thereby reaped of my countrie men, it may bee somewhat the farther from obliuion. And because I knowe what godly delight your noble and vertuous Lady taketh in reading such bookes, I presume to ioyne her with; your Honour herein, that others of her sex, hearing of her honorable name, may followe her godly steppes with like zeale in that religious exercise.    For what Christian will not thinke}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE EPISTLE.                               xliii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 it a Booke worthie the reading, which he seeth warranted by your names ? Therefore partely the godly zeale found out in you by effect, and partely your Honour's courteous liking afore time of my pains this way taken, harteneth me to aduenture the offer of this poore present, as a token proceed\-ing from a well-wishing minde. Thus hauing bene too tedi\-ous vnto your Honours, I most humbly take my leaue, be\-seeching the Lord God to defend you both with his shield, to sustein you with inuincible fortitude, to gouerne you with his spirit of prudence, and to powre vpon you all manner of}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 blessings.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Your Honor's most humble}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Thomas Tymme.}\par \sectd \sbknone {\pard\plain \sb0\sa0\sl-1\slmult0\fs2\par}\sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE DEDICATORY.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 JOHN CALVIN}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 TO THE}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 HENRY,   DUKE   OF   VENDOME,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 HEIR TO THE KINGDOM OF NAVARRE.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 If many censure my design, most Illustrious Prince, in pre\-suming to dedicate this work to you, that it may go forth to light sanctioned by your name, nothing new or unexpected will have happened to me. For they may object that by such dedication, the hatred of the wicked, who are already more than sufficiently incensed against you, will be still fur\-ther inflamed. But since, at your tender age,2 amid various alarms and threatenings, God has inspired you with such magnanimity that you have never swerved from the sincere and ingenuous profession of the faith; I do not see what injury you can sustain by having that profession, which you wish to be openly manifest to all, confirmed by my testimony. Since, therefore, you are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  Afterwards the celebrated Henry IV. of France.   A brave and noble-spirited Prince, addicted, however, to the frivolities, and enslaved by the licentiousness of the age.    He was induced to renounce his Protestant principles for the Crown of France ; and at length fell by the hand of an assassin, on account of his tolerance towards the Hugonots.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  He was born in 1553, Hud therefore in 1563, the date of this dedica\-tion, he was ten years old.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xlvi                      calvin's dedication.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 this independence of yours has  appeared to give me just ground of confidence to congratulate you on such an auspi\-cious commencement, and to exhort you to invincible con\-stancy in future.    For that  flexibility  which  belongs to superior natures is the common property of the young, until their character becomes more formed.     But however dis\-pleasing my labour may be to some, yet if it be approved (as I trust it will) by your most noble mother, the Queen, 1 I can afford to despise both their unjust judgments and their malicious slanders; at least I shall not be diverted by them from my purpose.    In one thing I may have acted with too little consideration, namely, in not having consulted her, in order that I might attempt nothing but in accordance with her judgment and her wish; yet for this omission I have an excuse at hand.    If, indeed, I had omitted to consult her through negligence, I should condemn myself as guilty not of imprudence only, but of rashness and arrogance.    When, however, I had given up all hope of so early a publication, because the Printer would put me off till the next spring-fairs, I thought it unnecessary, for certain reasons, to hasten my work.    In the meantime, while others were urging him more vehemently on this point than I had done, I suddenly received a message, that the work might be finished within fifteen days, a thing which had before been pertinaciously refused to myself.    Thus beyond my expectation, yet not con\-trary to my wish, I was deprived of the opportunity of ask\-ing her permission. Nevertheless, that most excellent Queen is animated by such zeal for the propagation of the doctrine of}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, daughter of Henry d'Albret and of Margaret of Valoia, sister to Francis the First, King of France. Henry was her third son, but the two former died in infancy. She and her husband, Antony of Bourbon, were both early favourers of the Reforma\-tion ; but Antony, remarkable for his inconstancy, deserted the cause of Protestantism in the time of persecution, and at length took arms against its adherents, and perished in the contest. Jeanne remained constant to the faith she had professed, and proceeded to establish it in her domin\-ions. In 1568 she left her capital Beanie, to join the French Protestants; and presented her son Henry to the Prince of Cond^ at the age of fifteen, together with her jewels, for the purpose of maintaining the war against the persecutors of the Reformed faith. She died in 1572, suddenly, at Paris, whither she had gone to make arrangements for her son's projected marriage with the sister of Charles IX. It was suspected that she died of poison, but no positive proof of the fact has been adduced.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CALVIN'S' DEDICATION.                         xlvii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Christ and of pure faith and piety, that I am under no extreme anxiety respecting her willingness to approve of this service of mine, and to defend it with her patronage. She by no means dissembles her own utter estrangement from the superstitions and corruptions with which Religion has been disfigured and polluted. And in the midst of turbulent agitations,1 it has been rendered evident by convincing proofs, that she carried a more than masculine mind in woman's breast. And I wish that at length even men may be put to shame, and that use\-ful emulation may stimulate them to imitate her example. For she conducted herself with such peculiar modesty, that scarcely any one would have supposed her capable of thus en\-during the most violent attacks, and, at the same time, of courageously repelling them. Besides, how keenly God exercised her with internal conflicts but few persons are wit\-nesses, of whom, however, I am one.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 You truly, most Illustrious Prince, need not seek a better example, for the purpose of moulding your own mind to the perfect pattern of all virtues. Eegard yourself as bound in an especial manner to aspire after, to contend, and to labour for the attainment of this object. For, as the heroic disposi\-tion which shines forth in you, will leave you the less excus\-able, if you degenerate from yourself, so education, no common help to an excellent disposition, is like another bond to retain you in your duty. For liberal instruction has been superadded to chaste discipline. Already imbued with the rudiments of literature, you have not cast away (as nearly all are wont to do) these studies in disgust, but still advance with alacrity in the cultivation of your genius. Now, in sending forth this book to the public under your name, my desire is, that it may effectually induce you more freely to profess yourself a dis\-ciple of Christ; just as if God, by laying his hand upon you, were claiming you anew to himself. And truly, you can yield no purer gratification to the Queen your mother, who cannot be too highly estimated, than by causing her to hear that you are making continual progress in piety.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Although many things contained in this book are beyond}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Et entre les horribles tempestes dont le royaume de France a este agite."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 And amid the horrible tempests with which the kingdom of France has been agitated__French Tr.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 xlviii                     calvin's dedication.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the capacity of your age, yet I am not acting unreasonably in offering it to your perusal, and even to your attentive and diligent study. For since the knowledge of ancient things is pleasant to the young, you will soon arrive at those years in which the History of the Creation of the World, as well as that of the most Ancient Church, will engage your thoughts with equal profit and delight. And, certainly, if Paul justly condemns the perverse stupidity of men, because with closed eyes they pass by the splendid mirror of God's glory which is constantly presented to them in the fabric of the world, and thus unrighteously suppress the light of truth; not less base and disgraceful has been that ignorance of the origin and creation of the human race which has prevailed almost in every age. It is indeed probable, that shortly after the building of Babel,1 the memory of those things, which ought to have been discussed and celebrated by being made the subjects of continual discourse, was obliterated. For seeing that to profane men their dispersion would be a kind of eman\-cipation from the pure worship of God, they took no care to carry aloDg with them, to whatever regions of the earth they might visit, what they had heard from their fathers concern\-ing the Creation of the World, or its subsequent restoration. Hence it has happened, that no nation, the posterity of Abraham alone excepted, knew for more than two thousand successive years, either from what fountain itself had sprung, or when the universal race of man began to exist. For Ptolemy, in providing at length that the Books of Moses should be translated into Greek, did a work which was rather laudable than useful, (at least for that period,) since the light which he had attempted to bring out of darkness was never\-theless stifled and hidden through the negligence of men. Whence it may easily be gathered, that they who ought to have stretched every nerve of their mind to attain a know\-ledge of The Creator of the world, have rather, by a malig\-nant impiety, involved themselves in voluntary blindness. In the meantime, the liberal sciences flourished, men of exalted genius arose, treatises of all kinds were published; but con\-cerning the History of the Creation of the World there was}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Panlo post conditum Babylonem.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Calvin's dedication.                      xlix}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 a profound silence. Moreover, the greatest of philosophers,1 who excelled all the rest in acuteness and erudition, applied whatever skill he possessed to defraud God of his glory, by disputing in favour of the eternity of the world. Although his master, Plato, was a little more religious, and showed himself to be imbued with some taste for richer knowledge, yet he corrupted and mingled with so many figments the slender principles of truth which he received, that this ficti\-tious kind of teaching would be rather injurious than profit\-able. They, moreover, who devoted themselves to the pur\-suit of writing history, ingenious and highly-cultivated men though they were, while they ostentatiously boast that they are about to become witnesses to the most remote antiquity, yet, before they reach so high as the times of David, intermix their lucubrations with much turbid feculence;2 and when they ascend still higher, heap together an immense mass of lies : so far are they from having arrived, by a genuine and clear connection of narrative, at the true origin of the world. The Egyptians also are an evident proof that men were will\-ingly ignorant of things which they had not far to seek, if only they had been disposed to addict their minds to the investigation of truth; for though the lamp of God's word was shining at their very doors, they would yet without shame propagate the rank fables of their achievements, fifteen thousand years before the foundation of the world. Not less puerile and absurd is the fable of the Athenians, who boasted that they were born from their own soil,3 maintaining for themselves a distinct origin from the rest of mankind, and thus rendering themselves ridiculous even to barbarians. Now, though all nations have been more or less implicated in the same charge of ingratitude, I have nevertheless thought it right to select those whose error is least excusable, because they have deemed themselves wiser than all others. Now, whether all nations which formerly existed, purposely}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  Aristotle.   Mesme Aristotle le principal philosophe.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  Brouillent leurs escrits de tant des meslinges confus, que ceste lie ont oste toute clarte.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 They intersperse their writings with such a confused mixture, that these dregs have deprived them of all clearness.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  Qui se dvr6x6ova.$ gloriati.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1                           calvin's dedication.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 drew a veil over themselves, or whether their own indolence was the sole obstacle to their knowledge, the [First] Book of Moses deserves to be regarded as an incomparable treasure, since it at least gives an indisputable assurance respecting The Creation of the World, without which we should be un\-worthy of a place on earth. I omit, for the present, The History of the Deluge, which contains a representation of the Divine vengeance in the destruction of mankind, as tremen\-dous, as that which it supplies of Divine mercy in their restor\-ation is admirable. This one consideration stamps an inesti\-mable value on the Book, that it alone reveals those things which are of primary necessity to be known; namely, in what manner God, after the destructive fall of man, adopted to himself a Church ; what constituted the true worship of himself, and in what offices of piety the holy fathers exercised themselves; in which way pure religion, having for a time declined through the indolence of men, was restored, as it were, to its integrity; we also learn, when God deposited with a special people his gratuitous covenant of eternal salva\-tion ; in what manner a small progeny gradually proceeding from one man, who was both barren and withering, almost half-dead, and (as Isaiah calls him) solitary,1 yet suddenly grew to an immense multitude; by what unexpected means God both exalted and defended a family chosen by himself, al\-though poor, destitute of protection, exposed to every storm, and surrounded on all sides by innumerable hosts of enemies. Let every one, from his own use and experience, form his judgment respecting the necessity of the knowledge of these things. We see how vehemently the Papists alarm the simple by their false claim of the title of The Church. Moses so delineates the genuine features of the Church as to take away this absurd fear, by dissipating these illusions. It is by an ostentatious display of splendour and of pomp that they (the Papists) carry away the less informed to a foolish admiration of themselves, and even render them stupid and infatuated. But if we turn our eyes to those marks by which Moses designates the Church, these vain phantoms will have}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Isaiah li. 2, " I called him alone, and blessed him."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CALVIN S DEDICATION.                               ]i}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 no more power to deceive. We are often disturbed and almost disheartened at the paucity of those who follow the pure doctrine of God; and especially when we see how far and wide superstitions extend their dominion. And, as formerly, the Spirit of God, by the mouth of Isaiah the prophet, com\-manded the Jews to look to the Rock whence they were hewn,1 so he recalls us to the same consideration, and ad\-monishes us of the absurdity of measuring the Church by its numbers, as if its dignity consisted in its multitude. If some\-times, in various places, Religion is less flourishing than could be wished, if the body of the pious is scattered, and the state of a well-regulated Church has gone to decay, not only do our minds sink, but entirely melt within us. On the con\-trary, while we see in this history of Moses, the building of the Church out of ruins, and the gathering of it out of broken fragments, and out of desolation itself, such an instance of the grace of God ought to raise us to firm confidence. But since the propensity, not to say the wanton disposition, of the human mind to frame false systems of worship is so great, nothing can be more useful to us than to seek our rule for the pure and sin\-cere worshipping of God, from those holy Patriarchs, whose piety Moses points out to us chiefly by this mark, that they depended on the Word of God alone. For however great may be the difference between them and us in external cere\-monies, yet that which ought to flourish in unchangeable vigour is common to us both, namely, that Religion should take its form from the sole will and pleasure of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 I am not ignorant of the abundance of materials here sup\-plied, and of the insufficiency of my language to reach the dignity of the subjects on which I briefly touch; but since each of them, on suitable occasions, has been elsewhere more copiously discussed by me, although not with suitable brilli\-ancy and elegance of diction, it is now enough for me briefly to apprize my pious readers how well it would repay their labour, if they would learn prudently to apply to their own use the example of The Ancient Church, as it is described}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 These words are here added in the French Translation\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " C'est d dire, a leur pere Abraham, qui n'estoit qu'un, homme seul;"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 that is to say, to their father Abraham, who was but one solitary man.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Hi                           calvin's dedication.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 by Moses. And, in fact, God has associated us with the holy Patriarchs in the hope of the same inheritance, in order that we, disregarding the distance of time which separates us from them, may, in the mutual agreement of faith and patience, endure the same conflicts. So much the more detestable, then, are certain turbulent men, who, incited by I know not what rage of furious zeal, are assiduously endeavouring to rend asunder the Church of our own age, which is already more than sufficiently scattered. I do not speak of avowed enemies, who, by open violence, fall upon the pious to destroy them, and utterly to blot out their memory; but of certain morose professors of the Gospel, who not only perpetually supply new materials for fomenting discords, but by their restlessness disturb the peace which holy and learned men gladly cultivate. We see that with the Papists, although in some things they maintain deadly strife among themselves,' they yet combine in wicked confederacy against the Gospel. It is not necessary to say how small is the number of those who hold the sincere doctrine of Christ, when compared with the vast multitudes of these opponents. In the meantime, audacious scribblers arise, as from our own bosom, who not only obscure the light of sound doctrine with clouds of error, or infatuate the simple and the less experienced with their wicked ravings, but by a profane license of scepticism, allow themselves to uproot the whole of Religion. For, as if, by their rank ironies and cavils, they could prove themselves genuine disciples of Socrates, they have no axiom more plausible than, that faith must be free and unfettered, so that it may be possible, by reducing everything to a matter of doubt, to render Scripture flexible (so to speak) as a nose of wax.2    Therefore, they who being captivated by the allure-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Combien qu'en tout le reste, ils s'entrebatent comme chiens et chats.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Though in everything else they quarrel together like dogs and cats.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 Ils n'ont nulle maxime plus agreable que ceste-ci, que la foy doit estre libre, et que les esprits ne doy vent point estre tenns captifs. Et c'est afln qu'il leur soit loisible, en metant tout en doute et en question,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 tourner et virer l'Escritnre a leur poste, et en faire un nez de cire, &c.__}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 They have no maxim more agreeable than this, that faith ought to be free, and that minds ought not to be held captive. And this is in order that they may be permitted, by putting everything into doubt and ques-}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 calvin's dedication.                       liii}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ments of this new school, now indulge in doubtful specu\-lations, obtain at length such proficiency, that they are always learning, yet never come to the knowledge of the truth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Thus far I have treated briefly, as the occasion required, of the utility of this History.1 As for the rest, I have laboured \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 how skilfully I know not, but certainly faithfully\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 that the doctrine of the Law, the obscurity of which has heretofore repelled many, may become familiarly known. There will be readers, I doubt not, who would desire a more ample explica\-tion of particular passages. But I, who naturally avoid pro\-lixity, have confined myself in this Work to narrow limits, for two reasons. First, whereas these Four Books [of Moses] already deter some by their length, I have feared lest, if in unfolding them, I were to indulge in a style too diffuse, I should but increase their disgust. Secondly, since in my progress I have often despaired of life, I have preferred giving a succinct Exposition to leaving a mutilated one behind me. Yet sincere readers, possessed of sound judgment, will see that I have taken diligent care, neither through cunning nor negli\-gence, to pass over anything perplexed, ambiguous, or obscure. Since, therefore, I have endeavoured to discuss all doubtful points, I do not see why any one should complain of brevity, unless he wishes to derive his knowledge exclusively from Commentaries. Now I will gladly allow men of this sort, whom no amount of verbosity can satiate, to seek for them\-selves some other master.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 But if you, Sire, please to make trial, you will indeed know, and will believe for yourself, that what I declare is most true. You are yet a youth; but God, when he com\-manded Kings to write out the Book of the Law for their own use, did not exempt the pious Josiah from this class, but choose rather to present the most noble instance of pious instruction in a boy, that he might reprove the indolence of the aged. And your own example teaches the great importance   of   having   habits   formed   from   tender  age.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 tion, to turn and twist the Scripture to their purpose, and to make of it a nose of wax, &c.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Touchant l'utilite' de l'histoire contenue au livre de Genese.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Touch\-ing the utility of the history contained in the Book of Genesis.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 VlV                                   CALVIN'S DEDICATION.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For the germ springing from the root which the principles of Religion received by you have taken, not only puts forth its flower, but also savours of a degree of maturity. Therefore labour, by indefatigable industry, to attain the mark set before you. And suffer not yourself to be retarded or disturbed by designing men, to whom it appears unseasonable that boys should be called to this precocious wisdom, (as they term it.) For what can be more absurd or intolerable, than that, when every kind of corruption surrounds you, this remedy should be prohibited ? Since the pleasures of a Court corrupt even your servants, how much more dangerous are the snares laid for great Princes, who so abound in all luxury and delicacies, that it is a wonder if they are not quite dissolved in lascivious-ness ? For it is certainly contrary to nature to possess all the means of pleasure, and to refrain from enjoying them. The difficulty, however, of retaining chastity unpolluted amidst scenes of gaiety, is more than sufficiently evident in practice. But do you, O most Illustrious Prince, regard everything as poison which tends to produce a love of plea\-sures. For if that which stifles continence and temperance already allures you, what will you not covet when you arrive at adult age ? The sentiment is perhaps harshly expressed, that great care for the body is great neglect of virtue, yet most truly does Cato thus speak. The following paradox also will scarcely be admitted in common life: " I am greater, and am born to greater things, than to be a slave to my body; the contempt of which is my true liberty." Let us then dismiss that excessive rigour, by which all enjoyment is taken away from life; still there are too many examples to show how easy is the descent from security and self-indulgence to the licentiousness of profligacy. Moreover, you will have to con\-tend, not only with luxury, but also with many other vices. Nothing can be more attractive than your affability and modesty ; but no disposition is so gentle and well-regulated, that it may not degenerate into brutality and ferociousness when intoxicated with flatteries. Now since there are flat\-terers without number, who will prove so many tempters to inflame your mind with various lusts, how much more does it behove you vigilantly to beware of them ?    But while I}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 calvin's dedication.                         lv}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 caution you against the blandishments of a Court, I require nothing more than that, being endued with moderation, you should render yourself invincible. For one has truly said, He is not to be praised who has never seen Asia, but he who has lived modestly and continently in Asia. Seeing, there\-fore, that to attain this state is most desirable, David pre\-scribes a compendious method of doing so\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 if you will but imitate his example\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 when he declares that the precepts of God are his counsellors. And truly, whatever counsel may be suggested from any other quarter will perish, unless you take your commencement of becoming wise from this point. It remains, therefore, most noble Prince, that what is spoken by Isaiah concerning the holy king Hezekiah should perpe\-tually recur to your mind. For the Prophet, in enumerating his excellent qualities, especially honours him with this eulogy, that the fear of God shall be his treasure.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Farewell, most Illustrious Prince, may God preserve you in safety under His protection, may He adorn you more and more with spiritual gifts, and enrich you with every kind of benediction.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Geneva, July 31st, 1563.}\par \sectd \sbknone {\pard\plain \sb0\sa0\sl-1\slmult0\fs2\par}\sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ARGUMENT.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Since the infinite wisdom of God is displayed in the admir\-able structure of heaven and earth, it is absolutely impossible to unfold The Histoey of the Creation of the World in terms equal to its dignity. For while the measure of our capacity is too contracted to comprehend things of such magnitude, our tongue is equally incapable of giving a full and substantial account of them. As he, however, deserves praise, who, with modesty and reverence, applies himself to the consideration of the works of God, although he attain less than might be wished, so, if in this kind of employment, I endeavour to assist others according to the ability given to me, I trust that my service will be not less approved by pious men than accepted by God. I have chosen to premise this, for the sake not only of excusing myself, but of admonishing my readers, that if they sincerely wish to profit with me in meditating on the works of God, they must bring with them a sober, docile, mild, and humble spirit. We see, indeed, the world with our eyes, we tread the earth with our feet, we touch innumerable kinds of God's works with our hands, we inhale a sweet and pleasant fragrance from herbs and flowers, we enjoy boundless benefits; but in those very things of which we attain some knowledge, there dwells such an immensity of divine power, goodness, and wisdom, as absorbs all our senses. Therefore, let men be satisfied if they obtain only a moderate taste of them, suited to their capacity.    And it becomes us so to press towards this mark}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 58                                      ARGUMENT.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 during our whole life, that (even in extreme old age) we shall not repent of the progress we have made, if only we have advanced ever so little in our course.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The intention of Moses, in beginning his Book with the creation of the world, is, to render God, as it were, visible to us in his works. But here presumptuous men rise up, and scoffingly inquire, whence was this revealed to Moses ? They therefore suppose him to be speaking fabulously of things unknown, because he was neither a spectator of the events he records, nor had learned the truth of them by reading. Such is their reasoning ; but their dishonesty is easily exposed. For if they can destroy the credit of this history, because it is traced back through a long series of past ages, let them also prove those prophecies to be false in which the same history predicts occurrences which did not take place till many centuries afterwards. Those things, I affirm, are clear and obvious, which Moses testifies concerning the voca\-tion of the Gentiles, the accomplishment of which occurred nearly two thousand years after his death. Was not he, who by the Spirit foresaw an event remotely future, and hidden at the time from the perception of mankind, capable of understanding whether the wrorld was created by God, espe\-cially seeing that he was taught by a Divine Master ? For he does not here put forward divinations of his own, but is the instrument of the Holy Spirit for the publication of those things which it was of importance for all men to know. They greatly err in deeming it absurd that the order of the crea\-tion, which had been previously unknown, should at length have been described and explained by him. For he does not transmit to memory things before unheard of, but for the first time consigns to writing facts which the fathers had deli\-vered as from hand to hand, through a long succession of years, to their children. Can we conceive that man was so placed in the earth as to be ignorant of his own origin, and of the origin of those things which he enjoyed ? No sane person doubts that Adam was well-instructed respecting them all. Was he indeed afterwards dumb ? Were the holy Patriarchs so ungrateful as to suppress in silence such neces\-sary instruction ?   Did Noah, warned by a divine judgment}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ARGUMENT.                                        59}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 so memorable, neglect to transmit it to posterity ? Abraham is expressly honoured with this eulogy, that he was the teacher and the master of his family, (Gen. xviii. 19.) And we know that, long before the time of Moses, an acquaint\-ance with the covenant into which God had entered with their fathers was common to the whole people. When he says that the Israelites were sprung from a holy race, which God had chosen for himself, he does not propound it as something new, but only commemorates what all held, what the old men themselves had received from their ancestors, and what, in short, was entirely uncontroverted among them. Therefore, we ought not to doubt that The Creation of the World, as here described, was already known through the ancient and perpetual tradition of the Fathers. Yet, since nothing is more easy than that the truth of God should be so corrupted by men, that, in a long succession of time, it should, as it were, degenerate from itself, it pleased the Lord to commit the history to writing, for the purpose of preserving its purity. Moses, therefore, has established the credibility of that doctrine which is contained in his writings, and which, by the carelessness of men, might otherwise have been lost.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 I now return to the design of Moses, or rather of the Holy Spirit, who has spoken by his mouth. We know God, who is himself invisible, only through his works. Therefore, the Apostle elegantly styles the worlds, r<i (in sx. <puivo/j,'evcav fiXivo-piva, as if one should say, " the manifestation of things not apparent,"1 (Heb. xi. 3.) This is the reason why the Lord, that he may invite us to the knowledge of himself, places the fabric of heaven and earth before our eyes, rendering him\-self, in a certain manner, manifest in them. For his eternal power and Godhead (as Paul says) are there exhibited, (Rom. i. 20.) And that declaration of David is most true, that the heavens, though without a tongue, are yet eloquent heralds of the glory of God, and that this most beautiful order of nature  silently proclaims  his  admirable wisdom,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Acsi dicas, spectacula rcrnm non apparentium."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Comme si on disoit, Un regard, ou apparition de ce qui n'apparoist point.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 60                                       ARGUMENT.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CPs. xix. 1.) This is the more diligently to be observed, because so few pursue the right method of knowing God, while the greater part adhere to the creatures without any consideration of the Creator himself. For men are commonly subject to these two extremes ; namely, that some, forgetful of God, apply the whole force of their mind to the considera\-tion of nature; and others, overlooking the works of God, aspire with a foolish and insane curiosity to inquire into his Essence. Both labour in vain. To be so occupied in the investigation of the secrets of nature, as never to turn the eyes to its Author, is a most perverted study ; and to enjoy everything in nature without acknowledging the Author of the benefit, is the basest ingratitude. Therefore, they who assume to be philosophers without Religion, and who, by speculating, so act as to remove God and all sense of piety far from them, will one day feel the force of the expression of Paul, related by Luke, that God has never left himself without witness, (Acts xiv. 17.) For they shall not be per\-mitted to escape with impunity because they have been deaf and insensible to testimonies so illustrious. And, in truth, it is the part of culpable ignorance, never to see God, who everywhere gives signs of his presence. But if mockers now escape by their cavils, hereafter their terrible destruction will bear witness that they were ignorant of God, only because they were -willingly and maliciously blinded. As for those who proudly soar above the world to seek God in his unveiled essence, it is impossible but that at length they should entangle themselves in a multitude of absurd figments. For God\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 by other means invisible\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 (as we have already said) clothes himself, so to speak, with the image of the world, in which he would present himself to our contemplation. They who will not deign to behold him thus magnificently arrayed in the incomparable vesture of the heavens and the earth, afterwards suffer the just punishment of their proud con\-tempt in their own ravings. Therefore, as soon as the name of God sounds in our ears, or the thought of him occurs to our minds, let us also clothe him with this most beautiful ornament; finally, let the world become our school if we desire rightly to know God.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ARGUMENT.                                       61}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Here also the impiety of those is refuted who cavil against Moses, for relating that so short a space of time had elapsed since the Creation of the World. For they inquire why it had come so suddenly into the mind of God to create the world; why he had so long remained inactive in heaven : and thus by sporting with sacred things they exercise their ingenuity to their own destruction. In the Tripartite History an answer given by a pious man is recorded, with which I have always been pleased. For when a certain impure dog was in this manner pouring ridicule upon God, he retorted, that God had been at that time by no means inactive, because he had been preparing hell for the captious. But by what reasonings can you restrain the arrogance of those men to whom sobriety is professedly contemptible and odious? And certainly they who now so freely exult in rinding fault with the inactivity of God will find, to their own great cost, that his power has been infinite in preparing hell for them. As for ourselves, it ought not to seem so very absurd that God, satisfied in himself, did not create a world which he needed not, sooner than he thought good. Moreover, since his will is the rule of all wisdom, we ought to be contented with that alone. For Augustine rightly affirms that injus\-tice is done to God by the Manichaaans, because they demand a cause superior to his will; and he prudently warns his readers not to push their inquiries respecting the infinity of duration, any more than respecting the infinity of space.1 We indeed are not ignorant, that the circuit of the heavens is finite, and that the earth, like a little globe, is placed in the centre.2 They who take it amiss that the world was not sooner created, may as well  expostulate with God for not}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  De Genes! contra Manich. lib. xi. De Civit. Dei.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 The erroneous system of natural philosophy which had prevailed for ages  was but just giving way to  sounder views, at the time  when Calvin wrote.    Copernicus, in the close of the preceding century, had begun to suspect the current opinions on the subject; but the fear of being misunderstood and ridiculed caused him to withhold for some time the discoveries he was making; and it was not till 1543, a few hours before his death, that he himself saw a copy of his own published work. Up to that period, the earth had been regarded as the centre of the system, and the whole heavens were supposed to revolve around it-See MaclaunVs Account of Sir Isaac Newton's Discoveries, Book I. chap. iii.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 62                                       ARGUMENT,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 having made innumerable worlds. Yea, since they deem it absurd that many ages should have passed away without any world at all, they may as well acknowledge it to be a proof of the great corruption of their own nature, that, in compari\-son with the boundless waste which remains empty, the heaven and earth occupy but a small space. But since both the eternity of God's existence and the infinity of his glory would prove a twofold labyrinth, let us content ourselves with modestly desiring to proceed no further in our inquiries than the Lord, by the guidance and instruction of his own works, invites us.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Now, in describing the world as a mirror in which we ought to behold God, I would not be understood to assert, either that our eyes are sufficiently clear-sighted to discern what the fabric of heaven and earth represents5 or that the know\-ledge to be hence attained is sufficient for salvation. And whereas the Lord invites us to himself by the means of created things, with no other effect than that of thereby rendering us inexcusable, he has added (as was necessary) a new remedy, or at least by a new aid, he has assisted the ignorance of our mind. For by the Scripture as our guide and teacher, he not only makes those things plain which would otherwise escape our notice, but almost compels us to behold them ; as if he had assisted our dull sight with spec\-tacles.1 On this point, (as we have already observed,) Moses insists. For if the mute instruction of the heaven and the earth were sufficient, the teaching of Moses would have been superfluous. This herald therefore approaches, who excites our attention, in order that we may perceive ourselves to be placed in this scene, for the purpose of beholding the glory of God ; not indeed to observe them as mere witnesses, but to enjoy all the riches which are here exhibited, as the Lord has ordained and subjected them to our use. And he not only declares generally that God is the architect of the world,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Non secns ac hebetes oculi specillis adjuvantur."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Tout ainsi comme si on bailloit des lunettes ou miroirs \\ ceux qui ont la veue debile. Just as if one gave spectacles or mirrors to those who have weak sight.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr. This is the translator's authority for rendering specillis spec\-tacles.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ARGUMENT.                                       63}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 but through the whole chain of the history he shows how admirable is His power, His wisdom, His goodness, and especially His tender solicitude for the human race. Besides, since the eternal Word of God is the lively and express image of Himself, he recalls us to this point. And thus, the assertion of the Apostle is verified, that through no other means than faith can it be understood that the worlds were made by the word of God, (Heb. xi. 3.) For faith properly proceeds from this, that we being taught by the ministry of Moses, do not now wander in foolish and trifling speculations, but contemplate the true and only God in his genuine image. It may, however, be objected, that this seems at vari\-ance with what Paul declares: " After that, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom knew not God, it seemed right to God, through the foolishness of preaching, to save them who believe," (1 Cor. i. 21.) For he thus intimates, that God is sought in vain under the guidance of visible things; and that nothing remains for us but to betake our\-selves immediately to Christ; and that we must not there\-fore commence with the elements of this world, but with the Gospel, which sets Christ alone before us with his cross, and holds us to this one point. I answer, It is in vain for any to reason as philosophers on the workmanship of the world, except those who, having been first humbled by the preach\-ing of the Gospel, have learned to submit the whole of their intellectual wisdom (as Paul expresses it) to the foolishness of the cross, (1 Cor. i. 21.) Nothing shall we find, I say, above or below, which can raise us up to God, until Christ shall have instructed us in his own school. Yet this cannot be done, unless we, having emerged out of the lowest depths, are borne up above all heavens, in the chariot of his cross, that there by faith we may apprehend those things which the eye has never seen, the ear never heard, and which far surpass our hearts and minds.1 For the earth, with its supply of fruits for our daily nourishment, is not there set before us; but Christ offers himself to us unto life eternal.     Nor does heaven,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 In this, and the following sentences, Calvin shows an intimate ex\-perimental acquaintance with the declaration of the Apostle; "And hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," (Eph. ii. 6.)}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 64                                      ARGUMENT.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 by the shining of the sun and stars, enlighten our bodily eyes, but the same Christ, the Light of the World and the Sun of Righteousness, shines into our souls; neither does the air stretch out its empty space for us to breathe in, but the Spirit of God himself quickens us and causes us to live. There, in short, the invisible kingdom of Christ fills all things, and his spiritual grace is diffused through all. Yet this does not prevent us from applying our senses to the consideration of heaven and earth, that we may thence seek confirmation in the true knowledge of God. For Christ is that image in which God presents to our view, not only his heart, but also his hands and his feet. I give the name of his heart to that secret love with which he embraces us in Christ: by his hands and feet I understand those works of his which are displayed before our eyes. As soon as ever we depart from Christ, there is nothing, be it ever so gross or insignificant in itself, respecting which we are not neces\-sarily deceived.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And, in fact, though Moses begins, in this Book, with the Creation of the World, he nevertheless does not confine us to this subject. For these things ought to be connected together, that the world was founded by God, and that man, after he had been endued with the light of intelligence, and adorned with so many privileges, fell by his own fault, and was thus deprived of all the benefits he had obtained; after\-wards, by the compassion of God, he was restored to the life he had forfeited, and this through the loving-kindness of Christ; so that there should always be some assembly on earth, which being adopted into the hope of the celestial life, might in this confidence worship God. The end to which the whole scope of the history tends is to this point, that the human race has been preserved by God in such a manner as to manifest his special care for his Church. For this is the argu\-ment of the Book : After the world had been created, man was placed in it as in a theatre, that he, beholding above him and beneath the wonderful works of God, might reverently adore their Author. Secondly, that all things were ordained for the use of man, that he, being under deeper obligation, might devote and dedicate himself entirely to obedience towards}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ARGUMENT.                                       65}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 God. Thirdly, that he was endued with understanding and reason, that being distinguished from brute animals he might meditate on a better life, and might even tend directly to\-wards God, whose image he bore engraven on his own per\-son. Afterwards followed the fall of Adam, whereby he alienated himself from God; whence it came to pass that he was deprived of all rectitude. Thus Moses represents man as devoid of all good, blinded in understanding, perverse in heart, vitiated in every part, and under sentence of eternal death; but he soon adds the history of his restoration, where Christ shines forth with the benefit of redemption. From this point he not only relates continuously the singular Pro\-vidence of God in governing and preserving the Church, but also commends to us the true worship of God; teaches wherein the salvation of man is placed, and exhorts us, from the example of the Fathers, to constancy in enduring the cross. Whosoever, therefore, desires to make suitable pro\-ficiency in this book, let him employ his mind on these main topics. But especially, let him observe, that after Adam had by his own desperate fall ruined himself and all his posterity, this is the basis of our salvation, this the origin of the Church, that we, being rescued out of profound darkness, have ob\-tained a new life by the mere grace of God; that the Fathers (according to the offer made them through the word of God) are by faith made partakers of this life; that this word itself was founded upon Christ; and that all the pious who have since lived were sustained by the very same promise of sal\-vation by which Adam was first raised from the fall.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Therefore, the perpetual succession of the Church has flowed from this fountain, that the holy Fathers, one after another, having by faith embraced the offered promise, were collected together into the family of God, in order that they might have a common life in Christ. This we ought care\-fully to notice, that we may know what is the society of the true Church, and what the communion of faith among the children of God. Whereas Moses was ordained the Teacher of the Israelites, there is no doubt that he had an especial reference to them, in order that they might acknowledge themselves to be a people elected and chosen by God ; and}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 GO                                               ARGUMENT.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 that they might seek the certainty of this adoption from the Covenant which the Lord had ratified with their fathers, and might know that there was no other God, and no other right faith. But it was also his will to testify to all ages, that whosoever desired to worship God aright, and to be deemed members of the Church, must pursue no other course than that which is here prescribed. But as this is the commence\-ment of faith, to know that there is one only true God whom we worship, so it is no common confirmation of this faith that we are companions of the Patriarchs; for since they possessed Christ as the pledge of their salvation when he had not yet appeared, so we retain the God who formerly mani\-fested himself to them. Hence we may infer the difference between the pure and lawful worship of God, and all those adulterated services which have since been fabricated by the fraud of Satan and the perverse audacity of men. Further, the Government of the Church is to be considered, that the reader may come to the conclusion that God has been its perpetual Guard and Euler, yet in such a way as to exer\-cise it in the warfare of the cross. Here, truly, the peculiar conflicts of the Church present themselves to view, or rather, the course is set as in a mirror before our eyes, in which it behoves us, with the holy Fathers, to press towards the mark of a happy immortality.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Let us now hearken to Moses.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARY}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAPTEK I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.    And the Spirit of God   moved upon the face of the waters.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3.  And God said, Let there bo light: and there was light.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  And God saw the light, that it loas good: and God divided the light from the darkness.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the watera.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  And God called the firmament Heaven.    And the evening and the morning were the second day.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered to\-gether into one place, and let the dry land appear : and it was so.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.   Ik principio creavit Dens coelum et terrain.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  Terra autem erat informis et inanis; tenebra3que erant in superficie voraginis, et Spiritus Dei   agitabat  se   in   superficie aquarum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3.  Et dixit Deus, Sit lux.    Et fuit lux.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  Viditque Deus lucem quod bona esset; et divisit Deus lucem a tenebris.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.   Et   vocavit Dens   lncem, Diem : et tenebras vocavit Noc-tem.    Fuitque vespera, et fuit mane dies primus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  Et dixit Deus, Sit extensio in medio  aquarum,  et  dividat aquas ab aquis.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  Et fecit Deus expansionem: et divisit aquas quas erant sub expansione, ab aquis quas erant super    expansionem.     Et   fuit ita.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  Vocavitque   Deus   expan\-sionem Coelunr.    Et fuit vespera, et fuit mane dies secundus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  Postea dixit Deus, Congre-gentur aquaj quse sunt sub ccelo, in locum an urn, et appareat ari-da,   Et fuit ita.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 68}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARY UPON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  And God called the dry land Earth ; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  And the  earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  And the evening and the morn\-ing were the third day.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.  And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  And let them bo for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  And God set them in the firma\-ment of the heaven to give light upon the earth,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18.  And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness : and God saw that it was good.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19. And the evening and the morn\-ing were the fourth day.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20.  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abun\-dantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind : and God saw that it was good.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl mul\-tiply in the earth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  Et vocavit Deus aridam, Terrain:   congregationem   vero aquarum appellavit Maria.    Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  Postea dixit Deus, Ger-minet   terra   germen,   herbam seminificantem semen, arborem fructiferam,  facientem   fructum juxta   speciem suam   cui  insit semen suum super terram.   Et fuit ita.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  Et protulit terra germen, herbam   seminificantem   semen juxta speciem suam, et arborem facientem   fructum   cui   semen suum inesset jnxta speciem suam. Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  Et fuit   vespera,  et  fuit mane dies tertius.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.  Tune dixit Deus, Sint ln-minaria in firmamentum coeli, ut dividant diem a uocte, et sint in signa, et stata tempora, et dies, et annos:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  Et sint in   luminaria in expansione coeli, ut   illuminent terram.   Et fuit ita.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16.  Et fecit Deus duo  lnmi-naria magna: luminare majus in dominium diei, et luminare minus in dominium noctis, et Stellas.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.   Posuitque   ea   Deus   in expansione coeli, ut illuminarent terram :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18.  Et ut dominarentur diei ac nocti, et dividerent lucem a tenebris: et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.  Et fuit  vespera,  et  fuit mane dies quartus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20.  Postea dixit Deus, Eepere faciant aqua? reptile animae vi-ventis, et  volatile volet super terram in superficie expansionis coeli.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.  Et    creavit   Deus   cetos magnos, et omnem animum vi-ventem, repentem, quam repere fecerunt aquae juxta species suas: et omne volatile alatum secundum speciem cujusque.   Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  Benedixitque eis, dicendo, Crescite et multiplicate vos, et replete   aquas in  maribus;   et volatile multiplicet se in terra.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 69}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  And the evening and the morn\-ing were the fifth day.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25.  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their   kind,   and   every   thing   that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 26.   And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 27.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 28.   And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 29.  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shall be for meat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 30.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein  there is life, / have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 81. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morn\-ing were the sixth day.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  Et  fnit vespera,   et  fuit mane dies quintus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.  Postea dixit Dens, Pro-ducat   terra  animam viventem secundum speciem suam, jumen-tum et reptile, et bestias terras secundum speciem suam.   Et fuit ita.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25.   Fecitque   Deus   bestiam terras secundum speciem suam, et jumentum secundum speciem suam, et omne reptile terras se\-cundum speciem suam: et vidit Deus quod esset bonum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 26.  Et dixit Deus, Faciamus homiuem in imagine nostra, se\-cundum similitudinem nostram; et dominetur piscibus maris, et volatili coeli, et jnmento, et omni terras, et omni reptili reptanti su\-per terrain.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 27.   Creavit itaque Deus ho-minem ad imaginem suam, ad imaginem   inquam   Dei   creavit ilium:  masculum   et   foeminam creavit eos.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 28.   Et benedixit illis Deus, dixitque ad eos Deus, Crescite, et multiplicate yos, et replete terram, et subjicite earn, et do-minemini piscibus maris, et vola-tiii coeli, et omni bestias reptanti super terram.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 29.  Et dixit Deus, Ecce, dedi vobis omnem  herbam seminifi-cantem semen, quse est in super-ficie universas terrae, et omnem arborem in qua est fructus arboris seminificans semen: ut vobis sit in escam.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 30.  Et omni bestias terras, et omni volatili cceli, et omni rep\-tanti super terram in   quo   est anima vivans, omne olus herb* erit in escam.   Et fuit ita.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 31.  Et vidit Deus omne quod fecerat, et ecce bonum valde. Et fuit vespera, et fuit mane dies sextus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1. In the beginning. To expound the term "beginning," of Christ, is altogether frivolous. For Moses simply in\-tends to assert that the world was not perfected at its very}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 70                             COMMENTARY UPON                        CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 commencement, in the manner in which it is now seen, but that it was created an empty chaos of heaven and earth. His language therefore may be thus explained. When God in the beginning created the heaven and the earth, the earth was empty and waste.1 He moreover teaches by the word " created," that what before did not exist was now made; for he has not used the term *")\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a5\dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9830\'3f\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 , \{yatsar,) which signifies to frame or form, but X*t3j (bara,) which signifies to create.2 Therefore his meaning is, that the world was made out of nothing. Hence the folly of those is refuted who imagine that unformed matter existed from eternity; and who gather nothing else from the narration of Moses than that the world was furnished with new ornaments, and received a form of which it was before destitute. This indeed was formerly a common fable among heathens,8 who had received only an obscure report of the creation, and who, according to custom, adulterated the truth of God with strange figments ; but for Christian men to labour (as Steuchus does4) in maintaining this gross error is absurd and intolerable. Let this, then, be maintained in the first place,6 that the world is not eternal, but was created by God. There is no- doubt that Moses gives the name of heaven and earth to- that confused mass which he, shortly afterwards, (verse 2,) denominates waters. The reason of which is, that this matter was to be the seed of the whole world. Besides, this is the generally recog\-nized division of the world.6}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 God.    Moses has it Elohim, a noun of the plural number. "Whence the inference is drawn, that the three Persons of}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 "La terre estoit vuide, et sans forme, et ne servoit k rien."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "The earth was empty, and without form, and was of no use.''\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 N"O-    It has a twofold meaning,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 1. To create out of nothing, as is proved from these words, In the beginning, because nothing was made before then.    2. To produce something excellent out ofpre-existent matter ; as it is said afterwards, He created whales, and man.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Fagius, Drusius, and Estius, in Poolers Synopsis.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 Inter profanos homines.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 Steuchus Augustinus was the Author of a work, " De Perenni Philo-sophia," Lugd. 1540, and is most likely the writer referred to by Calvin. The work, however, is very rare, and probably of little value.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5  " Sit igitur hsec prima sententia.    Que ceci dont soit premierement resolu."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6 Namely, into heaven and earth.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP-I.                   THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            71}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the Godhead are here noted; but since, as a proof of so great a matter, it appears to me to have little solidity, I will not insist upon the word; but rather caution readers to beware of violent glosses of this kind.1 They think that they have testimony against the Arians to prove the Deity of the Son and of the Spirit, but in the meantime they involve themselves in the error of Sabellius :2 because Moses after\-wards subjoins that the Elohim had spoken, and that the Spirit of the Elohim rested upon the waters. If we suppose three persons to be here denoted, there will be no distinction between them. For it will follow, both that the Son is be\-gotten by himself, and that the Spirit is not of the Father,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The reasoning of Calvin on this point is a great proof of the candour of his mind, and of his determination to adhere strictly to what he con\-ceives to be the meaning of Holy Scripture, whatever bearing it might have on the doctrines he maintains.   It may however be right to direct the reader, who wishes fully to examine the disputed meaning of the plural word on1?^ which we translate God, to some sources of informa\-tion, whence ho may be able to form his own judgment respecting the term.    Cocceius argues that the mj'stery of the Trinity in Unity is con\-tained in the word; and many other writers of reputation take the same ground.    Others contend, that though no clear intimation of the Trinity in Unity is given, yet the notion of plurality of Persons is plainly implied in the term.   For a full account of all the arguments in favour of this hypothesis, the work of Dr John Pye Smith, on the Scripture testimony of the Messiah\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 a work full of profound learning, and distinguished by patient industry and calmly courteous criticism\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 may be consulted. It must however be observed, that this diligent and impartial writer has not met the special objection adduced by Calvin in this place, namely, the danger of gliding into Sabellianism while attempting to confute Ariauism.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 The error of Sabellins (according to Theodoret) consisted in his maintaining, " that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are one hypos-tasis, and one Person under three names;" or, in the language of that eminent ecclesiastical scholar, the late Dr Burton, " Sabellius divided the One Divinity into three, but he supposed the Son and the Holy Ghost to have no distinct personal existence, except when they were put forth for a time by the Father."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Burton's Lectures on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p.   365;   and his Bawpton   Lectures, Note 103.   This  will perhaps assist the reader to understand the nature of Calvin's argu\-ment which  immediately follows.     Supposing the word   Elohim   to denote the Three Persons of the Godhead in the first verse, it also denotes the  same Three Persons in the second verso.    But in this second verse Moses says, the Spirit of Elohim, that is, the Spirit of the Three Persons rested on the waters.    Hence the distinction of Persons is lost; for the Spirit is himself one of them ; consequently the Spirit is sent from himself.  The same reasoning would prove that the Son was begotten by himself; because he is one of the Persons of the Elohim by whom the Son is begotten.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 72                               COMMENTARY UPON                      CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 but of himself. For me it is sufficient that the plural num\-ber expresses those powers which God exercised in creating the world. Moreover, I acknowledge that the Scripture, although it recites many powers of the Godhead, yet always recalls us to the Father, and his Word, and Spirit, as we shall shortly see. But those absurdities, to which I have alluded, forbid us with subtlety to distort what Moses simply declares concerning God himself, by applying it to the separate Persons of the Godhead. This, however, I regard as beyond controversy, that, from the peculiar circumstance of the passage itself, a title is here ascribed to God, expressive of that power, which was previously in some way included in his eternal essence.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The interpretation above given of the meaning of the word D'r&K, (Elohim,) receives confirmation from the profound critical investigations of Dr Hengstenberg, Professor of Theology in the University of Berlin, whose work, cast in a somewhat new form, and entitled " Dissertations on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch," appears in an English dress, under the superintendence of the Continental Translation Society, while these pages are passing through the press. AVith other learned critics, he concludes, that the word is derived from the Arabic root Allah, which means to worship, to adore, to be seized with fear. He, therefore, regards the title more especially descriptive of the awful aspect of the Divine character.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 On the plural form of the word he quotes from the Jewish Kabbis the assertion, that it is intended to signify ' Dominus potentiarum omnium,' 1 The Lord of all powers.' He refers to Calvin and others as having op\-posed, though without immediate effect, the notion maintained by Peter Lombard, that it involved the mystery of the Trinity. He repels the profane intimation of Le Clerc, and his successors of the Noological school, that the name originated in polytheism ; and then proceeds to show that " there is in the Hebrew language a widely extended use of the plural, which expresses the intensity of the idea contained in the singular." After numerous references, which prove this point, he proceeds to argue, that " if, in relation to earthly objects, all that serves to represent a whole order of beings is brought before the mind by means of the plural form, we might anticipate a more extended application of this method of dis\-tinguishing in the appellations of God, in whose being and attributes there is everywhere a unity which embraces and comprehends all multi\-plicity." " The use of the plural," he adds, " answers the same purpose which elsewhere is accomplished by an accumulation of the Divine names; as in Joshua xxii. 22 ; the thrice holy in Isaiah vi. 3 ; and Q\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 j"in *3"ik in Deut. x. 17. It calls the attention to the infinite riches and the in\-exhaustible fulness contained in the one Divine Being, so that though men may imagine innumerable gods, and invest them with perfections, yet all these are contained in the one n\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 n^>K, (Elohim") See Dissertations, pp. 268-273.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It is, perhaps, necessary here to state, that whatever treasures of biblical learning the writings of this celebrated author contains, and they are un \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.        THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                           73}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2. And the earth was without form and void. I shall not be very solicitous about the exposition of these two epithets, )TV\\T\\, (tohu,) and VTOj (bohu.) The Hebrews use them when they designate anything empty and confused, or vain, and nothing worth. Undoubtedly Moses placed them both in opposition to all those created objects which pertain to the form, the ornament and the perfection of the world. Were we now to take away, I say, from the earth all that God added after the time here alluded to, then we should have this rude and unpolished, or rather shapeless chaos.1 Therefore I regard what he immediately subjoins, that "darkness was upon the face of the abyss,"2 as a part of that confused emptiness : because the light began to give some external appearance to the world. For the same reason he calls it the abyss and waters, since in that mass of matter nothing was solid or stable, nothing distinct.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And the Spirit of God. Interpreters have wrested this passage in various ways. The opinion of some that it means the wind, is too frigid to require refutation. They who un\-derstand by it the Eternal Spirit of God, do rightly; yet all do not attain the meaning of Moses in the connection of his discourse; hence arise the various interpretations of the par\-ticiple nSPli/bj (merachepeth.) I will, in the first place, state what (in my judgment) Moses intended. We have already heard that before God had perfected the world it Avas an indigested mass; he now teaches that the power of the Spirit was necessary in order to sustain it.   For this}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 doubtedly great, the reader will still require to be on his guard in studying them. For, notwithstanding the author's general strenuous opposition to the anti-supernaturalism of his own countrymen, he has not altogether escaped the contagion which he is attempting to resist. Occasions may occur in which it will be right to allude to some of his mistakes.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' The words 1H31 inn are rendered in Calvin's text informis et inanis, " shapeless and empty." They are, however, substantives, and are trans\-lated in Isaiah xxxiv. 11, " confusion" and " emptiness." The two words standing in connection, were used by the Hebrews to describe anything that was most dreary, waste, and desolate. The Septuagint has \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 oj\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 toj *\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 / \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 x\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 T\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 ffxeu\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 <rTOf, invisible and unfurnished\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 It is to be remarked, that Calvin does not in his comment always adhere to his own translation. For instance, his version here is, " in superflciem voraginis;" but in his Commentary he has it, " super faciem abyssi," from the Latin Vulgate.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 74                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 doubt might occur to the mind, how such a disorderly heap could stand; seeing that we now behold the world preserved by government, or order.1 He therefore asserts that this mass, however confused it might be, was rendered stable, for the time, by the secret efficacy of the Spirit. Now there are two significations of the Hebrew word which suit the present place; either that the Spirit moved and agitated itself over the waters, for the sake of putting forth vigour; or that He brooded over them to cherish them.2 Inasmuch as it makes little difference in the result, whichever of these explanations is preferred, let the reader's judgment be left free. But if that chaos required the secret inspiration of God to prevent its speedy dissolution; how could this order, so fair and distinct, subsist by itself, unless it derived strength elsewhere ? Therefore, that Scripture must be fulfilled, ' Send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth,' (Ps. civ. 30;) so, on the other hand, as soon as the Lord takes away his Spirit, all things return to their dust and vanish away, (ver. 29.)}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3. And God said. Moses now, for the first time, intro\-duces God in the act of speaking, as if he had created the mass of heaven and earth without the Word.3 Yet John testifies that ' without him nothing was made of the things which were made,' (John i. 3.) And it is certain that the world had been begun by the same efficacy of the Word by which it was completed.    God, however, did not put forth his}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Temperamento servari."     Perhaps we should say, " preserved by the laws of nature."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 The participle of the verb s^m is here used instead of the regular tense.   " The Spirit was moving," instead of " the Spirit moved."   The word occurs in Deut. xxxii. 11, where the eagle is represented as flutter\-ing over her young.  Vatablus, whom Calvin here probably follows, says, the Holy Spirit cherished the earth " by his secret virtue, that it might remain stable for the time."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Poolers Synopsis.    The word, however, is supposed further to imply a vivifying power ; as that of birds brooding over and hatching their young.    Gesenius says that Moses here speaks, " Von der shaffenden und belebenden Kraft Gottes die iiber der chao-tischen wasserbedeckten Erde schwebt gleichsam brutet"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "of the cre\-ative and quickening power of God, which hovered over the chaotic and water-covered earth, as if brooding."   The same view is given by P. Martyr on Genesis ; others, however, are opposed to this interpretation. Vide Johannes Clericus in loco.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Sans sa Parole"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " without his Word."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.         THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          75}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Word until he proceeded to originate light;1 because in the act of distinguishing2 his wisdom begins to be conspicuous. Which thing alone is sufficient to confute the blasphemy of Servetus. This impure caviller asserts,3 that the first begin\-ning of the Word was when God commanded the light to be; as if the cause, truly, were not prior to its effect. Since, however, by the Word of God things which were not came suddenly into being, we ought rather to infer the eternity of His essence. Wherefore the Apostles rightly prove the Deity of Christ from hence, that since he is the Word of God, all things have been created by him. Servetus ima\-gines a new quality in God when he begins to speak. But far otherwise must we think concerning the Word of God, namely, that he is the Wisdom dwelling in God,4 and with\-out which God could never be; the effect of which, however, became apparent when the light was created.5}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Sed Deus Verbtim suum nonnisi inlucis origine, protulit."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "Mais Dieu n'a point mis sa Parole en avant, sinon en la creation de la lumiere." \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " But God did not put his Word forward except in the creation of the light."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " In distinctione." The French is somewhat different: "Pourcequela distinction de sa Sagesse commenca lors a apparoir evidemment."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "Because that the distinction of his Wisdom began then to appear evi\-dently."   The printing of the word Wisdom with a capital, renders it probable that by it Calvin means the Son of God, who is styled Wisdom in the eighth chapter of Proverbs and elsewhere.   Whence it would seem that he intends the whole of what he here says as an argument in favour of the Deity of Christ.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Latrat hie obscoenus canis."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4  " Mais il faut bien autrement sentir de la Parole de Dieu, assavoir que e'est la Sapience residente en luy."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5  To understand this difficult and obscure passage, it will be necessary to know something of the ground taken by Servetus in his attempt to subvert the doctrine of the Trinity.    He maintained that Christ was not the Sou of God as to his divine nature, but only as to his human, and that this title belonged to him solely in consequence of His incarnation. Yet he professed to believe in the Word, as an emanation of some kind from the Deity; compounded\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 as he explains it\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 of the essence of God, of spirit, of flesh, and of three uncreated elements.   These three elements appeared, as he supposes, in the first light of the world, in the cloud, and in the pillar of fire.    (See Calvin's Institutes, Book II. c. xiv.)    This illustrates what Calvin means when he says, that Servetus imagines a new quality in God when he begins to speak.   The distinct personality of the Word being denied, qualities or attributes of Deity are put in his place. Against this Calvin contends.   His argument seems to be to the follow\-ing effect:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 The creation of the indigested mass called heaven and earth,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 76                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Let there be light. It was proper that the light, by means of which the world was to be adorned with such excellent beauty, should be first created; and this also was the com\-mencement of the distinction, [among the creatures.1] It did not, however, happen from inconsideration or by accident, that the light preceded the sun and the moon. To nothing are we more prone than to tie down the power of God to those in\-struments, the agency of which he employs. The sun and moon supply us with light: and, according to our notions, we so include this power to give light in them, that if they were taken away from the world, it would seem impossible for any light to remain. Therefore the Lord, by the very order of the creation, bears witness that he holds in his hand the light, which he is able to impart to us without the sun and moon. Further, it is certain, from the context, that the light was so created as to be interchanged with darkness. But it may be asked, whether light and darkness succeeded each other in turn through the whole circuit of the world; or whether the}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 in the first verse, was apparently\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 though not really\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 without the Word, inasmuch as the Word is not mentioned. But when there began to be a distinction, (such as light developed,) then the Word was put forward. This Word is also the Wisdom of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Servetus asserts that the Word had no existence till God said, " Let there be light." But Calvin argues, that the Word existed before he acted\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 the cause was prior to its effect. We ought, therefore, to infer the eternal existence of the Word, as he contends the Apostles do, from the fact that all things were created by Him. Whatever quality God possessed when he began to speak, he must have possessed before. His Word, or his Wisdom, or his only-begotten Son, dwelt in Him, and was one with him from eternity; the same Word, or Wisdom, acted really in the creation of the chaotic mass, though not apparently. But in the creation of light, the very commencement of distinguishing, (exordium distinctionis,) this divine Word or Wisdom was manifest.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Having given, to the best of my judgment, an explanation of Calvin's reasoning, truth obliges me to add, that it seems to be an involved and unsatisfactory argument to prove\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1st, That the Second Person of the Trinity is distinctly referred to in the second verse of this chapter ; and,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2d, That He is truly though not obviously the Creator of heaven and earth mentioned in the first verse.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It furnishes occasion rather for regret than for surprise, that the most powerful minds are sometimes found attempting to sustain a good cause by inconclusive reasoning.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' " De la distinction des les creatures."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr. That is, the beauties of nature could not be perceived, nor the distinction between different objects discerned without the light.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                         77}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 darkness occupied one half of the circle, while light shone in the other. There is, however, no doubt that the order of their succession was alternate, but whether it was everywhere day at the same time, and everywhere night also, I would rather leave undecided; nor is it very necessary to be known.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  And God saw the light.    Here God is introduced by Moses as surveying his work, that he might take pleasure in it.    But he does it for our sake, to teach us that God has made nothing without a certain reason and design.    And we ought not so to understand the words of Moses as if God did not know that his work was good, till it was finished.    But the meaning of the passage is, that the work, such as we now see it, was approved by God.   Therefore nothing remains for us, but to acquiesce in this judgment of God.    And this ad\-monition is very useful.   For whereas man ought to apply all his senses to the admiring contemplation of the works of God,2 we see what license he really allows himself in detract\-ing from them.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5. And God called the light.    That is, God willed that there should be a regular vicissitude of days and nights; which also followed immediately when the first day was ended. ForGod re\-moved the light from view, that night might be the commence\-ment of another day.    What Moses says, however, admits a double interpretation; either that this was the evening and morning belonging to the first day, or that the first day con\-sisted of the evening and the morning.   Whichever interpre\-tation be chosen, it makes no difference in the sense, for he simply understands the day to have been made up of two parts.    Further, he begins the day, according to the custom of his nation, with the evening.    It is to no purpose to dis\-pute whether this be the best and the legitimate order or not. We know that darkness preceded time itself; when God withdrew the light, he closed the day.   I do not doubt that}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  See Note at p. 61.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " L'homme devroit estendere tous ses sens a considerer, et avoir en admiration les oenvres de Dieu."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Man ought to apply all his senses in considering and having in admiration the works of God."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 78                                COMMENTARY UPOX                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the most ancient fathers, to whom the coming night was the end of one day and the beginning of another, followed this mode of reckoning. Although Moses did not intend here to prescribe a rule which it would be criminal to violate; yet (as we have now said) he accommodated his discourse to the received custom. Wherefore, as the Jews foolishly condemn all the reckonings of other people, as if God had sanctioned this alone; so again are they equally foolish who contend that this modeof reckoning, which Moses approves, is preposterous. The first day. Here the error of those is manifestly re\-futed, who maintain that the world was made in a moment. For it is too violent a cavil to contend that Moses distributes the work which God perfected at once into six days, for the mere purpose of conveying instruction. Let us rather con\-clude that God himself took the space of six days, for the pur\-pose of accommodating his works to the capacity of men. We slightingly pass over the infinite glory of God, which here shines forth; whence arises this but from our excessive dulness in considering his greatness? In the meantime, the vanity of our minds carries us away elsewhere. For the cor\-rection of this fault, God applied the most suitable remedy when he distributed the creation of the world into successive portions, that he might fix our attention, and compel us, as if he had laid his hand upon us, to pause and to reflect. For the confirmation of the gloss above alluded to, a passage from Ecclesiasticus is unskilfully cited. ' He who liveth for ever created all things at once,' (Ecclus. xviii. 1.) For the Greek adverb xoivfj, which the writer uses, means no such thing, nor does it refer to time, but to all things universally.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6. Let there be a firmament? The work of the second day is to provide an empty space around the circumference of the earth, that heaven and earth may not be mixed to\-gether. For since the proverb, 'to mingle heaven and earth,' denotes the extreme of disorder, this distinction ought to be}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  So the English translation: " He that liveth for ever made all things in general."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Sit extensio," In the next verse he changes the word to " expansio." " Fecit expansionem."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " He made an expanse."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CIIAP. I.                   THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                             79}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 regarded as of great importance. Moreover, the word y\\Tl> \{rahia,) comprehends not only the whole region of the air, but whatever is open above us : as the word heaven is some\-times understood by the Latins. Thus the arrangement, as well of the heavens as of the lower atmosphere, is called J^pi, (rakia,) without discrimination between them, but sometimes the word signifies both together, sometimes one part only, as will appear more plainly in our progress. I know not why the Greeks have chosen to render the word jrsjsw/ia, which the Latins have imitated in the term Jirmamentum;1 for liter\-ally it means expanse. And to this David alludes when he says that ' the heavens are stretched out by God like a cur\-tain,' (Ps. civ. 2.) If any one should inquire whether this vacuity did not previously exist, I answer, however true it may be that all parts of the earth were not overflowed by the waters; yet now, for the first time, a separation was ordained, whereas a confused admixture had previously existed- Moses describes the special use of this expanse, "to divide the waters from the waters," from which words arises a great difficulty. For it appears opposed to common sense, and quite incredible, that there should be waters above the heaven. Hence some resort to allegory, and philosophize concerning angels; but quite beside the purpose. For, to my mind, this is a certain principle, that nothing is here treated of but the visible form of the world. He who would learn astro\-nomy,2 and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere.   Here}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  See the Septuagint and Vulgate, which have both been followed by our English translators.    Doubtless Calvin is correct in supposing the true meaning of the Hebrew  word  to be  expanse; but the  trans\-lators of the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and our own version, were not without reasons for the manner in which they rendered the word.    The root, yp-|, signifies, according to Gesenius, Lee, Cocceius, &c, to stamp with the foot, to beat or hammer out any malleable substance; and the derivative, yp~\\, is the outspreading of the heavens, which, "according to ordinary observation, rests like the half of a hollow sphere over the earth." To the Hebrews, as Gesenius observes, it presented a crystal or sapphire-like appearance.   Hence it was thought to be something firm as well as expanded\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 a roof of crystal or of sapphire.    The l-eader may also refer to the note of Johannes Cleficus, in his commentary on Genesis, who re \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 tains the word firmament, and argues at length in vindication of the term. \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 Astrologia.   This word includes, but is not necessarily confined to that empyrical and presumptuous science, (falsely so-called,) which we}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 80                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the Spirit of God would teach all men without exception; and therefore what Gregory declares falsely and in vain re\-specting statues and pictures is truly applicable to the history of the creation, namely, that it is the book of the unlearned.1 The things, therefore, which he relates, serve as the garni\-ture of that theatre which he places before our eyes. Whence I conclude, that the waters here meant are such as the rude and unlearned may perceive. The assertion of some, that they embrace by faith what they have read concerning the waters above the heavens, notwithstanding their ignor\-ance respecting them, is not in accordance with the design of Moses. And truly a longer inquiry into a matter open and manifest is superfluous. We see that the clouds suspended in the air, which threaten to fall upon our heads, yet leave us space to breathe.2 They who deny that this is effected by the wonderful providence of God, are vainly inflated with the folly of their own minds. We know, indeed, that the rain is naturally produced ; but the deluge sufficiently shows how speedily we might be overwhelmed by the bursting of the clouds, unless the cataracts of heaven were closed by the hand of God. Nor does David rashly recount this among His miracles, that God " layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters," (Ps. civ. 31;) and he elsewhere calls upon the celestial waters to praise God, (Ps. cxlviii. 4.) Since, therefore, God has created the clouds, and assigned them a region above us, it ought not to be forgotten that they are}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 now generally designate by the term astrology. As the word originally means nothing but the science of the stars, so it was among our own earlier writers applied in the same manner. Consequently, it comprehended the sjablime and useful science of astronomy. From the double meaning of the word, Calvin sometimes speaks of it with approbation, and sometimes with censure. But attention to his reasoning will show, that what he commends is astronomy, and what he censures is astrology in the present acceptation of the word.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The following are the words of Pope Gregory I.:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Tdcirco eniin pic-tnva in ecclesiis adhibeter, ut hi qui literas nesciunt, saltern in parietibus videndo legant qu<e legere in codicibus non valent."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Epis. cix. ad Lerenum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 "Capitibusnostris sicminari, ut spirandi locusnobisrelinquant." The French is more diffuse: "Nous menacent, comme si elles devoyent tomber sur nos testes; et toutesfois elle nous laissent ici lieu pour respirer.'' " They threaten us, as if they would fall upon our heads ; and, neverthe\-less, they leave us here space to breathe."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          81}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 restrained by the power of God, lest, gushing forth with sud\-den violence, they should swallow us up: and especially since no other barrier is opposed to them than the liquid and yield\-ing air, which would easily give way unless this word pre\-vailed, ' Let there be an expanse between the waters.' Yet Moses has not affixed to the work of this day the note that " God saw that it was good:" perhaps because there was no advantage from it till the terrestrial waters were gathered into their proper place, which was done on the next day, and therefore it is there twice repeated.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9. Let the waters . ... be gathered together. This also is an illustrious miracle, that the waters by their de\-parture have given a dwelling-place to men. For even philosophers allow that the natural position of the waters was to cover the whole earth, as Moses declares they did in the beginning; first, because, being an element, it must be cir\-cular, and because this element is heavier than the air, and lighter than the earth, it ought to cover the latter in its whole circumference.2 But that the seas, being gathered together as on heaps, should give place for man, is seemingly preter\-natural ; and therefore Scripture often extols the goodness of God in this particular. See Psalm xxxiii. 7, 'He hath gathered the waters together on a heap, and hath laid them up in his treasures.' Also Psalm lxxviii. 13, ' He hath col\-lected the waters as into a bottle.'3 Jeremiah v. 22, 'Will ye not fear me ? will ye not tremble at my presence, who have}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  The Septuagint here inserts the clause, " God saw that it was good ;" but, as it is found neither in the Hebrew nor in any other ancient version, it must be abandoned.   The Rabbis say that the clause was omitted, be\-cause the angels fell on that day; but this is to cut the knot rather than to untie it.   There is more probability in the conjecture of Picherellus, who supposes that what follows in the ninth and tenth verses all belonged to the work of the second day, though mentioned after it; and, in the same way, he contends that the formation of the beasts, recorded in the 24th verse, belonged to the fifth day, though mentioned after it.   Exam\-ples of this kind, of Hysteron proteron, are adduced in confirmation of this interpretation.    See Poole's Synopsis in loco.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  This reasoning is to be explained by reference to the philosophical theories of the age.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Velut in utrem;" from the Vulgate.   The English version is, "He made the waters to stand as an heap."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 82                                  COMMENTARY UPO5T                        CHAP. X.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 placed the sand as the boundary of the sea ?' Job xxxviii. 8, ' Who hath shut up the sea with doors ? Have not I sur\-rounded it with gates and bars ? I have said, Hitherto shalt thou proceed; here shall thy swelling waves be broken.' Let us, therefore, know that we are dwelling on dry ground, because God, by his command, has removed the waters, that they should not overflow the whole earth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11. Let the earth bring forth grass. Hitherto the earth was naked and barren, now the Lord fructifies it by his word. For though it was already destined to bring forth fruit, yet till new virtue proceeded from the mouth of God, it must remain dry and empty. For neither was it naturally fit to produce anything, nor had it a germinating principle from any other source, till the mouth of the Lord was opened. For what David declares concerning the heavens, ought also to be extended to the earth; that it was ' made by the word of the Lord, and was adorned and furnished by the breath of his mouth,' (Ps. xxxiii. 6.) Moreover, it did not happen fortuitously, that herbs and trees were created before the sun and moon. We now see, indeed, that the earth is quickened by the sun to cause it to bring forth its fruits; nor was God ignorant of this law of nature, which he has since ordained: but in order that we might learn to refer all things to him, he did not then make use of the sun or moon.1 He permits us to perceive the efficacy which he infuses into them, so far aa he uses their instrumentality; but because we are wont to regard as part of their nature properties which they derive elsewhere, it was necessary that the vigour which they now seem to impart to the earth should be manifest before they were created. We acknowledge, it is true, in words, that the First Cause is self-sufficient, and that intermediate and secondary causes have only what they borrow from this First Cause; but, in reality, we picture God to ourselves as poor or imperfect, unless he is assisted by second causes. How few, indeed, are there who ascend higher than the sun when they treat of the fecundity of the earth ?   What there-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' " Nullas tune soli etlunse partes coneessit."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "II ne s'est point servi en cest endroit du soiiel ni de lalune."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\loch\af0\hich\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 \'80\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 HAP. I.                  THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            83}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 fore we declare God to have done designedly, was indispens\-ably necessary; that we may learn from the order of the creation itself, that God acts through the creatures, not as if he needed external help, but because it was his pleasure. When he says, ' Let the earth bring forth the herb which may produce seed, the tree whose seed is in itself,' he signi\-fies not only that herbs and trees were then created, but that, at the same time, both were endued with the power of propagation, in order that their several species might be per\-petuated. Since, therefore, we daily see the earth pouring forth to us such riches from its lap, since we see the herbs producing seed, and this seed received and cherished in the bosom of the earth till it springs forth, and since we see trees shooting from other trees ; all this flows from the same Word. If therefore we inquire, how it happens that the earth is fruitful^ that the germ is produced from the seed, that fruits come to maturity, and their various kinds are annually reproduced ; no other cause will be found, but that God has once spoken, that is, has issued his eternal decree ; and that the earth, and all things proceeding from it, yield obedience to the command of God, which they always hear.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14, Let there be lights.1 Moses passes onward to the fourth day, on which the stars were made. God had before created the light, but he now institutes a new order in na\-ture, that the sun should be the dispenser of diurnal light, and the moon and stars should shine by night. And He assigns them this office, to teach us that all creatures are subject to his will, and execute what he enjoins upon them. For Moses relates nothing else than that God ordained certain instru\-ments to diffuse through the earth, by reciprocal changes, that light which had been previously created. The only difference is this, that the light was before dispersed, but now proceeds from lucid bodies ; which, in serving this pur\-pose, obey the command of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 To divide the day from the night.    He means the arti-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Luminaria"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "Luminaries." Hob. ni1X!3- Instruments of light, from iiKi light, in ver. 3. " Lighters; that is, lightsome bodies, or instru\-ments that show light."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ainsworth.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 84                               COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ficial day, which begins at the rising of the sun and ends at its setting. For the natural day (which he mentions above) includes in itself the night. Hence infer, that the interchange of days and nights shall be continual: because the word of God, who determined that the days should be distinct from the nights, directs the course of the sun to this end.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Let them be for signs. It must be remembered, that Moses does not speak with philosophical acuteness on occult mysteries, but relates those things which are everywhere observed, even by the uncultivated, and which are in com\-mon use. A twofold advantage is chiefly perceived from the course of the sun and moon; the one is natural, the other applies to civil institutions.1 Under the term nature, I also comprise agriculture. For although sowing and reaping re\-quire human art and industry ; this, nevertheless, is natural, that the sun, by its nearer approach, warms our earth, that he introduces the vernal season, that he is the cause of sum\-mer and autumn. But that, for the sake of assisting their memory, men number among themselves years and months; that of these, they form lustra and olympiads; that they keep stated days ; this, I say, is peculiar to civil polity. Of each of these mention is here made. I must, however, in a few words, state the reason why Moses calls them signs ; because certain inquisitive persons abuse this passage, to give colour to their frivolous predictions : I call those men Chaldeans and fanatics, who divine everything from the aspects of the stars.2 Because Moses declares that the sun and moon were ap\-pointed for signs, they think themselves entitled to elicit from them anything they please. But confutation is easy: for they are called signs of certain things, not signs to denote whatever is according to our fancy. What indeed does Moses assert to be signified by them, except things belonging to the order of nature ? For the same God who here ordains signs testifies by Isaiah that he ' will dissipate the signs of the diviners,' (Isa. xliv. 25;) and forbids us to be 'dismayed at the signs of heaven,' (Jer. x. 2.)    But since it is manifest}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Altera ad ordinem politicum spectat."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Ex siderum prassagiis uihil non divinant."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.         THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           85}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 that Moses does not depart from the ordinary custom of men, I desist from a longer discussion. The word DHyi/t3> (moadim,) which they translate ' certain times,' is variously understood among the Hebrews: for it signifies both time and place, and also assemblies of persons. The Rabbis com\-monly explain the passage as referring to their festivals. But I extend it further to mean, in the first place, the opportu\-nities of time, which in French are called saisons, (seasons ;) and then all fairs and forensic assemblies.1 Finally, Moses commemorates the unbounded goodness of God in causing the sun and moon not only to enlighten us, but to afford us various other advantages for the daily use of life. It remains that we, purely enjoying the multiplied bounties of God, should learn not to profane such excellent gifts by our pre\-posterous abuse of them. In the meantime, let us admire this wonderful Artificer, who has so beautifully arranged all things above and beneath, that they may respond to each other in most harmonious concert.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15. Let them be for lights. It is well again to repeat what I have said before, that it is not here philoso\-phically discussed, how great the sun is in the heaven, and how great, or how little, is the moon; but how much light comes to us from them.2 For Moses here addresses himself to our senses, that the knowledge of the gifts of God which we enjoy may not glide away. Therefore, in order to appre\-hend the meaning of Moses, it is to no purpose to soar above the heavens; let us only open our eyes to behold this light which God enkindles for us in the earth. By this method (as I have before observed) the dishonesty of those men is sufficiently rebuked, who censure Moses for not speaking with greater exactness.    For as it became a theologian, he had}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 See the Lexicons of Scliindler,  Lee, and Gesenius, and Dathe's Commentary on the Pentateuch.    The two latter writers explain the terms " signs and seasons" by the figure Hendiadys, for " signs of sea\-sons."    " Zu Zeichen der Zeiten."   The word stands\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 1. For the year. 2. For an assembly. 3. For the place of assembling. 4. For a signal.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Great lights;" " that is, in our eyes, to which the sun and moon are nearer than the fixed stars and the greater planets."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Johannes Clericus in Genesin, p. 10.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 86                               COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 respect to us rather than to the stars. Nor, in truth, was he ignorant of the fact, that the moon had not sufficient bright\-ness to enlighten the earth, unless it borrowed from the sun ; but he deemed it enough to declare what we all may plainly perceive, that the moon is a dispenser of light to us. That it is, as the astronomers assert, an opaque body, I allow to be true, while I deny it to be a dark body. For, first, since it is placed above the element of fire, it must of necessity be a fiery body. Hence it follows, that it is also luminous; but seeing that it has not light sufficient to penetrate to us, it borrows what is wanting from the sun. He calls it a " lesser light" by comparison ; because the portion of light which it emits to us is small compared with the infinite splendour of the sun.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16. Tlie greater light. I have said, that Moses does not here subtilely descant, as a philosopher, on the secrets of nature, as may be seen in these words. First, he assigns a place in the expanse of heaven to the planets and stars; but astronomers make a distinction of spheres, and, at the same time, teach that the fixed stars have their proper place in the firmament. Moses mnkes two great luminaries; but astronomers prove, by conclusive reasons, that the star of Saturn, which, on account of its great distance, appears the least of all, is greater than the moon. Here lies the differ\-ence ; Moses wrote in a popular style things which, without instruction, all ordinary persons, endued with common senser are able to understand; but astronomers investigate with great labour whatever the sagacity of the human mind can comprehend. Nevertheless, this study is not to be reprobated, nor this science to be condemned, because some frantic per\-sons are wont boldly to reject whatever is unknown to them. For astronomy is not only pleasant, but also very useful to be known : it cannot be denied that this art unfolds the ad\-mirable wisdom of God. Wherefore, as ingenious men are to be honoured who have expended useful labour on this subject, so they who have leisure and capacity ought not to}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The reader will bo in no danger of being misled by the defective natural philosophy of the age in which this was written.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.                   THE BOOK Ol? GENESIS.                            87}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 neglect this kind of exercise. Nor did Moses truly wish to withdraw us from this pursuit in omitting such things as are peculiar to the art; but because he was ordained a teacher as well of the unlearned and rude as of the learned, he could not otherwise fulfil his office than by descending to this grosser method of instruction. Had he spoken of things generally unknown, the uneducated might have pleaded in excuse that such subjects were beyond their capacity. Lastly, since the Spirit of God here opens a common school for all, it is not surprising that he should chiefly choose those subjects which would be intelligible to all. If the astrono\-mer inquires respecting the actual dimensions of the stars, he will find the moon to be less than Saturn; but this is something abstruse, for to the sight it appears differently. Moses, therefore, rather adapts his discourse to common usage. For since the Lord stretches forth, as it vrere, his hand to us in causing us to enjoy the brightness of the sun and moon, how great would be our ingratitude were we to close our eyes against our own experience ? There is there\-fore no reason why janglers should deride the unskilfulness of Moses in making the moon the second luminaiy; for he does not call us up into heaven, he only proposes things which lie open before our eyes. Let the astronomers possess their more exalted knowledge; but, in the meantime, they who perceive by the moon the splendour of night, are con\-victed by its use of perverse ingratitude unless they acknow\-ledge the beneficence of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 To rule.1 He does not ascribe such dominion to the sun and moon as shall, in the least degree, diminish the power of God; but because the sun, in half the circuit of heaven, governs the day, and the moon the night, by turns; he therefore assigns to them a kind of government. Yet let us remember, that it is such a government as implies that the sun is still a servant, and the moon a handmaid. In the meantime, we dismiss the reverie of Plato, who ascribes rea\-son and intelligence to the stars. Let us be content with this simple exposition, that God governs the days and nights}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Tn dominium."   For dominion.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 88                               COMMENTARY UPON                      CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 by the ministry of the sun and moon, because he has them as his charioteers to convey light suited to the season.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20. Let the waters bring forth . . . the moving creature.1 On the fifth day the birds and fishes are created. The blessing of God is added, that they may of themselves pro\-duce offspring. Here is a different kind of propagation from that in herbs and trees : for there the power of fructifying is in the plants, and that of germinating is in the seed; but here generation takes place. It seems, however, but little con\-sonant with reason, that he declares birds to have proceeded from the waters; and, therefore, this is seized upon by cap\-tious men as an occasion of calumny. But although there should appear no other reason but that it so pleased God, would it not be becoming in us to acquiesce in his judgment ? Why should it not be lawful for him, who created the world out of nothing, to bring forth the birds out of water ? And what greater absurdity, I pray, has the origin of birds from the water, than that of the light from darkness ? Therefore, let those who so arrogantly assail their Creator, look for the Judge who shall reduce them to nothing. Nevertheless, if we must use physical reasoning in the contest, we know that the water has greater affinity with the air than the earth has. But Moses ought rather to be listened to as our teacher, who would transport us with admiration of God through the con\-sideration of his works.2    And, truly, the Lord, although he}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  "Repere faciant aquje reptile animse viventis."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Let the waters cause to creep forth the reptile, (or creeping thing,) having a living soul." This is a more literal translation of the original than that of the English version; yet it does not express more accurately the sense.    The word \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a5\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 ~t\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 >, \{sheretz,) as a substantive, signifies any worm or reptile, generally of the smaller kind, either in land or water; and the corresponding verb rendered " to creep forth" signifies also " to multiply."   It is well known that this class of animals multiply more abundantly than any other. The expression |-pn E'Sii  (nepesh chayah,)   " a living soul," does not refer (as the word soul in English often does) to the immortal principle, but to the animal life or breath, and the words might here be rendered " the breath of life."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 For other opinions respecting the origin of birds, see Poole's Synopsis. Some argue from chap. ii. 19; that fowls were made of the earth; and would propose an alteration in the translation of the verse before us to the following effect,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " and let the fowl fly above the heaven."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Notes on  Genesis,  &c,  by  Professor  Bush,   in  loco.     But  Calvin's}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.        THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                          89}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 is the Author of nature, yet by no means has followed nature as his guide in the creation of the world, but has rather chosen to put forth such demonstrations of his power as should constrain us to \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 wonder.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21. And God created. A question here arises out of the word created. For we have before contended, that be\-cause the world was created, it was made out of nothing; but now Moses says that things formed from other matter were created. They who truly and properly assert that the fishes were created because the waters were in no way suffi\-cient or suitable for their production, only resort to a sub\-terfuge : for, in the meantime, the fact would remain, that the material of which they were made existed before; which, in strict propriety, the word [created] does not admit. I there\-fore do not restrict the creation here spoken of to the work of the fifth day, but rather suppose it to refer to that shape\-less and confused mass, which was as the fountain of the whole world.1 God then, it is said, created whales (balajnas) and other fishes, not that the beginning of their creation is to be reckoned from the moment in which they receive their form; but because they are comprehended in the universal matter which was made out of nothing. So that, with respect to species, form only was then added to them ; but creation is nevertheless a term truly used respecting both the whole and the parts. The word commonly rendered whales (cetos vel cete) might, in my judgment, be not improperly trans\-lated ihynnus or tunny Jish, as corresponding with the He\-brew word thaninim?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 view is more generally approved. " Natantium et volatilium unam ori-ginem ponit Moses. 1. Quia aer, (locus avium,) et aqua, (locus piscium,) elementa cognata sunt," &c.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Castalio, Lyra, Menochius, and others, in Pooh.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Ego vero ad opus diei quinti non restringo creationem; sed potius ex ilia int'ermi et confusa massa pendere dico, quse fuit veluti scaturigo totius mundi."   The passage seems to be obscure ; and if the translation above given is correct, the Old English version by Tymme has not hit the true meaning.    The French version is as follows:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Je ne restrain point la creation a l'onvrage dn cinquieme jour; plustost je di qu'elle depend do cette masse confuse qui a este comme la source de tout le monde."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 W3IV "Significatomniaingentiaanimaliatamterrestriaut dracones, quam aquatica ut balsenas." "It signifies all large animals,both terrestrial,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 90                               COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 When he says that " the waters brought forth,"' he pro\-ceeds to commend the efficacy of the word, which the waters hear so promptly, that, though lifeless in themselves, they suddenly teem with a living offspring, yet the language of Moses expresses more ; namely, that fishes innumerable are daily produced from the waters, because that word of God, by which he once commanded it, is continually in force.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22. And God blessed them. What is the force of this benediction he soon declares. For God does not, after the manner of men, pray that we may be blessed; but, by the bare intimation of his purpose, effects wh.it men seek by earnest entreaty. lie therefore blesses his creatures when he commands them to increase and grow; that is, he infuses into them fecundity by his word. But it seems futile for God to address fishes and reptiles. I answer, this mode of speaking was no other than that which might be easily under\-stood. For the experiment itself teaches, that the force of the word which was addressed to the fishes was not transient, but rather, being infused into their nature, has taken root, and constantly bears fruit.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24. Let the earth bring forth. He descends to the sixth day, on which the animals were created, and then man. \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Let the earth,' he says, ' bring forth living creatures.' But whence has a dead element life ? Therefore, there is in this respect a miracle as great as if God had begun to create out of nothing those things which he commanded to proceed from the earth. And he does not take his material from the earth, because he needed it, but that he might the better combine the separate parts of the world with the universe itself. Yet it may be inquired, why He does not here also add his bene\-diction ? I answer, that what Moses before expressed on a similar occasion is here also to be understood, although he}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 as dragons, and aquatic, as whales."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Poolers Synopsis. Sometimes it refers to the crocodile, and seems obviously of kindred signification with the word Leviathan. Schindlor gives this meaning among others,__ser\-pents, dragons, great fishes, whales, thinni.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See also Patrick's Commen\-tary, who takes it for the crocodile.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 "Aquas fecissc reptare," that " the waters caused to creep forth."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           91}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 does not repeat it word for word. I say, moreover, it is suf\-ficient for the purpose of signifying the same thing,1 that Moses declares animals were created ' according to their species:' for this distribution carried with it something stable. It may even hence be inferred, that the offspring of animals was included. For to what purpose do distinct species exist, unless that individuals, by their several kinds, may be multiplied?2}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Cattle.3 Some of the Hebrews thus distinguish between " cattle " and " beasts of the earth," that the cattle feed on herbage, but that the beasts of the earth are they which eat flesh. But the Lord, a little while after, assigns herbs to both as their common food ; and it may be observed, that in several parts of Scripture these two words are used indis\-criminately. Indeed, I do not doubt that Moses, after he had named Behemoth, (cattle,) added the other, for the sake of fuller explanation. By 'reptiles,'4 in this place, understand those which are of an earthly nature.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 26. Let us make man? Although the tense here used is the future, all must acknowledge that this is the language of one apparently deliberating. Hitherto God has been in\-troduced simply as commanding; now, when he approaches the most excellent of all his works, he enters into consultation. God certainly might here command by his bare word what he wished to be done : but he chose to give this tribute to the excellency of man, that he would, in a manner, enter into consultation concerning his creation. This is the highest honour with  which he has dignified us; to a due regard}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  Namely, that God's benediction was virtually added, though not ex\-pressed in terms.    See verse 22.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  The reader is referred to Note 1, p. 81, for another mode of inter\-preting these verses ; and also to Poole's Synopsis on verse 24, where the opinion of Picherellus is fully stated, namely, that verses 24, 25, con\-tain part of the work of the fifth day.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  Cattle, riDra, (Behemah;) plural, mom, (Behemoth.)}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4  "Reptiles."   In the English version, "creeping things," the same expression which occurs in verse 20.   But the Hebrew word is different. In the twentieth verse it is y-|jj>, (sharetz,) in the twenty-fourth it is CDIi (remes.)   The latter word is generally, (though not always,) as here, referred to land animals.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5  " Faciamus hominem."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 92                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAJ.'. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 for which, Moses, by this mode of speaking, would excite our minds. For God is not now first beginning to consider what form he will give to man, and with what endowments it would be fitting to adorn him, nor is he pausing as over a work of difficulty: but, just as we have before observed, that the creation of the world was distributed over six days, for our sake, to the end that our minds might the more easily be re\-tained in the meditation of God's works : so now, for the pur\-pose of commending to our attention the dignity of our nature, he, in taking counsel concerning the creation of man, testifies that he is about to undertake something great and wonderful. Truly there are many things in this corrupted nature which may induce contempt; but if you rightly weigh all circum\-stances, man is, among other creatures, a certain pre-eminent specimen of Divine wisdom, justice, and goodness, so that he is deservedly called by the ancients /wtgCxogpog, " a world in miniature." But since the \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 iord needs no other counsellor, there can be no doubt that he consulted with himself. The Jews make themselves altogether ridiculous, in pretending that God held communication with the earth or with angels.1 The earth, forsooth, was a most excellent adviser! And to ascribe the least portion of a work so exquisite to angels, is a sacrilege to be held in abhorrence. Where, indeed, will they find that we were created after the image of the earth, or of angels ? Does not Moses directly exclude all creatures in express terms, when he declares that Adam was created after the image of God ? Others, who deem themselves more acute, but are doubly infatuated, say that God spoke of him\-self in the plural number, according to the custom of princes. As if, in truth, that barbarous style of speaking, which hns grown into use within a few past centuries, had, even then, prevailed in the world. But it is well that their canine wick\-edness has been joined with a stupidity so great, that they betray their folly to children. Christians, therefore, properly contend, from this testimony, that there exists a plurality of Persons in the Godhead.    God summons no foreign coun-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 For the various opiuions of Jewish writers on this subject, see Poolers Synopsis in loco. See also Bishop Patrick's Commentary on this verse.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.                   THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            93}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 sellor; hence we infer that he finds within himself something distinct; as, in truth, his eternal wisdom and power reside within him.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 In our image, Sfc. Interpreters do not agree concern\-ing the meaning of these words. The greater part, and nearly all, conceive that the word image is to be distinguished from likeness. And the common distinction is, that image exists in the substance, likeness in the accidents of anything. They who would define the subject briefly, say that in the image are contained those endowments which God has con\-ferred on human nature at large, while they expound like\-ness to mean gratuitous gifts.2 But Augustine, beyond all others, speculates with excessive refinement, for the purpose of fabricating a Trinity in man. For in laying hold of the three faculties of the soul enumerated by Aristotle, the in\-tellect, the memory, and the will, he afterwards out of one Trinity derives many. If any reader, having leisure, wishes to enjoy such speculations, let him read the tenth and four\-teenth books on the Trinity, also the eleventh book of the " City of God." I acknowledge, indeed, that there is some\-thing in man which refers to the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit: and I have no difficulty in admitting the above-distinction of the faculties of the soul: although the simpler division into two parts, which is more used in Scripture, is better adapted to the sound doctrine of piety ; but a defini\-tion of the image of God ought to rest on a firmer basis than such subtleties. As for myself, before I define the image of God, I would deny that it differs from his likeness. For when Moses afterwards repeats the same thing, he passes over}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  "Ut cevte seterna ejus sapientia et virtus in ipso resident." The expres\-sion is ambiguous ; but the French translation renders it, " Comme a la verite, sa Sapience eternelle, et Vertu reside en luy;" which translation is here followed.   By beginning the words rendered Wisdom and Power with capitals, it would appear that the second and third Persons of the Trinity were in the mind of the writer when the passage was written. And perhaps this is the only view of it which renders the reasoning of Calvin intelligible.    See Notes 2 and 5, at page 75.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 Some here distinguish, and say the image is in what is natural, the likeness in what is gratuitous.-\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Lyra.   Others blend them together, and say there is an Hendiadys, that is, according to the image most like us \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Tirinus.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Poole's Synopsis.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 94                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the likeness, and contents himself with mentioning the image. Should any one take the exception, that he was merely study\-ing brevity; I answer,1 that where he twice uses the word image, he makes no mention of the likeness. We also know that it was customary with the Hebrews to repeat the same thing in different words. Besides, the phrase itself shows that the second term was added for the sake of explanation, ' Let us make,' he says, ' man in our image, according to our likeness,' that is, that he may be like God, or may represent the image of God. Lastly, in the fifth chapter, without making any mention of image, he puts likeness in its place, (verse 1.) Although we have set aside all difference between the two words, we have not yet ascertained what this image or likeness is. The Anihropomorphites were too gross in seeking this resemblance in the human body ; let that reverie therefore remain entombed. Others proceed with a little more subtlety, who, though tjiey do not imagine God to be corporeal, yet maintain that the image of God is in the body of man, because his admirable workmanship there shines brightly; but this opinion, as we shall see, is by no means consonant with Scripture. The exposition of Chrysostom is not more correct, who refers to the dominion which was given to man in order that he might, in a certain sense, act as God's vicegerent in the government of the world. This truly is some portion, though very small, of the image of God. Since the image of God has been destroyed in us by the fall, we may judge from its restoration what it originally had been. Paul says that we are transformed into the image of God by the gospel. And, according to him, spiritual regeneration is nothing else than the restoration of the same image. (Col. iii. 10, and Eph. iv. 23.) That he made this image to consist in " righteousness and true holi\-ness," is by the figure synecdoche;2 for though this is the chief part, it is not the whole of God's image. Therefore by this word the perfection of our whole nature is design nted, as it}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " I answer," is not in the original, but is taken from the French translation.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 Synecdoche is the figure which puts a part for the whole, or the whole for a part.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.         THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            95}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 appeared when Adam was endued with a right judgment, had affections in harmony with reason, had all his senses sound and well-regulated, and truly excelled in everything good. Thus the chief seat of the Divine image was in his mind and heart, where it was eminent: yet was there no part of him in which some scintillations of it did not shine forth. For there was an attempering in the several parts of the soul, which corresponded with their various offices.1 In the mind perfect intelligence flourished and reigned, uprightness attended as its companion, and all the senses were prepared and moulded for due obedience to reason ; and in the body there was a suitable correspondence with this internal order. But now, although some obscure lineaments of that image are found remaining in us; yet are they so vitiated and maimed, that they may truly be said to be destroyed. For besides the deformity which everywhere appears unsightly, this evil also is added, that no part is free from the infection of sin.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 In our image, after our likeness. I do not scrupulously insist upon the particles 1, (beth,) and ^j, (caph.2) I know not whether there is anything solid in the opinion of some who hold that this is said, because the image of God was only shadowed forth in man till he should arrive at his per\-fection. The thing indeed is true; but I do not think that anything of the kind entered the mind of Moses.3 It is also truly said that Christ is the only image of the Father, but yet the words of Moses do not bear the interpretation that "in the image" means "in Christ." It may also be added, that even man, though in a different respect, is called the image of God. In which thing some of the Fathers are de\-ceived who thought that they could defeat the Arians with this weapon that Christ alone is God's image.    This further}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Erat erim in singulis animas partibus temperatura quue suis numeris constabat."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  The two prefixes to the Hebrew words signifying image and likeness; the former of which is translated in, the latter after, or still more cor\-rectly, according to.   This sentence is not translated either in the French or Old English version.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Innuit in homine esse imaginem Dei, sed impcrfectam et qualem umbrce."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Oleaster in Poli Synopsi.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 96                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 difficulty is also to be encountered, namely, why Paul should deny the woman to be the image of God, when Moses honours both, indiscriminately, with this title. The solution is short; Paul there alludes only to the domestic relation. He there\-fore restricts the image of God to government, in which the man has superiority over the wife, and certainly he means nothing more than that man is superior in the degree of honour. But here the question is respecting that glory of God which peculiarly shines forth in human nature, where the mind, the will, and all the senses, represent the Divine order.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And let them have dominion.x Here he commemorates that part of dignity with which he decreed to honour man, namely, that he should have authority over all living crea\-tures. He appointed man, it is true, lord of the world; but he expressly subjects the animals to him, because they, hav\-ing an inclination or instinct pf their own,2 seem to be less under authority from without. The use of the plural number intimates that this authority was not given to Adam only, but to all his posterity as well as to him. And hence we infer what was the end for which all things were created; namely, that none of the conveniences and necessaries of life might be wanting to men. In the very order of the creation the paternal solicitude of God for man is conspicuous, be\-cause he furnished the world with all things needful, and even with an immense profusion of wealth, before he formed man. Thus man was rich before he was born. But if God had such care for us before we existed, he will by no means leave us destitute of food and of other necessaries of life, now that Ave are placed in the world. Yet, that he often keeps his hand as if closed is to be imputed to our sins.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 27. So God created man. The reiterated mention of the image of God is not a vain repetition. For it is a remark\-able instance of the Divine goodness which can never be sufficiently proclaimed. And, at the same time, he admo\-nishes us from what excellence we have fallen, that he may}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Dominetur."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Qnce quum habeant proprium nutum."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CIIAP. I.                   THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                             97}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 excite in us the desire of its recovery. When he soon after\-wards adds, that God created them " male and female," he commends to us that conjugal bond by which the society of mankind is cherished. For this form of speaking, " God created man, male and female created he them," is of the same force as if he had said, that the man himself was incom\-plete.1 Under these circumstances, the woman was added to him as a companion that they both might be one, as he more clearly expresses it in the second chapter. Malachi also means the same thing when he relates, (ii. 15,) that one man was created by God, whilst, nevertheless, he possessed the fulness of the Spirit.2 For he there treats of conjugal fidelity, which the Jews were violating by their polygamy. For the purpose of correcting this fault, he calls that pair, consisting of man and woman, which God in the beginning had joined together, one man, in order that every one might learn to be content with his own wife.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 28. And God blessed them. This blessing of God may be regarded as the source from which the human race has flowed. And we must so consider it not only with reference to the whole, but also, as they say, in every particular instance. For we are fruitful or barren in- respect of offspring, as God imparts his power to some and withholds it from others. But here Moses would simply declare that Adam with his wife was formed for the production of offspring, in order that men might re\-plenish the earth. God could himself indeed have covered the earth with a multitude of men; but it was his will that we should proceed from one fountain, in order that our desire of mutual concord might be the greater, and that each might the more freely embrace the other as his own flesh. Besides, as men were created to occupy the earth, so we ought cer\-tainly to conclude that God has marked, as with a boundary, that space of earth which would suffice for the reception of men, and would prove a suitable abode for them. Any inequality which is contrary to this arrangement is nothing else than a}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Acsi virum dixisset esse dimidium hominem." a On this difficult passage see Lowth, Archbishop Newcome, and Scott, who confirm in the main the interpretation of Calvin.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 98                                COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 corruption of nature which proceeds from sin. In the mean\-time, however, the benediction of God so prevails that the earth everywhere lies open that it may have its inhabitants, and that an immense multitude of men may find, in some part of the globe, their home. Now, what I have said con\-cerning marriage must be kept in mind; that God intends the human race to be multiplied by generation indeed, but not, as in brute animals, by promiscuous intercourse. For he has joined the man to his wife, that they might produce a divine, that is, a legitimate seed. Let us then mark whom God here addresses when he commands them to increase, and to whom he limits his benediction. Certainly he does not give the reins to human passions,l but, beginning at holy and chaste marriage, he proceeds to speak of the production of offspring. For this is also worthy of notice, that Moses here briefly alludes to a subject which he afterwards means more fully to explain, and tha^t the regular series of the his\-tory is inverted, yet in such a way as to make the true suc\-cession of events apparent. The question, however, is pro\-posed, whether fornicators and adulterers become fruitful by the power of God; which, if it be true, then whether the blessing of God is in like manner extended to them? I an\-swer, this is a corruption of the Divine institute; and whereas God produces offspring from this muddy pool, as well as from the pure fountain of marriage, this will tend to their greater destruction. Still that pure and lawful method of increase, which God ordained from the beginning, remains firm; this is that law of nature which common sense declares to be inviolable.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Subdue it. He confirms what he had before said re\-specting dominion. Man had already been created with this condition, that he should subject the earth to himself; but now, at length, he is put in possession of his right, when he hears what has been given to him by the Lord : and this Moses expresses still more fully in the next verse, when he introduces God as granting to him the herbs and the fruits.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Certe frsenum yiris et muliebris uon laxavit, ut in vagas libidines ruierent, absque delectu et pudore: sed a sancto castoque conjngio inci-piens, descendit ad generationem."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. I.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           99}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For it is of great importance that we touch nothing of God's bounty but what we know he has permitted us to do; since we cannot enjoy anything with a good conscience, except we receive it as from the hand of God. And therefore Paul teaches us that, in eating and drinking, we always sin, unless faith be present, (Rom. xiv. 23.) Thus we are instructed to seek from God alone whatever is necessary for us, and in the very use of his gifts, we are to exercise ourselves in meditat\-ing on his goodness and paternal care. For the words of God are to this effect: ' Behold, I have prepared food for thee before thou wast formed; acknowledge me, therefore, as thy Father, who have so diligently provided for thee when thou wast not yet created. Moreover, my solicitude for thee has proceeded still further; it was thy business to nurture the things provided for thee, but I have taken even this charge also upon myself. Wherefore, although thou art, in a sense, constituted the father of the earthly family,1 it is not for thee to be over-anxious about the sustenance of animals.'2 Some infer, from this passage, that men were content with herbs and fruits until the deluge, and that it was even unlaw\-ful for them to eat flesh. And this seems the more probable, because God confines, in some way, the food of mankind within certain limits. Then, after the deluge, he expressly grants them the use of flesh. These reasons, however, are not suffi\-ciently strong : for it may be adduced on the opposite side, that the first men offered sacrifices from their flocks.3 This, moreover, is the law of sacrificing rightly, not to offer unto God anything except what he has granted to our use. Lastly, men were clothed in skins; therefore it was lawful for them to kill animals.    For these reasons, I think it will be better}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Paterfamilias in mundo."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  See verses 29, 30, in which God promises the herbs and fruits of the earth, and every green herb, to the beasts of the earth for food.   The reader will perceive that the subsequent observations of Calvin refer more especially to these verses.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 s It does not appear that there is much force in Calvin's objections to the opinion, that flesh was not allowed for human food till after the deluge. For if the sacrifices offered were holocausts, then the skin only would be left for the use of man. See notes on the offerings of Cain and Abel in the fourth chapter; and, especially, Dr Magee's work on the Atonement, Dissertation LIL, On the date of the permission of animal food to man.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 100                             COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. I.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 for us to assert nothing concerning this matter. Let it suf\-fice for us, that herbs and the fruits of trees were given them as their common food ; yet it is not to be doubted that this was abundantly sufficient for their highest gratification. For they judge prudently who maintain that the earth was so marred by the deluge, that we retain scarcely a moderate por\-tion of the original benediction. Even immediately after the fall of man, it had already begun to bring forth degenerate and noxious fruits, but at the deluge, the change became still greater. Yet, however this may be, God certainly did not intend that man should be slenderly and sparingly sus\-tained ; but rather, by these words, he promises a liberal abundance, which should leave nothing wanting to a sweet and pleasant life. For Moses relates how beneficent the Lord had been to them, in bestowing on them all things which they could desire, that their ingratitude might have the less excuse.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 31. And God saw everything. Once more, at the con\-clusion of the creation, Moses declares that God approved of everything which he had made. In speaking of God as seeing, he does it after the manner of men; for the Lord designed this his judgment to be as a rule and example to us; that no one should dare to think or speak otherwise of his works. For it is not lawful for us to dispute whether that ought to be approved or not which God has already approved; but it rather becomes us to acquiesce without controversy. The repetition also denotes how wanton is the temerity of man : otherwise it would have been enough to have said, once for all, that God approved of his works. But God six times inculcates the same thing, that he may restrain, as with so many bridles, our restless audacity. But Moses expresses more than before; for he adds *1N)!3, (meod,) that is, very. On each of the days, simple approbation was given. But now, after the workmanship of the world was complete in all its parts, and had received, if I may so speak, the last finishing touch, he pronounces it perfectly good; that we may know that there is in the symmetry of God's works the highest perfection, to which nothing can be added.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 101}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAPTER II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,  and all the host of them.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 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.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 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.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.  And every plant of the field be\-fore it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  And the Lord God formed man of 'the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  And out of the ground made the Lord 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 know\-ledge of good and evil.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  And a river went out of Eden to water the garden ; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  The name of the first is Pison : that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole landof Ethiopia.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  Perfecti fuerunt igitur coeli et terra, et omnis exercitus eo-rum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  Perfeceratque Deus die sep-timo opus suum quod fecerat, et guievit die septimo ab omni opere suo quod fecerat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3.  Benedixit autem diei sep\-timo, et sanctificavit ilium : quod in illo quievisset ab omni opere suo quod creaverat Deus ut faceret.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  Istse sunt generationes coeli et terras, quando creati sunt, in die qua fecit Jehova Deus terrain et ccelos,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.   Et   omne virgultum  agri antequam esset in terra, et om-nem herbam agri antequam ger-minaret:   quia   nondum pluere fecerat Jehova Deus super ter-ram, et homo non erat qui coleret terrain:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.   Sed vapor  ascendebat  e terra, et irrigabat universam su-perficiem terra.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7. Formaverat autem Jehova Deus hominem e pulvere terra ; et  inspiraverat in faciem   ejus spiraculum vitse,  et fuit homo in animam viventem.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  Plantaverat quoque Jeho\-va Deus hortum in Heden ab Oriente: et posuit ibi hominem quem formaverat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  Et germinare fecerat Jeho\-va Deus e terra omnem arborem concupiscibilem visu, et bonam ad vescendum; et arborem vitsa in medio horti, et arborem scien-tise boni et mali.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  Et fluvius egrediebatur ex Heden ad irrigandum  hortum ; et inde dividebatur, eratque in quatuor capita.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  Nomen unius, Pison: ipse circuit totam terram Havila, ubi est aurum:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  Et aurum terrse illius bo-num: ibi est bdellium, et lapis onychinus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  Nomen vero fluvii secundi Gihon: ipse circuit omnem terram iEthiopias.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 102}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARY UPON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 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.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16.  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  But of the tree of the know\-ledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18.  And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.   And out of the ground the Lord 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.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 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.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.   And the Lord 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;}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a \dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9632\'3f\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 woman, and brought her unto the man.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called Woman, be\-cause she was taken out of man.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife : and they shall be one flesh.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25.  And they were both naked, the man   and  his wife,  and  were  not ashamed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.   Et   nomen   fluvii   tertii Hiddekel; ipse tendit ad orientem Assur; et flumen quartum est Pe-rath.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  Tulit itaque Jehova Deus hominem, et posuit eum in horto Heden, ut coleret eum, et cus-todiret eum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16.  Prsecepitque Jehova Deus homini, dicendo, De omni arbore horti comedendo comedes:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  At de arbore scientise boni et mali ne comedas ex ilia: quia in die quo comederis ex ea, mori-endo morieris.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18. Et dixit Jehova Deus, Non est bonum esse hominem solum : faciam  ei  adjutorium quod sit coram ipso.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.  Formaverat autem Jehova Deus e terra omnem bestiam agri, et omne volatile coeli; et addux-erat ad Adam ut videret quomodo vocaret illud: et omne quod vo-cavit illi, illi int/num, animse vi-venti, est nomen ejus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20.  Vocavit itaque Adam no-mina cuique jumento, et volatili coeli omnique bestiee agri: Adas vero  non invenerat adjutorium quod esset coram se.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.  Cadere igitur fecit Jehova Deus soporem super Adam, et dormivit: et tulit unam e costis ejus, et clausit carnem pro ea.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  Et jedificavit Jehova Deus costam qnam tulerat ex Adam in muJierem, et adduxit earn ad Adam.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  Et dixit Adam, Hac vice os est ex ossibus meis, et caro ex carne mea : et vocabitur Virissa, quia ex viro sumpta est ista.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.    Idcirco   relinquet   unus-quisque patrem suum et matrem suam,   et adhasrebit uxori suse, eruntque in carnem nnam.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25.   Erant autem ambo nudi, Adam et uxor ejus: et noa p,ude-bat eos.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  Thus the heavens and the earth were JinishedJ    Moses}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 .   ' The three verses at the commencement of this chapter evidently be\-long to the first, being a summing up of the preceding history of th\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a9}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CUAr. II.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           103}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 summarily repeats that in six days the fabric of the heaven and the earth was completed. The general division of the world is made into these two parts, as has been stated at the commencement of the first chapter. But he now adds, " all the host of them," by which he signifies that the world was furnished with all its garniture. This epilogue, moreover, with sufficient clearness entirely refutes the error of those who imagine that the world was formed in a moment; for it declares that an end was only at length put to the work on the sixth day. Instead of host we might not improperly render the term abundance;1 for Moses declares that this world was in every sense completed, as if the whole house were well supplied and filled with its furniture. The heaven, without the sun, and moon, and stars, would be an empty and dismantled palace : if the earth were destitute of animals, trees, and plants, that barren waste would have the appear\-ance of a poor and deserted house. God, therefore, did not cease from the work of the creation of the world till he had completed it in every part, so that nothing should be wanting to its suitable abundance.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2. And he rested on the seventh day. The question may not improperly be put, what kind of rest this was. For it s certain that inasmuch as God sustains the world by his power, governs it by his providence, cherishes and even pro\-pagates all creatures, he is constantly at work. Therefor*) that saying of Christ is true, that the Father and he himself had worked from the beginning hitherto,2 because, if God should but withdraw his hand a little, all things would im mediately perish and dissolve into nothing, as is declared in}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 creation, and an account of the sabbatical institution on the seventh day The remark of Dathe is, " Male capita hoc loco sunt divisa. Tres ver\-sus priores ad primum caput sunt referendi."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Copiam," a questionable rendering, surely, of the word E3K2X-The Septuagmt gives the word jedo-^of, and the Vulgate, o?-natits; fie meaning of both words is " ornaments," or garniture.   The other versions in Walton translate it exercitus, host or army.    Fagius, in Poli Synopsi, seems the chief maintainer of Calvin's interpretation.   The words of Poole are, "Alii, virtus, copia eorum, quia eis declarat Deus(sicutrex copiis suis,) potentiam et sapientiam."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  John v. 17.   This sentence is omitted in Tymme's English version. \dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9632\'3f\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 104                             COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Psalm civ. 29.1 And indeed God is rightly acknowledged as the Creator of heaven and earth only whilst their perpetual preservation is ascribed to him.2 The solution of the difficulty is well known, that God ceased from all his work, when he desisted from the creation of new kinds of things. But to make the sense clearer, understand that the last touch of God had been put, in order that nothing might be wanting to the perfection of the world. And this is the meaning of the words of Moses, From all his work which he had made ; for he points out the actual state of the work as God would have it to be, as if he had said, then was completed what God had proposed to himself. On the whole, this language is intended merely to express the perfection of the fabric of the world; and therefore we must not infer that God so ceased from his works as to desert them, since they only flourish and sub\-sist in him. Besides, it is to be observed, that in the works of the six days, those things alone are comprehended which tend to the lawful and genuine adorning of the world. It is sub\-sequently that we shall find God saying, " Let the earth bring forth thorns and briers," by which he intimates that the ap\-pearance of the earth should be different from what it had been in the beginning. But the explanation is at hand; many things which are now seen in the world are rather corruptions of it than any part of its proper furniture. For ever since man declined from his high original, it became necessary that the world should gradually degenerate from its nature. We must come to this conclusion respecting the existence of fleas, caterpillars, and other noxious insects. In all these, I say, there is some deformity of the world, which ought by no means to be regarded as in the order of nature, since it pro -ceeds rather from the sin of man than from the hand of God. Truly these things were created by God, but by God as an avenger. In this place, however, Moses is not considering God as armed for the punishment of the sins of men; but as}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away then-breath, they die, and return to their dust."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 The word translated preservation is vegetationem, which means an en\-livening or a quickening motion; to explain this the Old English translation here adds, though without authority, "According to this saying of the apostle, In him we live, and move, and have our being."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.       THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           105}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the Artificer, the Architect, the bountiful Father of a family, who has omitted nothing essential to the perfection of his edifice. At the present time, when we look upon the world corrupted, and as if degenerated from its original creation, let that expression of Paul recur to our mind, that the creature is liable to vanity, not willingly, but through our fault, (Rom. viii. 20,) and thus let us mourn, being admonished of our just condemnation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3. And God blessed the seventh day. It appears that God is here said to bless according to the manner of men, because they bless him whom they highly extol. Nevertheless, even in this sense, it would not be unsuitable to the character of God; because his blessing sometimes means the favour which he bestows upon his people, as the Hebrews call that man the blessed of God, who, by a certain special favour, has power with God. (See Gen. xxiv. 31.) 'Enter thou blessed of God.' Thus we may be allowed to describe the day as blessed by him which he has embraced with love, to the end that the excellence and dignity of his works may therein be celebrated. Yet I have no doubt that Moses, by adding the word sanctified, wished imme\-diately to explain what he had said, and thus all ambi\-guity is removed, because the second word is exegetical of the former. For EJHp, (kadesh,) with the Hebrews, is to separate from the common number. God therefore sanctifies the seventh day, when he renders it illustrious, that by a special law it may be distinguished from the rest. Whence it also appears, that God always had respect to the welfare of men. I have said above, that six days were employed in the formation of the world; not that God, to whom one moment is as a thousand years, had need of this succession of time, but that he might engage us in the con\-sideration of his works. He had the same end in view in the appointment of his own rest, for he set apart a day selected out of the remainder for this special use. Where\-fore, that benediction is nothing else than a solemn consecra\-tion, by which God claims for himself the meditations and employments of men on the seventh day.  This is, indeed, the}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 106                             COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 proper business of the whole life, in which men should daily exercise themselves, to consider the infinite goodness, justice, power, and wisdom of God, in this magnificent theatre of heaven and earth. But, lest men should prove less sedulously attentive to it than they ought, every seventh day has been especially selected for the purpose of supplying what was wanting in daily meditation. First, therefore, God rested; then he blessed this rest, that in all ages it might be held sacred among men : or he dedicated every seventh day to rest, that his own example might be a perpetual rule. The design of the institution must be always kept in memory: for God did not command men simply to keep holiday every seventh day, as if he delighted in their indolence; but rather that they> being released from all other business, might the more readily apply their minds to the Creator of the world. Lastly, that is a sacred rest1 which withdraws men from the impediments of the world, that it may dedicate them entirely to God. But now, since men are so backward to celebrate the justice, wisdom, and power of God, and to con\-sider his benefits, that even when they are most faithfully ad\-monished they still remain torpid, no slight stimulus is given by God's own example, and the very precept itself is thereby ren\-dered amiable. For God cannot either more gently allure, or more effectually incite us to obedience, than by inviting and exhorting us to the imitation of himself. Besides, we must know, that this is to be the common employment not of one age or people only, but of the whole human race. After\-wards, in the Law, a new precept concerning the Sabbath was given, which should be peculiar to the Jews, and but for a season; because it was a legal ceremony shadowing forth a spiritual rest, the truth of which was manifested in Christ. Therefore the Lord the more frequently testifies that he had given, in the Sabbath, a symbol-of sane tification to his ancient people.2     Therefore when i we hear  that the  Sabbath was}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Both in the Amsterdam edition. of 1761, and Hengstenberg's, the word is vocatio; but as the French itranslation gives reste, and the Old English one rest, there can be little doubt that the original word was vacatio, as the sense of the passage seems to require__Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Sanctiflcationis symbolum,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " A symbol or sign of sanctification;" that is, a sign that God had set them apart as a holy and peculiar people}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           107}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 abrogated by the coming of Christ, we must distinguish be\-tween what belongs to the perpetual government of human life, and what properly belongs to ancient figures, the use of which was abolished when the truth was fulfilled. Spiritual rest is the mortification of the flesh ; so that the sons of God should no longer live unto themselves, or indulge their own inclination. So far as the Sabbath was a figure of this rest, I say, it was but for a season ; but inasmuch as it was com\-manded to men from the beginning that they might employ themselves in the worship of God, it is right that it should continue to the end of the world.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Which God created and! made\} Here the Jew3, in their usual method, foolishly trifle, saying, that God being antici\-pated in his work by the last evening, left certain animals imperfect, of which kind are fauns and satyrs, as though he had been one of the ordinary class of artificers who have need of time. Ravings so monstrous prove the authors of them to have been delivered over to a'reprobate mind, as a dreadful example of the'wrath of God.- As to the meaning of Moses, some take it thus: that God created his works in order to make them, inasmuch as from the time he gave them being, he did not withdraw his hand from, their preservation. But this exposition is-harsh. Nor do I more willingly subscribe to the opinion of tJiose who refer1 the word make to man, whom God placed over his works, that he might apply them to use, and. in a certain sense perfect them by his industry.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 to himself. " Moreover, also, .1 gave them my Sabbaths, to bo a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them," Ezek. xx. 12.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Quod creaverat Deus ut faceret." Heb. nitJ'SJ1? DTl'jX SO3 "IK'S*. " Which God created to make." For the various opinions and fancies of learned men on this passage, the reader is referred to Poolers Synopsis. The more respectable commentators mainly agree with Calvin. Ainsworth says : " created to make, that is, to exist and be, and that perfectly and gloriously, as by divine power of creation. Or rather, created and made perfectly and excellently: for sothe Hebrew phrase maybe explained." The version of Bathe is "creando perfecerat,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "he had perfected in creating." See also Professor Bush in loco. Le Clerc, whose extraor\-dinary learning and industry render his opinion on irerely critical ques\-tions of great value, notwithstanding his lamentable scepticism, would rather translate the expression, " which he had begun to make." But the other interpretation is to be preferred. Vide Johannes Clericus in Genesin__Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 108                              COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 I rather think that the perfect form of God's works is here noted; as if he had said, God so created his works, that nothing should be wanting to their perfection; or the creation has proceeded to such a point, that the work is in all respects perfect.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4. These are the generations.l The design of Moses was deeply to impress upon our minds the origin of the heaven and the earth, which he designates by the word generation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' A new section of the history of Moses commences at this point; and, from the repetition which occurs of some facts\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 such as the creation of man\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 which had been recorded in the preceding chapter, as well as from certain peculiarities of phraseology, many learned men have inferred, that the early portion of the Mosaic history is older than the time of Moses, and that he, under the infallible direction of the Spirit of God, collected and arranged the several fragments of primeval annals in one consistent narrative. One chief argument on which such a conclusion rests is, that from the commencement of the first chapter to the end of the third verse of the second chapter, God is spoken of only under the name of Elohim; from the fourth verse of the second to the end of the third chapter, he is uniformly styled Jehovah Elohim; and in the fourth and fifth chapters, the name of Elohim or of Jehovah stands alone. This, it is argued, could scarcely have occurred without some cause; and the inference has been drawn, that different records had different forms of expression, which Moses did not alter, unless truth required him to do so. See Dathe on the Pentateuch, Professor Bush on Genesis, and Robertson's Clavis Pentateuchi, where reference will be found to Vitringa and others. Against this view, however, Hengstenberg argues with considerable force, in his Dissertation " on the Names of God in the Pentateuch;" and if some of his reasonings in the use of these names seem too refined for the sim\-plicity of the Holy Scriptures, and for the comprehension of those to whom the Scriptures are chiefly addressed, yet we may discover the germ of very important truths, though they may be, in some degree, hidden be\-neath a variety of fanciful developments.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 By a very careful examination of the passages in which the terms E3'i"6k> (Elohim,) niilS (Jehovah,) and DTi^N P!1FV> (Jehovah Elohim,) occur, he thinks he has ascertained a reason for the use of each in its place, so that, with some exceptions, in which he allows one term might have been exchanged for the other, the sense of the passage absolutely requires the introduction of the very appellation, and no other, which is there employed. Believing that a theory so general cannot, with all the author's ingenuity and learning, be applied in every case, we may still admit the importance of the distinction he makes, and may readily allow that these names are intended to present the Divine character under dif\-ferent aspects to our view. For instance, we may suppose that Elohim and Jehovah have different meanings, arising from their derivations; but we are not to infer, that, in reading the Scriptures, we must have this diversity, or any diversity at all, in our view, when we meet with these different names of Deity.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 " These are the generations." niT>in, (toledoth,) " modo origines ejus rei de qua sermo est, modo posteros eornm de quibus agitur, signi-ficat.   Priori sensu hoc loco sumitur posteriori, cap. v. 1."   "The term}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                 TIIE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           109}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For there have always been ungrateful and malignant men, who, either by feigning that the world was eternal, or by obliterating the memory of the creation, would attempt to obscure the glory of God. Thus the devil, by his guile, turns those away from God who are more ingenious and skil\-ful than others, in order that each may become a god unto himself. Wherefore, it is not a superfluous repetition which inculcates the necessary fact, that the world existed only from the time when it was created, since such knowledge directs us to its Architect and Author. Under the names of heaven and earth, the whole is, by the figure synecdoche, included. Some of the Hebrews think, that the essential name of God is here at length expressed by Moses, because his majesty shines forth more clearly in the completed world.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 signifies, sometimes, the origin of the thing spoken of, sometimes the pos\-terity of those who are mentioned. It is taken here in the former of these senses ; and in chap. v. 1, in the latter,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Dathe.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The word nUTi Jehovah, here first occurs,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 that most sacred and incommunicable name of Deity, called tetragrammaton, because it consisted of four letters, which the Jews, through reverence or superstition, refuse to pronounce. The principal meaning of the term is self-existence; which is, in truth, necessary existence, as opposed to that which is derived from, or is dependent upon, an\-other. It has been supposed by some that Moses here introduces this title of Deity by anticipation ; because, in Exodus vi. 8, God declares that he had not been previously known by the name of Jehovah. But this, as Dathe forcibly reasons, is to increase difficulties rather than to remove them ; for the patriarchs, Abraham and Jacob, are represented as using the name ; and God himself, in speaking to them, also makes use of it. The true solution of the passage in Exodus seems to be, that God had not made known to the patriarchs the full import of his name, as he was now about to do. An elaborate investigation of the origin and import of the name niDS (Jehovah,) will be found in the work of Hengsten-berg, referred to in the preceding note. He begins with putting aside the notion of an Egyptian origin, which has been put forth with much confidence by those who would trace all the religious peculiarities of the Israelites to their connection with Egypt. He then disposes of the fancied Phoenician pedigree of the name, founded upon spurious fragments ascribed to Sanchoniathon; and concludes the negative part of his argument, by showing that the name was not derived from any heathen source whatever. Consequently, it is to be traced to " a Hebrew etymology." We need not follow him into the discussion on the right pronunciation of the word, and the use of the vowel points belonging to jik, (Adonai;) it may suf\-fice to state, that he deduces the name nilTi (Jehovah,) from the future of the verb nin or iTii, to be. Hence the meaning of the appellation may be expressed in the words, " He who is to be (for ever.)" This derivation of the name Jehovah he regards as being confirmed " by all the passages}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 110                              COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5. And every plant. This verse is connected with the pre\-ceding, and must be read in continuation with it; for he an\-nexes the plants and herbs to the earth, as the garment with which the Lord has adorned it, lest its nakedness should appear as a deformity. The noun TVW, (sicah,1) which we trans\-late plant, sometimes signifies trees, as below, (Gen. xxi. 15.2) Therefore, some in this place translate it shrub, to which I have no objection. Yet the word plant is not unsuitable; be\-cause, in the former place, Moses seems to refer to the genus, and here to the species.3 But although he has before related that the herbs were created on the third day, yet it is not without reason that here again mention is made of them, in order that we may know that they were then produced, pre\-served, and propagated, in a manner different from that which we perceive at the present day. For herbs and trees are produced from seed; or grafts are taken from another root, or they grow by putting forth shoots : in all this the industry and the hand of man are engaged. But, at that time, the method was different: God clothed the earth, not in the same manner as now, (for there was no seed, no root, no plant, which might germinate,) but each suddenly sprung into exist\-ence at the command of God, and by the power of his word.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 of Scripture, in which a derivation of the name is either expressly given or simply hinted." And, beginning with the Book of .Revelation, at the title o iiu xxi 6 iji/ k\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 1 6 t\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 x,6ftetios, " who is, and was, aud is to come," ho goes upward through the sacred volume, quoting the passages which bear upon the question, till he comes to the important passage ;in Exodus iii. 18-16, in which God declares his name to be, "I am that I am." " Every thing created," he adds, " remains not like itself, but is continually chang\-ing under circumstances, God only, because he is the being, is always the same ; and because he is always the same, is the being." See Dis\-sertations, p. 231-265.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 " The Lord God."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Jehovah Elohim. The two titles of Deity are here combined. " Elohim,'" says Hengstenberg, " is the more general, and Jehovah the deep and more discriminating name of the Godhead." This may well be admitted, without accepting all the inferences which the author deduces.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' ITE*. Frutex, stirps; a shrub\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " cujus pulluli in summa tellure ex-patiantur,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "whose shoots are spread abroad over the surface of the earth."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Robertson's Clavis Pentateuch.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  "And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 English version.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  It seems remarkable that Calvin should himself translate the word " virgultum," and then reason, in his commentary, as if he preferred the word "planta."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           Ill}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 They possessed durable vigour, so that they might stand by the force of their own nature, and not by that quickening in\-fluence which is now perceived, not by the help of rain, not by the irrigation or culture of man ; but by the vapour with which God watered the earth. For he excludes these two things, the rain whence the earth derives moisture, that it may retain its native sap ; and human culture, which is the assistant of nature. When he says, that God had ' not yet caused it to rain,' he at the same time intimates that it is God who opens and shuts the cataracts of heaven, and that rain and drought are in his hand.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7. And the Lord God formed man. He now explains what he had before omitted in the creation of man, that his body was taken out of the earth. He had said that he was formed after the image of God. This is incomparably the highest nobility; and, lest men should use it as an occasion of pride, their first origin is placed immediately before them ; whence they may learn that this advantage was adventitious; for Moses relates that man had been, in the beginning, dust of the earth. Let foolish men now go and boast of the excel\-lency of their nature! Concerning other animals, it had before been said, Let the earth produce every living creature;1 but, on the other hand, the body of Adam is formed of clay, and destitute of sense; to the end that no one should exult beyond measure in his flesh. He must be excessively stupid who does not hence learn humility. That which is afterwards added from another quarter, lays us under just so much obli\-gation to God. Nevertheless, he, at the same time, designed to distinguish man by some mark of excellence from brute animals : for these arose out of the earth in a moment; but the peculiar dignity of man is shown in this, that he was gradually formed. For why did not God command him im\-mediately to spring alive out of the earth, unless that, by a special privilege, he might outshine all the creatures which the earth produced?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 '"Omnemanimamviventem,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " every living soul." The word soul is ap\-plied here, and frequently in the Holy Scriptures, to describe only the sen\-sitive and animal life, that by which a created being breathes; and thus distinguishes the animal from the vegetative life.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 112                             COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And breathed into his nostrils.1 Whatever the greater part of the ancients might think, I do not hesitate to subscribe to the opinion of those who explain this passage of the animal life of man; and thus I expound what they call the vital spirit, by the word breath. Should any one object, that if so, no distinction would be made between man and other living creatures, since here Moses relates only what is common alike to all: I answer, though here mention is made only of the lower faculty of the soul, which imparts breath to the body, and gives it vigour and motion: this does not pre\-vent the human soul from having its proper rank, and there\-fore it ought to be distinguished from others.2 Moses first speaks of the breath; he then adds, that a soul was given to man by which he might live, and be endued with sense and motion. Now we know that the powers of the human mind are many and various. Wherefore, there is nothing absurd in supposing that Moses here alludes only to one of them; but omits the intellectual part, of which mention has been made in the first chapter. Three gradations, indeed, are to be noted in the creation of man; that his dead body was formed out of the dust of the earth; that it was endued with a soul, whence it should receive vital motion; and that on this soul God engraved his own image, to which immortality is annexed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Man became a living soul? I take fc?S3, (nepesh,) for the very essence of the soul: but the epithet living suits only the present place, and does not embrace generally the powers of the soul. For Moses intended nothing more than to ex\-plain the animating of the clayey figure, whereby it came to pass that man began to live. Paul makes an antithesis be\-tween this living soul and the quickening spirit which Christ confers upon the faithful, (1 Cor. xv. 45,) for no other pur\-pose than to teach us that the state of man was not perfected in the person of Adam; but it is a peculiar benefit conferred by Christ, that we may be renewed to a life which is celestial,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Inspiraverat in faciem."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Kon tamen obstare quiii gradum surnn obtineat anima, ideoque seorsum poni debuerit."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  "Factus est in animam viventem."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           113}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 whereas before the fall of Adam, man's life was only earthly, seeing it had no firm and settled constancy.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8. And the Lord God planted.1 Moses now adds the con\-dition and rule of living which were given to man. And, first, he narrates in what part of the world he was placed, and what a happy and pleasant habitation was allotted to him. Moses says, that God had planted, accommodating himself, by a simple and uncultivated style, to the capacity of the vulgar. For since the majesty of God, as it really is, cannot be expressed, the Scripture is wont to describe it according to the manner of men. God, then, had planted Paradise in a place which he had especially embellished with every variety of delights, with abounding fruits, and with all other most excellent gifts. For this reason it is called a garden, on account of the elegance of its situation, and the beauty of its form. The ancient interpreter has not im\-properly translated it Paradise ;2 because the Hebrews call the more highly cultivated gardens O^DTiS; (Pardaisim,3) and Xenophon pronounces the word to be Persian, when he treats of the magnificent and sumptuous gardens of kings. That region which the Lord assigned to Adam, as the first\-born of mankind, was one selected out of the whole world.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 In Eden. That Jerome improperly translates this, from the beginning,4 is very obvious: because Moses afterwards says, that Cain dwelt in the southern region of this place. Moreover, it is to be observed, that when he describes para\-dise as in the east, he speaks in reference to the Jews, for he directs his discourse to his own people. Hence we infer, in the first place, that there was a certain region assigned by-God to the first man, in which he might have his home. I state this expressly, because there have been authors who}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Plantaverat quoque Dominus."-\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " The Lord had also planted."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Paradisum."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vulgate.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  DTIB-    Baumgarten, Park, &c.    " Wahrscheinlich aus der Persi-schen Sprache, wo es die Lustparks der Kbnige bezeichnet."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Orchard, Park, &c.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 probably from the Persian, where it signifies the pleasure-parks of kings."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Gesenius.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 " Plantaverat antem Dominus Deus Paradisum voluptatis a prin-cipio."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " But the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the be ginning."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Vulgate.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 114                             COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 would extend this garden over all regions of the world. Truly, I confess, that if the earth had not been cursed on account of the sin of man, the whole\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 as it had been blessed from the beginning\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 would have remained the fairest scene both of fruitfulness and of delight; that it would have been, in short, not dissimilar to Paradise, when compared with that scene of deformity which we now behold.    But when Moses here describes particularly the situation of the region, they absurdly transfer what Moses said of a certain particular place to the whole world.    It is not indeed doubtful (as I just now hinted) that God would choose the most fertile and pleasant place, the first-fruits (so to speak) of the earth, as his gift to Adam, whom he had dignified with the honour of primogeniture among men, in token of his special favour. Again, we infer, that this garden was situated on the earth, not as some dream in the air; for unless it had been a region of our world, it would not have been placed opposite to Judea, towards the east.    We must, however, entirely reject the allegories of Origen, and of others like him, which Satan, with the deepest subtlety, has endeavoured to introduce into the Church, for the purpose of rendering the doctrine of Scripture ambiguous and destitute of all certainty and firm\-ness.    It may be, indeed, that some, impelled by a supposed necessity, have resorted to an allegorical sense, because they never found in the world such a place as is described by Moses : but we see that the greater part, through a foolish affectation of subtleties, have been too much addicted to allegories.   As it concerns the present passage, they speculate in vain, and to no purpose, by departing from the literal sense. For Moses has no other design than to teach man that he was formed by God, with this condition, that he should have dominion over the earth, from which he might gather fruit, and thus learn by daily experience that the world was subject unto him.    What advantage is it to fly in the air, and to leave the earth, where God has given proof of his benevo\-lence towards the human race?    But some one may say, that to interpret this of celestial bliss is more skilful.    I answer, since the eternal inheritance of man is in heaven, it is truly right that we should tend thither; yet must we fix}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP.  II.                  THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                         115}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 our foot on earth long enough to enable us to consider the abode which God requires man to use for a time. For we are now conversant with that history which teaches us that Adam was, by Divine appointment, an inhabitant of the earth, in order that he might, in passing through his earthly life, meditate on heavenly glory; and that he had been bountifully enriched by the Lord with innumerable benefits, from the enjoyment of which he might infer the paternal benevolence of God. Moses, also, will hereafter subjoin that he was commanded to cultivate the fields, and permitted to eat certain fruits : all which things neither suit the circle of the moon, nor the aerial regions. But although we have said, that the situation of Paradise lay between the rising of the sun and Judea, yet something more definite may be required respecting that region. They who contend that it was in the vicinity of Mesopotamia, rely on reasons not to be despised; because it is probable that the sons of Eden were contiguous to the river Tigris. But as the description of it by Moses will immediately follow, it is better to defer the consideration of it to that place. The ancient interpreter has fallen into a mistake in translating the proper name Eden by the word " pleasure."' I do not indeed deny that the place was so called from its delights; but it is easy to infer that the name was imposed upon the place to distinguish it from others.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow. The production here spoken of belongs to the third day of the creation. But Moses expressly declares the place to have been richly replenished with every kind of fruitful trees, that there might be a full and happy abundance of all things. This was purposely done by the Lord, to the end that the cupidity of man might have the less excuse if, instead of being contented with such remarkable affluence, sweetness, and variety, it should (as really happened) precipitate itself against the commandment of God. The Holy Spirit also designedly relates by Moses the greatness of Adam's happi-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The Hebrew word pjj signifies pleasure, delight, loveliness.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 116                           COMMENTARY TJPON                     CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ness, in order that his vile intemperance might the more clearly appear, which such superfluity was unable to restrain from breaking forth upon the forbidden fruit. And certainly it was shameful ingratitude, that he could not rest in a state so happy and desirable : truly, that was more than brutal lust which bounty so great was not able to satisfy. No corner of the earth was then barren, nor was there even any which was not exceedingly rich and fertile: but that benediction of God, which was elsewhere comparatively moderate, had in this place poured itself wonderfully forth. For not only was there an abundant supply of food, but with it was added sweetness for the gratification of the palate, and beauty to feast the eyes. Therefore, from such benignant indulgence, it is more than sufficiently evident, how inexplicable had been the cupidity of man.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The tree of life also. It is uncertain whether he means only two individual trees, or two kinds of trees. Either opinion is probable, but the point is by no means worthy of conten\-tion ; since it is of little or no concern to us, which of the two is maintained. There is more importance in the epithets, which were applied to each tree from its effect, and that not by the will of man but of God.1 He gave the tree of life its name, not because it could confer on man that life with which he had been previously endued, but in order that it might be a symbol and memorial of the life which he had received from God. For we know it to be by no means unusual that God should give to us the attestation of his grace by external symbols.2    He does not indeed transfer his power into out-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The above passage is wholly omitted in the Old English translation by Tymme.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 i " Scimus minime esse insolens ut virtutem suam Dens externis sym-bolis testatamnobis reddat."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "Nous savons que ce n'est point chose nou-velle, que Dieu nous testifie sa vertu par signes exterieurs."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans. Virtus in Latin, and vertu in French, may both signify power, virtue, efficacy; but it seems that the term grace more correctly conveys to an English ear the meaning of the Author.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 On the sacramental character of the tree of life, which Calvin here maintains, but which Dr Kennicott, in his first Dissertation, endeavours, with more learning than sound judgment, to set aside, the generality of commentators seem to be agreed. See Patrick, Scott, &c. Patrick says, \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " This garden being a type of heaven, perhaps God intended by this tree to represent that immortal life which he meant to bestow upon man with himself, (Rev. xxii. 2.)   And so St Austin, in that famous saying}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.       THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                           117}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ward signs ; but by them he stretches out his hand to us, be\-cause, without assistance, we cannot ascend to him. He in\-tended, therefore, that man, as often as he tasted the fruit of that tree, should remember whence he received his life, in order that he might acknowledge that he lives not by his own power, but by the kindness of God alone; and that life is not (as they commonly speak) an intrinsic good, but pro\-ceeds from God. Finally, in that tree there was a visible testimony to the declaration, that' in God we are, and live, and move.' But if Adam, hitherto innocent, and of an up\-right nature, had need of monitory signs to lead him to the knowledge of divine grace, how much more necessary are signs now, in this great imbecility of our nature, since we have fallen from the true light ? Yet I am not dissatisfied with what has been handed down by some of the fathers, as Au\-gustine and Eucherius, that the tree of life was a figure of Christ, inasmuch as he is the Eternal Word of God : it could not indeed be otherwise a symbol of life, than by represent\-ing him in figure. For we must maintain what is declared in the first chapter of John, that the life, of all things was in\-cluded in the Word, but especially the life of men, which is conjoined with reason and intelligence. Wherefore, by this sign, Adam was admonished, that he could claim nothing for himself as if it were his own, in order that he might depend wholly upon the Son of God, and might not seek life any\-where but in him. But if he, at the time when he possessed life in safety, had it only as deposited in the word of God, and could not otherwise retain it, than by acknowledging that it was received from Him, whence may we recover it, after it has been lost ? Let us know, therefore, that when we have departed from Christ, nothing remains for us but death. I know that certain writers restrict the meaning of the expres\-sion here used to corporeal life. They suppose such a power of quickening the body to have been in the tree, that it shouldnever languish through age ; but I say, they omit what is the chief}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 of his, ' Erat ei in cseteris lignis Alimentum, in isto autem Sacramentum. In other trees there was nourishment for man ; but in this also a sacra\-ment. For it was both a symbol of that life which God had already be\-stowed upon man, and of that life which he was to hope for in another world, if he proved obedient."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 118                           COMMENTARY UPON                       CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 thing in life, namely, the grace of intelligence; for we must always consider for what end man was formed, and what rule of living was prescribed to him. Certainly, for him to live, was not simply to have a body fresh and lively, but also to excel in the endowments of the soul.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we must hold, that it was prohibited to man, not because God would have him to stray like a sheep, without judgment and without choice ; but that he might not seek to be wiser than became him, nor by trusting to his own understanding, cast off the yoke of God, and constitute himself an arbiter and judge of good and evil. His sin proceeded from an evil con\-science ; whence it follows, that a judgment had been given him, by which he might discriminate between virtues and vices. Nor could what Moses relates be otherwise true, namely, that he was created in the image of God; since the image of God comprises in itself the knowledge of him who is the chief good. Thoroughly insane, therefore, and mon\-sters of men are the libertines, who pretend that we are re\-stored to a state of innocency, when each is carried away by his own lust without judgment. We now understand what is meant by abstaining from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; namely, that Adam might not, in attempting one thing or another, rely upon his own prudence; but that, cleaving to God alone, he might become wise only by his obedience. Knowledge is here, therefore, taken disparagingly, in a bad sense, for that wretched experience which man, when he departed from the only fountain of perfect wisdom, began to acquire for himself. And this is the origin of free\-will, that Adam wished to be independent,1 and dared to try what he was able to do.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10. And a river went out. Moses says that one river flowed to water the garden, which afterwards would divide itself into four heads. It is sufficiently agreed among all, that two of these heads are the Euphrates and the Tigris; for no one disputes that SpTH (Hiddekel) is the Tigris.    But there is}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Dum Adam per se esae voluit, et quid valeret tentare ausus est." \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Lat.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           119}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 a great controversy respecting the other two. Many think, that Pison and Gihon are the Ganges and the Nile; the error, however, of these men is abundantly refuted by the distance of the positions of these rivers. Persons are not wanting who fly across even to the Danube; as if, indeed, the habitation of one man stretched itself from the most remote part of Asia to the extremity of Europe. But since many other celebrated rivers flow by the region of which we are speaking, there is greater probability in the opinion of those who believe that two of these rivers are pointed out, although their names are now obsolete. Be this as it may, the diffi\-culty is not yet solved. For Moses divides the one river which flowed by the garden into four heads. Yet it appears, that the fountains of the Euphrates and the Tigris were far distant from each other. From this difficulty, some would free themselves by saying, that the surface of the globe may have been changed by the deluge ; and, therefore, they ima\-gine it might have happened that the courses of the rivers were disturbed and changed, and their springs transferred elsewhere; a solution which appears to me by no means to be accepted. For although I acknowledge that the earth, from the time that it was accursed, became reduced from its native beauty to a state of wretched defilement, and to a garb of mourning, and afterwards was further laid waste in many places by the deluge; still, I assert, it was the same earth which had been created in the beginning. Add to this, that Moses (in my judgment) accommodated his topography to the capacity of his age. Yet nothing is accomplished, unless we find that place where the Tigris and Euphrates proceed from one river. Observe, first, that no mention is made of a spring or fountain, but only that it is said, there was one river. But the four heads I understand to mean, both the beginnings from which the rivers are produced, and the mouths' by which they discharge themselves into the sea. Now the Eu\-phrates was formerly so joined by confluence with the Tigris, that it might justly be said, one river was divided into four}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 It appears that by the beginnings (principia) and the mouths (pslia) of the rivers, Calvin simply means the streams above, and the streams below, the site of the garden.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 120}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARY UPON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 heads; especially, if what is manifest to all be conceded, that Moses does not speak acutely, nor in a philosophical manner, but popularly, so that every one least informed may under\-stand him. Thus, in the first chapter, he called the sun and moon two great luminaries; not because the moon exceeded other planets in magnitude, but because, to common observa\-tion, it seemed greater. Add further, that he seems to re\-move all doubt when he says, that the river had four heads, because it was divided from that place. What does this mean, except that the channels were divided, out of one con\-fluent stream, either above or below Paradise ? I will now submit a plan to view, that the readers may understand where I think Paradise was placed by Moses.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 This is a fac-similefrom the Old English translation ; and the same, with Latin and French names, are introduced in the early editions of each language.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           121}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Pliny indeed relates, in his Sixth Book, that the Eu\-phrates was so stopped in its course by the Orcheni, that it could not flow into the sea, except through the Tigris.1 And Pomponius Mela, in his Third Book, denies that it flowed by any given outlet, as other rivers, but says that it failed in its course. Nearchus, however, (whom Alexander had made commander of his fleet, and who, under his sanc\-tion, had navigated all these regions,) reckons the distance from the mouth of the Euphrates to Babylon, three thou\-sand three hundred stadia.2 But he places the mouths of the Tigris at the entrance of Susiana; in which region, returning from that long and memorable voyage, he met the king with his fleet, as Arrian relates in his Eighth Book of the Exploits of Alexander. This statement Strabo also confirms by his testimony in his Fifteenth Book. Never\-theless, wherever the Euphrates either submerges or mingles its stream, it is certain, that it and the Tigris, below the point of their confluence, are again divided. Arrian, how\-ever, in his Seventh Book, writes, that not one channel only of the Euphrates runs into the Tigris, but also many rivers and ditches, because waters naturally descend from higher to lower ground. With respect to the confluence, which I have noted in the plate, the opinion of some was, that it had been effected by the labour of the Prefect Cobaris, lest the Euphrates, by its precipitate course, should injure Babylon. But he speaks of it as of a doubtful matter. It is more credible, that men, by art and industry, followed the guid\-ance of Nature in forming ditches, when they saw the Eu\-phrates any where flowing of its own accord from the higher ground into the Tigris. Moreover, if confidence is placed in Pomponius Mela, Semiramis conducted the Tigris and Euphrates into Mesopotamia, which was previously dry; a thing by no means credible. There' is more truth in the statement of Strabo,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 a diligent and attentive writer,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 in his Eleventh Book, that at Babylon these two rivers unite :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " The Orcheni inhabiting a city named Orchoe, caused the diminu\-tion of the Euphrates, by deriving it through their lauds, which could not otherwise be watered."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 D'Anville's Ancient Geography.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8 About 420 miles.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 122                             COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 and then, that each is carried separately, in its own bed, into the Red Sea.1 He understands that junction to have taken place above Babylon, not far from the town Massica, as we read in the Fifth Book of Pliny. Thence one river flows through Babylon, the other glides by Seleucia, two of the most cele\-brated and opulent cities. If we admit this confluence, by which the Euphrates was mixed with the Tigris, to have been natural, and to have existed from the beginning, all absurdity is removed. If there is anywhere under heaven a region pre-eminent in beauty, in the abundance of all kinds of fruit, in fertility, in delicacies, and in other gifts, that is the region which writers most celebrate. Wherefore, the eulogies with which Moses commends Paradise are such as properly belong to a tract of this description. And that the region of Eden was situated in those parts is probable from Isaiah xxxvii. 12, and Ezekiel xxvii. 23. Moreover, when Moses declares that a river went forth, I understand him as speaking of the flowing of the stream; as if he had said, that Adam dwelt on the bank of the river, or in that land which was watered on both sides, if you choose to take Paradise for both banks of the river. However, it makes no great difference whether Adam dwelt below the confluent stream towards Babylon and Seleucia, or in the higher part; it is enough that he occupied a well-watered country. How the river was divided into four heads is not difficult to under\-stand. For there are two rivers which flow together into one, and then separate in different directions; thus, it is one at the point of confluence, but there are two heads2 in its}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Mare Rubrum.   By the Red Sea, in this place, is not meant the Gulf of Suez, which is called by that name in sacred history, and over which the Israelites passed in their journey from Egypt to Canaan ; but the Indian Ocean, the Mare Erythrasum of the ancients, into which the Tigris and Euphrates flowed, through the Persian Gulf.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  Or "principal streams."    "The river, or single channel, must be looked upon as a highway, crossing over a forest, and which may be said from thence to divide itself into four ways, whether the division be made above or below the forest."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Wells' Geography of the Old and New Test., vol. i. p. 19.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The reader is referred to the first chapter of that useful work, for an account agreeing in many points with Calvin, though differing from it in others. The principal difference in the two accounts lies in this, that Wells places the site of Paradise near the Persian Gulf into which the Tigris}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           123}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 upper channels, and two towards the sea; afterwards, they again begin to be more widely separated.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The question remains concerning the names Pison and Gihon. For it does not seem consonant with reason, to assign a double name to each of the rivers. But it is nothing new for rivers to change their names in their course, espe\-cially where there is any special mark of distinction. The Tigris itself (by the authority of Pliny) is called Diglito near its source; but after it has formed many channels, and again coalesces, it takes the name of Pasitigris. There is, therefore, no absurdity in saying, that after its confluence it had different names. Further, there is some such affinity between Pasin and Pison, as to render it not improbable, that the name Pasitigris is a vestige of the ancient appella\-tion. In the Fifth Book of Quintus Curtius, concerning the Exploits of Alexander, where mention is made of Pasitigris, some copies read, that it was called by the inhabitants Pasin. Nor do the other circumstances, by which Moses describes three of these rivers, ill accord with this supposi\-tion. Pison surrounds1 the land of Havila, where gold is produced. Surrounding is rightly attributed to the Tigris, on account of its winding course below Mesopotamia. The land of Havila, in my judgment, is here taken for a region adjoining  Persia.     For subsequently,  in  the  twenty-fifth}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 and Euphrates discharge themselves, while Calvin fixes it higher np the streams, in the vicinity of ancient Babylon. Wells derives his account mainly from the celebrated French Bishop, Peter Daniel Hnet, who had been the intimate friend of the famous Protestant traveller Bochart. The following extract from a note in the Clavis Pentateuchi of Bobertson is added for the reader's satisfaction :\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 "Eden est regio seu in Mesopo-tamio, seu non procul inde. Observandum est hancce sententiam Cal-vini, quam parum emendaverat clarissimus Huetius, verissimam omnium videri : Hoc demonstravit clarissimus Vitringa, qui paululum in quibus-dam circumstantiis etiam Huetium emendaverat."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Eden is a region either in Mesopotamia, or near it. It is to be observed, that this opinion of Calvin, which the celebrated Huet has slightly amended, seems to be the most true of all. The celebrated Vitringa has demonstrated this ; who also, in some circumstances, has slightly amended Huet."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Robertson's Clavis, p. 171.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Circuit. It is observed, that the word surrounds, or " compasses," conveys, to an English reader, more than is meant by the sacred writer. He only intends to say, that the river sweeps round in that direction, so as to embrace, by its winding, a part of the region of Havila. Flexuoso cursu aUuit.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Johannes Chricus in loco.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 124                            COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 chapter, Moses relates, that the Ishmaelites dwelt from Ha-vila unto Shur, which is contiguous to Egypt, and \dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9632\'3f\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  through which the road lies into Assyria. Havila, as one boundary, is opposed to Shur as another, and this boundary Moses places near Egypt, on the side which lies towards Assyria. Whence it follows, that Havila [the other boundary] extends towards Susia and Persia. For it is necessary that it should lie below Assyria towards the Persian Sea; besides, it is placed at a great distance from Egypt; because Moses enumerates many nations which dwelt between these boundaries.1 Then it appears that the Nabathagans,2 of whom mention is there made, were neighbours to the Persians. Every thing which Moses asserts respecting gold and precious stones is most applicable to this district.3}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The river Gihon still remains to be noticed, which, as Moses declares, waters the land of Chus. All interpreters translate this word Ethiopia; ,but the country of the Midian-ites, and the conterminous country of Arabia, are included under the same name by Moses; for which reason, his wife is elsewhere called an Ethiopian woman. Moreover, since the lower course of the Euphrates tends toward that region, I do not see why it should be deemed absurd, that it there receives the name of Gihon. And thus the simple meaning of Moses is, that the garden of which Adam was the pos\-sessor was well watered, the channel of a river passing that way, which was afterwards divided into four heads.4}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  That is, the nations peopled by the twelve sons of Ishmael.   See Gen. xxv. 13-16.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  The descendants of Nebajoth, the eldest son of Ishmael.   Yet, as they inhabited the western side of the great desert of Arabia, which lay between them and the Euphrates, they cannot, with much propriety, be called neighbours to the Persians.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " There is bdellium and the onyx-stone."    It is a question among the learned, whether bdellium is an aromatic gum of great value, or a pearl.    The latter opinion seems to prevail.    Dathe, however, renders this word " crystal," and the next, "emerald."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 It would be wrong to omit all mention of the work of Adrian Reland on this subject; who devoted to it the most profound learning and diligent investigation. An abstract of his description is given in Dr Adam Clarke's Commentary. He places Eden in Armenia, near the sources of the Euphrates and Tigris, which flow into the Persian Gulf, the Phasis, (Pison,) which empties itself into theEuxine, where Chabala, correspond\-ing with Havila, is famous for its gold; and the Araxes, (Gihon,) which}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                  THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          125}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  And the Lord God took the man.   Moses now adds, that the earth was given to man, with this condition, that he should occupy himself in its cultivation.    Whence it follows, that men were created to employ themselves in some work, and not to lie down in inactivity and idleness.    This labour, truly, was pleasant, and full of delight, entirely exempt from all trouble and weariness;   since, however, God  ordained that man should be exercised in the culture of the ground, he condemned, in his person, all indolent repose.   Where\-fore, nothing is more contrary to the order of nature, than to consume life in eating, drinking, and sleeping, while in the meantime we propose nothing to  ourselves to do.    Moses adds, that the custody of the garden was given in charge to Adam, to show that we possess the things which God has committed to our hands, on the condition, that being content with a frugal and moderate use of them, we should take care of what shall remain.    Let him who possesses a field, so par\-take of its yearly fruits, that he may not suffer the ground to be injured by his negligence; but let him endeavour to hand it down to posterity as he received it, or even better cultivated.    Let him so feed on its fruits, that he neither dissipates it by luxury,'nor permits to be marred or ruined by neglect.    Moreover, that this economy, and this diligence, with respect to those good things which God has given us to enjoy, may flourish among us ; let every one regard him\-self as the steward of God in all things which he possesses. Then he will neither conduct himself dissolutely, nor corrupt by abuse those things which God requires to be preserved.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16.  And the Lord God commanded.    Moses now teaches, that man was the governor of the world, with this exception, that he should, nevertheless, be subject to God.    A law is imposed upon him in token of his subjection; for it would have made no difference to God, if he had eaten indiscrimi\-nately of any fruit he pleased.    Therefore, the prohibition ot}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 runs into the Caspian. The objection to this locality is, that these rivers do not actually meet together ; so that they cannot be said to divide into four heads, or principal streams in Eden. The learned reader may see Dathe's Commentary on the Pentateuch, p. 23, note (k.)\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 126                          COMMENTARY UPON                      CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 one tree was a test of obedience. And in this mode, God designed that the whole human race should be accustomed from the beginning to reverence his Deity; as, doubtless, it was necessary that man, adorned and enriched with so many excellent gifts, should be held under restraint, lest he should break forth into licentiousness. There was, indeed, another special reason, to which we have before alluded, lest Adam should desire to be wise above measure; but this is to be kept in mind as God's general design, that he would have men subject to his authority. Therefore, abstinence from the fruit of one tree was a kind of first lesson in obedience, that man might know he had a Director and Lord of his life, on whose will he ought to depend, and in whose com\-mands he ought to acquiesce. And this, truly, is the only rule of living well and rationally, that men should exercise themselves in obeying God. It seems, however, to some as if this did not accord with thp judgment of Paul, when he teaches, that "the law was not made for the righteous," (1 Tim. i. 9.) For if it be so, then, when Adam was yet inno\-cent and upright, he had no need of a law. But the solution is ready. For Paul is not there writing controversially; but from the common practice of life, he declares, that they who freely run, do not require to be compelled by the necessity of law; as it is said, in the common proverb, that' Good laws spring from bad manners.' In the meantime, he does not deny that God, from the beginning, imposed a law upon man, for the purpose of maintaining the right due to himself. Should any one bring, as an objection, another statement of Paul, where he asserts that the "law is the minister of death," (2 Cor. iii. 7,) I answer, it is so accidentally, and from the corruption of our nature. But at the time of which we speak, a precept was given to man, whence he might know that God ruled over him. These minute things, how\-ever, I lightly pass over. What I have before said, since it is of far greater moment, is to be frequently recalled to memory, namely, that our life will then be rightly ordered, if we obey God, and if his will be the regulator of all our affec\-tions.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Of every tree.    To the end that Adam might the more}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                      THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                      127}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 willingly comply, God commends his own liberality.    ' Be\-hold,' he says, ll deliver into thy hand whatever fruits the earth may produce, whatever fruits every kind of tree may yield: from this immense profusion and variety 1 except only one  tree.'     Then,  by denouncing  punishment, he  strikes terror, for the purpose of confirming the authority of the law.    So much the greater, then, is the wickedness of man, whom neither that kind commemoration of the gifts of God, nor the dread of punishment, was able to retain in his duty. But it is asked, what kind of death God means in this place ?   It appears to me, that the definition of this death is to be sought from its opposite; we must, I say, remember from what kind of life man fell.    He was, in every respect, happy; his life, therefore, had alike respect to his body and his soul, since in his soul a right judgment  and a proper government of the affections prevailed, there also life reigned; in his body there was no defect, wherefore he was wholly free from death.   His earthly life truly would have been temporal; yet he would have passed into heaven without death, and without injury.    Death, therefore, is now a terror to us; first, because there is a kind of annihilation, as it respects the body; then, because the soul feels the curse of God.    TVe must also see what is the cause of death, namely, alienation from God.    Thence it follows, that under the name of death is comprehended all those miseries in which Adam involved himself by his defection; for as soon as he revolted from God, the fountain of life, he was cast down from his former state, in order that he might perceive the life of man without God to be wretched and lost, and therefore differing nothing from death.    Hence the condition of man after his sin is not improperly called both the privation of life, and death.    The miseries and evils both of soul and body, with which man is beset so long as he is on earth, are a kind of entrance into death, till death itself entirely absorbs him; for the Scripture everywhere calls those dead, who, being oppressed by the tyranny of sin and Satan, breathe nothing but their own de\-struction.   Wherefore the question is superfluous, how it was that God threatened death to Adam on the day in which he should touch the fruit, when he long deferred the punishment ?}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 128                          COMMENTARY UPON                       CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For then was Adam consigned to death, and death began its reign in him, until supervening grace should bring a remedy.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18. It is not yood that the man should be alone.'' Moses now explains the design of God in creating the woman; namely, that there should be human beings on the earth who might cultivate mutual society between themselves. Yet- a doubt may arise whether this design ought to be extended to progeny, for the words simply mean that since it was not expedient for man to be alone, a wife must be created, who might be his helper. I, however, take the meaning to be this, that God begins, indeed, at the first step of human society, yet designs to include others, each in its proper place. The commencement, therefore, involves a general principle, that man was formed to be a social animal. 2 Now, the human race could not exist without the woman; and, therefore, in the conjunction of human beings, that sacred bond is especially conspicuous, by which the husband and the wife are combined in one body, and one soul; as nature itself taught Plato, and others of the sounder class of philosophers, to speak. But although God pronounced, concerning Adam, that it would not be profitable for him to be alone, yet I do not restrict the declaration to his person alone, but rather regard it as a com\-mon law of man's vocation, so that every one ought to receive it as said to himself, that solitude is not good, excepting only him whom God exempts as by a special privilege. Many think that celibacy conduces to their advantage,3 and, therefore, abstain from marriage, lest they should be mis\-erable. Not only have heathen writers defined that to be a happy life which is passed without a wife, but the first book of Jerome, against Jovinian, is stuffed with petulant reproaches, by which he attempts to render hallowed wed-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Non est bonum ut sit Adam solus." This is a variation from Calvin's text, which has man instead of Adam, as the English version has. The word CD1K stands for both. As a proper name, it means Adam; as an appellation, it belongs to the human species; as an adjective, it means red; and, with a slight alteration, it signifies the ground.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 s " Principium ergo generale est, conditum esse hominem ut sit sociale animal."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 " Putant multi suisrationibus conducere ccelibatum."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Plusieurs eatiment que le celibat\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 leur est plus profitable."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.       THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                          129}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 lock both hateful and infamous. To these wicked suggestions of Satan let the faithful learn to oppose this declaration of God, by which he ordains the conjugal life for man, not to his destruction, but to his salvation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 / will make him an help. It may be inquired, why this is not said in the plural number, Let us make, as before in the creation of man. Some suppose that a distinction between the two sexes is in this manner marked, and that it is thus shown how much the man excels the woman. But I am better satisfied with an interpretation which, though not altogether contrary, is yet different; namely, since in the person of the man the human race had been created, the common dignity of our whole nature was without distinction, honoured with one eulogy, when it was said, " Let us make man;" nor was it necessary to be repeated in creating the woman, who was nothing else than an accession to the man. Certainly, it cannot be denied, that the woman also, though in the second degree, was created in the image of God; whence it follows, that what was said in the creation of the man belongs to the female sex. Now, since God assigns the woman as a help to the man, he not only prescribes to wives the rule of their voca\-tion, to instruct them in their duty, but he also pronounces that marriage will really prove to men the best support of life. We may therefore conclude, that the order of nature implies that the woman should be the helper of the man. The vulgar pro\-verb, indeed, is, that she is a necessary evil; but the voice of God is rather to be heard, which declares that woman is given as a companion and an associate to the man, to assist him to live well. I confess, indeed, that in this corrupt state of man\-kind, the blessing of God, which is here described, is neither perceived nor nourishes; but the cause of the evil must be con\-sidered, namely, that the order of nature, which God had appointed, has been inverted by us. For if the integrity of man had remained to this day such as it was from the be\-ginning, that divine institution would be clearly discerned, and the sweetest harmony would reign in marriage; because the husband would look up with reverence to God; the woman in this would be a faithful assistant to him; and both, with one consent, would cultivate a holy, as well as friendly and}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 130                            COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 peaceful intercourse. Now, it has happened by our fault, and by the corruption of nature, that this happiness of mar\-riage has, in a great measure, perished, or, at least, is mixed and infected with many inconveniences. Hence arise strifes, troubles, sorrows, dissensions, and a boundless sea of evils; and hence it follows, that men are often disturbed by their wives, and suffer through them many discouragements. Still, marriage was not capable of being so far vitiated by the depravity of men, that the blessing which God has once sanctioned by his word should be utterly abolished and extinguished. Therefore, amidst many inconveniences of mar\-riage, which are the fruits of degenerate nature, some residue of divine good remains ; as in the fire apparently smothered, some sparks still glitter. On this main point hangs another, that women, being instructed in their duty of helping their husbands, should study to keep this divinely appointed order. It is also the part of men to consider what they owe in return to the other half of their kind, for the obligation of both sexes is mutual, and on this condition is the woman assigned as a help to the man, that he may fill the place of her head and leader. One thing more is to be noted, that, when the woman is here called the help of the man, no allusion is made to that necessity to which we are reduced since the fall of Adam; for the woman was ordained to be the man's helper, even although he had stood in his integrity. But now, since the depravity of appetite also requires a remedy, we have from God a double benefit: but the latter is accidental.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Meet for him.1 In the Hebrew it is "nJJ3, (kenegedo,) li as if opposite to," or " over against him." ^ (capli) in that language is a note of similitude. But although some of the Kabbies think it is here put as an affirmative, yet I take it in its general sense, as though it were said that she is a kind of counterpart, [dvr/tfro/xov, or avr/Vrgopoi/;2] for the woman is said to be opposite to or over against the man, because she responds to him. But the particle of similitude seems to me to be added because it is a form of speech taken from com-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Coram ipso," before him.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Pour lny assister," to help him.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Fr. Trans.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  Quod " ex adverso ei" respondet.  Lud. de Dien.    His counterpart.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           131}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 mon usage.1 The Greek translators have faithfully rendered the sense, Kuralrov ;2 and Jerome, "Which may be like him,"3 for Moses intended to note some equality. And hence is refuted the error of some, who think that the woman was formed only for the sake of propagation, and who restrict the word " good," which had been lately mentioned, to the production of offspring. They do not think that a wife was personally necessary for Adam, because he was hitherto free from lust; as if she had been given to him only for the com\-panion of his chamber, and not rather that she might be the inseparable associate of his life. Wherefore the particle 3 (caph) is of importance, as intimating that marriage ex\-tends to all parts and usages of life. The explanation given by others, as if it were said, " Let her be ready to obedience," is cold; for Moses intended to express more, as is manifest from what follows.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19. And out of the ground the Lord God formed, $-c.4 This is a more ample exposition of the preceding sentence, for he says that, of all the animals, when they had been placed in order, not one was found which might be conferred upon and adapted to Adam; nor was there such affinity of nature, that Adam could choose for himself a companion for life out of any one species. Nor did this occur through ignorance, for each species had passed in review before Adam, and he had imposed names upon them, not rashly, but from certain knowledge; yet there was no just proportion between him and them. Therefore, unless a wife had been given him of the same kind with himself, he would have remained des\-titute of a suitable and proper help.    Moreover, what is here}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Quia sit translatitia loquutio."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  A help according to him.    See Septnagint.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 "Adjutoriuinsimilesibi," a help like himself.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vulgate. Meetfor Mm. " In whose company he shall take delight; so the Hebrew phrase, as be\-fore him, imports, being as much as answerable to him, every way fitted for him, not only in likeness of body, but of mind, disposition, and affec\-tion, which laid the foundation of perpetual familiarity and friendship."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Patrick.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4  " Formaverat autem Deus,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " God had formed," plainly referring to what had already taken place.    The Hebrew language has not the same distinction of times in its verbs which is common to more modem tongues.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 132                             COMMENTAKY UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 said of God's bringing the animala to Adam1 signifies nothing else than that he endued them with the disposition to obe\-dience, so that they would voluntarily offer themselves to the man, in order that he, having closely inspected them, might distinguish them by appropriate names, agreeing with the nature of each. This gentleness towards man would have remained also in wild beasts, if Adam, by his defection from God, had not lost the authority he had before received. But now, from the time in which he began to be rebellious against God, he experienced the ferocity of brute animals against himself; for some are tamed with difficulty, others al\-ways remain unsubdued, and some, even of their own accord, inspire us with terror by their fierceness. Yet some remains of their former subjection continue to the present time, as we shall see in the second verse of the ninth chapter. Be\-sides, it is to be remarked that Moses speaks only of those animals which approach the nearest to man, for the fishes live as in another world. As to the names which Adam im\-posed, I do not doubt that each of them was founded on the best reason; but their use, with many other good things, has become obsolete.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall, fyc. Al\-though to profane persons this method of forming woman may seem ridiculous, and some of these may say that Moses is dealing in fables, yet to us the wonderful providence of God here shines forth ; for, to the end that the conjunction of the human race might be the more sacred, he purposed that both males and females should spring from one and the same origin. Therefore he created human nature in the person of Adam, and thence formed Eve, that the woman should be only a portion of the whole human race. This is the import of the words of Moses which we have had before, (Chap. i. 28,) " God created man ... he made them male and female." In this manner Adam was taught to recognise himself in his wife, as in a mirror; and Eve, in her turn, to submit herself willingly to her husband, as being taken out}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Porro istud adducere Dei."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.                THE  BOOK Or GENESIS.                         133}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 of him. But if the two sexes had proceeded from different sources, there would have been occasion either of mutual contempt, or envy, or contentions. And against what do perverse men here object ? ' The narration does not seem credible, since it is at variance with custom.' As if, indeed, such an objection would have more colour than one raised against the usual mode of the production of mankind, if the latter were not known by use and experience.1 But they object that either the rib which was taken from Adam had been superfluous, or that his body had been mutilated by the absence of the rib. To either of these it may be answered, that they find out a great absurdity. If, however, we should say that the rib out of which he would form another body had been prepared previously by the Creator of the world, I find nothing in this answer which is not in accordance with Divine Providence. Yet I am more in favour of a different conjecture, namely, that something was taken from Adam, in order that he might embrace, with greater benevolence, a part of himself. He lost, therefore, one of his ribs; but, in\-stead of it, a far richer reward was granted him, since he obtained a faithful associate of life; for he now saw him\-self, who had before been imperfect, rendered complete in his wife.2 And in this we see a true resemblance of our union with the Son of God; for he became weak that he might have members of his body endued with strength. In the meantime, it is to be noted, that Adam had been plunged in a sleep so profound, that he felt no pain; and further, that neither had the rupture been violent, nor was any want perceived of the lost rib, because God so filled up the vacuity with flesh, that his strength remained unimpaired; only the hardness of bone was removed. Moses also designedly used the word built,3 to teach us that in the person of the woman the human race was at length complete, which had before been like a building just begun. Others refer the expression to the domestic economy, as if Moses would say that le-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Ex putrido seinine quotidie gigni homines."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Qunm se integrum vidit in uxore, qui prius tantum dimidius erat."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  "Et asdificavit Jehova Deus costam qnam tuleratex Adam, in mu-lierem."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 And Jehovah God built the rib which he had taken out of Adam into a woman,   ja^, from n33, to build.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 134                             COMMENTARY  UPON                    CHAP. II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 gitiraate family order -was then instituted, which does not differ widely from the former exposition.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  And brought her,  Sfc.    Moses now relates that mar\-riage was divinely instituted, which is especially  useful to be known ; for since Adam did not take a wife to himself at his own will, but received her as offered and appropriated to him by God, the sanctity of marriage hence more clearly appears, because we recognise God as its  Author.    The more Satan has endeavoured to dishonour marriage, the more should we vindicate it from all reproach and abuse, that it may receive its due reverence.    Thence it will follow that the children of God may embrace a conjugal life with a good and tranquil conscience, and husbands and wives may live together in chastity and honour.    The artifice of Satan in attempting the defamation of marriage was twofold: first, that by means of the odium attached to it he might introduce the pestilential law of celibacy; and, secondly, that married persons might indulge themselves in whatever license they pleased. Therefore, by showing the dignity of marriage, we must re\-move superstition, lest it should in the slightest degree hin\-der the faithful from chastely using the lawful and pure or\-dinance of God; and further, we must oppose the lascivious-ness of the flesh, in order that men may live modestly with their wives.    But if no other reason influenced us,  yet this alone ought to be abundantly sufficient, that unless we think and speak honourably of marriage, reproach is attached to its Author and Patron, for such God is here described as being by Moses.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  And Adam said, Sfc.     It is demanded whence Adam derived this knowledge, since he was at that time buried in deep sleep.    If we say that his quickness of perception was then such as to enable him by conjecture to form a judg\-ment, the solution would be weak.    But we ought not to doubt that God would make the whole course of the affair manifest to him, either by secret revelation or by his word ; for it was not from any necessity on God's part that He bor\-rowed from man the rib out of which he might form the}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. II.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          135}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 woman; but he designed that they should be more closely joined together by this bond, which could not have been effected unless he had informed them of the fact. Moses does not indeed explain by what means God gave them this information; yet, unless we would make the work of God superfluous, we must conclude that its Author revealed both the fact itself and the method and design of its accomplish\-ment. The deep sleep was sent upon Adam, not to hide from him the origin of his wife, but to exempt him from pain and trouble, until he should receive a compensation so excellent for the loss of his rib.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 This is now bone of, Sfc.1 In using the expression Dy\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 !"l, (hac vice,) Adam indicates that something had been want\-ing to hiin; as if he had said, Now at length I have ob\-tained a suitable companion, who is part of the substance of my flesh, and in whom I behold, as it were, another self. And he gives to his wife a name taken from that of man,2 that by this testimony and this mark he might transmit a perpetual memorial of the wisdom of God. A deficiency in the Latin language has compelled the ancient interpreter to ren\-der fttPbt, (ishah,) by the word virago. It is, however, to be remarked, that the Hebrew term means nothing else than the female of the man.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24, Therefore shall a man leave. It is doubted whether Moses here introduces God as speaking, or continues the}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 " Hac vice OS est ex ossibus meis." ojjan Dtih (zoi haphaam.) These words are rendered in the English version by '<This now," which very feebly and imperfectly expresses the sense of the original; nor does the version of Calvin, " At this turn," give the true emphasis of the words. It is perhaps scarcely possible to do so without a paraphrase. The two words of the original are both intended to be emphatic. " This living creature (flNf) which at the present time (apQn, hoc vice) passes before me, is the companion which I need, for it is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vide Bathe in loco.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Nomen uxori a viro imponit." nK'Xi (is/ian,*) from k\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 k, (isk,) which is the Hebrew word man with a feminine termination; as if we should say, " She shall be called manness, because she was taken out of the man." Calvin uses the word virissa; Dathe, after Le Clerc, the word vira; and though neither of them are strictly classical, yet are they far preferable to the term virago in the Vulgate, which Calvin justly rejects, and which means a woman of masculine character. The English word woman is a contraction of womb-man.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 136                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP.  II.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 discourse of Adam, or, indeed, has added this, in virtue of his office as teacher, in his own person.1 The last of these is that which I most approve. Therefore, after he has re\-lated historically what God had done, he also demonstrates the end of the divine institution. The sum of the whole is, that among the offices pertaining to human society, this is the principal, and as it were the most sacred, that a man should cleave unto his wife. And he amplifies this by a superadded comparison, that the husband ought to prefer his wife to his father. But the father is said to be left not because marriage severs sons from their fathers, or dispenses with other ties of nature, for in this way God would be acting contrary to himself. While, however, the piety of the son towards his father is to be most assiduously cultivated, and ought in itself to be deemed inviolable and sacred, yet Moses so speaks of marriage as to show that it is less lawful to desert a wife than parents. Therefore, they who, for slight causes, rashly allow of divorces, violate, in one single particular, all the laws of nature, and reduce them to nothing. If we should make it a point of conscience not to separate a father from his son, it is a still greater wickedness to dissolve the bond which God has preferred to all others.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 They shall be one flesh? Although the ancient Latin in\-terpreter has translated the passage ' in one flesh,' yet the Greek interpreters have expressed it more forcibly : ' They two shall be into one flesh,' and thus Christ cites the place in Matthew xix. 5. But though here no mention is made of two, yet there is no ambiguity in the sense; for Moses had not said that God has assigned many wives, but only one to one man; and in the general direction given, he had put the wife in the singular number. It remains, therefore, that the conjugal bond subsists between two persons only, whence it easily appears, that nothing is less accordant with the divine institution than polygamy. Now, when Christ, in censuring the voluntary divorces of the Jews, adduces as his reason for doing it, that' it was not so in the beginning,' (Matth. xix. 5.)}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 See Le Clerc on this verse, who takes the same view as Calvin. * " Erunt in carnem imam."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " In carne una."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vulgate.    E/y *\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 *\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 .\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Sept.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.              THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                        137}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 he certainly commands this institution to be observed as a perpetual rule of conduct. To the same point also Malachi recalls the Jews of his own time : < Did he not make them one from the beginning ? and yet the Spirit was abounding in him." (Mai. ii. 15.) Wherefore, there is no doubt that polygamy is a corruption of legitimate marriage.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25. They were both naked. That the nakedness of men should be deemed indecorous and unsightly, while that of cattle has nothing disgraceful, seems little to agree with the dignity of human nature. We cannot behold a naked man without a sense of shame; yet at the sight of an ass, a dog, or an ox, no such feeling will be produced. Moreover, every one is ashamed of his own nakedness, even though other wit\-nesses may not be present. Where then is that dignity in which we excel ? The cause of this sense of shame, to which we are now alluding, Moses will show in the next chapter. He now esteems it enough to say, that in our uncorrupted nature, there was nothing but what was honourable; whence it follows, that whatsoever is opprobrious in us, must be im\-puted to our own fault, since our parents had nothing in them\-selves which was unbecoming until they were defiled with sin.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAPTEE III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.   Now the serpent was more       1. Porro serpens erat callidior subtil than any beast of the field   omni  bestia   agri, quam fecerat which  the   Lord  God had  made.    JehovaDeus: et dixit admulierem, And he said unto the woman, Yea,    EtiamnedixitDeus,Noncomedetis hath God said, Ye shall not eat of   ex omni arbore horti ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 every tree of the garden ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  And the woman said unto the       2. Et dixit mulier ad serpentem, serpent, We may eat of the fruit of   De fructu arborum horti vescimur. the trees of the garden :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3.  But of the fruit  of the tree       3. At de fructu arboris quse est which is in the midst of the garden,    in medio horti, dixit Deus, Nbn God hath said, Ye shall not eat of   comedetis ex ea, neque contingotis it, neithershallye touch it,lestyedie.    earn, ne forte moriamini.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  And the serpent said unto the       4. Tune dixit serpens  ad mu-woman, Ye shall not surely die:         lierem, Non moriendo moriemini.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.  For God doth know that in the       5. Scit enim Deus quod in die}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' '' Spiritus abundans in eo erat."  The word abundans has in English the force of superabounding.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 138}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARY UPON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her ; and he did eat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made them\-selves aprons.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the   presence   of  the   Lord   God amongst the trees of the garden.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, be\-cause I was naked; and I hid myself.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked ?    Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I com\-manded thee that thou shouldst not eat?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?   And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.  And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field ; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  And I will put enmity be\-tween  thee and the  woman,  and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16.  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children ; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 qua comedetis ex ea, aperientur oculi vestri, et eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  Et vidit mulier quod bona esset arbor ad vescendum, et quod delectabilis esset oculis, et desidera-bilis arbor ad intelligendum : et tu-lit de fructu ipsius, et comedit: deditque etiam viro suo qui erat cum ea, et ipse comedit.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  Et aperti sunt oculi amborum ipsorum, et cognoverunt quod nudi essent: et consuerunt folia ficus, feceruntque sibi cingula.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  Audierunt autem vocem Je-hovaj Dei deambulantis per hor-tum ad auram diei: et abscondit se   Adam   et uxor  ejus a facie Jehovas   Dei, in medio a^borum horti.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.   Vocavitque   Jehova   Deus Adam, et dixit ei, Ubi es tu ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  Et ait, Vocem tuam audivi in horto, et timui, quia midus eram, et abscondi me.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  Tune dixit, Quis indicavit tibi quod nudus esses? nonne ex ipsa   arbore  de qua prseceperam tibi ne comederes, comedisti ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  Et ait Adam, Mulier quam dedisti ut esset mecum, ipsa dedit mihi de arbore, et comedi.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  Dixitque Jehova Deus ad mulierem, Cur hoc fecisti ?    Et ait mulier, Serpens seduxit me, et co\-medi.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.  Et dixit Jehova ad serpen-tem, Quia fecisti hoc, maledictus eris prse omni animali, et pr\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  omni bestia agri: super ventrem tuum gradieris,   et  pulverem    comedes omnibus diebus vitse tuas.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  Et inimicitias ponam inter te et inter mulierem, et inter semen tuum et inter semen ejus: ipsum vulnerabit te in capite, et tu vul-nerabis ipsum in calcaneo.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16. Ad mulierem dixit, Multipli-cando multiplicabo dolorem tuum, et conceptum tuum: cum dolore paries filios, et ad virum tuum erit dosiderium tuum, ipseque do-minabitur tibi.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 139}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  And unto Adam he said, Be^ cause thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,  Thou shalt  not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18.  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20.  And Adam called his wife's name Eve;  because  she was the mother of all living.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.  Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  And   the   Lord   God  said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden chenibims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  Ad* vero ait, Quia paruisti voci uxoris tuse, et comedisti ex arbore  de qua prseceperam tibi, dicens, Non comedes ex ea : ma-ledicta terra propter te: in labore comedes earn cunctis diebus vitse tuae.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18.  Et spinam et tribulum ger-minabit tibi, et comedes herbam agri.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.  In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane, donee revertaris in terrain : quia ex ea sumptus es: nam pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20.  Et vocavit Adam nomen ux\-oris suae Hava, quia ipsa est mater omnis viventis.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.  Fecitqne Jehova Deus Adae et uxori ejus tunicas pelliceas,, et iiiduit eos.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.   Tune dixit   Jehova Deus, Ecce, Adam  faetus est tanquam unus ex nobis, sciendo bonum et malum : nunc autem ne forte mit-tat manum suam, et accipiat etiam de arbore vita,  et   comedat, et vivat in seculum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  Et emisit eum Jehova de horto Heden, ad colendum terrain ex qua sumptus fuerat.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.  EtejecitAdam, etcollocavit ab Oriente horti Heden cherubim, et laminam gladii versatilis,   ad custodiendum viam arboris vitaa.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1. Now the serpent was more subtil. In this chapter, Moses explains, that man, after he had been deceived by Satan, revolted from his Maker, became entirely changed, and so degenerate, that the image of God, in which he had been formed, was obliterated. He then declares, that the whole world, which had been created for the sake of man, fell to\-gether with him from its primary original; and that, in this way, much of its native excellence was destroyed. But here many and arduous questions arise. For when Moses says that the serpent was crafty beyond all other animals, he seems to intimate, that it had been induced to deceive man,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 140                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 not by the instigation of Satan, but by its own malignity. I answer, that the innate subtlety of the serpent did not pre\-vent Satan from making use of the animal for the purpose of effecting the destruction of man. For since he required an instrument, he chose from among animals that which he saw would be most suitable for him: finally, he carefully contrived the method by which the snares he was preparing might the more easily take the mind of Eve by surprise. Hitherto, he had held no communication with men; he, therefore, clothed him\-self with the person of an animal, under which he might open for himself the way of access. Yet it is not agreed among in\-terpreters in what sense the serpent is said to be D*ny> (aroom, subtle,) by which word the Hebrews designate the prudent as well as the crafty. Some, therefore, would take it in a good, others in a bad sense. I think, however, Moses does not so much point out a fault as attribute praise to nature, because God had endued this beast with such singular skill, as rendered it acute and quick-sighted beyond all others. But Satan per\-verted to his own deceitful purposes the gift which had been divinely imparted to the serpent. Some captiously cavil, that more acuteness is now found in many other animals. To whom I answer, that there would be nothing absurd in say\-ing, that the gift which had proved so destructive to the human race has been withdrawn from the serpent: just, as we shall hereafter see, other punishments were also inflicted upon it. Yet, in this description, writers on natural history do not materially differ from Moses, and experience gives the best answer to the objection; for the Lord does not in vain command his own disciples to be ' prudent as serpents,' (Matth. x. 16.) But it appears, perhaps, scarcely consonant with reason, that the serpent only should be here brought forward, all mention of Satan being suppressed. I acknow\-ledge, indeed, that from this place alone nothing more can be collected than that men were deceived by the serpent. But the testimonies of Scripture are sufficiently numerous, in which it is plainly asserted that the serpent was only the mouth of the devil; for not the serpent but the devil is de\-clared to be ' the father of lies,' the fabricator of imposture, and the author of death.    The question, however, is not yet}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.      THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                        141}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 solved, why Moses has kept back the name of Satan. I willingly subscribe to the opinion of those who maintain that the Holy Spirit then purposely used obscure figures, because it was fitting that full and clear light should be re\-served for the kingdom of Christ. In the meantime, the prophets prove that they were well acquainted with the meaning of Moses, when, in different places, they cast the blame of our ruin upon the devil. We have elsewhere said, that Moses, by a homely and uncultivated style, accommo\-dates what he delivers to the capacity of the people; and for the best reason; for not only had he to instruct an untaught race of men, but the existing age of the Church was eo puerile, that it was unable to receive any higher instruction. There is, therefore, nothing absurd in the supposition, that they, whom, for the time, we know and confess to have been but as infants, were fed with milk. Or (if another comparison be more acceptable) Moses is by no means to be blamed, if he, con\-sidering the office of schoolmaster as imposed upon him, insists on the rudiments suitable to children. They who have an aversion to this simplicity, must of necessity con\-demn the whole economy of God in governing the Church. This, however, may suffice us, that the Lord, by the secret illumination of his Spirit, supplied whatever was wanting of clearness in outward expressions ; as appears plainly from the prophets, who saw Satan to be the real enemy of the human race, the contriver of all evils, furnished with every kind of fraud and villany to injure and destroy. Therefore, though the impious make a noise, there is nothing justly to offend us in this mode of speaking by which Moses describes Satan, the prince of iniquity, under the person of his servant and instrument, at the time when Christ, the Head of the Church, and the Sun of Righteousness, had not yet openly shone forth. Add to this, the baseness of human ingratitude is more clearly hence perceived, that when Adam and Eve knew that all ani\-mals were given, by the hand of God, into subjection to them, they yet suffered themselves to be led away by one of their own slaves into rebellion against God. As often as they beheld any one of the animals which were in the world, they ought to have been reminded both of the supreme authority,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 142                               COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 and of the singular goodness of God; but, on the contrary, when they saw the serpent an apostate from his Creator, not only did they neglect to punish it, but, in violation of all lawful order, they subjected and devoted themselves to it, as participators in the same apostacy. What can be imagined more dishonourable than this extreme depravity ? Thus, I understand the name of the serpent, not allegorically, as some foolishly do, but in its genuine sense.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Many persons are surprised that Moses simply, and as if abruptly, relates that men have fallen by the impulse of Satan into eternal destruction, and yet never by a single word explains how the tempter himself had revolted from God. And hence it has arisen, that fanatical men have dreamed that Satan was created evil and wicked as he is here described. But the revolt of Satan is proved by other passages of Scripture; and it is an impious madness to ascribe to God the creation of any evil and corrupt nature; for when he had completed the world, he himself gave this testimony to all his works, that they were " very good." Wherefore, without controversy, we must conclude, that the principle of evil with which Satan was endued was not from nature, but from defection; because he had departed from God, the fountain of justice and of all rectitude. But Moses here passes over Satan's fall, because his object is briefly to narrate the corruption of human nature; to teach us that Adam was not created to those multiplied miseries under which all his posterity suffer, but that he fell into them by his own fault. In reflecting on the number and nature of those evils to which they are obnoxious, men will often be unable to restrain themselves from raging and mur\-muring against God, whom they rashly censure for the just punishment of their sin. These are their well-known com\-plaints, that God has acted more mercifully to swine and dogs than to them. Whence is this, but that they do not refer the miserable and ruined state, under which we languish, to the sin of Adam as they ought ? But what is far worse, they fling back upon God the charge of being the cause of all the inward vices of the mind, (such as its horrible blindness, con\-tumacy against God, wicked desires, and violent propensities to}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.       THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           143}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 evil;) as if the whole perverseness of our disposition had not been adventitious.1 The design, therefore, of Moses was to show, in a few words, how greatly our present condition differs from our first original, in order that we may learn, with humble confession of our fault, to bewail our evils. We ought not then to be surprised, that, while intent on the history he pur\-posed to relate, he does not discuss every topic which may be desired by any person whatever.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 We must now enter on that question by which vain and inconstant minds are greatly agitated; namely, Why God permitted Adam to be tempted, seeing that the sad result was by no means hidden from him ? That He now relaxes Satan's reins, to allow him to tempt us to sin, we ascribe to judgment and to vengeance, in consequence of man's aliena\-tion from himself; but there was not the same reason for doing so when human nature was yet pure and upright. God, therefore,2 permitted Satan to tempt man, who was conformed to His own image, and not yet implicated in any crime, having, moreover, on this occasion, allowed Satan the use of an animal3 which otherwise would never have obeyed him; and what else was this, than to arm an enemy for the destruction of man? This seems to have been the ground on which the Manichseans maintained the exist\-ence of two principles.4 Therefore, they have imagined that Satan, not being in subjection to God, laid snares for man in opposition to the divine will, and was superior not to man only,  but also  to   God  himself.     Thus,  for}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  '' Quasi non accidentalis esset."   As if it had not been accidental, where the word accidental is used in the sense of the schoolmen and logicians, as opposed to the word essential.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 The reader will observe that Calvin is here putting forward the argu\-ment of an objector__Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Mesme il luy a preste le serpent."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 On the intricate subject of Manich seism, and its various cognateheresies, the reader may refer to the Bampton Lectures of the late Dr Burton, who, with incredible erudition and industry, has searched the records of ancient and modern times, and has examined, with the greatest candour, the various conflicting sentiments which have been entertained by learned men in reference to this question.  The fundamental error of Manes seems to have been, that, with nearly all the Oriental philosophers of antiquity, he held the necessary and independent existence of matter, -which, in his view, was the origin of all evil.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Burton's Bampton Lectures, p. 294 ; and Lardner's Credibility, Sfc. part 2, c. 63.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 144                           COMMENTARY UPON                    CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the sake of avoiding what they dreaded as an absurdity, they have fallen into execrable prodigies of error; such as, that there are two Gods, and not one sole Creator of the world, and that the first God has been overcome by his antagonist. All, however, who think piously and reverently concerning the power of God, acknowledge that the evil did not take place except by his permission. For, in the first place, it must be conceded, that God was not in ignorance of the event which was about to occur; and then, that he could have prevented it, had he seen fit to do so. But in speaking of permission, I understand that he had appointed whatever he wished to be done. Here, indeed, a difference arises on the part of many, who suppose Adam to have been so left to his own free will, that God would not have him fall. They take for granted, what I allow them, that nothing is less probable than that God should be regarded as the cause of sin, which he has avenged with so many and such severe penalties. When I say, however, that Adam did not fall without the ordination and will of God, I do not so take it as if sin had ever been pleasing to Him, or as if he simply wished that the precept which he had given should be violated. So far as the fall of Adam was the subversion of equity, and of well-con\-stituted order, so far as it was contumacy against the Divine Law-giver, and the transgression of righteousness, certainly it was against the will of God; yet none of these things render it impossible that, for a certain cause, although to us unknown, he might will the fall of man. It offends the ears of some, when it is said God willed this fall; but what else, I pray, is the permission of Him, who has the power of pre\-venting, and in whose hand the whole matter is placed, but his will ? 1 wish that men would rather suffer themselves to be judged by God, than that, with profane temerity, they should pass judgment upon him; but this is the arrogance of the flesh to subject God to its own test. I hold it as a set\-tled axiom, that nothing is more unsuitable to the character of God than for us to say that man was created by Him for the purpose of being placed in a condition of suspense and doubt; wherefore I conclude, that, as it became the Creator, he had before determined with himself what should be man's}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           145}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 future condition. Hence the unskilful rashly infer, that man did not sin by free choice. For he himself perceives, being convicted by the testimony of his own conscience, that he has been too free in sinning. Whether he sinned by necessity, or by contingency, is another question; respecting which see the Institution,1 and the treatise on Predestination.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And he said unto the woman. The impious assail this passage with their sneers, because Moses ascribes eloquence to an ani\-mal which only faintly hisses with its forked tongue. And first they ask, at what time animals began to be mute, if they then had a distinct language, and one common to ourselves and them. The answer is ready; the serpent was not eloquent by nature, but when Satan, by divine permission, procured it as a fit instrument for his use, he uttered words also by its tongue, which God himself permitted. Nor do I doubt that Eve perceived it to be extraordinary, and on that account re\-ceived with the greater avidity what she admired. Now, if men decide that whatever is unwonted must be fabulous, God could work no miracle. Here God, by accomplishing a work above the ordinary course of nature, constrains us to admire his power. If then, under this very pretext, we ridicule the power of God, because it is not familiar to us, are we not excessively pre\-posterous ? Besides, if it seems incredible that beasts should speak at the command of God, how has man the power of speech, but because God has formed his tongue? The Gos\-pel declares, that voices were uttered in the air, without a tongue, to illustrate the glory of Christ; this is less probable to carnal reason, than that speech should be elicited from the mouth of brute animals. What then can the petulance of impious men find here deserving of their invective? In short, whosoever holds that God in heaven is the Ruler of the world, will not deny his power over the creatures, so that he can teach brute animals to speak when he pleases, just as he sometimes renders eloquent men speechless. Moreover, the craftiness of Satan betrays itself in this, that he does not directly assail the man, but approaches him, as through a mine, in the person of his wife.    This insidious method of}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Calvin's Institutes, Book III. c. 1.   Vol. ii. p. 73, of the Calvin Society's edition.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 146                              COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 attack is more than sufficiently known to ub at the present day, and I wish we might learn prudently to guard ourselves against it. For he warily insinuates himself at that point at which he sees us to be the least fortified, that he may not be perceived till he should have penetrated where he wished. The woman does not flee from converse with the serpent, because hitherto no dissension had existed; she, therefore, accounted it simply as a domestic animal.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The question occurs, what had impelled Satan to contrive the destruction of man ? Curious sophists have feigned that he burned with envy, when he foresaw that the Son of God was to be clothed in human flesh; but the speculation is frivo\-lous. For since the Son of God was made man in order to restore us, who were already lost, from our miserable over\-throw, how could that be foreseen which would never have happened unless man had sinned ? If there be room for con\-jectures, it is more probable that he was driven by a kind of fury, (as the desperate are wont to be,) to hurry man away with himself into a participation of eternal ruin. But it be\-comes us to be content with this single reason, that since he was the adversary of God, he attempted to subvert the order established by Him, and, because he could not drag God from his throne, he assailed man, in whom His image shone. He knew that with the ruin of man the most dreadful confusion would be produced in the whole world, as indeed it happened, and therefore he endeavoured, in the person of man, to obscure the glory of God.l Eejecting, therefore, all vain figments, let us hold fast this doctrine, which is both simple and solid. Yea, hath God said ? This sentence is variously expounded and even distorted, partly because it is in itself obscure, and partly because of the ambiguous import of the Hebrewparticle. The expression^ t\\H,(aph A?,)sometimes signifies "although" or " indeed, " and sometimes, " how much more." 2    David}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Being under a final and irreversible doom, he looked on God as an irreconcileable enemy; and, not being able to injure his essence, he struck at his image.   He singled out Adam as the mark of his malice, that by seducing him from his duty, he might defeat God's design, which was to be honoured by man's obedience, and so obscure his glory, as if he had made man in vain."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Bates' Harmony of the Divine Attributes.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 *3 P|Ni " Hebrseis tantundem valet interdum ac Latinis, Etiamsi, vel enimrero; interdum, quanto magis."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            147}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Kimchi takes it in this last sense, and thinks that many-words had passed between them on both sides, before the serpent descended to this point; namely, that having ca\-lumniated God on other accounts, he at length thus con\-cludes, Hence it much more appears how envious and malignant he is towards you, because he has interdicted you from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But this exposition is not only forced, it is proved to be false by the reply of Eve. More correct is the explanation of the Chaldean paraphrast, 'Is it true that God has forbidden ? ' &C.1 Again, to some this appears a simple, to others an ironical interrogation. It would be a simple interrogation, if it injected a doubt in the follow\-ing manner : ' Can it be, that God should forbid the eating of any tree whatever ?' but it would be ironical, if used for the purpose of dissipating vain fear ; as, ' It greatly concerns God, indeed, whether you eat of the tree or not! It is, there\-fore, ridiculous that you should think it to be forbidden you !' I subscribe the more freely to the former opinion, because there is greater probability that Satan, in order to deceive more covertly, would gradually proceed with cautious pre\-varications to lead the woman to a contempt of the divine precept. There are some who suppose that Satan expressly denies the word which our first parents had heard, to have been the word of God. Others think, (with whom I rather agree,) that, under the pretext of inquiring into the cause, he would indirectly weaken their confidence in the word. And certainly the old interpreter has translated the expression, ' Why has God said ?'2 which, although I do not altogether approve, yet I have no doubt that the serpent urges the woman to seek out the cause, since otherwise he would not have been able to draw away her mind from God. Yery dangerous is the temptation, when it is suggested to us, that God is not to be obeyed, except so far as the reason of his}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 See the Chaldee paraphrase in Walton's Polyglott. The Latin trans\-lation is as follows : " Verumne est quod dixit Deus, non comedatis ex omni arbore horti ?   Gesenius gives the same explanation : " Sollte denn das wahr seyn, dass Gott gesagt hatte?"   " Can it be true, that God has said ? " &c.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Cur prscepit vobis Deus," &c.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Vulgate.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 148                              COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 command is apparent. The true rule of obedience is, that we being content with a bare command, should persuade our\-selves that whatever he enjoins is just and right. But who\-soever desires to be wise beyond measure, him will Satan, seeing he has cast off all reverence for God, immediately precipitate into open rebellion. As it respects grammatical construction, I think the expression ought to be translated, 1 Hath God even said ?' or, < Is it so that God hath said ?'' Yet the artifice of Satan is to be noticed, for he wished to inject into the woman a doubt which might induce her to believe that not to be the word of God, for which a plausible reason did not manifestly appear.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Of every tree of the garden. Commentators offer a double interpretation of these words. The former supposes Satan, for the sake of increasing envy, to insinuate that all the trees had been forbidden. "Has God indeed enjoined that you should not dare to touch any tree ?" The other interpreta\-tion, however, is, " Have you not then the liberty granted you of eating promiscuously from whatever tree you please ?" The former more accords with the disposition of the devil, who would malignantly amplify the prohibition, and seems to be sanctioned by Eve's reply. For when she says. We do eat of all, one only excepted, she seems to repel the calumny concerning a general prohibition. But because the latter sense of the passage, which suggests the question con\-cerning the simple and bare prohibition of God, was more apt to deceive, it is more credible that Satan, with his accus\-tomed guile, should have begun his temptation from this point, 'Is it possible for God to be unwilling that you should gather the fruit of any tree whatever ?' The answer of the woman, that only one tree was forbidden, she means to be a defence of the command; as if she would deny that it ought to seem harsh or burdensome, since God had only excepted one single tree out of so great an abundance and variety as he had granted to them. Thus, in these words there will be a concession, that one tree was indeed forbid\-den ; then, the refutation of a calumny, because it is not}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 i " Vertendum censeo, Etiamne, vel Itane? "}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           149}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 arduous or difficult to abstain from one tree, when others without number are supplied, of which the use is permitted It was impossible for Eve more prudently or more coura\-geously to repel the assault of Satan, than by objecting against him, that she and her husband had been so bounty fully dealt with by the Lord, that the advantages granted to them were abundantly sufficient, for she intimates that they would be most ungrateful if, instead of being content with such affluence, they should desire more than was law\-ful. When she says, God had forbidden them to eat or to touch, some suppose the second word to be added for the purpose of charging God with too great severity, because he prohibited them even from the touch\} But I rather under\-stand that she hitherto remained in obedience, and expressed her pious disposition by anxiously observing the precept of God; only, in proclaiming the punishment, she begins to give way, by inserting the adverb "perhaps,"2 when God has certainly pronounced, "Ye shall die the death."3 For although with the Hebrews >S (peri) does not always imply doubt, yet, since it is generally taken in this sense, I will\-ingly embrace the opinion that the woman was beginning to waver. Certainly, she had not death so immediately be\-fore her eyes, should she become disobedient to God, as she ought to have had. She clearly proves that her perception of the true danger of death was distant and cold.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4. And the serpent said unto the woman. Satan now springs more boldly forward; and because he sees a breach open before him, he breaks through in a direct assault, for he is never wont to engage in open war until we voluntarily ex\-pose ourselves to him, naked and unarmed. He cautiously approaches us at first with blandishments ; but when he has stolen in upon us, he dares to exalt himself petulantly and with proud confidence against God; just as he now, seizing upon Eve's doubt, penetrates further, that he may turn it}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Neither shall ye touch it."   " The woman herself adds this, which certainly in the divine law we are not permitted to do."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Peter Martyr's Commentary on Genesis.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Ne forte moriamini," lest perhaps ye may die.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 * " Moriendo moriemini." nion HID-   (Mot tamoot.)}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 150                           COMMENTARY UPON                     CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 into a direct negative. It behoves us to be instructed, by-such examples, to beware of his snares, and, by making timely resistance, to keep him far from us, that nearer access may not be permitted to him. He now, therefore, does not ask doubtingly, as before, whether or not the command of God, which he opposes, be true, but openly accuses God of falsehood, for he asserts that the word by which death was denounced is false and delusive. Fatal temptation ! when, while God is threatening us with death, we not only securely sleep, but hold God himself in derision !}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5. For God doth know. There are those who think that God is here craftily praised by Satan, as if He never would prohibit men from the use of wholesome fruit. But they manifestly contradict themselves, for they at the same time confess that in the preceding member of the sentence he had already declared God to be unworthy of confidence, as one who had lied. Others suppose that he charges God with malignity and envy, as wishing to deprive man of his highest perfection; and this opinion is more probable than the other. Nevertheless, (according to my judgment,) Satan attempts to prove what he had recently asserted, reasoning, however, from contraries:' God, he says, has interdicted to you the tree, that he may not be compelled to admit you to the par\-ticipation of his glory; therefore, the fear of punishment is quite needless. In short, he denies that a fruit which is use\-ful and salutary can be injurious. When he says, " God doth know," he censures God as being moved by jealousy, and as having given the command concerning the tree, for the purpose of keeping man in an inferior rank.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Ye shall be as gods. Some translate it, ' Ye shall be like angels.'     It might even be rendered in the singular number,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Sumpta a contraria ratione."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 The meaning of the passage seems to be this : Satan had first said in plain terms, " Ye shall not surely die; " and then, to confirm his position, had argued that, supposing God had forbidden the tree, he must have done it out of envy, lest he should be compelled to raise them to an equality \dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9632\'3f\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 with himself, and therefore on no possible supposition had they any ground to fear; for they had only to eat in order to be beyond the reach of his vengeance.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAr. III.       THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            151}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' Ye shall be as God.' I have no doubt that Satan pro\-mises them divinity; as if he had said, For no other reason does God defraud you of the tree of knowledge, than be\-cause he fears to have you as companions. Moreover, it is not without some show of reason that he makes the Divine glory, or equality with God, to consist in the perfect know\-ledge of good and evil; but it is a mere pretence, for the purpose of ensnaring the miserable woman. Because the de\-sire of knowledge is naturally inherent in all, happiness is supposed to be placed in it; but Eve erred in not regulating the measure of her knowledge by the will of God. And we all daily suffer under the same disease, because we desire to know more than is right, and more than God allows; whereas the principal point of wisdom is a well-regulated sobriety in obedience to God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6. And when the woman saw. This impure look of Eve, infected with the poison of concupiscence, was both the mes\-senger and the witness of an impure heart. She could pre\-viously behold the tree with such sincerity, that no desire to eat of it affected her mind; for the faith she had in the word of God was the best guardian of her heart, and of all her senses. But now, after the heart had declined from faith, and from obedience to the word, she corrupted both herself and all her senses, and depravity was diffused through all parts of her soul as well as her body. It is, therefore, a sign of impious defection, that the woman now judges the tree to be good for food, eagerly delights herself in beholding it, and persuades herself that it is desirable for the sake of acquiring wisdom; whereas before she had passed by it a hundred times with an un\-moved and tranquil look. Fornow,having shaken off the bridle, her mind wanders dissolutely and intemperately, drawing the body with it to the same licentiousness'. The word 7^8JTl7> (lehaskil,) admits of two explanations : That the tree was desirable either to be looked upon, or to impart prudence. I prefer the latter sense, as better corresponding with the temptation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And gave also unto her husband with her. From these words, some conjecture that Adam was present when his wife}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 152                              COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP.  III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 was tempted and persuaded by the serpent, which is by no means credible. Yet it might be that he soon joined her, and that, even before the woman tasted the fruit of the tree, she related the conversation held with the serpent, and en\-tangled him with the same fallacies by which she herself had been deceived. Others refer the particle J"|fiJ7, (immah,\} " with her," to the conjugal bond, which may be received. But because Moses simply relates that he ate the fruit taken from the hands of his wife, the opinion has been commonly received, that he was rather captivated with her allurements than persuaded by Satan's impostures.1 For this purpose the declaration of Paul is adduced, ' Adam was not deceived, but the woman.' (1 Tim. ii. 14.) But Paul in that place, as he is teaching that the origin of evil was from the woman, only speaks comparatively. Indeed, it was not only for the sake of complying with the wishes of his wife, that he transgressed the law laid down for him; but being drawn by her into fatal ambition, he became partaker of the same defection with her. And truly Paul elsewhere states that sin came not by the woman, but by Adam himself, (Eom. v. 12.) Then, the reproof which soon afterwards follows, ' Behold, Adam is as one of us,' clearly proves that he also foolishly coveted more than was lawful, and gave greater credit to the flatteries of the devil than to the sacred word of God. . It is now asked, What was the sin of both of them ? The opinion of some of the ancients, that they were allured by intemperance of appetite, is puerile. Forwhen there was such an abundance of the choicest fruits, what daintiness could there be about one particular kind ? Augustine is more cor\-rect, who says, that pride was the beginning of all evils, and that by pride the human race was ruined. Yet a fuller de\-finition of the sin may be drawn from the kind of temptation which Moses describes. For first the woman is led away from the word of God by the wiles of Satan, through unbelief.3}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 So our great Poet:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 He scrupled not to eat Against his better knowledge, not deceived, But fondly overcome with female charm.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Paradise Lost, Book IX. * :l Per infidelitateiu."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            153}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Wherefore, the commencement of the ruin by which the human race was overthrown was a defection from the command of God.   But observe, that men then revolted from God, when, having forsaken his word, they lent their ears to the falsehoods of Satan.    Hence we infer, that God will be seen and adored in his word; and, therefore, that all reverence for him is shaken off when his word is despised.    A doctrine most useful to be known, for the word of God obtains its due honour only with few, so that they who rush onward with impunity, in con\-tempt of this word, yet arrogate to themselves a chief rank among the worshippers of God.   But as God does not mani\-fest himself to men otherwise than through the word, so neither is his majesty maintained, nor does his worship remain secure among us any longer than while we obey his word.   There\-fore, unbelief was the root of defection; just as faith alone unites us to God.    Hence flowed ambition and pride, so that the woman first, and then her husband, desired to exalt them\-selves against God.     For truly they did exalt themselves against God, when, honour having been divinely conferred upon them, they, not contented with such excellence, desired to know more than was lawful, in order that they might be\-come equal with  God.    Here also monstrous ingratitude betrays itself.    They had been made in the likeness of God; but this seems a small thing unless equality be added.    Now, it is not to be endured that designing and wicked men should labour in vain, as well as absurdly, to extenuate the sin of Adam and his wife.    For apostacy is no light offence, but a detestable wickedness, by which man withdraws himself from the authority of his Creator, yea, even rejects and denies him. Besides, it was not simple apostacy, but combined with atro\-cious contumelies and reproaches against God himself.   Satan accuses God of falsehood, of envy, and of malignity, and our first parents subscribe to a calumny thus vile and execrable. At length, having despised the command of God, they not only indulge their own lust, but enslave themselves to the devil.    If any one prefers a shorter explanation, we may say unbelief has opened the door to ambition, but ambition has proved the parent of rebellion, to the end that men, having cast aside the fear of God, might shake off his yoke.   On this}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 154                              COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 account, Paul teaches us, that by the disobedience of Adam sin entered into the world.    Let us imagine that there was nothing worse than the transgression of the command; we shall not even thus have succeeded far in extenuating the fault of Adam.    God, having both made him free in every\-thing, and appointed him as king of the world, chose to put his obedience to the proof, in requiring abstinence from one tree alone.   This condition did not please him.    Perverse declaimers may plead in excuse, that the woman was allured by the beauty of the tree, and the man ensnared by the blandishments  of Eve.    Yet the milder  the  authority of God, the less excusable was their perverseness in rejecting it.    But we must search more deeply for the origin and cause of sin.    For never would they have dared to resist God, unless they had first been incredulous of his word. And nothing allured them to covet the fruit but mad ambition. So long as they, firmly believing in God's word, freely suiFered themselves to be governed by Him, they had serene and duly regulated affections.  For, indeed, their best restraint was the thought, which entirely occupied their minds, that God is just, that nothing is better than to obey his commands, and that to be loved by him is the consummation of a happy life.    But after they had given place to Satan's blasphemy, they began, like persons fascinated, to lose reason and judgment; yea, since they were become the slaves of Satan; he held their very senses bound.   Still further, we know that sins are not esti\-mated in the sight of God by the external appearance, but by the inward disposition.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Again, it appears to many absurd, that the defection of our first parents is said to have proved the destruction of the whole race; and, on this account, they freely bring an ac\-cusation against God. Pelagius, on the other hand, lest, as he falsely feared, the corruption of human nature should be charged upon God, ventured to deny original sin. But an error so gross is plainly refuted, not only by solid testimonies of Scripture, but also by experience itself. The corruption of our nature was unknown to the philosophers, who, in other respects, were sufficiently, and more than sufficiently,' acute. Surely this stupor itself was a signal proof of original sin.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.        THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                         155}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For all who are not utterly blind, perceive that no part of us is sound; that the mind is smitten with blindness, and in\-fected with innumerable errors; that all the affections of the heart are full of stubbornness and wickedness ; that vile lusts, or other diseases equally fatal, reign there ; and that all the senses burst forth 1 with many vices. Since, however, none but God alone is a proper judge in this cause, we must acqui\-esce in the sentence which he has pronounced in the Scriptures. In the first place, Scripture clearly teaches us that we are born vicious and perverse. The cavil of Pelagius was frivolous, that sin proceeded from Adam by imitation. For David, while still enclosed in his mother's womb, could not be an imitator of Adam, yet he confesses that he was conceived in sin, (Psalm li. 5.) A fuller proof of this matter, and a more ample definition of original sin, may be found in the Insti\-tutes ;2 yet here, in a single word, I will attempt to show how far it extends. Whatever in our nature is vicious\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 since it is not lawful to ascribe it to God\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 we justly reject as sin.3 But Paul (Kom. iii. 10) teaches that corruption does not re-sidein one part only, but pervades the wholesoul, and each of its faculties. Whence it follows, that they childishly err who re\-gard original sin as consisting only in lust, and in the inordinate motion of the appetites, whereas it seizes upon the very seat of reason, and upon the whole heart. To sin is annexed con\-demnation,4 or, as Paul speaks, ' By man came sin, and by sin, death,'(Rom. v. 12.) Wherefore he elsewhere pronounces us to be ' the children of wrath;' as if he would subject us to an eternal curse, (TSphes. ii. 3.) In short, that we are de\-spoiled of the excellent gifts of the Holy Spirit, of the light of reason, of justice, and of rectitude, and are prone to every evil; that we are also lost and condemned, and subjected to death, is both our hereditary condition, and, at the same time, a just punishment, which God, in the person of Adam, has inflicted on the human, race. Now, if any one should object, that it is unjust for the innocent to bear the punishment of}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Scatere," send forth as from a fountain.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 Calvin's Institutes, Book II., chap. 1, 2, 3. 8 " Merito in peccatum rejicimus."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 * " Peccato annexus est reatus."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 156                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 another's sin, I answer, whatever gifts God had conferred upon us in the person of Adam, he had the best right to take away, when Adam wickedly fell. Nor is it necessary to re\-sort to that ancient figment of certain writers, that souls are derived by descent from our first parents.1 For the human race has not naturally derived corruption through its descent from Adam; but that result is rather to be traced to the ap\-pointment of God, who, as he had adorned the whole nature of mankind with most excellent endowments in one man, so in the same man he again denuded it. But now, from the time in which we were corrupted in Adam, we do not bear the punish\-ment of another's offence, but are guilty by our own fault.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 A question is mooted by some, concerning the time of this fall, or rather ruin. The opinion has been pretty generally received, that they fell on the day they were created; and, therefore, Augustine writes, that they stood only for six hours. The conjecture of others, that, the temptation was delayed by Satan till the Sabbath, in order to profane that sacred day, is but weak. And certainly, by instances like these, all pious persons are admonished sparingly to indulge themselves in doubtful speculations. As for myself, since I have nothing to assert positively respecting the time, so I think it may be gathered from the narration of Moses, that they did not long retain the dignity they had received; for as soon as he has said they were created, he passes, without the mention of any other thing, to their fall. If Adam had lived but a moderate space of time with his wife, the blessing of God would not have been unfruitful in the production of offspring; but Moses intimates that they were deprived of God's benefits before they had become accustomed to use them. I therefore readily subscribe to the exclamation of Augustine, 'Owretched free-will, which, while yet   entire, had so little stability !'}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' " Quod animse ex traduce oriuntur."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Que les ames precedent de celle d'Adam."   That souls proceed from that of Adam.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Tr.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It can be scarcely necessary to inform the reader, that a controversy of some magnitude engaged the attention of the learned, on the subject to which Calvin here alludes; namely, whether the souls of men are, like their bodies, propagated by descent from Adam, or whether they proceed immediately from God. The supposed descent of the soul from Adam was said to be ex traduce, by traduction.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAJ\\ III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            157}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And, to say no more respecting the shortness of the time, the admonition of Bernard is worthy of remembrance: ' Since we read that a fall so dreadful took place in Paradise, what shall we do on the dunghill ?' At the same time, we must keep in memory by what pretext they were led into this delusion so fatal to themselves, and to all their posterity. Plausible was the adulation of Satan, ' Ye shall know good and evil;' but that knowledge was therefore accursed, because it was sought in preference to the favour of God. Wherefore, un\-less we wish, of our own accord, to fasten the same snares upon ourselves, let us learn entirely to depend upon the sole will of God, whom we acknowledge as the Author of all good. And, since the Scripture everywhere admonishes us of our nakedness and poverty, and declares that we may recover in Christ what we have lost in Adam, let us, renouncing all self-confidence, offer ourselves empty to Christ, that he may fill us with his own riches.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7. And the eyes of them both were opened. It was necessary that the eyes of Eve should be veiled till her husband also was deceived; but now both, being alike bound by the chain of an unhappy consent, begin to be sensible of their wretchedness, although they are not yet affected with a deep knowledge of their fault. They are ashamed of their nakedness, yet, though convinced, they do not humble themselves before God, nor fear his judgments as they ought; they even do not cease to resort to evasions. Some progress, however, is made; for whereas recently they would, like giants, assault heaven by storm; now, confounded with a sense of their own ignominy, they flee to hiding-places. And truly this opening of the eyes in our first parents to discern their baseness, clearly proves them to have been condemned by their own judgment. They are not yet summoned to the tribunal of God; there is none who accuses them; is not then the sense of shame, which rises spontaneously, a sure token of guilt ? The eloquence, therefore, of the whole world will avail nothing to deliver those from condemnation, whose own conscience has become the judge to compel them to confess their fault. It rather becomes us all to open our eyes, that, being con-}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 158                              COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 founded at our own disgrace, we may give to God the glory which is his due. God created man flexible ; and not only permitted, but willed that he should be tempted. For he both adapted the tongue of the serpent beyond the ordinary use of nature, to the devil's purpose, just as if any one should furnish another with a sword and armour; and then, though the un\-happy event was foreknown by him, he did not apply the remedy, which he had the power to do. On the other hand, when we come to speak of man, he will be found to have sinned voluntarily, and to have departed from God, his Maker, by a movement of the mind not less free than perverse. Nor ought we to call that a light fault, which, refusing credit to the word of God, exalted itself against him by impious and sacrilegious emulation, which would not be subject to his authority, and which, finally, both proudly and perfidiously revolted from him. Therefore, whatever sin and fault there is in the fall of our first parents remains with themselves ; but there is sufficient reason why the eternal counsel of God pre\-ceded it, though that reason is concealed from us. "We see, indeed, some good fruit daily springing from a ruin so dread\-ful, inasmuch as God instructs us in humility by our miseries, and then more clearly illustrates his own goodness; for his grace is more abundantly poured forth, through Christ, upon the world, than it was imparted to Adam in the beginning. Now, if the reason why this is so lies beyond our reach, it is not wonderful that the secret counsel of God should be to us like a labyrinth.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And they sewed Jig-leaves together. What I lately said, that they had not been brought either by true shame or by seri\-ous fear to repentance, is now more manifest.    They sew}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 To the question, ' Why God did not create man without a possibility of sinning,' Peter Martyr replies : ' Because such a state could not be suitable to the nature of any rational creature; since the creature, as a creature, remains infirm and feeble; whereas, also, he is not entirely one with the rule by which he is to be directed, (otherwise he would be God, the chief good, and chief rectitude,) it follows, that his nature may diverge from that rule. It was, however, possible for grace to confirm him so that he should not sin, which is believed to be the state of angels and of saints in heaven. But that dignity or reward would not be so highly esteemed, if this fallible and inconstant state of man had not preceded it.'\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Peter Martyr, in Gen., fol. 14.    Tiguri, 1579.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          159}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 together for themselves girdles of leaves.1 For what end ? That they may keep God at a distance, as by an invincible barrier! Their sense of evil, therefore, was only confused, and combined with dulness, as is wont to be the case in un\-quiet sleep. There is none of us who does not smile at their folly, since, certainly, it was ridiculous to place such a cover\-ing before the eyes of God. In the meanwhile, we are all in\-fected with the same disease; for, indeed, we tremble, and are covered with shame at the first compunctions of conscience ; but self-indulgence soon steals in, and induces us to resort to vain trifles, as if it were an easy thing to delude God. Therefore, unless conscience be more closely pressed, there is no shadow of excuse too faint and fleeting to obtain our acquiescence; and even if there be no pretext whatever, we still make pleasures for ourselves, and, by an oblivion of three days' duration, we imagine that we are well covered.2 In short, the cold and faint3 knowledge of sin, which is in\-herent in the minds of men, is here described by Moses, in}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 order that they may be rendered inexcusable.4......Then}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 (as we have already said) Adam and his wife were yet ignorant of their own vileness, since with a covering so light they at\-tempted to hide themselves from the presence of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God. As soon as the voice of God sounds, Adam and Eve perceive that the leaves by which they thought themselves well protected are of no avail.    Moses here relates nothing which does not re-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Ex foliis perizomata."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " lino si nullns fucus suppstat, facimus tamen nobis delicias, et tridui oblivione putamus nos bene esse tectos."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Semimortua."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 What immediately follows is here given in the original:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\dbch\af1\loch\af0\hich\f0\cchs0 \u9632\'3f}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 " Quseri tamen potest, si tota natura peccati sordibus infecta est, cur tan-tum una in parte corporis deformitas appareat. Neque enim faciem vel pectus operiunt Adam et Heva: sed tantum pudenda qu\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  vocamus. Hac oecasione factual esse arbitror ut vulgo non aliam vitse coiruptelam ag-noscerent quam in libidine venerea. Atqui expendere debebant, non minorem fuisse in oculis et auribus verecundias causam, quam in parte genitali, quaa peccato nondum fcedata erat: quum aures et oculi inqui-nassent Adam et Heva, et diabolo qnasi arma preebuissent. Sed Deo fuit satis, extare in corpore humano aliquam pudendam notam, quas nos peccati commonefaciat."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 160                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 main in human nature, and may be clearly discerned at the present day. The difference between good and evil is en\-graven on the hearts of all, as Paul teaches, (Bom. ii. 15;) but all bury the disgrace of their vices under flimsy leaves, till God, by his voice, strikes inwardly their consciences. Hence, after God had shaken them out of their torpor, their alarmed consciences compelled them to hear his voice. More\-over, what Jerome translates, ' at the breeze after mid-day,'1 is, in the Hebrew, ' at the wind of the day ;'2 the Greeks, omitting the word ' wind,' have put ' at the evening.'8 Thus the opinion has prevailed, that Adam, having sinned about noon, was called to judgment about sunset. But I rather incline to a different conjecture, namely, that being covered with their garment, they passed the night in silence and quiet, the darkness aiding their hypocrisy ; then, about sunrise, being again thoroughly awakened, they recollected themselves. We know that at the rising of the sun the air is naturally excited ; together, then, with this gentle breeze, God appeared; but Moses would improperly have called the evening air that of the day. Others take the word as describ\-ing the southern part or region; and certainly HVl> (ruach,) sometimes among the Hebrews signifies one or another re\-gion of the world.4 Others think that the time is here spe\-cified as one least exposed to terrors, for in the clear light there is the greater security ; and thus, they conceive, is ful\-filled what the Scripture declares, that they who have ac\-cusing consciences are always anxious and disquieted, even without any danger. To this point they refer what is added respecting the wind, as if Adam was terrified at the sound of a falling leaf. But what I have advanced is more true and simple, that what was hid under the darkness of the night}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Ad auram post meridiem."    Vulgate.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  Q1TI nn1?! \{leruach hayom.~)}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  To Tiu'hivov.    Sept.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 This criticism, it is presumed, cannot be maintained.   It seems to derive no countenance whatever but from some passages of Scripture, which speak of God as scattering his people to the four winds of heaven. (See Jer. xlix. 32, and Hi. 23.)   The common interpretation given in our version, " the cool of the day," as applied to evening, is supported by the highest authorities, such as Cocceius, Schindler, Gesenius, and Lee.   Le Clerc, however, adopts the same interpretation as Calvin.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            161}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 was detected at the rising of the sun. Yet I do not doubt that some notable symbol of the presence of God was in that gentle breeze; for although (as I have lately said) the rising sun is wont daily to stir up some breath of air, this is not op\-posed to the supposition that God gave some extraordinary sign of his approach, to arouse the consciences of Adam and his wife. For, since he is in himself incomprehensible, he assumes, when he wishes to manifest himself to men, those marks by which he may be known. David calls the winds the messengers of God, on the wings of which he rides, or rather flies, with incredible velocity. (Psal. civ. 3.) But, as often as he sees good, he uses the winds, as well as other created things, beyond the order of nature, according to his own will. Therefore, Moses, in here mentioning the wind, intimates (according to my judgment) that some unwonted and remarkable symbol of the Divine presence was put forth which should vehemently affect the minds of our first parents. This resource, namely, that of fleeing from God's presence, was nothing better than the former; since God, with his voice alone, soon brings back the fugitives. It is written, ' Whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I traverse the sea, if I take wings and ascend above the clouds, if I descend into the profound abyss, thou, Lord, wilt be everywhere,' (Ps. cxxxix. 7.) This we all confess to be true; yet we do not, in the meantime, cease to snatch at vain subterfuges ; and we fancy that sha\-dows of any kind will prove a most excellent defence. Nor is it to be here omitted, that he, who had found a few leaves to be unavailing, fled to whole trees; for so we are accus\-tomed, when shut out from frivolous cavils, to frame new excuses, which may hide us as under a denser shade. When Moses says that Adam and his wife hid themselves ' in the midst of the tree1 of Paradise,' I understand that the singular number is put for the plural; as if he had said, among the trees.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Jjnyjf Tiro- (Betok aitz haggan.) "In medio ligniPardisi."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vulgate. 'Ev fitou, tow iiixou tou T\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 g\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ss<Vot>.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Sept. Where the singular number is used in each case. It may be translated, " in the midst of the wood of Paradise ;" and wood may be, as in English, used collectively for a num\-ber of trees, a forest, or a thicket. Calvin, in his version, translates the clause, " in medio arbor am horti."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 162                              COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. HI.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  And the Lord God called unto Adam.    They had been already smitten by the voice of God, but they lay confounded under the trees, until another voice more effectually pene\-trated their minds.   Moses says that Adam was called by the Lord.    Had he not been called before?    The former, how\-ever, was a confused sound, which had no sufficient force to press upon the conscience.    Therefore God now approaches nearer, and from the tangled thicket of trees1 draws him, however unwilling and resisting, forth into the midst.    In the same manner we also are alarmed at the voice of God, as soon as his law sounds in our ears; but presently we snatch at shadows, until he, calling upon us more vehemently, com\-pels us to come forward, arraigned at his tribunal.    Paul calls this the life of the Law,2 when it slays us by charging us with our sins.    For as long as we are pleased with ourselves, and are inflated with a false notion that we are alive, the law is dead to us, because we blunt its point by our hardness; but when it pierces us more sharply, we are driven into newterrors.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  And he said, I heard thy voice.    Although this seems to be the confession of a dejected and humbled man, it will nevertheless soon appear that he was not yet properly sub\-dued, nor led to repentance.    He imputes his fear to the voice of God, and to his own nakedness, as if he had never before heard God speaking without being alarmed, and had not been even sweetly exhilarated by his speech.     His ex\-cessive stupidity appears in this, that he fails to recognise the cause of shame in his sin; he, therefore, shows that he does not yet so feel his punishment, as to confess his fault.    In the meantime, he proves what I said before to be true, that Original sin does not reside in one part of the body only, but holds its dominion over the whole man, and so occupies every part of the soul, that none remains in its integrity ; for, not\-withstanding his fig-leaves, he still dreads the presence of God.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.   Who told thee that thou wast naked?   An indirect re-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Ex multiplici arborum complexu."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Vitam Legis."   The life or power of the law. \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Eom. vii. 6.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          163}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 primand to reprove the sottishness of Adam in not perceiving his fault in his punishment, as if it had been said, not simply that Adam was afraid at the voice of God, but that the voice of his judge was formidable to him, because he was a sinner. Also, that not his nakedness, but the turpitude of the vice by which he had defiled himself, was the cause of fear; and certainly he was guilty of intolerable impiety against God in seeking the origin of evil in nature. Not that he would accuse God in express terms; but deploring his own misery, and dissembling the fact that he was himself the author of it, he malignantly transfers to God the charge which he ought to have brought against himself. What the Vulgate trans\-lates, \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Unless it be that thou hast eaten of the tree,'' is rather an interrogation.2 God asks, in the language of doubt, not as if he were searching into some disputable matter, but for the purpose of piercing more acutely the stupid man, who, labouring under fatal disease, is yet unconscious of his ma\-lady ; just as a sick man, who complains that he is burning, yet thinks not of fever. Let us, however, remember that we shall profit nothing by any prevarications, but that God will always bind us by a most just accusation in the sin of Adam. The clause, " whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat," is added to remove the pretext of igno\-rance. For God intimates that Adam was admonished in time; and that he fell from no other cause than this, that he knowingly and voluntarily brought destruction upon him\-self. Again, the atrocious nature of sin is marked in this transgression and rebellion ; for, as nothing is more accept\-able to God than obedience, so nothing is more intolerable than when men, having spurned his commandments, obey Satan and their own lust.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12. The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. The bold\-ness of Adam now more clearly betrays itself; for, so far from  being  subdued,   he  breaks  forth  into  coarser  blas-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  "Nisi quod de arbore," are the words which Calvin gives.   The expression of the Vulgate really is\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Niai quid ex ligno."   There is no difference in the sense.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Nonne ex ipsa arbore   . . .    comedisti ? " as in our own version.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 164                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 phemy. He had before been tacitly expostulating with God; now he begins openly to contend with him, and tri\-umphs as one who has broken through all barriers. Whence we perceive what a refractory and indomitable creature man began to be when he became alienated from God ; for a lively picture of corrupt nature is presented to us in Adam from the moment of his revolt. ' Every one,' says James,' is tempted by his own concupiscence,' (James i. 14;) and even Adam, not otherwise than knowingly and willingly, had set himself, as a rebel, against God. Yet, just as if conscious of no evil, he puts his wife as the guilty party in his place. 'Therefore I have eaten,' he says, ' because she gave.' And not content with this, he brings, at the same time, an accusation against God; objecting that the wife, who had brought ruin upon him, had been given by God. We also, trained in the same school of original sin, are too ready to resort to subterfuges of the same kind ; but to no purpose ; for howsoever incite\-ments and instigations from other quarters may impel us, yet the unbelief which seduces us from obedience to God is within us; the pride is within which brings forth contempt.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13. And the Lord God said unto the woman. God contends no further with the man, nor was it necessary; for he aggra\-vates rather than diminishes his crime, first by a frivolous defence, then by an impious disparagement of God, in short, though he rages, he is yet held convicted. The Judge now turns to the woman, that the cause of both being heard, he may at length pronounce sentence. The old interpreter thus renders God's address : ' Why hast thou done this ?' ' But the Hebrew phrase has more vehemence; for it is the language of one who wonders as at something prodigious. It ought therefore rather to be rendered, 'How hast thou done this ?'2 as if he had said, ' How was it possible that thou shouldst bring thy mind to be so perverse a counsellor to thy husband ?' The serpent beguiled me. Eve ought to have been con\-founded at the portentous wickedness concerning which she wa3 admonished.    Yet she is not struck dumb, but, after}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Quare hoc fecisti ? "\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Vulgate. * " Quouiodo hoc fecisti ? "}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           165}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 the example of her husband, transfers the charge to another; by laying the blame on the serpent, she foolishly, indeed, and impiously, thinks herself absolved. For her answer comes at length to this : ' I received from the serpent what thou hadst forbidden; the serpent, therefore, was the impostor.' But who compelled Eve to listen to his fallacies, and even to place confidence in them more readily than in the word of God ? Lastly, how did she admit them, but by throwing open and betraying that door of access which God had sufficiently fortified? But the fruit of original sin everywhere presents itself; being blind in its own hypocrisy, it would gladly ren\-der God mute and speechless. And whence arise daily so many murmurs, but because God does not hold his peace whenever we choose to blind ourselves ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent. He does not interrogate the serpent as he had done the man and the wo\-man ; because, in the animal itself there was no sense of sin, and because, to the devil he would hold out no hope of pardon. He might truly, by his own authority, have pronounced sen\-tence against Adam and Eve, though unheard. Why then does he call them to undergo examination, except that he has a care for their salvation ? This doctrine is to be applied to our benefit. There would be no need of any trial of the cause, or of any solemn form of judgment, in order to condemn us; wherefore, while God insists upon extorting a confession from us, he acts rather as a physician than as ajudge. There is the same reason why the Lord, before he imposes punishment on man, begins with the serpent. For corrective punishments (as we shall see) are of a different kind, and are inflicted with the design of leading us to repentance; but in this there is nothing of the sort.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It is, however, doubtful to whom the words refer, whether to the serpent or to the devil. Moses, indeed, says that the serpent was a skilful and cunning animal; yet it is certain, that, when Satan was devising the destruction of man, the serpent was guiltless of his fraud and wickedness. Where\-fore, many explain this whole passage allegorically, and plau\-sible are the subtleties which they adduce for this purpose. But when all things are more accurately weighed,  readers}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 166                               COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP. lit.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 endued with sound judgment will easily perceive that the language is of a mixed character; for God so addresses the serpent that the last clause belongs to the devil.    If it seem to any one absurd, that the punishment of another's fraud should be exacted from a brute animal, the solution is at hand ; that, since it had been created for the benefit of man, there was nothing improper in its being accursed from the moment that it was employed for his destruction. And by this act of vengeance, God would prove how highly he estimates the salvation of man; just as if a father should hold the sword in execration by which his son had been slain.   And here we must consider, not only the kind of authority which God has over his creatures, but also the end for which he created them, as I have recently said.    For the equity of the divine sentence depends on that order of nature which he has sanctioned; it has, therefore, no affinity whatever with blind revenge.    In this manner the reprobate will be delivered over into eternal fire with their bodies;   which bodies, although they are   not  self-moved, are  yet  the  instruments of perpetrating  evil.    So what\-ever wickedness a man commits is ascribed to his hands, and, therefore, they are deemed polluted; while yet they do not move themselves, except so far as, under the impulse of a depraved affection of the heart, they carry into execution what has been there conceived.    According to this method of rea\-soning, the serpent is said to have done what the devil did by its means.   But if God so severely avenged the destruction of man upon a brute animal, much less did he spare Satan, the author of the whole evil, as will appear more clearly in the concluding part of the address.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Thou art cursed above all cattle. This curse of God has such force against the serpent, as to render it despicable, and scarcely tolerable to heaven and earth, leading a life exposed to, and replete with, constant terrors. Besides, it is not only hateful to us, as the chief enemy of the human race, but, being separated also from other animals, carries on a kind of war with nature ; for we see it had before been so gentle that the woman did not flee from its familiar approach. But what fol\-lows has greater difficulty, because that which God denounces as a punishment seems to be natural; namely, that it should creep upon its belly and eat dust.   This objection has induced}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           167}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 certain men of learning and ability to say, that the serpent had been accustomed to walk with an erect body before it had been abused by Satan.1 There will, however, be no absurdity in supposing, that the serpent was again consigned to that former condition, to which he was already naturally subject. For thus he, who had exalted himself against the image of God, was to be thrust back into his proper rank; as if it had been said, ' Thou, a wretched and filthy animal, hast dared to rise up against man, whom I appointed to the dominion of the whole world ; as if, truly, thou, who art fixed to the earth, hadst any right to penetrate into heaven. Therefore, I now throw thee back again to theplace whence thou hast attempted to emerge, that thou mayest learn to be contented with thy lot, and no more exalt thyself, to man's reproach and injury.' In the meanwhile, he is recalled from his insolent motions to his accustomed mode of going, in such a way as to be, at the same time, condemned to perpetual infamy. To eat dust is the sign of a vile and sordid nature. This (in my opinion) is the simple meaning of the passage, which the testimony of Isaiah also confirms, (chap. lxv. 25;) for while he promises, under the reign of Christ, the complete restoration of a sound and well-constituted nature, he records, among other things, that dust shall be to the serpent for bread. Wherefore, it is not ne\-cessary to seek for any fresh change in each particular which. Moses here relates.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15. / will put enmity. I interpret this simply to mean that there should always be the hostile strife between the human race and serpents, which is now apparent; for, by a secret feeling of nature, man abhors them. It is regarded, as among prodigies, that some men take pleasure in them; and as often as the sight of a serpent inspires us with horror, the memory of our fall is renewed. With this I combine in one continued discourse what immediately follows: ' It shall wound thy head, and thou shalt wound its heel.' For he declares that there shall be such hatred that, on both sides, they shall be troublesome to each other; the serpent shall be}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 See Bishop Patrick's Commentary.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 168                               COMMENTARY UPON                 CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 vexatious towards men, and men shall be intent on the de\-struction of serpents. Meanwhile, we see that the Lord acts mercifully in chastising man, whom he does not suffer Satan to touch except in the heel; while he subjects the head of the serpent to be wounded by him. For in the terms head and heel there is a distinction between the superior and the inferior. And thus God leaves some remains of dominion to man; because he so places the mutual disposition to injure each other, that yet their condition should not be equal, but man should be superior in the conflict. Jerome, in turning the first member of the sentence, ' Thou shalt bruise the head;'1 and the second, 'Thou shalt be ensnared in the heel,'2 does it without reason, for the same verb is repeated by Moses; the difference is to be noted only in the head and the heel, as I have just now said. Yet the Hebrew verb, \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 whether derived from Mfc^, (shooph,) or from flfiE^, (shapha,) some interpret to bruise or to strike, others to bite.3 I have, however, no doubt that Moses wished to allude to the name of the serpent, which is called in Hebrew pS'SH?, (shiphiphon,) from flfiS? or &1&J>.4}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 We must now make a transition from the serpent to the author of this mischief himself; and that not only in the way of comparison, for there truly is a literal anagogy ;5 because God has not so vented his anger upon the outward instru\-ment as to spare the devil, Avith whom lay all the blame.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Conteres capift."   The version of the Vulgate is, " conteret caput." But this does not affect the validity of Calvin's criticism, his object being to show the impropriety of translating the same Hebrew word by Latin words of snch different meaning as contero and insidior.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Insidiaberis calcaneo."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 See Cocceius, Gesenius, and Professor Lee, sub voce tpg>.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 There would appear greater force in Calvin's criticism if this had been the name given to the serpent in the narrative of Moses.    The word here used, however, is KTI3, (nachash,) which gives no countenance to the sup\-posed reference; besides, the word quoted by Calvin only refers to a particular kind of serpent, not to the whole species.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5 Anagogy.   This word is inserted from the original for want of a more generally intelligible term in our own language to express the author's meaning.   It is from the Greek 'A\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 y<ay\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 \},, which signifies " a raising on high, especially elevation of the mind above earthly things to abstract speculations,  (in ecclesiastical writings,) to the contemplation of the sublime truths and mysteries of Holy Scripture."   The meaning of Cal\-vin is, that there was an intentional transition from the serpent to the spiritual being who made use of it.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          169}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 That this may the more certainly appear to us, it is worth the while first to observe that the Lord spake not for the sake of the serpent but of the man ; for what end could it answer to thunder against the serpent in unintelligible words? Wherefore respect was had to men; both that they might be affected with a greater dread of sin, seeing how highly displeasing it is to God, and that hence they might take con\-solation for their misery, because they would perceive that God is still propitious to them. But now it is obvious to all, how slender and insignificant would be the argument for a good hope, if mention were here made of a serpent only; be\-cause nothing would be then provided for, except the fading and transient life of the body. Men would remain, in the meanwhile, the slaves of Satan, who would proudly triumph over them, and trample on their heads. Wherefore, that God might revive the fainting minds of men, and restore them when oppressed by despair, it became necessary to pro\-mise them, in their posterity, victory over Satan, through whose wiles they had been ruined. This, then, was the only salutary medicine which could recover the lost, and restore life to the dead. I therefore conclude, that God here chiefly assails Satan under the name of the serpent, and hurls against him the lightning of his judgment. This he does for a two\-fold reason : first, that men may learn to beware of Satan as of a most deadly enemy ; then, that they may contend against him with the assured confidence of victory.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Now, though all do not dissent in their minds from Satan\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 yea, a great part adhere to him too familiarly\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 yet, in reality, Satan is their enemy; nor do even those cease to dread him whom he soothes by his flatteries; and because he knows that the minds of men are set against him, he craftily insinu\-ates himself by indirect methods, and thus deceives them un\-der a disguised form.1 In short, it is ingrafted in us by na\-ture to flee from Satan as our adversary. And, in order to show that he should be odious not to one generation only, God expressly says, ' between thee and the seed of the wo\-man,' as widely, indeed, as the human race shall be propa-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 "Et les decoit en se masquant de la pereonne d'aitiuy."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 French Trans.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 170                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 gated. He mentions the woman on this account, because, as she had yielded to the subtlety of the devil, and being first deceived, had drawn her husband into the participation of her ruin, so she had peculiar need of consolation.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 It shall bruise.1 This passage affords too clear a proof of the great ignorance, dulness, and carelessness, which have prevailed among all the learned men of the Papacy. The feminine gender has crept in instead of the masculine or neuter. There has been none among them who would con\-sult the Hebrew or Greek codices, or who would even com\-pare the Latin copies with each other.2 Therefore, by a common error, this most corrupt reading has been received. Then, a profane exposition of it has been invented, by apply\-ing to the mother of Christ what is said concerning her seed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 There is, indeed, no ambiguity in the words here used by Moses; but I do not agree with others respecting their mean\-ing; for other interpreters take the seed for Christ, without controversy; as if it were said, that some one would arise from the seed of the woman who should wound the serpent's head. Gladly would I give my suffrage in support of their opinion, but that I regard the word seed as too violently distorted by them; for who will concede that a collective noun is to be understood of one man only ? Further, as the perpetuity of the contest is noted, so victory is promised to the human race through a continual succession of ages. I explain, therefore, the seed to mean the posterity of the woman gene\-rally. But since experience teaches that not all the sons of Adam by far, arise as conquerors of the devil, we must neces\-sarily come to one head, that we may find to whom the vic-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Ipsum vulnerabit."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 See the Vulgate, " Ipsa conteret,"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 She shall bruise.    The following judicious note from Professor Lee's Hebrew Lexicon confirms the criti\-cism of Calvin :\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " The attempt that has been made gravely to justify a blunder of the Vulgate, which here reads ipsa for ipse, is a melancholy proof of the great neglect of the study of Hebrew in this country.   Any one acquainted with the first elements of the grammar would see that, to make the Vulgate correct, we must substitute "|B16JT) f\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'b0\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 r ~]t>)Wi an<^ PtiBitPn for UDlKTIi"\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 that is, both the form and the affixes of the verb would require alteration, in order to accommodate themselves to the change of gender.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                          171}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 tory belongs. So Paul, from the seed of Abraham, leads us to Christ; because many were degenerate sons, and a consi\-derable part adulterous, through infidelity ; whence it follows that the unity of the body flows from the head. Wherefore, the sense will be (in my judgment) that the human race, which Satan was endeavouring to oppress, would at length be victorious.1 In the meantime, we must keep in mind that method of conquering which the Scripture describes. Satan has, in all ages, led the sons of men " captive at his will," and, to this day, retains his lamentable triumph over them, and for that reason is called the " prince of the world," (John xii. 31.) But because one stronger than he has descended from heaven, who will subdue him, hence it comes to pass that, in the same manner, the whole Church of God, under its Head, will gloriously exult over him. To this the de\-claration of Paul refers, " The Lord shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly," (Eom. xvi. 20.) By which words he sig\-nifies that the power of bruising Satan is imparted to faith\-ful men, and thus the blessing is the common property of the whole Church; but he, at the same time, admonishes us, that it only has its commencement in this world; because God crowns none but well-tried wrestlers.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16. Unto the woman he said. In order that the majesty of the judge may shine the more brightly, God uses no long dis\-putation ; whence also we may perceive of what avail are all our tergiversations with him. In bringing the serpent for\-ward, Eve thought she had herself escaped. God, disre\-garding her cavils, condemns her. Let the sinner, therefore, when he comes to the bar of God, cease to contend, lest he should more severely provoke against himself the anger of him whom he has already too highly offended. We must now consider the kind of punishment imposed upon the woman. When he says, ' I will multiply thy pains,' he comprises  all  the trouble women sustain during pregnan-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ' The judicious reader will hardly acknowledge the reasoning of Calvin to be valid. The whole subject here referred to is discussed with great learning and acuteness, as well as with great force of language, by Bishop Horsley, in his second Sermon on Pet. i. 20, 21.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 172                                COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 cy.1 ... It is credible that the woman would have brought forth without pain, or at least without such great suffering, if she had stood in her original condition ; but her revolt from God subjected her to inconveniences of this kind. The ex\-pression, ' pains and conception,' is to be taken by the figure hypallage,2 for the pains which they endure in consequence of conception. The second punishment which he exacts is subjection. For this form of speech, " Thy desire shall be unto thy husband," is of the same force as if he had said that she should not be free and at her own command, but subject to the authority of her husband and dependent upon his will; or as if he had said, ' Thou shalt desire nothing but what thy husband wishes.' As it is declared afterwards, " Unto thee shall be his desire," (chap. iv. 7.) Thus the woman, who had perversely exceeded her proper bounds, is forced back to her own position. She had, indeed, previously been subject to her husband, but that was a liberal and gentle subjection ; now, however, she is cast into servitude,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17. And unto Adam he said. In the first place, it is to be ob\-served, that punishment was not inflicted upon the first of our race so as to rest on those two alone, but was extended generally to all their posterity, in order that we might know that the human race was cursed in their person ; we next ob\-serve, that they were subjected only to temporal punishment, that, from the moderation of the divine anger, they might en\-tertain hope of pardon. God, by adducing the reason why he thus punishes the man, cuts off from him the occasion of mur\-muring. For no excuse was left to him who had obeyed his wife rather than God; yea, had despised God for the sake of his wife, placing so much confidence in the fallacies of Satan, \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 whose messenger and servant she was,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 that he did not hesi\-tate perfidiously to deny his Maker. But, although God deals decisively and briefly with Adam, he yet refutes the pretext}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Qnum elicit, Multiplicabo dolores, complectitur quicquid molestiaB sustinent mulieres, ex quo gravidas esse incipiunt, fastidium cibi, deliquia, lassitudines, aliaque innumera, usque dum ventum est ad partum, qui acerbissima tormenta secum affert.   Est enim credibile," &c.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 The use of one word for another.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          173}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 by which lie had tried to escape, in order the more easily to 1-ead him to repentance. After he has briefly spoken of Adam's sin, he announces that the earth would be cursed for his sake. The ancient interpreter has translated it. ' In thy work ;'l but the reading is to be retained, in which all the Hebrew copies agree, namely, the earth was cursed on account of Adam. Now, as the blessing of the earth means, in the language of Scripture, that fertility which God infuses by his secret power, so the curse is nothing else than the opposite privation, when God withdraws his favour. Nor ought it to seem absurd, that, through the sin of man, punishment should overflow the earth, though innocent. For as the primum mobile2 rolls all the celestial spheres along with it, so the ruin of man drives headlong all those creatures which were formed for his sake, and had been made subject to him. And we see how con\-stantly the condition of the world itself varies with respect to men, according as God is angry with them, or shows them his favour. We may add, that, properly speaking, this whole punish\-ment is exacted, not from the earth itself, but from man alone. For the earth does not bear fruit for itself, but in order that food may be supplied to us out of its bowels. The Lord, however, determined that his anger should, like a deluge, overflow all parts of the earth, that wherever man might look, the atrocity of his sin should meet his eyes. Before the fall, the state of the world was a most fair and delightful mirror of the divine favour and paternal indulgence towards man. Now, in all the elements we perceive that we are cursed. And although (as David says) the earth is still full of the mercy of God, (Psalm xxxiii. 5,) yet, at the same time, appear manifest signs of his dreadful alienation from us, by which, if we are unmoved, we betray our blindness and insensibility. Only, lest sadness and horror should overwhelm us, the Lord}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " In opere tuo."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vulgate.   The Septuagint makes the same mistake :}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Ej/ rol; 'i^yoi; aov.     In thy works.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 The primum mobile of ancient astronomy was held to be the ninth heaven, which surrounded those of the fixed stars, planets, and the at\-mosphere, and was regarded as the first mover of all the heavenly bodies. These bodies were at that time supposed to be carried round the earth by this powerful agent, while the earth itself remained as the centre of the system.   The Newtonian philosophy put all such theories to flight. \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 174                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 sprinkles everywhere the tokens of his goodness. Moreover, although the blessing of God is never seen pure and trans\-parent as it appeared to man in innocence, yet, if what re\-mains behind be considered in itself, David truly and properly exclaims, ' The earth is full of the mercy of God.'}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Again, by ' eating of the earth,' Moses means \{ eating of the fruits' which proceed from it. The Hebrew word fQXy, (itsabon^) which is rendered pain,1 is also taken for trouble and fatigue. In this place, it stands in antithesis with the pleasant labour in which Adam previously so employed himself, that in a sense he might be said to play; for he was not formed for idleness, but for action. Therefore the Lord had placed him over a garden which was to be cultivated. But, whereas in that labour there had been sweet delight; now servile work is enjoined upon him, as if he were condemned to the mines. And yet the asperity of this punishment also is mitigated by the clemency of God, because something of enjoyment is blended with the labours of men, lest they should be altogether ungrateful, as I shall again declare under the next verse.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth. He more largely treats of what he had already alluded to, namely, the participation of the fruits of the earth with labour and trouble. And he assigns as the reason, that the earth will not be the same as it was before, producing perfect fruits; for he declares that the earth would degenerate from its fertility, and bring forth briers and noxious plants. Therefore, we may know, that what\-soever unwholesome things may be produced, are not natural fruits of the earth, but are corruptions which originate from sin. Yet it is not our part to expostulate with the earth for not answering to our wishes, and to the labours of its culti\-vators, as if it were maliciously frustrating our purpose ; but in its sterility let us mark the anger of God, and mourn over our own sins. It has been falsely maintained by some, that the earth is exhausted by the long succession of time, as if constant bringing forth had wearied it.   They think more}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Quod vertunt dolorem." In Calvin's own text it is, " la labore; " in the Vulgate, " In laborious." Gesenius renders the word " Saure Arbeit," severe labour.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IIT.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           175}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 correctly who acknowledge that, by the increasing wickedness of men, the remaining blessing of God is gradually diminished and impaired ; and certainly there is danger, unless the world repent, that a great part of men should shortly perish through hunger, and other dreadful miseries. The words immediately following, "Thou shalt eat the herb of the field," are expounded too strictly (in my judgment) by those who think that Adam was thereby deprived of all the fruits which he had before been permitted to eat. God intends nothing more than that he should be to such an extent deprived of his former delicacies as to be compelled to use, in addition to them, the herbs which had been designed only for brute animals. For the mode of living at first appointed him, in that happy and delightful abundance, was far more delicate than it afterwards became. God, therefore, describes a part of this poverty by the word herbs, just as if a king should send away any one of his at\-tendants from the upper table, to that which was plebeian and mean; or, as if a father should feed a son, who had of\-fended him, with the coarse bread of servants; not that he interdicts man from all other food, but that he abates much of his accustomed liberality. This, however, might be taken as added for the purpose of consolation, as if it had been said, ' Although the earth, which ought to be the mother of good fruits only, be covered with thorns and briers, still it shall yield to thee sustenance whereby thou mayest be fed.'}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19. In the svieat of thy face. Some, indeed, translate it 'labour;' the translation, however, is forced. But by " sweat" is understood hard labour and full of fatigue and weariness, which, by its difficulty, produces sweat. It is a repetition of the former sentence, where it was said, ' Thou shalt eat it in labour.' Under the cover of this passage, cer\-tain ignorant persons would rashly impel all men to manual labour; for God is not here teaching as a master or legisla\-tor, but only denouncing punishment as a judge. And, truly, if a law had been here prescribed, it would be neces\-sary for all to become husbandmen, nor would any place be given to mechanical arts ; we must go out of the world to seek for clothing and other necessary conveniences of life.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 176                              COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 What, then, does the passage mean?    Truly God pronounces, as  from  his judgment-seat,   that   the  life  of   man   shall henceforth be miserable, because Adam had proved himself unworthy of that tranquil, happy and joyful state for which he had been created.    Should any one object that there are many inactive and indolent persons, this does not prevent the curse from having spread over the whole human race.    For I say that no one lies torpid in such a degree of sloth as not to be undertthe necessity of experiencing that this curse be\-longs to all.    Some flee from troubles, and many more do all they can to grasp at immunity from them; but the Lord subjects all, without exception, to this yoke of imposed ser\-vitude.    It is, nevertheless, to be, at the same time, main\-tained that labour is not imposed equally on each,  but on some more, on others less.    Therefore, the labour common to the whole body is here described; not that which belongs peculiarly to each member, except so far as it pleases the Lord to divide to each a certain measure from the common mass of evils.    It is, however, to be observed, that they who meekly submit to their sufferings, present to God an accept\-able obedience, if, indeed, there be joined with this bearing of the cross, that knowledge of sin which may teach them to be humble.    Truly it is faith alone which can offer such a sacrifice to God; but the faithful, the more they labour in procuring a livelihood, with the greater advantage are they stimulated to repentance, and accustom themselves to the mortification of the flesh; yet God often remits a portion of this curse to his own children, lest they should sink beneath the burden.    To which purpose this passage is appropriate, ' Some will rise early and go late to rest, they will eat the bread of carefulness, but the Lord will give to his beloved sleep,' (Psal. cxxvii. 2.)   So far, truly, as those things which had been polluted in Adam are repaired by the grace of Christ, the pious feel more deeply that God is good, and en\-joy the sweetness of his paternal indulgence.    But because, even in the best, the flesh is to be subdued, it not unfre-quently happens that the pious  themselves are worn down with hard labours and with hunger.    There is, therefore, nothing better for us than that we, being admonished of the}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           177}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 miseries of the present life, should weep over our sins, and seek that relief from the grace of Christ which may not only assuage the bitterness of grief, but mingle its own sweetness with it.1 Moreover, Moses does not enumerate all the disad\-vantages in which man, by sin, has involved himself; for it appears that all the evils of the present life, which experience proves to be innumerable, have proceeded from the same fountain. The inclemency of the air, frost, thunders, unsea\-sonable rains, drought, hail, and whatever is disorderly in the world, are the fruits of sin. Nor is there any other pri\-mary cause of diseases. This has been celebrated in poetical fables, and was doubtless handed down, by tradition, from the fathers.    Hence that passage in Horace :\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 " When from Heaven's fane the furtive hand}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Of man the sacred fire withdrew, A countless host\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 at God's command\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 To earth of fierce diseases flew ; And death\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 till now kept far away\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Hastened his step to seize his prey."2}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 But Moses, who, according to his custom, studies a brevity adapted to the capacity of the common people, was content to touch upon what was most apparent, in order that, from one example, we may learn that the whole order of nature was subverted by the sin of man. Should any one again ob\-ject, that no suffering was imposed on men which did not also belong to women : I answer, it was done designedly, to teach us, that from the sin of Adam, the curse flowed in com\-mon to both sexes; as Paul testifies, that ' all are dead in Adam,' (Rom. v. 12.)}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 One question remains to be examined\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 ' When God had}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Sed etiam dulci temperamento eondiat."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 "Laquelle non settlement appaise l'aigreurdes douleurs, mais aussileur donne saveur, meslant le sucre parmi le vinaigre."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Which not only re\-lieves the sourness of griefs, but also gives them savour, mixing sugar with the vinegar.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Fr. Trans.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " Post ignem astheria domo}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Subductum, macies et nova febrium Terris incubuit cohors ;}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Semotique prius tarda necessitas Leti corripuit gradum."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Hor. Carm. iii. Lib. I.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 178                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 before shown himself propitious to Adam and his wife,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 hav\-ing given them hope of pardon,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 why does he begin anew to exact punishment from them ? Certainly in that sentence, ' the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent,' the remission of sins and the grace of eternal salvation is contained. But it is absurd that God, after he has been re\-conciled, should actually prosecute his anger.' To untie this knot, some have invented a distinction of a twofold remission, namely, a remission of the fault and a remission of the pun\-ishment, to which the figment of satisfactions was afterwards annexed. They have feigned that God, in absolving men from the fault, still retains the punishment; and that, ac\-cording to the rigour of his justice, he will inflict at least a temporal punishment. But they who imagined that pun\-ishments are required as compensations, have been preposter\-ous interpreters of the judgments of God. For God does not consider, in chastising the faithful, what they deserve; but what will be useful to them in future; and fulfils the office of a physician rather than of a judge.1 Therefore, the abso\-lution which he imparts to his children is complete and not by halves. That he, nevertheless, punishes those who are received into favour, is to be regarded as a kind of chastise\-ment which serves as medicine for future time, but ought not properly to be regarded as the vindictive punishment of sin committed. If we duly consider how great is the torpor of the human mind, then, how great its lasciviousness, how great its contumacy, how great its levity, and how quick its forget-fulness, we shall not wonder at God's severity in subduing it. If he admonishes in words, he is not heard; if he adds stripes, it avails but little; when it happens that he is heard, the flesh nevertheless perversely spurns the admonition. That obsti\-nate hardness which, with all its power opposes itself to God, is worse than lasciviousness. If any one is naturally endued with such a gentle disposition that he does not disown the duty of submission to God, yet, having escaped from the hand of God, after one allowed sin, he will soon relapse, unless he}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " The punishments inflicted by God are the remedies and the restraints of our vitiated nature."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Peter Martyr, in Gen. fol. 17.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.                THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           179}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 be drawn back as by force. Wherefore, this general axiom is to be maintained, that all the sufferings to which the life of men is subject and obnoxious, are necessary exercises, by which God partly invites us to repentance, partly instructs us in humility, and partly renders us more cautious and more attentive in guarding against the allurements of sin for the future.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Till ihou return. He denounces that the termination of a miserable life shall be death; as if he would say, that Adam should at length come, through various and continued kinds of evil, to the last evil of all. Thus is fulfilled what we said before, that the death of Adam had commenced immediately from the day of his transgression. For this accursed life of man could be nothing else than the beginning of death. ' But where then is the victory over the serpent, if death oc\-cupies the last place ? For the words seem to have no other signification, than that man must be ultimately crushed by death. Therefore, since death leaves nothing to Adam, the promise recently given fails; to which may be added, that the hope of being restored to a state of salvation was most slender and obscure.' Truly I do not doubt that these terrible words would grievously afflict minds already dejected, from other causes, by sorrow. But since, though astonished by their sudden calamity, they were yet not deeply affected with the knowledge of sin; it is not wonderful that God persisted the more in reminding them of their punishment, in order that he might beat them down, as with reiterated blows. Although the consolation offered be in itself obscure and feeble, God caused it to be sufficient for the support of their hope, lest the weight of their affliction should entirely overwhelm them. In the meantime, it was necessary that they should be weighed down by a mass of manifold evils, until God should have reduced them to true and serious repentance. More\-over, whereas death is here put as the final issue,1 this ought to be referred to man; because in Adam himself nothing but death will be found; yet, in this way, he is urged to seek a remedy in Christ.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " Quasi ultima linea."   " Comme le bout."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Fr. Trans.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 180                              COMMENTARY UPON                  CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For dust thou art. Since what God here declares belongs to man's nature, not to his crime or fault, it might seem that death was not superadded as adventitious to him. And there\-fore some understand what was before said, ' Thou shalt die,' in a spiritual sense; thinking that, even if Adam had not sinned, his body must still have been separated from his soul. But, since the declaration of Paul is clear, that ' all die in Adam, as they shall rise again in Christ,' (1 Cor. xv. 22,) this wound also was inflicted by sin. Nor truly is the solu\-tion of the question difficult,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 ' Why God should pronounce, that he who was taken from the dust should return to it.' For as soon as he had been raised to a dignity so great, that the glory of the Divine Image shone in him, the terrestrial origin of his body was almost obliterated. Now, however, after he had been despoiled of his divine and heavenly ex\-cellence, what remains but that by his very departure out of life, he should recognise himself to be earth ? Hence it is that we dread death, because dissolution, which is contrary to na\-ture, cannot naturally be desired. Truly the first man would have passed to a better life, had he remained upright; but there would have been no separation of the soul from the body, no corruption, no kind of destruction, and, in short, no vio\-lent change.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20. And Adam called, Sfc. There are two ways in which this may be read. The former, in the pluperfect tense, ' Adam had called.' If we follow this reading, the sense of Moses will be, that Adam had been greatly deceived, in promising life to himself and to his posterity, from a wife, whom he afterwards found by experience to be the intro\-ducer of death. And Moses (as we have seen) is accustomed, without preserving the order of the history, to subjoin after\-wards things which had been prior in point of time. If, however, we read the passage in the preterite tense, it may be understood either in a good or bad sense. There are those who think that Adam, animated by the hope of a more happy condition, because God had promised that the head of the serpent should be wounded by the seed of the woman,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. 111.                THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                          181}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 called her by a name implying life.1 This would be a noble and even heroic fortitude of mind ; since he could not, with\-out an arduous and difficult struggle, deem her the mother of the living, who, before any man could have been born, had involved all in eternal destruction. But, because I fear lest this conjecture should be weak, let the reader consider whether Moses did not design rather to tax Adam with thoughtlessness, who being himself immersed in death, yet gave to his wife so proud a name. Nevertheless, I do not doubt that, when he heard the declaration of God concerning the prolongation of life, he began again to breathe and to take courage; and then, as one revived, he gave his wife a name derived from life; but it does not follow, that by a faith accordant with the word of God, he triumphed, as he ought to have done, over death. I therefore thus expound the passage; as soon as he had escaped present death, being encouraged by a measure of consolation, he celebrated that divine benefit which, beyond all expectation, he had received, in the name he gave his wife.2}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21. Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make, Sfc. Moses here, in a homely style, declares that the Lord had undertaken the labour of making garments of skins for Adam and his wife. It is not indeed proper so to understand his words, as if God had been a furrier, or a servant to sew clothes. Now, it is not credible that skins should have been presented to them by chance; but, since animals had before been destined for their use,, being now impelled by a new necessity, they put some to death, in order to cover them\-selves with their skins, having been divinely directed to adopt this counsel; therefore Moses calls God the Author of it.     The reason why the Lord clothed them with garments}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Vocasse earn vivificam."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 It is probable, however, that more than this is here meant.    The Hebrew word nin, (chavah,) Eve, is in the Septuagint rendered \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a3\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 aij, life;  and, as Fagius observes,   Adam comforted himself in  his wife, because  he   should, through Eve,   produce a posterity in which (rs parents in their children) they should be permanently victorious.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Pol. Syn.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 182                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 of skin appears to me to be this: because garments formed of this material would have a more degrading appearance than those made of linen or woollen.1 God therefore de\-signed that our first parents should, in such a dress, behold their own vileness,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 just as they had before seen it in their nudity,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 and should thus be reminded of their sin.2 In the meantime, it is not to be denied, that he would propose to us an example, by which he would accustom us to a frugal and unexpensive mode of dress. And I wish those delicate per\-sons would reflect on this, who deem no ornament sufficiently attractive, unless it exceed in magnificence. Not that every kind of ornament is to be expressly condemned ; but because when immoderate elegance and splendour is carefully sought after, not only is that Master despised, who intended clothing to be a sign of shame, but war is, in a certain sense, carried on against nature.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22. Behold, the man is become as one of us.s An ironical reproof, by which God would not only prick the heart of man, but pierce it through and through. He does not, how\-ever, cruelly triumph over the miserable and afflicted; but, according to the necessity of the disease, applies a more vio\-lent remedy. For, though Adam was confounded and astonished at his calamity, he yet did not so deeply reflect on its cause as to become weary of his pride, that he might learn to embrace true humility. "We may add, that God in\-veighed, by this irony,4 not more against Adam himself than against his posterity, for the purpose of commending modesty to all ages.    The particle, " Behold," denotes that the sen-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Quia [vestes] ex ea materia confectse, belluinum quiddam magis saperent, quam line* vel laneas."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " As the prisoner, looking on his irons, thinketh on his theft, so we, looking on our garments, should think on our sins."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Trapp.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 For an ample discussion of the reasons why a more comprehensive view should be taken of this subject than Calvin here adopts, the reader may turn to DrMagee's learned "Discourses and Dissertations on the Scriptural Doctrines of Atonement and Sacrifice;" where he will see, that the origin of the clothing with skins was most probably connected with a previous appointment of the sacrifice of animals.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Seeilfajree, nctclii.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3  " Adam quasi unus."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4  " Hac subsannatioue."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           183}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 tence is pronounced upon the cause then in hand. And, truly, it was a sad and horrid spectacle; that he, in whom re\-cently the glory of the Divine image was shining, should lie hidden under fetid skins to cover his own disgrace, and that there should be more comeliness in a dead animal than in a living man ! The clause which is immediately added, '' To know good and evil," describes the cause of so great misery, namely, that Adam, not content with his condition, had tried to ascend higher than was lawful; as if it had been said, ' See now whither thy ambition and thy perverse ap\-petite for illicit knowledge have precipitated thee.' Yet the Lord does not even deign to hold converse with him, but contemptuously draws him forth, for the sake of exposing him to greater infamy. Thus was it necessary, for his iron pride to be beaten down, that he might at length descend into himself, and become more and more displeased with himself.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 One of us. Some refer the plural number here used to the angels, as if God would make a distinction between man, who is an earthly and despised animal, and celestial beings ; but this exposition seems far-fetched. The meaning will be more simple if thus resolved, ' After this, Adam will be so like me, that we shall become companions for each other.' The argument which Christians draw from this passage for the doctrine of the three Persons in the Godhead is, I fear, not sufficiently firm.1 There is not, indeed, the same reason for it as in the former passage, " Let us make man in our image," since here Adam is included in the word us ; but, in the other place, a certain distinction in the essence of God is expressed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And now, lest, &fc. There is a defect in the sentence which I think ought to be thus supplied : ' It now remains that, in future, he be debarred from the fruit of the tree of life;' for by these words Adam is admonished that the punishment to}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Bishop Patrick, who contends for the interpretation here opposed, says, " Lilic one of us. These words plainly insinuate a plurality of Per\-sons in the Godhead, and all other explications of them seem forced and unnatural; that of Mr Calvin's being as disagreeable to the Hebrew phrase as that of Socinus to the excellency of the Divine nature."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 184.                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 which he is consigned shall not be that of a moment, or of a few days, but that he shall always be an exile from a happy life. They are mistaken who think this also to be an irony; as if God were denying that the tree would prove advantage\-ous to man, even though he might eat of it; for he rather, by depriving him of the symbol, takes also away the thing signified. We know what is the efficacy of sacraments; and it was said above that the tree was given as a pledge of life. Wherefore, that he might understand himself to be deprived of his former life, a solemn excommunication is added; not that the Lord would cut him off from all hope of salvation, but, by taking away what he had given, would cause man to seek new assistance elsewhere. Now, there remained an ex\-piation in sacrifices, which might restore him to the life he had lost. Previously, direct communication with God was the source of life to Adam; but, from the moment in which he became alienated from Godj it was necessary that he should recover life by the death of Christ, by whose life he then lived. It is indeed certain, that man would not have been able, had he even devoured the whole tree, to enjoy life against the will of God; but God, out of respect to his own institution, connects life with the external sign, till the pro\-mise should be taken away from it; for there never was any intrinsic efficacy in the tree; but God made it life-giving, so far as he had sealed his grace to man in the use of it, as, in truth, he represents nothing to us with false signs, but always speaks to us, as they say, with effect. In short, God resolved to wrest out of the hands of man that which was the occasion or ground of confidence, lest he should form for himself a vain hope of the perpetuity of the life which he had lost.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth\} Here Moses partly prosecutes what he had said concerning the punishment inflicted on man, and partly celebrates the goodness of God, by which the rigour of his judgment was mitigated. God mercifully softens the exile of Adam, by still providing for him a remaining home on earth, and by assigning to him a}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 KHJi (gairesh,) to expo', drive out, or eject by force.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. III.               THE BOOK OP GENESIS.                          185}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 livelihood from the culture\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 although the laborious culture\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97 \hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 of the ground; for Adam thence infers that the Lord has some care for him, which is a proof of paternal love. Moses, however, again speaks of punishment, when he relates that man was expelled, and that cherubim were opposed with the blade of a turning sword,1 which should prevent his entrance into the garden. Moses says that the cherubim were placed in the eastern region, on which side, indeed, access lay open to man, unless he had been prohibited. It is added, to pro\-duce terror, that the sword was turning or sharpened on both sides. Moses, however, uses a word derived from whiteness or heat.2 Therefore, God having granted life to Adam, and having supplied him with food, yet restricts the benefit, by causing some tokens of Divine wrath to be always before his eyes, in order that he might frequently reflect that he must pass through innumerable miseries, through temporal exile, and through death itself, to the life from which he had fallen ; for what we have said must be remembered, that Adam was not so dejected as to be left without hope of pardon. He was banished from that royal palace of which he had been the lord, but he obtained elsewhere a place in which he might dwell; he was bereft of his former delicacies, yet he was still supplied with some kind of food; he was excommunicated from the tree of life, but a new remedy was offered him in sacrifices. Some expound the ' turning sword' to mean one which does not always vibrate with its point directed against man, but which sometimes shows the side of the blade, for the purpose of giving place for repentance. But allegory is unseasonable, when it was the determination of God alto\-gether to exclude man from the garden, that he might seek life elsewhere. As soon, however, as the happy fertility and pleasantness of the place was destroyed, the terror of the sword became superfluous. By cherubim, no doubt, Moses means angels, and in this accommodates himself to the capa\-city of his own people. God had commanded two cherubim to be placed at the ark of the covenant, which should over-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Cum lamina gladii versatilis."   ainn ti!"6> (laliat hachereb.)}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 " A candore, vel ardore."}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 186                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. III.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 shadow its covering with their wings; therefore he is often said to sit between the cherubim. That he would have angels depicted in this form, was doubtless granted as an in\-dulgence to the rudeness of that ancient people ; for that age needed puerile instructions, as Paul teaches, (Gal. iv. 3 ;) and Moses borrowed thence the name which he ascribed to angels, that he might accustom men to that kind of revelation which he had received from God, and faithfully handed down; for God designed, that what he knew would prove useful to the people, should be revealed in the sanctuary. And cer\-tainly this method is to be observed by us, in order that we, conscious of our own infirmity, may not attempt, without as\-sistance, to soar to heaven ; for otherwise it will happen that, in the midst of our course, all our senses will fail. The lad\-ders and vehicles, then, were the sanctuary, the ark of the covenant, the altar, the table and its furniture. Moreover, I call them vehicles and ladders, because symbols of this kind were by no means ordained that the faithful might shut up God in a tabernacle as in a prison, or might attach him to earthly elements; but that, being assisted by congruous and apt means, they might themselves rise towards heaven. Thus David and Hezekiah, truly endued with spiritual intelligence, were far from entertaining those gross imaginations, which would fix God in a given place. Still they do not scruple to call upon God, who sitteth or dwelleth between the cherubim, in order that they may retain themselves and others under the authority of the law.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Finally, In this place angels are called cherubim, for the same reason that the name of the body of Christ is transferred to the sacred bread of the Lord's Supper. With respect to the etymology, the Hebrews themselves are not agreed. The most generally received opinion is, that the first letter, 3\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  is a servile letter, and a note of similitude, and, therefore, that the word cherub is of the same force as if it were said, ' like a boy.'1    But because Ezekiel, who applies the word in com-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 " ai"l3i (cherub,) An image like a youth, which the Chaldeans call '3"li (rabia.")\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Schindler. Other writers give a different derivation, and consequently a different meaning to the word. But Professor Lee says, " It would be idle to offer anything on the etymology ; nothing satisfactory having yet been discovered."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Lexicon.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 187}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 mon to different figures, is opposed to this signification ; they think more rightly, in my judgment, who declare it to be a general name. Nevertheless, that it is referred to angels is more than sufficiently known. Whence also Ezekiel (xxviii. 14) signalizes the proud king of Tyre with this title, com\-paring him to a chief angel.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAPTER IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived,  and bare Caiu, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  And she again bare his brother Abel.    And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3.  And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof.   And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.  But unto Cain and to his offer\-ing he had not respect.   And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth ? and why is thy countenance fallen ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.    And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1.  Et Adam cognovit Hava uxorem suam: quse concepit, et peperit Cain \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'95\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 . et dixit, Acquisivi virum a Jehova.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2.  Et addidit parere fratretn ejus Ebel: fuit autem Ebel pas\-tor ovium, et Cain fuit cultor teme:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3.  Et fuit, a fine dierum ad-duxit Cain de fructu terrse ob-lationem Jehovse.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4.  Et Ebel etiam ipse adduxit de primogenitis pecudum  sua-rum, et de adipe earum : et re-spexit Jehova ad Ebel, et ad oblationem ejus:}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5.  Ad Cain vero et ad obla\-tionem ejus non respexit: iratus est itaque Cain valde, et concidit vultus ejus.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 6.  Et dixit Jehova ad Cain, Utquid excandnisti ?  et utquid concidit vultus tuus?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 7.  Annon si recte egeris, erit acceptatio ? et si non bene egeris, in foribus peccatum cubat: et ad te erit appetitus ejus, et tu domi-aaberis ei.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 Primario angelo. It is clear that Ezekiel, in the chapter referred to, has both the garden of Eden and the ark of the covenant in his view, when speaking of the king of Tyre. Thus, in the 17th verse, it is said, "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God ;" and, in the next verse, " Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth ; " (namely, that covereth the ark,) " and I have set thee so ; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 188}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 COMMENTARY UPON}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.  And Cain talked with Abel his brother : and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother ?   And he said, I know not.  Am I my brother's keeper ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10.  And he said, What hast thou done ? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath  opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vaga\-bond shalt thou be in the earth.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13.  And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.  Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid ; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth: and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  And the Lord said unto him, Therefore  whosoever slayeth  Cain, vengeance shall  be taken  on  him sevenfold.   And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16.  And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch : and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18.  And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: audMehu-jael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.   And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zil-lah.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20.  And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.   And his brother's name  was}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 8.   Et loquutus est Cain ad Ebel fratrem suum: et accidit quum essent in agro, insurrexit Cain contra Ebel fratrem suum, et occidit eum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 9.  Et dixit Jehova ad Cain, Ubi est Ebel frater tuus?   Et ait, Nescio : nunquid custos fra-tris mei sum ego ?}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 10. Et dixit, Quid fecisti ? vox sanguinis fratris tui clamat  ad me e terra.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 11.  Nunc  itaque   maledictus eris & terra, quas aperuit os suum ut exciperet sanguinem fratris tui e manu tua.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 12.  Quando coles terrain, non addet ut det vim suam tibi: va\-gus et profugus eris in terra.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 13. Et dixit Cain ad Jehovam, Major est puuitio mea quam ut feram.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 14.  Ecce, ejecisti me hodie a facie terra?, et &, facie tua abscon-dar, eroque vagus et profugus in terra: et erit, ut quicunque in-venerit me, occidat me.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 15.  Et dixit ei Jehova, Prop-terea quicunque occiderit Cain, septuplum vindicabitur.   Et po-suit Jehova signum in Cain, ne percuteret eum nllus qui inve-niret eum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 16. Et egressus est Cain a facie Jehovae, et habitavit in terra Nod ad Orientem Heden.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 17.  Cognovit autem Cain uxo-rem   suam :   quse  concepit,   et peperit Hanoch:   aidificavitque civitatem, et vocavit nomen civi-tatis nomine filii sui Hanoch.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 18. Porro natus est ipsi Hanoch Hirad, et Hirad genuit Mehujael, et Mehujael genuit Methusael: et Methusael genuit Lemech.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 19.   Et accepit sibi Lemcdi duas uxorcs: nomen unius, Hada, et nomen secunda?, Silla.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 20. Et genuit Hada Jubel, ipse fnit pater inhabitantis tcntorium, et pecoris.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 21.   Et nomen   fratris   ejus,}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 THE BOOK OF GENESIS.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 189}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  And Zillah, she also bareTubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron : and the sister of Tu-bal-cain was Naamah.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.   And  Lamech   said   unto  his wives, Adah and Zillah,  Hear my voice ; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.  If Cain shall be avenged seven\-fold, truly Lamech seventy and seven\-fold.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25.  And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth : For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 26.  And to Seth, to him also there was bom a son; and he called his name Enos : then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 Jubal: ipse fuit pater omnis con-trectantis citharam et organum.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 22.  Et Silla etiam ipsa peperit Thubal-Cain,   polientem   omne opificiuin aereum et ferreum: et soror Thubal-Cain, fuit Nahama.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 23.  Et dixit Lemech uxoribus suis Hada et Silla, Audite vocem meam uxores Lemech, auscultate sermonem meum,Quoniam virum occidero in vulnere meo, et adole-scentem in livore meo.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 24.   Quia septuplo vindicabi-tur Cain, et Lemech septuagies septies.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 25.    Cognovit   autem  Adam rursum uxorem suam : quse pe\-perit filium,  et vocavit nomen ejus Seth, Quia posuit mihi, in-quit, Deus semen alterum pro Ebel: quia occidit eum Cain.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 26.  Et ipsi Seth etiam natus est fllius, et vocavit nomen ejus Enos : time cceptum est invocari nomen Domini.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1. And Adam knew his wife Eve. Moses now begins to describe the propagation of mankind ; in which history it is important to notice that this benediction of God, " Increase and multiply," was not abolished by sin; and not only so, but that the heart of Adam was divinely confirmed, so that he did not shrink with horror from the production of off\-spring. And as Adam recognised, in the very commence\-ment of having offspring, the truly paternal moderation of God's anger, so was he afterwards compelled to taste the bitter fruits of his own sin, when Cain slew Abel. But let us follow the narration of Moses.1 Although Moses does not state that Cain and Abel were twins, it yet seems to me pro\-bable that they were so; for, after he has said that Eve, by her first conception, brought forth her first-born, he soon after subjoins that she also bore another; and thus, while commemorating a double birth, he speaks only of one con-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The following passagehere occurs in the original:\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 " Cognoscendi ver-bo congressum viri cum uxore, rem per se pudendam, verecunde insinuat: quanquam coitus foeditas inter peccati fructus numeranda est; quia na-scitur ex libidinis intemperie: porro licet," &c.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 190                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ception.1 Let those who think differently enjoy their own opinion; to me, however, it appears accordant with reason, when the world had to be replenished with inhabitants, that not only Cain and Abel should have been brought forth at one birth, but many also afterwards, both males and females.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 / have gotten a man. The word which Moses uses signifies both to acquire and to possess; and it is of little consequence to the present context which of the two you adopt. It is more important to inquire why she says that she has received PI1PP T\\i$) (eth Yehovah.) Some expound it, ' with the Lord;' that is, ' by the kindness, or by the favour, of the Lord;' as if Eve would refer the accepted blessing of off\-spring to the Lord, as it is said in Psalm cxxvii. 3, " The fruit of the womb is the gift of the Lord." A second inter\-pretation comes to the same point, ' I have possessed a man from the Lord;' and the version of Jerome is of equal force, 'Through the Lord.'2 These three readings, I say, tend to this point, that Eve gives thanks to God for having begun to raise up a posterity through her, though she was deserving of perpetual barrenness, as well as of utter destruction. Others, with greater subtlety, expound the words, ' I have gotten the man of the Lord ;' as if Eve understood that she already possessed that conqueror of the serpent, who had been divinely promised to her. Hence they celebrate the faith of Eve, because she embraced, by faith, the promise concerning the bruising of the head of the devil through her seed ; only they think that she was mistaken in the person or the individual, seeing that she would restrict to Cain what had been promised concerning Christ. To me, however, this seems to be the genuine sense, that while Eve congratulates herself on the birth of a son, she offers him to God, as the first-fruits of his race. Therefore, I think it ought to be translated, ' I have obtained a man from the Lord,' which approaches more nearly the Hebrew phrase. Moreover, she calls a new-born infant a man, because she saw the human}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 "ItadupHcempartumcommemorans,nonmsideunoconcubituloqmtur."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Possedi hominem per Deum."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Vulgate.    " 'E*t\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 <tk,\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 >!\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'bb\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  &i/fyairov S;\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'ab\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0  tow \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'a9\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 eoS."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Sept.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.        THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           191}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 race renewed, which both she and her husband had ruined by their own fault.1}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2. And she again bare Ids brother Abel.8 It is well known whence the name of Cain is deduced, and for what reason it was given to him. For his mother said, WJp, (kaniti,) I have gotten a man ; and therefore she called his name Cain.3 The same explanation is not given with respect to Abel.4 The opinion of some, that he was so called by his mother out of contempt, as if he would prove superfluous and almost useless, is perfectly absurd ; for she remembered the end to which her fruitfulness would lead ; nor had she forgotten the benediction, " Increase and multiply." We should (in my judgment) more correctly infer, that whereasEvehad testified, in the name given to her first-born, the joy which suddenly burst upon her, and celebrated the grace of God; she after\-wards, in her other offspring, returned to the recollection of the miseries of the human race. And certainly, though the new blessing of God was an occasion for no common joy; yet, on the other hand, she could not look upon a posterity devoted to so many and great evils, of which she had herself been the cause, without the most bitter grief. Therefore, she wished that a monument of her sorrow should exist in the name she gave her second son; and she would, at the same time, hold up a common mirror, by which she might admonish her whole progeny of the vanity of man.    That some censure the judg-}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The reader will find a discussion of this remarkable passage worthy of his attention in Dr J. P. Smith's Scripture Testimony to the Messiah, vol. i. p. 228.    Third edition.    1837.    This learned, indefatigable, and candid writer, argues with considerable force in favour of the translation, ' I have obtained a man, Jehovah,' and supposes that Eve really be\-lieved her first-born to be the incarnate Jehovah.   There is, however, great difficulty in allowing that she could know so much as is here pre\-supposed ; and the remark of Datbe seems fatal to this interpretation : \hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 ' Si scivit, Messiam esse debere Jovam, quomodo existimare potuit, Cainam esse Messiam, quern sciebat esse ab Adamo genitum.'   If Eve knew that Messiah must be Jehovah, how could she think that Cain was the Messiah, when she knew him to be the offspring of Adam ?\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2  " Et addidit parere fratrem ojns Ebel;" and she added to bring forth (or she brought forth in addition) his brother Abel.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 3 That is, " obtained," or " gotten."}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4 tai. (Hebel,) signifies vanity.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 192                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 ment of Eve as absurd, because she regarded her just and holy son as worthy to be rejected in comparison with her other wicked and abandoned son, is what I do not approve. For Eve had reason why she should congratulate herself in her first-born; and no blame attaches to her for having proposed, in her second son, a memorial to herself and to all others, of their own vanity, to induce them to exercise themselves in diligent reflection on their own evils.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And Abel was a keeper of sheep. Whether both the brothers had married wives, and each had a separate home, Moses does not relate. This, therefore, remains to us in uncertainty, al\-though it is probable that Cain was married before he slew his brother; since Moses soon after adds, that he knew his wife, and begat children : and no mention is there made of his marriage. Both followed a kind of life in itself holy and laudable. For the cultivation of the earth was commanded by God; and the labour of feeding sheep was not less honour\-able than useful; in short, the whole of rustic life was inno\-cent and simple, and most of all accommodated to the true order of nature. This, therefore, is to be maintained in the first place, that both exercised themselves in labours approved by God, and necessary to the common use of human life. Whence it is inferred, that they had been well instructed by their father. The rite of sacrificing more fully confirms this; because it proves that they had been accustomed to the wor\-ship of God. The life of Cain, therefore, was, in appearance, very well regulated; inasmuch as he cultivated the duties of piety towards God, and sought a maintenance for himself and his, by honest and just labour, as became a provident and sober father of a family. Moreover, it will be here proper to recall to memory what we have before said, that the first men, though they had been deprived of the sacrament of divine love, when they were prohibited from the tree of life, had yet been only so deprived of it, that a hope of salvation was still left to them, of which they had the signs in sacrifices. For we must remember, that the custom of sacrificing was not rashly devised by them, but was divinely delivered to them. For since the Apostle refers the dignity of Abel's accepted sa\-crifice to faith, it follows, first, that he had not offered it without}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                            103}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 flie command of God, (Heb. xi. 4.) Secondly, it has been true from the beginning of the world, that obedience is bet\-ter than any sacrifices, (1 Sam. xv. 22,) and is (he parent of all virtues. Hence it also follows, that man had been taught by God what was pleasing to Him. Thirdly, since God has been always like himself, we may not say that he was ever delighted with mere carnal and external worship. Yet he deemed those sacrifices of the first age acceptable. It follows, therefore, further, that they had been spiritually offered to him: that is, that the holy fathers did not mock him with empty ceremonies, but comprehended something more sublime and secret; which they could not have done without divine in\-struction.1 For it is interior truth alone2 which, in the ex\-ternal signs, distinguishes the genuine and rational worship of God from that which is gross and superstitious. And, certainly, they could not sincerely devote their mind to the worship of God, unless they had been assured of his bene\-volence ; because voluntary reverence springs from a sense of, and confidence in, his goodness; but, on the other hand, whosoever regards God as hostile to himself, is compelled to flee from him with very fear and horror. We see then that God, when he takes away the tree of life, in which he had first given the pledge of his grace, proves and declares himself to be propitious toman by other means. Should any oneobject, that all nations have had their own sacrifices, and that in these there was no pure and solid religion, the solution is ready: name\-ly, that mention is here made of such sacrifices as are lawful and approved by God; of which nothing but an adulterated imitation afterwards descended to the Gentiles. For although nothing but the word MmO, (mincfia,3) is here placed, which properly signifies a gift, and therefore is extended generally to every kind of oblation; yet we may infer, for two reasons, that the command respecting sacrifice was given to the fathers from the beginning; first, for the purpose of making the exercise of piety common to all, seeing they professed themselves to}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1  " Absque verbo," literally " without the word."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 2 That is, " truth received into the heart."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 * Mincha usually, though not invariably, signifies an " unbloody obla\-tion," in opposition to jnj, (zeba,) a " bloody sacrifice."\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 See Gesenius, Lee, &c.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 194                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. IV,}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 be the property of God, and esteemed all they possessed a8 received from him; and, secondly, for the purpose of ad\-monishing them of the necessity of some expiation in order to their reconciliation with God. When each offers some\-thing of his property, there is a solemn giving of thanks, as if he would testify by his present act that he owes to God whatever he possesses. But the sacrifice of cattle and the effusion of blood contains something further, namely, that the offerer should have death before his eyes; and should, never\-theless, believe in God as propitious to him. Concerning the sacrifices of Adam no mention is made.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 4. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, Sfc. God is said to have respect unto the man to whom he vouchsafes his favour. We must, however, notice the order here observed by Moses; for he does not simply state that the worship which Abel had paid was pleasing to God, buf; he begins with the person of the offerer; by which he signifies, that God will regard no works with favour except those the doer of which is already previously accepted and approved by him. And no wonder; for man sees things which are apparent, but God looks into the heart, (1 Sam. xvi. 7 ;) therefore, he estimates works no otherwise than as they proceed from the fountain of the heart. Whence also it happens, that he not only rejects but abhors the sacrifices of the wicked, however splendid they may appear in the eyes of men. For if he, who is polluted in his soul, by his mere touch contaminates, with his own impurities, things otherwise pure and clean, how can that but be impure which proceeds from himself? When God repudiates the feigned righteousness in which the Jews were glorying, he objects, through his Prophet, that their hands were " full of blood," (Isaiah i. 15.) For the same reason Haggai contends against the hypocrites. The external appearance, therefore, of works, which may de\-lude our too carnal eyes, vanishes in the presence of God* Nor were even the heathens ignorant of this; whose poets, when they speak with a sober and well-regulated mind of the worship of God, require both a clean heart and pure hands. Hence, even among all nations, is to be traced the solemn rite of washing before sacrifices.    Now, seeing that}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.               THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           195}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 in another place, the Spirit testifies, by the mouth of Peter, that 'hearts are purified by faith,' (Acts xv. 9;) and seeing, that the purity of the holy patriarchs was of the very same kind, the apostle does not in vain infer, that the offering of Abel was, by faith, more excellent than that of Cain. Therefore, in the first place, we must hold, that all works done before faith, whatever splendour of righteousness may appear in them, were nothing but mere sins, (being defiled from their root,) and were offensive to the Lord, whom nothing can please without inward purity of heart. I wish they who imagine that men, by their own motion of free-will, are rendered meet to receive the grace of God, would reflect on this. Certainly, no controversy would then remain on the question, whether God justifies men gratuitously, and that by faith ? For this must be received as a settled point, that, in the judgment of God, no respect is had to works until man is received into favour. Another point appears equally certain ; since the whole human race is hateful to God, there is no other way of reconciliation to divine favour than through faith. More\-over, since faith is a gratuitous gift of God, and a special illumination of the Spirit, then it is easy to infer, that we are preventedl by his mere grace, just as if he had raised us from the dead. In which sense also Peter says, that it is God who purifies the hearts by faith. For there would be no agreement of the fact with the statement, unless God had so formed faith in the hearts of men that it might be truly deeme't his gift. It may now be seen in what way purity is the effect of faith. It is a vapid and trifling philosophy, to adduce this as the cause of purity, that men are not induced to seek God as their rewarder except by faith. They who speak thus entirely bury the grace of God, which his Spirit chiefly commends. Others also speak coldly, who teach that we are purified by faith, only on account of the gift of regeneration, in order that we may be accepted of God. For not only do they omit half the truth, but build without a foundation; since, on account of the curse on the human race, it became necessary}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 1 The word prevented is here used in the sense now rendered somewhat obsolete, though retained in the Liturgy and Articles of the Church of England. We have, in fact, no other word which so well describes the effect of that prevenient grace, which anticipates and goes before every thing that is good in man.\hich\af0\loch\af0\dbch\f1\cchs0 \'97\hich\af0\dbch\af1\loch\f0\cchs0 Ed.}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 196                             COMMENTARY UPON                   CHAP. IV.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 that gratuitous reconcili-.ition should precede. Again, since God never so regenerates his people in this world, that they can worship him perfectly; no work of man can possibly be acceptable without expiation. And to this point the cere\-mony of legal washing belongs, in order that men may learn, that as often as they wish to draw near unto God, purity must be sought elsewhere. Wherefore God will then at length have respect to our obedience, when he looks upon us in Christ.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 5. But unto Cain and to his offering lie had not reaped. It is not to be doubted, that Cain conducted himself as hypocrites are accustomed to do; namely, that he wished to appease God, as one discharging a debt, by external sacrifices, with\-out the least intention of dedicating himself to God. But this is true worship, to offer ourselves as spiritual sacrifices to God. When God sees such hypocrisy, combined with gross and manifest mockery of himself, it is not surprising that he hates it, and is unable to bear it; whence also it follows, that he rejects with contempt the works of those who withdraw themselves from him. For it is his will, first to have us devoted to himself; he then seeks our works in testi\-mony of our obedience to him, but only in the second place. It is to be remarked, that all the figments by which men mock both God and themselves are the fruits of unbelief. To this is added pride, because unbelievers, despising the Mediator's grace,throwthemselves fearlessly into the presence of God. The Jews foolishly imagine that the oblations of Cain were unacceptable, because he defrauded God of the full ears of corn, and meanly offered him only barren or half-filled ears. Deeper and more hidden was the evil; namely,that impurity of heart of which 1 have been speaking; just as, on the other hand, the strong scent of burning fat could not con\-ciliate the divine favour to the sacrifices of Abel; but, being pervaded by the good odour of faith, they had a sweet-smell\-ing savour.}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 And Cain was very wroth. In this place it is asked, whence Cain understood that his brother's oblations were preferred to his ? The Hebrews, according to their manner, resort to divination, and imagine that the sacrifice of Abel was con-}\par \sectd \sbknone \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 CHAP. IV.                THE BOOK OF GENESIS.                           197}\par \pard \plain \cbpat0 {\cf0\f1\cchs0\lang1033\fs20 sumed by celestial fire; but, since we ought not to allow our\-selves so great a license as to invent miracles, for which we have no testimony of Scripture, let Jewish fables be dismissed.1 It is, indeed, more probable, that Cain formed the judgment which Moses records, from the events which followed. He saw that it was better with his brother than with himself; thence he inferred, that God was pleased with his brother, and displeased with himself. We know also, that to hypo\-crites nothing seems of greater value, nothing is more to their heart's content, than earthly blessing. Moreover, in the person of Cain is pourtrayed to us the likeness of a wicked man, who yet desires to be esteemed just, and even arrogates to himself the first place among the saints. Such persona truly, by external works, strenuously labour to deserve well at the hands of God; but, retaining a heart inwrapped in deceit, they present to him nothing but a mask; so that, in their laborious and anxious religious worship, there is nothing sincere, nothing but mere pretence. When they afterwards see that they gain no advantage, they betray the venom of their minds ; for they not only complain against God, but break forth in manifest fury, so that, if they were able, they would gladly tear him down from his heavenly throne. Such is the innate p