Genesis 1

— male and female] That is, one male, and one female; and the female from the male. Polygamy and divorce were not from the beginning. Compare Matt. xiv. 3, 4. Bp. Kidder. He made woman the same day He made man, as He did both sexes of all other living creatures; also He made woman, as well as man, “in the image of God;” forming the male of the matter of the earth, and the female afterwards of the male, of which a more particular account is reserved for the following chapter. Bps. Patrick and Hall, Dr. Wells.

Ver. 1. — all the host of them.] That is, of each of them. The word “host” is plainly used to signify every thing that is in heaven or in earth; or, as we say, in the whole world, which in Hebrew is always expressed by these two words, “heaven and earth.” Bp. Beveridge. The several creatures are called “host” or army, be- The first sabbath. The garden of Eden. Before CHRIST 4004. A Exod. 20. 11. & 31. 17. Deut. 5. 14. Hebr. 4. 4. created to make.

Genesis 1:11

11.—whose seed is in itself.] The meaning is, that the plant should include in itself its proper seed, by means of which it should be afterwards propagated from one generation to another. Dr. Wells.

Genesis 1:14

14.—Let there be lights] Or luminous bodies, by which light is communicated. The light produced at first was now distributed into several luminaries, distant from the earth, “in the firmament of heaven;” or in those upper regions, where the sun and the planets are placed. Bp. Patrick.

—to divide &c.] Partly to make a perpetual and constant division between day and night; and partly to be certain and natural signs for man’s direction, in his course of judgment and practice, for sowing, planting, sailing, and such other common affairs; and partly, to make a distinction of seasons, summer, winter, spring, autumn, years, months, weeks, days, hours. Bp. Hall. As also to direct mankind afterwards in their solemn festivals. Bp. Kidder.

We must distinguish betwixt God’s saying, Let such a thing be, and let such a thing do, so or so. By the first He produced the thing out of nothing: by the other He gave laws to it, then in being. As, when He said, “Let there be light,” by that word, the light, which was not before, began to be: but when He said, “Let there be lights in the firmament, to divide the day from the night, &c.” He thereby gave laws to the light He had before made, where He would have it be, and what He would have it do. This is what we call the law of nature: that law, which God hath put into the nature

of every thing, whereby it always keeps itself within such bounds, and acts according to such rules, as God hath set it, and by that means shews forth the glory of His wisdom and power. Bp. Beveridge.

Genesis 1:15

15. And let them be for lights &c.] Let them there continue to give constant light and warmth to the earth and its inhabitants, which is their principal use. Bps. Hall and Patrick.

Genesis 1:16

16.—two great lights;] That is, which appear to us greater than all the rest; namely, the sun and moon. With regard to the inhabitants of the earth, the moon, though certainly an opaque or dark body, and less than most of the planets, may be not improperly called a great light: since, on account of its nearness, it communicates more light, and is of more use and benefit to us, than all the other planets put together. Dr. Wells, Bp. Patrick, Stackhouse.

—to rule the day, &c.] As the sun is said “to rule the day,” because he then only appears in the firmament; so the moon and stars are said to “rule the night,” because they then appear with splendour, and give a supply of light, which the sun does not then immediately afford. Dr. Wells, Bp. Kidder.

Genesis 1:17

17. And God set them &c.] By repeating this so often, Moses intended to fix in the people’s mind this notion; that though the heavenly bodies be very glorious, yet they are but creatures made by God, and set or appointed by His order, to give us light. And therefore He alone is to be worshipped, not they. Bp. Patrick. This supposition is the more probable, because the most early idolatry is reasonably judged to have been that of worshipping the host of heaven, or the celestial lights. Dr. Wells.

Genesis 1:21

21.—whales,] Or great fishes of all sorts. Dr. Wells. B 2 The creation of man, Before CHRIST 4004. and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

Genesis 1:26

26. And God said, Let us make man] God not only reserved man for the last of His works, but, as it were, advises and consults about his production; not to signify any deliberation within Himself, or any difficulty in the work: but to represent to us the dignity of man, and that he was made with admirable wisdom and great prudence. It is to be observed also, that God does not say, “Let the earth bring forth man,” as He said before of other animals; and that for the same reason: namely, to represent man as a far more noble work, than any other upon earth. Bp. Patrick. — Let us] The ancient Christians looked upon this as a plain intimation of a plurality of persons in the Godhead. Epiphanius says, “This is the language of God to His Wows and only begotten, as all the faithful believe;” and again, “Adam was formed by the hand of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” Bp. Patrick. It is the language of St. Barnabas, one of the apotolical Fathers, “And for this cause the Lord was content to suffer for our souls, although He be the Lord of the whole earth; to whom God said, before the beginning of the world, Let us make man, &c.” Abp. Wake. St. Chrysostom concludes some observations on the same passage, in the following eloquent terms: “Who was He, to whom God said, Let us make man? Who else but He, the Angel, of the Great Council, the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty One, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the future age, the only-begotten Son of God, the equal to his Father in essence, by whom all things were made? To Him it was said, Let us make man.” “Let us make man.” Us.—He speaks to one who has the power of creating. John i. 1, 2, 3. Bp. Wilson. The phraseology, in which this resolution is couched, is remarkable. “Let us make man:” but the Old Testament furnishes more instances of a similar kind: “Behold, the man is become as one of us:” “Let us go down, and there confound their language;” “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” These plural forms, thus used by the Deity, demand our attention. Gen. iii. 22: xi. 7: Isaiah vi. 8. Three solutions of the questions have been offered. The first is that given by the Jews, who tell us, that in these forms God speaks of Himself and His angels. But may we not ask upon this occasion, “Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor?” With which of the angels did He at any time vouchsafe to share His works and His attributes? Could they have been His coadjutors in the work of creation, which He so often claims to Himself, declaring He will not give the glory of it to another? A second account of the matter is, that the King of heaven adopts the style employed by the kings of the earth. But doth it seem at all reasonable to imagine, that God should borrow his way of speaking from a king, before man was created upon the earth? Besides, as it hath been judiciously observed, “though a king and governour may say us and we, there is certainly no figure of speech that will allow any single person to say, ‘one of us,’ when he speaks only of himself. It is a phrase that can have no meaning, unless there be more persons than one concerned.” What then should hinder us from accepting the third solution, given by the best expositors ancient and modern, and drawn from this consideration, that in the unity of the Divine Essence there is a plurality of Persons, coequal and co-eternal, who might say, with truth and propriety, “Let us make man,” and, “Man is become as one of us?” Of such a personality revelation informs us: it is that upon which the economy of man’s redemption is founded; his creation, as well as that of the world, is, in different passages, attributed to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; what more natural therefore than that, at his production, this form of speech should be used by the Divine Persons? What more rational than to suppose, that a doctrine, so important to the human race, was communicated from the beginning, that men might know whom they worshipped, and how they ought to worship? What other good and sufficient reason can be given, why the name of God, in use among believers from the first, should likewise be in the plural number, connected with verbs and pronouns in the singular? It is true, we Christians, with the New Testament in our hands, may not want these arguments to prove the doctrine: but why should we overlook, or slight, such very valuable evidence of its having been revealed and received in the Church of God, from the foundation of the world? It is a satisfaction, it is a comfort, to reflect, that in this momentous article of our faith we have patriarchs and prophets for our fathers; that they lived, and that they died in the belief of it; that the God of Adam, of Noah, and of Abraham is likewise our God; and that when we adore Him in three Persons, and give “glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,” we do “as it was” done “in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.” Bp. Horne. — in our image, after our likeness:] Approaching to the Divine likeness in understanding, freedom of choice, spirituality, immortality, &c. in righteousness, and true holiness likewise, as may be gathered from the Apostle, Eph. iv. 24. Bp. Patrick. Of man’s distinguishing excellencies we are taught to entertain the most exalted sentiments, when we are told, that he was made “in the image and likeness of God.” For what more can be said of a creature, than that he is made after the similitude of his Creator? Bp. Horne. We should learn to be cautious, lest we charge God foolishly, by ascribing that to Him or the nature He has given us, which is owing wholly to an abuse of it. Men may speak of the degeneracy and corruption of the world, according to the experience they have had of it; but human nature, considered as the Divine workmanship, should methinks be treated as sacred: for in the image of God made He man. Bp. Butler.

Genesis 1:27

27. — him:] God thought fit to make one man to be the head and parent of the whole race of mankind, that men might not boast and vaunt of their extraction and original, (as the Jews have observed,) and that they and appointment of food. Before CHRIS T 4004. in Chap. 9. 1. ell. ing seed. heavy seed.

Genesis 1:28

28. And God blessed them.] That is, besides the excellent endowments, which He bestowed on them, He gave them power to multiply and increase their kind. See Psalm xxxviii. 3, 4. Bp. Kidder. This power He had before bestowed upon other creatures: He adds to it here two other things, “replenish the earth, and subdue it.” He gives them the whole earth for their possession, with a power to “subdue” it; that is, to make it fit for their habitation, by bringing under, or driving every wild beasts. For, secondly, He gives them the “dominion” over all other creatures, whether in the water, air, or earth. Bp. Patrick. — have dominion] The divine writers have informed us, that God at the beginning gave mankind dominion (that is, an impressed awe and authority) over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, as a defence and security against the beasts of prey, which would otherwise have destroyed them. Dr. Bentley. By the dominion God gave him over the creatures, Adam, though naked and defenceless, had full security that they could not hurt him; and he had a convincing proof of this by their obedience, when they were brought before him. Bp. Wilson.

Genesis 1:29

29. — Behold, I have given you &c.] Here he assigns them their food; and makes no mention at all of beasts, but only of plants and fruits of the earth. The allowance was expressly enlarged after the flood, when He gave them every living thing for meat, as well as the herbs, Chap. ix. 3. Bps. Patrick and Kidder.

Genesis 1:31

31. — very good.] Exactly fitted to the ends and uses, for which He designed it; and contributing, as much as it could, to the manifestation of His glory. Bp. Beveridge. The least or worst of creatures in their original is not any way derogatory to the Creator. Whosoever is evil, is not so by the Creator’s action, but by the creature’s defection. Bp. Pearson. given every green herb for meat: and it was so.