[ Genesis 1 ]

GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Every believer in Divine revelation finds himself amply justified in taking for granted that the

Pentateuch is the work of Moses. For more than 3000 years this has been the invariable opinion of

those who were best qualified to form a correct judgment on this subject. The Jewish Church, from

its most remote antiquity, has ascribed the work to no other hand; and the Christian Church, from its

foundation, has attributed it to the Jewish lawgiver alone. The most respectable heathens have

concurred in this testimony, and Jesus Christ and his apostles have completed the evidence, and

have put the question beyond the possibility of being doubted by those who profess to believe the

Divine authenticity of the New Testament. As to those who, in opposition to all these proofs,

obstinately persist in their unbelief, they are worthy of little regard, as argument is lost on their

unprincipled prejudices, and demonstration on their minds, because ever willfully closed against the

light. When they have proved that Moses is not the author of this work, the advocates of Divine

revelation will reconsider the grounds of their faith.

That there are a few things in the Pentateuch which seem to have been added by a later hand there

can be little doubt; among these some have reckoned, perhaps without reason, the following

passage, Genesis 12:6 : "And the Canaanite was then in the land"; but see the note on Genesis 12:6. Numbers 21:14, "In the book of the wars of the Lord," was probably a marginal note, which in process of time

got into the text; see the note on Numbers 21:14. To these may be added Deuteronomy Deu 1:1-5; Deu

2:12; and the eight concluding verses of the last chapter, in which we have an account of the death

of Moses. These last words could not have been added by Moses himself, but are very probably the

work of Ezra, by whom, according to uninterrupted tradition among the Jews, the various books

which constitute the canon of the Old Testament were collected and arranged, and such expository

notes added as were essential to connect the different parts; but as he acted under Divine

inspiration, the additions may be considered of equal authority with the text. A few other places

might be added, but they are of little importance, and are mentioned in the notes.

The book of Genesis, Γενεσις, has its name from the title it bears in the Septuagint, βιβλος

Γενεσεως, (Genesis 2:4), which signifies the book of the Generation; but it is called in Hebrew ‫בראשית‬

Bereshith, "In the beginning," from its initial word. It is the most ancient history in the world; and,

from the great variety of its singular details and most interesting accounts, is as far superior in its

value and importance to all others, as it is in its antiquity. This book contains an account of the

creation of the world, and its first inhabitants; the original innocence and fall of man; the rise of

religion; the invention of arts; the general corruption and degeneracy of mankind; the universal

deluge; the repeopling and division of the earth; the origin of nations and kingdoms; and a particular

history of the patriarchs from Adam down to the death of Joseph; including a space, at the lowest

computation, of 2369 years.

It may be asked how a detail so circumstantial and minute could have been preserved when there

was no writing of any kind, and when the earth, whose history is here given, had already existed

more than 2000 years. To this inquiry a very satisfactory answer may be given. There are only three

ways in which these important records could have been preserved and brought down to the time of

Moses: viz., writing, tradition, and Divine revelation. In the antediluvian world, when the life of man

was so protracted, there was comparatively little need for writing of any kind, and perhaps no

alphabetical writing then existed. Tradition answered every purpose to which writing in any kind of

characters could be subservient; and the necessity of erecting monuments to perpetuate public

events could scarcely have suggested itself, as during those times there could be little danger

apprehended of any important fact becoming obsolete, as its history had to pass through very few

hands, and all these friends and relatives in the most proper sense of the terms; for they lived in an

insulated state under a patriarchal government.

Thus it was easy for Moses to be satisfied of the truth of all he relates in the book of Genesis, as the

accounts came to him through the medium of very few persons. From Adam to Noah there was but

one man necessary to the correct transmission of the history of this period of 1656 years. Now this

history was, without doubt, perfectly known to Methuselah, who lived to see them both. In like

manner Shem connected Noah and Abraham, having lived to converse with both; as Isaac did with

Abraham and Joseph, from whom these things might be easily conveyed to Moses by Amram, who

was contemporary with Joseph. Supposing, then, all the curious facts recorded in the book of

Genesis had no other authority than the tradition already referred to, they would stand upon a

foundation of credibility superior to any that the most reputable of the ancient Greek and Latin

historians can boast. Yet to preclude all possibility of mistake, the unerring Spirit of God directed

Moses in the selection of his facts and the ascertaining of his dates. Indeed, the narrative is so

simple, so much like truth, so consistent everywhere with itself, so correct in its dates, so impartial in

its biography, so accurate in its philosophical details, so pure in its morality, and so benevolent in its

design, as amply to demonstrate that it never could have had an earthly origin. In this case, also,

Moses constructed every thing according to the pattern which God showed him in the mount.

First day's work - Creation of the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:2. Of the light and its

separation from the darkness, Genesis 1:3-5. Second day's work - The creation of the firmament, and

the separation of the waters above the firmament from those below it, Genesis 1:6-8. Third day's work -

The waters are separated from the earth and formed into seas, etc., Genesis 1:9, Genesis 1:10. The earth

rendered fruitful, and clothed with trees, herbs, grass, etc., Genesis 1:11-13. Fourth day's work -

Creation of the celestial luminaries intended for the measurement of time, the distinction of periods,

seasons, etc., Genesis 1:14; and to illuminate the earth, Genesis 1:15. Distinct account of the formation of

the sun, moon, and stars, Genesis 1:16-19. Fifth day's work - The creation of fish, fowls, and reptiles in

general, Genesis 1:20. Of great aquatic animals, Genesis 1:21. They are blessed so as to make them very

prolific, Genesis 1:22, Genesis 1:23. Sixth day's work - Wild and tame cattle created, and all kinds of animals

which derive their nourishment from the earth, Genesis 1:24, Genesis 1:25. The creation of man in the

image and likeness of God, with the dominion given him over the earth and all inferior animals, Genesis 1:26. Man or Adam, a general name for human beings, including both male and female, Genesis 1:27.

Their peculiar blessing, Genesis 1:28. Vegetables appointed as the food of man and all other animals,

Genesis 1:29, Genesis 1:30. The judgment which God passed on his works at the conclusion of his creative

acts, Genesis 1:31.

Verse 1

God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth - ‫בראשית‬ ‫ברא‬ ‫אלהים‬ ‫את‬ ‫השמים‬ ‫ואת‬ ‫הארץ‬

Bereshith bara Elohim eth hashshamayim veeth haarets; God in the beginning created the heavens

and the earth.

Many attempts have been made to define the term God: as to the word itself, it is pure Anglo-

Saxon, and among our ancestors signified, not only the Divine Being, now commonly designated by

the word, but also good; as in their apprehensions it appeared that God and good were correlative

terms; and when they thought or spoke of him, they were doubtless led from the word itself to

consider him as The Good Being, a fountain of infinite benevolence and beneficence towards his

creatures.

A general definition of this great First Cause, as far as human words dare attempt one, may be thus

given: The eternal, independent, and self-existent Being: the Being whose purposes and actions

spring from himself, without foreign motive or influence: he who is absolute in dominion; the most

pure, the most simple, and most spiritual of all essences; infinitely benevolent, beneficent, true, and

holy: the cause of all being, the upholder of all things; infinitely happy, because infinitely perfect;

and eternally self-sufficient, needing nothing that he has made: illimitable in his immensity,

inconceivable in his mode of existence, and indescribable in his essence; known fully only to himself,

because an infinite mind can be fully apprehended only by itself. In a word, a Being who, from his

infinite wisdom, cannot err or be deceived; and who, from his infinite goodness, can do nothing but

what is eternally just, right, and kind. Reader, such is the God of the Bible; but how widely different

from the God of most human creeds and apprehensions!

The original word ‫אלהים‬ Elohim, God, is certainly the plural form of ‫אל‬ El, or ‫אלה‬ Eloah, and has long

been supposed, by the most eminently learned and pious men, to imply a plurality of Persons in the

Divine nature. As this plurality appears in so many parts of the sacred writings to be confined to

three Persons, hence the doctrine of the Trinity, which has formed a part of the creed of all those

who have been deemed sound in the faith, from the earliest ages of Christianity. Nor are the

Christians singular in receiving this doctrine, and in deriving it from the first words of Divine

revelation. An eminent Jewish rabbi, Simeon ben Joachi, in his comment on the sixth section of

Leviticus, has these remarkable words: "Come and see the mystery of the word Elohim; there are

three degrees, and each degree by itself alone, and yet notwithstanding they are all one, and joined

together in one, and are not divided from each other." See Ainsworth. He must be strangely

prejudiced indeed who cannot see that the doctrine of a Trinity, and of a Trinity in unity, is

expressed in the above words. The verb ‫ברא‬ bara, he created, being joined in the singular number

with this plural noun, has been considered as pointing out, and not obscurely, the unity of the Divine

Persons in this work of creation. In the ever-blessed Trinity, from the infinite and indivisible unity of

the persons, there can be but one will, one purpose, and one infinite and uncontrollable energy. "Let

those who have any doubt whether ‫אלהים‬ Elohim, when meaning the true God, Jehovah, be plural

or not, consult the following passages, where they will find it joined with adjectives, verbs, and

pronouns plural. "Genesis 1:26 Genesis 3:22 Genesis 11:7 Genesis 20:13 Genesis 31:7, Genesis 31:53 Genesis 35:7. "Deu 4:7

Deu 5:23; Joshua 24:19 1 Samuel 4:8; 2 Samuel 7:23; "Psalms 58:6; Isaiah 6:8; Jeremiah 10:10, Jeremiah 23:36. "See also Proverbs 9:10,

Proverbs 30:3; Psalms 149:2; Ecclesiastes 5:7, Ecclesiastes 12:1; Job 5:1; Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 54:5, Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 11:12, or Hosea 12:1; Malachi 1:6; Daniel 5:18, Daniel 5:20, and Daniel 7:18, Daniel 7:22." - Parkhurst.

As the word Elohim is the term by which the Divine Being is most generally expressed in the Old

Testament, it may be necessary to consider it here more at large. It is a maxim that admits of no

controversy, that every noun in the Hebrew language is derived from a verb, which is usually termed

the radix or root, from which, not only the noun, but all the different flections of the verb, spring.

This radix is the third person singular of the preterite or past tense. The ideal meaning of this root

expresses some essential property of the thing which it designates, or of which it is an appellative.

The root in Hebrew, and in its sister language, the Arabic, generally consists of three letters, and

every word must be traced to its root in order to ascertain its genuine meaning, for there alone is

this meaning to be found. In Hebrew and Arabic this is essentially necessary, and no man can safely

criticise on any word in either of these languages who does not carefully attend to this point.

I mention the Arabic with the Hebrew for two reasons.

1. Because the two languages evidently spring from the same source, and have very nearly the same

mode of construction.

2. Because the deficient roots in the Hebrew Bible are to be sought for in the Arabic language. The

reason of this must be obvious, when it is considered that the whole of the Hebrew language is lost

except what is in the Bible, and even a part of this book is written in Chaldee.

Now, as the English Bible does not contain the whole of the English language, so the Hebrew Bible

does not contain the whole of the Hebrew. If a man meet with an English word which he cannot find

in an ample concordance or dictionary to the Bible, he must of course seek for that word in a general

English dictionary. In like manner, if a particular form of a Hebrew word occur that cannot be traced

to a root in the Hebrew Bible, because the word does not occur in the third person singular of the

past tense in the Bible, it is expedient, it is perfectly lawful, and often indispensably necessary, to

seek the deficient root in the Arabic. For as the Arabic is still a living language, and perhaps the most

copious in the universe, it may well be expected to furnish those terms which are deficient in the

Hebrew Bible. And the reasonableness of this is founded on another maxim, viz., that either the

Arabic was derived from the Hebrew, or the Hebrew from the Arabic. I shall not enter into this

controversy; there are great names on both sides, and the decision of the question in either way will

have the same effect on my argument. For if the Arabic were derived from the Hebrew, it must have

been when the Hebrew was a living and complete language, because such is the Arabic now; and

therefore all its essential roots we may reasonably expect to find there: but if, as Sir William Jones

supposed, the Hebrew were derived from the Arabic, the same expectation is justified, the deficient

roots in Hebrew may be sought for in the mother tongue. If, for example, we meet with a term in

our ancient English language the meaning of which we find difficult to ascertain, common sense

teaches us that we should seek for it in the Anglo-Saxon, from which our language springs; and, if

necessary, go up to the Teutonic, from which the Anglo-Saxon was derived. No person disputes the

legitimacy of this measure, and we find it in constant practice. I make these observations at the very

threshold of my work, because the necessity of acting on this principle (seeking deficient Hebrew

roots in the Arabic) may often occur, and I wish to speak once for all on the subject.

The first sentence in the Scripture shows the propriety of having recourse to this principle. We have

seen that the word ‫אלהים‬ Elohim is plural; we have traced our term God to its source, and have seen

its signification; and also a general definition of the thing or being included under this term, has

been tremblingly attempted. We should now trace the original to its root, but this root does not

appear in the Hebrew Bible. Were the Hebrew a complete language, a pious reason might be given

for this omission, viz., "As God is without beginning and without cause, as his being is infinite and

underived, the Hebrew language consults strict propriety in giving no root whence his name can be

deduced." Mr. Parkhurst, to whose pious and learned labors in Hebrew literature most Biblical

students are indebted, thinks he has found the root in ‫אלה‬ alah, he swore, bound himself by oath;

and hence he calls the ever-blessed Trinity ‫אלהים‬ Elohim, as being bound by a conditional oath to

redeem man, etc., etc. Most pious minds will revolt from such a definition, and will be glad with me

to find both the noun and the root preserved in Arabic. Allah is the common name for God in the

Arabic tongue, and often the emphatic is used. Now both these words are derived from the root

alaha, he worshipped, adored, was struck with astonishment, fear, or terror; and hence, he adored

with sacred horror and veneration, cum sacro horrore ac veneratione coluit, adoravit - Wilmet.

Hence ilahon, fear, veneration, and also the object of religious fear, the Deity, the supreme God, the

tremendous Being. This is not a new idea; God was considered in the same light among the ancient

Hebrews; and hence Jacob swears by the fear of his father Isaac, Genesis 31:53. To complete the

definition, Golius renders alaha, juvit, liberavit, et tutatus fuit, "he succoured, liberated, kept in

safety, or defended." Thus from the ideal meaning of this most expressive root, we acquire the most

correct notion of the Divine nature; for we learn that God is the sole object of adoration; that the

perfections of his nature are such as must astonish all those who piously contemplate them, and fill

with horror all who would dare to give his glory to another, or break his commandments; that

consequently he should be worshipped with reverence and religious fear; and that every sincere

worshipper may expect from him help in all his weaknesses, trials, difficulties, temptations, etc.,;

freedom from the power, guilt, nature, and consequences of sin; and to be supported, defended,

and saved to the uttermost, and to the end.

Here then is one proof, among multitudes which shall be adduced in the course of this work, of the

importance, utility, and necessity of tracing up these sacred words to their sources; and a proof also,

that subjects which are supposed to be out of the reach of the common people may, with a little

difficulty, be brought on a level with the most ordinary capacity.

In the beginning - Before the creative acts mentioned in this chapter all was Eternity. Time signifies

duration measured by the revolutions of the heavenly bodies: but prior to the creation of these

bodies there could be no measurement of duration, and consequently no time; therefore in the

beginning must necessarily mean the commencement of time which followed, or rather was

produced by, God's creative acts, as an effect follows or is produced by a cause.

Created - Caused existence where previously to this moment there was no being. The rabbins, who

are legitimate judges in a case of verbal criticism on their own language, are unanimous in asserting

that the word ‫ברא‬ bara expresses the commencement of the existence of a thing, or egression from

nonentity to entity. It does not in its primary meaning denote the preserving or new forming things

that had previously existed, as some imagine, but creation in the proper sense of the term, though it

has some other acceptations in other places. The supposition that God formed all things out of a

pre-existing, eternal nature, is certainly absurd, for if there had been an eternal nature besides an

eternal God, there must have been two self-existing, independent, and eternal beings, which is a

most palpable contradiction. ‫את‬ ‫השמים‬ eth hashshamayim. The word ‫את‬ eth, which is generally

considered as a particle, simply denoting that the word following is in the accusative or oblique case,

is often understood by the rabbins in a much more extensive sense. "The particle ‫את‬," says Aben

Ezra, "signifies the substance of the thing." The like definition is given by Kimchi in his Book of Roots.

"This particle," says Mr. Ainsworth, "having the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet in it, is

supposed to comprise the sum and substance of all things." "The particle ‫את‬ eth (says Buxtorf,

Talmudic Lexicon, sub voce) with the cabalists is often mystically put for the beginning and the end,

as α alpha and ω omega are in the Apocalypse." On this ground these words should be translated,

"God in the beginning created the substance of the heavens and the substance of the earth," i.e. the

prima materia, or first elements, out of which the heavens and the earth were successively formed.

The Syriac translator understood the word in this sense, and to express this meaning has used the

word yoth, which has this signification, and is very properly translated in Walton's Polyglot, Esse,

caeli et Esse terrae, "the being or substance of the heaven, and the being or substance of the earth."

St. Ephraim Syrus, in his comment on this place, uses the same Syriac word, and appears to

understand it precisely in the same way. Though the Hebrew words are certainly no more than the

notation of a case in most places, yet understood here in the sense above, they argue a wonderful

philosophic accuracy in the statement of Moses, which brings before us, not a finished heaven and

earth, as every other translation appears to do, though afterwards the process of their formation is

given in detail, but merely the materials out of which God built the whole system in the six following

days.

The heaven and the earth - As the word ‫שמים‬ shamayim is plural, we may rest assured that it means

more than the atmosphere, to express which some have endeavored to restrict its meaning. Nor

does it appear that the atmosphere is particularly intended here, as this is spoken of, Genesis 1:6, under

the term firmament. The word heavens must therefore comprehend the whole solar system, as it is

very likely the whole of this was created in these six days; for unless the earth had been the center

of a system, the reverse of which is sufficiently demonstrated, it would be unphilosophic to suppose

it was created independently of the other parts of the system, as on this supposition we must have

recourse to the almighty power of God to suspend the influence of the earth's gravitating power till

the fourth day, when the sun was placed in the center, round which the earth began then to revolve.

But as the design of the inspired penman was to relate what especially belonged to our world and its

inhabitants, therefore he passes by the rest of the planetary system, leaving it simply included in the

plural word heavens. In the word earth every thing relative to the terraqueaerial globe is included,

that is, all that belongs to the solid and fluid parts of our world with its surrounding atmosphere. As

therefore I suppose the whole solar system was created at this time, I think it perfectly in place to

give here a general view of all the planets, with every thing curious and important hitherto known

relative to their revolutions and principal affections.

Observations On The Preceding Tables (Editor's Note: These tables were omitted due to outdated

information)

In Table I. the quantity or the periodic and sidereal revolutions of the planets is expressed in

common years, each containing 365 days; as, e.g., the tropical revolution of Jupiter is, by the table,

11 years, 315 days, 14 hours, 39 minutes, 2 seconds; i.e., the exact number of days is equal to 11

years multiplied by 365, and the extra 315 days added to the product, which make In all 4330 days.

The sidereal and periodic times are also set down to the nearest second of time, from numbers used

in the construction of the tables in the third edition of M. de la Lande's Astronomy. The columns

containing the mean distance of the planets from the sun in English miles, and their greatest and

least distance from the earth, are such as result from the best observations of the two last transits of

Venus, which gave the solar parallax to be equal to 8 three-fifth seconds of a degree; and

consequently the earth's diameter, as seen from the sun, must be the double of 8 three-fifth

seconds, or 17 one-fifth seconds. From this last quantity, compared with the apparent diameters of

the planets, as seen at a distance equal to that of the earth at her main distance from the sun, the

diameters of the planets in English miles, as contained in the seventh column, have been carefully

computed. In the column entitled "Proportion of bulk, the earth being 1," the whole numbers

express the number of times the other planet contains more cubic miles, etc., than the earth; and if

the number of cubic miles in the earth be given, the number of cubic miles in any planet may be

readily found by multiplying the cubic miles contained in the earth by the number in the column, and

the product will be the quantity required.

This is a small but accurate sketch of the vast solar system; to describe it fully, even in all its known

revolutions and connections, in all its astonishing energy and influence, in its wonderful plan,

structure, operations, and results, would require more volumes than can be devoted to the

commentary itself.

As so little can be said here on a subject so vast, it may appear to some improper to introduce it at

all; but to any observation of this kind I must be permitted to reply, that I should deem it

unpardonable not to give a general view of the solar system in the very place where its creation is

first introduced. If these works be stupendous and magnificent, what must He be who formed,

guides, and supports them all by the word of his power! Reader, stand in awe of this God, and sin

not. Make him thy friend through the Son of his love; and, when these heavens and this earth are no

more, thy soul shall exist in consummate and unutterable felicity.

See the remarks on the sun, moon, and stars, after Genesis 1:16. See Clarke's note on Genesis 1:16.

GENESIS 1:2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s

Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Verse 2

The earth was without form and void - The original term ‫תהו‬ tohu and ‫בהו‬ bohu, which we translate

without form and void, are of uncertain etymology; but in this place, and wherever else they are

used, they convey the idea of confusion and disorder. From these terms it is probable that the

ancient Syrians and Egyptians borrowed their gods, Theuth and Bau, and the Greeks their Chaos.

God seems at first to have created the elementary principles of all things; and this formed the grand

mass of matter, which in this state must be without arrangement, or any distinction of parts: a vast

collection of indescribably confused materials, of nameless entities strangely mixed; and wonderfully

well expressed by an ancient heathen poet: -

Ante mare et terras, et, quod tegit omnia, caelum,

Unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe, Quem dixere

Chaos; rudis indigestaque moles,

Nec quicquam nisi pondus iners; congestaque eodem

Non bene junctarum discordia semina rerum.

Ovid.

Before the seas and this terrestrial ball,

And heaven's high canopy that covers all,

One was the face of nature, if a face;

Rather, a rude and indigested mass;

A lifeless lump, unfashion'd and unframed,

Of jarring seeds, and justly Chaos named.

Dryden.

The most ancient of the Greeks have spoken nearly in the same way of this crude, indigested state

of the primitive chaotic mass.

When this congeries of elementary principles was brought together, God was pleased to spend six

days in assimilating, assorting, and arranging the materials, out of which he built up, not only the

earth, but the whole of the solar system.

The spirit of God - This has been variously and strangely understood. Some think a violent wind is

meant, because ‫רוח‬, ruach often signifies wind, as well as spirit, as πνευμα, does in Greek; and the

term God is connected with it merely, as they think, to express the superlative degree. Others

understand by it an elementary fire. Others, the sun, penetrating and drying up the earth with his

rays. Others, the angels, who were supposed to have been employed as agents in creation. Others, a

certain occult principle, termed the anima mundi or soul of the world. Others, a magnetic attraction,

by which all things were caused to gravitate to a common center. But it is sufficiently evident from

the use of the word in other places, that the Holy Spirit of God is intended; which our blessed Lord

represents under the notion of wind, John 3:8; and which, as a mighty rushing wind on the day of

Pentecost, filled the house where the disciples were sitting, Acts 2:2, which was immediately followed

by their speaking with other tongues, because they were filled with the Holy Ghost, Acts 2:4. These

scriptures sufficiently ascertain the sense in which the word is used by Moses.

Moved - ‫מרחפת‬ merachepheth, was brooding over; for the word expresses that tremulous motion

made by the hen while either hatching her eggs or fostering her young. It here probably signifies the

communicating a vital or prolific principle to the waters. As the idea of incubation, or hatching an

egg, is implied in the original word, hence probably the notion, which prevailed among the ancients,

that the world was generated from an egg.

GENESIS 1:3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Verse 3

And God said, Let there be light - ‫הי‬ ‫אור‬ ‫ויהי‬ ‫אור‬ Yehi or, vaihi or. Nothing can be conceived more

dignified than this form of expression. It argues at once uncontrollable authority, and omnific power;

and in human language it is scarcely possible to conceive that God can speak more like himself. This

passage, in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, fell in the way of Dionysius Longinus, one of the

most judicious Greek critics that ever lived, and who is highly celebrated over the civilized world for

a treatise he wrote, entitled Περι Ὑψους, Concerning the Sublime, both in prose and poetry; of this

passage, though a heathen, he speaks in the following terms: - Ταυτῃ και ὁ των Ιουδαιων

θεσμοθετης(ουχ ὁ τυχων ανηρ,) επειδη την του θειου δυναμιν κατα την αξιαν εχωρησε,

καξεφηνεν· ευθυς εν τῃ εισβολη γραψας των νομων, ΕΙΠΕΝ Ὁ ΘΕΟΣ, φησι, τι; ΓΕΝΕΣΘΩ ΦΩΣ· και

εγενετο. ΓΕΝΕΣΘΩ ΓΗ· και εγενετο."So likewise the Jewish lawgiver (who was no ordinary man)

having conceived a just idea of the Divine power, he expressed it in a dignified manner; for at the

beginning of his laws he thus speaks: God Said - What? Let There Be Light! and there was light. Let

There Be Earth! and there was earth." - Longinus, sect. ix. edit. Pearce.

Many have asked, "How could light be produced on the first day, and the sun, the fountain of it, not

created till the fourth day?" With the various and often unphilosophical answers which have been

given to this question I will not meddle, but shall observe that the original word ‫אור‬ signifies not only

light but fire, see Isaiah 31:9 Ezekiel 5:2. It is used for the Sun, Job 31:26. And for the electric fluid or

Lightning, Job 37:3. And it is worthy of remark that It is used in Isaiah 44:16, for the heat, derived from

‫אש‬ esh, the fire. He burneth part thereof in the fire ( ‫במו‬ ‫אש‬ bemo esh): yea, he warmeth himself,

and saith, Aha! I have seen the fire, ‫ראיתי‬ ‫אור‬ raithi ur, which a modern philosopher who understood

the language would not scruple to translate, I have received caloric, or an additional portion of the

matter of heat. I therefore conclude, that as God has diffused the matter of caloric or latent heat

through every part of nature, without which there could be neither vegetation nor animal life, that it

is caloric or latent heat which is principally intended by the original word.

That there is latent light, which is probably the same with latent heat, may be easily demonstrated:

take two pieces of smooth rock crystal, agate, cornelian or flint, and rub them together briskly in the

dark, and the latent light or matter of caloric will be immediately produced and become visible. The

light or caloric thus disengaged does not operate in the same powerful manner as the heat or fire

which is produced by striking with flint and steel, or that produced by electric friction. The existence

of this caloric-latent or primitive light, may be ascertained in various other bodies; it can be

produced by the flint and steel, by rubbing two hard sticks together, by hammering cold iron, which

in a short time becomes red hot, and by the strong and sudden compression of atmospheric air in a

tube. Friction in general produces both fire and light. God therefore created this universal agent on

the first day, because without It no operation of nature could be carried on or perfected.

Light is one of the most astonishing productions of the creative skill and power of God. It is the

grand medium by which all his other works are discovered, examined, and understood, so far as they

can be known. Its immense diffusion and extreme velocity are alone sufficient to demonstrate the

being and wisdom of God. Light has been proved by many experiments to travel at the astonishing

rate of 194,188 miles in one second of time! and comes from the sun to the earth in eight minutes

11 43/50 seconds, a distance of 95,513,794 English miles.

GENESIS 1:4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.

Verse 4

God divided the light from the darkness - This does not imply that light and darkness are two

distinct substances, seeing darkness is only the privation of light; but the words simply refer us by

anticipation to the rotation of the earth round its own axis once in twenty-three hours, fifty-six

minutes, and four seconds, which is the cause of the distinction between day and night, by bringing

the different parts of the surface of the earth successively into and from under the solar rays; and it

was probably at this moment that God gave this rotation to the earth, to produce this merciful

provision of day and night. For the manner in which light is supposed to be produced, see Genesis 1:16,

under the word sun.

GENESIS 1:5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and

there was morning, the first day.

GENESIS 1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the

waters from the waters.”

Verse 6

And God said, Let there be a firmament - Our translators, by following the firmamentum of the

Vulgate, which is a translation of the στερεωμα of the Septuagint, have deprived this passage of all

sense and meaning. The Hebrew word ‫רקיע‬ rakia, from ‫רקע‬ raka, to spread out as the curtains of a

tent or pavilion, simply signifies an expanse or space, and consequently that circumambient space or

expansion separating the clouds, which are in the higher regions of it, from the seas, etc., which are

below it. This we call the atmosphere, the orb of atoms or inconceivably small particles; but the

word appears to have been used by Moses in a more extensive sense, and to include the whole of

the planetary vortex, or the space which is occupied by the whole solar system.

GENESIS 1:7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the

waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

GENESIS 1:8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

GENESIS 1:9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the

dry land appear”; and it was so.

GENESIS 1:10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called

“seas”. God saw that it was good.

Verse 10

And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas - These

two constitute what is called the terraqueous globe, in which the earth and the water exist in a most

judicious proportion to each other. Dr. Long took the papers which cover the surface of a seventeen

inch terrestrial globe, and having carefully separated the land from the sea, be weighed the two

collections of papers accurately, and found that the sea papers weighed three hundred and fortynine grains, and the land papers only one hundred and twenty-four; by which experiment it appears

that nearly three-fourths of the surface of our globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic polar circles,

are covered with water. The doctor did not weigh the parts within the polar circles, because there is

no certain measurement of the proportion of land and water which they contain. This proportion of

three-fourths water may be considered as too great, if not useless; but Mr. Ray, by most accurate

experiments made on evaporation, has proved that it requires so much aqueous surface to yield a

sufficiency of vapors for the purpose of cooling the atmosphere, and watering the earth. See Ray's

Physico-theological Discourses.

An eminent chemist and philosopher, Dr. Priestley, has very properly observed that it seems plain

that Moses considered the whole terraqueous globe as being created in a fluid state, the earthy and

other particles of matter being mingled with the water. The present form of the earth demonstrates

the truth of the Mosaic account; for it is well known that if a soft or elastic globular body be rapidly

whirled round on its axis, the parts at the poles will be flattened, and the parts on the equator,

midway between the north and south poles, will be raised up. This is precisely the shape of our

earth; it has the figure of an oblate spheroid, a figure pretty much resembling the shape of an

orange. It has been demonstrated by admeasurement that the earth is flatted at the poles and

raised at the equator. This was first conjectured by Sir Isaac Newton, and afterwards confirmed by

M. Cassini and others, who measured several degrees of latitude at the equator and near the north

pole, and found that the difference perfectly justified Sir Isaac Newton's conjecture, and

consequently confirmed the Mosaic account. The result of the experiments instituted to determine

this point, proved that the diameter of the earth at the equator is greater by more than twentythree and a half miles than it is at the poles, allowing the polar diameter to be 1/334th part shorter

than the equatorial, according to the recent admeasurements of several degrees of latitude made by

Messrs. Mechain and Delambre - L'Histoire des Mathem. par M. de la Lande, tom. iv., part v., liv. 6.

And God saw that it was good - This is the judgment which God pronounced on his own works. They

were beautiful and perfect in their kind, for such is the import of the word ‫טוב‬ tob. They were in

weight and measure perfect and entire, lacking nothing. But the reader will think it strange that this

approbation should be expressed once on the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth days; twice on the third,

and not at all on the second! I suppose that the words, And God saw that it was good, have been

either lost from the conclusion of the eighth verse, or that the clause in the tenth verse originally

belonged to the eighth. It appears, from the Septuagint translation, that the words in question

existed originally at the close of the eighth verse, in the copies which they used; for in that version

we still find, Και ειδεν ὁ Θεος ὁτι καλον· And God saw that it was good. This reading, however, is not

acknowledged by any of Kennicott's or De Rossi's MSS., nor by any of the other versions. If the

account of the second day stood originally as it does now, no satisfactory reason can be given for the

omission of this expression of the Divine approbation of the work wrought by his wisdom and power

on that day.

GENESIS 1:11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit

after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so.

Verse 11

Let the earth bring forth grass - herb - fruit-tree, etc. - In these general expressions all kinds of

vegetable productions are included. Fruit-tree is not to be understood here in the restricted sense in

which the term is used among us; it signifies all trees, not only those which bear fruit, which may be

applied to the use of men and cattle, but also those which had the power of propagating themselves

by seeds, etc. Now as God delights to manifest himself in the little as well as in the great, he has

shown his consummate wisdom in every part of the vegetable creation. Who can account for, or

comprehend, the structure of a single tree or plant? The roots, the stem, the woody fibres, the bark,

the rind, the air-vessels, the sap-vessels, the leaves, the flowers, and the fruits, are so many

mysteries. All the skill, wisdom, and power of men and angels could not produce a single grain of

wheat: A serious and reflecting mind can see the grandeur of God, not only in the immense cedars

on Lebanon, but also in the endlessly varied forests that appear through the microscope in the

mould of cheese, stale paste, etc., etc.

GENESIS 1:12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit,

with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

Verse 12

Whose seed was in itself - Which has the power of multiplying itself by seeds, slips, roots, etc., ad

infinitum; which contains in itself all the rudiments of the future plant through its endless

generations. This doctrine has been abundantly confirmed by the most accurate observations of the

best modern philosophers. The astonishing power with which God has endued the vegetable

creation to multiply its different species, may be instanced in the seed of the elm. This tree produces

one thousand five hundred and eighty-four millions of seeds; and each of these seeds has the power

of producing the same number. How astonishing is this produce! At first one seed is deposited in the

earth; from this one a tree springs, which in the course of its vegetative life produces one thousand

five hundred and eighty-four millions of seeds. This is the first generation. The second generation

will amount to two trillions, five hundred and nine thousand and fifty-six billions. The third

generation will amount to three thousand nine hundred and seventy-four quadrillions, three

hundred and forty-four thousand seven hundred and four trillions! And the fourth generation from

these would amount to six sextillions two hundred and ninety-five thousand three hundred and

sixty-two quintillions, eleven thousand one hundred and thirty-six quadrillions! Sums too immense

for the human mind to conceive; and, when we allow the most confined space in which a tree can

grow, it appears that the seeds of the third generation from one elm would be many myriads of

times more than sufficient to stock the whole superfices of all the planets in the solar system! But

plants multiply themselves by slips as well as by seeds. Sir Kenelm Digby saw in 1660 a plant of

barley, in the possession of the fathers of the Christian doctrine at Paris, which contained 249 stalks

springing from one root or grain, and in which he counted upwards of 18,000 grains. See my

experiments on Tilling in the Methodist Magazine.

GENESIS 1:13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

GENESIS 1:14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night;

and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;

Verse 14

And God said, Let there be lights, etc. - One principal office of these was to divide between day and

night. When night is considered a state of comparative darkness, how can lights divide or distinguish

it? The answer is easy: The sun is the monarch of the day, which is the state of light; the moon, of

the night, the state of darkness. The rays of the sun, falling on the atmosphere, are refracted and

diffused over the whole of that hemisphere of the earth immediately under his orb; while those rays

of that vast luminary which, because of the earth's smallness in comparison of the sun, are diffused

on all sides beyond the earth, falling on the opaque disc of the moon, are reflected back upon what

may be called the lower hemisphere, or that part of the earth which is opposite to the part which is

illuminated by the sun: and as the earth completes a revolution on its own axis in about twenty-four

hours, consequently each hemisphere has alternate day and night. But as the solar light reflected

from the face of the moon is computed to be 50,000 times less in intensity and effect than the light

of the sun as it comes directly from himself to our earth, (for light decreases in its intensity as the

distance it travels from the sun increases), therefore a sufficient distinction is made between day

and night, or light and darkness, notwithstanding each is ruled and determined by one of these two

great lights; the moon ruling the night, i.e., reflecting from her own surface back on the earth the

rays of light which she receives from the sun. Thus both hemispheres are to a certain degree

illuminated: the one, on which the sun shines, completely so; this is day: the other, on which the

sun's light is reflected by the moon, partially; this is night. It is true that both the planets and fixed

stars afford a considerable portion of light during the night, yet they cannot be said to rule or to

predominate by their light, because their rays arc quite lost in the superior splendor of the moon's

light.

And let them be for signs - ‫לאתת‬ leothoth. Let them ever be considered as continual tokens of God's

tender care for man, and as standing proofs of his continual miraculous interference; for so the word

‫את‬ oth is often used. And is it not the almighty energy of God that upholds them in being? The sun

and moon also serve as signs of the different changes which take place in the atmosphere, and

which are so essential for all purposes of agriculture, commerce, etc.

For seasons - ‫מועדים‬ moadim; For the determination of the times on which the sacred festivals

should be held. In this sense the word frequently occurs; and it was right that at the very opening of

his revelation God should inform man that there were certain festivals which should be annually

celebrated to his glory. Some think we should understand the original word as signifying months, for

which purpose we know the moon essentially serves through all the revolutions of time.

For days - Both the hours of the day and night, as well as the different lengths of the days and

nights, are distinguished by the longer and shorter spaces of time the sun is above or below the

horizon.

And years - That is, those grand divisions of time by which all succession in the vast lapse of duration

is distinguished. This refers principally to a complete revolution of the earth round the sun, which is

accomplished in 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 48 seconds; for though the revolution is that of

the earth, yet it cannot be determined but by the heavenly bodies.

GENESIS 1:15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth”; and it was

so.

GENESIS 1:16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to

rule the night. He also made the stars.

Verse 16

And God made two great lights - Moses speaks of the sun and moon here, not according to their

bulk or solid contents, but according to the proportion of light they shed on the earth. The

expression has been cavilled at by some who are as devoid of mental capacity as of candour. "The

moon," say they, "is not a great body; on the contrary, it is the very smallest in our system." Well,

and has Moses said the contrary? He has said it is a great Light; had he said otherwise he had not

spoken the truth. It is, in reference to the earth, next to the sun himself, the greatest light in the

solar system; and so true is it that the moon is a great light, that it affords more light to the earth

than all the planets in the solar system, and all the innumerable stars in the vault of heaven, put

together. It is worthy of remark that on the fourth day of the creation the sun was formed, and then

"first tried his beams athwart the gloom profound;" and that at the conclusion of the fourth

millenary from the creation, according to the Hebrew, the Sun of righteousness shone upon the

world, as deeply sunk in that mental darkness produced by sin as the ancient world was, while

teeming darkness held the dominion, till the sun was created as the dispenser of light. What would

the natural world be without the sun? A howling waste, in which neither animal nor vegetable life

could possibly be sustained. And what would the moral world be without Jesus Christ, and the light

of his word and Spirit? Just what those parts of it now are where his light has not yet shone: "dark

places of the earth, filled with the habitations of cruelty," where error prevails without end, and

superstition, engendering false hopes and false fears, degrades and debases the mind of man.

Many have supposed that the days of the creation answer to so many thousands of years; and that

as God created all in six days, and rested the seventh, so the world shall last six thousand years, and

the seventh shall be the eternal rest that remains for the people of God. To this conclusion they have

been led by these words of the apostle, 2Pet 3:8 : One day is with the Lord as a thousand years; and

a thousand years as one day. Secret things belong to God; those that are revealed to us and our

children.

He made the stars also - Or rather, He made the lesser light, with the stars, to rule the night. See

Claudlan de Raptu Proser., lib. ii., v. 44.

Hic Hyperionis solem de semine nasci Fecerat, et pariter lunam, sed dispare forma, Aurorae

noctisque duces.

From famed Hyperion did he cause to rise

The sun, and placed the moon amid the skies,

With splendor robed, but far unequal light,

The radiant leaders of the day and night.

Of the Sun

On the nature of the sun there have been various conjectures. It was long thought that he was a

vast globe of fire 1,384,462 times larger than the earth, and that he was continually emitting from

his body innumerable millions of fiery particles, which, being extremely divided, answered for the

purpose of light and heat without occasioning any ignition or burning, except when collected in the

focus of a convex lens or burning glass.

Against this opinion, however, many serious and weighty objections have been made; and it has

been so pressed with difficulties that philosophers have been obliged to look for a theory less

repugnant to nature and probability. Dr. Herschel's discoveries by means of his immensely

magnifying telescopes, have, by the general consent of philosophers, added a new habitable world

to our system, which is the Sun. Without stopping to enter into detail, which would be improper

here, it is sufficient to say that these discoveries tend to prove that what we call the sun is only the

atmosphere of that luminary; "that this atmosphere consists of various elastic fluids that are more or

less lucid and transparent; that as the clouds belonging to our earth are probably decompositions of

some of the elastic fluids belonging to the atmosphere itself, so we may suppose that in the vast

atmosphere of the sun, similar decompositions may take place, but with this difference, that the

decompositions of the elastic fluids of the sun are of a phosphoric nature, and are attended by lucid

appearances, by giving out light." The body of the sun he considers as hidden generally from us by

means of this luminous atmosphere, but what are called the maculae or spots on the sun are real

openings in this atmosphere, through which the opaque body of the sun becomes visible; that this

atmosphere itself is not fiery nor hot, but is the instrument which God designed to act on the caloric

or latent heat; and that heat is only produced by the solar light acting upon and combining with the

caloric or matter of fire contained in the air, and other substances which are heated by it. This

ingenious theory is supported by many plausible reasons and illustrations, which may be seen in the

paper he read before the Royal Society. On this subject see the note on Genesis 1:3.

Of the Moon

There is scarcely any doubt now remaining in the philosophical world that the moon is a habitable

globe. The most accurate observations that have been made with the most powerful telescopes

have confirmed the opinion. The moon seems, in almost every respect, to be a body similar to our

earth; to have its surface diversified by hill and dale, mountains and valleys, rivers, lakes, and seas.

And there is the fullest evidence that our earth serves as a moon to the moon herself, differing only

in this, that as the earth's surface is thirteen times larger than the moon's, so the moon receives

from the earth a light thirteen times greater in splendor than that which she imparts to us; and by a

very correct analogy we are led to infer that all the planets and their satellites, or attendant moons,

are inhabited, for matter seems only to exist for the sake of intelligent beings.

Of the Stars

The Stars in general are considered to be suns, similar to that in our system, each having an

appropriate number of planets moving round it; and, as these stars are innumerable, consequently

there are innumerable worlds, all dependent on the power, protection, and providence of God.

Where the stars are in great abundance, Dr. Herschel supposes they form primaries and secondaries,

i.e., suns revolving about suns, as planets revolve about the sun in our system. He considers that this

must be the case in what is called the milky way, the stars being there in prodigious quantity. Of this

he gives the following proof: On August 22,1792, he found that in forty-one minutes of time not less

than 258,000 stars had passed through the field of view in his telescope. What must God be, who

has made, governs, and supports so many worlds! See Clarke's note on Genesis 1:1.

GENESIS 1:17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,

GENESIS 1:18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness.

God saw that it was good.

GENESIS 1:19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

GENESIS 1:20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the

earth in the open expanse of sky.”

Verse 20

Let the waters bring forth abundantly - There is a meaning in these words which is seldom noticed.

Innumerable millions of animalcula are found in water. Eminent naturalists have discovered not less

than 30,000 in a single drop! How inconceivably small must each be, and yet each a perfect animal,

furnished with the whole apparatus of bones, muscles, nerves, heart, arteries, veins, lungs, viscera in

general, animal spirits, etc., etc. What a proof is this of the manifold wisdom of God! But the

fecundity of fishes is another point intended in the text; no creature's are so prolific as these. A

Tench lay 1,000 eggs, a Carp 20,000, and Leuwenhoek counted in a middling sized Cod 9,384,000!

Thus, according to the purpose of God, the waters bring forth abundantly. And what a merciful

provision is this for the necessities of man! Many hundreds of thousands of the earth's inhabitants

live for a great part of the year on fish only. Fish afford, not only a wholesome, but a very nutritive

diet; they are liable to few diseases, and generally come in vast quantities to our shores when in

their greatest perfection. In this also we may see that the kind providence of God goes hand in hand

with his creating energy. While he manifests his wisdom and his power, he is making a permanent

provision for the sustenance of man through all his generations.

GENESIS 1:21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which

the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.

Verse 21

And God created great whales - ‫התנינם‬ ‫הגדלים‬ hattanninim haggedolim. Though this is generally

understood by the different versions as signifying whales, yet the original must be understood rather

as a general than a particular term, comprising all the great aquatic animals, such as the various

species of whales, the porpoise, the dolphin, the monoceros or narwal, and the shark. God delights

to show himself in little as well as in great things: hence he forms animals so minute that 30,000 can

be contained in one drop of water; and others so great that they seem to require almost a whole sea

to float in.

GENESIS 1:22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and

let birds multiply on the earth.”

Verse 22

Let fowl multiply in the earth - It is truly astonishing with what care, wisdom, and minute skill God

has formed the different genera and species of birds, whether intended to live chiefly on land or in

water. The structure of a single feather affords a world of wonders; and as God made the fowls that

they might fly in the firmament of heaven, Genesis 1:20, so he has adapted the form of their bodies, and

the structure and disposition of their plumage, for that very purpose. The head and neck in flying are

drawn principally within the breast-bone, so that the whole under part exhibits the appearance of a

ship's hull. The wings are made use of as sails, or rather oars, and the tail as a helm or rudder. By

means of these the creature is not only able to preserve the center of gravity, but also to go with

vast speed through the air, either straight forward, circularly, or in any kind of angle, upwards or

downwards. In these also God has shown his skill and his power in the great and in the little - in the

vast ostrich and cassowary, and In the beautiful humming-bird, which in plumage excels the

splendor of the peacock, and in size is almost on a level with the bee.

GENESIS 1:23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

GENESIS 1:24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping

things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.

Verse 24

Let the earth bring forth the living creature, etc. - ‫נפש‬ ‫חיה‬ nephesh chaiyah; a general term to

express all creatures endued with animal life, in any of its infinitely varied gradations, from the halfreasoning elephant down to the stupid potto, or lower still, to the polype, which seems equally to

share the vegetable and animal life. The word ‫חיתו‬ chaitho, in the latter part of the verse, seems to

signify all wild animals, as lions, tigers, etc., and especially such as are carnivorous, or live on flesh, in

contradistinction from domestic animals, such as are graminivorous, or live on grass and other

vegetables, and are capable of being tamed, and applied to domestic purposes. See the note on Genesis 1:29. These latter are probably meant by ‫בהמה‬ behemah in the text, which we translate cattle, such

as horses, kine, sheep, dogs, etc. Creeping thing, ‫רמש‬ remes, all the different genera of serpents,

worms, and such animals as have no feet. In beasts also God has shown his wondrous skill and

power; in the vast elephant, or still more colossal mammoth or mastodon, the whole race of which

appears to be extinct, a few skeletons only remaining. This animal, an astonishing effect of God's

power, he seems to have produced merely to show what he could do, and after suffering a few of

them to propagate, he extinguished the race by a merciful providence, that they might not destroy

both man and beast. The mammoth appears to have been a carnivorous animal, as the structure of

the teeth proves, and of an immense size; from a considerable part of a skeleton which I have seen,

it is computed that the animal to which it belonged must have been nearly twenty-five feet high, and

sixty in length! The bones of one toe are entire; the toe upwards of three feet in length. But this

skeleton might have belonged to the megalonyx, a kind of sloth, or bradypus, hitherto unknown.

Few elephants have ever been found to exceed eleven feet in height. How wondrous are the works

of God! But his skill and power are not less seen in the beautiful chevrotin, or tragulus, a creature of

the antelope kind, the smallest of all bifid or cloven-footed animals, whose delicate limbs are

scarcely so large as an ordinary goose quill; and also in the shrew mouse, perhaps the smallest of the

many-toed quadrupeds. In the reptile kind we see also the same skill and power, not only in the

immense snake called boa constrictor, the mortal foe and conqueror of the royal tiger, but also in

the cobra de manille, a venomous serpent, only a little larger than a common sewing needle.

GENESIS 1:25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind,

and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

Verse 25

And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, etc. - Every thing both in the animal and

vegetable world was made so according to its kind, both in genus and species, as to produce its own

kind through endless generations. Thus the several races of animals and plants have been kept

distinct from the foundation of the world to the present day. This is a proof that all future

generations of plants and animals have been seminally included in those which God formed in the

beginning.

GENESIS 1:26 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 birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all

the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Verse 26

And God said, Let us make man - It is evident that God intends to impress the mind of man with a

sense of something extraordinary in the formation of his body and soul, when he introduces the

account of his creation thus; Let Us make man. The word ‫אדם‬ Adam, which we translate man, is

intended to designate the species of animal, as ‫חיתו‬ chaitho, marks the wild beasts that live in

general a solitary life; ‫בהמה‬ behemah, domestic or gregarious animals; and ‫רמש‬ remes, all kinds of

reptiles, from the largest snake to the microscopic eel. Though the same kind of organization may be

found in man as appears in the lower animals, yet there is a variety and complication in the parts, a

delicacy of structure, a nice arrangement, a judicious adaptation of the different members to their

great offices and functions, a dignity of mien, and a perfection of the whole, which are sought for in

vain in all other creatures. See Genesis 3:22.

In our image, after our likeness - What is said above refers only to the body of man, what is here

said refers to his soul. This was made in the image and likeness of God. Now, as the Divine Being is

infinite, he is neither limited by parts, nor definable by passions; therefore he can have no corporeal

image after which he made the body of man. The image and likeness must necessarily be

intellectual; his mind, his soul, must have been formed after the nature and perfections of his God.

The human mind is still endowed with most extraordinary capacities; it was more so when issuing

out of the hands of its Creator. God was now producing a spirit, and a spirit, too, formed after the

perfections of his own nature. God is the fountain whence this spirit issued, hence the stream must

resemble the spring which produced it. God is holy, just, wise, good, and perfect; so must the soul be

that sprang from him: there could be in it nothing impure, unjust, ignorant, evil, low, base, mean, or

vile. It was created after the image of God; and that image, St. Paul tells us, consisted in

righteousness, true holiness, and knowledge, Ephesians 4:24 Colossians 3:10. Hence man was wise in his mind,

holy in his heart, and righteous in his actions. Were even the word of God silent on this subject, we

could not infer less from the lights held out to us by reason and common sense. The text tells us he

was the work of Elohim, the Divine Plurality, marked here more distinctly by the plural pronouns Us

and Our; and to show that he was the masterpiece of God's creation, all the persons in the Godhead

are represented as united in counsel and effort to produce this astonishing creature.

Gregory Nyssen has very properly observed that the superiority of man to all other parts of creation

is seen in this, that all other creatures are represented as the effect of God's word, but man is

represented as the work of God, according to plan and consideration: Let us make man in our image,

after our likeness. See his Works, vol. i., p. 52, c. 3.

And let them have dominion - Hence we see that the dominion was not the image. God created

man capable of governing the world, and when fitted for the office, he fixed him in it. We see God's

tender care and parental solicitude for the comfort and well-being of this masterpiece of his

workmanship, in creating the world previously to the creation of man. He prepared every thing for

his subsistence, convenience, and pleasure, before he brought him into being; so that, comparing

little with great things, the house was built, furnished, and amply stored, by the time the destined

tenant was ready to occupy it.

It has been supposed by some that God speaks here to the angels, when he says, Let us make man;

but to make this a likely interpretation these persons must prove, 1. That angels were then created.

2. That angels could assist in a work of creation. 3. That angels were themselves made in the image

and likeness of God. If they were not, it could not be said, in Our image, and it does not appear from

any part in the sacred writings that any creature but man was made in the image of God. See

Clarke's note on Psalms 8:5.

GENESIS 1:27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female

he created them.

GENESIS 1:28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that

moves on the earth.”

Verse 28

And God blessed them - Marked them as being under his especial protection, and gave them power

to propagate and multiply their own kind on the earth. A large volume would be insufficient to

contain what we know of the excellence and perfection of man, even in his present degraded fallen

state. Both his body and soul are adapted with astonishing wisdom to their residence and

occupations; and also the place of their residence, as well as the surrounding objects, in their

diversity, color, and mutual relations, to the mind and body of this lord of the creation. The

contrivance, arrangement, action, and re-action of the different parts of the body, show the

admirable skill of the wondrous Creator; while the various powers and faculties of the mind, acting

on and by the different organs of this body, proclaim the soul's Divine origin, and demonstrate that

he who was made in the image and likeness of God, was a transcript of his own excellency, destined

to know, love, and dwell with his Maker throughout eternity.

GENESIS 1:29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of

all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

Verse 29

I have given you every herb - for meat - It seems from this, says an eminent philosopher, that man

was originally intended to live upon vegetables only; and as no change was made In the structure of

men's bodies after the flood, it is not probable that any change was made in the articles of their

food. It may also be inferred from this passage that no animal whatever was originally designed to

prey on others; for nothing is here said to be given to any beast of the earth besides green herbs -

Dr. Priestley. Before sin entered into the world, there could be, at least, no violent deaths, if any

death at all. But by the particular structure of the teeth of animals God prepared them for that kind

of aliment which they were to subsist on after the Fall.

GENESIS 1:30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that

creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

GENESIS 1:31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was

evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Verse 31

And, behold, it was very good - ‫טוב‬ ‫מאד‬ tob meod, Superlatively, or only good; as good as they

could be. The plan wise, the work well executed, the different parts properly arranged; their nature,

limits, mode of existence, manner of propagation, habits, mode of sustenance, etc., etc., properly

and permanently established and secured; for every thing was formed to the utmost perfection of its

nature, so that nothing could be added or diminished without encumbering the operations of matter

and spirit on the one hand, or rendering them inefficient to the end proposed on the other; and God

has so done all these marvellous works as to be glorified in all, by all, and through all.

And the evening and the morning were the sixth day - The word ‫ערב‬ ereb, which we translate

evening, comes from the root ‫ערב‬ arab, to mingle; and properly signifies that state in which neither

absolute darkness nor full light prevails. It has nearly the same grammatical signification with our

twilight, the time that elapses from the setting of the sun till he is eighteen degrees below the

horizon and the last eighteen degrees before he arises. Thus we have the morning and evening

twilight, or mixture of light and darkness, in which neither prevails, because, while the sun is within

eighteen degrees of the horizon, either after his setting or before his rising, the atmosphere has

power to refract the rays of light, and send them back on the earth. The Hebrews extended the

meaning of this term to the whole duration of night, because it was ever a mingled state, the moon,

the planets, or the stars, tempering the darkness with some rays of light. From the ereb of Moses

came the Ερεβος Erebus, of Hesiod, Aristophanes, and other heathens, which they deified and

made, with Nox or night, the parent of all things.

The morning - ‫בקר‬ boker; From ‫בקר‬ bakar, he looked out; a beautiful figure which represents the

morning as looking out at the east, and illuminating the whole of the upper hemisphere. The evening

and the morning were the sixth day - It is somewhat remarkable that through the whole of this

chapter, whenever the division of days is made, the evening always precedes the morning. The

reason of this may perhaps be, that darkness was pre-existent to light, (Genesis 1:2, And darkness was

upon the face of the deep), and therefore time is reckoned from the first act of God towards the

creation of the world, which took place before light was called forth into existence. It is very likely

for this same reason, that the Jews began their day at six o'clock in the evening in imitation of

Moses's division of time in this chapter. Caesar in his Commentaries makes mention of the same

peculiarity existing among the Gauls:

Galli se omnes ab Dite patre prognatas praedicant: idque ab Druidibus proditum dicunt: ab eam

causam spatia omnis temporis, non numero dierum, sed noctium, finiunt; et dies natales, et

mensium et annorum initia sic observant, ut noctem dies subsequatur; De Bell. Gall. lib. vi.

Tacitus likewise records the same of the Germans:

Nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant: sic constituent, sic condicunt, nox ducere

diem videtur; De Mor. Germ. sec. ii.

And there are to this day some remains of the same custom in England, as for instance in the word

se'nnight and fortnight. See also Aeschyl. Agamem. ver. 273, 287.

Thus ends a chapter containing the most extensive, most profound, and most sublime truths that

can possibly come within the reach of the human intellect. How unspeakably are we indebted to

God for giving us a revelation of his Will and of his Works! Is it possible to know the mind of God but

from himself? It is impossible. Can those things and services which are worthy of and pleasing to an

infinitely pure, perfect, and holy Spirit, be ever found out by reasoning and conjecture? Never! for

the Spirit of God alone can know the mind of God; and by this Spirit he has revealed himself to man;

and in this revelation has taught him, not only to know the glories and perfections of the Creator,

but also his own origin, duty, and interest. Thus far it was essentially necessary that God should

reveal his Will; but if he had not given a revelation of his Works, the origin, constitution, and nature

of the universe could never have been adequately known. The world by wisdom knew not God; this

is demonstrated by the writings of the most learned and intelligent heathens. They had no just, no

rational notion of the origin and design of the universe. Moses alone, of all ancient writers, gives a

consistent and rational account of the creation; an account which has been confirmed by the

investigation of the most accurate philosophers. But where did he learn this? "In Egypt." That is

impossible; for the Egyptians themselves were destitute of this knowledge. The remains we have of

their old historians, all posterior to the time of Moses, are egregious for their contradictions and

absurdity; and the most learned of the Greeks who borrowed from them have not been able to

make out, from their conjoint stock, any consistent and credible account. Moses has revealed the

mystery that lay hid from all preceding ages, because he was taught it by the inspiration of the

Almighty. Reader, thou hast now before thee the most ancient and most authentic history in the

world; a history that contains the first written discovery that God has made of himself to man-kind; a

discovery of his own being, in his wisdom, power, and goodness, in which thou and the whole

human race are so intimately concerned. How much thou art indebted to him for this discovery he

alone can teach thee, and cause thy heart to feel its obligations to his wisdom and mercy. Read so as

to understand, for these things were written for thy learning; therefore mark what thou readest, and

inwardly digest - deeply and seriously meditate on, what thou hast marked, and pray to the Father

of lights that he may open thy understanding, that thou mayest know these holy Scriptures, which

are able to make thee wise unto salvation.

God made thee and the universe, and governs all things according to the counsel of his will; that will

is infinite goodness, that counsel is unerring wisdom. While under the direction of this counsel, thou

canst not err; while under the influence of this will, thou canst not be wretched. Give thyself up to

his teaching, and submit to his authority; and, after guiding thee here by his counsel, he will at last

bring thee to his glory. Every object that meets thy eye should teach thee reverence, submission,

and gratitude. The earth and its productions were made for thee; and the providence of thy

heavenly Father, infinitely diversified in its operations, watches over and provides for thee. Behold

the firmament of his power, the sun, moon, planets, and stars, which he has formed, not for himself,

for he needs none of these things, but for his intelligent offspring. What endless gratification has he

designed thee in placing within thy reach these astonishing effects of his wisdom and power, and in

rendering thee capable of searching out their wonderful relations and connections, and of knowing

himself, the source of all perfection, by having made thee in his own image, and in his own likeness!

It is true thou art fallen; but he has found out a ransom. God so loved thee in conjunction with the

world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but

have everlasting life. Believe on Him; through him alone cometh salvation; and the fair and holy

image of God in which thou wast created shall be again restored; he will build thee up as at the first,

restore thy judges and counsellors as at the beginning, and in thy second creation, as in thy first, will

pronounce thee to be very good, and thou shalt show forth the virtues of him by whom thou art

created anew in Christ Jesus. Amen.