Moses could not have said there was no Man to till the Earth Ver. 6. But there went up a Mist c. Many think this will best cohere with what went before by translating it nor did there taking the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not from the foregoing Verse as is usual a Mist go up from the Earth See Drusius Levit. X. 6. and Hottinger in Hexapl. Paris p. 89. But I see no necessity of this and think it more likely there did go up a Vapour or Steam out of the Earth when it came reeking out of the Waters as was said upon Verse 9. of the 1. Chap. to moisten the superficies of it before any Clouds were raised by the Power of the Sun to give Rain Ver. 7. Out of the Dust of the Ground Not dry but moist Dust as the LXX have it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From whence the Apostle calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Corinth XV. 47. which teaches us this Dust was mixt with Water For so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Limus as the vulgar Latin hath it Which agrees with the Hebrew jatzar formed which is used concerning Potters who make their Vessels of Clay not of dry Earth Diodorus Siculus seems to have had some Notion of this when he saith Man was made out of the Slime or Mud of Nile Upon which Original of Man's Body the ancient Fathers make many Pious Reflections But none better or shorter than that of Nazianzen's who says it is to teach us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that when we are apt to be lifted up because we are made after God's Image the thoughts of the Dirt out of which we were taken may humble and lay us low And God breathed into his Nostrils the breath of life This being said of no other Creature leads us to conceive not only that the Soul of Man is a distinct thing of a different Original from his Body but that a more excellent Spirit was put into him by God as appears by its Operations than into other Animals For though the simple Speech of inspiring him with the breath of Life would not prove this yet Moses speaking in the Plural Number that God breathed into him Nischmath chajim the Breath or Spirit of Lifes it plainly denotes not only that Spirit which makes Man breathe and move but think also reason and discourse And he became a living Soul This is the immediate result of the Union of the Soul with the Body Which Eusebius thus explains L. VII Praepar Evang. cap. 10. Moses having laid the Foundations of Religion before-mentioned viz. The Knowledge of God and of the Creation of the World proceeds to another Point of Doctrine most necessary to be understood which is the Knowledge of a Man's self to which he leads him by showing the difference between his Soul and his Body His Soul being an Intelligent Substance made after the Image of God his Body only an Earthly Covering of the Soul To which Moses adds a third 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. A certain Vital Breath whereby the other two are united and linked together by a powerful Bond or strong Tie His Soul it is manifest did not come out of the Earth or any Power of Matter but from the Power of God who infused it into him by his Divine Inspiration And this was the Original of Eve's Soul also though it be not mentioned For if her Soul had been made out of Adam as her Body was he would have said not only She is Bone of my Bone but Soul of my Soul which would have mightily strengthned the Bond of Marriage and exceedingly heightned Conjugal Affection Ver. 8. And the LORD God planted Or had planted for it doth not seem to be a new thing A Garden A most pleasant part of the Earth Eastward Or as others translate it before in the beginning viz. On the Third Day when he made all Vegetables And it cannot be denied that mikkedem may signifie time as well as place But as the greatest part of Interpreters Ancient and Modern take it here to signifie place so Moses himself uses it in the following part of this Book III. 24. XI 2. XII 8. XIII 11. In Eden A Country as most understand it so called perhaps from its Pleasure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Theophilus ad Autolyc speaks L. II. Where Eden was there are two or three places of Scripture that give some direction to our search 2 Kings XIX 12. Isa XXXVII 12. Ezek. XXVII 23. which show there was a Country that for many Ages after this retained the Name of Eden And that Eastward as Moses here tells us it was situated That is Eastward of Judaea or of the Desart of the Amorites where he wrote these Books For the Scripture calls those People the Children of the East who dwelt in Arabia Mesopotamia and Persia But in what Country of the East Eden was will be best understood from ver 10. And there he put the Man whom he had formed He was formed we must suppose in some other place and conducted hither by God in Token of his singular Kindness to him Where he declared him saith a Syriac Writer mentioned by Hottinger in his Dissert de Hexaplis Paris p. 115. an Heir of Paradise and made him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a King a Priest and a Prophet Ver. 9. And out of the Ground Of that Garden before-mentioned Made the LORD God to grow every Tree c. The greatest variety of the choicest Plants Flowers and Fruit For Tree comprehends every thing that grows out of the Earth Pleasant to the sight He gratified Man's Eye as well as his Taste and his Smell The Tree of Life So called because there was a Virtue in it as several of the ancient Fathers think not only to repair the Animal Spirits as other Nourishment doth but also to preserve and maintain them and all the Organs of the Body in the same equal Temper and State wherein they were created without any decay Until Man should have been fit to be translated into another World To this purpose Irenaeus St. Chrysostom Theodoret but especially Greg. Nazianzen speak 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If therefore we had continued what we were and kept the Commandment we should have been what we were not by coming to the Tree of Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being made immortal and approaching nigh to God Orat. XLIII p. 699. D. And why we should think it impossible or unlikely that God should make such a Fruit I do not see Nay it seems necessary there should have been such a kind of Food unless we will suppose God would have preserved Adam had he continued Innocent from dying by a continual Miracle Which is a harder supposition than the other But this Garden being also a Type of Heaven perhaps God intended by this Tree to represent that immortal Life which he meant to bestow upon Man with himself Revel XXII 2. And so St.
Hebrew Nation That he who gave them the Law contained in these Books was the King and Law-giver of the whole World Which was like a great City governed by him Whom therefore he would have them look upon not only as the Enacter of their Laws but of those also which all Nature obeys See L. VII De Praepar Evang. c. 9 10. L. XII c. 16. The Heaven and the Earth The Hebrew Particle Eth put before both Heaven and Earth signifies as much as with if Maimonides understood it aright and makes the Sence to be this He created the Heavens with all things in the Heavens and the Earth with all things in the Earth as his Words are in More Nevochim P. II. cap. 30. Certain it is these two words Heaven and Earth comprehend the whole visible World Some would have the Angels comprehended in the word Heaven particularly Epiphanius Haeres LXV n. 45. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But others of the Fathers are of a different Opinion as Petavius there observes It is a pretty Conceit of Theophilus Antiochenus L. 2. ad Autolycum That the Heavens are mentioned before the Earth to show that God's Works are not like ours For he begins at the top we at the bottom That is he first made the fixed Stars and all beyond them fo I take the word Heaven here to signifie for they had a beginning as well as this lower World though they do not seem to be comprehended in the six days Work which relates only to this Planetary World as I may call it which hath the Sun for its Center And thus Philo understood the first word Bereschith in the beginning to respect the order wherein things were created God began his Creation with the Heaven as the most noble Body and then proceeded to the Earth an account of which follows Ver. 2. And the Earth was without form c. Some connect this Verse with the foregoing by translating the first Verse in this manner When God first created or began to create the Heaven and the Earth the Earth was without form c. That is at first he only created a rude Matter of those things which afterwards were fashioned as we now see them Without form A confused indigested heap without any order or shape And void Having no Beasts nor Trees nor Herbs nor any thing else wherewith we now behold it adorned So these two words Tohu Vabohu are used in Scripture where we meet with them which is not often for confusion and emptiness XXXIV Isaiah 11. IV Jer. 23. Being a description of that which the Ancients called the CHAOS of which the Barbarians had a Notion no less than the Greeks wherein the Seeds and Principles of all things were blended together This is called in the Pagan Language by Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first of the Gods Because all things sprang out of this which was indeed the first of the Works of God who as Moses shows in the sequel produced this beautiful World out of this CHAOS And darkness was upon the face of the deep Nothing was to be seen for want of Light Which lay buried as all things else did in that great Abyss or vast confused heap of Matter before-mentioned So the Hebrew word Tehom signifies which we translate deep tumult and turbid confusion The first Matter being very heterogeneous as they speak i. e. of various sorts and kinds hudled together without distinction And the Spirit of God moved Men have been extreamly fansiful in the exposition of these plain Words Some understanding by the Spirit of God the Sun which gives Spirit and Life to all things upon Earth others the Air or the Wind When as yet there was no Sun in the Firmament nor any Wind that could stir without the Power of the Almighty to excite it This therefore we are to understand to be here meant The Infinite Wisdom and Power of God which made a vehement Commotion and mighty Fermentation by raising perhaps a great Wind upon the face of the Waters That is on that fluid Matter before-mentioned to separate the parts of it one from the other Waters That which Moses before called the Deep he now calls the Waters Which plainly shows that some Parts of the confused Mass were fluid and light as other Parts were solid and heavy The heavy naturally sunk which he calls the Earth and the lighter Parts got above them which he calls the Waters For it is clearly intimated the Waters were uppermost The Word we here translate moved signifies literally brooded upon the Waters as an Hen doth upon her Eggs. So the ancient and modern Interpreters have observed And Morinus who opposes it hath said nothing to make us doubt of this Sence of the Phrase From whence some have not unhappily conjectured the Ancients took their Notion of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a first laid Egg out of which all things were formed That is the CHAOS out of which all the old Philosophers before Aristotle thought the World was produced consisting of Earth and Water of thicker and thinner Parts as an Egg doth of Yolk and White Now the Spirit of God thus moved upon the Waters that by its incubation as we may call it it might not only separate as I said those Parts which were jumbled together but give a vivifick Virtue to them to produce what was contained in them The Souls and Spirits that is of all living Creatures were produced by the Spirit of God as Porphyry saith Numenius understood it For his Opinion he tells us was That all things came out of the Water 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being Divinely inspired For which he quoted these Words of the Prophet as he called Moses See Porphyry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 on those words of Homer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which gives us to understand that the Spirits of all living Creatures which we call their active Forms did not arise out of Matter for that is stupid but proceeded from this other Principle the Powerful Spirit of God which moved upon the Face of the Waters by a vital Energy as St. Chrysostom speaks so that they were no longer standing Waters but moving having 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain living Power in them From whence we may also gather that the Spirits of living Creatures are distinct things from Matter which of it self cannot move at all and much less produce a Principle of Motion And thus indeed all the Ancient Philosophers apprehended this Matter And some of them have most lively expressed it For Laertius in the Life of Anaxagoras tells us that he taught among other things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things were hudled together And then the Mind came and set them in order And Thales before him as Tully informs us L. 1. de Nat. Deor. Aquam dixit esse initium rerum Deum autem eam mentem quae ex aqua cuncta fingeret said Water was the beginning of things And God that Mind who
another Light being the Work of the first Day Ver. 6. And God said Let there be a firmament The next thing that God commanded to come forth of the Chaos was the Air particularly that Region next to us wherein the Fowls fly as it is expounded afterwards verse 20. The Hebrew word Rachia properly signifies a Body expanded or spread forth as may be seen in Exod. XXXIX 3. Isai XL. 19. Jer. X. 9. where it can have no other meaning but is by the LXX translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and from thence by us Firmament because the Air though vastly extended and fluid yet continues firm and stable in its place In the midst of the Waters and let it divide the Waters from the Waters This Region of the Air manifestly parts the Waters above it in the Clouds from those below it here upon Earth the one of which Waters bear a good proportion and are in some measure equal unto the other for there are vast Treasures of Water in the Clouds from whence the Waters here below in Springs and Rivers are supplied This appeared afterwards in the Deluge which was partly made by continued Rains for many days The great Objection against this Exposition is That now there were no Clouds neither had it after this rained on the Earth Gen. II. 6. But it must be considered That neither were the Waters below as yet gathered into one place And therefore Moses here speaks of the Air as a Body intended to be stretched between the Waters above and beneath when they should be formed That the Clouds above are called Waters in the Scripture-Language is plain enough from Psalm CIV 3. Jer. X. 13. and other places Ver. 7. And God made the firmament and divided c. What his Divine Will ordered his Power effected by that Light which rowled about the CHAOS and that Heat which was excited within it whereby such Exhalations were raised as made the Firmament That is the thicker Parts of them made this Region of the Air which is the lower firmament verse 20 And the thinner Parts of them made the Aether or higher Firmament wherein the Sun and the Planets are seated verse 14 15. Ver. 8. And God called the firmament Heaven Made it so different from the rest of the Mass called Earth that it had the Name of Heaven to distinguish it from the other So all above the Earth is called as appears by the following part of the Chapter in the Verses now mentioned And that 's the very import of the word Schamaim which in the Arabick Language as Aben Ezra observes signifies heighth or altitude And the Evening and the Morning were the second Day This was the Work of another whole Day Concerning which it is commonly noted That it is not said of this as of all the Works of the other five Days God saw that it was good What the reason of this should be is enquired by all Interpreters and the most solid Account that I can find of it is this That the Waters mentioned upon this Day were not yet separated and distinguished from the Earth And therefore in the next Day 's Work when he did gather the Waters together verse 10. and when he commanded the Earth which was become dry to bring forth verse 1.2 these words God saw that it was good are twice repeated Which made Picherellus and Ger. Vossius think the two next Verses 9 10. belonged to the second Days Work and that the first words of the ninth Verse should be thus translated And God had said Let the Waters under the Heaven c. And so the words in the end of the tenth Verse God saw that it was good relate to the second Day L. 2. de Orig. Idolol c. 67. Ver. 9. And God said Let the Waters under the Heaven All the Waters which continued mixed with the Earth and covered the surface of it Be gathered together c. Collected into one Body by themselves And let the dry Land appear Distinct and separate from the Waters There being such large portions of Matter drawn out of the CHAOS as made the Body of Fire and Air before-mentioned there remained in a great Body only Water and Earth but they so jumbled together that they could not be distinguished It was the Work therefore of the third Day to make a separation between them by compacting together all the Particles which make the Earth which before was Mud and Dirt and then by raising it above the Waters which covered its Superficies as the Psalmist also describes this Work Psalm CIV 6. and lastly by making such Caverns in it as were sufficient to receive the Waters into them Now this we may conceive to have been done by such Particles of Fire as were left in the Bowels of the Earth Whereby such Nitro-sulphureous Vapours were kindled as made an Earthquake which both lifted up the Earth and also made Receptacles for the Waters to run into as the Psalmist otherwise I should not venture to mention this seems in the fore-mentioned place to illustrate it Psalm CIV 7. where he says At thy rebuke they i. e. the Waters fled at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away And so God himself speaks Job XXXVIII 10. I brake up for it i. e. for the Sea my decreed place and set bars and doors Histories also tell us of Mountains that have been in several Ages lifted up by Earthquakes nay Islands in the midst of the Sea Which confirms this Conjecture That possibly the Waters were at the first separated by this means and so separated that they should not return to cover the Earth For the Word in the beginning of this Verse which we translate gathered comes from Kav which signifies a Square a Rule or perpendicular Line And therefore denotes they were most exactly collected and so poised in such just Proportions that they should not again overflow the dry Land This Work of God whereby the Waters were sent down into their proper Channels and the Earth made dry and fitted for the habitation of such Creatures as were afterwards created is observed by Strabo in his Geography as an act of Divine Providence L. XVII Because says he the Water covered the Earth and Man is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Creature that can live in the Water God made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. many Cavities and Receptacles in the Earth for the Water and raised the Earth above it that it might be fit for Man's habitation Ver. 10. And called the dry Land c. This is sufficiently explained by what hath been said upon Verse 5 8. only this may be added That the word Eretz Earth in Arabick signifies any thing that is low and sunk beneath opposite to Schamaim Heavens which in that Language as I noted before signifies high and lifted up Ver. 11. And God said Let the Earth bring forth grass the Herb yielding c. Or rather it should be translated and the Herb yielding
c. though the copula be omitted which is usual in Scripture Particularly in Habak III. 11. the Sun Moon i. e. the Sun and Moon Moses having shown how the first Matter ver 2. and then the Elements of things as we call them ver 3 6 9 10. were produced he proceeds to the Production of more compounded Bodies And here an account is given of all sorts of Vegetables which are ranged under three Heads Grass which comes up every Year without sowing Herbs bearing a Seed which comprehends as Abarbinel here notes all sort of Corn and whatsoever is sown and Trees which also bear Fruit. There are several kinds of all these which some have cast into Eighteen others into Six and thirty Classes none of which could at the first spring out of the Earth of it self by the power of external and internal Heat and of the Water mixed with it no not so much as one single Pile of Grass without the Almighty Power and Wisdom of God who brought together those Parts of Matter which were fitted to produce them and then formed every one of them and determined their several Species and also provided for their continuance by bringing forth Seed to propagate their Species to the end of all things And here it is very remarkable how God hath secured the Seeds of all Plants with singular Care Some of them being defended by a double nay a treble inclosure Ver. 12. And the Earth brought forth Grass and the Herb c. These things did not grow up out of Seed by such a long process as is now required to bring them to maturity but they sprung up in their Perfection in the space of a Day with their Seeds in them compleatly formed to produce the like throughout all Generations Thus Moses gives a plain Account of the first Production of things according to the natural Method For supposing they had a Beginning the Herb and the Tree must naturally be before the Seed they bear As the Hen is before the Egg she lays And to make a Question which was first as some of the Philosophers did is very frivolous because that Power which alone could produce the Seeds of all things could as easily make the things themselves with a power to propage their kind by Seed It is therefore most judiciously noted by Abarbinel a learned Jew That the Production of Plants in the beginning differed from their Production ever since in these two things First That they have sprung ever since out of Seed either sown by us or falling from the Plants themselves but at the beginning were brought out of the Earth with their Seed in them to propage them ever after And Secondly They need now as they have done since the first Creation the influence of the Sun to make them sprout But then they came forth by the Power of God before there was any Sun which was not formed till the next Day Of this last Theophilus Antiochenus long before Abarbinel took notice L. II. ad Autolycum where he says God produced things in this order foreseeing the Vanity of Philosophers who saying nothing of him made all things to be produced by the Sun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of the Elements Porphyry himself also L. II. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 could observe out of Theophrastus That the Earth brought forth Trees and Herbs before Beasts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Which Eusebius remembers in his Praepar Evang. L. I. c. 9. p. 28. Ver. 14. Let there be Lights This is a different word from what we had verse 3. signifying as Paulus Fagius observes that which is made out of Light luminous Bodies whereby Light is communicated to us The Hebrew Particle Mem before a word being used to express the Instrument of an Action And so now we are to conceive that the Light produced at first having for three Days circulated about the Earth and that near unto it to further the Production of the things before-mentioned was on this fourth Day distributed into several Luminaries at a great distance from the Earth So it follows In the firmament of Heaven in the upper Region which we call the Aether or Sky where the Sun and the Planets are placed To divide the Day from the Night By a continued circular Motion finished in four and twenty Hours in one part of which by the presence of the Sun the Day is made and in the other part by the Sun's absence Night is made in a constant succession And let them be for Signs and for Seasons That is for Signs of the Times or Seasons as Ger. Vossius expounds it by the Figure of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And by Times are meant the Spring Summer Autumn and Winter And by consequence the Seasons for Ploughing Sowing Planting Pruning Reaping Vintage Sailing c. L. de Scientiis Mathemat c. 38. And for Days and Years By a speedy swift Motion round in twenty-four Hours to make Days and by a slower longer Motion to make Years and a grateful variety of Seasons in the several Parts of the Earth which by this annual Motion are all visited with the Sun's Beams Ver. 15. And let them be for Light c. i. e. Let them there continue to give constant Light and Warmth to the Earth And so they do immovably Ver. 16. And God made two great Lights It is observable that nothing is said to have been created since the first Matter out of which all things were made or formed And the two great Lights or Luminaries Inlightners as the word signifies are the Sun which inlightens us by Day and the Moon which inlightens us by Night The Moon indeed is not so great as the rest of the Planets for it is the least of all except Mercury but it affords the greatest Light to us by reflecting the Beams of the Sun to us in its absence and thereby very much abating the disconsolate darkness of the Night He made the Stars also That is the rest of the Planets and their attendants Ver. 17. And God set them in the Firmament of Heaven c. By the repetition of this so often Moses intended to fix in the Peoples 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 It is commonly taken notice of that there is no mention of the Creation of Angels in all this History nor was there any need of it For the ancient Idolatry consisting in the worship of the Sun Moon and Stars as appears from the very Names of the most ancient Idols in the Old Testament such as Moloch Ashtaroth and the like which they believed to be eternal Beings The great Design of Moses was to confute this Opinion by representing them over and over as the Work of the Eternal God which struck at the very Root of Idolatry The worship of
That is inclined to Sin and subject to Death For his own Likeness and Image wherein this Son was begotten seems to be opposed to the Likeness and Image of God wherein Adam was made I. 26. which though not quite lost was lamentably defaced Maimonides will have this to referr to Seth's Wisdom and Goodness he proving truly a Man like to his Father Adam Whereas the rest before him proved rather Beasts More Nevochim Par. I. c. 7. Called his Name Seth. He intends to give here an Account of those descended from Seth alone not of his Posterity by Cain who are only briefly mentioned in the foregoing Chapter verses 17 18. because in Seth the Posterity of Adam were preserved when all the Children of Cain perished in the Deluge Ver. 4. And he begat Sons and Daughters After the Birth of Seth he begot more Children as he had done it 's probable many before whose Names are not here recorded Because Moses sets down only that Race of Men from whom Noah and Abraham the Father of the Faithful and the Messiah were derived Ver. 5. Lived nine hundred and fifty Years It is not reasonable to take a measure of the length of the Lives of the Patriarchs by the shortness of ours For as Josephus well observes L. I. Antiq. cap. 4. and out of him Eusebius L. IX Praepar Evang. cap. 13. they being Men much beloved of God and newly made by him with a strong Constitution and excellent Temper of Body and using better Diet the Vigor of the Earth serving at the first for the Production of better Fruits All these things joyned with their Temperance constant Exercise and Labour a sweet Temper of Air their Knowledge in the Nature of Herbs and Plants c. might well contribute very much to as long a Life as is here mentioned Which was but necessary also and therefore God's Providence took special Care of them that the World might be the sooner peopled Knowledge and Religion more certainly propagated by the Authority of living Teachers Arts and Sciences brought to a great Perfection which could not have been effected in a short Life like ours And therefore Josephus shows that herein Moses hath the Testimony of all the Greeks and Barbarians also Who have wrote about ancient Affairs Of Manethus for instance who wrote the Egyptian History Berosus who wrote the Chaldaean Mochus Hestiaeus c. who wrote the Phoenician with a great Number of Greek Writers whom he mentions Who all say Men lived anciently a thousand Years None indeed came up to that full Summ but some so near it that they who were not exactly acquainted with the Sacred Story might well speak in that manner And this ought not to seem incredible to us in these Days when we consider how long several have lived in the later Ages of the World as Pliny reports in his Natural History L. VII cap. 48. Nay in Times nearer to us there are Instances of this kind as the Lord Bacon observes in his Hist Vitae mortis and Bartholin in his Histor Anatom Rariorum Cent. V. Hist 28. But nothing is more remarkable than that which Gaffendus reports in the Life of Nicol. Peirskius L. V. That he received a Letter from Aleppo no longer ago than the Year 1636 of a Man then in Persia known to several Persons worthy to be believed who was Four hundred Years old Idque ipsis omnino esse exploratum atque indubium And the Persons that wrote this were fully assured of the undoubted Truth of it Such Instances indeed are rare and there is one that thinks Men did not generally live to such a great Age in the old World For Maimonides is of Opinion That none attained to so many Years as are here mentioned but only the particular Persons expresly named by Moses All the rest of Mankind in those Days living only the ordinary term which Man did in after-times Or in other words this extraordinary length of Days was the Privilege only of these singular Individuals either from their accurate way of Living and Diet or God's special Favour in Reward of their eminent Vertue and Piety More Nevoch Par. II. cap. 47. But Nachmanides another great Jewish Doctor opposes this with much Reason For that their eminent Vertue was not the cause they alone had this Privilege appears by Enoch the most holy Man of them all who did not live to the Age of Four hundred Years And as there is no ground to believe these were the only Persons who lived exactly Temperate in all things So it is manifest Moses doth not design to give us an Account of those that lived longest but of those from whom Noah descended and it is incredible that they alone should be very long lived and no Body else though descended from the same Parents Ver. 6. And Seth lived an hundred and five Years and begat Enos We must not think he lived so long before he begat any Children No more than that Adam had none till he was an Hundred and thirty Years old when he begat Seth verse 3. for we know he had Cain and Abel and in all likelihood many others before Therefore to explain this and other things that follow verse 18. and 28. which seem more strange for Jared is said to have lived an Hundred sixty two Years before he begat Enoch and Lamech an Hundred eighty two Years before he begat Noah we must consider as was noted verse 4. that Moses sets down only those Persons by whom the Line of Noah was drawn from Seth and Abraham's Line from Noah by their true Ancestors whether they were the Eldest of the Family or no. Seth it 's likely had many other Children before Enos was born as Noah we may be confident had before he begat Sem Ham and Japhet Which was not till he was Five hundred Years old verse 32. As Lamech also had several before Noah was born Though Moses doth not mention them because he was here concerned only to inform us who was the Father of Noah Begat Enos The Arabian Christians as I observed before IV. 26. make him to have been a man of singular Goodness Ver. 9. Begat Cainan The same Writers represent him to have been like to his Father and say he gave his Children a charge not to mingle with the Seed of Cain So Elmacinus Yet there is but little difference between his Name and that of Cain's no more than between Irad and Jared and some other of Sem's Posterity and Cain's Which may teach us says Jac. Capellus in his Histor Sacra Exotica Ne fatale nescio quod omen nominibus propriis effingamus that we should not fansie there is we do not know what fatal Omen in Proper Names The Wickedness of Judas Iscariot did not make the other Judas called by that Name to think the worse of it And therefore Jared feared not to call his Son Enoch by the very Name of Cain's eldest Son IV. 17. And Methuselah also gave
not compleat as appears by comparing this with IX 28 29. where he is said to have lived three hundred and fifty Years after the Flood and in all nine hundred and fifty Whereas it should have been nine hundred fifty one if he had been full six hundred Years old when the Flood began V. 10. And it came to pass after seven Days c. As he had said verse 4. Ver. 11. In the second Month. Of the Year not of the six hundredth Year of Noah's life i. e. In October for anciently the Year began in September Which was changed among the Israelites in Memory of their coming out of Egypt into March Exod. XII 2. The seventeenth Day of the Month. Which was the beginning of our November All the Fountains of the great deep were broken up c. Here are two Causes assigned of the Deluge First The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep And Secondly The opening the Windows of Heaven By the great Deep is meant those Waters that are contained in vast quantities within the Bowels of the Earth Which being pressed upward by the falling down of the Earth or some other Cause unknown to us gushed out violently at several parts of the Earth where they either found or made a vent For that 's meant by breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep The great holes or rather gaps that were made in the Earth at which those subterraneous Waters burst out This joined with the continual Rains for forty Days together might well make such a Flood as is here described For Rain came down not in ordinary Showers but in Floods Which Moses calls opening the Windows or Flood-gates of Heaven And the LXX translate Cataracts Which they can best understand who have seen those fallings of Waters in the Indies called Spouts Where Clouds do not break into Drops but fall with a terrible violence in a Torrent In short it is evident from this History that the Waters did once cover the Earth we know not how deep so that nothing of the Earth could be seen till God separated them and raised some into Clouds and made the rest fall into Channels which were made for them and commanded dry Land to appear Gen. I. 2 7 10. Therefore it is no wonder if these Waters were raised up again by some means or other to cover the Earth as before Especially when the Waters above the Firmament came down to join with those below as they did at the beginning This some wise Heathen look'd upon as a possible thing For Seneca treating of that fatal Day as he calls it L. III. Nat. Quest c. 27. when the Deluge shall come for he fansied it still Future questions how it may come to pass Whether by the force of the Ocean overflowing the Earth or by perpetual Rains without intermission or by the swelling of Rivers and the opening of new Fountains or there shall not be one Cause alone of so great a mischief but all these things concurr uno agmine ad exitium humani generis in one Troop to the Destruction of Mankind Which last Resolution he thinks is the Truth both there and in the last Chapter of that Book Where he hath these remarkable Words Where hath not Nature disposed Moisture to attack us on all sides when it pleases Immanes sunt in abdito lacus c. There are huge Lakes which we do not see much of the Sea that lies hidden many Rivers that slide in secret So that there may be Causes of a Deluge on all sides when some Waters flow in under the Earth others flow round about it which being long pent up overwhelm it and Rivers join with Rivers Pools with Pools c. And as our Bodies sometimes dissolve into Sweat so the Earth shall melt and without the help of other Causes shall find in it self what will drown it c. There being on a sudden every where openly and secretly from above and from beneath an eruption of Waters Which Words are written as if he had been directed to make a Commentary upon Moses Ver. 12. And the Rain was upon the Earth forty Days c. It continued raining so long without any intermission Ver. 13. In the self-same Day c. In that very Day when the Rain began did Noah and his Family c. finish their going into the Ark. Which could not be done in a Day or two but required a good deal of time And now he had compleated it the very last Creature being there bestowed For it is likely he put in all other things first and then went in himself with his Wife and Children and their Wives Who were no sooner entred but the Waters brake in upon the Earth from beneath and came down pouring from above Ver. 16. The LORD shut him in Or shut the Door after him Closed it so fast that the Waters could not enter though it was not pitched as the rest of the Ark. How this was done we need not enquire It is likely by an Angelical Power which I supposed before conducted the several Creatures into the Ark. Ver. 17. And the Flood was forty Days upon the Earth c. After forty Days Rain the Waters were so high that they bare up the Ark so that it did not touch the Earth Ver. 18. And the Waters prevailed By more Rain which fell after the forty Days the Inundation grew strong and mighty as the Hebrew word signifies so strong that the Waters bore down Houses and Trees as some expound it And were increased greatly He said before verse 17. they were increased but now that they were greatly increased Which must be by more Rain still falling on the Earth though not in such uninterrupted Showers as during the forty Days And the Ark went upon the Face of the Waters Moved from place to place as the Waves drove it Ver. 19. And the Waters prevailed exceedingly upon the Earth This is an higher Expression than before signifying their rising still to a greater pitch by continued Rains And all the high Mountains that were under the whole Heaven were covered There were those anciently and they have their Successors now who imagined the Flood was not Universal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but only there where Men then dwelt as the Author of the Questions Ad Orthodoxos tells us Q. 34. But they are confuted by these Words and by other Passages which say all Flesh died For the truth is the World was then fully peopled as it is now and not only inhabited in some Parts of it as may be easily demonstrated if Men would but consider That in the space of One thousand six hundred fifty six Years when Men lived so long as they then did their increase could not but be six times more than hath been in the space of Five thousand Years since Mens lives are shortned as we now see them Therefore it is a strange weakness to fansie that only Palaestine Syria or Mesopotamia or some such
speak by an Angel in a Dream as he did to Jacob XXXI 11. Sometimes by an Angel without any mention how it was whether in a Dream or Vision or not Of which he takes this place to be an Instance and Verse the 10th of this Chapter and XXII 15. Thirdly In other places there is no mention of an Angel but of God alone speaking yet in a Vision or Dream XV. I. And Lastly God is said to speak absolutely neither in a Dream nor Vision nor by Angel XII 1. XXXI 3. More Nevochim P. II. cap. 42. In which Classis I think he might have put this Aparition to Jacob as well as that last mentioned For there is no difference between them but this That in the former place XXXI 3. it is said The LORD said unto Jacob and here God said unto Jacob. Arise go up to Bethel and dwell there By this Advice God showed he still took Care of him and delivered him from the Fear he was in of the Canaanites and Perizzites Who one would think detested the Fact of Shechem or else it may seem strange that they did not immediately cut off Jacob and his Family who had taken such a terrible Revenge for it but let them remove quietly to Bethel But Moses gives us the true reason of this verse 5. Make there an Altar Perform the Vow which thou madest in that place XXVIII 20 21 22. Some wonder Jacob made no more haste to this place after his return to his own Country for now he had been about nine Years in Canaan and some of the Hebrew Doctors fansie God punished him for deferring so long to go thither where he promised to worship him if he prospered his Journey and brought him back again in safety by suffering his Daughter Dinah to be ravished But it is more probable that he met with obstructions which made it not safe for him as yet to go thither or that he waited till God who had conducted him hitherto should direct him to take his Journey to that place For it is very probable he enquired of him about his removal Ver. 2. Then Jacob said unto his housholder c. Being to perform a solemn Sacrifice to God he calls upon his Family to prepare themselves for it And to all that were with him Hired Servants who lived with him Put away the strange Gods Rachel had her Father's Teraphim which now it is to be supposed she confessed And he suspected there might be some among the Men-Servants and Maid-Servants he brought with him out of Mesopotamia XXXII 5. where there was much Superstition And that in the sacking of Shechem they might bring away some Images with them for the sake of the Silver and Gold which they kept secretly among them And be clean Wash your Bodies as Aben Ezra truly interprets it For this was the ancient Rite of cleansing Wherein he seems to have followed Jonathan who thus paraphrases it Purifie your selves from the polution of the slain whom you have touched referring it to the foregoing slaughter of the People of Shechem And change your Garments Put on clean Cloathes Which was but a reasonable Injunction being to appear before the Divine Majesty In whose Presence it was rudeness to be seen in sordid Raiment Especially in those wherein they had newly defiled themselves by a bloody slaughter These two I doubt not were pious Customs which their godly Ancestors had observed from the beginning of offering Solemn Sacrifices It being very unseemly to appear before a great Man in dirty Apparrel or with a sweaty Body And I do not see why we should not look upon these as an external Profession of the like Purity in their Minds and Hearts All Nations retained these Washings and white Raiment when they performed the Solemn Offices of Religion Which were not derived from Idolaters but from the purest Antiquity Ver. 4. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange Gods Which it seems by this Expression were numerous And the Ear-rings that were in their Ears In the Ears of the Idols for there was no harm in the Ear-Rings they wore themselves So some interpret it not considering that besides the Ear-Rings which were Ornaments there were others worn in the nature of Amulets or for some other superstitious Uses Having the Effigies of some God or other or some Symbolical Notes in which they fansied there was some Power to preserve them from several Mischiefs Maimonides in his Book of Idolatry cap. 7. mentions such Idololatrical Rings as were utterly unlawful to be used and Vessels marked with the Image of the Sun the Moon or a Dragon Which were Symbols of Divinity among the Heathen who made Marks also in several parts of their Bodies And Jacob hid them Buried them in the Earth after he had first broke them in pieces as some think or melted them as Moses and Hezekiah did Exod. XXXII 20. 2 Kings XVIII 4. Which if it be true it is but a Tale which is told of the Samaritans that they digged up these Idols and worshipped them See Hottinger Smegma Orient p. 359. Vnder an Oak which was by Shechem It was so unknown under what Oak this was that there is no ground for their Opinion who think this was the same Oak mentioned in Josh XXIV 26. For he intended to abolish the memory of these Idols and therefore hid them where he thought no Body would find them It took up some time to do all this and yet the People of the Land did not fall upon Jacob's Family The Providence of God watching over him as it follows in the next Verse Ver. 5. And they journeyed And the terror of the LORD was upon the Cities round about them c. Here is the true reason why the Country did not at least fall upon the Rear of Jacob's Family when they marched away Because God made a panick Fear to fall upon them Who otherwise one would guess by this had an inclination to be revenged for the destruction of Shechem For though they could not justifie the Fact of Shechem yet they might think Jacob's Sons too cruel in the Punishment of it For their own Father was of that Opinion Ver. 6. So Jacob came to Luz See XXVIII 19. Ver. 7. Built there an Altar c. And offered Sacrifices of Thanksgiving to God for performing his Promise to him beseeching him still to continue his Care of him Ver. 8. Deborah Rebekah's nurse died She went to attend Rebekah when she was married to Isaac Which troubles the Jews to give an account how she came here into Jacob's Family R. Solomon solves it thus That Rebekah having promised Jacob when he went away to send for him XXVII 45. she performed this Promise by Deborah Whom she sent to Padan-Aram to invite him home and in her return she died here But it is more reasonable to suppose that Jacob had been at his Father's House before this time And Rebekah being dead whether before or after is uncertain Deborah
Families as it was in Israel to that of Aaron and held in such Veneration that they were all not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 free from paying Tributes and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 next to the King in Honour and in Power but received a third of the Royal Revenues Out of which they maintained the Publick Sacrifices and their Servants and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 provided for their own Necessities Thus Diodorus Siculus L. I. as I find him alledged by Jac. Capellus in his Hist Sacra Exot. ad A. M. 2294. Constantine the Great in part imitated this Constitution in that Law of his which made even all the Professors of Learning free from all Publick Charges of any sort besides the Salary he allowed them that they might the more chearfully follow their several Studies Ver. 23. Behold I have bought you this day and your Land c. The Bargain could not be denied but he would not be so rigid as to tye them strictly to it For in the next Verse he requires only a fifth part of the increase of their Ground for the King and tells them the rest should be their own An act of great Humanity and Equity Wherein he show'd himself both a good Man and a wise States-Man in taking away all matter of complaint from the People For a tenth part of the increase was due in all likelihood to the King before XXVIII 22. which he now only doubles When he might have taken all or given them but one or two parts and kept all the rest for the King Ver. 25. Thou hast saved our lives c. We owe our very Lives to thee and therefore let us but have thy Favour and we shall willingly be Pharaoh's Servants This is an high Expression of their Thankfulness for such good Terms as he offered them which they readily accepted With professions of their Obligation to be Pharaoh's Bond-men Ver. 26. Joseph made it a Law By his Advice this Law was enacted whereby the Power of the Egyptian Kings was mightily increased for we read not of the like Constitution in any other Nation Thucydides indeed relates that the People of Attica paid to Pisistratus the twentieth part of their Corn and Appianus Alexandr says the old Romans paid the tenth of their Corn and the fifth of their Fruit But it was the peculiar Prerogative of the Egyptian Kings to have the fifth of all the increase of the Field Which Joseph procured them by his admirable Management Ver. 27. And Israel dwelt in the Land c. See Verse 11. And they had possessions therein They could have no Land of their own for all the Country was become Pharaoh's but the meaning is they farmed as we speak Land of the King to whom they became Tenants And grew and multiplied exceedingly And consequently inlarged their Habitation beyond the Territory of Rameses where they were first placed into other Parts of Goshen Which we must not fansie to have been a Country now empty of People For though perhaps about Rameses there might be some vacant Ground sufficient for Jacob's Family when they came first to plant there Yet when they increased very much no doubt they lived among the Egyptians where they could find admission This plainly appears at their going from thence Exod. XII 22 23. where God Commands them to sprinkle their Door-Posts with the Blood of the Paschal Lamb to secure them from the destruction which was coming upon their Neighbours who wanted this Mark of Safety 29. If I have now found grace in thy sight This is a Phrase used a little before verse 25. in a little different Sence For there it signifies the Favour shown to another But here is as much as if thou lovest me Put thy Hand under my Thigh i. e. Swear to me as it is explain'd in verse 31. See XXIV 2. Deal kindly and truly with me Show me true Kindness in promising and performing what I desire See XXIV 27 49. Ver. 30. I will lie with my Fathers c. So all Men naturally desire to do But he had a peculiar reason for it Which was his belief that the Country where their Bodies lay was his in Reversion and that God in due time would put his Children into possession of it For which time they could not but the more earnestly long because the Bodies of their Ancestors were there buried See L. 5. which explains the reason why Jacob exacts an Oath of Joseph not because he doubted he might not otherwise fulfil his Desire but that Pharaoh might be willing to let him carry his Body thither when he found he lay under so Sacred an Obligation to do it Ver. 31. And Israel bowed himself upon the Bed's head Raised up his Head from his Pillow and bowed Either to Joseph in Thankfulness for his Promise or to God for the Assurance he had received that he should be buried with his Pious Fore-fathers Or else this bowing was the usual Ceremony wherewith an Oath was attended The Chaldee Paraphrast thinks the Divine Glory now appeared which Jacob devoutly worshipped But if the Author to the Hebrews had not understood his bowing to be an act of Worship the Interpretation of some modern Writers might perhaps have been thought reasonable Who translate these words thus He laid himself down upon his Pillow As weak Men are wont to do after they have sat up a while to dispatch some business For the Hebrew word Schacah which signifies to bow the Body signifies also to fall down upon the Earth And therefore might be here translated lie down But the Apostle as I said hath over-ruled all such Conceits if we suppose him to translate this Passage Hebr. XI 21. Which to me indeed doth not seem evident For the Apostle is there speaking of another thing not of what Jacob did now when Joseph sware to him but of what he did after these things XLVIII 1. when he blessed Joseph's Sons Then the Apostle says he worshipped upon the top of his Staff Which is not the translation of Moses his words in this place But words of his own whereby he explains the following Story and shows how strong his Faith was when his Body was so weak that he was not able to bow himself and worship without the help of his Staff This clearly removes all the difficulty which Interpreters have made about reconciling the words of Moses here in this Verse to the Apostle's words in that But however this be Jacob's bowing here I doubt not signifies worshipping as the Vulgar Latin takes it Where the word God is added which is not in the Hebrew and these words thus translated Israel worshipped God turning himself to the Bed's head CHAP. XLVIII Ver. 1. AFter these things Sometime after though not long for Jacob was nigh his end when he sent for Joseph to make him swear he would bury him with his Fathers he grew so weak that he concluded he could not live long One told Joseph A Messenger was