Imatges de pàgina
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* The Septuagint account of the ages of the antediluvian and postdiluvian patriarchs in the above tables, is taken from the VATICAN Copy; but if we follow the ALEXANDRIAN MS., we shall have in the first period the whole sum of 2262 instead of 2242; and in the second period, 1072 instead of 1172. On this subject the different MSS. of the Septuagint abound with various readings.

For much satisfactory information on this subject I must refer to A New Analysis of Chronology, by the Rev. William Hales, D.D. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1809.

And begat a son in his own likeness, after his image] Words nearly the same with those chap. i. 3: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. What this image and likeness of God were we have already seen, and we may rest assured that the same image and likeness are not meant here. The body of Adam was created provisionally immortal, i. e. while he continued obedient he could not die; but his obedience was voluntary, and his state, a probationary

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one. The soul of Adam was created in the moral image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. He had now sinned, and consequently had lost this moral resemblance to his Maker; he had also become mortal through his breach of the law. His image and likeness were therefore widely different at this time from what they were before; and his begetting children in this image and likeness plainly implies that they were imperfect like himself, mortal like himself, sinful and corrupt like himself. For it is impossible that he, being impure, fallen from the divine image, could beget a pure and holy offspring, unless we could suppose it possible that a bitter foun

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15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared: 16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

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17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety

and five years: and he died.

a Heb. Jered.-b Jude 14, 15.- - Gr. Mathusala.

tain could send forth sweet waters, or that a cause could produce effects totally dissimilar from itself. What is said here of Seth might have been said of all the other children of Adam, as they were all begotten after his fall; but the sacred writer has thought proper to mark it only in this instance.

Verse 22. And Enoch walked with God-three hundred years] There are several things worthy of our most particular notice in this account:

1. The name of this patriarch; Enoch, from chanack, which signifies to instruct, to initiate, to dedicate. From his subsequent conduct we are authorised to believe he was early instructed in the things of God, initiated into the worship of his Maker, and dedicated to his service. By these means, under the influence of the divine Spirit, which will ever attend pious parental instructions, his mind got that sacred bias which led him to act a part so distinguished through the course of a long life.

2. His religious conduct. He walked with God; yithhallech, he set himself to walk, he was fixedly purposed and determined to live to God. Those who are acquainted with the original will at once see that it has this force. A verb in the conjugation called hithpael signifies a reciprocal act, that which a man does upon himself: here we may consider Enoch receiving a pious education, and the divine influence through it; in consequence of which he determines to be a worker with God, and therefore takes up the resolution to walk with his Maker, that he might not receive the grace of God in vain

3. The circumstances in which he was placed. He was a patriarch; the king, the priest, and the prophet of a numerous family, to whom he was to administer justice, among whom he was to perform all the rites and ceremonies of religion, and teach, both by precept and example, the way of truth and righteous

ness.

Add to this, he was a married man, he had a numerous family of his own, independently of the collateral branches over which he was obliged, as patriarch, to preside; he walked three hundred years with God, and begat sons and daughters: therefore marriage is no hinderance even to the perfection of

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Enoch walks with God.

18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat b Enoch :

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19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died.

d

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21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

d Ch. vi. 9. xvii. 1. xxiv. 40. 2 Kings xx. 3. Ps. xvi. 8. cxvi. 9. cxxviii. 1. Mic. vi. 8. Mal. ii. 6.

piety; much less inconsistent with it, as some have injudiciously taught.

4. The astonishing height of piety to which he had arrived; being cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, and having perfected holiness in the fear of God, we find not only his soul but his body purified, so that, without being obliged to visit the empire of death, he was capable of immediate translation to the paradise of God. There are few cases of this kind on record; but probably there might be more, many more, were the followers of God more faithful to the grace they receive.

5. Enoch attained this state of religious and spiritual excellence in a time when, comparatively speaking, there were few helps, and no written revelation. Here then we cannot but see and admire how mighty the grace of God is, and what wonders it works in the behalf of those who are faithful, who set themselves to walk with God. It is not the want of grace nor of the means of grace that is the cause of the decay of this primitive piety, but the want of faithfulness in those who have the light, and yet will not walk as children of the light.

6. If the grace of God could work such a mighty change in those primitive times, when life and immortality were not brought to light by the gospel, what may we not expect in these times, in which the Son of God tabernacles among men, in which God gives the Holy Spirit to them who ask him, in which all things are possible to him who believes? No man can prove that Enoch had greater spiritual advantages than any of the other patriarchs, though it seems pretty evident that he made a better use of those that were common to all than any of the rest did; and it would be absurd to say that he had greater spiritual helps and advantages than Christians can now expect, for he lived under a dispensation much less perfect than that of the Law, and yet the Law itself was only the shadow of the glorious substance of gospel blessings and gospel privileges.

7. It is said that Enoch not only walked with God, setting him always before his eyes, beginning, continuing, and ending every work to his glory, but also

Noah and his sons.

Enoch translated.

CHAP. V.

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23 And all the days of Enoch and two years, and begat a
were three hundred sixty and five son:

years:

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29 And he called his name Noah, saying, 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he This same shall comfort us concerning our was not; for God took him. work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

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25 And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years,

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28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty 'Shem, Ham,

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that he pleased God, and had the testimony that he did please God, Heb. xi. 5. Hence we learn that it was then possible to live so as not to offend God, consequently so as not to commit sin against him; and to have the continual evidence or testimony that all that a man did and purposed was pleasing in the sight of Him who searches the heart, and by whom devices are weighed: and if it was possible then, it is surely, through the same grace, possible now; for God, and Christ, and faith, are still the same.

Verse 27. The days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years] This is the longest life mentioned in scripture, and probably the longest ever lived; but we have not authority to say positively that it was the longest. Before the flood, and before artificial refinements were much known and cultivated, the life of man was greatly protracted, and yet of him who lived within thirty-one years of a thouand it is said he died; and the longest life is but as a moment when it is past. Though life is uncertain, precarious, and full of natural evils, yet it is a blessing in all its periods if devoted to the glory of God and the interest of the soul; for while it lasts we may more and more acquaint ourselves with God and be at peace, and thereby good shall come unto us; Job xxii. 21.

Verse 29. This same shull comfort us] This is an allesion, as some think, to the name of Noah, which they derive from □ nacham, to comfort; but it is much more likely that it comes from nach or muach, to rest, to settle, &c. And what is more comfortable than rest after toil and labour? These words seem to have been spoken prophetically concering Noah, who built the ark for the preservation of the human race, and who seems to have been a typical person; for when he offered his sacrifice after the drying up of the waters, it is said that God smelled a savour of REST, and said he would not curse the ground any more for man's sake, chap. viii. 21; and from that time the earth seems to have had upon an average the same degree of fertility; and the

and Noah begat and Japheth.

1 Pet. iii. 20.- d That is, rest or comfort. iv. 11.- - Ch. vi, 10.–g Ch, x. 21.

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e Ch. iii. 17.

life of man, in a few generations after, was settled in the mean at threescore years and ten. See chap. ix. 3.

Verse 32. Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.] From chap. x. 21, 1 Chron. i. 5, &c., we learn that Japheth was the eldest son of Noah, but Shem is mentioned first because it was from him, in a direct line, that the Messiah came. Ham was certainly the youngest of Noah's sons, and, from what we read chap. ix. 22, the worst of them; and how he comes to be mentioned out of his natural order is not easy to be accounted for. When the scriptures design to mark precedency, though the subject be a younger son or brother, he is always mentioned first; so Jacob is named before Esau, his elder brother, and Ephraim before Manasses. See chap. xxviii. 5; xlviii. 20.

Among many important things presented to our view in this chapter, several of which have been already noticed, we may observe that, of all the antediluvian patriarchs, Enoch, who was probably the best man, was the shortest time upon earth; his years were exactly as the days in a solar revolution, viz., three hundred and sixty-five; and like the sun he fulfilled a glorious course, shining more and more unto the perfect day, and was taken, when in his meridian splendour, to shine like the sun in the kingdom of his Father for ever.

From computation it appears, 1. That Adam lived to see Lamech, the ninth generation, in the fifty-sixth year of whose life he died; and as he was the first who lived, and the first that sinned, so he was the first who tasted death in a natural way. Abel's was not a natural but a violent death. 2. That Enoch was taken away next after Adam, seven patriarchs remaining witness of his translation. 3. That all the nine first patriarchs were taken away before the flood came, which happened in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. 4. That Methuselah lived till the very year in which the flood came, of which his

The multiplication and

GENESIS..

wickedness of man.

forth to drown an ungodly world.

If this were then

name is supposed to have been prophetical; methu, "he dieth," and now shalach, "he sendeth so understood, even the name of this patriarch conout;" as if God had designed to teach men that as tained in it a gracious warning. See the genealogical soon as Methuselah died the flood should be sent | plate after chap. xi.

CHAPTER VI.

The children of God, among whom the true religion was at first preserved, corrupt it by forming matrimonial connexions with irreligious women, 1, 2. God, displeased with these connexions and their consequences, limits the continuance of the old world to one hundred and twenty years, 3. The issue of those improper connexions termed giants, 4. An affecting description of the depravity of the world, 5, 6. God threatens the destruction of every living creature, 7. Noah and his family find grace in his sight, 8. The character and family of Noah, 9, 10. And a farther description of the corruption of man, 11, 12. Noah is forewarned of the approaching destruction of the human race, 13; and is ordered to build an ark for the safety of himself and household, the form and dimensions of which are particularly described, 14-16. The deluge threatened, 17. The covenant of God's mercy is to be established between him and the family of Noah, 18. A male and female of all kinds of animals that could not live in the waters to be brought into the ark, 19, 20. Noah is commanded to provide food for their sustenance, 21; and punctually follows all these directions, 22.

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NOTES ON CHAP. VI. Verse 1. When men began to multiply] It was not at this time that men began to multiply, but the inspired penman speaks now of a fact which had taken place long before. As there is a distinction made here between men and those called the sons of God, it is generally supposed that the immediate posterity of Cain and that of Seth are intended. The first were mere men, such as fallen nature may produce, degenerate sons of a degenerate father, governed by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. The others were sons of God, not angels, as some have dreamed, but such as were, according to our Lord's doctrine, born again, born from above, John iii. 3, 5, 6, &c., and made children of God by the influence of the Holy Spirit, Gal. v. 6. The former were apostates from the true religion, the latter were those among whom it was preserved and cultivated.

Dr. Wall supposes the first verses of this chapter should be paraphrased thus: "When men began to multiply on the earth, the chief men took wives of all the handsome poor women they chose. There were tyrants in the earth in those days; and also after the antediluvian days powerful men had unlawful con

nexions with the inferior women, and the children which sprang from this illicit commerce were the

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renowned heroes of antiquity, of whom the heathens made their gods."

Verse 3. My Spirit shall not always strive] It is only by the influence of the Spirit of God that the carnal mind can be subdued and destroyed; but those who wilfully resist and grieve that Spirit must be ultimately left to the hardness and blindness of their own hearts, if they do not repent and turn to God. God delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given. Even at this time the earth was ripe for destruction; but God promised them one hundred and twenty years' respite: if they repented in that interim, well; if not, they should be destroyed by a flood. See on ver. 5.

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Verse 4. There were giants in the earth] philim, from ɔɔ naphal, “he fell.” Those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion. The Septuagint translate the original word by yiyartes, which literally signifies earth-born, and which we, following them, term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word when properly understood makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God; those were the nephilim, the fallen, earth-born men, with the animal and devilish mind. These were the sons of God, who

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were born from above; children of the kingdom, because children of God. Hence we may suppose originated the different appellatives given to sinners and saints; the former were termed yiyavres, earthborn, and the latter ayol, i. e. saints, persons not of the earth, or separated from the earth.

The same became mighty men-men of renown.] gibborim, which we render mighty men, signifies properly conquerors, heroes, from 22 gabar, “he prevailed, was victorious," and own anshey hashshem, men of the name," aveρwno ovoμaσтo, Septuagint; the same as we render men of renown, renominati, twice named, as the word implies, having one Lame which they derived from their fathers, and another which they acquired by their daring exploits and enterprises.

destroy the earth.

ing thing, and the fowls of the air;
for it repenteth me that I have
made them.

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8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

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9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God: 10 And Noah begat three A. M. cir. 1556. sons, 'Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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11 The earth also was corrupt "before God, and the earth was "filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and,

Luke i. 30. Acts vii. 46.

Ecclus. xliv. 17. Rom. i. 17.
Or, upright.- k Ch. v. 22.-

h Ch. vii. 1. Ezek. xiv. 14, 20.
Hebr. xi. 7. 2 Pet. ii. 5.
Ch. v. 32.- m Ch. vii. 1.
Rom. ii, 13.

x. 9. xiii. 13. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 27. Luke i. 6.
iii. 19. n Ezek. viii. 17. xxviii. 16. Hab. ii. 8, 17.
Ch. xviii, 21. Ps. xiv. 2. xxxiii. 13, 14. liii. 2, 3.

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was multiplied;" it was continually increasing, and multiplying increase by increase, so that the whole earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with violence (ver. 11); profligacy among the lower, and cruelty and oppression among the higher classes, being only predominant. 4. All the imaginations of their thoughts were evil—the very first embryo of every idea, the figment of every thought, the very materials out of which perception, conception, and ideas were formed, were all evil; the fountain which produced them, with every thought, purpose, wish, desire, and motive, was incurably poisoned. 5. All these were evil without any mixture of good-the Spirit of God which strove with them was continually resisted, so that evil had its sovereign sway. 6. They were evil continually-there was no interval of good, no moIt may be necessary to remark here that our ment allowed for serious reflection, no holy purpose, translators have rendered seven different Hebrew no righteous act. What a finished picture of a fallen words by the one term giants, viz., nephilim, gib- soul! Such a picture as God alone, who searches borim, enachim, rephaim, emim, and zamzummim; by the heart and tries the spirit, could possibly give. which appellatives are probably meant in general 7. To complete the whole, God represents himself as persons of great knowledge, piety, courage, wicked-repenting because he had made them, and as grieved ness, &c., and not men of enormous stature as is generally conjectured.

Verse 5. The wickedness of man was great] What an awful character does God give of the inhabitants of the antediluvian world! 1. They were flesh (ver. 3), wholly sensual, the desires of the mind overwhelmed and lost in the desires of the flesh, their scals no longer discerning their high destiny, but ever minding earthly things, so that they were sensualized, brutalized, and become flesh; incarnated so as not to retain God in their knowledge, and they lived, seeking their portion in this life. 2. They were in a state of wickedness. All was corrupt within, and all unrighteous without; neither the science nor practice of religion existed. Piety was gone, and every form of sound words had disappeared. 3. This wickedness was great, ¬¬¬ rabbah,

at the heart because of their iniquities! Had not these been voluntary transgressions, crimes which they might have avoided, had they not grieved and quenched the Spirit of God, could he speak of them in the manner he does here? 8. So incensed is the most holy and the most merciful God, that he is determined to destroy the work of his hands: And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created; ver. 7. How great must the evil have been, and how provoking the transgressions, which obliged the most compassionate God, for the vindication of his own glory, to form this awful purpose! Fools make a mock at sin, but none except fools.

Verse 8. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.] Why? Because he was, 1. A just man, pr W`x ish tsaddik, a man who gave to all their due; for this is the ideal meaning of the original word. 2.

He was per

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