Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Enoch translated.

A. M. 987. B. C. 3017.

years:

[blocks in formation]

B. C. 2948.

23 And all the days of Enoch and two years, and begat a A. M. 1056. were three hundred sixty and five son:

[ocr errors]

29 And he called his name Noah, saying,

24 And Enoch walked with God: and he This same shall comfort us concerning our for God took him.

was not;

A. M. 874.
B. C. 3130.

a

25 And Methuselah lived
hundred eighty and seven years,
Lamech :

and begat
26 And Methuselah lived after he begat
Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years,
and begat sons and daughters:

A. M. 1656.
B. C. 2348.

nine years

27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and and he died.

work and toil of our hands, because of the

[blocks in formation]

32 And Noah was five hundred A. M. 1556. B. C. 2448. years old: and Noah begat "Shem, 28 And Lamech lived a hundred eighty Ham, and Japheth.

P2 Kings ii. 11: Ecclus. xliv. 16; xlix. 14; Heb. xi. 5;
Heb. Lanech. Gr. Noe; Luke iii. 36; Heb. xi. 7; 1 Pet.

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 bless-
ings 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 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.

k

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

Verse 29. This same shall comfort us] This is an allusion, as some think, to the name of Noah, which they derive from Dn nacham, to comfort; but it is much more likely that it comes from nach or nuach, to rest, to settle, &c. And what is more comfortable than rest after toil and labour? These words seem to have been spoken prophetically concerning 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 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 Verse 27. The days of Methuselah were nine hun-brother, he is always mentioned first; so Jacob is dred sixty and nine years] This is the longest life named before Esau, his elder brother, and Ephraim mentioned in Scripture, and probably the longest ever before Manasses. See chap. xxviii. 5; xlviii. 20. 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 thousand 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.

[blocks in formation]

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

65

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
[ocr errors]

wickedness of man.

to see Lamech, the ninth generation, in the fifty-sixth | life. 4. That Methuselah lived till the very year in year of whose life he died; and as he was the first which the flood came, of which his name is supposed who lived, and the first that sinned, so he was the first to have been prophetical; D methu," he dieth," and 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 sixth hundredth year of Noah's

shalach," he sendeth out;" as if God had designed to teach men that as soon as Methuselah died the flood should be sent forth to drown an ungodly world. If this were then so understood, even the name of this patriarch contained in it a gracious warning. See the genealogical plate after chap. xi.

CHAPTER VI.

God threatens
The character
Noah is fore-

The children of God, among whom the true religion was at first preserved, corrupt it by forming matrimonial connections with irreligious women, 1, 2. God, displeased with these connections and their consequences, limits the continuance of the old world to one hundred and twenty years, 3. The issue of those improper connections termed giants, 4. An affecting description of the depravity of the world, 5, 6. the destruction of every living creature, 7. Noah and his family find grace in his sight, 8. and family of Noah, 9, 10. And a farther description of the corruption of man, 11, 12. warned 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.

A. M. 1536.
B. C. 2468.

B. C. 2468.

AND it came to pass, when always strive with man, d for that A. M. 1536. men began to multiply on the he also is flesh: yet his days shall face of the earth, and daughters were born be a hundred and twenty years. unto them,

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became 3 And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

с

a Chap. i. 28; 2 Esdr. iii. 7.- b Deut. vii. 3, 4.

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 Inultiply 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 con66

a

* Gal. v. 16, 17; 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. d Psa. Ixxviii. 39.

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

Verse 4. There were giants in the earth] nephilim, from naphal," he fell." Those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion. The Septuagint translate the original word by yɩyavтes, 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 ( 6* )

God purposes to

A. M. 1536. B. C. 2468.

CHAP. VI.

them.

destroy the earth.

B. C. 2468.

5 And God saw that the wicked-penteth me that I have made A. M. 1536. ness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

e

i

6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it re

Or, the whole imagination. The Hebrew word signifieth, not only the imagination, but also the purposes and desires. f Chap. viii. 21; Deut. xxix. 19; Prov. vi. 18; 2 Esdr. iii. 8; Matt. xv. 1 Sam. xv. -i Isa. Ixiii. Chap. xix.

19. - Heb. every day.- h See Num. xxiii. 19;

11, 29; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16; Mal. iii. 6; James i. 17.10; Eph. iv. 30.- k Heb. from man unto beast.

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 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 yyavTes, earth-born, and the latter, άyɩɩ, i. e. saints, persons not of the earth, or separated from the earth.

The same became mighty men—men of renown.] D' gibborim, which we render mighty men, signifies properly conquerors, heroes, from 11 gabar, "he prevailed, was victorious,” and Dwn 'WIN anshey hashshem, "men of the name," avoрwño ovoμaσтoi, Septuagint; the same as we render men of renown, renominati, twice named, as the word implies, having one name which they derived from their fathers, and another which they acquired by their daring exploits and enterprises. It may be necessary to remark here that our translators have rendered seven different Hebrew words by the one term giants, viz., nephilim, gibborim, enachim, rephaim, emim, and zamzummim; by which appellatives are probably meant in general persons of great knowledge, piety, courage, wickedness, &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 souls 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," 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,

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

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 sons, A. M. cir. 1556. Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

B. C. cir. 2448.

11 The earth also was corrupt 4 before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

19; Exod. xxxiii. 12, 13, 16, 17; Luke i. 30; Acts vii. 46. Chap. vii. 1; Ezek. xiv. 14, 20; Ecclus. xliv. 17; Rom. i. 17, Heb. xi. 7; 2 Pet. . 5. Or, upright.-- Chap. v. 22. P Chap. v. 32.4 Chap. vii. 1; x. 9; xiii. 13; 2 Chron. xxxiv 27; Luke i. 6; Rom. ii. 13; iii. 19.- Ezek. viii. 17; xxviii 16; Hab. ii. 8, 17.

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 moment allowed for serious reflection, no holy purpose, no righteous act. What a finished picture of a fallen soul! Such a picture as God alone, who searches the heart and tries the spirit, could possibly give. 7. To complete the whole, God represents himself as repenting because he had made them, and as grieved 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, prry vs ish tsaddik, a man who gave to all their due'; for this is the ideal meaning of the original word. 2. He was perfect in his generation—he was in all things a consistent character, never departing from the truth in principle or practice. 3. He walked with God-he was not only righteous in his conduct, but he was pious, and had continual communion with God. same word is used here as before in the case of Enoch. See chap. v. 22.

The

Verse 11. The earth also was corrupt] See on verse 5.

[blocks in formation]

W

Chap. xviii. 21; Psa. xiv. 2; xxxiii. 13, 14; liii. 2, 3.- -t Jer. Ver. 17.- --Or, from the earth. Heb. nests.- - Exod. li. 13; Ezek. vii. 2, 3, 6; Amos viii. 2; 1 Pet. iv. 7. ii. 3. -y Chap. vii. 20; Deut. iii. 11.

measured the pyramids in Egypt, and comparing the accounts which Herodotus, Strabo, and others, give of their size, he found the length of a cubit to be twentyone inches and eight hundred and eighty-eight decimal parts out of a thousand, or nearly twenty-two inches. Hence the cube of a cubit is evidently ten thousand

Verse 13. I will destroy them with the earth.] Not only the human race was to be destroyed, but all terrestrial animals, i. e. those which could not live in the waters. These must necessarily be destroyed when the whole surface of the earth was drowned. But destroying the earth may probably mean the alteration of its constitution. Dr. Woodward, in his natural his-four hundred and eighty-six inches. And from this tory of the earth, has rendered it exceedingly probable that the whole terrestrial substance was amalgamated with the waters, after which the different materials of its composition settled in beds or strata according to their respective gravities. This theory, however, is disputed by others.

Verse 14. Make thee an ark] nan tebath, a word which is used only to express this vessel, and that in which Moses was preserved, Exod. ii. 3, 5. It signifies no more than our word vessel in its common acceptation—a hollow place capable of containing persons, goods, &c., without any particular reference to shape or form.

it will appear that the three hundred cubits of the ark's length make five hundred and forty-seven feet; the fifty for its breadth, ninety-one feet two inches; and the thirty for its height, fifty-four feet eight inches When these dimensions are examined, the ark will be found to be a vessel whose capacity was more than sufficient to contain all persons and animals said to have been in it, with sufficient food for each for more than twelve months. This vessel Dr. Arbuthnot computes to have been eighty-one thousand and sixty-two tons in burden.

As many have supposed the capacity of the ark to have been much too small for the things which were contained in it, it will be necessary to examine this subject thoroughly, that every difficulty may be removed. The things contained in the ark, besides the eight persons of Noah's family, were one pair of all unclean animals, and seven pairs of all clean animals, with provisions for all sufficient for twelve months.

At the first view the number of animals may appear so immense that no space but the forest could be thought sufficient to contain them. If, however, we come to a calculation, the number of the different

Gopher wood] Some think the cedar is meant; others, the cypress. Bochart renders this probable, 1. From the appellation, supposing the Greek word Kunaρισσos, cypress, was formed from the Hebrew | gopher; for take away the termination tooos, and then gopher and κνжаp will have a near resemblance. 2. Because the cypress is not liable to rot, nor to be injured by worms. 3. The cypress was anciently used for ship-building. 4. This wood abounded in Assyria, where it is probable Noah built the ark. After all, the word is of doubtful signification, and occurs no-genera or kinds of animals will be found much less where else in the Scriptures. The Septuagint render the place, ε Evλwv teтpaywvwv, “of square timber;" and the Vulgate, de lignis lævigatis, "of planed timber;" so it is evident that these translators knew not what kind of wood was intended by the original. The Syriac and Arabic trifle with the passage, rendering it wicker work, as if the ark had been a great basket! Both the Targums render it cedar; and the Persian, pine or fir.

than is generally imagined. It is a question whether in this account any but the different genera of animals necessary to be brought into the ark should be included. Naturalists have divided the whole system of zoology into CLASSES and ORDERS, containing genera and species. There are six classes thus denominated: 1. Mammalia; 2. Aves; 3. Amphibia; 4. Pisces; 5. Insecta; and 6. Vermes. With the three last of these, viz., fishes, insects, and worms, the question can have little to do.

The first CLASS, Mammalia, or animals with teats. contains seven orders, and only forty-three genera if we except the seventh order, cete, i. e. all the whale kind, which certainly need not come into this account. The different species in this class amount, the cete excluded, to five hundred and forty-three.

Verse 15. Thou shalt make the length of the ark -three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits] Allowing the cubit, which is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, to be eighteen inches, the ark must have been four hundred and fifty feet in length, seventy-five in breadth, and forty-five in height. But that the aneient cubit was more than eighteen inches has been The second CLASS, Aves, birds, contains six orders, demonstrated by Mr. Greaves, who travelled in Greece, and only seventy-four genera, if we exclude the third Palestine, and Egypt, in order to be able to ascertain order, anseres, or web-footed fowls, all of which could the weights, moneys, and measures of antiquity. He very well live in the water. The different species in

The flood threatened.

A. M. 1536. B. C. 2468.

[blocks in formation]

B. C. 2468.

16 A window shalt thou make | wherein is the breath of life, from A. M. 1536. to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou under heaven; and every thing finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt that is in the earth shall die. thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make. it. 17 And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh,

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

2 Chap. viii. 6.- - Chap. vii. 16; Luke xiii. 25.- b Ver. 3, 4; Amos ix. 6.- - Chap. ii. 7; chap. vii. 15.La Chap. 13; chap. vii. 4, 21, 22, 23; 2 Pet. ii. 5; Psa. xxix. 10; xciii. ix. 9.- e Chap. vii. 1, 7, 13; 1 Pet. iii. 20; 2 Pet. ii. 5.

this class, the anseres excepted, amount to two thou- an objection against Scripture, ought to be esteemed sand three hundred and seventy-two.

The third CLASS, Amphibia, contains only two orders, reptiles and serpents; these comprehend ten genera, and three hundred and sixty-six species, but of the reptiles many could live in the water, such as the tortoise, frog, &c. Of the former there are thirty-three species, of the latter seventeen, which excluded reduce the number to three hundred and sixteen. The whole of these would occupy but little room in the ark, for a small portion of earth, &c., in the hold would be sufficient for their accommodation.

a confirmation of its Divine authority; since, in those ruder ages men, being less versed in arts and philosophy, were more obnoxious to vulgar prejudices than now, so that had it been a human invention it would have been contrived, according to those wild apprehensions which arise from a confused and general view of things, as much too big as it has been represented too little." See Bishop Wilkins's Essay towards a Philosophical Character and Language.

Verse 16. A window shalt thou make] What this was cannot be absolutely ascertained. The original Bishop Wilkins, who has written largely and with word tsohar signifies clear or bright; the Septuahis usual accuracy on this subject, supposes that quad- gint translate it by encovvaywv, "collecting, thou shalt rupeds do not amount to one hundred different kinds, make the ark," which plainly shows they did not unnor birds which could not live in the water to two hun-derstand the word as signifying any kind of window dred. Of quadrupeds he shows that only seventy-two or light. Symmachus translates it diapaves, a transspecies needed a place in the ark, and the birds he parency; and Aquila, μeonußpivov, the noon. Jonadivides into nine classes, including in the whole one than ben Uzziel supposes that it was a precious lumihundred and ninety-five kinds, from which all the web-nous stone which Noah, by Divine command, brought footed should be deducted, as these could live in the from the river Pison. It is probably a word which should be taken in a collective sense, signifying apertures for air and light.

water.

He computes all the carnivorous animals equivalent, as to the bulk of their bodies and food, to twenty-seven wolves; and all the rest to one hundred and eighty oxen. For the former he allows one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five sheep for their annual consumption; and for the latter, one hundred and nine thousand five hundred cubits of hay: these animals and their food will be easily contained in the two first stories, and much room to spare; as to the third story, no person can doubt its being sufficient for the fowls, with Noah and his family.

One sheep each day he judges will be sufficient for sir wolves; and a square cubit of hay, which contains forty-one pounds, as ordinarily pressed in our ricks, will be amply sufficient for one ox in the day. When the quantum of room which these animals and their provender required for one year, is compared with the capacity of the ark, we shall be lead to conclude, with the learned bishop, "that of the two it is more difficult to assign a number and bulk of necessary things to answer to the capacity of the ark, than to find sufficient room for the several species of animals and their food already known to have been there." This he attributes to the imperfection of our lists of animals, especially those of the unknown parts of the earth; and adds, "that the most expert mathematicians at this day," and he was one of the first in Europe, "could not assign the proportion of a vessel better accommodated to the purpose than is here done;" and concludes thus: "The capacity of the ark, which has been made

In a cubit shalt thou finish it above] Probably meaning that the roof should be left a cubit broad at the apex or top, and that it should not terminate in a sharp ridge.

But this place is variously understood. Verse 17. Ido bring a flood] iad; mabbul; a word used only to designate the general deluge, being never applied to signify any other kind of inundation; and does not the Holy Spirit intend to show by this that no other flood was ever like this, and that it should continue to be the sole one of the kind? There have been many partial inundations in various countries, but never more than ONE general deluge; and we have God's promise, chap. ix. 15, that there shall never be another.

Verse 18. With thee will I establish my covenant] The word n berith, from 2 bar, to purify or cleanse, signifies properly a purification or purifier, (see on chap. xv.,) because in all covenants made between God and man, sin and sinfulness were ever supposed to be on man's side, and that God could not enter into any covenant or engagement with him without a purifier; hence, in all covenants, a sacrifice was offered for the removal of offences, and the reconciliation of God to the sinner; and hence the word n berith signifies not only a covenant, but also the sacrifice offered on the occasion, Exod. xxiv. 8; Psalm 1. 5; and Jesus Christ, the great atonement and purifier, has the same word for his title, Isa. xlii. 6; xlix. 8; and Zech, ix. 11.

« AnteriorContinuar »