9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry k Job 26. 10. & 38. 8. Ps. 33. 7. & 95. 5. & 104. land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth 9. & 136. 6. Prov. 8. 29. Jer. 5. 22. 2 Pet. 3. 5. it does, include the heavenly bodies. Thou coveredst it (the earth) with the This is confirmed by 2 Pet. 3. 5-7 deep as with a garment: the waters 'Whereby the world that then was pe- stood above the mountains. At thy rerished; but the heavens and the earth buke they fled; at the noise of thy which are now, by the same word are thunder they hasted away. They go up kept in store reserved unto fire,' &c. by the mountains, they go down by Here it will be noted that the world the valleys unto the place which thou which then was' is opposed to the hast founded for them. Thou hast set heavens and the earth which now are,' a bound that they may not pass over; as if they were commensurate terms; that they turn not again to cover the and as it was only the globe with its earth.' This may be considered as an surrounding atmosphere which felt the appropriate comment on the phrase effects of the deluge, so it is to be in-one place,' which is not to be taken in ferred that if a future physical destruction be here intended, it will be of the same extent. Consequently' heaven' is a term for the atmosphere. The phrases, 'hosts of heaven,' 'stars of heaven,' &c., do indeed frequently occur, but it is because the starry hosts are apparent-plate; the various great seas and oceans ly placed in the superior regions of that constituting in fact but one body of which is really and truly 'heaven,' viz. water called in different regions by difthe atmospheric firmament. ferent names, as the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern, &c. oceans. 9. Let the waters—be gathered together unto one place. The vast mass of waters which had hitherto covered the entire surface of the globe was now to be brought within a narrower compass, and large tracts of the submerged earth to be reclaimed and rendered habitable ground. Of the causes or movements by which this mighty result was effected no detail is given. It is easy to conceive that it must have been attended by a tremendous convulsion of the exterior portions of the globe, and it is not unlikely that many of the irregular and broken appearances and traces of violent action which are now visible on the earth's surface are to be referred to this event. The language of the Psalmist, Ps. 104. 6-9, would indicate that the phenomena must have been striking and awful beyond description;— its strictest import, but merely as implying that the waters were for the most part congregated together in one vast body, instead of being universally diffused over the face of the earth. This is the state of things which we now contem 10. Seas. Heb. yamim, from a word signifying tumultuous agitation and roaring. The term is therefore used in many instances in the symbolical language of the prophets to denote a vast body of people in a state of restless commotion. See Ps. 65. 8. Is. 57. 20. Jer. 51. 42. Rev. 17 15. The word is sometimes applied to a lesser collection of waters, as that which one of the Evangelists denominates a 'sea,' Matt. 8. 32, another calls a 'lake,' Luke 8. 33; and it is elsewhere used to denote not a body of water, but the reservoir which contains it, as the 'brazen sea' of Solomon, 2 Chron. 4. 2, and the 'sea of glass' of the Apocalypse, ch. 4. 6. 11. Let the earth bring forth grass. Heb. & the tender budding grass, a term applicable to every kind of grassy bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding m fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, 1 Heb. 6. 7 m Luke 6.44. or verdant vegetable in a state of sprouting, and pointing more especially to such as are propagated rather from the root than the seed.——¶ Herb yielding seed. Heb. 1 seeding seed. Gr. σnelpov σnspμa; by which is meant such wild or cultivable plants as were to propagate themselves by yielding, shedding or scattering their seeds. The word 'herb' embraces the whole department of the vegetable world between grasses and trees, the three grand divisions which are recognised in this verse. - Fruit tree yielding fruit. Heb. muy making fruit. For a view of the scriptural usage in respect to the word make in the sense of increase, multiplication, accumulation, see note on Gen. 12. 5. As trees by their height rise superior to the rest of the vegetable tribes, they are, in prophetic style, a symbol of persons of rank, eminence and authority. The grass, on the other hand, denotes the mass of the common people. See this confirmed Ezek. 17. 24.-31. 5. Is. 14. 8. Rev. 8. 7. 14. Let there be lights, &c. It is unquestionable that the Scriptures generally describe the phenomena of the natural world as they appear, rather than according to strict scientific truth. Thus the sun and moon are said to rise and set-the stars to fall-and the moon to be turned into blood. Consequently, if this history of the creation were designed to describe the effects of the six days' work as they would have appeared to a spectator, had one been present,-a supposition rendered proba n Deut. 4. 19. Ps. 74. 16. & 136. 7. ble from its being said, 'Let the dry land appear (Heb. be seen),' when as yet there was no eye to see it-then we may reasonably conclude that the sun was formed on the first day, or perhaps had been created even before our earth, and was in fact the cause of the vicissitude of the three first days and nights. But as the globe of the earth was during that time surrounded by a dense mass of mingled air and water, the rays of the sun would be intercepted; only a dim glimmering light, even in the day time, would appear; and the bodies of the heavenly luminaries would be entirely hidden, just as they now are in a very cloudy day. Let it be supposed then that on the fourth day the clouds, mists, and vapors were all cleared away, and the atmosphere made pure and serene; the sun of course would shine forth in all his splendor, and to the eye of our imagined spectator would seem to have been just created; and so at night of the moon and stars. This effect of the divine power, according to the usual analogy of the Scriptures, is described from its appearance, and the language employed--' let there be lights in the firmament'-and-'he made two great lights and set them in the firmament'-is to be interpreted on the principle above stated. They might then be said to be 'made,' because they then first began to be visible, and to perform the office for which they were designed. The original word for 'made' is not the same as that which is rendered create.' It is a term frequently employed to signify constituted, appointed, signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. o Ps. 74. 17. & 104. 19. 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. therefore, whenever the judgments of God or extraordinary events are signified by remarkable appearances in them. In this way eclipses of the sun and moon, comets, meteors, falling stars, &c., serve as signs, i. e. as preternatural tokens or monitions of the divine agency in the sight of men. This is the genuine force of the original, which very often conveys the idea of a miraculous interference or manifestation. Ps. 65. 8. 'They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens ( signs).' That they may have been designed also to subserve important purposes in the various economy of human life, as in affording signs to the mariner to aid him in navigation, and to the husbandman to guide him in regard to the proper set for a particular purpose or use.Thus it is said that God made Joseph a father to Pharaoh'-'made him lord of Egypt'-' made the Jordan a border between the tribes'-'made David the head of the heathen;' and so in innumerable other instances. As therefore the rainbow was made or constituted a sign, though it might have existed before, so the sun, moon, and stars, may be said to have been made and set as lights in the firmament, on the fourth day, though actually called into existence on the first, or previously. The same result had indeed been really effected by the same means during the previous three days and nights, but these luminaries were henceforth by their rising and setting, to be the visible means of producing this separation or succession. -¶ Lights. Heb. seasons for ploughing, sowing, plantlighters, instruments of illumination, light-bearers, light-dispensers. The original word is different from that rendered 'light,' (78) v. 3.- —¶ To divide the day, &c Heb. 'To separate between the day and between the night.' Let them be for signs. That is, let signs be observed by means of them. The manner in which the heavenly bodies were destined to serve for 'signs,' in the sense in which that term generally occurs in the Scriptures, may be learned from such passages as the following; Luke 21. 25. 'And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.' Acts 2. 19, 20. 'And I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood and fire and vapor of smoke; The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come.' They answer this end, ing, pruning, reaping, is not improbable, though we think this not so strictly the true import of the orignal. But it is certain they have answered for this end, and perhaps, were so designed.--¶And for seasons. Heb. set or appointed times; from a root (7) signifying to fix by previous appointment. The phrase points not only to the seasons of the year, which are regulated by the course of the sun, and to the computation of months and years, but also to fasts, feasts, and other religious solemnities, such as were appointed to be observed by the people of Israel. Compare Is. 66. 23. 1 Chron. 23. 31. Ps. 104. 19.—¶ And for days and years. As the word 'for' is here omitted before 'years,' though occurring before each of the other terms, the sense of the phrase is undoubtedly 'for days even years;' implying that a day is often to be taken for a year, as is the case in prophetical computation. See Ezck. 4. 6. Dan. 9. 24, 25. Of two words 18 And to rule over the day, and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the s Jer. 31. 35. God had made.' This we offer, however, merely as a suggestion on a point which deserves perhaps a more strict The greater light. That is, the sun, usually termed in the Hebrew shemesh, i. e. minister or servant, from its ministering light and heat to the earth with its inhabitants and productions. The name was well adapted, as perhaps it was design an object of religious worship, a species of idolatry which crept into the world at a very early period. - To rule the day. To regulate the day as to its commencement by its rising and as to its close by its setting; to be, as it were, a presiding power over the day and its various transactions and events. connected by the copulative 'and' the last is very frequently merely exegetiical or explanatory of the first; as Eph. 4. 11. And he gave (i. e. appoint-investigation. ed) some pastors and teachers, i. e. pastors even teachers. 2 Cor. 1. 3. (Gr.) 'Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' i. e. as rightly rendered in our common translation, 'God even the Father, &c.' The original word for year (7) has the imported, to prevent the sun from becoming of change or reiteration from the circuit or revolution involved in the idea. 16. God made two great lights. The sun and moon are alike called great luminaries from their apparently equal, or nearly equal size, not from the degree of light which they give. Every thing in this narrative is described with reference to its appearance to the eye of 20. The moving creature. Heb. a supposed spectator. It would seem sheretz. It is remarkable that there that the words, 'And it was so,' in the are two distinct words, of very different preceding verse were designed to inform origin, which the English translators us of the actual execution of the crea- have rendered promiscuously 'creeping ting command in respect to the lumin- creatures' or 'creeping things,' and also aries; if so, we see no serious objection 'moving creatures,' following no doubt to supposing that this and the two en- the authority of the Septuagint, which suing verses are to be taken parenthet- gives onεra reptiles for both; thus maically, the writer's scope being to inform king the order of the successive creaus, that God had previously created tions much less clear and perspicuous these bodies for the purpose here men- in our version than it is in the Hetioned, but that they had not hitherto brew text. The first of these words been able to answer the ends of their is that here employed sheretz, renformation on account of the turbid state dered in the margin 'creeping creatures' of the atmosphere. Otherwise the pas- It comes from a root sharatz sage must be considered as a mere re- signifying to bring forth, increase, or petition, in more expanded particulars, multiply abundantly; and is in fact the of what is affirmed in the preceding very verb which in this same verse is verse. The phrase, therefore, And rendered 'bring forth abundantly.' God made' would be better read For Thus too Gen. 8. 17, That they may moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And "God created great u ch. 6. 20. & 7. 14. & 8. 19. Ps. 104. 26. breed abundantly (7) in the earth, and be fruitful and multiply in the earth. whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. dering the Heb. 1 oph by 'fowl' our translators have limited its meaning so as to include only the birds. But the term includes also winged insects, as is evident from Lev. 11. 20, All fowls (1) that creep, going upon four.' The proper rendering is not tribes of all kinds that can raise fowl, but flying thing, including the themselves up into the air; as is in deed made obvious by the expression in the next verse every fly ing thing that hath wings. From the word 'ground' in a large sense, as sy. Ex. 1. 7. And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, (17) and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them.' Ex. 8. 3, 'And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly (7). From this it appears that the proper translation of the noun is not the creeping, but the rapidly multiplying or swarming creature. It is applied not only to the smaller kinds of fishes, but to various species of land animals, as mice, snails, lizards, &c. Lev. 11. 29, and even to fowls, Lev. 11. 23; in short, to all kinds of living crea. tures inhabiting either land or water, which are oviparous and remarkable for fecundity, as we know is pre-eminently the case with the finny tribes. Ps. 104. 24. 25, 'The earth is full of thy riches; so is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable.' The other word translated 'creep- vary slightly the translation in the present passage, which the original will ing things' is remes, and the creawell admit, and read, and let the fowl tures expressed by this name were cre-fly above the earth.' The object of the ated during the sixth day or period. writer here seems to be to specify the reWe shall afterwards show (see note on spective elements assigned as the habi v.24) that it has a very different meaning tation of the fishes and the flying things, from here applied to a part of the In the other passage the design is to animate creations of the fifth day.acquaint us with the source from whence That hath life. Heb. living the beasts and birds originated. They soul. The original word implies 'breath,' are probably here mentioned together and so denotes an animal which lives from the similarity of the elements in by breathing. It is chiefly applied in which they live, and of the motions by the Scriptures to creatures capable of which they pass through them.¶In sensation, and thus distinguished from the open firmament. Heb. 3 inanimate matter. Though spoken of on the face of the firmament. To an man, it does not by itself denote the in- eye looking upwards the flight or sailtellectual or rational faculty, which en- ing motion of a bird appears to be on the ters into our ideas of the human soul. face of the sky, which, as Job says, is See note on ch.2. v. 7.—¶And fowl that spread out as a molten looking glass.' may fly. Heb. 197. By ren- 21. God created great whales. Heb. |