upon its proper Day As he shows Lib. III. de Jure N. G. cap. 19. But the more they laboured to find out this Mystery the more they were puzzled and perplexed in their Thoughts Nor could their Prayers if they went that way to work help them to disclose the Secret Ver. 9. I do remember my faults this day Call to mind the Offences I committed against Pharaoh Or as some will have it my Ingratitude to one who was in Prison with me Ver. 11. Each Man according to the interpretation of his Dream Just according to the Event was each of our Dreams Ver. 13. As he interpreted to us so it was He repeats the thing often to show how exactly Joseph hit the Truth in his Interpretation Me he restored to my Office c. He told me that on such a Day I should be restored to my Office and he told the other he should be hanged Ver. 14. Brought him hastily With all speed that Pharaoh might not continue in suspence Out of the Dungeon It is reasonable to think That though he was thrown into the Dungeon at the first XL. 15. he did not continue there when he lookt after all the Prisoners and did the whole business of a Keeper XXXIX 22 23. Therefore this Part as is usual is put for the Whole Signifying no more than that they brought him out of Prison where he had been in the Dungeon And he shaved himself c. It was the Custom in most Countries when Men were in a mournful Condition to neglect their Hair both of the Head and the Beard And not to shift their Clothes as in Prosperity but to continue in a rueful Dress whereby they expressed the Sence they had of their Calamity Ver. 16. It is not in me A modest answer I do not pretend to more Wisdom than those thou hast already consulted God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace But God I doubt not will direct me to give the King a satisfactory answer Nay an answer that shall be serviceable to him and to his Kingdom Ver. 17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph c. We may well suppose that Joseph desired to know the Dream Which Pharaoh repeats in this and the following Verses something more fully than it is set down before Ver. 21. When they had eaten them up it could not be known that they had eaten them c. An Emblem of a very grievous Famine Which is represented not only by the lean Kine devouring the Fat as much as to say the barren Years consuming all the growth of the Fertil but by their remaining Lean as if they had eaten nothing Which represents what often happens in Famine that Men eat greedily but are not satisfied Because God breaks the Staff of Bread Levit. XXVI 26. i. e. takes away its nourishing Virtue as Bochart expounds it Hierozoic P. I. Lib. II. cap. 41. But this seems to be a straining of that Phrase break the Staff of Bread Which signifies no more than want of Bread to support Man's Life And all that can be gathered from this part of the Dream is That there should be such exceeding great scarcity that Men should have but just enough to keep them alive Ver. 25. The Dream of Pharaoh is one One and the same thing is represented by two several Figures God hath shewn Pharaoh what he is about to do God hath in these Dreams revealed to Pharaoh what he intends shortly to bring to pass Ver. 26. The seven good kine c. He represents in this and in the following Verse how one thing is signified by two Dreams Seven good Kine and seven good Ears representing seven Years of plenty and seven lean Kine and seven empty Ears as many Years of scarcity Ver. 28. This is the thing which I have spoken c. I have told the King in short what the Divine Providence is about to effect Ver. 29. Behold there come seven Years c. I will repeat it more at large Take notice then that in the next seven Years to this there shall be very great crops of Corn every where throughout the whole Country Ver. 30. And there shall arise after them c. And immediately after they are ended shall follow seven Years as barren as the former were fruitful the Earth bringing forth little or no Corn. Which will make so great a Famine that there shall be no memory of the foregoing plenty for there shall be no Corn left but all eaten up throughout all the Land of Egypt Ver. 31. And the plenty shall not be known c. I say there shall be no mark remaining of the foregoing Plenty by reason of the extream Scarcity in the following Years which will be very heavy Ver. 32. And for that the Dream was doubled c. The repetition of the Dream signifies the certainty of what I say God having so determined who will shortly justifie the Truth of my Predictions Both here and in the foregoing Discourse verse 25 28. he directs Pharaoh to look up unto God as the Author of all these Events and that not in an ordinary but extraordinary manner For such Fertility and such Famine did not proceed from mere Natural Causes but from an Over-ruling Providence It is observed by Pliny L. V. Nat. Hist cap. 9. that when Nile rose only twelve Cubits a Famine followed When thirteen great Scarcity When fourteen they had a good Year When fifteen a very good And if it rose sixteen it made delicias luxuriant Plenty And the greatest increase they ever knew was to eighteen Cubits Now that this River should overflow so largely for seven Years together as to make vast Plenty and then for the next seven Years not to overflow its Banks at all or very little and so make a sore and long Famine could be ascribed to nothing but an extraordinary Hand of God it being quite out of the course of Nature And indeed the Dream seems to signifie something beyond that for it is unnatural for Oxen to devour one another Ver. 33. Look out a Man discreet and wise One fit to manage so great an Affair He that could foretell such Events was fit to advise what was to be done upon the foresight of them But it 's probable he did not presume to give such Directions till he was askt his Opinion Ver. 34. Let Pharaoh do this When this is done Let him appoint Officers Let that Chief Ruler appoint Officers under him in the several Provinces of the Kingdom Such as the Romans called Praefectos Annonae Take up a fifth part Some have askt why not the half since there were to be as many Years of Famine as of Plenty To which such answers as these have been given by Interpreters That the greater and richer sort were wont in time of Plenty to fill their Store-Houses as a Provision against a scarcer Year which sometimes hapned And Secondly That in time of Famine Men are wont to live more frugally and not
here follows It shall bruise thy Head i. e. That SEED of the Woman shall dispoil thee of thy Power meaning the Devil and abolish thy Tyranny For in the Head of the Serpent to which there is here an allusion lies his strength As Epaminondas represented to the Thebans when he exhorted them to set upon a Band of Lacedaemonians by showing them the Head of a vast Snake which he had crushed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saying Look ye the Body can do no hurt now the Head is gone Meaning That if they routed the Lacedaemonians the rest of the Confederates would signifie nothing Polyaen L. II. Strateg And therefore Mr. Mede hath rightly interpreted the Serpent's Head to signifie the Devil's Sovereignty Discourse XXV p. 143. and XXXIX p. 298. and that Sovereignty is the Power of Death Which Headship of the Devil the Seed of the Woman that is Christ the Lord hath broken in pieces and at last will utterly destroy 1 Cor. XV. 25 26. There is a notable Example of this Enmity in the struggle between Christ and the Devil for Empire in Rev. XII 7 8. where Christ destroyed the Sovereignty of the Serpent in the Roman Empire so effectually that there was no more place found for the Dragon and his Angels in Heaven i. e. The Devil utterly lost his Sovereignty in that State as Mr. Mede interprets it And thou shalt bruise his Heel This Victory over the Devil was not to be gotten without Blood For the Devil did all that he was able to destroy this Seed But that was impossible to be done he could only assault his lower part called here the Heel viz. His Body or Flesh Which by his Instruments he persecuted despitefully used and at last crucified By which very means so admirable was the Wisdom and Goodness of God the Seed of the Woman conquered the Devil as the Apostle shows Heb. II. 14 15. For it must be here noted That Christ was properly and literally the Seed of the Woman and not at all of the Man Being born without him of a pure Virgin The tender Mercy of God also must here be acknowledged which gave our first Parents hope of a recovery as soon as they were faln By making them this most gracious Promise Which though here something obscurely delivered grew clearer and clearer in every Age till Christ came It cannot be denied likewise but that by Seed may be understood collectively all the Faithful who by the Power of their Lord vanquish all the Power of their Spiritual Enemy See Luke X. 19. Yet so that we must confess there was one Eminent Seed here Primarily intended by whom they overcome Unto whom another Seed is not here opposed in this last part of the Verse as in the former part but the Serpent himself Which points at a single Combate as I may call it between this promised Seed and the Devil But if we will take in the other Sence also understanding by Seed Christ with all his Members then the bruising their Heel signifies as Mr. Mede expounds it the Devil's deceit and guile in assaulting us unawares As they do who come behind others when they do not observe them and catch hold of their Heel For that this is an Emblem of guile and deceitful dealing appears from the Story of Esau and Jacob the latter of which had his Name from catching his Brother by the Heel at his Birth which Esau took for an indication of his beguiling him as he did two times See Discourse XXXVII p. 184. It is fit I think here to note further what the learned Mr. Alix hath observed That God in this Promise did a particular Kindness to our Father Adam Who having been seduced by his Wife to eat the forbidden Fruit it might have occasioned a Breach between them had not God taken Care to prevent it by making this gracious Promise of a Redeemer to depend upon his Union with his Wife From whom he assures them one should descend that should repair their Losses The time likewise when this Promise was made is remarkable Which was before God had rejected Cain and preferred Seth to him and long before any restriction made to Noah's Family or Sem's who derived from him that all the World might look upon the MESSIAH as a common Benefit to all the Sons of Adam Ver. 16. Vnto the Woman he said Next to the Serpent the Woman receives her Sentence as Mr. Mede well notes because she was more in the fault than Adam Being guilty as his words are Discourse XXXVIII p. 287. both of her own personal Sin and of her Husband 's also Whence it is that he who had only sinned himself and not caused others to sin had his Judgment last of all This should be a little more considered than it is by all those who not only do Evil themselves but draw others into the same Guilt I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and conception i. e. Thy Sorrow in thy Conception Which includes all the time of Womens going with Child when they frequently nauseate all their Food or have troublesome Longings and endure many other things which are very grievous to them especially when they are in danger to miscarry of their Burden In sorrow shalt thou bring forth Children Brute Creatures are observed to bring forth their Young with far less pain and difficulty and danger than Women commonly have in their Labour Who after they are delivered of their Children are still in danger by many accidents Especially when that stays behind which should follow the Birth as it sometimes doth from various Causes noted by Bartholinus in his Histor Anatom Medic. Cent. V. Hist XXXII n. 3. which occasions sore Torments and puts their Lives in the greatest hazard And thy desire shall be to thy Husband That is it shall be subject to him as the Vulgar Latin and Aben Ezra expound this Phrase Which is so used IV. 7. And he shall rule over thee Have Power to controll thy Desire This looks like putting her more under the Will of her Husband than was intended in her first formation Because she had not given a due regard to him but eaten the forbidden Fruit without staying to consult him and ask his Advice Ver. 17. And unto Adam he said Because thou hast hearkned to the Voice of thy Wife c. Been so weak as to mind her more than me Cursed shall the Ground be It shall not bring forth so plentifully nor so easily as it did For thy sake Because of thy Sin which shall be punished partly by its barrenness In sorrow shalt thou eat of it It shall cost thee a great deal of Labour and Toil before thou reapest the Fruits of it All the days of thy life Every part of the Year shall bring along with it new wearisom Labours Ver. 18. Thorns and Thistles c. It shall cost thee abundance of Pains to root up the Thorns Thistles and unprofitable Weeds which shall come up in stead of
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
to have the benefit of it Ver. 10. From all that go out of the Ark to every Beast of the Earth That is it shall extend not only to those which now go out of the Ark but to all their breed in future Ages Ver. 11. And I will establish my Covenant with you c. Doubt not of it for I tell you again I I will faithfully keep this solemn promise Any more be a Flood to destroy the Earth That is the whole Earth for particular Inundations there have been often Ver 12. And the LORD said This is the Token of the Covenant c. I do not only give you my Word but a Token or Sign that I will keep it Ver. 13. I do set my Bow in the Clouds c. Most think this doth not signifie there never had been a Rain-bow before the Flood for since there was both Sun and Clouds it is likely say they there was a Rain-bow also Only now it was appointed for a Sign which it was not before But as this Opinion hath nothing in Scripture to enforce it so grounds in Nature there are none to warrant it unless we will assert this manifest untruth That every disposition of the Air or every Cloud is fitly disposed to produce a Rain-bow They are the words of that great Divine Dr. Jackson Book I. upon the Creed c. 16. who adds that if other Natural Causes with their motions and dispositions depend upon the final as Scripture Philosophy teaches us they who acknowledge the Scripture have no reason to think that either the Clouds or the Air had that peculiar disposition before the Flood which is required to the production of the Rain-bow When this wonderful effect had no such use or end as it hath had ever since For it was appointed by God to be a witness of his Covenant with the new World a Messenger to secure Mankind from destruction by Deluges Now if it had appeared before the Flood the sight of it after the Flood would have been but a poor comfort to Noah and his timorous Posterity Whose fear least the like Inundation might happen again was greater than could be taken away by a common or usual Sign The ancient Poets had a better Philosophy though they knew not the original of it when they feigned Iris to be the Daughter or as we would now speak the Mother of wonderment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Messenger of the great God Jupiter and his Goddess Juno Whom Homer as he observes represents as sent with a peremptory command to Neptune not to aid the Graecians by the swelling we may suppose of Waters which much annoyed the Trojans My Bow It is called His not only because he is the Author of all things which have natural causes as there are of this But because He appointed it to a special end as a signification and assurance of his Mercy to Mankind Ver. 14. When I bring a Cloud over the Earth i. e. When there are great signs of Rain which come out of the Clouds That the Bow shall be seen in the Cloud Not alway but at certain times often enough to put Men in mind of this promise and stir up their belief of it For it doth as it were say I will not drown the Earth again though the Clouds have thickned as if they threatned it Common Philosophy teaches us that the Rain-bow is a natural sign there will not be much Rain after it appears but that the Clouds begin to disperse For it is never made in a thick Cloud but in a thin So that if it appear after Showers which come from thick Clouds it is a token that now they grow thin But the God of Nature chose this to be a sign that he would never thicken again to such a degree to bring a Deluge upon the Earth And indeed the admirable Form or Composition of this glorious Circle as the Son of Sirach calls it Ecclus. XLIII 12. bent by the Hands of the most High doth naturally excite one to look beyond the material and efficient cause of it unto the final as the fore-named Author speaks And now that we have Moses his Commentary upon it we may see in the mixt Colours of the Rain-bow these two things the destruction of the old World by Water and the future consumption of the present World by Fire whose flaming brightness is predominant in the waterish Humour Ver. 15. And I will remember my Covenant c. Look upon it as a Token of my faithfulness to my Word Ver. 16. I will look upon it that I may remember c. This is spoken after the manner of Men the more to confirm their belief that God would not go back with his Word Ver 17. And God said This is the token c. As the Promise is repeated twice to express its certainty verse 9.11 So is the Token of it as oft repeated for the same reason verse 12. and here verse 17. Ver 18. And the Sons of Noah c. They are here again named with respect to what follows But not in their order as shall be proved in its proper place X. 21. for Japhet was the Eldest And Ham is the Father of Canaan This Son of Ham is here alone mentioned because he was concerned in the following wicked Fact of his Father And his Posterity were those wicked People whose Country God gave to the Israelites Ver. 19. And of them was the whole Earth overspread By this it appears that though Noah lived above Three hundred years after he came out of the Ark yet begat no more Children or if he did none of them lived to have any posterity Ver. 20. Began to be an Husband-man To improve the Art of Husbandry which was understood before but he much advanced it There being nothing in old time which the greatest Men thought more worthy their study as we see by the Romans themselves 'till they were corrupted by the Luxury which their Conquests brought in among them And he planted a Vineyard There were Vines here and there before the Flood but Noah seems to have been the first that made a Vineyard and put them in order And the first perhaps that invented Wine-Presses to press out the Juice of the Grapes and make Wine If he was not the inventer of these two planting of Vineyards and making Wine yet we may well allow him to be the improver of them as he was of Husbandry Ver. 21. And he drank of the Wine and was drunken Being unacquainted with the strength of the Liquor as several of the Fathers as well as of the Jewish Doctors think or else being old and unable to bear its strength As Epiphanius understands it See Haeres LXIII n. 3. For it is manifest from what follows that this hapned a great while after the Flood Ham having a Son nay more than one for Canaan was not his first-born And he was uncovered in his Tent. The heat of the Weather or of the
of the Eastern Countries From whom it is evident by this History all Learning Arts and Sciences originally came I could add a great deal more to this purpose but the Reader I hope will find enough to satisfie him in the Commentary it self And therefore I shall only make this one Request to him That he would take his Bible and read every Verse intirely along with this Commentary For I have not set down every Word of the Text for fear of swelling this Work unto too great a Bulk April 10. 1694. An Advertisement THat the Reader may more readily find any particular Place in which he would be satisfied the Page where each Chapter begins which should have been set down on the head of every Page is here noted CHAP. I. Page 1 CHAP. II. Page 32 CHAP. III. Page 58 CHAP. IV. Page 85 CHAP. V. Page 111 CHAP. VI. Page 123 CHAP. VII Page 136 CHAP. VIII Page 144 CHAP. IX Page 154 CHAP. X. Page 168 CHAP. XI Page 218 CHAP. XII Page 237 CHAP. XIII Page 247 CHAP. XIV Page 254 CHAP. XV. Page 267 CHAP. XVI Page 280 CHAP. XVII Page 286 CHAP. XVIII Page 297 CHAP. XIX Page 309 CHAP. XX. Page 323 CHAP. XXI Page 330 CHAP. XXII Page 339 CHAP. XXIII Page 353 CHAP. XXIV Page 361 CHAP. XXV Page 373 CHAP. XXVI Page 391 CHAP. XXVII Page 400 CHAP. XXVIII Page 408 CHAP. XXIX Page 418 CHAP. XXX Page 423 CHAP. XXXI Page 434 CHAP. XXXII Page 450 CHAP. XXXIII Page 459 CHAP. XXXIV Page 465 CHAP. XXXV Page 472 CHAP. XXXVI Page 483 CHAP. XXXVII Page 491 CHAP. XXXVIII Page 502 CHAP. XXXIX Page 514 CHAP. XL. Page 519 CHAP. XLI Page 526 CHAP. XLII Page 543 CHAP. XLIII Page 552 CHAP. XLIV Page 560 CHAP. XLV Page 566 CHAP. XLVI Page 572 CHAP. XLVII Page 583 CHAP. XLVIII Page 592 CHAP. XLIX Page 600 CHAP. L. Page 633 ERRATA Page 17. Line 16. read propagate them Page 18. Line 6. r. habent utique Page 45. Line 2. r. Physcus Page 56. Line 19. del therefore before she Page 80. ult r. seem to be forced Page 81. Line 15. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 82. Line 22. r. Pherecydes Page 110. Line 8. r. Erpenius Page 114. Line 8. r. Gassendus and Peireskius Page 126. Line 14. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 128. Line 21. r. V. 32. Page 141. Line 12. r. all the high Hills Page 146. Line 8. r. Cilicia Page 160. Line 31. r. never let them thicken Page 165. Line 10. r. Nethinim Page 180. Line 28. r. Lake Tritonides Page 184. penul r. that very learned Page 185. Line 24. r. or Rhegma Page 192. Line 8. r. East-side of Tigris Page 199. Line 24. r. Kadmonites Page 202. Line 5. r. But we read Page 206. Line 6. r. was Aramaei Page 215. Line 20. r. we should read Page 218. Line 14. r. their Mouth formed Page 219. Line 4. r. Gedaliah Page 221. Line 10. r. World The ripeness Page 241. Line 27. r. Sichem and the plain Page 278. Line 20. r. Peleufiacum brachium Page 305. Line 20. r. to cry first to show Page 351. Line 23. r. possess the Gate Page 369. Line 1. r. consents Page 386. Line 10. r. Euphrates Page 403. pen. r. observe Page 419. Line 22. r. about it Page 424. pen. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 453. Line 28. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 456. Line 18. r. hollow Page 464. Line 22. r. Kesita Page 473. Line 17. r. houshold Page 497. Line 12. r. their Camels Page 606. Line 17. r. too strait for them Page 609. Line 31. r. there should continue Page 630. Line 31. r. Tribe of Benjamin Page 639. Line 20. r. in case he should meet A COMMENTARY UPON THE First Book of MOSES CALLED GENESIS THat MOSES wrote this and the Four following Books hath been so constantly believed both by Jews Christians and Heathens that none I think denied it till Aben Ezra a Jewish Doctor who lived not much above five hundred Years ago raised some Doubts about it in his Notes upon the First of Deuteronomy out of XII Passages in these Books themselves Which he pretended could not be his but the Words of a later Author But when I meet with those places I shall make it appear that all such exceptions are very frivolous and ought not to shake our belief of this Truth That these Five Books were penned by MOSES and no Body else The first is called GENESIS because it contains the History of the Creation of the World with which it begins and the Genealogy of the Patriarchs down to the death of Joseph where it ends It comprehends an History of Two thousand three hundred and sixty nine Years or thereabouts The truth of all which it was not difficult for Moses to know because it came down to his time through but a very few Hands For from Adam to Noah there was one Man Methuselah who lived so long as to see them both And so it was from Noah to Abraham Shem conversed with both As Isaac did with Abraham and Joseph From whom these things might easily be conveyed to Moses by Amram who lived long enough with Joseph In short Moses might have been confuted if he had written any thing but the Truth by learned Men of other Nations who sprang from the same Root and had the like means of being acquainted with the great things here reported by tradition from their Fore-fathers Who lived so long in the beginning of the World that they more certainly transmitted things to their Posterity Besides it is not reasonable to think they had not the use of Writing as we have whereby they conveyed the knowledge of Times foregoing to those that came after Verse 1. In the beginning The World is not eternal but had a beginning as all Philosophers acknowledged before Aristotle So he himself informs us L. 1. de Coelo cap. 2. speaking of the ancient Opinions concerning the Original of the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they all say it had a beginning But some thought it might have no End others judged it to be Corruptible God created He who is Eternal gave a Being to this great Fabrick of Heaven and Earth out of Nothing It is observed by Eusebius in the beginning of his Book De Praepar Evang. p. 21 25. Edit Paris That neither the ancient Historians nor the Philosophers do so much as mention GOD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no not so far as to name him when they write of the beginning of the World But this Divine Law-giver designing to hang the whole Frame of his Polity upon Piety towards GOD and to make the Creator of all the Founder of his Laws begins with him Not after the manner of the Egyptians and Phoenicians who bestowed this adorable Name upon a great Multitude But puts in the Front of his Work the Name of the sole Cause of all things the Maker of whatsoever is seen or unseen As if he had told the
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