Bibelkommentare

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.

Ver. 9,10. Let the waters under the heaven be gathered, … — The water, they say, is ten times greater than the earth, as is the air ten times greater than the water, and the fire than the air. Sure it is, that the proper place of the water is to be "above the earth". Psalms 104:6 Sailors tell us that as they draw nigh to shore, when they enter into the haven, they run as it were downhill. "The waters stood above the mountain," till (at God’s rebuke here) they "fled, and hasted away at the voice of his thunder, to the place which he had founded for them". Psalms 104:6-8 This drew from Aristotle, in one place, Lib. De Mirabil. a testimony of God’s providence, which elsewhere he denies. And David, in the 104th Psalm, which one calleth his Physics, tells us that till the word of command, "Let the waters," …, God "had covered the earth with the deep as with a garment." For as the garment, in the proper use of it, is above the body, so is the sea above the land. And such a garment, saith the divine cosmographer, would it have been to the earth, but for God’s providence towards us, as the shirt made for the murdering of Agamemnon, where he had no issue out. But "thou hast set a bound," saith the psalmist, "that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth". Psalms 104:9 God had set the solid earth upon and above the liquid waters for our conveniency; so that men are said "to go down" (not up) "to the sea in ships". Psalms 107:23 See his mercy herein, as in a mirror, and believe that God, whose work it is still to "appoint us the bounds of our habitation," Acts 17:26 will not fail to provide us a hospitium , a place to reside in, when cast out of all, as he did David, Psalms 27:10 and David’s parents, 1 Samuel 22:4 and the apostles, 2 Corinthians 6:10 and the English exiles in Queen Mary’s days, and, before them, Luther, who, being asked where he thought to be safe, answered Under Heaven , Sub caelo Scultet. Annal. and yet before him, those persecuted Waldenses, after whom the Romish dragon cast out so much water as a flood, but the earth swallowed it; Revelation 12:15 and God so provided that they could travel from Cullen in Germany to Milan in Italy, and every night lodge with hosts of their own profession. Cade. Of the Church , p. 180. The waters of affliction are often gathered together against the godly, but, by God’s gracious appointment, ever under the heaven, - where our conversation is, Philippians 3:20 though our commoration be a while upon earth, - and unto one place, as the text here has it. Pareus, in loc. The dry land will appear, and we shall come safe to shore, be sure of it. The rock of eternity, Isaiah 26:4 whereupon we are set, is above all billows. Washed we may be, as Paul was in the shipwreck; drowned we cannot be, because in the same bottom with Christ, and "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." 1 Peter 1:5

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And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good.

He called earth. — This is, the earth which we tread (namely, still the land which we manage, the land we desire.) Hoc est, terrain quam terimus (est enim, etiam, terra quam gerimus - our bodies; - and terra quam quaerimus, - heaven) This he called earth , that is, he set it and settled it by the word of his power. Where we may well wonder that the earth, being founded upon the seas, and prepared upon the floods, and poised in the just proportion, by line, and measure, should abide steadfast; when the high mountains, which do, as it were, imboss the earth, may seem able to shake it, oversway it, and tumble it into the sea. Bark. On Com.

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And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

Ver. 11,12. Let the earth bring forth, … — "Grass for the cattle, and herb for the use of man" Psalms 104:14 and both these before either man or beast were created. He made meat before mouths. He fills for us two bottles of milk before we come into the world. Herbs and other creatures we have still to eat and to enjoy. ad esum et ad usum Our land flows not with "milk" only, for necessity; but with "honey" too, for delight. Nature, amidst all, is content with a little; grace, with less. Sing we merrily with him Georg. Farbric. Chemnicensis

Hoc mihi pro certo, quod vitam qui dedit, idem

Et velit et possit suppeditare eibum.

This to me, for certain, because he who gave life, the same

And he wishes and is able to supply needs.

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And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

And the earth brought forth, … — Augustine Augustine, De Gen. ad Literam , l. iii. c. 18. thinks that thorns and thistles, brambles and briers were before the fall, though not in the same abundance as now. Basil thinks otherwise, and that till sin came in, the rose was without prickles. It is likely there were such shrubs at first created, non ut loederent hominem non peccantem, sed peccaturum, saith Pareus. Now since the fall, all creatures are armed against man: as that sword which Hector gave Ajax, which, so long as he used against men, his enemies, served for help and defence; but after he began to abuse it to the hurt of haemless beasts, it turned into his own bowels.

Yielding fruit after his kind. — So that men do not "gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles". Luke 6:44 "Can a fig tree," saith James, "bear olive berries? or a vine, figs?"; James 3:12 that were monstrous. And should not every man in like manner bear his own fruit, proper to his kind, to his calling? do his own work? weed his own gardens. "walk within his own house with a perfect heart," Psalms 101:2 till God come unto him? Come he will, and look for fruit in its season. When he comes, he will turn up your leaves; and look that, like the tree of life, Revelation 22:21 we bear fruit every month: or that we be like the lemon tree, which ever and anon sendeth forth new lemons as soon as the former are fallen down with ripeness; or the Egyptian fig tree, which, saith Solinus, Unde pomum decerpseris, alterum sine mora protuberat - Sol. in Polyhist. , c. 45. beareth fruit seven times a year; pull off a fig, and another breaks forth in the place shortly after. Now if we be found like the barren fig tree, Luke 13:6-9 that had leaves only; or the cypress tree, which is said to be fair and tall, but altogether fruitless; or the cyparittree, of which Pliny Pliny, l. x. affirms, that it is always fruitless; natu morosa, fructu supervacanea, baccis parva, foliis amara, odore violenta, ac ne umbra quidem gratiosa what can we expect, but that he should set down his basket, and taking up his axe, hew us down as fuel for the fire of hell? Spain is said to have nothing barren in it, or not some way useful; In Hispania nihil ignavum, nihil sterile. - Solin and why should Christ’s orchard, the Church? He pares and prunes αιρει χαηαιρει , John 15:2 his leaves and luxuriancies; yea, cuts and slashes where need requires; and all that we may bear more fruit. Sincerity alone will not comfort a man, unless it grow up to fruitfulness; which, springing from the exercise of grace, hath a sweet reflection on the soul, as in sick Hezekiah; Isaiah 38:3 and sweetly seals up our "calling to glory and virtue," 2 Peter 1:3 as the budding of Aaron’s rod did his calling to the priesthood: whereupon one well observeth, that not only all the plants of God’s setting, but the very boughs cut off from the body of them will flourish. Here some demand, Were the trees so created at first, that if sin had never entered, they had ever flourished, laden with fruit? Answer is made by a worthy divine, Brightm. On Rev. that the allusion Revelation 22:2 seems to intimate some such matter. And perhaps Christ would else never have cursed the fruitless fig tree, since the time of figs was not yet come. Mark 11:13

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And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: Genesis 1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

Ver. 14,15. Let there be light. — The sun, moon, and stars, are, as it were, certain vessels, whereinto the Lord did gather the light, which before was scattered in the heavens. The sun, that prince of planets, but servant to the saints of the Most High, as his name imports, שׁîשׁ of שׁîשׁ , Chald. ministravit. cometh "out of his chamber as a bridegroom, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race"; Psalms 119:5 this he doth with such a wonderful swiftness, as exceedeth the eagle’s flight, more than it goeth beyond the slow motion of a snail: and with such incomparable "sweetness," Ecclesiastes 11:7 that Eudoxus, the philosopher, professed that he would be willing to be burnt up by the sun presently, so he might be admitted to come so near it as to learn the nature of it. In aeternum atri et tetri sunto et habentor, qui non tam cute quam corde Aethiopici, Solem quo magis luceat, eo magis execrentur! Plutarch. Chrysostom Chrysost., Hom. 8 ad pop. Antioch. cannot but wonder, that whereas all fire tends upwards, the sun should shoot down his rays to the earth, and send his light abroad all beneath him. This is the Lord’s own work, and it ought to be marvellous in our eyes. Deuteronomy 4:19 It illuminates and beautifies all the orbs and heavenly bodies about it; yea, it strikes through the firmament, in the transparent parts, and seeks to bestow his beauty and brightness even beyond the heavens. It illightens even the opposite part of heaven (gliding by the sides of the earth) with all those glorious stars we see shining in the night. Bolt. Walk with God. Yea, it insinuates in every chink and cranny of the earth, and concurs to the making of those precious metals which lie in her bowels, besides those "precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and the precious things thrust forth by the moon." Deuteronomy 33:14 For as the sun by warmth, so the moon by moisture, maketh the earth fruitful: whence also she hath her name in the Hebrew, éøç , Jareach, from refreshing the earth with her cool influences. She is here called a "light," and a "great light": therefore she hath some light of her own, as the stars also have, besides what she borroweth of the sun; though not strong enough to rule the night without light from the sun. Galileo used perspectives to descry mountains in the moon; and some will needs place hell in the hollow of it. It is easy to discern that her body is not all alike lightsome, some parts being thicker and some thinner than others, and that the light of the sun falling on her is not alike diffused through her. It is sufficient that the Church looketh forth, at first, as the morning or day-dawning; she shall be "fair as the moon" at least in regard of sanctification, and (for justification) "clear as the sun," and therefore to the devil and his angels "terrible as an army with banners." Song of Solomon 6:10 Clouded she may be, or eclipsed, but not utterly darkened, or denied of light. Astronomers D. Hackwel’s Apolog. Preface. tell us, that she hath at all times as much light as in the full; but oftentimes a great part of the bright side is turned to heaven, and a lesser part to the earth. God seems therefore to have set it lowest in the heavens, and nearest the earth, that it might daily put as in mind of the constancy of the one and the inconstancy of the other; herself in some sort partaking of both, though in a different manner; of the one in her substance, of the other in her visage.

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And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also. Genesis 1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

Ver. 16,17. He made also the stars. — To be receptacles of that first light, whence they are called "stars of light," Psalms 148:3 and to work upon inferior bodies, which they do by their motion, light, and influence, efficiendo imbres, ventos, grandines, procellas, sudum, …, by causing foul or fair weather, as God appoints it. Stars are the storehouses of God’s good treasure, which he openeth to our profit. Deuteronomy 28:12 By their influence they make a scatter of riches upon the earth, which good men gather, and muckworms scramble for. Every star is like a purse of gold, out of which God throws down riches and plenteousness into the earth. "The heavens" also are "garnished" by them; Job 26:13 they are, as it were, the spangled curtain of the bridegroom’s chamber, the glorious and glittering rough-cast of his heavenly palace, the utmost court of it, at least, from the which they twinkle to us, and teach us to remember our and their Creator, who in them makes himself visible, nay "palpable" ψηλφησειαν , Acts 17:27 His wisdom, power, justice, and goodness are lined out unto us in the brows of the firmament; the countenance whereof we are bound to mark, and to discern the face of the heavens, which therefore are somewhere compared to a scroll that is written. "The heavens," those catholic preachers, "declare the glory of God," …; "their line," saith David; Psalms 19:1 ; ÷éìí , Habakkuk 3:3 "their voice," saith Paul, citing the same text φηογγος , Romans 10:18 is gone out throughout all the earth; they are real postils of his divinity. These, nay, far meaner creatures, teach us, as Balaam’s ass did that mad prophet; 2 Peter 2:16 to this school are we now put back, as idle truants to their A B C. Only let us not, as children, look most on the babies on the backside of our books; gaze not, as they do, on the gilded leaves and covers, never looking to our lessons; but as travellers in a foreign country, observe and make use of everything, not content with the natural use of the creature, as brute beasts, but mark how every creature reads us a divinity lecture, from the highest angel to the lowest worm.

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And God created great 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.

And God created great whales. — In creating whereof, creavit Deus vastitates et stupores. For, as Pliny Pliny, l. ix. c. 3. - Ad quas nautae appellentes nonnunquam magnum incurrunt discrimen. writes of them, when they swim and show themselves above water, they seem to be so many islands, an nare insulas putes and have been so esteemed by seafaring men, to their great danger and disadvantage. Into the rivers of Arabia, saith Pliny, Pliny, l. xxxii, c. 1. - Cur pisces vocat reptiles? Repere communiter dicuntur omnia αποδα , vel quae habent pedes breviores ut mures, … there have come whales 600 feet long, and 360 feet broad. This is "that leviathan" that plays in the sea, besides other "creeping" or moving "things innumerable". Psalms 104:25 This one word of God’s mouth, Fiat , hath made such infinite numbers of fishes, that their names may fill a dictionary. Philosophers tell us that whatsoever creature is upon the earth, there is the like thereof in the sea, yea, many that are nowhere else to be found; but with this difference, that those things that on the earth are hurtful, the like thereunto in the waters are hurtless, as eels, those water snakes, are without poison, …, yea, they are wholesome and delicious food. Piscis comes of paseo ; and in Hebrew the same word áøëä signifieth a pond or fishpool, and blessing. Many islands are maintained, and people fed by fish, besides the wealth of the sea. The ill-favoured oyster hath sometimes a bright pearl in it. In allusion whereunto "we have our treasure," that pearl of price, the gospel, saith Paul, οστραξινοις σξευασιν , "in oyster-shells". 2 Corinthians 4:7 And albeit now "every creature of God is good," and "to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe"; 1 Timothy 4:3-4 yet under the Law, those fish only were reputed clean that had fins and scales. Deuteronomy 14:9 So saith St. Bernard, Bern., Serm. in Dei Sancti Andreae are those only clean in the sight of God, that have the scales of patience, and fins of cheerfulness. qui squamas et loricam habent patientiae, et pinnulas hilaritatis

And every winged fowl. — Birds were made of all Sour elements, yet have more of the earth. Genesis 2:19 And therefore that they are so light, and do so delight in the air, it is so much the more marvellous. They sing not at all till they have taken up a stand to their mind; nor shall we praise God till content with our estate. They use not to sing when they are on the ground, but when got into the air, or on the tops of trees. Nor can we praise God aright, unless weanedly affected to the world. It was a good speech of heathen Epictetus, Epist. Enchirid Si luscinia essem, facerem quod luscinia. Cure autem homo rationalis sim, quid faciam? Laudabo Deum, nec cessabo unquam; vos vero, ut idem faciatis, hortor. But concerning the creation of birds, there is in Macrobius Morneus, De Verit. Relig. c. 9. a large dispute and disquisition, whether were first, the egg or the bird? And here reason cannot resolve it, since neither can the egg be produced without the bird, nor yet the bird without the egg. But now both Scripture and nature determine it, that all things were at first produced in their essential perfection.

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And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Be fruitful and multiply. — By bidding them do so, he made them do so, for his words are operative. Trismegist saith the self-same things in effect that Moses here doth. God, saith he, crieth out to his works by his holy word, saying, "Bring ye forth fruit, grow and increase," … Note the harmony here, and in twenty more passages, between Mercury and Moses. Morneus, De Verit. Relig. c. 9. God hath not left his truth without witness from the mouths of heathen writers. We may profitably read them, but not for ostentation. That were to make a calf of the treasure gotten out of Egypt.

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