성경 주석서

Genesis 1:26. Let us make man in our image— Behold the finishing stroke of the Divine Creator, Man, the last and greatest work of God. Animal life was produced: but now at last the crown of creation is brought forth in a rational soul. The earth, like a stately palace furnished for his reception, seems to call for the great inhabitant; one who can be the tongue of this lower world, and render to the great Author of all, the praise of his glorious works.

The plurals us and our, afford an evident proof of a plurality of Persons in the Godhead: nor can the seeming contradiction of one and more being in the Godhead, be otherwise reconciled, than by acknowledging a plurality of Persons in the Unity of Essence. It is pretended, that God here speaks in the plural number after the manner of princes, who are used to say, We will and require; or, It is our pleasure. But this is only the invention and practice of latter times, and no way agreeable to the simplicity, either of the first ages of the world, or of the Hebrew style. The Kings of Israel used to speak of themselves in the singular number; and so did the Eastern Monarchs: I (Darius) makes decree. Ezra 7:21. I, even I Artaxerxes the King, do make a decree. Nor is there one example in scripture to the contrary. It is, therefore, a rash and presumptuous attempt, without any warrant, to thrust the usages of modern style into the sacred scripture. Besides, the Lord doth generally speak of himself in the singular number, some few places excepted, wherein the plural number is used for the signification of this mystery.

Man— In Hebrew Adam, so called from אדמה adamah, i.e.. red mould or earth. It was the name of the woman also. See chap. Genesis 5:2. Male and female created he them, and called their name Adam. Calmet observes, that the same word signifies beautiful in the AEthiopian language; and Michaelis renders it, pulcherrimam creaturam, a most beautiful creature.

In our image, after our likeness— Behold the pattern after which he was formed: no less than God himself. This likeness to God chiefly appeared, (1.) In his possessing a rational and immortal soul. His body, however beautiful and glorious, was of the earth, earthy; his spirit from the Father of spirits, a ray from the uncreated Sun of light and life. (2.) In the rectitude and purity of his nature. His understanding capacious, distinct, and clear; his will turning to God's will, as clay to the seal; self-inclined, and ever ready to hear and to obey: his affections, without wandering or distraction, supremely fixed on one great object, and finding all their enjoyment in his love and service. To live for God was as natural as to breathe; and all his conversation was holy, as God is holy. Ah happy state! But how fallen now is man! How defaced this image! How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! O Lord, raise up these desolations of many generations! (3.) He represented God on earth. All things were put under his feet; they paid their homage to man, as he to God. But sin hath broken the tie: and since man played the rebel first, no wonder the creatures have revolted from him, and scarce can now be reduced to serve him. The whole creation groaneth. Lord, hasten the day of restitution, when this disordered world once more shall rise from the furnace, and righteousness again shall dwell in it!

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Genesis 1:27. Male and female created he them— Man is but half himself without his partner woman. From this original pair descend the numerous generations of men that have overspread the earth. How foolish and vain then is the pride of pedigree, when the beggar on the dunghill can claim the most ancient and ennobled extraction, as the son of Adam, who was the son of God! Luke 3:38. We have, in the literal sense, one Father; we are brethren of one family, the same blood runs in our veins, and therefore brotherly affection should be in our hearts one to another. O when shall it be, that we shall practise this great duty, to love one another out of a pure heart fervently!

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Genesis 1:28. God blessed them, &c.— He pronounced his blessing upon them: he gave them the earth as their possession, and commanded them to multiply and replenish it with inhabitants. Children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord.

And subdue it— Man by his superior wisdom is furnished with methods to make the fiercest animals yield, and the strongest to serve him; and he hath dominion over all, by grant from God himself. We have forfeited it by sin, but God in mercy hath not wholly resumed it: though much is lost, and all had been, were it not for the Repairer of the breach, who is come to be the Saviour of all men; but especially of those who believe; to them all is restored, for all is ours, in the sanctified use of them, when we are Christ's.

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Genesis 1:29. It shall be for meat— It is evident from this grant of food to man, in the present verse, and from that to the brute animals in the next, that the use of flesh in the beginning was allowed to neither: and, consequently, that the now carnivorous animals then fed upon grass, &c. as the tame ones amongst us do at present. The ancients mention this as one characteristic of the golden age:

"Not so the golden age, who fed on fruit, Nor durst with bloody meals their hands pollute."

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Genesis 2:1. Host of them— All the creatures in the heavens and the earth are called their hosts, for their multitude, variety, order, power, and subjection to the Lord of hosts. Nothing remained farther to be done; the whole was finished to the utmost perfection, and regulated in the exactest order.

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Genesis 2:2. Rested— This word (ישׁבת ishboth) is not opposed to weariness, but to work, or action. And therefore all the idle sarcasms which have been cast upon Moses and his God, are built upon ignorance and misunderstanding of the fact. God, an Almighty and Omnipotent Spirit, can neither faint nor be weary: but he may cease from exerting certain operations of his power; as here he ceased to exert his divine energy in the formation of new productions. This is all that is intended: He ceased not from his work of Providence, and superintendence of what he had created.

It should be observed here; that in this account of the creation, the Deity is in many particulars represented κατ ανθρωποπειας, after the manner of men. In many parts of scripture, he is represented with human parts, and human passions: not that this is by any means the case, but only to give us the best idea possible of such actions in the Deity as we could have no idea of at all, except from this method of analogy. It will be sufficient to have made this remark once.

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Genesis 2:3. God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it— Blessed, i.e.. says Mr. Locke, appointed it to be kept as a day of holy rejoicing; and sanctified it, i.e.. separated, or set it apart, for his own use; that, upon it, men might cease from their work, as he had ceased from his; and employ their time in worshipping and thanking him for his mercies and benefits conferred upon them.

The word שׁבעי shebei, seventh, comes from שׁבע shabang, which signifies sufficiency, or completion, because God on that day completed, or finished, all his work, and made it sufficient for the purposes intended by it. The seventh day was thus sanctified, or set apart, from the beginning, as a religious sabbath, or rest, to remind believers of that rest which God then entered into, and of that שׁבע shabang, completion, or fulness of joy, which is in his presence for evermore.

REFLECTIONS.—1. The sabbath is of divine appointment. One day in seven God claims wholly for himself, to remember him in the works he hath wrought. Whether the day we observe, answer exactly to that seventh which was at first appointed, is perhaps dubious. Mr. Kennedy, in his Scripture Astronomy, has, in the judgment of many, proved that it does. But this we know, that it is the day when the Redeemer entered into his rest, after perfecting the work of our redemption, and is now ordained to perpetuate not only the remembrance of the old, but also of the more glorious new creation.

"'Twas great to raise a world from nought, But greater to redeem." WATTS. 2. It is a holy day. Every day of our life should be devoted to God's service; but one in seven is more peculiarly to be set apart for the Lord, to be withdrawn from worldly occupations, and to be spent in the delightful work of prayer and praise, of meditation and mutual conference, tending to raise up our minds to him, the great Author of every blessing, and to prepare us for the rest, which remaineth in the eternal world for the people of God.—How impious then and profane, to pollute it with works of common labour; and how much more profane, to prostitute it to the purposes of pleasure, vain company, idle amusements, or works of wickedness! Shall he not visit for these things? 3. It is a blessed day. God will meet those who spend it with him, who call the sabbath a delight; and he will fill them with his consolations. They will find it is good for them to be with him; and every such day spent on earth will quicken their desires after, and increase their relish for, the eternal sabbath, when he shall take them to himself, as his blessed children, to inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.

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Genesis 2:4. Generations— תולדות Toldoth, sometimes signifies the origin of the thing treated of, and sometimes the posterity of those who are mentioned. Here it means the origin, or successive production, of the world; as much as to say, "this is the true and faithful account of the origin," &c.

Lord— By this word our translators have chosen to render, throughout their translation, יהוה Jehovah, the peculiar and appropriated name of God; which first occurs here, but will be explained more suitably when we come to the third chapter of Exodus, and the 15th verse. It is joined with אלהים Elohim here, Jehovah Elohim, by apposition, says Le Clerc, to shew, that the God (Elohim) who created the world is the same Jehovah whom the Israelites worshipped. The Hebrew Doctors observe, that Jehovah Elohim, Lord God, is the full and perfect name of God; and therefore fitly reserved to this place, when the works of God were perfected.

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