성경 주석서

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

And a river went out. — Pliny writeth, Plin., l. ii., c. 106. that in the province of Babylon there is burning and smothering a certain lake or bog, about the size of an acre. And who knows, whether that be not a piece of Paradise now drowned and destroyed?

return to '

The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;

Where there is gold. — Which, though never so much admired and studiously acquired, is but the guts and garbage of the earth. Gold is that which the basest element yields, the most savage Indians get, servile apprentices work, Midianitish camels carry, miserable muckworms adore, unthrifty ruffians spend. It is to be wondered that, treading upon these minerals, we cannot contemn them. They lie farthest from heaven, and the best of them in Havilah, farthest of all from the Church. Adam had them in the first paradise. In the second we shall not need them. Money is the monarch of this world, and answers all things; but in the matters of God, money bears no mastery, will fetch in no commodity Job 28:15 Wise men esteemed it as the stones of the street. 2 Chronicles 1:15 Children of wisdom might not possess it in their girdles. Matthew 10:9 Medes cared not for it; Isaiah 13:17 and devils were sent to keep rich and pleasant palaces. Isaiah 13:22 So subject these metals are to ensnare and defile us, that God made a law to have them purified, ere he would have them used, Numbers 31:22-23 and appointed the snuffers and snuff-dishes Exodus 25:38 of the sanctuary to be made of pure gold, to teach us to make no account of what he put to so base offices, and is frequently given to so bad men. The Spaniard Heyl. Geog ., p. 714. found in the mines of America more gold than earth. Hasten we to that country where "God shall be our gold, and we shall have plenty of silver" Job 22:25 , margin

return to '

And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone.

And the gold of that land is good. — But pale, because it feareth, saith one, wittily, those many that lie in wait for it. Sed melius est pallens aurum, quam fulgens aurichalcum. Bernard. The common cry is, "Who will show us any good?" Psalms 4:6 That will I, saith God to Moses, when he gave him a glimpse of his glory. Exodus 33:19 and I will "show thee, O man, what is good," … Ostendam tibi omne bonum Micah 6:8-9 As for gold, how good soever in itself, it is to men but an imaginary good at best: for it is opinion which setteth the price upon it: brass or leather, forma publica percussum saith Seneca, that is, stamped for coin, may pass as well as gold; it did so some time in the Roman provinces; and here in England also, in the time of the barons’ wars. Yea, gold oft proves to the possessors a real evil. Proverbs 1:19-20 It doth always so, when it gets within them, τα ενοντα as it did within the covetous Pharisees, so that they "said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence". as Job 31:24 Pindar saith, it was an opinion of the people concerning Rhodes, that Jupiter rained down gold upon that city, so rich it was; yet is it now in slavery to the Turk. America is said to have as much gold ore as other earth: yet are the Americans bound by the proud Spaniard to be both popish and poor upon pain of death. Susiana, the country here called Havilah, the gold whereof is so good, had its name from Shushan or Susa, the palace of the kings of Persia, the stones whereof were joined together with gold, saith Cassiodorus: yet is it now called, in the Persian tongue, Valdac, from the poverty of the place. "Trust not," therefore, "in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy". 1 Timothy 6:17

And the onyx-stone. — Precious stones are but earth blemished and impure. terra maculae et immunditiae.

return to '

And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same [is] it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

The name of the second river is Gihon. — This is the same, say some, which the Egyptians call Nile. Others make it to be a channel of the river Euphrates, called by those that dwell near it Naharsares. The hill where Solomon was anointed king, was also called Gihon.

return to '

And the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel: that [is] it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] Euphrates.

Hiddekel. — Or Tigris, which hath its name from the swiftness of the stream: Tigris in the Median tongue signifieth an arrow , saith Curtius, which flieth very swiftly. The tiger also is the swiftest of all beasts. Hiddekel signifieth sharp, swift. Contrariwise, Nile floweth gently, Lene fluit Nilus saith Claudian; so do the waters of Shiloah, Isaiah 8:6 creeping and crooking" slowly" and slily, called therefore, as some think, "the dragon well". Nehemiah 2:13 And of the river Araris (probably Saone) in Germany, Caesar said, Oculis in utram partem fluat, iudicari non potest . - De Bel. Gal., l. i. whether it move forward, or backward, who can tell?

return to '

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

To dress it, and to keep it. — This he did as without necessity, so without pains, without weariness. It was rather his recreation than his occupation. He laboured now by an ordinance; it was after his fall laid upon him as a punishment, Genesis 3:19 to eat his bread in the sweat of his nose. God never made any, as he made Leviathan, to sport himself only; or to do, as it is said of the people of Tombutum in Africa, that they spend their whole time in piping and dancing; but to "work," either "with his hands" or his head, "in the sweat of his brow," or of his brain, "the thing that is good"; Ephesians 4:28 and with how much the more cheerfulness any one goeth about his business, by so much the nearer he cometh to his paradise.

return to '

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Commanded the man, saying. — God hath given man dominion over all the sublunary creatures; and lest he should forget that he had a Lord whom to serve and obey, he gave him this command to keep.

Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. — The less need he had to have been so lickerish after forbidden fruit. προθεραπειαν hic adhibet, quod misericordiae est. But stolen waters are sweet; Nitimur in vetitum, …

return to '

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

But of the tree, … — An exploratory prohibition. God knew well where we are weakest, and worst able to withstand; viz., about moderating the pleasures of our touch and taste, because these befall us not as men, but as living creatures. Arist. Ethic ., l. i., c. 3. Here, therefore, he lays a law upon Adam for the trial of his love, which, left to his own free will, he soon transgressed.

Thou shalt surely die. — Thou shalt surely and shortly, saith Zuinglius; or suddenly, die. Certissime citissimeque morieris And without doubt every man should die the same day he is born: the wages of death should be paid him presently. But Christ begs their lives for a season. For which cause he is said to be "the Saviour of all men," 1 Timothy 4:10 not of eternal preservation, but of temporal reservation. In which respect, also, God is said "so to have loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," … John 3:16 It was a mercy to all mankind that the Messiah was promised and provided, "sealed and sent into the world," that some might be saved, and the rest sustained in life, for their sakes. Symmachus renders it, Thou shalt be mortal.

return to '