성경 주석서

And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

And the Lord God said. — Had said; to wit, on the sixth day when he made man, and there was not a meet help found for him. Then God said, "It is not good," …, and so created the woman by deliberate counsel, as before he had done the man. Only there it was in the plural, "Let us make," here, "I will make"; to show the unity of the essence of the Trinity of persons.

It is not good for man to be alone. — It is neither for his profit, nor his comfort. Optimum solatium sodalitium. The Hebrews, in their bigger Genesis, say, He who wanteth a wife, wanteth a help, a joy, a blessing, an expiation: R. Josua saith, he wants a name: R. Levi addeth, he wants life: R. Hija, the son of Gamri, saith, he is no perfect man who is unmarried: R. Iose saith, such a one is without a wall, without glory, riches, a crown, favour. εφυγον κοκον ευρον αμεινον - Athenis in nuptiis dici solitun. Zenod. Proverb.

I will make him a help meet for him. — Or, such another as himself, of the same form for perfection of nature, and for gifts inward and outward; one in whom he may see himself, and that may be to him as an alter-ego , a second self. Ephesians 5:28 Such a one as may be a help to him - both for this life, (1.) by continual society and cohabitation; (2.) for procreation and education of children; - and for the life to come, (1.) as a remedy against sin; 1 Corinthians 7:2 (2.) as a companion in God’s service. 1 Peter 3:7 Nazianzen ου συνεργος μονον αλλακι αρχηγος εγενετο - Naz. in Pat. Epitaph. saith, that his mother was not only a meet help to his father in matters of piety, but also a doctress and a governess; and yet he was no baby, but an able minister of the gospel. Budaeus, that learned Frenchman, had a great help of his wife in points of learning; she would be as busy in his study as about her housewifery. Placilla, the Empress, was a singular help to her husband, Theodosius, in things both temporal and spiritual. And so was our King Edward III’s Queen, a lady of excellent virtue, the same that built Queen’s College in Oxford. She drew evenly, saith the historian, Non tractat negligentius libros meos quam liberos. - Daniel’s Chron. fol. 262. with the king her husband in all the courses of honour that appertained to her side, and seemed a piece so just cut for him, as answered him rightly in every joint.

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And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.

To see what he would call them. — If he had been permitted to name himself, it should have been, probably, the son of God, as he is called by Luke, Luke 3:38 in regard of his creation. But God, to humble him, calls him, first, Adam, and after the fall, Enosh, that is, frail, sorry man, a mass of mortality, a mass of misery.

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And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

Adam gave names. — A sign of his sovereignty; Numbers 32:38 ; Numbers 32:41 an argument also of his wisdom, in giving them names according to their natures, as Hebricians well know.

But for Adam there was not found, … — God set all the creatures before him, ere he gave him a wife: (1.) That, seeing the sexes, he might desire to have a help in his kind and nature also. Men should not marry till they find in themselves the need of a wife. (2.) That seeing no other fit help, he might the more prize her. Ut ei commendatius esset Dei donum. - Pet. Martyr .

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And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep. — It may be thought that Adam, observing that among all the creatures there was no meet match found for him, prayed in this deep sleep, or ecstasy, that such a help might be given unto him. This is Peter Martyr’s note upon the text. Isaac went forth to pray, Genesis 24:63 , marg. when he had sent forth for a wife; and it was but reason. "For a prudent wife is from the Lord". Proverbs 19:14 And he that "findeth a wife, findeth a good thing," Proverbs 18:22 saith the wise man. A wife, that is, a good wife; for every married woman is not a wife, unless she be a help to her husband, in the best things especially. The heathen well saith, that every man when he marrieth, brings either a good or an evil spirit into his house, and so makes it either a heaven or a hell. A bad wife is but the image of a wife; or, as Lamech’s wife’s name was a shadow of a wife, Tsilla, umbra ipius. - Gatak . And it is a device of the Rabbins, but the moral is good, that in the names of Ish and Ishah is included Jah , the name of God; and that, if you take out Jod and He , whereof that name consists, there remains nothing but Esch, Esch , fire, fire; the fire of dissension and brawl, which burneth and consumeth to the fire of hell. It is not evil therefore to marry, but it is good to be wary to "marry in the Lord," as the apostle hath it. He that marrieth in the Lord, marrieth also with the Lord; and he cannot be absent from his own marriage. A good wife was one of the first real and royal gifts bestowed upon Adam; and God consults not with him to make him happy. As he was ignorant while himself was made, so shall he not know while a second self is made out of him; both that the comfort might be greater than was expected, as also that he might not upbraid his wife with any great dependence or obligation; he neither willing the work nor suffering any pain to have it done. See Yates’s Model . The rib can challenge no more of her than the earth can of him.

And he took one of his ribs. — The woman was made of a bone, saith a reverend writer, B. King’s Vitis Palatina. and but one bone, ne esset ossea lest she should be stiff and stubborn. The species of the bone is expressed to be a rib, a bone that might be best spared, because there are many of them: a bone of the side, not of the head; the wife must not usurp authority over her husband: nor yet of the foot; she is not a slave, but a fellow-helper. A bone, not of any anterior part; she is not praelata , preferred before the man: neither yet of any hinder part; she is not post-posita , set behind the man: but a bone of the side, of the middle and indifferent part, to show that she is a companion, and "the wife of thy covenant". Malachi 2:14 A bone she is from under the arm, to put man in mind of protection and defence to the woman. A bone not far from his heart, to put him in mind of dilection and love to the woman. A bone from the left side, as many think likely, A yoke-fellow standing upon even ground with thee, though drawing on the left side. - Gatak. where the heart is, to teach that hearty love ought to be betwixt married couples.

Uxorem vir amato,

marito pareat uxor:

Conjugis illa suae cor,

caput ille suae.

A man will love his wife,

the wife should be obedient to her husband

The husband is that heart of her,

That husband is the head of her.

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And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And the rib which the Lord God had taken. — Matter, in the beginning of time, was taken from man to make a woman. And matter, in the fulness of time, was taken from a woman to make a man, even "the man Christ Jesus". 1 Timothy 2:5 And as out of the side of sleeping Adam Eve was formed; so, from the blood issuing out of the side and flesh of dying Christ, came his spouse the Church. His chief care therein was to "sanctify and cleanse" Ephesians 5:26 his Church, and therefore he "came by water and blood". 1 John 5:6 So should it be every husband’s; then would not the devil so oft break his head with his own rib; or, as St Gregory hath it, climb so oft by his rib to his heart, as by a ladder. Diabolus per costam tanquam per scalam, ad cor Adami ascendit. - Mor , lib. iii. e. 5. Sic Phoroneus, apud Bruson, l. vii. c. 22. A good wife doth him good, and not evil, all her days. But this is not every man’s happiness. Lucky Sulla, if he should not have had a wife. Sulla faellx, si non habuisset uxorem! So Job and Moses, for whom marriage caused problems. quorum conjugium, conjurgium There is in most a propension to the nuptial conjunction. The man misseth his rib, say the Rabbins; Requirit vir costam suam, requirit femina sedem suam. Hinc Ruth 3:1 ; Ruth 3:9 . Annon quaererem tibi requiem? - Aben- ezra. the woman would be in her old place again, under the man’s arm or wing. "Then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?" Ruth 3:1

Made he a woman. — Heb., builded, that is, created with special care, art, and fit proportion, in the manner of a house. A body hath God given the woman more capacious and roomy, both for the conceiving and containing of her young babe, which dwells in her womb, as in its house, and hath all its household stuff, as it were, about it, till time produce it into the light of life. Adam was formed, Eve built; her frame consists of rarer rooms, of a more exact composition than his doth. And if place be any privilege, we find, saith one, hers built in Paradise, when his was made out of it.

And brought her unto the man. — Marriage, then, is of Divine institution. The Saturnalian heretics sinfully said, that it was of the devil. And the blemish will never be wiped off from some of the ancients, who, to establish their own idol, of, I know not what virginity, have written most wickedly and basely against marriage. Three things we have here out of Moses to say for it against whatsoever opposite - viz., God’s (1.) Spoke; (2.) Led; (3.) Blessed. Genesis 1:28 Dixit, Duxit, Benedixit God the Father ordained it; God the Son honoured it with His first miracle; God the Holy Ghost did the like, by overshadowing the betrothed Virgin. Papists and others that disgrace it appear herein more like devils than divines, if Paul may be judge; 1 Timothy 4:2-3 or Ignatius, who saith, If any call marriage a defilement, he hath the devil dwelling in him, and speaking by him. Habet inhabitatorem Draconem Apostatam. - Ignat. Epist. ad Philad.

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And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

This is now bone of my bone. — This sentence, saith Tertullian, and, after him, Beda, is the first prophecy that was ever uttered in the world. And it is uttered in a way of admiration, which they that are taken with, do commonly use a concise kind of speech; especially if overjoyed, as Adam here was upon the first sight of the woman; whom he no sooner saw but knew, and thereupon cried out as wondering at God’s goodness to himself, "This now is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." Luther, the night before he died, was reasonably well, and sat with his friends at table. The matter of their discourse was, whether they should know one another in heaven, or not. Luther held it affirmatively, and this was one reason he gave: Adam as soon as he saw Eve, knew what she was, not by discourse, but by divine revelation; so shall we in the life to come. All the saints shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, having communion with them, not only as godly men, but as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And if with them, why not with others? Melch. Adam. Chrysostom Iδου, ο Pετρος, και ο Pαυλος saith, we shall point them out, and say, Lo, yonder is Peter, and that’s Paul, and there are the prophets, apostles, …

She shall be called woman. — Or maness, of man; as Ishah of Ish. He gave her her name from his own, by taking away one numeral letter that stands for ten, and adding another that stands for five; to note her infirmity, and duty of submitting to her husband, whose very naming of her notes her subjection.

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Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Therefore shall a man leave, … — Whether these are the words of God, Adam, or Moses, it is uncertain, and not much material. Paraeus ad locum. The husband is bound more to love his wife than his parents, in regard of domestical communion, adhesion, and cohabitation, not in regard of honour, obedience, and recompense.

And they two shall be one flesh. — Two in one flesh; not three or four, as the patriarchs of old, through ignorance, or inobservance of that plain prohibition. Leviticus 18:18 It is possible they might mistake the word sister for one so by blood, which was spoken of a sister by nation, as those clauses, "to vex her," and "during her life," do evince.

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Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Now the serpent was more subtile, … — And so a more fit instrument of that old serpent the devil, that deceiveth all the world. Revelation 12:9 πανουργος Theodotion; cui Paulus opponit την απλοτητα , "simplicity," 2 Corinthians 11:3 quam mundus vocat silliness , sheepishness. Good natural parts abused, prove rather as pressmoney to impiety, Authoramentum majoris infidelitatis. - Tertul. as he phraseth it, and their wisdom was the crime counselor, culpa suasoria as Ambrose speaketh. Wit unsanctified is a fit tool for the devil to work with. Neither is there a likelier anvil in all the shop of hell, whereon to forge mischief, than one that is learned and lewd, wittily wicked. ingeniose nequam

And he said, — that is, the devil in the serpent, as the angel in Balaam’s ass. Satan istius prima fabulae poeta fuit, serpens histrio. By the ear he brought death into the world; and God, to cross him, brings life in by the same door; for it is, "Hear, and your souls shall live". Isaiah 55:3 The dragon bites the elephant’s ear, and thence sucks his blood; because he knows that to be the only place which he cannot reach with his trunk to defend. Pliny, l. viii., c. 25. So here, that great red dragon dealt with miserable mankind, setting first upon the woman as the weaker vessel - where the hedge is lowest, there the beast leaps over - and so climbing by Adam’s rib to his heart, as by a ladder, as I said before, out of St Gregory.

Yea, hath God said? — In the Chaldee, Is it true that God hath said? A concise expression, implying that this was not the first of their discourse; something had been said before. Vide simile, Ruth 2:21 , in Hebraeo. It is not safe parleying with the devil. Satan et si semel videatur verax, millies est mendax et semper fallax. Halter him up therefore, and stop his mouth φιμωθητι soon, as our Saviour did. Or do as the French say in their proverb, When the Spaniard comes to parley of peace, then double bolt the door. The Hollanders are said to make no conditions with the Spaniard, but such as are made at sea, and scaled with great ordinance, … Greenham, Spec. Bel. Sacr. He shoots with Satan in his own bow that thinks by parleying with him to put him off.

Hath God said, Ye shall not eat? — Here he began his assault upon our first parents; here, upon Christ, Matthew 4:3 ; Matthew 3:17 and here he doth still upon us; endeavonring to elevate [ Levis : make light of] the truth and certainty of God’s word, and to weaken our faith in his precepts, promises, and menaces. And here, if he take us out of our trenches, if he can but wring this sword of the Spirit out of our hands he may do what he will with us. Get but the heretics, said that subtle sophister, out of the paper walls of the Scriptures, into the open fields of fathers and councils, and ye shall soon do well enough with them. Bristow’s Motives.

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