with the subjects to which they relate. Such memoranda and genealogical tables written by the patriarchs or their immediate descendants, and preserved by their posterity until the time of Moses, may have been the sources to which he had recourse in constructing his narrative. He may have collected these, with additions from authentic tradition or existing monuments, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, into a single book.

Certain it is that several of the first chapters of Genesis have the air of being made up of selections from very ancient documents, written by different authors at different periods. The variety which is observable in the names and titles of the Supreme Being is appealed to among the most striking proofs of this fact. This is obvious in the English translation, but still more so in the Hebrew original. In Gen. 1-2. 3, which is really one piece of composition, as the title, v. 4, 'These are the generations,' shews, the name of the Most High is uniformly Elohim, God. In ch. 2. 4-ch. 3, which may be considered the second document, the title is uniformly 3 Yehovah Elohim, Lord God, and in the third including ch. 4, it is Yehovah, Lord, only, while in ch. 5, it is Elohim, God, only, except in v. 29, where a quotation is made and Yehovah used. It is hardly conceivable that all this should be the result of mere accident. The changes of the name correspond exactly to the changes in the narratives and the titles of the several pieces; and each document uniformly preserves the same name, except when a quotation is made, and then, as the fidelity of history requires, the name used by the person introduced as speaker, is inserted. It is impossible perhaps to decide definitely respecting the amount of quotations of this kind, but in the first fifteen chapters of the book it seems to be considerable. 'Now do all these accurate quotations,' says Prof. Stowe, 'impair the credit of the Mosaic books, or increase it? Is Marshall's Life of Washington to be regarded as unworthy of credit, because it contains copious extracts from Washington's correspondence, and literal quotations from important public documents? Is not its value greatly enhanced by this circumstance? The objection is altogether futile. In the common editions of the Bible the Pentateuch occupies about one hundred and fifty pages, of which perhaps ten may be taken up with quotations. This surely is no very large proportion for an historical work extending through so long a period.'

It is undoubtedly true that to an English reader the hypothesis of the compilation of the book of Genesis from pre-existent documents, may at first sight, appear strange and in some degree revolting. It will, however, bear the test of closer examination, and in proportion as our acquaintance with the book itself increases, our belief of the fact of its compilation will be apt also to strengthen. Pareau, a sober and moderate critic, uses the following strong language: 'Many have observed and proved beyond a doubt, that the book of Genesis is formed of various fragments, written by divers authors, and merely compiled by Moses, and thus prefixed to his own history.' (Inst. Interp. Vet. Test. p. 112.) He draws from the fact a strong argument in favour of the credibility and historical accuracy of the book. The inspired authority of the work is in nowise affected by this theory, for, as Jahn has well remarked, some of the documents are of such a nature, that they could have been derived only from immediate revelation; and the whole being compiled by an inspired writer, it has received the sanction of the Holy Spirit in an equal degree with his original productions.

§ 3. Commentators.

It was the author's original intention to have given a detailed view of the principal commentaries, and other sources of illustration, of which he has availed himself in the preparation of the ensuing notes. These he had purposed to have accompanied with such characterising notices as might aid the biblical student in making a selection of the most valuable works in this department. But after devoting so much space as he had already done to the various prolegomena contained in the foregoing pages, he soon found that it would be impracticable to do justice to his design, without doing injustice to a portion at least of his authorities. Under these circumstances he determined to wave the minute specification which entered into his original plan, and to put before the reader, in the most compendious form, a catalogue of important biblical works, a large portion of which he has consulted in the course of his labors. The list is by no means complete, nor would it perhaps be possible to present one so ample but the question might still be asked why it did not include more. In fact, this department of sacred litera ture is enlarging itself so rapidly by accessions from innumerable sources, that its very bibliography is becoming voluminous, and a catalogue that would answer a very good purpose this year becomes decidedly defective the next. The following enumeration, in which regard has been had to the wants of others than mere English readers, comprises the titles of what may be considered as at least the nucleus of a tolerably extensive apparatus for the study and the exposition of the sacred volume, but more especially of the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament.

Arab.

ABBREVIATIONS.

The Arabic version of the Polyglott.

Arab. Erpen. Another Arabic version published by Erpenius.

Chal.

The Chaldee version, or Targum of Onkelos.

Targ. Jon. The Targum of Jonathan.

Targ. Jerus. The Jerusalem Targum.

The Samaritan Pentateuch.

The Greek version of the Seventy.
The Syriac version of the Polyglott.

Sam.

Sept.

Syr.

Vulg.

The Latin version commonly called the Vulgate.

CHAPTER I.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and

15. & 17. 24. Col. 1. 16, 17. Heb. 11. 3. Rev. 4. 11. & 10. 6. c Ps. 33. 6. Is. 40. 13, 14.

logy or preamble, or any of the forma lities both common and proper in histories composed by men, acquaints us with the naked fact, that 'In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.'. Nothing is said by way of assertion or proof even of the fundamental truth of the being of a God. This is a truth taken for granted; as if the idea of its being questioned was an idea which never entered into the writer's mind; or as if it were designed to teach us that those who denied the exist ence of an intelligent First Cause, were rather to be rebuked than reasoned with. But although the Mosaic history of the creation does not embrace all the points on which it might have been supposed, a priori, that a divine revelation would have instructed us, yet it is to be borne in mind, that it is true as

The general scope of the first chapter of Genesis is too obvious to stand in need of comment. It is the record of the creation of the heavens and the earth-a work which we learn was not effected by a single instantaneous act of Omnipotence, but performed by gradual stages through the space of six successive periods of time, that begin to be reckoned from the first emergence of light from the previous darkness by which the globe was encompassed. Of the interval between the original production of the matter of which the earth was formed, and the formation of light, nothing is said, because the objects for which a revelation is given to man did not require any thing to be said. Nor does it appear that it entered into the design of the sacred writer, or rather of the Holy Spirit by whom he was mov-far as it goes, and in no way inconsisted, to give an account of the whole creation, but merely of that which it more immediately concerns us to know. The Scriptures were not written to gratify curiosity, not even all laudable curiosity, but to nourish faith and govern human conduct. Accordingly, they afford no answer to a multitude of questions that might be asked respecting the when and the why and the how of the divine operations. A simple it was so, is the sum total of the information given on a great variety of the most interesting subjects which can occupy the mind of man. An introduction of majestic sublimity ushered in without apo

ent, when rightly explained, with any subsequent discoveries which have been made in the structure of the globe, or the laws of the planetary system. As the Bible and the universe have one and the same Author, we may be sure that the truths of the one can never militate with those of the other. That they may in some cases apparently come in collision, may be admitted ; but time, and patient research, and a wider collation of facts, will not fail in the end to bring nature and revelation into the most perfect harmony with each other.

1. In the beginning. That is, in the be

ginning, or at the outset, of the work of
creation here recorded. Whether this
were absolutely at the beginning of time,
or even of the existence of the matter of
the heavens and the earth, cannot be de-
termined from the phraseology. The
design of the sacred writer seems to be
simply to carry back the mind of the
reader to the period previous to which
this wonderful fabric in its present state
did not exist. He does this in order to
convey, upon the highest possible autho-¶ God. The original for 'God,'
rity, the assurance, that the universe, as
it now appears, had both a beginning and
a creator; that it did not spring into be-
ing without a cause, nor, as some of the
ancient philosophers imagined, exist
from eternity. This was all that his
leading scope required him to say in this
connection; and all that the words in a
fair interpretation import. Taken along
with the context, the drift of the whole
verse seems to be to give, in a brief and
compendious form, a summary of the
work of creation, which is more fully
detailed in its various particulars in the
account of the six days following. Such
general statements not unfrequently oc-
cur in the sacred writers, as a preface to
more expanded details that follow.
Thus, it is said in general terms, v. 27,
that 'God created man in his own im-
age; male and female created he them ;'
whereas the particulars of their creation
are given at full length, ch. 2. 7, 18, 25.
Sometimes they stand at the close of a
chapter or paragraph, as a concise
summing up of the previous statement.
Thus after the particular recital of the
various work of the tabernacle, Ex.
39. 42, it is said, 'According to all that
the Lord commanded Moses, so the
children of Israel made all the work.'
In like manner, in speaking of the erec-
tion of a common edifice, it might be
said, 'such an architect built this house;'
and then, describing the process more
fully, 'he first laid the foundation, then
reared the walls, then put on the roof,
and finally added the ornaments.' It
is precisely on this plan that we sup-
pose the Mosaic narrative here con-

structed; the first verse condensing in
limited compass the sum of the several
particulars afterwards specified. That
it was not the finished 'heavens' and
'earth' that were in the first instant of
creation spoken into existence, is evi-
dent from what follows, in which we
learn that these names were not be-
stowed, and consequently, that there
were no grounds for their bestowment,
before the second and third days.-

Elohim, is a very remarkable word,
occurring for the most part in the plural,
and yet usually connected, as here,
with a verb in the singular. The evi-
dence, however, drawn by some from
this fact in proof of the doctrine of the
Trinity, is not in itself conclusive, as a
similar idiom in Hebrew in respect to
words denoting rank, authority, emi-
nence, majesty, is by no means uncom-
mon.

See Ex. 21. 4. Is. 19. 4. Mal. 1.6. Ps. 58. 11. The use of the plural in such cases seems to be merely for the purpose of giving to the word greater fulness, emphasis, and intensity of meaning. The rendering of the name in the singular in other languages, however, has the unequivocal sanction of holy writ; for the New Testament writers, copying the Septuagint, uniformly translate it Ocos God, instead of Ocot Gods, an example which has been properly followed by all the versions ancient and modern, as no other language can in this particular reach the propriety and exactness of the Hebrew. The English word' God,' Germ. ' Gott,' is of Anglo-Saxon origin, supposed to be a contraction of 'good;' God and good being justly considered as correlative terms. It may be remarked, that the Hebrew word Elohim, is

sometimes applied to angels, Ps. 8. 5,
and sometimes to magistrates, and dis-
tinguished personages, Ex. 21. 6; in
which last case, it is rendered by
'judges.'- - Created. It is a matter
rather of rational inference than of ex-
press revelation, that the material uni-
verse was created out of nothing. Yet