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earth, and subdue it: and have
dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and
over every living thing that † mov-
eth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I
have given you every herb bear-

Mark, 10. 6. bch. 9. 1, 7. Lev. 26. 9. Ps. 127. 3.

27. Male and female created he them. That is, the destined human race was to be constituted male and female. The allusion to the other sex is evidently proleptical, as nothing had yet been said of the creation of woman. This is detailed in all its particulars in the next chapter.

Heb.

ards man; and hence that man upon earth represents or bears the image of God nearly in the same sense in which the governor of a province is said to represent or bear the image of his sovereign. Let them have dominion. From the use of the plural pronoun here it is evident that 'man' is taken in a collective sense implying the whole 28. And God blesssd them, &c. Here race. It was not Adam alone who was again the term 'blessing' has reference to exercise this dominion, but his pos- to the multiplication of seed as explainterity also. In virtue of this delegated | ed above, v. 22.- - Subdue it. authority it is probable that Adam's . This may be understood either control over the animal creation was much more complete before the fall than that which his descendants have exercised since; but that in consequence of his transgression this ascendancy or lordship was in a great measure forfeited, and his rebellion against God punished by the rebellion of the subject creatures against himself. Still there appears to have been an original difference in the constitution and instinets of the 'cattle' and the 'beasts,' and we see no reason to suppose that the lion and the tiger were ever so completely subject to the dominion of man as the ox and the sheep. Probably the leading idea is, that man was invested with a dominion over the animal tribes by being created with powers of a higher grade, such as gave him immense advantages over them, and made him capable, in great measure, of reducing them to subjection, and thus of making them subservient to his pleasure or use.- - Over all the earth. That is, over all the creatures and productions of the earth, and over the earth itself, to manage it as they should see fit for their own advantage and comfort.

of bringing the earth, the material globe, into subjection to the uses of man by the labors of agriculture, by obtaining possession of its mineral treasures, by levelling its hills and filling up its vallies, and making it in every possible way to conduce to his well-being; or the 'earth' here may be taken as synonymous with its brute inhabitants, and to 'subdue' it is but another term for obtaining and exercising that mas tery over them which was especially designed for man at his creation, v. 26. Interpreted in this sense the last clause of the verse is merely explanatory of the meaning of the term 'subdue.'

29. Behold, I have given you, fc. It is not perhaps to be understood from the use of the word 'give' that a simple permission was now granted to man of using that for food which it would have been unlawful for him to use without it; for by the very constitution of his nature he was made to be sustained by that food which was most congenial to his physical economy; and this it must have been lawful for him to employ unless self-destruction had been his duty. The true inport therefore of

ing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to d every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creep

cch. 9. 3. Job, 36. 31. Ps. 104. 14, 15, & 136. 25. & 146. 7. Acts, 14. 17. d Ps. 145. 15, 16, & 147. 9. e Job, 38. 41.

eth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

f Ps. 104. 24. 1 Tim. 4. 4.

rally speaking, in Asia, at the present day. The mass of the people have it only occasionally, and in small quantities, and many do not eat flesh-meat more than two or three times in a year.' Pictorial Bible.

31. Behold it was very good. This is the divine testimony respecting the works of the creation when all was finished. God saw that every thing was good, because it perfectly answer. ed the end for which it was made. The reason of these words being so frequently repeated throughout the preceding narrative is, to direct attention to the contrast between the original state of things and the present, and to intimate that whatever disorders or evils now ex

the phrase doubtless is, that God had appointed, constituted, ordained this as the staple article of man's diet. He had formed him with a nature to which a vegetable aliment was better suited than any other. That we do no violence to the historian's language in putting this sense upon it, will be evident from the following instances of parallel usage. Gen. 9. 13, 'I do set my bow in the cloud.' Heb. 'I do give my bow in the cloud;' i. e. I appoint, constitute my bow as a sign of the covenant. 1 Chronicles 17. 22, For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever.' Heb. Thou hast given (i. e. appointed, constituted) thy people Israel for thyself for a people for ever;' thus rendered in the parallel pas-ist to mar the works of God, they dia sage, 2 Sam. 7. 24. 'For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever. It cannot perhaps be inferred from what is here said that the use of flesh-meat was absolutely forbidden, but it clearly implies that the fruits of the field formed the diet best adapted to the constitution which the Creator had given him. This view of the sense of 'giving' is confirmed by the ensuing verse, where the same phraseology is employed, and God is said to have 'given' the green herb to the beasts and birds. This cannot mean a permission, but an appointment, as explained above. There is no difficulty in supposing animal ́food not in use in the primitive times;

for it can hardly be said to be so, gene

not originally belong to them, but have been introduced in consequence of man's transgression.-If it be asked why the space of six days was employed in the work of creation when omnipotence could have effected every thing in a moment, it may be answered, that one reason probably was, that all to whom the record should come might be able more leisurely and distinctly to contemplate the Creator's works as they proceeded successively from his hand. Another reason perhaps was that he might lay the foundation of the weekly division of time, and of the institution of the holy Sabbath, an ordinance to be perpetually observed to the end of the world.

REMARKS. The reflections naturally

excited by the narrative of the stupen- | rived! But it was merely the fruit of dous work of the creation, resolve them- his own good pleasure that he was inselves for the most part into sentiments duced to draw upon those stores of beof the deepest adoration, gratitude and ing and blessedness within himself, and praise, in view of the divine perfections communicate existence to creatures. which it displays. The power, wisdom He might have remained eternally satand goodness of the Deity shine forth isfied with his own perfections, and all in these works of his hands, with a the springs of created existence been hight and demonstration which even the sealed up for ever. But instead of this, most perverted reasonings of fallen na- his infinite beneficence has prompted ture can neither gainsay nor resist. We him, out of his own fulness, to bring feel prepared at once to subscribe to the myriads of worlds and millions of creajustice of the apostle's sentence, that he tures into being, and to make their exwho refuses to admit the existence of a istence a source of happiness! How God, or to refer the created universe to liberal, how kind, how benignant, how him as its author, is utterly without ex- God-like! Under what constraining cuse; 'the invisible things of God from bonds of love and gratitude are we laid! the creation of the world, being clearly How constant, how spontaneous, should seen and understood by the things that be our emotions of thanksgiving and are made, even his eternal power and praise! In a transport of joy the godhead.' Psalmist, Ps. 148, calls upon all created things, animate and inanimate, to join in a hymn of praise to the great Creator; wishing, in effect, that they were all possessed of understandings and tongues, that they might suitably celebrate the perfections that appeared in their formation. Such should be the habitual frame of our spirits.

(1.) What a claim is made upon our gratitude, that we are furnished with this inestimable record! Without it, what a dreary and impenetrable darkness would rest upon us! What anxious inquiries would harass our minds which we could never answer! But in this short and simple history the great problem, which would for ever have taxed the human intellect, is solved so that a child may learn in an hour from the first page of this sacred book, more than all the philosophers in the world learned without it in thousands of years! Let us then prize beyond price the oracles of inspired truth.

(2.) In directing our thoughts to the amazing display of Powerwhich is visible in the creation, not only in forming, but in constantly upholding the vast fabric, let us not lose sight of the Goodness which is equally conspicuous in all. From what has been manifested, we see how infinitely rich in himself is the glorious and eternal God. What a boundless fulness of life and being, what an immense and inexhaustible treasury of all good, must that be from which so much life and being and conscious and happy intelligence was de

(3.) The God that has made the universe has made us. We are a part of the great system of things, the origin of which is here detailed. As such, we owe ourselves, in all our being and faculties and powers, to our Creator. He prefers an incontestable claim to all that we have and are. He who is the maker, is the absolute proprietor, lord, and sovereign of all creatures, and has the first and highest title to our reverence, submission, and obedience. Let us, then, yield ourselves to him in the ready and willing subjection of sons and servants. Let us put ourselves confidingly under his guidance and guardianship, assured that he will care for, keep, and comfort us. The power which he has visibly put forth in the creation of the heavens and the earth, makes it certain that he can accomplish for us all the great and glorious things of the gospel. He can

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raise us from the dead, change our vile bodies, and clothe us with honor and immortality. This should not seem to us incredible, for he has already performed things equally incredible, and we have constantly before us the effects of a power no less wonderful.

CHAPTER II.

The original for 'host' (xy tsaba, pl. tsebaoth or sabaoth) properly denotes a band or multitude duly disposed and marshalled, an army in battle array. Hence the visible contents of the heavens and earth are so called from their multitude, variety and order, and their being subject to the power that called them into existence, like a well-disciplined army to the will of a commander; wherefore it is said, Is. 45. 12, 'I have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts have I commanded.' The word is accordingly employed in the phrase 'Lord of hosts,' a title of the Most High, which in two instances in the writings of the apostles is given in the Hebrew form of 'Lord God of Sabaoth,' Rom. 9. 29. James, 5. 4. In another passage, Rev. 4. 8, the same phrase in the original taken from Is. 6. 3, is rendered 'Lord God Almighty.' The expression 'host of heaven,' besides being spoken of the stars of the firmament, Dent. 4. 19. Is. 34. 4, is also repeatedly

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. Heb. 135 were perfected. The language implies a gradual process of completion, and in this sense is not altogether consistent with the popular and prevailing idea entertained of the scope of the first verse of the preceding chapter, viz. that it was intended to import the original instantaneous creation of the heavens and the earth out of nothing. If so, it is not casy to understand what is meant by the expression elsewhere occurring, that 'in six days God created the heavens and the earth;' for the act of creation could not have extended through that whole period. The correct view un-applied, though doubtless in a figurative doubtedly is, that what are here termed the 'heavens' and the 'earth,' i. e. the firmament and the dry land, were gradually wrought to their present state of perfection, and that too, unquestionably, by the subordinate agency of those natural causes which tended to produce the result. That this effect might have been brought about in six com-ed the work of the sanctuary. In the mon days or six hours, is undoubtedly true, yet as a far more prolonged period would harmonize better with the ascertained facts of geology, and is equally consistent, we believe, with the letter of the sacred narrative, we see no ob. jection to considering this the true inter pretation.-¶ And all the host of them,

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sense, to the angels, 1 Kings 22. 19. Luke 2. 13, 15; and in Ex. 12. 41, the people of Israel, as a great organized body or marshalled army of worship pers, are called the 'hosts of the Lord.' The term is applied also to the order of priests and Levites, exclusive of the rest of the congregation, who perform.

Greek version it is rendered by nos ornament, garnishing, which is rather a paraphrase describing the effect produced by the hosts of heaven and earth, than an exact translation of the word. It is here evidently used in a sense equivalent to things created, parallel to which is the language of the Psalmist.

3 And God blessed the enth day, and sanctified it:

c Neh. 9. 14. Is. 58. 13.

sev- cause that in it he had rested from be- all his work which God created and made.

Ps. 33. 6, 'By the word of the Lord the end of the world?¶ Rested on were the heavens made, and all the the seventh day. Heb. now shabath, hosts of them by the breath of his ceased. Taking the term 'rest' in its mouth. The first three verses of this ordinary acceptation, this is obviously chapter properly form the conclusion of applying to the Most High language ch. 1., and in the division of chapters, which is strictly to be predicated only should not have been separated from it. of his creatures. "The Creator of the 2. On the seventh day God ended his ends of the earth fainteth not, neither work. These words, literally under- is weary,' nor can he stand in need of stood, would seem to imply, that the the refreshment of rest. 'Ceased' Almighty performed some part of the would undoubtedly have been a better work of creation on the seventh day. rendering, as the original is not opposed But, as we are elsewhere informed that to weariness but to action. It is true, six days only were actually thus em- the idea of rest is closely connected ployed, it would, perhaps, be equally with that of cessation from action, but proper to render the original 'had end- they are still distinct, and it is impored,' instead of 'ended,' as is done by tant that the distinction should here be many commentators. There is, how kept in mind, to prevent the impression ever, no absolute necessity for this, as that the rest spoken of was repose from in Scripture style the 'end' of anything fatigue rather than a ceasing to create. is often synonymous with its 'perfcc- From the original 'shabath' to cease, tion,' and the holy rest of the Sabbath comes our English 'sabbath,' a cessamay have been designed as a kind of tion, i. e. cessation from the ordinary perfection, crowning, or consummation secular work of the week. There is of the six days' work. The original nothing, therefore, in the genuine imword for 'seventh,' comes from a root, port of the term to imply that a total signifying to be full, complete, entirely inaction is enjoined on that day, but made up. 'Seven,' therefore, is often merely a desisting, and consequent restcalled a perfect number, being used for ing, from secular occupations. many, or for a full number, however most industrious and even laborious large, as Gen. 33. 3. Lev. 4. 6. Jer. 15. performance of religious services may 9. No number mentioned in the sacred be perfectly compatible with the rest, volume occurs so frequently as this, and properly understood, of the holy Sabas it is plain that no particular number bath. It is not to be a day of mere inwhen viewed abstractedly by itself, dolent repose to body or mind, but a apart from the thing numbered, has any resting from the concerns of this world, more virtue or significancy than anoth-in order to an active devotement of er, it is to be inferred that the incessant ourselves to things spiritual and eternal, use of this numeral in the Scriptures things connected with the duties of carries in it some important allusion. worship and the highest interest of our What more probable than that it is own souls and the souls of our fellowfounded upon this history of the creation occupying with its Sabbath-rest the space of seven days, and shadowing out a seven-fold division of time to

men.

The

Thus the Most High now ceased from multiplying the objects of creation, yet in another sense he still continued active, as our Saviour says, John

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