CHAPTER III _Satan, by means of a creature here called the serpent,_ _deceives Eve_, 1-5. _Both she and Adam transgress the Divine command, and fall_ _into sin and misery_, 6, 7. _They are summoned before God, and judged_, 8-13. _The creature called the serpent is degraded and punished_, 14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:3. _NEITHER SHALL YE TOUCH IT_] Did not the woman _add_ this to what God had before spoken? Some of the Jewish writers, who are only serious on comparative trifles, state that as soon as the woman had asserted this, the serpent pushed her against the tree and said, "See, thou hast _t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:4. _YE SHALL NOT SURELY DIE_] Here the _father of lies_ at once appears; and appears too in flatly contradicting the assertion of God. The tempter, through the _nachash_, insinuates the impossibility of her dying, as if he had said, God has created thee immortal, thy death therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:5. _YOUR EYES SHALL BE OPENED_] Your understanding shall be greatly enlightened and improved; _and ye shall be as gods_, כאלהים kelohim, like God, so the word should be translated; for what idea could our first parents have of _gods_ before idolatry could have had any being, because... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:6. _THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD_] 1. The fruit appeared to be wholesome and nutritive. _And that it_ was _pleasant to the eyes_. 2. The beauty of the fruit tended to whet and increase appetite. _And a tree to be desired to make_ one _wise_, which was, 3. An additional motive to ple... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:7. _THE EYES OF THEM BOTH WERE OPENED_] They now had a sufficient discovery of their sin and folly in disobeying the command of God; they could discern between good and evil; and what was the consequence? Confusion and shame were engendered, because innocence was lost and guilt contr... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:8. _THE VOICE OF THE LORD_] The _voice_ is properly used here, for as God is an infinite Spirit, and cannot be confined to any _form_, so he can have no _personal_ appearance. It is very likely that God used to converse with them in the garden, and that the usual time was the _declin... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:10. _I WAS AFRAID, BECAUSE I WAS NAKED_] See the immediate consequences of sin. 1. SHAME, because of the ingratitude marked in the rebellion, and because that in aiming to be like God they were now sunk into a state of the greatest wretchedness. 2. FEAR, because they saw they had bee... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:12. _AND THE MAN SAID, C._] We have here some farther proofs of the fallen state of man, and that the consequences of that state extend to his remotest posterity. 1. On the question, _Hast thou eaten of the tree_? Adam is obliged to acknowledge his transgression but he does this in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:14. _AND THE LORD GOD SAID UNTO THE SERPENT_] The _tempter_ is not asked _why he deceived the woman_; he cannot roll the blame on any other; _self-tempted he fell_, and it is natural for him, such is his enmity, to deceive and destroy all he can. His fault admits of no excuse, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:15. _I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN THEE AND THE WOMAN_] This has been generally supposed to apply to a certain enmity subsisting between men and serpents; but this is rather a fancy than a reality. It is yet to be discovered that the serpentine race have any peculiar enmity against mank... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:16. _UNTO THE WOMAN HE SAID_] She being second in the transgression is brought up the _second_ to receive her condemnation, and to hear her punishment: I will greatly multiply, or _multiplying I will multiply_; i.e., I will multiply thy sorrows, and multiply those sorrows by other s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:17. _UNTO ADAM HE SAID_] The man being the _last_ in the transgression is brought up _last_ to receive his sentence: _Because_ _thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife _- "thou wast not _deceived_, she only gave and counselled thee to eat; this thou shouldst have resisted;" an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:18. _THORNS ALSO AND THISTLES, C._] Instead of producing nourishing grain and useful vegetables, noxious weeds shall be peculiarly prolific, injure the ground, choke the good seed, and mock the hopes of the husbandman _and thou shalt eat the herb of_ _the field _- thou shalt no longe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:19. _IN THE SWEAT OF THY FACE_] Though the whole body may be thrown into a profuse sweat, if hard labour be long continued, yet the _face_ or _forehead_ is the first part whence this sweat begins to issue; this is occasioned by the blood being strongly propelled to the brain, partly... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:20. _AND ADAM CALLED HIS WIFE'S NAME EVE; BECAUSE SHE WAS_ _THE MOTHER OF ALL LIVING._] A man who does not understand the original cannot possibly comprehend the reason of what is said here. What has the word _Eve_ to do with being _the mother of all_ _living_? Our translators often... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:21. _GOD MADE COATS OF SKINS_] It is very likely that the _skins_ out of which their _clothing_ was made were taken off animals whose blood had been poured out as a _sin-offering_ to God; for as we find Cain and Abel offering sacrifices to God, we may fairly presume that God had giv... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:22. _BEHOLD, THE MAN IS BECOME AS ONE OF US_] On all hands this text is allowed to be difficult, and the difficulty is increased by our translation, which is opposed to the original Hebrew and the most authentic versions. The Hebrew has היה _hayah_, which is the third person preteri... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 3:24. _SO HE DROVE OUT THE MAN_] Three things are noted here: 1. God's _displeasure_ against sinful man, evidenced by his expelling him from this place of blessedness; 2. Man's _unfitness_ for the place, of which he had rendered himself unworthy by his ingratitude and transgression;... [ Continue Reading ]