Chapter 2:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis 2
This chapter is an appendix to the history of the creation,
explaining, and enlarging on that part of it, which relates
immediately to man. We have in it,
I. The institution of the sabbath, which was made for man, to
further his holiness and comfort, ver. 1-3.
II. A more particular account of man's creation, as the summary of
the whole work, ver. 4-7.
III. A description of the garden of Eden, and the placing of man in
it under the obligations of a law and covenant, ver. 8-17.
IV. The creation of the woman, her marriage to the man, and the
institution of the ordinance of marriage, ver. 18-25.
Verses 1, 2, 3. We have here,
1. The settlement of the kingdom of nature, in God's resting
from the work of creation, ver. 1, 2. Where observe,
(1.) That the creatures made both in heaven and earth, are the hosts
or armies of them, which speaks them numerous, but marshalled,
disciplined, and under command. God useth them as his hosts for
the defense of his people, and the destruction of his enemies.
(2.) That the heavens and the earth are finished pieces, and so are
all the creatures in them. So perfect is God's work that nothing
can be added to it or taken from it, Eccl iii, 14.
(3.) That after the end of the first six days, God ceased from all
work of creation. He hath so ended his work, as that though in his
providence he worketh hitherto, John v, 17. preserving and
governing all the creatures, yet he doth not make any new species
of creatures.
(4.) That the eternal God, tho' infinitely happy in himself, yet took a
satisfaction in the work of his own hands. He did not rest as one
weary, but as one well-pleased with the instances of his own
goodness.
2. The commencement of the kingdom of grace, in the
sanctification of the sabbath day, ver. 3. He rested on that day,
and took a complacency in his creatures, and then sanctified it,
and appointed us on that day to rest and take a complacency in the
Creator; and his rest is in the fourth commandment made a reason
for ours after six days labour. Observe,
(1.) That the solemn observation of one day in seven as a day of
holy rest, and holy work, is the indispensible duty of all those to
whom God has revealed his holy sabbaths.
(2.) That sabbaths are as ancient as the world.
(3.) That the sabbath of the Lord is truly honourable, and we have
reason to honour it; honour it for the sake of its antiquity, its great
author, and the sanctification of the first sabbath by the holy God
himself, and in obedience to him, by our first parents in
innocency. See note at "ver. 1"
Verses 4, 5, 6, 7. In these verses,
1. Here is a name given to the Creator, which we have not yet met
with, Jehovah. The LORD in capital letters, is constantly used in
our English translation, for Jehovah. This is that great and
incommunicable name of God, which speaks his having his being
of himself, and his giving being to all things. It properly means,
He that was, and that is, and that is to come.
2. Further notice taken of the production of plants and herbs,
because they were made to be food for man.
3. A more particular account of the creation of man, ver. 7. Man is
a little world, consisting of heaven and earth, soul and body. Here
we have all account of the original of both, and the putting of both
together: The Lord God, the great fountain of being and power,
formed man. Of the other creatures it is said, they were created
and made; but of man, that he was formed, which notes a gradual
process in the work with great accuracy and exactness. To express
the creation of this new thing, he takes a new word: a word (some
think) borrowed from the potter's forming his vessel upon the
wheel. The body of man is curiously wrought. And the soul takes
its rise from the breath of heaven. It came immediately from God;
he gave it to be put into the body, Eccl xii, 7 as afterwards he gave
the tables of stone of his own writing to be put into the ark. 'Tis by
it that man is a living soul, that is, a living man. The body would
be a worthless, useless carcase, if the soul did not animate it. See
note at "ver. 4"
Verses 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Man consisting of body and soul, a
body made out of the earth, and a rational immortal soul, we have
in these verses the provision that was made for the happiness of
both. That part of man, which is allied to the world of sense, was
made happy, for he was put in the paradise of God; that part
which is allied to the world of spirits was well provided for, for he
was taken into covenant with God. Here we have,
1. A description of the garden of Eden, which was intended for
the palace of this prince. The inspired penman in this history
writing for the Jews first, and calculating his narratives from the
infant state of the church, describes things by their outward
sensible appearances, and leaves us, by farther discoveries of the
divine light, to be led into the understanding of the mysteries
couched under them. Therefore he doth not so much insist upon
the happiness of Adam's mind, as upon that of his outward estate.
The Mosaic history, as well as the Mosaic law, has rather the
patterns of heavenly things, than the heavenly things themselves,
Heb. ix, 23. Observe,
(1.) The place appointed for Adam's residence was a garden; not
an ivory house. As clothes came in with sin, so did houses. The
heaven was the roof of Adam's house, and never was any roof so
curiously cieled and painted: the earth was his floor, and never
was any floor so richly inlaid: the shadow of the trees was his
retirement, and never were any rooms so finely hung: Solomon's
in all their glory were not arrayed like them.
(2.) The contrivance and furniture of this garden was the
immediate work of God's wisdom and power. The Lord God
planted this garden, that is, he had planted it, upon the third day
when the fruits of the earth were made. We may well suppose it to
be the most accomplished place that ever the sun saw, when the
All-sufficient God himself designed it to be the present happiness
of his beloved creature.
(3.) The situation of this garden was extremely sweet; it was in
Eden, which signifies delight and pleasure. The place is here
particularly pointed out by such marks and bounds as were
sufficient when Moses wrote, to specify the place to those who
knew that country; but now it seems the curious cannot satisfy
themselves concerning it. Let it be our care to make sure a place
in the heavenly paradise, and then we need not perplex ourselves
with a search after the place of the earthly paradise.
(4.) The trees wherewith this garden was planted.
[1.] It had all
the best and choicest trees in common with the rest of the ground.
It was beautified with every tree that was pleasant to the sight - It
was enriched with every tree that yielded fruit grateful to the taste,
and useful to the body. But,
[2.] It had two extraordinary trees
peculiar to itself, on earth there were not their like.
1. There was the tree of life in the midst of the garden - Which
was not so much a natural means to preserve or prolong life; but
was chiefly intended to be a sign to Adam, assuring him of the
continuance of life and happiness upon condition of his
perseverance in innocency and obedience.
2. There was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - So
called, not because it had any virtue to beget useful knowledge,
but because there was an express Revelation of the will of God
concerning this tree, so that by it he might know good and evil.
What is good? It is good not to eat of this tree: what is evil? To
eat of this tree. The distinction between all other moral good and
evil was written in the heart of man; but this, which resulted from
a positive law, was written upon this tree. And in the event it
proved to give Adam an experimental knowledge of good by the
loss of it, and of evil by the sense of it.
(5.) The rivers wherewith this garden was watered, ver. 10-14.
These four rivers, (or one river branched into four streams)
contributed much both to the pleasantness and the fruitfulness of
this garden. Hiddekel and Euphrates are rivers of Babylon.
Havilah had gold and spices and precious stones; but Eden had
that which was infinitely better, the tree of life, and communion
with God.
2. The command which God gave to man in innocency, and the
covenant he than took him into. Hither we have seen God; man's
powerful Creator, and his bountiful benefactor; now he appears as
his ruler and lawgiver. See note at "ver. 8"
Verses 16, 17. Thou shall die - That is, thou shalt lose all the happiness
thou hast either in possession or prospect; and thou shalt become
liable to death, and all the miseries that preface and attend it. This
was threatened as the immediate consequence of sin. In the day
thou eatest, thou shalt die - Not only thou shalt become mortal,
but spiritual death and the forerunners of temporal death shall
immediately seize thee. See note at "ver. 17"
Verses 18, 19, 20. It is not good that man - This man, should be alone -
Though there was an upper world of angels, and a lower world of
brutes, yet there being none of the same rank of beings with
himself, he might be truly said to be alone. And every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air God brought to Adam-Either by
the ministry of angels, or by a special instinct that he might name
them, and so might give a proof of his knowledge, the names he
gave them being expressive of their inmost natures. See note at
"ver. 18"
Verses 21, 22. This was done upon the sixth day, as was also the placing
of Adam in paradise, though it be here mentioned after an account
of the seventh day's rest: but what was said in general, chap. i, 27,
that God made man male and female is more distinctly related
here, God caused the sleep to fall on Adam, and made it a deep
sleep, that so the opening of his side might be no grievance to
him: while he knows no sin, God will take care he shall feel no
pain. See note at "ver. 21"
Verse 23. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones - Probably it
was revealed to Adam in a vision, when he was asleep, that this
lovely creature, now presented to him, was a piece of himself and
was to be his companion, and the wife of his covenant - In token
of his acceptance of her, he gave her a name, not peculiar to her,
but common to her sex; she shall be called woman, Isha, a She-
man, differing from man in sex only, not in nature; made of man,
and joined to man.
Verse 24. The sabbath and marriage were two ordinances instituted in
innocency, the former for the preservation of the church, the latter
for the preservation of mankind. It appears by Matt. xix, 4, 5, that
it was God himself who said here, a man must leave all his
relations to cleave to his wife; but whether he spake it by Moses
or by Adam who spake, ver. 23 is uncertain: It should seem they
are the words of Adam in God's name, laying down this law to all
his posterity. The virtue of a divine ordinance, and the bonds of it,
are stronger even than those of nature. See how necessary it is that
children should take their parents consent with them in their
marriage; and how unjust they are to their parents, as well as
undutiful, if they marry without it; for they rob them of their right
to them, and interest in them, and alienate it to another
fraudulently and unnaturally.
Verse 25. They were both naked, they needed no cloaths for defense
against cold or heat, for neither could be injurious to them: they
needed none for ornament. Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these. Nay, they needed none for decency,
they were naked, and had no reason to be ashamed. They knew
not what shame was, so the Chaldee reads it. Blushing is now the
colour of virtue, but it was not the colour of innocency.
Chapter 2:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
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