THE

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY PORTABLE COMMENTARY.

THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

CHAPTER I.

GENESIS.

according to Oriental usage, from sunset to sunset, saying not day and night as we do, but evening and morning.

Ver. 1, 2. THE CREATION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. 1. In the beginning-a period of remote and unknown antiquity, hid in the depths of eternal ages; and so 6-8. SECOND DAY. 6. firmament-an expanse-a the phrase is used in Proverbs, 8. 22, 23, also Marginal beating out as a plate of metal: a name given to the Reference. God-the name of the Supreme Being, atmosphere from its appearing to an observer to be signifying in Hebrew, "Strong," "Mighty." It is ex- the vault of heaven, supporting the weight of the pressive of omnipotent power; and by its use here in watery clouds. By the creation of an atmosphere, the the plural form, is obscurely taught at the opening of lighter parts of the waters which overspread the earth's the Bible, a doctrine clearly revealed in other parts surface were drawn up and suspended in the visible of it, viz, that though God is one, there is a plurality heavens, while the larger and heavier mass remained of persons in the Godhead-Father, Son, and Spirit, below. The air was thus "in the midst of the waters," who were engaged in the creative work (Proverbs, 8. i.e.. separated them; and this being the aparent use ; John, 1. 3, 10; Ephesians, 3. 9; Hebrews, 1. 2; Job, of it, is the only one mentioned, although the atmos21. 13. created-not formed from any pre-existing phere serves other uses, as a medium of life and light. materials, but made out of nothing. the heaven and 9-13. THIRD DAY. 9. let the waters under the heaven the earth-the universe. This first verse is a general be gathered together into one place-The world was to be introduction to the inspired volume, declaring the rendered a terraqueous globe, and this was effected by great and important truth, that all things had a be- a volcanic convulsion on its surface, the upheaving of ginning; that nothing throughout the wide extent of some parts, the sinking of others, and the formation nature, existed from eternity, originated by chance, of vast hollows, into which the waters impetuously er from the skill of any inferior agent; but that the rushed, as is graphically described. (Psalm 104. 6-9.). whole universe was produced by the creative power (HITCHCOCK.] Thus a large part of the earth was left of God (Acts, 17. 24; Romans, 11. 36.). After this pre- "dry land," and thus were formed oceans, seas, lakes, face, the narrative is confined to the earth. 2. the and rivers which, though each having their own beds, earth was without form and void-or in "confusion and or channels, are all connected with the sea (Job, 38. 10; emptiness" as the words are rendered in Isaiah, 34. 11. Ecclesiastes, 1. 7.). 11. let the earth bring forth-The This globe, at some undescribed period, having been bare soil was clothed with verdure, and it is notice. convulsed and broken up, was a dark and watery able that the trees, plants, and grasses-the three great waste for ages perhaps, till out of this chaotic state, divisions of the vegetable kingdom, here mentioned, the present fabric of the world was made to arise. the were not called into existence in the same way as the Spirit of God moved-lit., continued brooding over it, light and the air they were made to grow, and they as a fowl does, when hatching eggs. The immediate grew as they do still out of the ground-not, however, agency of the Spirit, by working on the dead and dis- by the slow process of vegetation, but through the cordant elements, combined, arranged, and ripened Divine power, without rain, dew, or any process of them into a state adapted for being the scene of a new labour-sprouting up and flourishing in a single day. creation. The account of this new creation properly 14-19. FOURTH DAY. 14. let there be lights in the begins at the end of this second verse; and the details firmament-The atmosphere being completely purified of the process are described in the natural way an-the sun, moon, and stars were for the first time unenlooker would have done, who beheld the changes that successively took place.

35. THE FIRST DAY. 3. God said-This phrase, which occurs so repeatedly in the account meansvilled, decreed, appointed; and the determining will of God was followed in every instance by an immediate result. Whether the sun was created at the same time with, or long before, the earth, the dense accumulation of fogs and vapours which enveloped the chaos, had covered the globe with a settled gloom. But by the command of God, light was rendered visible; the thick murky clouds were dispersed, broken, or raretel, and light diffused over the expanse of waters. The effect is described in the name DAY, which in Hebrew scalfies warmth, heat; while the name Night signifies ROLLING UP, as night wraps all things in a shady mantle 4 divided the light from darkness-refers to the alternation or succession of the one to the other, produced by the daily revolution of the earth round its axis. 5. first day-a natural day, as the mention of its two parts clearly determines; and Moses reckons,

veiled in all their glory in the cloudless sky; and they are described as "in the firmament" which to the eye they appear to be, though we know they are really at vast distances from it. 16. two great lights-In consequence of the day being reckoned as commencing at even-the moon, which would be seen first in the horizon, would appear "a great light," compared with the little twinkling stars; while its pale benign radiance would be eclipsed by the dazzling splendour of the sun; when his resplendent orb rose in the morning and gradually attained its meridian blaze of glory, it would appear "the greater light" that ruled the day. Both these lights may be said to be "made" on the fourth day-not created, indeed, for it is a different word that is here used, but constituted, appointed to the important and necessary office of serving as luminaries to the world, and regulating by their motions and their influence the progress and divisions of time.

20-23. FIFTH DAY. The signs of animal life appeared in the waters and in the air. 20. moving creature-all oviparous animals, both among the finny and the

GENESIS, II.

Ver. 1. THE NARRATIVE OF THE SIX DAYS' CREA-ject of daily observation and interest, was admirably TION CONTINUED. The course of the narrative being improperly broken by the division of the chapter. 1. the heavens-the firmament or atmosphere. host-a multitude, a numerous array-usually connected in Scripture with heaven only, but here with the earth also, meaning all that they contain, were finished brought to completion-no permanent change has ever since been made on the course of the world, no new species of animals been formed, no law of nature repealed or added to. They could have been finished in a moment as well as in six days, but the work of creation was gradual for the instruction of man, as well, perhaps, as of higher creatures Job, 38. 7.).

The Making of Woman.

GENESIS, III.

The Temptation and Fall. worshipped God, and was daily employed in offering | band. Though sinless and holy, she was a free agent, the sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise. liable to be tempted and seduced. yea, hath God said 18-25. THE MAKING OF WOMAN, AND INSTITUTION-Is it true that he hath restricted you in using the OF MARRIAGE 18. it is not good for man to be alone-fruits of this delightful place? This is not like one so In the midst of plenty and delights, he was conscious good and kind. Surely there is some mistake. He of feelings he could not gratify. To make him sensible insinuated a doubt as to her sense of the divine will, of his wants, 19. God brought unto Adam-not all the and appeared as "an angel of light" (2 Corinthians, animals in existence, but those chiefly in his im- 11. 14.), offering to lead her to the true interpretation. mediate neighbourhood, and to be subservient to his It was evidently from her regarding him as specially use, whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that sent on that errand-that, instead of being startled by was the name thereof-His powers of perception and the reptile's speaking-she received him as a heavenly intelligence were supernaturally enlarged to know messenger. 2. the woman said, We may eat of the fruit the characters, habits, and uses of each species that of the trees of the garden-In her answer, Eve extolled was brought to him. 20. but for Adam there was not the large extent of liberty they enjoyed in ranging at found an help meet for him-The design of this singular will amongst all the trees-one only excepted-with scene was to show him that none of the living creatures respect to which, she declared there was no doubt, he saw were on an equal footing with himself, and either of the prohibition or the penalty. But there is that while each class came with its mate of the same reason to think that she had already received an innature, form, and habits, he alone had no companion. jurious impression; for in using the words-" lest ye Besides, in giving names to them he was led to ex-die," instead of "ye shall surely die-she spoke as if ercise his powers of speech, and prepare for social the tree had been forbidden from some poisonous intercourse with his partner, a creature yet to be quality of its fruit. The tempter, perceiving this, formed. 21. deep sleep-probably an ecstacy or trance became bolder in his assertions. 4. Ye shall not surely like that of the prophets, when they had visions and die-he proceeded-not only to assure her of perfect revelations of the Lord, for the whole scene was pro- impunity: but to promise great benefits from partakbably visible to the mental eye of Adam, and hence ing of it. 5. your eyes shall be opened-his words meant his rapturous exclamation. took one of his ribs-"She more than met the ear. In one sense their eyes were was not made out of his head to surpass him, nor from opened; for they acquired a direful experience of his feet to be trampled on, but from his side to be "good and evil"-of the happiness of a holy, and the equal to him, and near his heart to be dear to him." misery of a sinful condition. But he studiously con23. Woman-i e., in Hebrew-man-Ess. one flesh-the cealed this result from Eve, who, fired with a generous human pair differed from all other pairs, that by the desire for knowledge, thought only of rising to the peculiar formation of Eve, they were one. And this rank and privileges of her angelic visitants. passage is appealed to by our Lord as the divine institution of marriage (Matthew, 19. 4. 5; Ephesians, 5. 2). Thus Adam appears as a creature formed after the image of God-showing his knowledge by giving names to the animals, his righteousness by his approval of the marriage relation, and his holiness by his principles and feelings-finding their gratification in the service and enjoyment of God.

CHAPTER III.

6-9. THE FALL. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food-Her imagination and feelings were completely won; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction-the inward commotion of mind-the increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul (James, 1. 15; 1 John, 2. 16.). 8. they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden-The divine Being appeared in the same manner as formerly-uttering the well-known tones of kindness, walking in some visible form-not running hastily, as one impelled by the influence of angry feelings. How beautifully expressive are these words of the familiar and condescending manner in which He had hitherto held intercourse with the first pair. in the cool of the day-lit, the breeze of the day-the evening. hid themselves amonst the trees-Shame, remorse, fear-a sense of guilt-feelings to which they had hitherto been strangers, disordered their minds, and led them to shun Him whose approach they used to welcome. How foolish to think of eluding His notice (Psalm 139. 1-12.).

Ver. 1-5. THE TEMPTATION. 1. the serpent-The fall of man was effected by the seductions of a serpent. That it was a real serpent is evident from the plain and artless style of the history; and from the many allusions made to it in the New Testament. But the material serpent was the instrument or tool of a higher agent, -Satan or the Devil, -to whom the sacred writers apply from this incident the reproachful name of the Serpent"-"the old Dragon." Though Moses makes no mention of this wicked spirit-giving only the history of the visible worldyet in the fuller discoveries of the Gospel, it is distinctly intimated that Satan was the author of the plot (John, 8. 44; 2 Corinthians, 11, 3; 1 John, 3. 8; 1 Timothy, 2. 14; Revelation, 20. 2.). more subtileSerpents are proverbial for wisdom (Matthew, 10. 16.). 10-13. THE EXAMINATION. 10. afraid, because.. But these reptiles were at first, probably, far superior naked-apparently, a confession-the language of in beauty as well as in sagacity to what they are in sorrow; but it was evasive-no signs of true humility their present state. He said-There being in the pure and penitence-each tries to throw the blame on bosoms of the first pair, no principle of evil to work another. 12. The woman... gave me-He blames God. upon, a solicitation to sin could come only from with- [CALVIN.] As the woman had been given him for his out, as in the analagous case of Jesus Christ (Matthew, companion and help, he had eaten of the tree from 4.3: and as the tempter could not assume the human love to her; and perceiving she was ruined, was deform-there being only Adam and Eve in the world-termined not to survive her. [M'KNIGHT.] 13. beguiled the agency of an inferior creature had to be employed.-cajoled by flattering lies. This sin of the first pair The Dragon-serpent [BOCHART] seemed the fittest for the vile purpose; and the Devil was allowed by Him who permitted the trial, to bring articulate sounds from its mouth. unto the woman-the object of attack, from his knowledge of her frailty, of her having been bat a short time in the world-her limited experience of the animal tribes, and, above all, her being alone, unfortified by the presence and counsels of her hus

was heinous and aggravated-it was not simply eating an apple, but a love of self, dishonour to God, ingratitude to a benefactor, disobedience to the best of Masters-a preference of the creature to the Creator. 14-24. THE SENTENCE. 14. And the Lord God said unto the serpent-The Judge pronounces a doom first on the material serpent, which is cursed above all creatures; from being a model of grace and elegance

The Sentence.

GENESIS, IV.

Birth of Cain and Abel.

unfolding itself to preserve the way of the tree of life.”
This was the mode of worship now established, to
show God's anger at sin, and teach the mediation of a
promised Saviour, as the way of life, as well as of
access to God. They were the same figures as were
afterwards in the tabernale and temple; and now, as
then, God said, "I will commune with thee from be-
tween the cherubim" (Exodus, 25. 22.).
CHAPTER IV.

in form-it has become the type of ail that is odious, disgusting, and low [LECLERC, ROSENMULLER]; or the curse has converted its natural condition into a punishment; it is now branded with infamy, and avoided with horror; next, on the spiritual Serpentthe seducer. Already fallen, he was to be still more degraded, and his power wholly destroyed, by the offspring of those he had deceived. 15. thy seed-not only evil spirits, but wicked men. seed of the woman -the Messiah, or His Church. [CALVIN, HENGSTEN- Ver. 1-26. BIRTH OF CAIN AND ABEL. 1. Eve said, BERG.] I will put enmity between thee and the woman- I have gotten a man from the Lord-i.e., "by the help of God can only be said to do so by leaving "the Serpent the Lord"-an expression of pious gratitude-and she and his seed to the influence of their own corruption; called him Cain, i.e., "a possession," as if valued and by those measures which, pursued for the salva- above every thing else; while the arrival of another tion of men, fill Satan and his angels with envy and son reminding her of the misery she had entailed on rage." thou shalt bruise his heel-The serpent wounds her offspring, led to the name Abel, i.e., either weakthe heel that crushes him; and so Satan would be ness, vanity (Psalm, 39. 5,), or grief, lamentation. permitted to afflict the humanity of Christ, and bring Cain and Abel were probably twins; and it is thought suffering and persecution on His people. it shall that, at this early period, children were born in pairs bruise thy head-the serpent's poison is lodged in its (ch. 5. 4.). [CALVIN.] Abel was a keeper of sheep-lit.. head; and a bruise on that part is fatal. Thus, fatal "feeder of a flock," which, in Oriental countries, shall be the stroke which Satan shall receive from always includes goats as well as sheep. Abel, though Christ; though, it is probable, he did not first under- the younger, is mentioned first, probably on account stand the nature and extent of his doom. 16. unto of the pre-eminence of his religious character. 3. in the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow-process of time-Hebrew, "at the end of days;" proShe was doomed as a wife and mother, to suffer pain bably on the Sabbath. brought... an offering unto the of body and distress of mind. From being the help- Lord-Both manifested by the very act of offering their meet of man and the partner of his affections, her faith in the being of God, and in his claims to their condition would henceforth be that of humble sub-reverence and worship; and had the kind of offering jection. 17-19. unto Adam he said-made to gain his been left to themselves, what more natural than that livelihood by tilling the ground, but what before his the one should bring "of the fruits of the ground;" fall he did with ease and pleasure, was not to be ac- that the other should bring "of the firstlings of his complished after it without painful and persevering flock and the fat thereof." 4. the Lord had respect unto exertion. till thou return unto the ground-man became Abel, not unto Cain, &c.-The words, "had respect to." mortal; although he did not die the moment he ate signify in Hebrew-to look at any thing with a keen the forbidden fruit-his body underwent a change, earnest glance; which has been translated-"kindle and that would lead to dissolution-the union sub- into a fire," so that the Divine approval of Abel's sisting between his soul and God having already been offering was shown in its being consumed by fire (see dissolved, he had become liable to all the miseries of ch. 15. 17; Judges, 13. 20.). 7. If thou doest well, shalt this life, and to the pains of hell for ever. What a thou not be accepted?-In the Margin it is, "Shalt mournful chapter this is in the history of man! It thou not have the excellency?" which is the true gives the only true account of the origin of all the sense of the words referring to the high privileges and physical and moral evils that are in the world-up- authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal holds the moral character of God; shows that man, times. sin lieth at the door-sin, i.e., a sin-offering-a made upright, fell from not being able to resist a common meaning of the word in Scripture-as in slight temptation; and becoming guilty and miserable, Hosea, 4. 8; 2 Corinthians, 5. 21; Hebrews, 9. 28. The plunged all his posterity into the same abyss (Romans, purport of the Divine rebuke to Cain was this, “Why 5. 12.). How astonishing the grace which at that mo- art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest ment gave promise of a Saviour: and conferred on her well, .e., wert innocent and sinless-a thank-offering who had the disgrace of introducing sin-the future would have been accepted as a token of thy dependhonour of introducing that Deliverer (1 Timothy, 2. ence as a creature. But as thou doest not well, i.e., 15.). 20. Adam called his wife's name Eve-probably in art a sinner-a sin-offering is necessary, by bringing reference to her being a mother of the promised which thou wouldest have met with acceptance, and Saviour, as well as of all mankind. 21. God made coats retained the honours of thy birth-right." This lanof skins-taught them to make these for themselves. guage implies that previous instructions had been This implies the institution of animal sacrifice, which given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through was undoubtedly of Divine appointment, and instruc- faith (Hebrews, 11. 4.). unto thee shall be his desiretion in the only acceptable mode o. worship for sinful The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is creatures, through faith in a Redeemer (Hebrews, 9. described, ch. 27. 29; and it was Cain's conviction. 22.). 22. And God said, Behold, the man is become as one that this honour had been withdrawn from him by the of us-not spoken in irony as is generally supposed, rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger but in deep compassion. The words should be ren- brother-hence the secret flame of jealousy, which dered, "Behold, what has become (by sin) of the man kindled into a settled hatred, and fell revenge. 8. who was as one of us! formed at first, in our image And Cain talked with Abel his brother-Under the guise to know good and evil-how sad his condition now. of brotherly familiarity, he concealed his premediand now, lest he put forth his hand, and take of the tree of tated purpose till a convenient time and place oclife-This tree being a pledge of that immortal life curred for the murder (1 John, 3. 12; 9. 10.). 10. the with which obedience should be rewarded, he lost, on voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me-Cain, to lull his fall, all claim to this tree; and therefore, that he suspicion, had probably been engaging in the solemmight not eat of it, or delude himself with the idea, nities of religion where he was challenged directly that eating of it would restore what he had forfeited. from the Shechinah itself. 9. I know not-a falsehood. the Lord sent him forth from the garden. 24. placed One sin leads to another. 11. 12. now art thou cursed ... cherubim-The passage should be rendered thus from the earth-A curse superadded to the general one denounced on the ground for Adam's sin. a fugitivecondemned to perpetual exile-a degraded outcast

And he dwelt between the cherubim at the East of the Garden of Eden, and a fierce fire or Shechinah

Genealogy of the Patriarchs.

GENESIS, V, VI.

Wickedness of the World.

the miserable victim of an accusing conscience. | taught (Jude, 14, 15) were true, and that his devoted13, 14 And Cain said... My punishment is greater than ness to the cause of God, and righteousness in the I can bear-What an overwhelming sense of misery; midst of opposition, was highly pleasing to the mind but no sign of penitence, nor cry for pardon. every of God. 21. Enoch... begat Methuselah-This name ene that findeth me shall slay me-This shows that the signifies, "He dieth, and the sending forth," so that population of the world was now considerably in- Enoch gave it as prophetical of the flood. It is comcreased. 15. whosoever slayeth Cain-By a special act puted that Methuselah died in the year of that of Divine forbearance, the life of Cain was to be spared catastrophe. 26. Lamech-a different person from the in the then small state of the human race. set a mark one mentioned in preceding chapter. Like his name-not any visible mark or brand on his forehead, but sake, however, he also spoke in numbers on occasion some sign or token of assurance that his life would be of the birth of Noah-i.e.. "rest" or "comfort." "The preserved. This sign is thought by the best writers to allusion is, undoubtedly, to the penal consequences of have been a wild ferocity of aspect, that rendered the fall in earthly toils and sufferings, and to the hope him an object of universal horror and avoidance. 16. of a Deliverer, excited by the promise made to Eve. presence of the Lord-the appointed place of worship That this expectation was founded on a divine comat Eden. Leaving it, he not only severed himself munication we infer from the importance attached from his relatives, but forsook the ordinances of re- to it and the confidence of its expression.' [PETER ligion, probably casting off all fear of God from his SMITH.] 32. Noah was five hundred years old: and... eyes, so that the last end of this man is worse than begat-That he and the other patriarchs were adthe first (Matthew. 12. 45.). land of Nod-of flight or vanced in life ere children were born to them, is a exile-thought by many to have been Arabia Petræa difficulty accounted for probably from the circum-which was cursed to sterility on his account. 17-22. stance that Moses does not here record their first-born builded a city-It has been in cities that the human sons, but only the succession from Adam through race has ever made the greatest social progress: and Seth to Abraham. several of Cain's descendants distinguished themselves by their inventive genius in the arts. 19. Lamech took unto him two wives-This is the first transgression of the law of marriage on record, and the practice of polygamy, like all other breaches of God's institutions, has been a fruitful source of corruption and misery. 23, 24. Lamech said unto his wives-This speech is in a poetical form, probably the fragment of an old poem, transmitted to the time of Moses. It seems to indicate that Lamech had slain a man in self-defence, and its drift is to assure his wives, by the preservation of Cain, that an UNINTENTIONAL homicide, as he only was, could be in no danger. 26. men began to call upon the name of the Lord-rather, by the name of the Lord. God's people, a name probably applied to them in contempt by the world.

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER VI.

Ver. 1-22. WICKEDNESS OF THE WORLD. 2. the sons of God saw the daughters of men-By the former is meant the family of Seth, who were professedly religious; by the latter, the descendants of apostate Cain. Mixed marriages between parties of opposite principles and practice were necessarily sources of extensive corruption. The women, irreligious themselves, would, as wives and mothers, exert an influence fatal to the existence of religion in their household, and consequently the people of that later age sank to the lowest depravity. 3. flesh-utterly, hopelessly debased. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive-Christ, as God, had by His Spirit inspiring Enoch, Noah, and perhaps other prophets (1 Peter, 3. 20; 2 Peter, 2. 5; Jude, 14,), preached repentance to the antediluvians; but they were incorrigible. yet Ver. 1-32. GENEALOGY OF THE PATRIARCHS. 1. his days shall be an hundred and twenty years-It is probook of the generations-See ch. 11. 4. Adam-used here bable that the corruption of the world, which had either as the name of the first man, or of the human now reached its height, had been long and gradually race generally. 5. all the days... Adam lived-The increasing, and this idea receives support from the most striking feature in this catalogue is the longevity long respite granted. 4. giants-The term in Hebrew of Adam and his immediate descendants. Ten are implies not so much the idea of great stature as of enumerated in direct succession whose lives far ex- reckless ferocity, impious and daring characters, who ceed the ordinary limits with which we are familiar- spread devastation and carnage far and wide. 5, 6. the shortest being 365, and the longest 930. It is use- God saw it, repented... grieved-God cannot change less to inquire whether and what secondary causes (Malachi, 3. 6; James, 1. 17;); but, by language suited may have contributed to this protracted longevity-to our nature and experience, He is described as about vigorous constitutions, the nature of their diet, the to alter His visible procedure towards mankind-from temperature and salubrity of the climate; or, finally, being merciful and long-suffering. He was about to as this list comprises only the true worshippers of show Himself a God of judgment; and, as that imGod-whether their great age might be owing to the pious race had filled up the measure of their iniquities, better government of their passions, and the quiet He was about to introduce a terrible display of His even tenor of their lives. Since we cannot obtain justice (Ecclesiastes, 8. 11.). 8. But Noah found grace in satisfactory evidence on these points, it is wise to re- the eyes of the Lord-favour. What an awful state of solve the fact into the sovereign will of God. We can, things when only one man or one family of piety and however, trace some of the important uses to which, virtue was now existing among the professed sons of in the early economy of Providence, it was subservi- God! 9. Noah... just... and perfect-not absolutely; ent. It was the chief means of preserving a knowledge for since the fall of Adam no man has been free from of God, of the great truths of religion, as well as the sin except Jesus Christ. But as living by faith he was influence of genuine piety. So that, as their know- just (Galatians, 3. 2; Hebrews, 11. 7) and perfect-i.e., ledge was obtained by tradition, they would be in a sincere in his desire to do God's will. 11. the earth condition to preserve it in the greatest purity. 24. was filled with violence-In the absence of any wellAnd Enoch walked with God-A common phrase in regulated government it is easy to imagine what evils Eastern countries denoting constant and familiar would arise. Men did what was right in their own intercourse. was not; for God took him-In Hebrews, eyes, and, having no fear of God, destruction and 11. 5. we are informed that he was translated to misery were in their ways. 13. And God said unto heaven-a mighty miracle, designed to effect what Noah-How startling must have been the announceordinary means of instruction had failed to accom- ment of the threatened destruction! There was no plish-gave a palpable proof to an age of almost outward indication of it. The course of nature and universal unbelief that the doctrines which he had experience seemed against the probability of its oc