10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

14. f Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vaga

a Ch. 3. 9, 11. Ps. 9. 12-b Job 22 13, 14. Ps. 10. 13, 44. John 8. 44.- Heb. blood-d Acts 5. 3, 9. Hebr. 12. 21. James 5. 4. Rev. 6. 10-e Or, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. Rev. 16. 9.-f Job 15. 20-24. Prov. 14. 32. & 25.

that py aron, signifies rather the crime than the punishment. In this sense it is used, Lev. xxvi. 41, 43. 1 Sam. xxviii. 10. 2 Kings vii. 9. and nasa, signifies to remit or forgive. The marginal reading is, therefore, to be preferred to that in the text.

Verse 14. Behold, thou hast driven me out] In verses 11, 12. God states two parts of Cain's punishment:1. The ground was cursed, so that it was not to yield any adequate recompense for his most careful tillage. 2. He was to be a fugitive and a vagabond, having no place in which he could dwell with comfort or security. To these Cain himself adds others. 1. His being hidden from the face of God: which appears to signify his being expelled from that particular place where God had manifested his presence, in or contiguous to paradise: where our first parents resorted as to an oracle; and where they offered their daily adorations. So, in verse 16. it is said, Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and was not permitted any more to associate with the family in acts of religious worship. 2. The continual apprehension of being slain, as all the inhabitants of the earth were at that time of the same family, the parents themselves still alive, and each having a right to kill this murderer of his relative. Add to all this-3. The terrors of a guilty conscience, his awful apprehension of God's judgments, and of being everlastingly banished from the beatific vision. To this part of the punishment of Cain St. Paul probably alludes, 2 Thess. i. 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power. The words are so similar, that we can scarcely doubt of the allusion.

be.

Verse 15. The Lord set a mark upon Cain] What this mark was, has given rise to a number of frivolously curious conjectures. Some say he was paralytic: this seems to have arisen from the version of the Septuagint, Savoy xai Tospov son groaning and trembling shalt thou The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says, the sign was from the great and precious name, probably one of the letters of the word Yehovah. The author of an Arabic Catena in the Bodleian Library says, "A sword could not pierce him; fire could not burn him; water could not drown him; the air could not blast him; nor could thunder or lightning strike him." The author of Bereshith Rabba, a comment on Genesis, says, the mark was a circle of the sun rising upon him. Abravanel says the sign was Abel's dog, which constantly accompanied him. Some of the doctors in the Talmud say, that it was the letter tau marked on his forehead, which signified his contrition, as it is the first letter in the word an teshubch, repentance. Rabbi Joseph, wiser than all the rest, says it was a long horn growing out of his forehead! Dr. Shuckford observes, that the Hebrew word no oth, which we translate a mark, signifies a sign or token. Thus Gen. ix. 13.-The bow was to be my leoth, for a sign or token that the world should not be destroyed: therefore the words, And the lord set a mark upon Cain, should be translated, And the Lord appointed to Cain a token or sign, to convince him that no person should be permitted to slay him. To have marked him, would have been the most likely way to have brought all the evils he dreaded upon him: therefore the Lord gave him some miraculous sign or token, that he should not be slain, to the end that he should not despair, but having time to repent, might return to a gracious God and find mercy. Notwithstanding the allusion which I suppose St. Paul to have made to the punishment of Cain, some think that he did repent and find mercy. I can only say, this was possible. Most people who read this account wonder why

that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him i sevenfold. And the LORD * set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and barem Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

1. Psa. 143. 7. 2 Thess. 1. 9.-g Ps. 51. 11-h Ch. 9. 6. Numb. 35. 19, 21, 27.—¡ Psa. 79. 12-k Ezek. 9. 4,6.-2 Kings 13. 23. & 24. 20. Jer. 23. 39. & 52. 3.- Heb. Chanoch, Ch. 5. 18, 22-n Ps. 49. 11. 2Sam. 18. 18-0 Heb. Lemech. Ch. 5. 21. & 36. 2. & 2. 18, 24.

Cain should dread being killed, when it does not appear to them that there were any inhabitants on the earth at that time besides himself and his parents. To correct this mistake, let it be observed that the death of Abel took place in the one hundred and twenty-eighth, or one hundred and twenty-ninth year of the world. Now, "Supposing Adam and Eve to have had no other sons than Cain and Abel in the year of the world one hundred and twentyeight, yet as they had daughters married to these sons, their descendants would make a considerable figure on the earth. Supposing them to have been married in the nineteenth year of the world, they might easily have had each eight children, some males and some females, in the twenty-fifth year. In the fiftieth year there might proceed from them in a direct line sixty-four persons; in the seventy-fourth year there would be five hundred seventytwo; in the ninety-eight year, four thousand and ninetysix; in the one hundred and twenty-second they would amount to thirty-two thousand seven hundred and sixtyeight; if to these we add the other children descended from Cain and Abel, their children, and their children's children, we shall have in the aforesaid one hundred and twenty-eight years, four hundred and twenty-one thousand one hundred and sixty-four men capable of generation; without reckoning the women either old or young, or such as are under the age of seventeen.' See Dodd.

But this calculation may be disputed, because there is no evidence that the antediluvian patriarchs began to have children before they were sixty-five years of age. Now, supposing that Adam at one hundred and thirty years of age, had one hundred and thirty children, which is quite possible, and each of these a child at sixty-five years of age, and one in each successive year, the whole in the one hundred and thirtieth year of the world would amount to one thousand two hundred and nineteen persons; a number sufficient to found several villages, and to excite the apprehensions under which Cain appeared at this time to labour.

Verse 16. The land of Nod] As a nod, signifies the same as nad, a vagabond, some think this verse should be rendered, And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, from the east of Eden, and dwelt a vagabond on the earth; thus the curse pronounced on him, verse 12, was accomplished.

Verse 17. She bare Enoch] As chanac, signifies instructed, dedicated, or initiated, and especially in sacred things, it may be considered some proof of Cain's repentance, that he appears to have dedicated this son to God who, in his father's stead, might minister in the sacerdotal office, from which Cain, by his crime, was for ever excluded.

Verse 19. Lamech took two wives] He was the first who dared to reverse the order of God by introducing polygamy: and from him it has been retailed, practised, and defended to the present day.

Verse 20. Jabal was the father] The inventor or teacher, for so the word is understood, 1 Sam. x. 12. He was the first who invented tent-making, and the breeding and managing of cattle; or, he was, in these respects, the most eminent in that time. Though Abel was a shepherd, it is not likely he was such on an extensive scale.

Verse 21. Jubal the father] i. e. the inventor of musical instruments, such as the kinnor, which we translate harp; and the ny ugab, which we render organ: it is very likely that both words are generic, the former including under it all stringed instruments, and the latter all wind instruments.

Verse 22. Tubal-cain] The first smith on record, who taught how to make warlike instruments, and domestic

2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. A. M. 130. 3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: A. M. 130. 4 And the days of Adam after he had B. C. 3874. begotten Seth, were eight hundred years: f and he begat sons and daughters:

A. M. 930. B. C. 3074.

died.

A. M. 235.

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5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he

6 And Seth lived an hundred and five B. C. 3769. years, and begat Enos:

7 And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

a 1 Chron. 1. 1. Matt. 1. 1. Luke 3. 36, 38.-b Ch. 1. 26. Wisd. 2. 23. Eph. 4. 24. Col. 3. 10. Ch. 1. 27.-d Ch. 4. 25.-e 1 Chron. 1. 1, &c.

supposed to signify, that in the time of Enos, the true followers of God began to distinguish themselves, and to be distinguished by others, by the appellation of Sons of God; those of the other branch of Adam's family, among whom the divine worship was not observed, being distinguished by the name Children of men. It must not be dissembled, that many eminent men have contended that huchal, which we translate began, should be rendered began profanely, or then profanation began; and from this time they date the origin of idolatry. Most of the Jewish doctors were of this opinion, and Maimonides has discussed it at some length in his treatise on idolatry: as this piece is curious, and gives the most probable account of the origin and progress of idolatry, I shall insert it here. "In the days of Enos the sons of Adam erred with great error, and the counsel of the wise men of that age became brutish, and Enos himself was (one) of them that erred; and their error was this: They said, forasmuch as God hath created these stars and spheres to govern the world, and set them on high, and imparted honour unto them, and they are ministers that minister before him; it is meet that men should laud, and glorify, and give them honour. For this is the will of God, that we magnify and honour whomsoever he magnifieth and honoureth: even as a king would have them honoured that stand before him, and this is the honour of the king himself. When this thing was come up into their hearts they began to build temples unto the stars, and to offer sacrifice unto them, and to laud and glorify them with words, and to worship before them, that they might, in their evil opinion, obtain favour of the Creator. And this was the root of idolatry, &c. And, in process of time, there stood up false prophets among the sons of Adam, which said that God had commanded and said unto them, worship such a star, or all the stars, and do sacrifice unto them thus and thus; and build a temple for it, and make an image of it, that all the people, women, and children may worship it; and the false prophet showed them the image which he had feigned out of his own heart, and said it was the image of such a star, which was made known unto him by prophecy. And they began after this manner, to make images in temples, and under trees, and on tops of mountains and hills, and assembled together and worshipped them, &c. And this thing was spread through all the world, to serve images with services different one from another, and to sacrifice unto and worship them. So, in process of time, the glorious and fearful name (of God) was forgotten out of the mouth of all living, and out of their knowledge, and they acknowledged him not. And there was found no people on the earth that knew aught, save images of wood and stone, and temples of stone, which they had been trained up from their childhood to worship and serve, and to swear by their names. And the wise men that were among them, as the priests and such like, thought there was no God, save the stars and spheres, for whose sake and in whose likeness, they had made these images; but as for the Rock everlasting, there was no man that acknowledged him, or knew him, save a few persons in the world, as Enoch, Methuselah, Nohah, Shem, and Heber. And in this way did the world walk and converse, till that pillar of the world, Abraham, our

16 And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:

17 And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died.

A. M. 1290. B. C. 2714.

1. WE see here the vast importance of worshipping God according to his own mind: no sincerity, no uprightness of intention, can atone for the neglect of positive commands delivered in divine Revelation. He who will bring an eucharistic offering instead of a sacrifice, while a sinoffering lieth at the door, as he copies Cain's conduct, he may expect to be treated in the same manner. Reader, remember that thou hast an entrance unto the Holiest through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and those who come in this way, God will in no wise cast out.

2. We see the horrible nature of envy, its eye is evil, merely because God is good; it easily begets hatred; hatred, deep-settled malice; and malice, murder! Watch against the first appearance of this most destructive passion, the prime characteristic of which is to seek the destruction of the object of its malevolence, and finally to ruin its possessor.

3. Be thankful to God, that, as weakness increased, and wants became multiplied, God enabled man to find out useful inventions, so as to lessen excessive labor, and provide every thing indispensably necessary for the support of life. He who carefully attends to the dictates of honest sober industry, is never likely to perish for lack of the necessaries of life.

4. As the followers of God, at this early period, found it indispensably necessary to separate themselves from all those who were irreligious and profane, and to make a public profession of their attachment to the truth; so it should be now. There are still men of profane minds, whose spirit and conduct are destructive to godliness; and in reference to such, the permanent order of God is, come out from among them, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. He who is not determined to be a Christian, at all events, is not far from being an infidel. Those only who confess Christ among men, shall be acknowledged before his Father, and the angels of God. NOTES ON CHAPTER V.

Verse 1. The book of the generation] DD sepher, in Hebrew, which we generally translate book, signifies a register, an account, any kind of writing, even a letter, such as the bill of divorce. Here it means the account or register of the generations of Adam, or his descendants, to the five hundredth year of the life of Noah.

In the likeness of God made He him] This account is again introduced, to keep man in remembrance of the heights of glory whence he had fallen; and to prove to him that the miseries and death consequent on his present state, were produced by his transgression, and did not flow from his original state. For, as he was created in the image of God, he was created free from natural and moral evil. As the deaths of the patriarchs are now to be mentioned, it was necessary to introduce them by this observation, in order to justify the ways of God to man.

Verse 3. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, &c.] The scripture chronology, especially in the ages of some of the ante and postdilurian patriarchs, has exceedingly puzzled chronologists, critics and divines. The printed Hebrew text, the Samaritan, the Septuagint, and Josephus, are all different, and have their respective

the want of faithfulness in those who have the light, and yet will not walk as children of the light.

6. If the grace of God could work such a mighty change in those primitive times, when life and immortality were not brought to light by the Gospel, what may we not expect in these times in which the Son of God tabernacles among men; in which he gives his Holy Spirit to them who ask him; in which all things are possible to him who believes? No man can prove that Enoch had greater spiritual advantages than any of the other patriarchs, though it seems pretty evident, that he made a better use of those that were common to all, than any of the rest did and it would be absurd to say, that he had greater spiritual helps and advantages than Christians can now expect; for he lived under a dispensation much less perfect than that of the LAW, and yet the law itself was only the shadow of the glorious substance of Gospel blessings and Gospel privileges.

:

7. It is said that Enoch not only walked with God, setting him always before his eyes, beginning, continuing, and ending every work to his glory, but also that he pleased God, and had the testimony that he did please God, Heb. xi. 5. Hence we learn, that it was then possible to live so as not to offend God; consequently, so as not to commit sin against him; and to have the continual evidence or testimony that all that a man did and purposed was pleasing in the sight of Him who searches the heart, and by whom devices are weighed: and if it was possible then, it is surely, through the same grace, possible now, for God, and Christ, and faith, are still the same.

Verse 27. The days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years] This is the longest life mentioned in Scripture, and probably the longest ever lived; but we have not authority to say positively, that it was the longest. Before the flood, and before artificial refinements were much known and cultivated, the life of man was greatly protracted; and yet, of him who lived within thirty-one years of a thousand, it is said, he died: and the longest life is but as a moment when it is past. Though life is uncertain, precarious, and full of natural evils, yet it is a blessing in all its periods, if devoted to the glory of God, and the interests of the soul: for while it lasts, we may acquaint ourselves with God, and be at peace, and thereby good shall come unto us, Job xxii. 21. Verse 29. This same shall comfort us] This is an allusion, as some think, to the name of Noah, which they derive from n nacham, to comfort: but it is much more likely that it comes from nach, or ma nuach, to rest, to settle, &c. And what is more comfortable than rest, after toil and labour? These words seem to have been spoken prophetically concerning Noah, who built the ark for the preservation of the human race, and who seems to have been a typical person; for when he offered his sacrifice after the drying up of the waters, it is said, "God smelled a savour of REST, and said he would not curse the ground any more for man's sake." Gen. viii. 21. And from that time the earth seems to have had, upon an average, the same degree of fertility: and the life of man, in a few generations after, was settled in the mean, at threescore years and ten. See chap. ix. 3.

Verse 32. Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth] From ch. x. 21. 1 Chron. i. 5, &c. we learn that Japheth was the eldest son of Noah, but Shem is mentioned first, because it was from him, in a direct line, that the Messiah Ham was certainly the youngest of Noah's sons, and from what we read, ch. ix. 22. the worst of them; and how he comes to be mentioned out of his natural order, is not easy to be accounted for. When the Scriptures design to mark precedency, though the subject be a

came.

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32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. CHAPTER VI.

The posterity of Seth, among whom the true religion was at first preserved, corrupt it by forming matrimonial connexions with the irreligious posterity of Cain, 1,2 God, displeased with these connexions and their consequences, limits the continuance of the old world to one hundred and twenty years, 3. The isane of those improper connexions, termel giants, 4. An affecting description of the depravity of the world, 5, 6. God threatens the destruction of every living creature, 7. Noah and his family find grace in his sight, 8. The character and family of Noah, 9, 10. And a farther description of the corruption of man, 11, 12. Noah is forewarned of the approaching destruction of the human race, 13; and is ordered to build an ark for the safety of himself and household, the form and dimensions of which are particularly described, H-16. The deluge threatened, 17. The covenant of God's mercy is to be established between Him and the family of Noah, 18. A male and female of all kinds of animals that could not live in the waters to be brought into the ark, 19, 20. Noah is commanded to provide food for their sustenance, 21; and punctually follows all these directions, 24. f

AND it came to pass, when men

A. M. eir. 1556. B. C. eir. 2448.

of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

e. Ch. 3. 17. & 4. 11.-d Ch. 6. 10.-e Ch. 10. 21.-f Ch. 1. 28. 2 Eadr. 3. 7.

younger son, or brother, he is always mentioned first: so Jacob is named before Esau, his elder brother; and Ephraim before Manasses. See chap. xxviii. 5. xlviii. 20.

AMONG many important things presented to our view in this chapter, several of which have been already noticed, we may observe, that of all the antediluvian patriarchs, Enoch, who was probably the best man, was the shortest time upon earth; his years were exactly as the days in a solar revolution, viz. three hundred and sixty-five; and, like the sun, he fulfilled a glorious course, shining more and more unto the perfect day, and was taken when in his meridian splendour, to shine like the sun in the kingdom of his Father for ever.

From computation it appears-1. That Adam lived to see Lamech, the ninth generation, in the fifty-sixth year of whose life he died: and as he was the first who lived, and the first that sinned, so he was the first who tasted death in a natural way: Abel's was not a natural, but a violent death. 2. That Enoch was taken away next after Adam; seven patriarchs remaining witnesses of his translation. 3. That all the nine first patriarchs were taken away before the flood came, which happened in the six hundredth year of Noah's life. 4. That Methuselah lived till the very year in which the flood came, of which his name is supposed to have been prophetical, methu, "he dieth:" and n shalach, "he sendeth out:" as if God had designed to teach men, that as soon as Methuselah died, the flood should be sent forth to drown an ungodly world. If this were then so understood, even the name of this patriarch contained in it a gracious warning. See the genealogical plate after chap. xi,

NOTES ON CHAPTER VI.

Verse 1. When men began to multiply] It was not at this time that men began to multiply, but the inspired penman speaks now of a fact which had taken place long before. As there is a distinction made here between men and those called the sons of God, it is generally supposed that the immediate posterity of Cain and that of Seth are intended. The first were mere men, such as fallen nature may produce, degenerate sons of a degenerate father, governed by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. The others were sons of God, not angels, as some have dreamed; but such as were, according to our Lord's doctrine, born again, born from above, John iii. 3, 5, 6, &c. and made children of God by the influence of the Holy Spirit, Galat. v. 6. The former were apostates from the true religion; the latter were those among whom it was preserved and cultivated.

Dr. Wall supposes the first verses of this chapter should be paraphrased thus. "When men began to multiply on the earth, the chief men took wives of all the handsome poor women they chose. There were tyrants in the earth in those days; and also after the antediluvian days powerful men had unlawful connexions with the inferior women, and the children which sprang from this illicit commerce were the renowned heroes of antiquity, of whom the heathens made their gods."

Verse 3. My Spirit shall not always strive] It was only by the influence of the Spirit of God that the carnal mind could be subdued and destroyed: but those who wilfully resisted and grieved that Spirit, must be ultimately left to the hardness and blindness of their own hearts, if they did not repent and turn to God. God delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given: even at this time, the earth was ripe for destruction, but God promises them one hundred and twenty years respite-if they repented in that interim, well: if not, they should be destroyed by a flood. See on ver. 5.