wickedness resemble their Father the Devil, Joh. 6. 70. 8.44. Act. 13. 10. Her feed: That is, the Meffias, or Chrift (who is peculiarly the feed of the Woman, Ifa.7.14. Gal. 3.16. 4.4.) and his members, Eph. 6. 11, 12. Rev. 12. 13. It shall bruife thy head: That is, the feed of the Woman fhall destroy thy power, 1 Joh. 3:8: Joh. 12.31. Rev. 12. 7, 8, 10. 1 Job. 5. 4. Heb. 2. 14. 1 Cor. 15.55, 56, 57. Thou shalt bruife his heel: That is, thou shalt perfecute the Woman's feed like a Serpent coming behind, (Gen. 49. 17.) but not be able to deftroy, Gal. 4. 29. 16. Unto the woman he faid, I 16. Unto the Wowill greatly multiply thy forrow, and thy conception: in forrow thou halt bring forth children, and thy defire fhall be to thy husband, and he fhall rule over thee.· forth Children. [II.] In her more helpless condition, by reafon of which the would need to have recourse to her Husband, and be more fubject to him, and his corrupt Will; for whom she was defigned at first for a meet-help. Compare 1 Cor. 14.34. 1 Tim. 2. 11, 12, 14. 1 Pet. 3.6.

17. And unto Adam he faid, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and haft eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, faying, Thou shalt not eat of it: curfed is the ground for thy fake, in forrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

man he faid, &c. The Sentence upon Wo[I.] In her forrow man-kind confists, and pain in conceiving and bringing

17. And unto A dam he faid, &c. For Adam's tranfgreffion, [1] The ground is [II.] Mankind is concurfed, v.17,18. And, demned to labour for bread; i. e. for neceffary food, (comchap. 28. 20.) v. 19.

pare Gen. 18. 5. and 18. Thorns alfo and thistles fhall it bring forth to thee: and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it waft thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

20. Because she was the mother, &c. Thus much is implied in

the

the Hebrew word Chavah, which we render Eve; it imports life, and, with reference to this firft Woman, fpeaks her, what fhe was indeed, the parent of the rest of her kind.

21. Unto Adam alfo and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and cloathed them.

21. Coats of skins viz. To cover their nakedness withall they were probably,

made of the Skins of beafts killed, for Sacrifice, Gen. 4. 4. And were Monitors of their own Mortality, and their fall into the brutish life, Pfal.49.20

22. And the LORD God faid, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now left he put forth his hand, and take alfo of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

22. As one of us? i.e. Wife as a Divine Perfon, this being the thing he fondly aimfigned. These words ed at (v.6.) and de

are ironical: Com

pare 1 King. 18. 27. Ecclef.11.9. And live for ever: Or, that he may live for ever; as the Hebrew Particle (which is rendred And) fometime fignifies, as Gen. 30. 38. And then the words denote the End why Adam would be in duced to Eat.

23. Therefore the LORD God fent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence he was taken.

24. So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubims, and a flaming Sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

24.Cherubims.They were Angels, 'tis fuppofed: "Tis certain nifters to keep the they were God's Miway of the Tree of life; that man who might not come at it,

had loft his right to it, by his fall,
and fondly expect life from thence. Flaming fword: This
might perhaps be some fire kindled by an Angel to hinder
the paflage to the Tree of life.

СНАР,

.

CHAP. IV..

The ARGUMENT.

The Birth of Cain and Abel: Their feveral Employment's, and Oblations to the Lord. That of Cain not respected. He Murthers his Brother Abel, for which he is called to account by God, and doomed to a Curfe. The Birth of Enoch. A City built after his Name. The Pofte rity of Enoch to Lamech. of Lamech and his two wives, and their Pofterity. The Birth of Seth and Enos.

AND Adam knew Eve bis

wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and faid, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

1.K

New Eve his Wife: The following words declare the fence of thefe. And this moused, but farther explain

deft way of speaking, is not only ed, Numb. 31. 17. Judg. 21. 12. This was after Adam had eaten of the Tree of knowledge, and was caft out of the Garden, and not permitted to come at the Tree of life. He could not now hope to live for ever, (ch. 3. 24.) He therefore takes the onely courfe to preserve Mankind. From the Lord: Lo, Children are an heritage of the Lord, Pfal. 127.3. Gen. 30.2.

2. And she again bare his brother Abel: and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

3. And in procefs of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, an offering

unto the LORD.

2. Abel: The word in the Hebrew figni fies vanity, as that of Cain denotes poffeffi

on.

3. In process of time: i. e. At the return of fome fet and

folemn time of divine Worship.

4. And Abel, he also brought of the firftlings of his flock, and of the to:

4. Had respect un

Or, was

pleafed

with,

fat thereof; and the LORD had respect unto Abel, and to his of fering.

with, as fome anci-
ent Verfions have it.
God gave fome vifi-
ble fign of His re-

fpect, it being faid that God teftified of Abel's gifts, Heb. 11. 4. And it is probable that God did this by confuming Abel's offering with fire from Heaven. For thus did God ufe to declare his approbation and acceptance of the Oblation, Lev.9.24. Judg.6.21. 1 King. 18.38. 1 Chron. 21.26. 2 Chron. 7.1. Abel, and to his offering: To Abel first, and then to his Offering. It is the Offerer that God principally regards. Abel was a righteous perfon, (1 Joh. 3. 10. Matt. 23.35.) And by Faith he offered his Sacrifice, Heb. 11.4. (The facrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, Prov. 15.8.) And he offered a more excellent Sacrifice than Cain did, (Heb. 11.4.) And hence both he and his Offering were approved by God, who is no refpecter of perfons, Acts 10. 34, 35.

5. But unto Cain, and to his offering he had not refpect: and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

5. But unto Cain, &c. His Works were Evil. He offered without Faith and Charity, Heb. 11. 4, 6.

1 Joh. 3.12. Befides, there is a Tradition among the Jewish Writers, that Cain, in his difcourfe with Abel, denied the good providence of God, and future rewards and punishments; And then he wanted that Faith, without which it is impoffible to please God, Heb. 11.6. His countenance fell: That is, he was dejected.

6. And the LORD faid unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7.If thou doeft well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doeft not well, fin lieth at the door: and unto thee fhall be his defire, and thou fhalt rule over him.

7. If thou doeft well, &c. q.d. If thy Works be Good,thou wilt be accepted: The pious mind of the of ferer, being regarded more than the offering. If thou doeft not well: That is, if thy Works be Evil. Sin lieth at the door: i.e. Thy punishment is not far off, Thy fin will find thee out, Numb.32.23.

Sir

Sin is fometime put for its Reward or Punishment, as well as for the Sacrifice by which it is atoned, Numb. 12. 11. 2 Cor.5.21. Levit.4.24. And it may be faid to lie at the door, when it is near at hand, Matt. 24. 33. Fam. 5.9. And unto thee fhall be his defire, &c. i.e. By doing well, thou fhalt preferve that Superiority over thy Brother, which thy Birth-right gives thee a claim unto. See chap. 3. 16. Abel will then yield to thee, not onely as the Elder Brother, but as to a Pattern and Example of Vertue. These words are connected with thofe, If thou doeft well, and not with those which immediately go before: See an Example to the fame purpose, chap. 10. 12.

8. And Cain talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rofe up against Abel his brother, and flew him.

8. Talked: Some very ancient Verfions give us to under ftand that Cain in

vited Abel into the Field; and fome o

thers have told us, that there he difputed against the Providence of God, and future Rewards and Punishments.

9. And the LORD faid unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he faid, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

9. Where: See the Note on chap. 3. 9. I know not: By this it appears that he was void of a belief of

God's Providence: If he had believed that, he could not have thought his Murder hid from God.

10. And he faid, What haft thou done? the voice of thy brother's bloud crieth unto me from the ground.

10. What haft thou done? Thefe words ferve to awaken him to a due fenfe of his Sin. The voice of thy, &c. i. e. The hainousness of thy Sin in killing thy Brother, and cutting off fo righteous a Man, and one who might have been an happy Parent of a numerous and good Pofterity, which might have replenished the World.

11. And now art thou curfed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's Lloud from thy band.

11. From the Earth:

Which received thy Brother's bloud, and from whence the Cry

of