In this chapter are contained a summary of the works of creation on the six days, and God’s resting from his works on the seventh day, and the sanctification of that, Gen.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished Perfected and completed in the space of six days, gradually, successively, in the manner before related; by the word and power of God they were on the first day created out of nothing, but they were not perfected, beautified, and adorned, and filled,…

And on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made Not that God wrought anything on the seventh day, or finished any part of his work on that day, because he could not then be said to rest from all his work, as be is afterwards twice said to do; and because of this seeming difficulty the…

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it A day in which he took delight and pleasure, having finished all his works, and resting from them, and looking over them as very good; and so he pronounced this day a good and happy day, and “sanctified” or appointed it in his mind to be a day…

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth, when they were created That is, the above account, delivered in the preceding chapter, is a history of the production of the heavens and earth, and of all things in them; the creation of them being a kind of generation, and the day of their…

And every plant of the field, before it was in the earth, &c.] That is, God made it, even he who made the heavens and the earth; for these words depend upon the preceding, and are in close connection with them; signifying that the plants of the field, which were made out of the earth on the third…

But there went up a mist from the earth After the waters had been drained off from it, and it was warmed by the body of light and heat created on the first day, which caused a vapour, which went up as a mist, and descended: and watered the whole face of the ground; or earth, and so supplied the…

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, &c.] Not of dry dust, but, as Josephus [[7]] says, of red earth macerated, or mixed with water; the like notion Hesiod [[8]] has; or out of clay, as in hence a word is made use of, translated “formed”, which is used of the potter that forms his…

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden Or “had planted” [[11]], for this was not now done after the formation of man, but before; and so the word translated “eastward” may be rendered, as it is by some, “before” [[12]]: for the plain meaning is, that God had planted a garden before he…

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food That is, out of the ground of the garden of Eden; and this was done on the third day, when the whole earth brought forth grass, herbs, and trees: but a peculiar spot of ground was fixed on…

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden Before man was created, as Aben Ezra observes, this river went out of Eden and watered it on every side; but what river is here meant, is hard to say.

The name of the first is Pison Not the river Nile in Egypt, as Jarchi, who thinks it is derived from “Pashah”, which signifies to increase, expand, and diffuse, as that does at certain times, and spreads itself over the land of Egypt, or from “Pishten”, linen, which grows there, nor the river…

And the gold of that land is good Arabia was famous for gold: Diodorus Siculus [[22]] speaks of gold in Arabia, called “apyrus”, which is not melted by fire out of small filings, as other; but as soon as dug is said to be pure gold, and that in the size of chestnuts, and of such a flaming colour,…

And the name of the second river is Gihon There was one of this name in the land of Israel, which, or a branch of it, flowed near Jerusalem, this Aben Ezra suggests is here meant, and which favours the notion of the above learned man, that the garden of Eden was in the land of Israel.

The name of the third river is Hiddekel A river which ran by Shushan in Persia, and retained its name in the times of Daniel, where it is called the great river; and it seems it bears the same name now among the Persians; at least it did an hundred and fifty years ago, when Rauwolff [[11]]…

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden This is observed before in and is here repeated to introduce what follows; and is to be understood not of a corporeal assumption, by a divine power lifting him up from the place where he was, and carrying him into another; rather of…

And the Lord God commanded the man Over whom he had power and authority; and he had a right to command him what he pleased, being his Creator, benefactor, and preserver; and this is to be understood not of man only, but of the woman also, whose creation, though related afterwards, yet was before…

But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil Of the name of this tree, and the reasons of it, (See Gill on Gen. 2:9) thou shalt not eat of it; not that this tree had any efficacy in it to increase knowledge, and improve in science and understanding, as Satan suggested God knew; and therefore…

And the Lord God said Not at the same time he gave the above direction and instruction to man, how to behave according to his will, but before that, even at the time of the formation of Adam and which he said either to him, or with himself: it was a purpose or determination in his own mind, and may…

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air Or “had formed them” [[4]] on the fifth and sixth days; and these were formed two and two, male and female, in order to continue their species; whereas man was made single, and had no companion of the same…

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to every beast of the field As they came before him, and passed by him, paying as it were their homage to him, their lord and owner: but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him; and perhaps this might be one reason of…

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept This was not a common and natural sleep that Adam fell into, occasioned by any weariness of the animal spirits, in viewing the creatures as they passed by him, and in examining them, and giving them suitable and proper names; but…

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he woman It is commonly observed, and pertinently enough, that the woman was not made from the superior part of man, that she might not be thought to be above him, and have power over him; nor from any inferior part, as being below him, and…

And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh Of “his bones”, because made out of a pair of his ribs, as some think, one on each side, and therefore expressed in the plural number, “and of his flesh”, a part of which was taken with the rib; this Adam knew, either being awake…

Therefore shall a man leave his father, and his mother These are thought by some to be the words of Moses, inferring from the above fact, what ought to be among men; and by others, the words of Adam under divine inspiration, as the father of mankind instructing his sons what to do, and foretelling…

And they were both naked, the man and his wife Were as they were created, having no clothes on them, and standing in need of none, to shelter them from the heat or cold, being in a temperate climate; or to conceal any parts of their bodies from the sight of others, there being none of the creatures…