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holiness, righteousness: and let them have dominion over all the creatures, over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth.

27. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."]-So God accordingly created man after his own image, both in respect of his spiritual soul and of this integrity, and holiness, and righteousness, wherewith he was indued: he created them in both sexes, both male and female; forming the male of the matter of earth, and the female afterwards of the male.

28. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea."]-And God gave a special blessing unto them; and said, Be ye, through that power of propagation which I give you, fruitful; and multiply, and replenish the earth with your seed; and be ye possessors and rulers of the earth, &c.

29. "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree."] -And God said, Behold, as I have made you, and given you life, so am I careful to provide and grant you fit sustenance for the continuance of that life, which I have given you: take ye liberty therefore to eat of every plant that groweth upon the earth, whether herb or tree, &c.

II. 1. "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them."]-Thus were the heavens, and the earth, and sea, and all the hosts of heaven, both the angels and stars, and all the furniture of the earth and water, both plants and beasts and birds and fishes, finished by the mighty power of God, in the space of six days.

2. "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."]—And, on the seventh day, God having finished the great work of his creation, ceased from any further act of this kind; rejoicing in the view of his glorious workmanship; and never since ceasing to preserve, order, and govern that world which he then created.

3. "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."]-And thereupon God gave a special blessing to the

seventh day; and honoured it with this privilege, that it should be a day set apart to rest and holiness; that so, by this means, men might be put in mind of the wonderful work of his creation, and might celebrate that rest of their Creator.

4. "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."]-This is the story, or just report, of the making of the heavens and the earth, in that beginning of time wherein the Lord God, who hath eternal being in himself, gave a being to the earth and the heavens;

5. "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground."]-And to every plant of the field, when as before it had no being in the earth; and to every herb, that had not as yet been, nor could have been, as by any natural means: for there had been as yet no rain, which is the ordinary means of fruitfulness, sent down from God upon the earth: neither was there any man as yet to till the ground, and by his industry and art to draw forth any fruit therefrom.

6. "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."]-Only God caused a mist or vapour to rise up from the earth, and to fall down again upon the whole face of the ground; whereby the earth was watered, and the fruits thereof refreshed, till he thought good to send the ordinary and natural helps of her fruitfulness.

7. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."]—And the Lord God formed the body of man of the mould of the ground, and inspired and animated him with a living and reasonable spirit, which is immortal, immaterial, separable from the body: and so man, consisting of body and soul, became a perfect creature, indued with life and reason, and such qualities and motions as were fit to proceed from both.

8. "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed."]—And the Lord God planted an orchard and garden of pleasure in the eastern tract of that goodly and fruitful country of Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9. "And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of

life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."]-And the Lord God furnished and adorned that garden with all variety of goodly and pleasant plants, that might be delectable either to the eye or to the taste, or wholesome for nourishment; and, amongst the rest, caused to grow there that flourishing and sacramental Tree of Life; which, as it had virtue to preserve the natural life, so served to signify both that eternal life of glory and blessedness in heaven, and the only author of that eternal life, Jesus Christ; and therewith also, that fatal Tree of Knowledge, the eating whereof should cause man, who before knew only good, to have a woful knowledge and experience of evil.

10. "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads."]-And, for the commodity of the place, God had so seated it, as that a river came down out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it parted itself into four several streams.

11. "The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;"]-The first is that channel of Euphrates which is called Pischon, which washeth upon the land which afterward took the name of Havilah, one of the grandchildren of Eber, where there is gold:

12. "And the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium a and the onyx stone."]-And the gold of that land, as likewise of his brother Ophir's, is very pure and fine; and there is store of rich gums or pearls, and precious stones.

13. "And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia."]-The name of the second stream or channel is Gihon, which floweth along by desert Arabia; the inheritance afterwards of Cush, the son of Cham.

14. "And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates."]-The name of the third stream is Hiddekel, or Tigris, which floweth eastward to Assyria: and the fourth, retaining the appellation of the whole main river, is called Euphrates.

15. "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it."]-Then the Lord took man from the place where he was created, and placed him in this

a ["This gum resin comes from Arabia, and is supposed to be the produce of a species of Amyris."-Thomson's Chemistry.]

goodly paradise of Eden: not that he should be idle, and there spend his time in vain pleasure, but that he might sow, plant, prune, keep and dress it; not in any toiling or afflicting labour, but only for his voluntary and delightful exercise.

16. "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:"]—And God prescribed man a law for his diet, to this effect; Thou seest with what plenty and delicacy of fruit I have stored this garden for thee; all which, I leave to thy free choice and full liberty: feed on whichsoever thou likest:

17. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."]-Only one tree there is, which, for the trial of thy obedience, I forbid thee and thine to taste of; the tree of experience of good and evil: so termed in regard of the event; for so soon as ever thou eatest the fruit thereof, thou shalt surely be in the state of mortality, and shalt sensibly feel evident proofs of thy frailty; and, besides this bodily death, thy transgression of this my commandment shall be punished, if I should deal with thee in the rigour of my justice, with the separation of thy body and soul from my presence for ever.

18. "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."]-Now before this time, even in the sixth day, the Lord had thus determined concerning man; It is neither so comfortable an estate, nor fit for the natural propagation of mankind, that the man should live alone, in one only sex: I will make him an helper, of his own nature, meet for him in both regards.

19. "And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof."]-For, when the Lord had formed of the earth every beast of the field and every fowl of the air, of their own fit matter, and had brought them to man, who was their lord, to acknowledge his sovereignty, and to receive from him their names; for howsoever Adam, out of the knowledge of their several nature, thought good to call them, so was their names:

20. "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him."]-And when Adam had given

fit names to all the creatures; to all the tamer sort of cattle, all the fowls of the air, all wild beasts; all this while, among so great choice, Adam found not a meet helper of his own nature and form, with whom he might converse for comfort and generation.

21. "And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;"-Wherefore the Lord God had cast man into a deep sleep or ecstacy, that he might not be sensible of what he suffered; and while he thus slept, he took out one of his ribs from his side, and closed up the breach with flesh in the room thereof:

22. "And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."]—And of this rib thus taken from Adam God framed the woman in a most comely proportion, and brought her thus framed immediately to Adam, as a fit match to join with him.

23. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."]-Then Adam, lovingly and cheerfully receiving her, gladly acknowledged: This indeed is she whom I sought among all the creatures, and found not: now have I obtained of the Lord a fit helper for me; for lo, this is not only of the same nature, but, as I well see, of the same flesh, blood, and bone, with myself. She shall be therefore called Woman, because she is taken out of the Man; that as she received her substance from me, so she may take her name also.

24. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."]— Seeing therefore such was the creation of woman, and the first institution of marriage; it is the everlasting will of God that there shall be an entire and loving conjunction betwixt the man and wife and whether in their habitation, if occasion so require, or whether in the danger of the dissolution of this bond, the man shall rather leave father and mother, and his duty to them in this case, for his wife, than neglect her due satisfaction; and they two shall be so nearly knit together both in body and mind, that they shall be but as one flesh, like as at their first creation.

25. "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."]-And such was the purity, simplicity, and perfection of their minds and bodies, as that both Adam and his wife were naked; and found not this estate either unwholesome

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