THIS BOOK is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is, of the Creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only the History of the Creation of the World; but also, an account of its progress during the space of 2369 years-that is, until the death of JOSEPH.

18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the

5 And he called the light Day, and the dark-waters brought forth, according to their kinds,

ness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.

and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

6 And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, fand let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days and years: 15 To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done. 16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars. 17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.

A. M. 1. Ante C. 4004.b Acts 14. 14. & 17. 24. Ps. 32. 6. 135. 5. Eccli. 18. 1. Heb. 11. 3.d Ps. 135, 5. & 148. 4. Jer. 10. 12 & 51, 15 Job 38. 4. Ps. 32. 7. & 88. 12. & 135. 7.Ps. 135.7.- Infra, 5. 1. & 9. 6. 1 Cor. 11. 7. Col. 3. 10.-h Wis. 2. 23. Eccli. 17. 1.- Mat. 19. 4. Infra, 8. 7. & 9. 1.- Infra,

9. 3.- Eccli. 39. 21. Mark 7. 37.

So the heavens and the earth were finished,

and all the furniture of them.

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 done.

3 And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth: 5 And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

6 But a spring rose out of the earth, watering

all the surface of the earth.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.b 8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.

9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.

11 The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.

12 And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.

16 And he commanded him, saying; Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:

17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.

18 And the Lord God said: It is not good for

man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.

Ch. 2. ver. 2. He rested, &c. That is, he ceased to make or create any new kinds of things. Though, as our Lord tells us, John 5. 17. He still worketh, viz., by conserving and governing all things, and creating Bouls.

19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its

name.

20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.

21 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam': and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.

22 And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.

23 And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.

24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and

mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they

shall be two in one flesh.

25 And they were both naked; to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed. CHAP. III. The serpent's craft. The fall of our first parents. Their punishment. The promise of a Redeemer. [OW the serpent was more subtle than any of God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that should not eat of every tree of paradise?

which the

you

2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.

4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.

5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig-leaves, and made themselves aprons.

8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.

Exod. 20. 11. & 31. 17. Deut. 5. 14. Heb. 4. 4.- 1 Cor. 15. 45. Eccli. 24. 35. Ps. 147. 4. 1 Cor. 11. 9. Eph. 5. 31. Mat. 19. 5. Mark 10. 7.- 1 Cor. 6. 16.- 2 Cor. 11. 3.-ledge, beyond that which God was pleased to give.

1 Eccli. 25. 33. 1 Tim. 2. 14.

Ch. 3. ver. 7. And the eyes, &c. Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, v. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful Ver. 9. The tree of life. So called because it had that evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their quality, that by eating of the fruit of it, man would have being naked; which they minded not before; because been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and being now stript of original grace, they quickly begar strength, and would not have died at all. The tree of to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.

knowledge. To which the deceitful serpent falsely attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of know

9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said
to him; Where art thou?

10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise;
and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I
hid myself.

11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

3 And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.

4 'Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.

13 And the Lord God said to the woman:
Why hast thou done this? And she answered:
The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Be-
cause thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed
among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon
thy breast shalt thou go, "and earth shalt thou
eat all the days of thy life.

5 But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell.

15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

6 And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.

16 To the woman also he said: I will multi- 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us

ply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sor-
row shalt thou bring forth children, and thou
shalt be under thy husband's power, and he
shall have dominion over thee.
17 And to Adam he said: Because thou hast
hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee,
that thou shouldest not eat, cursed is the earth
in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou
eat thereof all the days of thy life.
18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to
thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread till thou return to the earth, out of which
thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into
dust thou shalt return.*

20 And Adam called the name of his wife
Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his
wife, garments of skins, and clothed them.
22 And he said: Behold Adam is become as
one of us, knowing good and evil: now, there-
fore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
23 And the Lord God sent him out of the
paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from
which he was taken.

24 And he cast out Adam; and placed before
the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flam-
ing sword, turning every way, to keep the way

of the tree of life.

Is. 65. 25. Mich. 7. 17. 1s. 49. 23. Ps. 72. 9.-b Apoc. 12. Infra. 49. 17. 1 Cor. 14. 34. Infra, 18. 27. Ps. 102. 14. & 22. 16. Excle. 7. 12- A. M. 2. Ante C. 4002- Heb. 11. 4. AM 128, Ante C. 3976 Wis. 10. 3. Mat. 23. 35. 1 John 3 12 Jude 11.

CHAP. IV.

The history of Cain and Abel.

AN

ND Adam knew Eve his wife: who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.

e

2 And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.

go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.

9 And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth."

11 Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand. 12 When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.

13 And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon. 14 Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me.

15 And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not be so: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished seven-fold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.

16 And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth, at the east side of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived,

Ver. 14. Every one that findeth me shall kill me. His guilty conscience made him fear his own brothers and nephews; of whom, by this time, there might be a good number upon the earth; which had now endured near 130 years; as may be gathered from Gen. 5. 3. com

Ver. 15. She shall crush. Ipsa, the woman; so divers

of the fathers read this place conformably to the Latin:pared with Ch. 4. 25., though in the compendious account
others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same:
for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes
the serpent's head,

given in the scriptures, only Cain and Abel are mentioned.

Ver. 22. Behold Adam, &c. This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.

Ver. 15. Set a mark, &c. The more common opinion of the interpreters of holy writ, supposes this mark to have been a trembling of the body; or a horror and consterna tion in his countenance.

C. 4. v. 4. Had respect. That is, shewed his acceptance of his sacrifice (as coming from a heart full of devotion) and that, as we may suppose, by some visible token, such as sending fire from heaven upon his offerings.

Ver. 17. His wife. She was a daughter of Adam, and Cain's own sister; God dispensing with such marriages in the beginning of the world, as mankind could not otherwise be propagated. He built a city, viz., In process of time, when his race was multiplied, so as to be numer

Man's sin is the cause of the deluge. Noe

manded to build the ark.

ND after that men began to be mul upon the earth, and daughters wer to them,

A

10 After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 2 The sons of God seeing the daught

Mat. 18. 22.-b A. M. 130. Ante C. 3874.- Wis. 2. 3. Eccle.

17. 1. Infra, 9. 6. 1 Par. 1. 1.-A. M. 235. Ante C. 3769.-Seth had not called upon God, before the birth of Ver. 26. Began to call upon, &c. Not that Ada

f A. M. 987. Ante C. 3017.- A. M. 1056. Ante C. 2948.