NOTE. THE following is the title-page of the Bible from whence these "Notes" are drawn : —“Verbum Dei. THE HOLY BIBLE, Containing the Old Testament and the New; Newly translated out of the originall Tongue; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised: London: Printed by the Companie of Stationers. 1652. Cor mundum circa in me Deus, Psalm 51." 4to. On a flyleaf there is the signature of a former possessor of the Bible, thus: "Benjamin Pierpont, His Book AD: 1728." This was probably a son of the Rev. James Pierpont of New Haven, New England, whose third wife, Mary, grand-daughter of the famous THOMAS HOOKER, was mother of the wife of Jonathan Edwards. Of "Benjamin" himself nothing seems to be known. Immediately underneath the other is, Jonathan Edwards his Book 1748." Mr Pierpont records, on the reverse of the title-page, that the interleaving paper consisted of "432 leaves," and the volume itself of "396 leaves." He has also interspersed a few commonplace observations. Edwards's heading for his "Notes" is, "Miscellaneous Observations on the Holy Scriptures.”—G. 66 OLD TESTAMENT. GENESIS. 1. Gen. ii. 3- "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it," &c.] It is rendered very probable by Bedford in his "Scripture Chronology,"* that this first Sabbath being the first day of Adam's life, and so the first day from whence he began to reckon time, was the first day of his week; and so, that the first day of the week was the day that God sanctified to be kept by all nations and ages, excepting the change that was made of the day of the Sabbath for the Israelitish nation after the coming out of Egypt, till the resurrection of Christ; and also that the "deep sleep" that was fallen on Adam in which God took from him one of his ribs and made Eve of it, was on the night before. If so, then as Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, so Adam on the same day rose from his first sleep. As Christ on that day rose from that death that He died, by which He purchased and obtained the Church, being by that means created anew; so Adam rose from that "deep sleep" that he slept, which made way for her formation, and by which he obtained her. As when Adam arose from his deep sleep, God brought the woman to him, whose being, his deep sleep had made way for, and gave her to him; so when Christ rose from the dead, God brought the Church to Him: it was gathered and brought home to Christ in an extraordinary manner, soon after His resurrection. As Adam rose and received his wife, "bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh," and taken out of himself, from near his heart; so Christ received His Church that is "of his flesh and of his bones," (Eph. v. 30,) and as the product of His most dear dying love. As this day was a day wherein God was refreshed, and rejoiced in beholding His works, and a day of rejoicing to Adam in that he then received his wife, and a day of rejoicing to Eve, being then first received into union with her companion; so the day of Christ's resurrection was a day of rejoicing to God the Father, to Christ, and also to the Church, which was then begotten again to a living hope by the resurrection. 2. Gen. ii. 17—"In the day," &c.] It does not seem to me 1730 folio.-G. necessary that we should understand this, that death should be executed upon him in that day when he ate. But that it may be understood in the same manner as Solomon's words to Shimei, (1 Kings ii. 37.) Death was executed upon Shimei many days after he had done that thing. The thing that God would signify to Adam by this expression seems to me to be, that if he but once presumed to taste that fruit, he should die. You shall not be waited upon to see whether you will do it again, but as soon as ever you have eaten, that very day shall death be made sure to you, you shall be bound to die, given over to death without any more waiting upon you; as that was what Solomon would signify to Shimei; that if he but once went over the brook Kedron, he should die; (see note on 1 Kings ii. 37,) and so these words signify that perfect obedience was the condition of God's covenant that was made with Adam, as they signify that for one act of disobedience he should die. See Ezek. xxxiii. 12 -["Thou shalt die."] (See POOL, Synop. in loc.) * 3. Gen iii. 15-"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."] Here the pronoun "he," the verb "bruise," and the affix "his" are all of the singular number, as Bedford observes in p. 166 of his "Scripture Chronology,”† which shews that by "seed" is meant a particular person, and not her posterity in general; which observation is agreeable to that which the apostle Paul makes, (Gal. iii. 16,) referring to what is said in Gen. xxii. 17, 18, where the singular pronoun or affix "his," and the singular verb "possess," is in like manner used when speaking of that "seed of Abraham," who should "possess the gate of his enemies," and "in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed." Bedford in his "Scripture Chronology" says the Jewish Paraphrasts express this text thus: "There shall be a remedy to mankind: but there shall be no remedy to thee the serpent. But there shall be a remedy to them in the latter age of the world, even in the days of King Messiah, who shall remember what thou didst in the beginning of the world;" and says, that Maimonides, a learned Jew, justly admires [=wonders] that the seed of the woman should be only mentioned, and not of Adam, without whom she could have no seed, and which must therefore be his seed; and that it should be said of " her seed,” not of "his," that it bruised the serpent's head. "This," saith he, "is one of the passages in Scripture which is most wonderful, and not to be understood according to the letter, but contains great wisdom in it." In the old Creation, the woman was taken out of the man; in the new Creation, the man is taken out of the woman. God in the new creation honours the inferior; as man, the inferior nature, is honoured above the angels. 4. Gen. iii. 21-"Coats of skins."] Our first become naked, were clothed at the expense of life. parents, who were Beasts were slain, * The well-known "Synopsis Criticorum," filling five large folios. Utrecht, 1684.-G. + As before under Gen. ii. 3.-G. Best edition is, and resigned up their lives to afford them clothing to cover their nakedness. The skin signifies the life, as in Job ii. 4-"Skin for skin"-.e., life for life. These beasts typified Jesus Christ. Probably they were beasts slain in sacrifice; but if not, if they were slain by God on purpose to clothe Adam and Eve, the type is no less lively. See Exod. xxxvi. 14. for an hundred בְמֵאָה קְשִׁיטָה ,32 .See instance Joshua xxiv 5. Gen. iv. 23, 24-" And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, here my voice; ye wives of Lamech,. . I have slain a man," &c.] The probable design of the Holy Spirit in relating this, is to shew the great increase of the depravity and corruption of the world of Cain's posterity, and those that adhered to them at that day, in the generation next to the Flood. This is shewn in the particular instance of Lamech, the chief man of Cain's posterity in his day. Lamech had been guilty of murder, he had slain some man that he had had a quarrel with, and he justifies himself in it, and endeavours to satisfy his wives that he shall escape with impunity, from the instance of Cain, whose life God had protected, and even took especial care that no man should kill him; and had declared if any man killed him, vengeance should be taken on him sevenfold, though the man he slew was his brother and a righteous man, and had done him no injury. But this man he had slain in, or for his wounding, (as the words are interpreted by some learned men, (see POOL, Synop. in loc.) pieces of silver,)-i.e.. the man he had slain had injured and wounded him; and therefore if Cain should be avenged sevenfold, doubtless he seventy and sevenfold. By this speech to his wives he shews his impenitence, presumption, and great insensibility. When Cain had slain his brother, his conscience greatly troubled him; but Lamech, with great obduracy, shakes off all remorse, and as it were bids defiance to all fear and trouble about the matter. That he should set the price of his life so high; that he should imagine that the vengeance due to the man that should take it away ought to be so vastly beyond that which was threatened for the killing of Cain, must be owing to a prodigious pride of heart, esteeming himself a man of such great value, and accounting it so heinous a thing for any to hurt or wound him; and then it shews a vile abuse of God's goodness, long-suffering, and forbearance, in the instance of Cain, which ought to have led men to repentance. But instead of this, that instance of God's forbearance probably was so abused as to be one great occasion of that violence that the earth was filled with in Lamech's days. The sins for which the old world was destroyed were chiefly sensuality, pride, violence, presumption, a stupid, seared conscience, and abusing God's patience, of each of which Lamech (the head of that wicked world) is here set forth [as] an example, in his polygamy and his murder, (which probably was some way occasioned by his polygamy,) and in this speech to his wives about what he had done. It need not be wondered at that Lamech should express his mind to his wives any more than that Ahab and Haman should express the wicked workings of their hearts to their wives, [1 Kings |