feveral punishments which he prophetically denounced upon the defcendants of Adam for their fins; fo neither have we reafon to fuppofe that he changed the courfe of nature, which he had just established, in order to punish Adam's tranfgreffion. The punifhment and death denounced in both cafes are predictions only of what would come to pass in the course of divine providence. Neither the 3d chapter of Genefis, nor any other part of fcripture, informs us that we derive any thing worfe from Adam than a frail and earthly constitution, which naturally subjects us to error, fin, and death. Adam himself experienced these effects of his frame, and all his pofterity experience the like.

Ver. 20.

"And Adam called his wife's name "Eve, because fhe was the mother of all living." , Eve, or life.

Ver. 21. "Unto Adam alfo, and to his wife, "did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed "them." The act or effect is often put for the caufe or occafion of acting. Gen. xlii. 38, "Then "fhall ye bring (occafion the bringing) down my grey hairs with forrow to the grave." John xix.

.

15, "Shall I crucify (caufe to be crucified) your king," &c. &c. Gen. iii. 6,

wh, ad intelli

Gen. xxxvii.

many

colours;"

gendum, aut, ad intelligere faciendum. "Ifrael made Joseph a coat of 3, i. e. caufed to be made. See alfo Exod. xxviii. 2, 31, 36, 39, 40, 42. God caufed or inftructed Adam and Eve to make coverings for themselves; perhaps

of the fkins of the animals offered in facrifice.

Gen. iv. 3, 4; viii. 20.

See

Before the flood there was a diftinction between clean and unclean animals, Gen. vii. 2, 8; and clean beafts and fowls were offered by Noah as facrifices immediately after coming out of the ark, Gen. viii. 20; before the grant for eating animals was given, Gen. ix. 3.

Verse 22. "And Jehovah, God, faid, behold the "man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.”

This ftyle correfponds with that refpecting the tempter, faying, "Ye fhall be as gods, knowing good " and evil:" fee on ver. 5. This may be confidered as fpoken ironically. Thus God is reprefented faying by Ezekiel to the prince of Tyrus, "Thou art wifer "than Daniel: there is no fecret that they can hide "from thee." Ezek. xxviii. 3, read from the 1ft to the 10th verfe. See alfo Zech. xi. 13. Jehovah "faid, a goodly price (Hebr. a magnificence of price) "that I was prized at of them." Ifa. xxix. 1: "Add year to year, let the feafts go round in their "courfe: yet will I bring distress upon Ariel."

"And now, left he put forth his hand, &c." This is an elliptical expreflion, implying fomething to be done to prevent this, which is expreffed in ver. 23, 24. The Latin tranflation of the Arabic fupplies the ellipfis: "Et modo oportet ut exeat ex horto, ne "extendat manum fuum, &c." fee Gen. xxxviii. 11.

66

"And take alfo of the tree of life, and eat." This is figurative; as it is alfo Rev. ii. 7; xxii. 2,

14, 19; the literal fenfe of which texts in Rev. feems to be given, Rev. xxi. 4: "There fhall be no more death, neither forrow, nor crying, neither shall "there be any more pain." This corresponds with a meaning of the word life that is very common in fcripture, namely, happiness, as in Rev. xxii. 1, 17, water of life. Life fignifies happiness or joy; Deut. xxx. 15, 19; Pf. xvi. 11; xxx. 5; xxxvi. 9; Prov. iv. 23; viii. 35; xvi.15; Luke xii. 15, &c. &c. Tree of life is alfo ufed figuratively in Prov. iii. 18, for wisdom, or virtue; in xi. 30, and xv. 4, for good instruction; and in xiii. 12, for defire accomplished. In the fame manner bread of life, John vi. 35, 48, 58, is explained ver. 40; and living water, John iv. 10, 11, 14, means the gospel doctrine of everlasting life or happiness.

"And live for ever." This phrafe is parallel to eating of the tree of life, and has a fimilar meaning, namely, enjoying pure and permanent happiness. Accordingly, Dr. Kennicott fays, Gen. iii. 22, may be literally rendered, "And now left he put forth his "hand, and take again of the trees of life, and eat, " and live on happy all his days." carries the idea of happiness; Pf. xxxviii. 19; xxii. 26. Diff. on the Tree of Life, p. 73, 2d edit.

y is used for the life of a perfon; 1 Sam. i. 22; Exod. xxi. 6, &c.

The expreffion" eating of a tree to live for ever," cannot be taken literally, because fruit and all vegetable as well as animal fubftances have a principle of decay within them; though fome may continue

longer than others. Again, if Adam had been formed to live for ever without dying, in cafe he had not finned, of what use was a tree to preserve him from death? for after his offence he was driven from it.

Since it cannot be fuppofed, that eating the fruit of any tree could prevent the execution of a divine denunciation; or that the Supreme Being can be literally understood to have expreffed any apprehenfion of fuch an effect; the language attributed to him in this verfe requires a figurative interpretation, in order to reconcile it to his perfections.

Ver. 23. "And Jehovah God, fent him forth. "from the garden of Eden." Dr. Kennicott renders, "therefore the Lord God fent him forth from the "garden of Eden, to till the ground; for from thence "he was taken." Diff. on Tree, &c. p. 105. In this verse, and 24th, the Greek and Vulgate render paradife of pleasure; and the Chaldee, garden of pleafure. Eden fignifies pleasure. Thefe verfions, therefore, make the paffage more evidently correspond to the sense of the preceding verfe. They fhew that Adam was difmiffed from the happy state in which he was before, when he enjoyed the fatisfaction of innocence and freedom from guilt. Comp. Ecclus. xl. 27.

"To till the ground from whence he was taken." See on ver. 19.

Verse 24. "So he drove out the man, and he "placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim "and a flaming fword which turned every way to

"keep the way of the tree of life." Comp. Job Xxxvii. 12.

This may denote an irresistible power, or divine appointment, which entirely excluded man tranfgreffing the commands of God from enjoying pure felicity in this life. See Enquiry on Angels, part i. ch. iii. fec. 2.

Adam, however, was not abfolutely banished from the prefence of God, or from all participation of the divine favour. For after this, Cain was driven out from the divine prefence, Gen. iv. 14, 16. He muft, therefore, have been before in his prefence; confequently Adam and Eve must have been fo too; for Cain, being the first child of the firft man and woman that were created, must have lived with them. Now being difmiffed from the presence of God, means only, that God permitted evil to befal fuch; fee Jerem. xxiii. 24, 39; lii. 3; 2 Kings xiii. 23; xxiv. 20; comp. Jerem. xxi. 10; 2 Chron. xvi. 9; as being in the prefence of God fignifies having his favour and protection, and enjoying happiness. See Pf. xvi. 11; xlii. 5.

So eafy and natural is the figurative language of this chapter, that an eminent writer who interpreted. it literally, himself adopts the fame imagery. "Might "I not say, that to this day many a fon of Adam is "caft out of his paradife, and the labours of his hands "accurfed, for meddling with this forbidden fruit?" Jof. Mede's works, book i. disc. 26, p. 160. The author of the 2d book of Efdras, viii. 52, also uses paradife, and the tree of life, in a figurative fenfe,