24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: t and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

CHAP. III.

1 The serpent deceiveth Eve. 6 Man's fall. 15 The promised seed. 16 The punishment of mankind. 22 Their loss of Paradise.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made: and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of

every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden :

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.

5 For God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked: and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ||

8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool ** of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the LORD God called unto

Adam, and said unto him,§§ Where

art thou?

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

11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I com

Heb. Called.

§ by every where in Scripture means a side, we never find it used for a rib. Various are the opinions concerning the state of man before the formation of Eve; but, as it does not appear to be of any use to enter into such a speculation, we shall only observe, that some of the Rabins say, that he was a double creature, one face before and another behind. Heb. He built.

This is not to be considered as a commandment, but only, as the natural consequence of the marriage state; and shews that the bonds of that honorable state, are stronger than nature; for to whom can we be more firmly bound than to the fathers that begat us, and the mothers that bare us; yet, does man forsake all and cleave to his wife in love.

Heb. Girdles.

** Heb. To the wind.

66 This was in order to enter into a kind of discourse with him, (without disconcerting him, as Aben Ezra observes,) so that he might have full power to exculpate himself if he could. And here

that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

CHAP. II.

1 The first Sabbath. 8 The planting of Eden. 17 The tree of knowledge. 19 The creatures named. 21 Woman made, and marriage instituted.

THUS the heavens and the

earth were finished, and all the host 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 made.

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.

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.

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.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

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.

8 And the LORD God planted

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.

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.

Heb. Eating thou mayest eat.

* Heb. Cush, Heb. Death thou shalt die. || Here the Scripture notices the impropriety of man's situation when alone, and then interrupts the matter with the narration of God's bringing all the beasts to the man, in order to his giving them names; which induces me to think, that God had something more in view (though it is not mentioned) than merely the giving of names; which perhaps was, that the man seeing all the animals coupled, might also be inspired with a desire of having a mate; and therefore, after saying that he had given them names, Scripture repeats the same observation, but for the man, he (meaning the man) found no help meet for him, (meaning for himself.)