II. This division of the sacred volume comprises an account of the creation of the world, and of the fall of man, the outlines of the early annals of the world, and a full recital of the Jewish law, and of the events which happened to the Israelites from their becoming a distinct people to their departure out of Egypt, and their arrival on the confines of the land of Canaan, a period of two thousand five hundred and fifteen years, according to the vulgar computation, or of three thousand seven hundred and sixty-five years, according to the computation established by Dr. Hales. "It is a wide description, gradually contracted; an account of one nation, preceded by a general sketch of the first state of mankind. The books are written in pure Hebrew, with an admirable diversity of style, always well adapted to the subject, yet characterised with the stamp of the same author; they are all evidently parts of the same work, and mutually strengthen and illustrate each other. They blend revelation and history in one point of view; furnish laws, and describe their execution; exhibit prophecies, and relate their accomplishment."

III. Besides the Pentateuch, the Jews ascribe to Moses ten psalms, from Psalm xc. to xcix. inclusive. There is however no solid evidence to prove that these psalms were composed by him; for the title of the ninetieth psalm (" a prayer of Moses the Man of God,") which, they pretend, must be applied also to the ten following psalms, is not sufficient. The greater part of the titles of the psalms is not original, nor indeed very antient and some of them are evidently misplaced: we find also in these psalms the names of persons, and other marks, which by no means agree with Moses.

Further, some of the antient fathers have thought that Moses was the author of the book of Job: Origen, in his commentary on Job, pretends that Moses translated it out of Syriac into Hebrew: but this opinion is rejected both by Jews and Christians. Besides, if this book had really been composed by Moses, is it likely that the Jews would have separated it from the Pentateuch ?2

There are likewise ascribed to Moses several apocryphal books; as an Apocalypse, or Little Genesis, the Ascension of Moses, the Assumption of Moses, the Testament of Moses, and the Mysterious Books of Moses. The principal part of the "Little Genesis" was transferred by Cedrenus into his chronological history :3 it was extant in Hebrew in the fourth century of the Christian æra, for we find it cited by Jerome; and some version of it should seem also to have been in existence in the sixteenth century, which was condemned as apocryphal by the Council of Trent. From the apocalypse just noticed, it has been pretended that Saint Paul copied Gal. v. 6. and vi. 15. and it has been imagined that what is said in the Epistle of Jude

1 Dr. Gray's Key to the Old Testament, p. 76. 5th edit.

2 The book of Job was composed many ages before the time of Moses. See Chap. III. Sect. I. infra, of this volume.

3 Cedrenus, enumerating the authorities consulted by him, says that he "collected not a few things from the Little Genesis, απο της Λεπτης Γενέσεως. Historia Compendiaria, tom i. p. 2. edit. Venet. 1729. Cedrenus frequently cites this apo cryphal book in the course of his work.

(verse 9.), respecting the archangel Michael's contention with Satan for the body of Moses, was taken from the apocryphal ascension of Moses. Such was the opinion of Origen, who, though he cites it in another place, alludes to it as not being in the canon. All these pretended Mosaic writings however are confessedly spurious, and are supposed to have been fabricated in the early ages of Christianity.

On the difference between the Hebrew and Samaritan Pentateuchs, or rather editions of the Pentateuch, see Volume II. pp. 12, 13.; and for a view of the Genuineness and Credibility of the Pentateuch, see Volume I. pp. 50-67.

SECTION II.

ON THE BOOK OF GENESIS.

IV

I. Title.-II. Author, and date. III. General argument. Scope.-V. Synopsis. - VI. Literal Sense of the first three Chap ters of Genesis vindicated.

I. THE first book of the Pentateuch, which is called GENESIS (TENEZIZ), derives its appellation from the title it bears in the Greek Septuagint Version, BIBAOE TENEZENE; which signifies the Book of the Generation or Production, because it commences with the history of the generation or production of all things. The Jews name the books of the Old Testament, either from their authors, or the principal subject treated in them, as the five books of Moses, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, or from the first Hebrew word with which they begin : thus, the book of Genesis is in Hebrew called BERESHITH, that is, in the beginning, from its initial word. II. Although nothing is more certain, than that this book was written by Moses, yet it is by no means agreed when he composed the history which it contains. Eusebius and some eminent critics after him have conjectured, that it was written while he kept the flocks of Jethro his father-in-law, in the wilderness of Midian. But the more probable opinion is that of Theodoret, which has been adopted by Moldenhawer and most modern critics, viz. that Moses wrote this book after the departure of the Israelites from Egypt and the promulgation of the law from Mount Sinai : for, previously to his receiving the divine call related in Exodus iii., he was only a private individual, and was not endued with the spirit of prophecy. Without that spirit he could not have recorded, with so much accuracy, the history of the creation, and the subsequent transactions to his own time: neither could he have foretold events then future, as in the predictions concerning the Messiah, and those respecting the descendants of Ishmael

1 See the passages of Origen at length in Dr. Lardner's Works, vol. ii. pp. 483512. 8vo. or vol. i. pp. 541-557. 4to.

2 Vatablus, in Crit. Sacr. Heidegger, Enchirid. Bibl. p. 17. Carpzov. Introd. ad Libros Biblicos Vet. Test. pp. 55, et seq.

3 See this fact fully proved, supra, Vol. I. pp. 53--67.

and the sons of Jacob; the verification and confirmation of which depended on circumstances, that had neither taken place nor could have happened at the time when the history was written in which they are recorded but which circumstances, we know, did take place exactly as they were foretold, and which may be said, even now, to have an actual accomplishment before our eyes. A third conjecture has been offered by some Jewish writers, after rabbi Moses Ben Nachman, who suppose that God dictated to Moses all the contents of this book, during the first forty days that he was permitted to hold a communica tion with the Almighty on Mount Sinai, and that on his descent he committed the whole to writing. This hypothesis they found on Exodus xxiv. 12. where Jehovah says unto Moses Come up to me in the mount, and be thou there, and I will give thee the tables of stone, and the law, and the precepts, which I have written, to teach them: understanding, by the tables, the decalogue; by the precepts, all the ceremonial and judicial ordinances; and by the law, all the other writings of Moses, whether historical or doctrinal.1 "It is, however," as a pious writer has well remarked, as impossible, as it is of little consequence, to determine which of these opinions is best founded; and it is sufficient for us to know, that Moses was assisted by the spirit of infallible truth in the composition of this sacred work, which he deemed a proper introduction to the laws and judgments delivered in the subsequent books."

III. The book of Genesis comprises the history of about 2369 years according to the vulgar computation of time, or of 3619 years according to the larger computation of Dr. Hales. Besides the history of the creation, it contains an account of the original innocence and fall of man; the propagation of mankind; the rise of religion; the general defection and corruption of the world; the deluge; the restoration of the world; the division and peopling of the earth; the call of Abraham, and the divine covenant with him; together with the first patriarchs, to the death of Joseph. Several of these patriarchs were illustrious TYPES of the Messiah, as Adam (Rom. v. 14. 1 Cor. xv. 45.); Abel (Heb. xii. 24.); Enoch; Melchizedek (Psal. cx. Heb. vii.); Abraham and Isaac (Heb. xi. 18, 19.); Jacob and Joseph. This book also comprises some important prophecies respecting the Messiah. See iii. 15. xii. 3. xviii. 18. xxii. 18. xxvi. 4. xxviii. 14. and xlix. 10. 18.

IV. The Scope of the book of Genesis may be considered as twofold: 1. To record the history of the world from the commence ment of time; and, 2. To relate the origin of the church. The de sign of Moses in this book will be better understood, if we consider the state of the world when the Pentateuch was written. Mankind was absorbed in the grossest idolatry, which for the most part had originated in the neglect, the perversion, or the misapprehension of certain truths, that had once been universally known. Moses therefore commences his narrative by relating in simple language the truths thus disguised or perverted. In pursuance of this plan, he relates, in the

1 Pareus, Proleg. in Genesin, pp. 9, 10. Francofurti, 1647.

book of Genesis, the true origin and history of all created things, in opposition to the erroneous notions entertained by the heathen nations, especially by the Egyptians; the origin of sin, and of all moral and physical evil; the establishment of the knowledge and worship of the only true God among mankind; their declension into idolatry; the promise of the Messiah; together with the origin of the church, and her progress and condition for many ages. Further, it makes known to the Israelites the providential history of their ancestors, and the divine promises made to them; and shows them the reason why the Almighty chose Abraham and his posterity to be a peculiar people to the exclusion of all other nations, viz. that from them should spring the Messiah. This circumstance must be kept in view throughout the reading of this book, as it will illustrate many otherwise unaccountable circumstances there related. It was this hope that led Eve to exclaim,— I have gotten a man,—the Lord. (Gen. iv. 1. Heb.) The polygamy of Lamech may be accounted for by the hope that the Messiah would be born of some of his posterity, as also the incest of Lot's daughters (Gen. xix. 31-38.) Sarah's impatience of her barrenness (Gen. xvi.), the polygamy of Jacob (Gen. xxix.), the consequent jealousies between Leah and Rachel (Gen. xxx.), the jealousies between Ishmael and Isaac, and especially Rebekah's preference of Jacob to Esau. It was these jealousies, and these pretensions to the promise of the Messiah, that gave rise to the custom of calling God, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and not the God of Lot, Ishmael, and Esau, the promise having been particularly made and repeated to those three patriarchs.1

V. The Jews divide the book of Genesis into twelve parascha or larger sections, and forty-three siderim or smaller sections; in our bibles it consists of fifty chapters, the general contents and leading divisions of which are exhibited in the following synopsis :PART I. The origin of the world. (ch. i. ii.)

PART II. The history of the former world. (iii.—vii.

SECT. 1. The fall of man and his expulsion from Paradise. (iii.) SECT. 2. The history of Adam and his descendants to Noah. (iv. v.) SECT. 3. The increase of wickedness in the world, and its destruction by the deluge. (vi. vii.)

PART III. The general history of mankind after the deluge. (viii. -xi.)

SECT. 1. The restoration of the world. (viii.)

SECT. 2. The intoxication of Noah. (ix.)

SECT. 3. The peopling of the world by his descendants. (x.) SECT. 4. The confusion of tongues and dispersion of mankind. (xi.) PART IV. The particular history of the patriarchs. (xii.-1.) SECT. 1. History of Abraham and his family, (xi.-xx.) the birth of Isaac, (xxi.) trial of Abraham, (xxii.) the death of Sarah, (xxiii.) marriage of Isaac, (xxiv.) and death of Abraham. (xxv.) SECT. 2. The history of the church under the patriarch Isaac. (xxv.-xxvi.)

1 Allix's Reflections upon Genesis (Bishop Watson's Collection of Tracts, vol. i. pp. 247-259.)

SECT. 3. The history of the church under the patriarch Jacob. (xxvii.-xxxvi.)

SECT. 4. The history of the church under the patriarch Joseph. (xxxvii.-1.)

i. The afflictions of Jacob and Joseph: - Joseph sold into Egypt, (xxxvii.) the incest of Judah, (xxxviii.) the imprisonment of Joseph by Potiphar, (xxxix. xl.) ii. The deliverance and prosperity of Joseph: - his promotion in the court of Pharaoh, (xli.) the journeys of his brethren into Egypt to purchase corn, (xlii.-xlv.) the descent of Jacob into that country, and settlement there with his family, (xlvi.-xlviii.) his prophetic benedictions of his children, (xlix.) the burial of Jacob, and the death and burial of Joseph (1.)

For a summary of the religious doctrines and moral precepts of the patriarchal times, as exhibited in the book of Genesis, see Volume I. pp. 383, 384.

VI. From an imaginary difficulty in explaining the literal sense of the first three chapters of Genesis, (a difficulty however which exists not with the devout reader of the sacred volume) some learned men,1 who admit the Pentateuch to have been written by Moses, have contended that the narrative of the creation and fall is not a recital of real events, but an ingenious philosophical mythos, or fable, invented by Moses, after the example of antient Greek writers, to give the greater weight to his legislative enactments! and designed to account for the origin of human evil, and also as an introduction to a history, great part of which they consider to be a mere poetic fiction. But the inventors of this fiction (for such only can we term it) have assumed that as proved which never had any existence for the earliest Grecian cosmogony extant, namely, that of Hesiod, was not composed until at least five hundred and forty-five years after the death of Moses! Further, the style of these chapters, as indeed of the whole book of Genesis, is strictly historical, and betrays no vestige whatever of allegorical or figurative description: this is so evident to any one that reads with attention, as to need no proof. And since this history was adapted to the comprehension of the commonest capacity, Moses speaks according to optical, not physical truth: that is, he describes the effects of creation optically, or as they would have appeared to the eye, and without any assignment of physical causes. In doing which he has not merely accommodated his narrative to the apprehension of mankind in an infant state of society, and employed a method of recital best suited to a vulgar capacity; but he thereby also satisfies an important requisition of experimental philosophy, viz. to describe effects accurately and faithfully, according to their sensible appearances by which means the mind is enabled to receive a clear and distinct impression of those appearances, and thus to reduce them to their proper causes, and to draw from them such conclusions

1 This notion is current among the divines of Germany, and the Unitarians (as they term themselves) in this country: it is particularly enlarged upon by Bauer, (Herm. Sacr. pp. 351-365.); is inserted by Rosenmüller, jun. as if it were an indisputable fact, (Scholia in Vet. Test. tom. i. p. 11.) and is adopted by Dr. Geddes in his Translation of the Bible, (vol. i.) and also in his Critical Remarks, of which the reader will find a masterly refutation from the pen of the late eminently learned Bishop Horsley, in the British Critic, (O. S. vol. xix. pp. 6-13. The absurdity of this mythical interpretation is also well exposed by Professor Pareau, in his Institutio Interpretis Veteris Testamenti, pp. 360-403.