© NOREEN « & Ac 5c __ _ h She & her Husband Y It -hoſe care and tuition both She & her Husband were commut-, hy S to borl ſuppoſe the fall of the Angels was yet unknown to her ;\ | and ſhe thought this robe a good Spirit,otherwiſe ſhe would have | declined all converſation withan Apoſtate Spirit.2.A late ingenious and learned Writer repreſents the matter thus, in which there is — nothing abſurd or incredible: TheSerpent makes his addreſs to the Woman with .a ſhort ſpeech,and ſalutes her as the Empreſs of the World,e>c.She is not affrighted, becauſe there was as yer no caufe of fear,no ſin,and therefore no danger,but wonders and enquires what thismeant,and whether he was not-a brute Creature,& how ' | he came to have ſpeech, and underſtanding? The Serpent replies, ; | + that he was no better than a brurte,8& did indeed want both theſe &ifts,bur by eating ofa certain fruit in thisGarden he got þoth.She asked what Fruit and Tree that was?Which when he ſhewed her, [ ſhe replied, This,no doubt,is an excellent fruit,and likely to make | the eater of it wiſe;but God hath forbiddenus this Fruit: 'To which j |- $4 the Serpent replies,as it here follows inthe Texr. It is true, this ] |
:
4 a. —————— FLY
diſcourſe is not in the Text;bur it is confeſſed by Jewiſh, & other Expolitors,that theſe words,Yea,hath God jaid,&c.are a ſhort and ab- - rupt ſentence,and that they were but the cloſe of a foregoing diſ- courſe;which might well enough be either this now mentioned,or 1 ' ſome other of a like nature. And that expreſſion which follows v. | 6.1/hen che Woman ſaw, i. e. underſtood,that it was a Tree tobe deſired þ ro make one wiſe,may ſeem to imply,both thar the Serpent told her, F and thar ſhe believed, that the ſpeech and underſtanding of the 6 Serpent was the effett of the eating of that Fruit;and therefore that | | if it raiſed him from a brute Beaſt to the degree of a reaſonable Creature, it wouldelevate her from the humane ro a kind ofdivine (1 [nature or condition. 4\Who had upon ſome occaſion retired from - her Husband for a ſeaſon ; an advantage which the crafty Serpent quickly eſpieth, and greedily embracerh,and affauſteth her when ſhe wanteth the help of her Husband. e Or,Why,or, 1s it ſo, or, in- deed, or of a truth. f Tt is ſcarce credible that God,who is ſo boun- Ct | tiful,and the ſovereign Good,and ſo abhorring from all parſimony, a1 - and envy, ſhould forbid you the enjoyment of any part of thoſe Z provitions which he hath made for your uſe and comfort. g Or, ef any ; for the word is ambiguous, which therefore the cunning adverſary uſcrh to hide the ſnare which he was laying for her. 2 And the Woman ſaidunto the Serpent, We: may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden : > But of the Fruit of the Tree, which zs in the midſt of the Garden, God hath ſaid, Ye ſhall not eat of it, neither ſhall ye touch ith, leſt ye die 5. | © þ To wit,in orderto the eating of it:Or,the touch might be ſim- ply forbidden,or the might reaſonably underſtand ir to be forbidden 1n and by the prohivition of eating,becauſe it was an occaſion of fin, and therefore ro be avoided.For it 1s not probable thar the Woman being not yet corrupted, thould knowingly add to God's Word,or maliciouſly infinuat the harſhneſs of the Precept. # Others, !:/} peradventure ye dye,as if fnedoubred of the truth of the threatning: ; W hich ſeems not probable,the Woman yer continuing in the ſtate | of innocency,and :uch doubting being evidently iinful ; and the bt | Hebrew paiticle Pen,doth not alwaysimply a doubt,as appears from ſal. 2. 12. Iſa. 27. 3. and 36. 18. compared with 2 Kngs 18. 3.
EC 4 * And the Serpent ſaid unto the Woman, Yeſhai] ' 11. 3- | not ſurely dye &, 1
1 Tim. 2. & Ir is not ſo certain as you imagine, that you ſhall dye. God
bk. did ſay ſo indeed for your terrour, and to kcep you in awe; or,
he had ſome myſtical meaning in thoſe words; but do nor en- terrain ſuch hard and unworthy thoughts of that God who is in- finitely kind and gracious, that he will for ſuch a trifle, as the eating of a little Fruit, undo you and all your Poſterity, and ſo ſuddenly deſtroy the.moſt excellent work of his own hands.
5 For Goddoth know /, thatin the day ye ' eat thereof, then your eyes ſhallbe opened mand ye ſhall : | be as Gods », knowing Good and Evil 0. | | | | If vou would have the whole truth of the matter, and God's deſign in that Prohibition, it is only this. = He knoweth-that you thall be ſo far from dying, that ye thall certainly be entred into a new ang more noble kind of Life ; and the eyes of your minds, which are now ſhut as to the knowledge of a World of
| | ſtinttly. » Or, as God, like unto God himſelf in the largeneſs of ; your knowledge. o As the very name that God hath pur upon | the T'ree may teach you. But this is a priviledge, of which,fer divers cauſes beſt known to himſelf, ſome of which your own 1 reaſon will eaſily gueſs at, he would not have you partake of TS 6 And when the Woman ſaw p that the Tree was | good for Food.and that it was Fpleaſanr to the Eyes*,
Army ? and a Tree to be defired tomake ene Wiſe q; ſhe took 5 Tim. of the Fruit thereof, * and did eat, and gave alſo un- to her Husband r with her s, andhe did eat z,
p By curious and accurate obfervation,and gazing upon 1t,or per- ceiving it by the Serpents diſcourſe,as was obſerved on wer. 3. To wit,in an eminent degree;for otherwiſe ſo were all the reſt.qWhich | ſhe might know by the Serpents information. See the Notes on mh wer. 1. + Who by this time was returned to her. «(i e ) Who | | now was with her;or,that he might eat with her and take his part *FY of that Fruir. t By her perſwaſion and inſtigation. See 1 7/m 2.14.
| 7 And the Eyesof them both « were opened x,
and they knew * that they were naked, and they ſew- | tOr,things ed y Fig-leaves z together, and made themſelves + 4 | | f0 gird a= prons 4a- 1 i= | PF bout, * Of their Minds and Conſciences,which hitherto had been cloſed and blinded by the arrs of the Devil. x As the Devil had promiſed them, though in a far differing,and fadder ſenſe. * They knew it before,when it was their glory, ut now they knew it with grief and ſhame,from a ſenſe both of their guilt for the fin newly paſt,
and of that ſinful Concupiſcence which they gpw found working in
2. 14.
things, ſhall then be opened, and ſee things more fully and di-'
n=