The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 91

mnn n <'Onccption of his ineffnLle nnJ 1111- for the cnrth. 'l'ho exigencies of the text nppronchnblc Godhend wns to snpply liim ns well ns the nsccrtnincll facts of phyeicnl with nn nnthropomorphic imngeofnimself- science, rcquiro tl10 first dity's work to bo the " the Word mnde fle.sh." Deeper insight, originitl production of light throughout tho however, into this sublime stntemcnt disc-ems universe, nnd in particular througl1out our thnt "anthropomorpl1ism" docs not oxhnust 1,Janctary system (l{nlisch, Lango, Dclit2scl1, its sil!'llifir.anco. God spoke; but to whom I DawsCln). Calvin, though much moro deeply "This wns an omnipotent word," says concerned nbout the refutation of Servctus, Luther, "spoken in the Divine csscuco. No who maintained that the Word only begun oue l,eard this word uttered but God himself. to be with the creation of light, was able to . . . . . The Father spoke within." It is pcrceh·e thnt this light was inJcpcndent or obscn•nl,lc too thnt every time the word goes the sun and moon; in this ngrccing with forth from Elol,im it is followed by instnnt- Augustine, who, however, conjectured it to m,eons monmcnt in the clinos, as if the be not material, but spiritual in its nnture worJ it.self "·ere inlicrcntly crentivc. Rc- (' De Gcnesi nd Literam,' lib. i. c. 3), Nor nwmbering, then, that the doctrine of n does it in the slio-htest conflict with vcr. 1 pcrsonnl Logos wns not unknown to the later to suppose thnt ligl1t wns now for the first time theolog:y of the Old Testament (cf. Ps. xxxiii. produced, light bciu~ n rnode or cmdition 6 ; cxlnii. 5), nnd is clearly re,·ealed in the of matter, and not n distinct elernent or sub- Kew (John i. l ; Hcb. xi. 3), it is difficult stance, as was nt ono time believed. Lumin- to resist the inference that here we have its osity is simply the result of incandescence, roots, nnd that a correct exegesis should find nlthough what specific change is effected on in the creative word of Elohim an adum- the constitutions or adjustments of the mole- 1,ration of the Devar Jel,ovah of the He- cules of n body by the process of heating Lrcw Psalter, the Logos of John's Gospel, and which renders it luminous science is wtable the Rema Thecu oftl1e WTiter to the Hebrews. to explain, Any solid body can be rendered Let there be light : and there was light. incandescent by being heated up to between The sublimity of these words, which arrested 700° end 800° Fahrenheit. Any liquid that the attention of the heathen Long:inus (' De can absorb as great n quantity of heat like- Sublimitate,' ix.), and which Milton(' Para- wise emits light. Gases do not appear to be ,lisc Lost,' vii.) and Du Bart.~s, nn elder poet capable of incandescence, though the phe- (-,:id. Kitto in loco), hnvc tried to repro- nomena attending their sudden condensation duce, is in 1;reat measure lost in our English discover light-producing properties in their ,·ersion. rw,19,irw "'"'' irai ;y,v•rw '/>wt; composition. As to how the light of incan- (LXX.) and sit luz et fuit lu.x (Vulg.) ere descent bodies is transmitted to the eye, the superior translations of il~-'i'.l!l il~-•;:t! Pythagorean and Newtonian theory of small, which n1ight be rendered, "Light be, and impalpable pa1ticles of luminous matter light was." With reference to their in1port, beino constantly emitted from their surfaces the least satisfactory e:i.11lanation, notwith- towa.~ds the eye ma.y be said to have been standing the eminent names that have lent successfully displaced by that of Descartes, it their support (Bush, Kitto, Murphy, Huygens, and Euler, which nccounts for Wordsworth), is that 'ii' hich understands the phenomena of vision by tl10 existence the sun to have been created a perfectly throughout space, and in the interstitial finished lu.miTious body from the first, though spaces of bodies, of an infinitely attenuated hitherto its light had been intercepted by ether, which is thrown into undulations by the earth's vapours, which were now dis- luminous bodies precisely as the atmosphere persed by Divine command. But the lan- is made to vibrate by bodies -which ere {,'llage of Elohim is too exalted to be applied sonorous. But whichever theory be adopted to so familiar o phenomenon os the dis- to solve the mystery of its transmission, sipation of terrestrial mists, and, besides, that of emanation or of tmdulation, it is im- expressly negatives the hypothesis in ques- possible to resist the conclusion that the tion by affirming that the light was sum- creation of light, which formed the opus moned into being, and not simply into opei·aturn of the first day, was in reality the appearance. '111c hi~torian, too, cx1 Jicitly c,·olution from the dark-robed, seething mass asSerts that the light wa.i, i. e. bcga11 to be, of our condensing planet (nud probably from and 1wt merely to be visi':ile. A modification the other bodies in our solar system) of thot of tl,is view, ,,iz., that the sun and moon luminou.s matter which supplies the light. were now created, but clid not become visible It seems unnecessary to ndd that it could 11I1til the fourth dny (Inglis), must likewise not ha\'e been either the eubtcrrancnn fire be rejected, as according neither with ver. l, which produced the igneou.s rocks of geology wliich says that the heavenly bodies were (Tayler) or caloric (Clarke) ; though, ns aO'I' create,} in the beginning, nor with vers. 16, is used in Scripture for hcnt (Isa. xliv. 10), 17, wl,id, decle.re that not until the fourth fire (Isa. xxxi. 9; Ezek. v. 2), the eun (Job di<y \', c:rc: tl,~y constituted sources of light xxxi. 26), lightning (Job xxxvii. 8) 1 and CJI, I, 3-5.] 'l'IIF. BOOK OF GENgsrn. 11