The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 128

EXPOSITION. '\\>r. 18.-In anticipntinn of \he ensuing for whom (seeing that his naturo is to dis- narrnti~e of the temptation alld the fnll, pense happiness to his creatures) no rnot·e the historian, having ciepicted man's settle- than for Adam would it hn,·c been good thnt ment in Eden, 1\llrnnces to complete llis !nan, being "·hat he was, should remain alouo, dramati.~ personre by the introduction upon sni,1, I will provide a help meet for him; the scene of the animals nrnl woman. In literally, nn helper, ns o,·er against hin1, i. e. the preliminary creation record (1. 2i) it is corresponding to him, /30116011 ,car' ni,niv; simply state,] that God created mnn, male ':er. ~0,. oµo,oc ai,rrj, LXX. 'J.'he expres- and female ; there is a complete absence of s10n md1cates. tl!at the forthcoming helper details as to the Di\;nc modus operandi in was to be of smular nature to tho man lum- the execution of these, his last and greatest sclf, correspondiug by way of supplement to "'orks. It is one object, among others, of the the incompleteness of his lonely being, and second portion of the historJ to supply those in every way adapted to be his co-partner nnd details. With regard to man (Adam), an companion. All that Adam's nature de- account of his formation, at once minute and manded for its completion, physically, intel- exhaustive, has been gfren in the preceding lectually, socially, was to be included in this nrses (i-17); now, with like attention to altem <!{JO who was soon to stand by his side. antecedent and concomitn11t circumstances Thus in man's need, and woman's po'l>cr to and events, the s.1crcd penman adds a de- satisfy that need, is laitl the foundation for scription of the time, reason, manner, and the Divine institution of marriage, which result of the formation of woman. And 'l>as afterwards prescribed not for the first the Lord God said, It is not good for man to pair alone, but for all their posterity. be alone. '\'11ile the animals were pmduccd Yer. 19. -And out of the ground the Lord either in swarms (as the fishes) or in pairs God formed every beast of the :field, ·and (as the birds and beasts), man 'l>as created as every fowl of the air. To allege that the an individual ; his partner, by a subsequent Creator's purpose to provide a l1elpmeat for operation of creative power, being produced Adam seeks realisation through the produc- from himself. With the wild phantasies and tion of the animals (Kalisch, Alford) pro- p;ross speculations of some theosophists, as to ceeds upon a misapprehension of the proper whether, prior to the creation of Eve, Adam ne.xtl,S which binds the thoughts of the was androgynic (Bohme), or simply vir in historian, and a want of attention to the potentia, out of 'l>hich state he passed the peculiar structure of Hebrew composition, rn omen t the woman stood by his side (Ziegler), besides exhibiting Jehovah Elohim in the a devout exegesis is not required to inter- character of an empiric who only tentatively rneddlc. Neither is it needful to wonder how discovers the sort of partner that is suita blc God should pronounce that to be not good for man. It is not the time, but simply tho which he had previously (i. 31) affirmed fact, of the creation of the animals that the w:>s good. The Divine judgment of which historian records. The Vav. consec. docs the !'receding chapter speaks was expressed not necessarily involve tin1e-succession, but at the c0Jn1,letion of man's creation ; this, is frequently employed to indicate thought- "·hilc that creation was in progress. For sequence (cf. ii; 8; 1 Kings ii. 13, &c.). the ne'l>-mnde man to hn:rn been left mth- The verb {pret.) may also ~uite legitimately out n partner would, in the estimation of be rendered "had formed ' (Bush). "Our Jehovah Elohim, have been for him a con- modern style of exprcs~i!lg the Semitic dition of being which, if not necessarily writer's thought would be this-' And God had in itself, j,et, eoD6ideriug his intelleet- brought to Adam the beasts which he had 'llll and social nature, "'l>ould eventually formed'" (Delitzsch). It is thus uru1ecessary have passed over fr::>m the negative not good, to defend the record from a charge of incon- or a manifest want, into the positive not good, sistency \\ith the previous section, by suppos- or a hurtful impropriety" (Lange). "It was ing this to be the account of a second creation not ~ood for wan to be alone; not, as certain of animals in the district of Eden. Another foolish Rabbis conceited, lest he should so-called contradiction, that the present imagine himself to be the lord of the world, narrative takes no nccount of the creation of or as though no man could lfre l\ithout a aquatic animals, is disposetl of by observing woman, which is contrary to Scripture; but that the writer only notices that tl1ose ani- in r,.spcrt of (1) mutual society aud comfort, mals which were brought to Adam lrnd been (2) ilie 1,ropagation of the race, (3) the previously formed by God from the ground, iucrcase 2n,] f'Cncration of the Church of an<l were thus in the liue of the onward Go,1, nml ( l) the pro_misetl seed of the wo- cYolutions ol the l1cavc11s antl the earth :mau (1:l'ilkt). Ac,:0rdi11gly, Jel1ovah :E!uliirn, which h·J up to man. As to why the fishes ()II, II. 18-25.] THE BOOK OF GENESIS.