gcrirsis or cYil with 1~,forcnce to man. Nor of Ormuzd nnJ Ahriman (vide iiif,ra, ''l'rodi- even witl1 regnrd to tl1is docs it aim at an tions of the FRll '). But hero the 111\mo rom11rk cxhausth·e dissertation, but only at such a will apply Its waR made in connection with the statement of its beginnings ns shnll demon- similarity alleged to exist between tho JIIosaic strate thnt God is not the author of sin, but and heathen cosmogonies : it is immensura- thet mnn, by his own free volition, brought bly easier nnd moro natural tp account for tho his pristine stnte of purity nnd liappiness to resemblance of Oriental legend to Biblical an end. A due regu<l to this, the specific history, by supposing the former to be a trn- object of the Mosnic narrative, will go far to ditiona.l reflection of the latter, than it is to nnswcr not R few of the objections which explain the unch111lenge11hle supel'iorityof the have been taken to its historic credibility. latter to the former, even in a literary point Like the Mosaic recor<l of creation, the Bib- of view, not to mention ethical aspects at nil, lical story of the fall has been impugned by tracing both to a common source-the pl1i- on R Ynriety of grounds. 1. The docti-ine losopl1ic or theologic consciousness of man. of n fa 11, wl1ich this chapter clearly teaches, (3) 'l'here arc also those who, while neither has been nssnilcd as inconsistent with the repudiating it on the ground of miracle, nor dictates of a speculative philosophy, if not discrediting it as a heathen myth, yet decline also with the tenets of a Scriptural theology. to nccept it as other than a pa1·abolfo or 'While in the present narrative the origin of alle::orical narration of what transpired in sin is distinctly traced back to the free rnli- the spiritunl experience of the first pnir. 1 ion of man acting without constraint, though History is often a parable of truth. 11ot wititout temptation, in opposition to the Ver. 1.-Now (literally, and) the serpent. Divine will, a more exact psychological ana- Nachash, from nachash - (l) in Kai, to lysis, it is alleged, <leclares it to have been hiss (unused), with allusion to the hissing from the first a necessity, either (1) meta- sound emitted by the reptile (Gesenius,Fiirst), though it l1as been objected that prior to tho physiJ:ally, as being involved in the very fall the serpent could hardly have been called conception of a finite will (Spinoza, Leib- by a nnme derived from its present constitu- nitz, Banr) ; or (2) h:istor-ically, "as the ex- tion (Delitzsch) ; (2) in Piel, to whisper, use pression of the necessary transition of the sorcery, find out by divinntion (eh. xxx. 27), human race from the state of nature to suggestive of the creatme's wisdom (Bush), which, bowever,isregardedasdoubtful (Furst); that of culture" (Fichte, Kant, Schiller), (3) to shine (unused, though supplying tho or as developing itself in obedience to noun nechsheth, brass, eh. iv. 22), referring the law of antagonism and conflict (John to its glossy shinin,. iippearance, nnd in par- Scotns Erigena, Hegel, Scltleiermacher, ticular its bright gfisteni.og eye: cf. opb.,cwv Schelling) ; or (3) theologi.caUy, Bll prede- from c/p,coµa,, an<l o,p,, from o'll'roµa, ('f. Lewis); (4) from an Arabic root signifying termined by n. Divine <lecree (suprnlapsa.· to pierce, to move, to creep, so that nachash rianism). Without offering nny separnte woul<l be Latin serpens (Furst). The presence refutation of these anti-Scriptural theories, it of the article before naclwsh has been thought roay suffice to say that in all questions affect- to mean a certain serpent, but "by eminent ing man's responsibility, the testimony of the authorities this is pronounced to bo unwar• ranted" (Macdonald). Was more subtil. individual consciousness, the ultimate ground 'Arum-(l) Crafty(cf. Jobv. 12; xv. 6); (2) of appeal, npart from revelation, affirms prudent, in a good sense (cf. Prov. xii.16), from moral evil to be no all-controlling necessity, aram-(a) 'l'o make naked; whence arom, but the free product of the will of the crea- plural arumim, naked (eh. ii. 25). (b) To ture. 2. The narrative of the fall has been be crafty (1 Sam. xxiii.. 22). If applied to t11c serpent in the sense of 'll'avovpyo,; (Aquila, impugncd-(1) On the ground of its miracul- Keil, Lango, Macdonald), it can only be either c,us character. But unless we are prepared (1) metaphorically for the devil, whose in- to equate the supernatural with the i111- strument it was; or (2) proleptically, with possible and incredible, we mu~t <lecline reference to tho results of the tempt11tion; to admit the force of such objections. (2) On for in itself, as one of God's creatures, it must have been originally good. It ee,cms the ground of its mythical form, resembling more correct to regard the cpi lhet ns equiva• as it does, in some slight degree, O11ental tra.- lent to ,Ppol'lµo,; (LXX. ), nud to hold that tli lions, 11nu in }'artkular the Persian legend M~, iu referring to the subtlety of tl1i1 rm. 111. 1--7.) THE BOOK OF CH:NE81S. 67
ercnturc, "does not so much pointoutafoull devil (White of Dorchester) ; (3) that 1[oscs ns nttribute prnise to nature" (Cnlvin), and ilimply wished to bo rei qest'/3 sr,r,ptor descl"ibcs qualities which in tl,emsolves wero non interpres (Pcrerins); (4) that it ll"as good, such ns quickness of sight, swiftness unnecessary, tho~e for whom he wrote bcin;( or motion, activity of tho self-preserving sufficiently capable of discerning that the ser- instinct, seemingly intelligent adaptation of pent was not the prime mover in the tran:,;- means to end, with perhaps a glance, in the action (Candlish); (5) that "by a homely use of 'a,-um, at the sleekness of its glossy and uncultivatecl style he accommodates 11·hat skin: but which were capable of being per- he delivers to the capacity of the people" verted to nn unnatural use by the power and (Calvin) ; (6) that his object beiug mercly to craft of n superior intelligence (cf. Matt. x. s~ow that God had no hand in man's tempt,~- 16: yina0, oi',v ,ppov,µo, ,;,, ol o,PEI,). Than any tion, but that Adam sinned of himself, it (literally, was subtil more than any) beast was not needful to do more than rcci te the of the field which the Lord God had made. incident as it appeared to :_!ie senscs(White); The comparison here instituted is commonly (7) that he wished "to anid encouraain,, O
regarded as a proof that the te .ipter was a the ilisposition to transfer :ne blame to th~ literal serpent, though Macdonalcl finds in evil spirit which tempted man, and thus the contrast between it and all other crea- reduce sin to a mere act of weakness" (Keil). tures, as well ns in the ascription to it of Unto the woman. As the weaker of the two, 0