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Matthew Henry on Genesis 1:1-2
The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what…
The Creation. (b. c. 4004.)
THE CREATION. (B. C. 4004.) In these verses we have the work of creation in its epitome and in its embryo. I. In its epitome, Genesis 1:1, where we find, to our comfort, the first article of our creed, that God the Fath…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:1
The visible universe. I. ONE, yet NOT SIMPLE. 1. One. In age, origin, and nature one, "the heavens and the earth" also constitute one vast system. Cohering physically through the force of gravitation, which, in its ulti…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, Bereshith, is neither "from eternity," as in John 1:1; nor "in wisdom" (Chaldee paraphrase), as if parallel with Proverbs 3:19 and Psalms 104:24; nor "by Christ," who, in Colossians 1:18, is denominate…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:1-2
EXPOSITION I. THAT this initial section is not history is apparent from the circumstance that the occurrences it describes belong to a period of time which antedates the dawn of history. That it is not science is evince…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:2
Chaos an emblem of the unrenewed soul. I. WITHOUT ORDER: existing in a state of spiritual ruin, and requiting a special process of rearrangement to evolve symmetry and beauty from its confusion (2혻Corinthians 5:16). II.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:2
And the earth. Clearly the earth referred to in the preceding verse, the present terrestrial globe with its atmospheric firmament, and not simply "the land" as opposed to "the skies" (Murphy); certainly not "the heavens…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 1:3-5
God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the…
The Creation. (b. c. 4004.)
THE CREATION. (B. C. 4004.) We have here a further account of the first day's work, in which observe, 1. That the first of all visible beings which God created was light; not that by it he himself might see to work (for…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 1:6-13
The earth was emptiness, but by a word spoken, it became full of God's riches, and his they are still. Though the use of them is allowed to man, they are from God, and to his service and honour they must be used. The ea…
The Creation. (b. c. 4004.)
THE CREATION. (B. C. 4004.) We have here an account of the second day's work, the creation of the firmament, in which observe, 1. The command of God concerning it: Let there be a firmament, an expansion, so the Hebrew w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:6-8
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:6
Day two. The work of this day consisted in the formation of that immense gaseous ocean, called the atmosphere, by which the earth is encircled. And God said, Let there be a firmament (rakiya, an expand, from rakah, to b…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:7
And God made the firmament. How the present atmosphere was evolved from the chaotic mass of waters the Mosaic narrative does not reveal. The primary intention of that record being not to teach science, but to discover r…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:7
The atmospheric firmament. I. THE CREATURE OF GOD. 1. From God it received its being (Genesis 1:7). Not here alone, but in other parts, Scripture declares the firmament to be the Divine handiwork (Psalms 19:1; Psalms 10…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:8
And God called the firmament heaven. Literally, the heights, shamayim, as in Genesis 1:1. "This," says Principal Dawson, "may be regarded as an intimation that no definite barrier separates our film of atmosphere from t…
The Creation. (b. c. 4004.)
THE CREATION. (B. C. 4004.) The third day's work is related in these verses—the forming of the sea and the dry land, and the making of the earth fruitful. Hitherto the power of the Creator had been exerted and employed…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:9
Day three. The distribution of land and water and the production of vegetation on this day engaged the formative energy of the word of Elohim. And God said, Let the waters under heaven be gathered together into one plac…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:9-13
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:9-12
Sea, land, and vegetation, contrasted and compared. I. CONTRASTED, in respect of?? 1. Their constitutions;?봲ea being matter liquid and mobile, land matter solid and dry, vegetation matter organized and living. All God's…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:10
And God called the dry land Earth. In opposition to the firmament, which was named" the heights" (shamayim), the dry land was styled "the fiats," "Aretz" (cf. Sansc; dhara; Pehlev; arta; Latin, terra; Gothic, airtha; Sc…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:11
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. Three terms are employed to describe the v…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:12
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind. It is noticeable that the vegetation of the third day sprang from the soil…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 1:13
And the evening and the morning were the third day. For exposition vid. Genesis 1:5. Has modern geological research any trace of this third day's vegetation? The late Hugh Miller identified the long-continued epoch of p…