verse of the second, is a complete whole in itself. And to this narrative, in order not to complicate the subject unnecessarily, we intend to confine ourselves. It will be sufficient for our purpose to inquire, whether this account can be shown to be in accordance with our astronomical and geological knowledge; and, for the right understanding of it, the whole must be set out, so that the various parts may be taken in connection with one another.

We are told that "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." It has been matter of discussion amongst theologians, whether the word "created" (Heb. bara) here means simply shaped or formed, or shaped or formed out of nothing. From the use of the verb bara in other passages, it appears that it does not necessarily mean to make out of nothing; * but it certainly might impliedly mean this in a case so peculiar as the present. The phrase," the heaven and the earth," is evidently used to signify the universe of things; inasmuch as the heaven in its proper signification has no existence until the second day. It is asserted then that God shaped the whole material universe, whether out of nothing, or out of pre-existing matter. But which sense the writer really intended is not material for our present purpose to inquire, since neither astronomical nor geological science affects to state anything concerning the first origin of

matter.

In the second verse, the earliest state of things is

This appears at once from ver. 21, where it is said that God created (bara) the great whales; and from ver. 26 and 27, in the first of which we read, "God said, Let us make (hasah) man in our image; " and in the latter, "So God created (bara) man in his image." In neither of these cases can it be supposed to be implied that the whales or man were made out of nothing. In the second narrative, another word is used for the creation of man,-itzer, "to mould; " and his formation out of the dust is circumstantially described.

*

described; according to the received translation, "The earth was without form, and void." The Prophet Jeremiah uses the same expression to describe the desolation of the earth's surface occasioned by God's wrath; and perhaps the words "empty and waste" would convey to us at present something more nearly approaching the meaning of tohu va-bohu than those which the translators have used.

The earth itself is supposed to be submerged under the waters of the deep, over which the breath of God -the air, or wind-flutters while all is involved in darkness. The first special creative command is that which bids the light appear; whereupon daylight breaks over the two primeval elements of earth and water, the one lying still enveloped by the other: and the space of time occupied by the original darkness and the light which succeeded is described as the first day. Thus light and the measurement of time are represented as existing before the manifestation of the sun; and this idea, although repugnant to our modern knowledge, has not in former times appeared absurd. Thus we find Ambrose (" Hexaemeron,' lib. 4, cap. 3) remarking, "We must recollect that the light of day is one thing; the light of the sun, moon, and stars, another, the sun by his rays appearing to add lustre to the daylight. For before sunrise the day dawns, but is not in full refulgence ; for the midday sun adds still further to its splendor.' We quote this passage to show how a mind unsophisticated by astronomical knowledge understood the Mosaic statement; and we may boldly affirm, that those for whom it was first penned could have taken

Chap. iv. 33.

it in no other sense than that light existed before and independently of the sun: nor do we misrepresent it when we affirm this to be its natural and primary meaning. How far we are entitled to give to the writer's words an enigmatical and secondary meaning, as contended by those who attempt to conciliate them with our present knowledge, must be considered further on.

The work of the second day of creation is to erect the vault of heaven (Heb. rakia; Gr. σтepéwμa; Lat. firmamentum), which is represented as supporting an ocean of water above it. The waters are said to be divided; so that some are below, some above, the vault. That the Hebrews understood the sky, firmament, or heaven, to be a permanent solid vault, as it appears to the ordinary observer, is evident enough from various expressions made use of concerning it. It is said to have pillars (Job xxvi. 11), foundations (2 Sam. xxii. 8), doors (Ps. lxxviii. 23), and windows (Gen. vii. 11). No quibbling about the derivation of the word rakia, which is literally something beaten out,* can affect the explicit description of the Mosaic writer, contained in the words, "the waters that are above the firmament," or avail to show that he was aware that the sky is but transparent space.

On the third day at the command of God, the waters which have hitherto concealed the earth are gathered together in one place, the sea; and the dry land emerges. Upon the same day, the earth brings forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-trees, the destined food of the animals and of man (ver. 29).

The root is generally applied to express the hammering or beating out of metal plates; hence something beaten or spread out. It has been pretended that the word rakia may be translated" expanse," so as merely to mean empty space. The context sufficiently rebuts this.

Nothing is said of herbs and trees which are not serviceable to this purpose; and perhaps it may be contended, since there is no vegetable production which may not possibly be useful to man, or which is not preyed upon by some animal, that in this description the whole terrestrial flora is implied. We wish, however, to call the attention of the reader to the fact, that trees and plants destined for food are those which are particularly singled out here as the earliest productions of the earth, as we shall have occasion to refer to this again presently.

On the fourth day, the two great lights -the sun and moon are made (Heb. hasah), and set in the firmament of heaven to give light to the earth, but more particularly to serve as the means of measuring time, and of marking out years, days, and seasons. This is the most prominent office assigned to them (ver. 14 – 18). The formation of the stars is mentioned in the most cursory manner. It is not said out of what materials all these bodies were made; and whether the writer regarded them as already existing and only waiting to have a proper place assigned them, may be open to question. At any rate, their allotted receptacle the firmament Iwas not made until the second day, nor were they set in it until the fourth; vegetation, be it observed, having already commenced on the third, and therefore independently of the warming influence of the sun.

On the fifth day, the waters are called into productive activity, and bring forth fishes and marine animals, as also the birds of the air.* It is also said that God created or formed (bara) great whales, and

* In the second narrative of creation, in which no distinction of days is made, the birds are said to have been formed out of the ground. Gen. ii.

Modern

other creatures of the water and air. On the sixth day, the earth brings forth living creatures, cattle, and reptiles, and also "the beast of the field;" that is, the wild beasts. And here also it is added that God made (hasah) these creatures after their several kinds. The formation of man is distinguished by a variation of the creative fiat," Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." Accordingly, man is made and formed (bara) in the image and likeness of God, -a phrase which has been explained away to mean merely "perfect, sinless;" although the Pentateuch abounds in passages showing that the Hebrews contemplated the Divine Being in the visible form of a man.* spiritualism has so entirely banished this idea, that probably many may not without an effort be able to accept the plain language of the Hebrew writer in its obvious sense in the twenty-sixth verse of the first chapter of Genesis; though they will have no difficulty in doing so in the third verse of the fifth chapter, where the same words, "image" and "likeness," are used. Man is said to have been created male and female; and the narrative contains nothing to show that a single pair only is intended.† He is commanded to increase and multiply, and to assume dominion over all the other tribes of beings. whole of the works of creation being complete, God gives to man, beast, fowl, and creeping thing, the vegetable productions of the earth as their appointed food. And when we compare the verses (Gen. i. 29, 30) with Gen. ix. 3, in which, after the flood, animals

See particularly the narrative in Gen. xviii.

The

† It is in the second narrative of creation that the formation of a single man out of the dust of the earth is described, and the omission to create a female at the same time is stated to have been repaired by the subsequent formation of one from the side of the man.