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one that understands a proposition affirmed, must understand the denial of that same proposition. The serpent proceeded, for God doth know, that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods [ce Elohim]-as God, knowing good and evil. Here I would observe, that in the day that ye eat thereof, had been before said to them from the mouth of God," and that God had called the tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and therefore from what God had in these words said to them, all the sentiment she had of knowing, and of knowing good and evil, may be conceived to arise upon the serpent speaking to her in these like terms. The serpent told her they should be as gods; we render it in the plural number, but not rightly; for it is not reasonable to imagine the serpent intimated to her herein, that there were spiritual beings, many in number in the invisible world; this did not as yet enter her imagination. She and Adam had heard only one who spake to them; the serpent had told Eve that this person was Elohim; he here tells her, that if they eat of the tree, they should increase in knowledge of good and evil, be ce Elohim. like him and herein, as far as they had any notions of what knowledge was, nothing unintelligible was proposed to her.

There remains still to be considered, what she expected from what seemed to be promised in the words, your eyes shall be opened. But I may fully answer this in three or four observations. 1. I have already

u Gen. ii. 17.

w Ibid.

x Gen. iii. 1.

said, that these words have no reference to the im provement of the knowledge of the mind. What the tempter offered concerning that, came afterwards under the words ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. The words concerning their eyes being opened, are such, that, according to the Hebrew idiom, they speak no more than some enlargement of their outward sight. 2. I would remark, that cannot be necessary to say,

that Eve' had an adequate and full notion of the true meaning of these words. The writers that would puzzle and perplex this matter, contend, that the fall happened immediately after the creation; but we can in no wise find any one reason for such an assertion. Rather, I ap prehend, we shall see what may induce us to think that several days intervened between the Sabbath after the day of Adam and Eve's creation, and the day on which the serpent tempted Eve. On the night of each of these days, Adam and Eve in the course of nature had known what sleep was, and how it differed from the being awake, and therefrom what it was to shut the eye, and what it was to open it; and probably had made them selves, before the serpent spake to Eve, a name for the one, and a name for the other. Therefore, though the

* See hereafter. Syncellus cites the Atlà Tarotaç to say, that Adam was guilty of the transgression in his seventh year, and expelled Paradise in his eighth, Syncelli Chronogr. p. 8. What the minutes of Genesis here cited were, I cannot say, nor by whom made; their authority can avail only to hint, that there have been ancient writers who did not think the fall had been so instantaneous as others have since imagined.

serpent here used words which they had not heard from the mouth of God, yet he might not herein use words which they had not agreed to make, and had daily spoken to and heard from themselves, and consequently were words that were not without meaning. I do not say that Adam or Eve, at hearing these words, conceived exactly the event which afterwards came to pass; for it is easy to observe, that we may be said to know the general meaning of words, sufficiently to give us expectations from them, and yet not be able deter. minately to see their full extent and import. Every one that has a common understanding of the Greek tongue, would, upon reading the philosopher, xalaguoi ψυχης λογικής εισι αι μαθηματικαί ἐπισημαί;” apprehend that these studies may greatly improve us, as the English reader may, from no better translation of the words than, the mathematics are purgations of the reasonable mind: but the particular improvement to be obtained from them, would not hence be known to any, who had not experienced the habit, which may be acquired from these studies, of pursuing a long train of ideas variously intermingled, so as to see through all the steps which truly lead to the most distant conclusions, Whether Eve, well knowing from many days' experience, where, in the opening the eye differed from shutting it, thought that after eating the fruit she should never more slumber nor sleep; or whether she conceived such an addition to their sight, as that they might thenceforth be able to see Him, whom hitherto they had heard only,

Hierocles in aurea Carmina Pythag.

without his being visible to them, I cannot say: but we may conceive that she had formed to herself great expectations, without reaching the full meaning of the words, much less apprehending what proved in reality to be the event. Upon the whole: when God was pleased to speak to Adam and Eve, as they had not before heard words, we cannot conceive that they could have understood what the voice of God spake, unless God had caused them to understand the words spoken. But allowing that God enabled them to perceive what he thought fit to say, and duly attending to what Moses relates farther; we may conclude that nothing more was said to them, or that they hurried into the world, or the things of the world broke in upon them, faster, or in a greater variety, than they could form to themselves words, to talk of, and to know distinctly, as far as their knowledge did, or it was necessary it should then reach, the things they had to hear or to speak, to be concerned in, or affected with in their lives. Therefore no more being necessary for them, than that God should cause them so to understand what he thought fit to speak to them; we justly conclude, that, respecting making other words, and settling the meaning and intention of them, he left our first parents to do what he had given them full powers and opportunity to do, in a natural way for themselves, unto which God. was pleased to lead Adam, as far as he herein wanted guidance and direction in the manner which shall be set forth in the ensuing chapter.

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2 No. divine appearance is recorded to have been seen before the days of Abraham. See Connect, b. ix.

CHAP. III.

A consideration of the particular manner in which God was pleased to lead Adam to name the living creatures of the world.

THE fact, concerning which I am to inquire in this chapter, is thus related by Moses: Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof; and Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. To form a right judgment of what is here said to be done, we must not too hastily rest satisfied with our English version of Moses' words; but inquire more strictly into his text, and examine how he relates this matter.

THE WORDS OF MOSES ARE:

Veyitzer Yehovah Elohim min ha Adamah col chayath hassedah

veæth col Noph hashemaim, veyabea al ha Adam

lireoth mah yikrah lo: ve col asher yikra lo ha Adam (nephesh chayah)

hua Shemo: veyikra ha Adam Shemoth lecol habehemah

ve lenoph ha Shemaim ve lecol chayath hassedah,<

b Gen. ii. 19, 20.

< The Hebrew words are, and may be written and interlined, as follows:

השרה
חית
יהוה אלהים מן האדמה כל

ויצר

agri animal omne humo ex Deus Dominus et formavit

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