1<\/strong>. Sheth, Enosh<\/em> ] “Seth, Enos,” the spellings given in Gen. (A.V.) are less correct. Generally speaking the forms of names in Genesis (A.V.) are derived from the Latin Vulgate, which in turn took them from the LXX., which again (owing to the shortcomings of the Greek alphabet as compared with the Hebrew) did not reproduce the Hebrew forms accurately.<\/p>\n Ch. 1. The Genealogies of the Peoples<\/p>\n 1 4. A Genealogy from Adam to the Sons of Noah<\/p>\n The history proper does not begin till the death of Saul, but the historian acts in accordance with Eastern custom in connecting his history with the remote past by means of genealogies.<\/p>\n This first genealogy is taken from Gen 5:3-32<\/span>. The extremely concise form in which it is given is instructive as shewing how far the Chronicler could go in abbreviating his authorities.<\/p>\n Compare the margin references and notes.<\/P><\/p>\n 1Ch 1:1-54<\/span><\/p>\n Adam, Sheth, Enosh.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Israelite descent<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel was Jehovahs chosen people, His son, to whom special privileges were guaranteed by solemn covenant. A mans claim to share in this covenant depended on his genuine Israelite descent, and the proof of such descent was an authentic genealogy. In these chapters the chronicler has taken infinite pains to collect pedigrees from all available sources and to construct a complete set of genealogies exhibiting the lines of descent of the families of Israel. These chapters, which seem to us so dry and <\/strong>useless, were probably regarded by the chroniclers contemporaries as the most important part of his work. The preservation or discovery of a genealogy was almost a matter of life and death (Ezr 2:61-63<\/span>; Neh 7:63-65<\/span>). (W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Names<\/strong><\/p>\n The first nine chapters contain the largest extant collection of Hebrew names.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>These names have an individual significance. A mere parish register is not in itself attractive, but if we consider even such a list, the very names interest us and kindle our imaginations. It is almost impossible to linger in a country churchyard, reading the half-effaced inscriptions upon the headstones, without forming some dim picture of the character and history and even the outward semblance of the men and women who once bore the names. A name implies the existence of a distinct personality. In its lists of what are now mere names the Bible seems to recognise the dignity and sacredness of bare human life.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>These names have also a collective significance. They are typical and representative–the names of kings and priests and captains; they sum up the tribes of Israel, both as a Church and a nation, down all the generations of its history.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The meanings of names reveal the ideas of the people who used them. The Hebrew names bear important testimony to the peculiar vocation of this nation. No nation of antiquity has such a proportion of names of religious import. The Old Testament contains more than a hundred etymologies of personal names, most of which attach a religious meaning to the words explained.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>How far do these names help us to understand the spiritual life of ancient Israel? The Israelites made constant use of El and Jehovah in their names, and we have no parallel practice. Were they then so much more religious than we are? Probably in a sense they were. Modern Englishman have developed a habit of almost complete reticence and reserve on religious matters, and this habit is illustrated by our choice of proper names.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>According to the testimony of names, the Israelites favourite ideas about God were that He heard, and knew, and remembered; that He was gracious, and helped men and gave them gifts; they loved best to think of Him as God the Giver. This is a foreshadowing of the Christian doctrines of grace and of the Divine sovereignty. God hears and remembers and gives–what? All that we have to say to Him and all that we are capable of receiving from Him. (W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The genealogies indicative of universal brotherhood<\/strong><\/p>\n The existing races of the <\/strong>world are all traced back through Shem, Ham, and Japheth to Noah, and through him to Adam. The Israelites did not claim, like certain Greek clans, to be the descendants of a special god of their own, or, like the Athenians, to have sprung miraculously from sacred soft. Their genealogies testified that not merely Israelite nature, but human nature, is moulded on a Divine pattern. These apparently barren lists of names enshrine the great principles of the universal brotherhood of man and the universal Fatherhood of God. The opening chapters of Genesis and Chronicles are among the foundations of the catholicity of the Church of Christ. (W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The genealogies and heredity<\/strong><\/p>\n Each nation rightly regards its religious ideas and life and literature as a precious inheritance peculiarly its own; and it should not be too severely blamed for being ignorant that other nations have their inheritance also. Such considerations largely justify the interest in heredity shown by the chroniclers genealogies. On the positive practical side religion is largely a matter of heredity, and ought to be. The Christian sacrament of baptism is a continued profession of this truth: our children are clean; they are within the covenant of grace; we claim for them the privileges of the Church to which we belong. This was also part of the meaning of the genealogies. (W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The genealogies: what we owe to the past<\/strong><\/p>\n We are the creatures and debtors of the past, though we are slow to own our obligations. We have nothing that we have not received; but we are apt to consider ourselves self-made men, the architects and builders of our own fortunes, who have the right to be self-satisfied, self-assertive, and selfish. The heir of all the ages, in the full vigour of youth, takes his place in the foremost ranks of time, and marches on in the happy consciousness of profound and multifarious wisdom, immense resources, and magnificent opportunity. He forgets, or even despises, the generations of labour and anguish that have built up for him his great inheritance. The genealogies are a silent protest against such insolent ingratitude. They remind us that in bygone days a man derived his gifts and received his opportunities from his ancestors; they show us men as the links in a chain, tenants for life, as it were, of our estate, called upon to pay back with interest to the future the debt which they have incurred to the past. (W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Genealogies as symbols of the solidarity of our race<\/strong><\/p>\n The genealogies that set forth family histories are the symbols of the brotherhood or solidarity of our race. The chart of converging lines of ancestors in Israel carried mens minds back from the separate families to their common ancestor. As far as they go, the chroniclers genealogies form a clear and instructive diagram of the mutual dependence of men on men and family on family. They are in any case a true symbol of the facts of family relations; but they are drawn, so to speak, in one dimension only, backwards and forwards in time. Yet the real family life exists in three dimensions. A man has not merely his male ancestors in the directly ascending line–father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc. The antiquity and unity of man<\/strong><\/p>\n Other nations have had more or less imperfect visions of ancient history and of the unity of the race, but in the Bible alone do we find an authoritative declaration made concerning the antiquity and unity of man and the ultimate destiny of the human race. The Chaldeans had a tradition of ten antediluvian patriarchs or kings. They made the duration of this first <\/strong>period of human history four hundred and thirty-two thousand years. All other chronicles have been bewildered by their polytheism, whereas in the Hebrew history we have all the sublime unity which would seem to be necessitated by the monotheism of the writers. They who believed in one God were likely to believe in one humanity. Monotheism accounts for the two commandments which relate first to <\/strong>God, and then to man. (J. Parker, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES<\/B><\/P> <\/P> Chronological Notes relative to this Book<\/I><\/P> <\/P> -Year of the World, 1.<\/P> -Year before Christ, according to Archbishop Usher, 4004.<\/P> -Year before the Flood, according to the common Hebrew Bible, 1656.<\/P> -Year of the Julian period, 710.<\/P> <\/P> CHAPTER I<\/P> <\/P> The genealogy of Adam to Noah<\/I>, 1-3.<\/P> Of Noah to Abraham<\/I>, 4-27.<\/P> The sons of Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac<\/I>, 28.<\/P> The sons of Ishmael<\/I>, 29-31.<\/P> The sons of Keturah<\/I>, 32, 33.<\/P> The sons of Esau<\/I>, 34-42.<\/P> A list of the kings of Edom<\/I>, 43-50.<\/P> A list of the dukes of Edom<\/I>, 51-54. <\/P> NOTES ON CHAP. I<\/P> <\/P> Verse 1<\/span>. Adam, Sheth, Enosh<\/B><\/I>] That is, Adam was the father of Sheth or Seth. Seth was the father of Enosh, Enosh the father of Kenan, and so on. No notice is taken of Cain<\/I> and Abel<\/I>, or of any of the other sons of Adam. One line of patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, is what the historian intended to give; and to have mentioned the posterity of Cain<\/I> or Abel<\/I> would have been useless, as Noah was not the immediate descendant of either. Besides, all their posterity had perished in the deluge, none remaining of the Adamic family but Noah and his children; and from these all the nations of the earth sprang.<\/P> <\/P> How learned must those men be who can take for a text “The first<\/I> verse of the first chapter of the first book of CHRONICLES<\/I>.” and find a mystery<\/I> in each name<\/I>; which, in the aggregate, amounts to a full view of the original perfection, subsequent fall, consequent<\/I> misery<\/I>, and final restoration<\/I>, of MAN! O ye profound illustrators of the names of men<\/I> and cities<\/I>! why do ye not give us the key<\/I> of your wisdom, write comments, and enlighten the world?<\/P><\/p>\n i.e. Adam begat Sheth; and so in the following particulars. For brevity sake he only mentions their names; but the rest is easily understood out of the former books, and from the nature of the thing; and from some following passages where the sense is completed. <\/P> <\/p>\n 1. Adam,<\/B> &c.”Begat”must be understood. Only that one member of the family is mentioned,who came in the direct order of succession.<\/P><\/p>\n Ver. 1-4. Adam, Seth<\/strong>,…. These first four verses exactly agree with the account of the antediluvian patriarchs in Ge 5:1<\/span>, the first letter in Adam is larger than usual, as a memorial, as Buxtorf m observes, of the first and only man, from whence mankind had their beginning, and whose history the author had undertaken to write.<\/p>\n The patriarchs from Adam to Noah and his sons.<\/em> – The names of the ten patriarchs of the primeval world, from the Creation to the Flood, and the three sons of Noah, are given according to Gen 5, and grouped together without any link of connection whatever: it is assumed as known from Genesis, that the first ten names denote generations succeeding one another, and that the last three, on the contrary, are the names of brethren.<\/p>\n Genealogies.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 4004.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 1 Adam, Sheth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered, 3 Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 5 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 6 And the sons of Gomer; Ashchenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 7 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 8 The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 9 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 10 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth. 11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 12 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim. 13 And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth, 14 The Jebusite also, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, 15 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, 16 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. 17 The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech. 18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber. 19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was<\/I> Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother’s name was<\/I> Joktan. 20 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, 21 Hadoram also, and Uzal, and Diklah, 22 And Ebal, and Abimael, and Sheba, 23 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were<\/I> the sons of Joktan. 24 Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 Abram; the same is<\/I> Abraham.<\/P> This paragraph has Adam<\/I> for its first word and Abraham<\/I> for its last. Between the creation of the former and the birth of the latter were 2000 years, almost the one-half of which time Adam himself lived. Adam was the common father of our flesh, Abraham the common father of the faithful. By the breach which the former made of the covenant of innocency, we were all made miserable; by the covenant of grace made with the latter, we all are, or may be, made happy. We all are, by nature, the seed of Adam, branches of that wild olive. Let us see to it that, by faith, we become the seed of Abraham (Rom 4:11<\/span>; Rom 4:12<\/span>), that we be grafted into the good olive and partake of its root and fatness.<\/P> I. The first four verses of this paragraph, and the last four, which are linked together by Shem (1Ch 1:4<\/span>; 1Ch 1:24<\/span>), contain the sacred line of Christ from Adam to Abraham, and are inserted in his pedigree, Luke iii. 34-38<\/span>, the order ascending as here it descends. This genealogy proves the falsehood of that reproach, As for this man, we know not whence he is.<\/I> Bishop Patrick well observes here that, a genealogy being to be drawn of the families of the Jews, this appears as the peculiar glory of the Jewish nation, that they alone were able to derive their pedigree from the first man that God created, which no other nation pretended to, but abused themselves and their posterity with fabulous accounts of their originals, the Arcadians fancying that they were before the moon, the people of Thessaly that they sprang from stones, the Athenians that they grew out of the earth, much like the vain imaginations which some of the philosophers had of the origin of the universe. The account which the holy scripture gives both of the creation of the world and of the rise of nations carries with it as clear evidences of its own truth as those idle traditions do of their own vanity and falsehood.<\/P> II. All the verses between repeat the account of the replenishing of the earth by the sons of Noah after the flood. 1. The historian begins with those who were strangers to the church, the sons of Japhet, who were planted in the isles of the Gentiles, those western parts of the world, the countries of Europe. Of these he gives a short account (v.<\/I><\/span> 5-7<\/span>), because with these the Jews had hitherto had little or no dealings. 2. He proceeds to those who had many of them been enemies to the church, the sons of Ham, who moved southward towards Africa and those parts of Asia which lay that way. Nimrod the son of Cush began to be an oppressor, probably to the people of God in his time. But Mizraim, from whom came the Egyptians, and Canaan, from whom came the Canaanites, are both of them names of great note in the Jewish story; for with their descendants the Israel of God had severe struggles to get out of the land of Egypt and into the land of Canaan; and therefore the branches of Mizraim are particularly recorded (1Ch 1:11<\/span>; 1Ch 1:12<\/span>), and of Canaan, v.<\/I><\/span> 13-16<\/span>. See at what a rate God valued Israel when he gave Egypt for their ransom<\/I> (Isa. xliii. 3<\/span>), and cast out all these nations before them, Ps. lxx. 8<\/span>. 3. He then gives an account of those that were the ancestors and allies of the church, the posterity of Shem, v.<\/I><\/span> 17-23<\/span>. These peopled Asia, and spread themselves eastward. The Assyrians, Syrians, Chaldeans, Persians, and Arabians, descended from these. At first the originals of the respective nations were known; but at this day, we have reason to think, the nations are so mingled with one another, by the enlargement of commerce and dominion, the transplanting of colonies, the carrying away of captives, and many other circumstances, that no one nation, no, nor the greatest part of any, is descended entire from any one of these fountains. Only this we are sure of, that God has created of one blood all nations of men;<\/I> they have all descended from one Adam, one Noah. Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us?<\/I> Mal. ii. 10<\/I><\/span>. Our register hastens to the line of Abraham, breaking off abruptly from all the other families of the sons of Noah but that of Arphaxad, from whom Christ was to come. The great promise of the Messiah (says bishop Patrick) was translated from Adam to Seth, from him to Shem, from him to Eber, and so to the Hebrew nation, who were entrusted, above all nations, with that sacred treasure, till the promise was performed and the Messiah had come, and then that nation was made not a people.<\/I><\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Introduction to Chronicles<\/p>\n In the Hebrew original these two books were one book, but were divided in the Septuagint, or Greek version of the Old Testament. Their title in the Septuagint was Paralipomena, which means “things omitted, or left out,” evidently with reference to the Books of Samuel and Kings. However, this is not an accurate title, for much of the material in the Books of Chronicles is almost identically parallel to that in the other historical accounts of the kings. But they do also contain many things not related in Samuel and Kings, and in that sense are supplementary to those books. For that reason, and for the sake of chronological arrangement, most of the material of these books has been considered in this commentary in parallel with the accounts of Samuel and Kings.<\/p>\n Chronicles begins with an extensive listing of genealogy, beginning with Adam and coming up approximately to the end of the exile. There is, then, a brief account of the death of Saul, the first king of Israel, in battle. The crowning of David follows, and the account proceeds with a history of the united kingdom to the death of Solomon. With the accession of Rehoboam, following the death of his father Solomon, very little is related of the history of the northern tribes, the account being devoted almost entirely to the chronicles of the Kingdom of Judah to its fall to the Chaldaeans.<\/p>\n Conservative opinion holds with the Jewish tradition that the scribe Ezra is the human author of the Chronicles, though some believe they may have been written as late as 250 B. C. Evidence in favor of Ezra’s authorship, after the exile, is preponderant, thus dating them about 400 B. C. The books have a decidedly priestly slant, for Ezra was a priest, and one purpose of their writing appears to be to show the preservation of the priestly line from Aaron and the kingly line from David. The author made considerable use of other sources, such as the books of the prophets: Nathan, Gad, Iddo, Abijah, Isaiah, and others. Of course these were not inspired writings, and the Holy Spirit guided the hand of the scribe of Chronicles in making a divinely accurate account from these. Differences between numbers and such, in comparison of Chronicles to the accounts of Samuel and Kings, are not of the original inspired account, but got into the present versions by scribal error.<\/p>\n First Chronicles – Chapter 1<\/strong><\/p>\n Pre-Rood Patriarchs, Verses 1-4<\/p>\n These ten generations are the same as those enumerated in Genesis – Chapter 5, though their names are somewhat different in spelling. The account in Genesis gives little information about them either, except for three of four. That chapter is a generation by generation listing to the time of the flood, giving the age of each at the birth of his son, the length of his life after that, and the total years each one lived. That they lived for centuries is a well-known fact to Bible students. Based on this account it is found that the time from Adam to the flood is about 1,666 years.<\/p>\n Adam was, of course, the first man, who ate the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, fell, and brought sin into the human race. His son, Seth, fathered Enoch, at which time his line became distinguished as worshippers of the Lord (Gen 4:26<\/span>).<\/p>\n Enoch is well known as the intimate follower of the Lord, who was translated without seeing death (Gen 5:24<\/span>; Heb 11:5<\/span>). His son Methuselah’s age, at 969 years, is the longest on record. Chronology shows that he outlived his son Lamech and died the year of the flood. God’s longsuffering toward the pre-flood world also waited the decease of these godly patriarchs.<\/p>\n Lamech, the father of Noah, was a prophet, foretelling the comforting of the earth through Noah (Gen 5:29<\/span>). Of course, Noah is a well-known character of the Bible, the builder of the ark by which he preserved mankind and animal life in the flood. His sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth were the progenitors of races and nations which succeeded the flood (Gen 10:1-32<\/span>).<\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES.] The writer gives no explanation or introduction, presumes upon the knowledge of the reader, and simply enumerates names from Creation to the Flood, contained in Genesis 5<\/span>. The Deluge, 1,656 years from the creation of Adam.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:1-4<\/span><\/em>.These names embrace Genesis 1-9, which the reader is presumed to know. This furnishes a principle of interpretation to other parts of the book. The Hebrew pointing will often account for the orthography of the names.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:5-7<\/span><\/em>.List of sons and grandsons of Japheth<\/em> (cf.<\/em> Genesis 10<\/span>. Noahs sons in order of Gen. 10:1<\/span>). Beginning with Japheth<\/em>, youngest, to dispose of what is not exactly required, the writer gives seven sonsthree through Gomer<\/em>, the eldest son, and four through Javan<\/em>, the fourth son.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:8-16<\/span><\/em>.Descendants of Ham<\/em>, sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons. Four sons of Ham;<\/em> six grandsons, including Nimrod<\/em>, through Cush<\/em>, the eldest son of Ham; seven grandsons through Mizraim<\/em>, second son of Ham; two great-grandsons through Raamah<\/em>, Cushs fourth son; 30 altogether.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:17-27<\/span><\/em>.Shems descendants to Abraham<\/em>. A pause half way at the name of Peleg<\/em>, 1Ch. 1:19<\/span>, to mention Joktan<\/em>, his brother, and then Joktans<\/em> thirteen sons, 1Ch. 1:20-23<\/span>. Then repeating the first five names of lineal descent, and picking up the thread at Peleg, the remaining five to Abraham are givenGenesis 11-17given as briefly as possible. Abraham the tenth from Noah, and twentieth from Adam.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:28-33<\/span><\/em>.The collaterals of Isaac<\/em>. This reaches from Genesis 16-25. Isaac put first as child of promise, though born fourteen years after Ishmael (Gen. 17:25<\/span>; Gen. 21:5<\/span>). So Shem put first, though second son. This must be kept in mind in examination of lists. From call of Abraham to birth of Isaac, thirty years. 1Ch. 1:29-31<\/span> taken from Gen. 25:12-16<\/span>. Their generations<\/em>, a new starting-point, modified from Gen. 25:12<\/span>, to include Isaac as well as Ishmael. 1Ch. 1:32-33<\/span> abridged from Gen. 25:1-4<\/span>. The sons of Dedan omitted (Murphy<\/em>).<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:34-37<\/span><\/em>.Descendants of Esau<\/em> (cf.<\/em> Gen. 36:10-14<\/span>). Timna<\/em>, 1Ch. 1:36<\/span>, seems to have been concubine of Eliphaz and Amalek, another son by her. 1Ch. 1:37<\/span>, four grandsons of Esau by Reuel<\/em>.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:38-42<\/span><\/em>.Descendants of Seir<\/em>. Seir probably a Shemite, though his relation is unrecorded (cf.<\/em> Murphy). Twenty-seven names given agree with Gen. 36:20-27<\/span>, except for Homam, Alian, Shephi, Amram<\/em>, and Jakan<\/em> we have Hemam, Alvan, Shepho, Hemdan, and Akan.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:43-50<\/span><\/em>.The Kings of Edom<\/em> (cf.<\/em> Gen. 36:31-43<\/span>). Before any king<\/em>, before Israel had any civil government, or became a nation with a king. There are eight names, the parentage or the land of each given.<\/p>\n 1Ch. 1:51-54<\/span><\/em>.The Dukes of Edom<\/em>. Eleven given. Some think a list of places, not of persons, compared with Gen. 36:15<\/span>; Gen. 36:41<\/span>; Gen. 36:43<\/span>. This ch. contains genealogies which embrace about 2,300 years. Not a remark given apparently, moral, religious, or didactic. It connects Israel with Adam, and retraces the pedigree of men to its original source.<\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n THREE PAGES OF HUMAN HISTORY.1Ch. 1:1<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Names are potent things, represent mighty factors, sustaining forces in life, and important periods in history. We are apt to think genealogies are dry, and names of no significance, but Scripture nomenclature reads a different lesson. How suggestive the names in 1Ch. 1:11<\/span><\/p>\n I. The creation of man.<\/strong> Adam first and representative of the race. The historic man, apparently no prehistoric man. The creation of man a decree and last work of God, the crowning point of all. In man, and through man, nature finds its purpose and transformation. <\/p>\n II. The inspiration of hope.<\/strong> Seth<\/em> means fixed, settled<\/em>, or compensation. He came in the place of Abel taken away. At birth of Cain<\/em>, Eve hasty in joy (I have gotten the man<\/em>); in Abel<\/em> (vanity<\/em>, perishable) desponding; in Seth<\/em> confident. Divine power compensated for what human cruelty took away, inspired hope of permanent blessing. God can wonderfully comfort. If one gone, He can give another. He can strengthen, establish, and perpetuate the family and the Church, so that the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. <\/p>\n III. The beginning of public worship.<\/strong> Enos<\/em> designates weakness, human frailty, a sorrowful remembrance of Abel (Psa. 8:5<\/span>; Psa. 90:3<\/span>). How soon are hopes dashed! But God becomes great when we feel small. Then began men to call upon (proclaim, announce) Jehovah (Gen. 4:26<\/span>). A new line of promise in Enoch (Enos) after line of Cain had lost it. Hope finds expression in formal worship. The Sethites merge into a community, outline a church, and publicly honour Jehovah. In a new race and a believing generation Gods name ever presented with higher glory and greater attractions.<\/p>\n SOLEMN VIEWS OF HUMAN LIFE.1Ch. 1:1-4<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n I. The beginning of human life.<\/strong> In Adam a distinct beginning of humanity on earth, not as a physical act merely or completion of physical progress. It happened in the supernatural and spiritual. Not merely formation, animation<\/em>, but direct, divine inspiration<\/em> (Gen. 2:7<\/span>) [Tayler Lewis<\/em>]. From the first man spring all the race. History and science cannot present the contrary. The first man was made a living soul. <\/p>\n II. The length of human life.<\/strong> Before the Flood men long-lived (cf.<\/em> Genesis 5<\/span>). Accounted for <\/p>\n 1. By natural causes<\/em>. Habits simple, food nutritious, and climate healthy. <\/p>\n 2. By providential design<\/em>. To establish institutions, people the earth, and propagate truth. <\/p>\n III. The corruption of human life.<\/strong> The Cainites ungodlyfirst civilisation worldly, art and culture misused, polygamy prevails, races intermix, unbelief and Titanic pride corrupt the race. God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5<\/span>). <\/p>\n IV. The destruction of human life.<\/strong> Evil contagious, rapidly spread and deteriorated the race. They were flesh<\/em>, wholly carnal or animal. He also is flesh (Gen. 6:3<\/span>). In wanton deeds, divine warnings despised, the Holy Spirit grieved. The world ripe for judgment. God repented, that is, changed his procedure, not his purpose, concerning man (Gen. 6:7-8<\/span>). The Flood swept every living thing from off the earth. <\/p>\n V. The deliverance of human life.<\/strong> A few were saved (1Pe. 3:20<\/span>). Noah and his family preserved, and were progenitors of a redeemed race. God held human life sacred, bound himself by signs never more to destroy it by flood. Noah, the last of Sethic race and first in the line of Shem, a second ancestor of the human family. Man rises to a higher place in the world. As a believer he is saved from general wreck, inherits a new earth purged from sin, and becomes heir of a righteousness by faith.<\/p>\n THE HUMAN RACE, IN ITS UNITY, PROGRESS, AND DECLENSION.1Ch. 1:1-54<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Glancing at these names, what an insight into human life, human activity and circumstances!<\/p>\n I. The unity of the race.<\/strong> The race not merely represented but comprehended in Adam. Made of one (blood) all nations of men (Act. 17:26<\/span>). Mankind not a living sand-heap, without generic connection. The Bible sees in Adam the power of a single lifemen one before they became many; and as many, still one. One natural fatherhood, and one common brotherhood in him. One touch of nature makes the world kin. <\/p>\n II. The progress of the race.<\/strong> Every movement implies beginning, progress, and consummation. This makes history. <\/p>\n 1. In knowledge<\/em>. Not from barbarism at first, but from supernatural light shining directly or indirectly on human steps. <\/p>\n 2. In arts<\/em>. Lamechs three sons authors of inventions (Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
but he has female ancestors as well. By going back three or four generations a man is connected with an immense number of cousins; and if the complete network of ten or fifteen generations could be worked out, it would probably show some blood bond throughout a whole nation. The further we go back the larger is the element of ancestry common to the different individuals of the same community. The chroniclers genealogies only show us individuals as links in a set of chains. The more complete genealogical scheme would be better illustrated by the ganglia of the nervous system, each of which is connected by numerous fibres with the other ganglia. Patriotism and humanity are instincts as natural and as binding as those of the family; and the genealogies express or symbolise the wider family ties, that they may commend the virtues and enforce the duties that arise out of these ties. (W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n