15 and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.'
and the God of the peace shall bruise the Adversary under your feet quickly; the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ `be' with you. Amen!
he who is doing the sin, of the devil he is, because from the beginning the devil doth sin; for this was the Son of God manifested, that he may break up the works of the devil;
and when the fulness of time did come, God sent forth His Son, come of a woman, come under law,
Therefore the Lord Himself giveth to you a sign, Lo, the Virgin is conceiving, And is bringing forth a son, And hath called his name Immanuel,
`Ye are of a father -- the devil, and the desires of your father ye will to do; he was a man-slayer from the beginning, and in the truth he hath not stood, because there is no truth in him; when one may speak the falsehood, of his own he speaketh, because he is a liar -- also his father.
`Lo, the virgin shall conceive, and she shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which is, being interpreted `With us `he is' God.'
He is despised, and left of men, A man of pains, and acquainted with sickness, And as one hiding the face from us, He is despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains -- he hath carried them, And we -- we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
And there came war in the heaven; Michael and his messengers did war against the dragon, and the dragon did war, and his messengers, and they did not prevail, nor was their place found any more in the heaven; and the great dragon was cast forth -- the old serpent, who is called `Devil,' and `the Adversary,' who is leading astray the whole world -- he was cast forth to the earth, and his messengers were cast forth with him. And I heard a great voice saying in the heaven, `Now did come the salvation, and the power, and the reign, of our God, and the authority of His Christ, because cast down was the accuser of our brethren, who is accusing them before our God day and night; and they did overcome him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life -- unto death; because of this be glad, ye heavens, and those in them who do tabernacle; wo to those inhabiting the land and the sea, because the Devil did go down unto you, having great wrath, having known that he hath little time.' And when the dragon saw that he was cast forth to the earth, he pursued the woman who did bring forth the male,
and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus; he shall be great, and Son of the Highest he shall be called, and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.' And Mary said unto the messenger, `How shall this be, seeing a husband I do not know?' And the messenger answering said to her, `The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore also the holy-begotten thing shall be called Son of God;
Jehovah hath sworn truth to David, He turneth not back from it: Of the fruit of thy body, I set on the throne for thee.
and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one,
said, `O full of all guile, and all profligacy, son of a devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord?
And I saw a messenger coming down out of the heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain over his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, who is Devil and Adversary, and did bind him a thousand years, and he cast him to the abyss, and did shut him up, and put a seal upon him, that he may not lead astray the nations any more, till the thousand years may be finished; and after these it behoveth him to be loosed a little time.
and there was given to it to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and there was given to it authority over every tribe, and tongue, and nation.
In this manifest are the children of God, and the children of the devil; every one who is not doing righteousness, is not of God, and he who is not loving his brother,
Seeing, then, the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself also in like manner did take part of the same, that through death he might destroy him having the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and might deliver those, whoever, with fear of death, throughout all their life, were subjects of bondage,
Therefore he doth give them out till the time She who bringeth forth hath brought forth, And the remnant of his brethren return to the sons of Israel.
Therefore I give a portion to him among the many, And with the mighty he apportioneth spoil, Because that he exposed to death his soul, And with transgressors he was numbered, And he the sin of many hath borne, And for transgressors he intercedeth.
And when the thousand years may be finished, the Adversary shall be loosed out of his prison, and he shall go forth to lead the nations astray, that are in the four corners of the earth -- Gog and Magog -- to gather them together to war, of whom the number `is' as the sand of the sea;
while daily I was with you in the temple, ye did stretch forth no hands against me; but this is your hour and the power of the darkness.'
And Jehovah sendeth among the people the burning serpents, and they bite the people, and much people of Israel die; and the people come in unto Moses and say, `We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee; pray unto Jehovah, and He doth turn aside from us the serpent;' and Moses prayeth in behalf of the people.
And after the sixty and two weeks, cut off is Messiah, and the city and the holy place are not his, the Leader who hath come doth destroy the people; and its end `is' with a flood, and till the end `is' war, determined `are' desolations.
Then Jesus was led up to the wilderness by the Spirit, to be tempted by the Devil, and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger. And the Tempter having come to him said, `If Son thou art of God -- speak that these stones may become loaves.' But he answering said, `It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every word coming forth from the mouth of God.' Then doth the Devil take him to the `holy' city, and doth set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith to him, `If Son thou art of God -- cast thyself down, for it hath been written, that, His messengers He shall charge concerning thee, and on hands they shall bear thee up, that thou mayest not dash on a stone thy foot.' Jesus said to him again, `It hath been written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' Again doth the Devil take him to a very high mount, and doth shew to him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and saith to him, `All these to thee I will give, if falling down thou mayest bow to me.' Then saith Jesus to him, `Go -- Adversary, for it hath been written, The Lord thy God thou shalt bow to, and Him only thou shalt serve.'
`Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak.
lo, I give to you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you;
And having gone forth, he went on, according to custom, to the mount of the Olives, and his disciples also followed him, and having come to the place, he said to them, `Pray ye not to enter into temptation.' And he was withdrawn from them, as it were a stone's cast, and having fallen on the knees he was praying, saying, `Father, if Thou be counselling to make this cup pass from me --; but, not my will, but Thine be done.' -- And there appeared to him a messenger from heaven strengthening him; and having been in agony, he was more earnestly praying, and his sweat became, as it were, great drops of blood falling upon the ground.
I will no more talk much with you, for the ruler of this world doth come, and in me he hath nothing; but that the world may know that I love the Father, and according as the Father gave me command so I do; arise, we may go hence.
but Paul having gathered together a quantity of sticks, and having laid `them' upon the fire, a viper -- out of the heat having come -- did fasten on his hand. And when the foreigners saw the beast hanging from his hand, they said unto one another, `Certainly this man is a murderer, whom, having been saved out of the sea, the justice did not suffer to live;' he then, indeed, having shaken off the beast into the fire, suffered no evil, and they were expecting him to be about to be inflamed, or to fall down suddenly dead, and they, expecting `it' a long time, and seeing nothing uncommon happening to him, changing `their' minds, said he was a god.
having stripped the principalities and the authorities, he made a shew of them openly -- having triumphed over them in it.
for in that he suffered, himself being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
And I saw another sign in the heaven, great and wonderful, seven messengers having the seven last plagues, because in these was completed the wrath of God, and I saw as a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who do gain the victory over the beast, and his image, and his mark, `and' the number of his name, standing by the sea of the glass, having harps of God, and they sing the song of Moses, servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, `Great and wonderful `are' Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true `are' Thy ways, O King of saints, who may not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? because Thou alone `art' kind, because all the nations shall come and bow before Thee, because Thy righteous acts were manifested.' And after these things I saw, and lo, opened was the sanctuary of the tabernacle of the testimony in the heaven; and come forth did the seven messengers having the seven plagues, out of the sanctuary, clothed in linen, pure and shining, and girded round the breasts with golden girdles:
And thou, child, Prophet of the Highest Shalt thou be called; For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, To prepare His ways.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 3
Commentary on Genesis 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
The story of this chapter is perhaps as sad a story (all things considered) as any we have in all the Bible. In the foregoing chapters we have had the pleasant view of the holiness and happiness of our first parents, the grace and favour of God, and the peace and beauty of the whole creation, all good, very good; but here the scene is altered. We have here an account of the sin and misery of our first parents, the wrath and curse of God against them, the peace of the creation disturbed, and its beauty stained and sullied, all bad, very bad. "How has the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed!' O that our hearts were deeply affected with this record! For we are all nearly concerned in it; let it not be to us as a tale that is told. The general contents of this chapter we have (Rom. 5:12), "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' More particularly, we have here,
And were it not for the gracious intimations here given of redemption by the promised seed, they, and all their degenerate guilty race, would have been left to endless despair.
Gen 3:1-5
We have here an account of the temptation with which Satan assaulted our first parents, to draw them into sin, and which proved fatal to them. Here observe,
Gen 3:6-8
Here we see what Eve's parley with the tempter ended in. Satan, at length, gains his point, and the strong-hold is taken by his wiles. God tried the obedience of our first parents by forbidding them the tree of knowledge, and Satan does, as it were, join issue with God, and in that very thing undertakes to seduce them into a transgression; and here we find how he prevailed, God permitting it for wise and holy ends.
Gen 3:9-10
We have here the arraignment of these deserters before the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, who, though he is not tied to observe formalities, yet proceeds against them with all possible fairness, that he may be justified when he speaks. Observe here,
Gen 3:11-13
We have here the offenders found guilty by their own confession, and yet endeavouring to excuse and extenuate their fault. They could not confess and justify what they had done, but they confess and palliate it. Observe,
Gen 3:14-15
The prisoners being found guilty by their own confession, besides the personal and infallible knowledge of the Judge, and nothing material being offered in arrest of judgment, God immediately proceeds to pass sentence; and, in these verses, he begins (where the sin began) with the serpent. God did not examine the serpent, nor ask him what he had done nor why he did it; but immediately sentenced him,
Gen 3:16
We have here the sentence passed upon the woman for her sin. Two things she is condemned to: a state of sorrow, and a state of subjection, proper punishments of a sin in which she had gratified her pleasure and her pride.
Gen 3:17-19
We have here the sentence passed upon Adam, which is prefaced with a recital of his crime: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, v. 17. He excused the fault, by laying it on his wife: She gave it me. But God does not admit the excuse. She could but tempt him, she could not force him; though it was her fault to persuade him to eat, it was his fault to hearken to her. Thus men's frivolous pleas will, in the day of God's judgment, not only be overruled, but turned against them, and made the grounds of their sentence. Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee. Observe,
Gen 3:20
God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth, Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve that of the living soul. The reason of the name is here given (some think, by Moses the historian, others, by Adam himself): Because she was (that is, was to be) the mother of all living. He had before called her Ishah-woman, as a wife; here he calls her Evah-life, as a mother. Now,
Gen 3:21
We have here a further instance of God's care concerning our first parents, notwithstanding their sin. Though he corrects his disobedient children, and put them under the marks of his displeasure, yet he does not disinherit them, but, like a tender father, provides the herb of the field for their food and coats of skins for their clothing. Thus the father provided for the returning prodigal, Lu. 15:22, 23. If the Lord had been pleased to kill them, he would not have done this for them. Observe,
Gen 3:22-24
Sentence being passed upon the offenders, we have here execution, in part, done upon them immediately. Observe here,