The Matter, as it was created, was not fit for Ufe; the Motion produc'd nothing 'till Light was form'd; and then he approv'd of the Action of that Motion of his Spirit, which, from inactive Darkness, had produc'd that good Effect;, or faw that the Airs in that Motion and that Condition would perform what he defign'd, and would be beneficial to his Creatures then unform'd. Mofes does not here tell us the Office and Ufe of Light, because in this Condition it lafted but four Days, and then is placed in another Manner, and all its Offices defcribed:

And God divided the Light from the Darkness.

Thefe Words are generally taken to fignify the Interpofition of the Sphere of Waters, or the Earth; and that the Light was on one Side, and the Da. knefs on the other, alternately. Whether this was then understood by the Ifraelites, I am not certain; it feems that the Heathens' were ignorant of it long after. But as this was attainable, I think, he intended not to reveal it; but that this is only a Relation that God form'd the Light out

of Darkness, and that let there be Light, and God divided the Light from the Darkness, imply the fame Act: as let there be a Firmament, and let it divide; and God made a Firmament, and he divided, &c. But as the producing and propagating of Light is a continued Action, it defcribes the Manner in which Light was, and is produced *. This was then the Action of that Agent, and was foon after transferr'd to be perform'd by the Sun, &c. in the very fame Words; and so as things ftand now, belongs to another Place. "He divided and feparated the Light from the Darkness (c). We know not how he divided that Light from the Darkness otherwife than by Motion, because he has reveal'd no more. Of what Degree that Light was, how it was moved, Parts among Farts, or about the Sphere, or in what Length of Time, I have no Means to know. But I think it was for other Ends than any which yet have been affign'd, viz. to prepare the Airs for the next Change, or Accident, or bring it to a greater Degree of Motion; and thereby e

Light being formed by dividing grofs Air into fmall Parts.

(c) Critici Sacri Tom. 1. p. 18. Vatablus.

nable

nable them to execute a vaft Commiffion, which was to have vaft Confequences. Ver. 5. And God called the Light Day, and the Darkness he called Night: and the Evening and the Morning were the first Day.

I think it means the Air in that Condition and Motion which God directed Adam, and which you from him call Light, and which he directed Adam to call, and you from him call Day, and the Air in that Condition, and in that Degree of Reft, which he directed Adam to call, and which you from him call Darknefs, and which he directed Adam to call, and which you from him call Night; and what God has directed me in my Writings to call by the fame Names. Whether the Continuance of Darkness, or the Interval between the Creation and the Production of Light upon the Hemisphere where Light was first formed, be what he means by the Evening, and the Time while that Light was paffing that Hemisphere be called Morning; or we are to count from the Formation of Light, and call the Horizon which the Light first left, Evening; and when the Light had made a Circuit with the fame Edge to the

fame

fame Horizon, we are to call that Morning, and that Circuit the first Day, I pretend not to determine.

Ver. 6. And God faid, Let there be a Firmament in the midft of the Waters, and let it divide the Waters, from the Waters.

Ver. 7. And God made the Firmament, and divided the Waters which were under the Firmament, from the Waters which were above the Firmament: And it was fo.

Ver. 8. And God called the Firmament Heaven :

The Meaning of these three Verses is not yet afcertained by Interpreters; as they cannot find what the Word, which our Tranflators render Firmament, fignifies. Some have been forced to fuppofe Waters above the Heavens; which, if there were any fuch, he is not speaking of, nor would it be of any Ufe for us to know of them. Others fuppofe Rain in the Clouds: if there

had

had been any fuch, it would have been in, not above, the Heavens. But 'tis very certain there was none 'till long after; and if there had been any Separation of Fluids in any of the other Globes, it was still in, not above the Heavens, and not in this Day's Work: And fince these Verses, and efpecially this Defcription of the Firmament, of Waters above the Heavens, and that of Windows of Heaven at the Flood, are the conftant Refuge of Atheists, because they feem irreconcileable; and fince ill-defigning Men have put fome upon drawing Shemes which make Mofes's Writings ridiculous, or incredible, or impoffible to be explained; and as the Credit of Revelation in fome meafure depends upon them, and as the fixth Verfe is a Phyfical Description of the Permiffion of an Action of Matter upon Matter, which was to produce Accidents or Alterations in the Condition of that Matter, to enable it to act, and make Changes in the Situation of the Parts of other Matter, which was to have Confequences upon other Matter immediately, fome of them permanent, and fome to be repeated at Intervals; and as this is not properly the Work of, or likely after fo much Time fpent, to be cleared by fuch, who are only Divines, or Linguifts,