Page:A commentary upon the first book of Moses called Genesis (IA cuponfi00patr).pdf/17

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Opinion, as Petavius there oberves. It is a pretty Conceit of Theophilus Antiochenus. L.II. ad Autolychum, That the Heavens are mentioned before the Earth, to how that God's Works are not like ours: For he begins at the top, we at the bottom: That is, he firt made the firt Stars and all beyond them, (o I take the word Heaven here to ignifie) for they had a beginning, as well as this lower World, though they do not eem to be comprehended in the ix days Work, which relates only to this Planetary World, as I may call it, which hath the Sun for its Center. And thus Philo undertood the firt word Berechith, in the beginning, to repect the order wherein things were created. God began his Creation with the Heaven, as the mot noble Body, and then proceeded to the Earth; an account of which follows.

Ver. 2. And the Earth was without form, &c.] Some connect this Vere with the foregoing, by tranlating the firt Vere in this manner, When God firt created, or began to create, the Heaven and the Earth, the Earth was without form, &c. That is, at firt he only created a rude Matter of thoe things, which afterwards were fahioned as we now ee them.

Without form.] A confued, indigeted heap, without any order or hape.

And void.] Having no Beats, nor Trees, nor Herbs, nor any thing ele, wherewith we now behold it adorned.

So thee two words, Tohu Vabohu, are ued in Scripture, where we meet with them (which is not often) for confuion and empitnes, XXXIV. Iaiah 11. IV. Jer. 23. Being a decription of that which the Ancients called the (of which the Barbarians had a Notion, no les than the Greeks) wherein the