Geveva Bible - Chap 16 Angel of the Lord

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

This note was worthy of it's own post. Many times through Genesis and Exodus we are pointed to Christ, for sometimes when we see the Angel of Lord we are to understand that this is the Pre-Incarnate Christ.

For Calvin on Angel of the Lord, which I wrote on previously click here.And also click here.

GENESIS 16:7

Gen 16:7 But the (1) Angel of the Lord found her beside a fountain in the way of shur.

(1) Which was Christ, as appears in (Gen 16:13, Gen 18:17).

Geveva Bible - Chap 16

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

GENESIS 16:2

Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath (1) restrained me from childbearing, I pray thee go in unto my maid: it may be that I shall receive a child by her. And Abram obeyed the voice of Sarai.

(1) She fails by limiting God's power to the common order of nature, as though God could not give her children in her old age.

GENESIS 16:4

GEN 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her dame was (1) despised in her eyes.

(1) This punishment declares what they gain if they attempt any thing against the word of God.

In these two verses we learn a practical lesson. An application - Do not limit God's power! Do not ATTEMPT anything AGAINST God's Word.

Geneva Bible - Genesis Chap 15

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

I was very much surprised that there was no note on Gen 15:6 which is a very oft referred to passage in the Pauline episitles and elsewhere. Very central to the gospel - Very surprised. see: Rom 4:3-6, Rom 4:9, Rom 4:20-25, Gal 3:6-14, Jam 2:23, Rom 4:11

GENESIS 15:2
Gen 15:2 And Abram said, (1) O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of mine house is this Elizer of Damascus?

(1) His fear was not only lest he should not have children, but lest the promise of the blessed seed should not be accomplished in him.

This note reminding me to keep my thoughts also on the BIG PICTURE and PURPOSE. There is a promise of the blessed seed which is Christ. So the Geneva Note-Makers ascribe a fear less the promise wont' happen IN HIM to Abram's questions.


GENESIS 15:10
Gen 15:10 So he took all these unto him, and (1) divided them in the midst, and laid every pice one against another: but the birds divided he not.

(1) This was the old custom in making covenants, (Jer 39:18), to which God added these conditions, that Abram's posterity would be as torn in pieces, but after they would be rejoined: also that it would be assaulted, but yet delivered.

It just always puzzled me as to the dividing of sacrifice, I was happy to see some explanation.

GENESIS 15:13 - number of years until they are delivered from Egypt.

Gen 15:13 Then he said to Abram, Know for a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their, (1) four hundred years, and shall serve them: and they entreat them evil.

(1) four hundred years;

Counting from the birth of Isaac to their departure of Egypt: Which declares that God will allow his to be afflicted in this world.

IMPORTANT VERSE and More prophetic words follow in Gen 15:14-16

Geneva Bible - Genesis Chap 13

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

IN TODAYS POST - THREE REMARKABLE GENEVA NOTES - AND FOR THREE DIFFERENT REASONS.

GENESIS 13:11

Gen 13:11 Then Lot chose unto him all the plain of Jordan; and took his journey from the east: and they departed the (1) one from the other.

(1) This was done by God's providence, that only Abram and his seed might dwell in the land of Canaan.

Is this keen insight? Why did Lot choose the best, why was it necessary to separate. There was strife, the land was not able to bear the "stuff" of both Lot and Abraham. But especially that God by his providence would have Abram dwelling in Canaan. This note is remarkable to me for the view to God working all things according to his own good pleasure ---- PROVIDENCE.

GENESIS 13:13
Gen 12:13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and exceeding (1) sinners against the Lord.

(1) Lot thinking to get paradise, found hell.

Succinct - with a lesson for us all. I love it. Sticks with me.

GENESIS 13:15
Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (1) forever.

(1) Meaning a long time, and till the coming of Christ as in (Exo 12:14, Exo 21:6; Deu 15:17) and spiritually this refers to the true children of Abram born according to the promise, and not according to the flesh, which are heirs of the true land of Canaan.

I'll be referring to this comment again in upcoming notes. As we read of certain promises and statutes that mention -- "forever." The Geneva notes remind us that Christ is coming as this note does. "Meaning a long time...till the coming of Christ."

This note also very ably distinguishes between Carnal and Spiritual. Between Canaan and "TRUE LAND OF CANAAN."

Geneva Bible - Genesis Chap 12

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

Note: In past posts, I made some minor spelling updates to the text from the Geneva Bible. For the u's look like v's and v's look like u's and there is not a 'j' to be found in the entire text. Tonight I thought I would leave the original text untouched. My copy, which I purchased from Reformation Bookstore, has all standardized and modernized spelling but the e-sword text closer to the original Geneva Bible in appearance does not.

Lots of Good Notes in Chapter twelve - the four which I marked specifically listed below:


GENESIS 12:1
Gen 12:1 For the Lorde had said vnto Abram, (a) Get thee out of thy countrey, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house vnto (b) the land that I will shewe thee.

(a) From the flood to this time were four hundred and twenty-three years.
(b) In appointing him no certain place, he proves so much more his faith and obedience.

Spans of time are sometimes very interesting to me. Adams Map of History reports Bishop Ussher as dating the time of the flood at 2348 BC. Adams also has from the flood to the call of Abraham as 427 years. So the dates are pretty close on this.

GENESIS 12:2
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and will blesse thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be (c) a blessing.

(c) The world shall recover by your seed, which is Christ, the blessing which they lost in Adam.

The Notes very good to point us to Christ in the promise.

GENESIS 12:9
Gen 12:9 (k) Againe Abram went forth going & iourneying toward the South.

(k) Thus the children of God may look for no rest in this world, but must wait for the heavenly rest and quietness.

The note makes a Personal application to the reader. We have no rest here. We must WAIT, wait for the HEAVENLY rest and quietness. Amen. I wrote above the verse, "going and journing - no rest in this world.

GENESIS 12:10
Gen 12:10 Then there came a famine in the land: therefore Abram went downe into Egypt to soiourne there: for there was a great (l) famine in the lande.

(l) This was a new trial of Abram's faith: by which we see that the end of one affliction is the beginning of another.

Again the note makes PERSONAL application to the reader. As if they said, "See how what occurred with Abraham teaches us that the END of one affliction is the BEGINNING of another." In this world expect trials and tributions, don't be surprised when they come. But know with all our going and journeying that our heavenly rest awaits. What a glorious rest - what a marvelous saviour!!!!

Geneva Bible - Genesis Chap 10

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

(Experimenting today with the layout of the notes. Green font indicates scripture verse from Geneva bible. Blue Font indicates Note from Geneva Bible. The verse is larger than the note. My comments on why I chose this particular note of interest in largest font of all. Red Font when quoting others.)

Gen 10:9
He was a mightie hunter before the Lord. wherefore it is saide, (1) As Nimrod the mightie hunter before the Lord.

(1) His tyranny came into a proverb as hated both by God and man: for he did not cease to commit cruelty even in God's presence.

In all my previous readings of Genesis I never caught the idea that Nimrod became a proverb. Which is really fairly clear from this verse. This is why they say, "As Nimrod the mighty hunter." People become proverbs. "He is a Hitler." "Don't become someones ... insert name of annoying acquaintance," As in parents speaking to children advisingly, "Don't become someones Tom Smith." Or "Do become someones Martha Jones," when her character and service of love is worthy of emulation.

Gen 10:21 Unto (1) Shem also the father of all the sonnes of (2) Eber, and elder brother of Japheth were children borne.

(1) In his stock the Church was preserved: therefore Moses stops speaking of Japheth and Ham, and speaks of Shem extensively.

(2) Of whom came the Hebrews or Jews.

The Geneva note-makers always catch my attention at their notice of the church. Also, John Owen in his book, Biblical Theology, makes an extensive case which I like for "sons of Eber" to ascribe this man, Eber, as the name giver to the Hebrew People, as opposed to other theories.

In regards to the idea that there was NO CHURCH of God until Acts Chapter two, Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote: (Spurgeon acknowledges One People of God.)

Distinctions have been drawn by certain exceedingly wise men (measured by their own estimate of themselves), between the people of God who lived before the coming of Christ, and those who lived afterwards. We have even heard it asserted that those who lived before the coming of Christ so not belong to the church of God! We never know what we shall hear next, and perhaps it is a mercy that these absurdities are revealed at one time, in order that we may be able to endure their stupidity without dying of amazement. Why, every child of God in every place stands on the same footing; the Lord has not some children best beloved, some second-rate offspring, and others whom he hardly cares about. These who saw Christ's day before it came, had a great difference as to what they knew, and perhaps in the same measure a difference as to what they enjoyed while on earth meditating upon Christ; but they were all washed in the same blood, all redeemed with the same ransom price, and made members of the same body. Israel in the covenant of grace is not natural Israel, but all believers in all ages. Before the first advent, all the types and shadows all pointed one way—they pointed to Christ, and to him all the saints looked with hope. Those who lived before Christ were not saved with a different salvation to that which shall come to us. They exercised faith as we must; that faith struggled as ours struggles, and that faith obtained its reward as ours shall[22] [emphasis ours].

Geneva Bible - Chaps 7 and 9

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

Gen 7: 23
So he destroyed everything that was upon the earth, from man to beast, to the creeping thing and to the fowl of the heaven: they were even destroyed from the earth. And Noah only remained, and they that were with him in the Ark.

Learn what it is to obey God only, and to forsake the multitude, (1Pe_3:20).

The Geneva Notes often take this form - counsel to the reader. SO LEARN....

Gen 9:2
Also the (b) fear of you, and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the heaven, upon all that moveth on the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered.

(b) By the virtue of this commandment, beasts do not rage as much against man as they would, yea and many serve his purposes by it.

As I read through Genesis this time, I noted that so much of this book is an explanation of the World in which we live now. Why things are the way they are. Why it is broken. Why there is death. Why sickness. Why marriage. Why wear clothes. I could go on and on here. But I think the notes like this in Gen 9:2 have helped me to see that. The beasts do not rage as much as they would by virtue of this command.

Gen 9:6
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, (f) by man shall his blood be shed: for in the (g) image of God hath he made man.

(f) Not only by the magistrate, but often God raises up one murderer to kill another.

(g) Therefore to kill man is to deface God's image, and so injury is not only done to man, but also to God.

What it really is to MURDER, to deface God's image. It is a sin against God.

Gen 9:27 - God persuade (t) Japheth, that he may dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.

(t) He declares that the Gentiles, who came from Japheth, and were separated from the Church, should be joined to the same by the persuasion of God's Spirit, and preaching of the gospel.
I wrote about Japheth in a previous post, when I read Christian in Pilgrim's Progress telling the porter, "I came of the race of Japheth. click here I found this a most incredible thought then, and still do marvel at the promise that the Gentiles shall also partake in God's promises through Jesus Christ.

Geneva Bible - Genesis Chapter Six

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

Genesis Chap Six:

Gen 6:2 - Then the (a) sons of God saw the daughters (b) of men that they were (c) fair; and they took them wives of all that they liked.

(a) The children of the godly who began to degenerate.

(b) Those that had wicked parents, as if from Cain.

(c) Having more respect for their beauty and worldly considerations than for their manners and godliness.

I've been looking forward to this comment. I much prefer here the understanding that:

Sons of God - is equivalent to "children of the godly."
Daughters of Men - is equivalent to "those that had wicked parents."

John Owen in his book, Biblical Theology, points out that in Gen 4:26 we read "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. " He said it is here that the True was distinguishing and separating from the generality of mankind. He even suggested that not only did they begin to call upon the name of the Lord, but that they called themselves by the name of the Lord. In otherwords this is where they began to be known as "Sons of God." So that in Gen 6:2 when we read that the Sons of God took from the daughters of men for wives, what should be understood is that the visible church then began to so degenerate into ungodliness as to co-mingle even with those who were not part of the visible church.

John Gill concurs with John Owen in this writing in his commentary on Gen 4:26 and Gen 6:2:

Gen 4:26:
"...but called themselves by a different name; for so the words may be rendered: "then began men to call themselves", or "to be called by the name of the Lord" (p); the sons of God, as distinct from the sons of men; which distinction may be observed in Gen_6:2 and has been retained more or less ever since: "

Gen 6:2
"but rather this is to be understood of the posterity of Seth, who from the times of Enos, when then began to be called by the name of the Lord, Gen 4:26 had the title of the sons of God, in distinction from the children of men; these claimed the privilege of divine adoption, and professed to be born of God, and partakers of his grace, and pretended to worship him according to his will, so far as revealed to them, and to fear and serve and glorify him."

So also does Matthew Henry:
"The sons of God (that is, the professors of religion, who were called by the name of the Lord, and called upon that name), married the daughters of men, that is, those that were profane, and strangers to God and godliness. The posterity of Seth did not keep by themselves, as they ought to have done, both for the preservation of their own purity and in detestation of the apostasy. They intermingled themselves with the excommunicated race of Cain: They took them wives of all that they chose."

This is in contradistinction to another interpretation that "sons of God" should be understood of as being fallen angels. And fallen angels cohabiting with men or women were producing an offspring that must be destroyed by the flood. I prefer much Owen, Henry and Gill on this verse.

Geneva Bible - Genesis Chapter Five

Reading Through the Geneva Bible in One Year - click here for intro. In which I post from It's Notes a few of those which I marked of particular interest with sporadic comments.

Genesis Chap 5
Gen 5:2 - Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name (b) Adam, in the day when they were created.

(b) By giving them both one name, he notes the inseparable conjunction of man and wife.

This first note makes me think, "what do they mean inseparable conjunction of man and wife." I like it. But I have to stop and think about it, is the Note correct in really why they both were called "ADAM." I know in Hebrew the word means "MAN" sometimes as in "mankind." Reminds me of the previous note concerning "ish=man" and "ishah=woman." And isn't it neat how that's not so different from our English equivalents.

Gen 5:6 - And (d) Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

(d) He proves Adam's generation by those who came from Seth, to show the true Church, and also what care God had over the same from the beginning, in that he continued his graces toward it by a continual succession.

This is similar to what I'm seeing in other notes. Kind of an attention to the BIG PICTURE. "to show the true Church..." There is a continuous regard to Christ and His Church reoccurring throughout the notes.

Gen 5:24 - And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for (g) God took him.

(g) To show that there was a better life prepared and to be a testimony of the immortality of souls and bodies. To inquire where he went is mere curiosity.

Here I did not think before that I should learn even from this verse "To show there was a better life prepared." I certainly believe it, but never had I previously considered of exactly that as I read the verse. Good feature of the notes to make me stop and think.

Geneva Bible - Desire

Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be ^e accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the ^f door. And unto thee [shall be] his ^g desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

(e) Both you and your sacrifice shall be acceptable to me.
(f) Sin will still torment your conscience.
(g) The dignity of the first born is given to Cain over Abel.

I really like this note for the explanation of the phrase "unto thee shall be his desire." Some translations stumble at this verse and replace the translation for the Hebrew Masculine pronoun as "its" instead of "his." With the tendency to interpret the antecedent of the pronoun as "sin" instead of "Abel". Defining and translating what the word "desire" here means affects another significant passage, Gen 3:16. The Hebrew word for desire is teshûqâh, and appears only the the following three verses: Gen 3:16, Gen 4:7, and Song 7:10.

If the antecedent to the personal pronoun in Gen 4:7 is sin and as the modern translators and commentators explain it, "Cain, if you don't do what's right, then, sin is close by and desires to devour you up." And then with that understanding in hand they move over to Gen 3:16 and explain what happens there as GOD Placing a curse upon marriage. Such that the woman will always desire to rule over her husband. And thus marriage is under a specific curse with a specific need in the wife to rule, dominate and subjugate her husband. This passage is also used as an explanation for modern day Feminism - like a specific curse from the mouth of God.

But if the Geneva Note Makers have it right, the word "desire" in Gen 4:7 rather states "Cain if you don't do right, sin is close by - at the door. But if you do well -- then Abel will be as the second born and in proper relationship to you as the first born." So understanding teshuquah then meaning not a desire to devour, but the assuming of a role that is the proper submitting to someone else according to their God ordained role.

So then also, rather than cursing marriage, and placing into the heart of woman a desire to rule over and dominate her husband, we have instead God stating the roles between husband and wife. The husband as the head and the wife submitting to the husband in the Lord.

This post might catch you off guard, I've heard many sermons along the lines opposite of what the Geneva Note Makers ascribe here. I prefer the understanding they have taken over the idea that God has placed marriage under a specific curse. Calvin's commentary on both Gen 3:16 and Gen 4:7 and his treatment of the word desire, teshûqâh, is very helpful. Note: Neither the Strongs nor the Brown Driver Briggs Lexicon will prove helpful in supporting the Geneva Note on this verse. But I am reminded of what I have read Robert Dick Wilson write, that sometimes you must get beyond the Lexicon and not perpetuate the opinion of one Lexicographer from recent history. Besides that, I am confident, you can find Lexicons with this word defined precisely as we see used here in the Geneva Bible Notes. Though as I write this blog post too many years having transpired I cannot recall which ones support this view.

Please consider Calvin's Commentary on Gen 3:16 (click here for online version)
“Thy desire shall be unto thy husband,” is of the same force as if he had said that she should not be free and at her own command, but subject to the authority of her husband and dependent upon his will; or as if he had said, ‘Thou shalt desire nothing but what thy husband wishes.’ As it is declared afterwards, Unto thee shall be his desire, (Genesis 4:7.) Thus the woman, who had perversely exceeded her proper bounds, is forced back to her own position. She had, indeed, previously been subject to her husband, but that was a liberal and gentle subjection; now, however, she is cast into servitude.

Also Calvin on Gen 4:7 click here for online version

And unto thee shall be his desire. Nearly all commentators refer this to sin, and think that, by this admonition, those depraved hosts are restrained which solicit and impel the mind of man. Therefore, according to their view, the meaning will be of this kind, ‘If sin rises against thee to subdue thee, why dost thou indulge it, and not rather labor to restrain and control it? For it is thy part to subdue and bring into obedience those affections in thy flesh which thou perceivest to be opposed to the will of God, and rebellious against him.’ But I suppose that Moses means something entirely different. I omit to notice that to the Hebrew word for sin is affixed the mark of the feminine gender, but that here two masculine relative pronouns are used. Certainly Moses does not treat particularly of the sin itself which was committed, but of the guilt which is contracted from it, and of the consequent condemnation. How, then, do these words suit, ‘Unto thee shall be his desire?’

There will, however be no need for long refutation when I shall produce the genuine meaning of the expression. It rather seems to be a reproof, by which God charges the impious man with ingratitude, because he held in contempt the honor of primogeniture. The greater are the divine benefits with which any one of us is adorned, the more does he betray his impiety unless he endeavors earnestly to serve the Author of grace to whom he is under obligation. When Abel was regarded as his brother’s inferior, he was, nevertheless, a diligent worshipper of God. But the firstborn worshipped God negligently and perfunctorily, though he had, by the Divine kindness, arrived at so high a dignity; and, therefore, God enlarges upon his sin, because he had not at least imitated his brother, whom he ought to have surpassed as far in piety as he did in the degree of honor. Moreover, this form of speech is common among the Hebrews, that the desire of the inferior should be towards him to whose will he is subject; thus Moses speaks of the woman, (Genesis 3:16,) that her desire should be to her husband. They, however, childishly trifle, who distort this passage to prove the freedom of the will; for if we grant that Cain was admonished of his duty in order that he might apply himself to the subjugation of sin, yet no inherent power of man is to be hence inferred; because it is certain that only by the grace of the Holy Spirit can the affections of the flesh be so mortified that they shall not prevail. Nor, truly, must we conclude, that as often as God commands anything we shall have strength to perform it, but rather we must hold fast the saying of Augustine, ‘Give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt.’

Geneva Bible

NEW *** NEW *** NEW

Being greatly encouraged by my friend Jim, It is my hope that by the Grace of God this year, 2010, I will be enabled to read through the 1599 Geneva Bible. So far the process has been very enjoyable. I intend to not only reading the biblical text itself but also all the associated notes. As I have already begun to read, what I am finding in the notes is both explanation of the text, Christ-centered comments, personal application, and much doctrine (truths upon which we build our lives). Some comments I readily agree with, others I don't, while others cause me to think, meditate, contemplate, or file away for future reflection. So in addition to blog posts on the study my girls and I are making through Pilgrim's Progress, our on-going notes in the Keyword Study through Romans, and the occasional spontaneous article, I hope to post those notes that I find interesting either for the new insight they provide, the encouragement I receive, or something quite out of the ordinary. I have been some what prepared for this project through recently reading Gerald Hammond's, The Making of the English Bible, in which, the author made numerous commendable observations concerning the Geneva Translations faithfulness to the original Hebrew.

As I read thru the Geneva, I'm underlining text, marking up the comments and making marginal notes. My intention is to bring the more noteworthy markings to our attention in this blog.

My read-thru-the-bible plan is simple. I took the total number of pages, 1340 divided by 365 days in a year which equates to 3.67 pages a day. Rounding up I determined that if I generally read about five pages a day, I can read the whole bible in one year in a plan that allows me to miss one day a week or 4 days a month. Kind of a slacker plan but it works for me. (I always try after reading five pages to read to the end of a chapter. But if I'm so inclined I may even read more than five pages. So it's a pretty loose read-thru-the-bible-method.)

Enough of the prefatory explanation and on to the NOTES OF INTEREST:

GENESIS CHAPTERS ONE-THREE:

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Which note confirms a precious truth and explanation concerning what it means to be made in the image of God:
"This image and likeness of God in man is expounded in (Eph_4:24) where it is written that man was created after God in righteousness and true holiness meaning by these two words, all perfection, as wisdom, truth, innocency, power, etc. "

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely (m) die.

(m) By death he means the separation of man from God, who is our life and chief happiness: and also that our disobedience is the cause of it.


Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a (o) woman, and brought her unto the man.

(o) Signifying that mankind was perfect, when the woman was created, who before was like an imperfect building.

Gen 2:23 Then the man said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shalbe called (1) woman, because she was taken out of man.

(1) Or, Manness, because she cometh of man: for in Hebrew Ish is man, and Ishah the woman.

Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: (s) cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;

(s) The transgression of God's commandment was the reason that both mankind and all other creatures were subject to the curse.

I kind of started out slow in my underlining and margin making. Sometimes in the Geneva notes are references to a more literal understanding of the Hebrew as appears in the note for Gen 3:4 where we read in Geneva "Ye shall not die at all." and in the note "Hebrew, die the death." This was of especial interest to me because in the KJV in Gen 2:17 we read "shalt surely die." and in Gen 3:4 the serpent saying "Ye shall not surely die." Which reminds me of something Gerald Hammond wrote in his book that the AV translators very often use "surely" as an adverbial intensifier. Instead of the literal "dying thou shalt die," the translators wishing to translate the effect of the Hebrew phrase into English give us "shalt surely die."

Though I didn't underline the following because they were familiar to me, yet I set them forth here. To show the Christ-Centeredness of the Geneva notes:

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between (o) thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy (p) head, and thou shalt (q) bruise his heel.

(o) He chiefly means Satan, by whose action and deceit the serpent deceived the woman.

(p) That is, the power of sin and death.

(q) Satan shall sting Christ and his members, but not overcome them.


Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy (r) sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

(r) The Lord comforts Adam by the promise of the blessed seed, and also punishes the body for the sin which the soul should have been punished for; that the spirit having conceived hope of forgiveness might live by faith. (1Co_14:34).