John Gill

And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work, which he had made,.... Not that God wrought anything on the seventh day, or finished any part of his work on that day, because he could not then be said to rest from all his work…”

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden,.... Or "had planted" (m), for this was not now done after the formation of man, but before; and so the word translated "eastward" may be rendered, as it is by some, "before" (n): for the…”

The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.

“And the name of the second river is Gihon,.... There was one of this name in the land of Israel, which, or a branch of it, flowed near Jerusalem, 1Ki 1:33 this Aben Ezra suggests is here meant, and which favours the notion of the…”

The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

“The name of the third river is Hiddekel,.... A river which ran by Shushan in Persia, and retained its name in the times of Daniel, Dan 10:4 where it is called the great river; and it seems it bears the same name now among the…”

And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

“And the eyes of them both were opened,.... Not of their bodies, but of their minds; not so as to have an advanced knowledge of things pleasant, profitable, and useful, as was promised and expected, but of things very disagreeable and distressing.”

“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,.... The voice of thy Word, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan: this was not the true cause of his hiding himself; he had heard his voice in the garden before, when it did not…”

To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children.

“Unto the woman he said,.... The woman receives her sentence next to the serpent, and before the man, because she was first and more deeply in the transgression, and was the means of drawing her husband into it.”

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.”

“And Cain talked with Abel,.... Or "said", or "spoke unto" him (l); either what the Lord God said to him in the foregoing verses, as Aben Ezra; or he spoke to him in a kind and friendly manner, and thereby got him to take a…”

And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.

“And Cain knew his wife,.... Who this woman was is not certain, nor whether it was his first wife or not; whether his sister, or one that descended from Adam by another of his sons, since this was about the one hundred and thirtieth year…”

Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methusael, and Methusael was the father of Lamech.

“And unto Enoch was born Irad,.... But of neither of them is any other mention made, either in sacred or profane history; nor is it said how old Enoch was when Irad was born, nor how long he lived after; as is recorded of Adam…”

And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

“And Lamech took unto him two wives,.... He was the first we read of that introduced polygamy, contrary to the first institution of marriage, whereby only one man and one woman were to be joined together, and become one flesh, Gen 2:24.”

And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.

“And his brother's name was Jubal,.... This was another son of Lamech by Adah, and his name differs only in one letter from his brother's: he was the father of all such that handle the harp and organ: he was the inventor of instrumental music…”

And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel…

“And Adam knew his wife again,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds, at the end of a hundred and thirty years after Abel was killed, see Gen 5:3 but, according to Bishop Usher, Seth was born the same year, which is most probable.”

When Seth was 105 years old, he became the father of Enosh.

“And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos. Not that this was his firstborn, no doubt but he had other children before this time; but this is only mentioned, because it carried the lineage and descent directly from Adam to Noah, the…”

And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.

“And Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah, three hundred years,.... The Greek version is two hundred.”

So Enoch lived a total of 365 years.

“And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty five years. A year of years, living as many years as there are days in a year; not half the age of the rest of the patriarchs: our poet (t) calls him one of…”

When Methuselah was 187 years old, he became the father of Lamech.

“And Methuselah lived an hundred and eighty and seven years, and beget Lamech. The Septuagint version is an hundred and sixty seven; the Samaritan only sixty seven; the same names were given to some of the posterity of Seth as were to those of Cain…”

So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

“And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty nine years, and he died,.... This was the oldest man that ever lived, no man ever lived to a thousand years: the Jews give this as a reason for it, because a thousand years…”

And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”

“And he called his name Noah,.... Which signifies rest and comfort; for rest gives comfort, and comfort flows from rest, see 2Sa 14:17, where a word from the same root is rendered "comfortable", and agrees with the reason of the name, as follows: saying, this…”

So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

“And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years, and he died. According to the Greek version, he lived but seven hundred and fifty three; and according to the Samaritan version, only six hundred and fifty three: but it is best…”

And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

“And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth,.... Because of the wickedness of man, the wickedness of his heart, and the wickedness of his life and conversation, which was so general, and increased to such a degree, that it was…”

Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This man and his family were the only exception to the general apostasy; God always reserves some, in the worst of times, for himself; there is a remnant, according to the election of grace; it…”

And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.

“And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt,.... This is spoken as if he had never looked upon it before; whereas his eyes are always upon the earth, and the inhabitants of it, and upon all their ways and works: but this…”

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.

“Make thee an ark of Gopher wood,.... It is not called a ship, for it was not made for sailing to any distant parts, but an ark or chest, being like one, flat bottomed, and ridged and sloping upwards, and was made for floating on…”

And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.

“And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth,.... That there was such a flood of waters brought upon the earth, is confirmed by the testimonies of Heathen writers of all nations; only instead of Noah they put some person…”