pretensions they made, they did not love them, nor
behave as they should towards them; and therefore
had just cause of complaint against them, and must be
a witness for the one, and against the other: this sin of
hating and divorcing their wives, or of marrying others
besides them, which prevailed much in our Lord's time,
is particularly mentioned, though they were guilty of
many other sins, as a reason of the Lord's not accepting
their offerings: the aggravations of it are, that they
had broken a coat. fact God was witness to, and dealt
injuriouly with wives they had espoused in the days
oftheir youth; see Prov. iS. t7. and v. 18: against whom
thou hast dealt treacherously ; by divorce or polygamy:
the Vulgate Latin version renders it, whom thou hast
despised: and the Septuagint and Arabic versions,
whom thou hast left; divorced and took others, which
arose from hatred and contempt of their former: other
aggravations follow: yet is she thy companion; or, and
she is, or though she is thy companions: has been so
'in time past, and ought to be so stiIl, and so ac-
counted: the wife is a part ofa mau's self. is oneflesh
with him; a partaker of what he has; a partner with
him in prosperity and adversity; a companion in life,
civil and religious, and ought to remain so till death
part them; for, whom God has put together, let no
man put asunder: and the wife of thy covenant; where-
fore either to divorce her, or marry another, was a
breach of covenant; for by covenant is not meant the
covenant of God made with the people of Israel, in
which they both were; but the covenant of marriage
made between them, and which was broken by such
practices.
Ver. 15. And did not he make one ? &c.] That is,
did not God make one man, and out of his rib one
woman ? did he not make man, male and female?
did he not make one pair, one couple, only Adam
and Eve, whom he joined together in marriage ?
or rather, did he not make one woman only, and
brought her to Adam to be his wife ? which shews
that his intention and will were,. that one man should
have but one wife at a time; the contrary to which
was the then present practice of the Jews: yet had
he the residue of the spirit; it was not .for want of
power that he made but one woman of Adam's rib,
and breathed into her the breath of life, or infused
into her a human soul or spirit; he could have made
ú many women at the same time; and as the Father of
spirits, having the residue of them with him, or a
power left to make as many as he pleased, he could
have imparted spirits unto them, and given Adam
more wives than one: and wherefore one ? what is the
reason why he made but one woman, when he could
have made ten thousand, or as many as he pleased ?
the answer is, that he might seek a godly seed; or a
seed of God {}; a noble excellent seed; a legitimate
offspring, born in true and lawful wedlock; see 1Cor.
vii. 14. a seed suitable to the dignity of human nature,
made after the image of God, and not like that of brute

beasts, promiscuous and uncertain: therefore take heed
to yourspirit; to your affections, that they don't go after
other women, and be led thereby to take them in
marriage, and to despise and divorce the lawful wife,
as it follows: and let none deal treacherously with the
wife ofhis youth; by marrying another, or divorcing
her :-these words are difiin'ently rendered and inter-
preted by some; but thesense given seems to be the true
one, and most agreeable to the scope of the place.
Some render the first clause, hath not one made {e}?
that is, did not the one God, who is the only living
and true God, make one man 6r one woman ? and
then the sense is the same as before; or did not that
one God make, constitute, and appoint, that the wo-
man should be the man's companion, and the wife of
his covenant, as in the latter part of the preceding
verse ? or, did not one do {f} ? that is, so as we have done,
take another wife besides the wife of his youth ? and
so they are the words of the people to the prophets,
 justifying their practice by example; by the example of
1 Abraham, whom some of the Jewish writers think is
II intended by the one, as in Isa. li. 2. Ezek. xxxiii. 24.
" The Targum is," was not one Abraham alone, from
"whom the world was created ?, or propagated..
Kimchi gives it as his own sense, in these words;
"Abraham, who was one, and the father of all that
"follow him in his faith, did not do as ye have done;
"for he did not follow his lust, nor even marry Sarah,
"but so that he might cause the seed of God to re,
"main ;" yet he mentions it as his father's sense,
that they are the words of the people to the prophet,
expressed in a way of interrogation, saying, did not
our father Abraham, who was one, do as we have
done ? who left his wife, .and married Hagar his maid,
though he had the residue or excellency of the spirit,
and was a prophet; to whom the prophet replies,
and what did that one seek ? a godly seed; which is,
as if it was said, when he married Hagar, it was to
seek a seed, because he had no seed of Sarah his wi'fe
A seed was promised him, in which all nations of the
earth were to be blessed; he sought not to gratify his.
lust, but to obtain this seed, the-Messiah, to Whom
the promises were made, as the apostle argues, Gal.
iii. 16. he saith not, and to seeds as of many ;- but as of
one, and to thy seed, which is Christ; ca11ed here the
godly seed, or the seed God {}, as some choose to render
the words; that is, that seed whic'h is God, who is a
divine Person, God and man in one person ; or which
is of God, of his immediate production, Without the
help of a man; which .the Jews call the seed that .comes
from another place, and which they ffse as a perf-
phrasis of the Messiah. So on those words in Gem iv.
25, she called his name Seth, for God hath 7 appointed
me anotlter seed, "says R-. Tanchuma, in the name of
"R. Samuel, she has respect to that seed! .whiett.
"comes from another place;. and what is this:


{c} \^Ktrbx ayhw\^ & ipsa est socia tua, Montanus, Drusius, Burkius;
quum sit socia tua, Pagninus, Munster, Tigurine version, Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius.
{d} \^Myhla erz\^ semen Dei, Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin. Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Burkius.
{e} \^hve dxa alw\^ nonue unus fecit ? V. L. Menochius, Tirinus.,
{f} Et ne unus fecit? Pagninus, Montanus; et unus ille (Abramus) ita
egit? Grotius; annon unus hoc fecit? Tigurine version; so Joseph
Kimchi.
{g} \^Myhla erz\^ semen Deus, Galatin. de Arcan. Cathol. Ver. l. 8. c. 2.
p. 550.