V. 1-6. And the serpent was more cunning than all the beasts of the earth, which God the Lord had made, and said unto the woman, Yea, should God have said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Then the woman said to the serpent, "We eat of the trees.
Fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God said, Eat not of it, neither touch it, lest ye die. Then the serpent said to the woman: You will certainly not die of death, for God knows that which day
If ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be open, and ye shall be as God, and shall know what is good and what is evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat of, and pleasant to look upon, that it was a goodly tree, because it made one wise.
The first thing that Moses describes here is how the serpent spoke to the woman. There we cannot pass by, we must, as I always say, let the scripture remain in a simple, plain sense, as the words give, and make no gloss. For it does not behoove us to interpret God's word as we please; we are not to direct it, but to let ourselves be directed by it, and to give it the glory that it is better set than we can make it. Therefore we must let it stand that it was a true, natural serpent, which the woman saw with her eyes; and therefore it is written, that the history should be written in a light understanding. For if he were to write in this way, that the devil had spoken to her in his own person would not be appropriate. Therefore he had to speak through the serpent, and is thus described as if the serpent himself had spoken here.
(2) But he has shown enough that the serpent was natural, but the devil dwelt in it, therefore he says that it talked with it. For speech is not given to any animal except man. Therefore he makes it clear enough that the devil spoke to the serpent through his tongue. And this should not surprise anyone, because the devil is a mighty spirit [Luc. 11, 21. Eph. 6, 12.]. God did not prevent him from dealing with bodily things; as we still see that he is lord and prince of the world [Joh. 12, 31. 14, 30. 16, 11.], and not only speaks through animals, but now most of all through men.
3) Secondly, it is 1) also a sign that it was the evil spirit that he speaks so highly of God's commandments. For no animal is so clever that it knows what God's commandment is or is not. Therefore, there must have been such a mind in it, which is above the serpents' nature, yes, also above human nature: it must have been an angel.
1) "it" is missing in the Wittenberg and in the Erlanger.
But because he acts against God's commandment, he cannot be a good angel.
4 Item, Eve was a woman of the world. For she stood talking with the serpent, and was not afraid of him, and regarded him as another animal, for she was a lord over all, as we have heard that God says to man: "Rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth. She was not afraid of any poison, nor of death, and there was nothing that could harm her.
(5) But she did not fail to see that the devil was there. For so Paul says 1 Tim. 2, 14: "Adam was 2) not deceived, but the woman was deceived, and brought in transgression." This much is said: Eve was not so understanding as Adam; as also it is said above [Cap. 2, § 25] that God spoke to Adam himself, and gave him a commandment which he was to teach Evam. Therefore he will speak: Adam knew it well and understood it, but she was more simple, and too weak for the cunning devil, and did not fail herself; but Adam did fail himself, who should have been able to resist, if he had wanted to do it.
6 So you see here how the devil can disguise himself so that he is not known, and how he drives all temptation. Let us take special note of this. For as he did then, so does he still in them that are Christians. Therefore it is necessary that they watch diligently, and take heed lest he deceive them. For his own, whom he has possessed, he does not touch.
7 First of all, he attacks the human being, since he is the weakest, namely the female person, that is, Evam, and not Adam. For all his temptations are so directed that he breaks in where we are weak and not well guarded. If he had attacked Adam, he would have given him a different answer. He was afraid of that, so he thought: I want to attack you first, maybe I also want to bring him down by them afterwards.
8. now we have his own color off-
2) In the editions: was.
paints. Where he sees that you are weakest, where you are most inclined to pride, avarice, anger, or unchastity, or the like, he touches you; and tickles you most, because you are ticklish; attacks you, because you are soft. Therefore we should be prepared and brave to know his wickedness and beware of him, as Paul says [2 Cor. 2:11], "lest we be overawed by the devil, for we are not unaware of what he has in mind." So God has betrayed him to us, and warned us that we should be careful of deceitfulness and mischievousness toward him.
9 Secondly. Further, see how mischievously he attacks the woman. So he starts talking against her: "Yes, should God have said that you should not eat from all kinds of trees in the garden? With these words he throws God's commandment to the winds, and speaks of it so lightly, as if to say, "Do you think that God is so foolish that he should have forbidden this? I cannot give the Hebrew well, neither German nor Latin, it is just the word Aphki, as if someone turns up his nose and laughs at you and mocks you. With this he wants to move her around, so that she should think: Well, it must still be true. So he moves and pulls her away from the word of God, which is standing right there. So it is lost. As long as the word was in her heart, she lived and remained standing.
(10) Therefore he thinks, I must take the word from her above all things; and he uses deceit to make such a delusion in her mind that she thinks it must not be so. Do you think, he says, you fool, that God has commanded it? He says so cunningly, as if to say: There are so many hundred trees in the garden, and he has not forbidden you to eat from any of them, should he have forbidden that very tree? Should he forbid you a single tree, if he gives you so many hundreds? So he leads the woman to think that Adam does not understand.
This is the right black, yes, the white color of the devil. For he is a bright, light devil, who does not attack us with gross sins, but with unbelief. For when he has overthrown faith, he has won. Man must have God's word and cling to it with faith:
As soon as he lets the same thing ravish him, 1) there is no longer a shell. So here the devil takes away his word and faith that he falters, and thinks: Who knows, it might be
cannot be true. As soon as this is ordered in doubt, so that one thinks whether it is right or wrong, then it is lost. God does not want a wavering soul to say, "Yes, if it were true.
12 Therefore notice how the devil does, that he only attacks the faith. He does not attack the heathen, unbelievers and unbelievers, they cling to him like scales; but when he sees those who have God's word, faith and spirit, he cannot go to them; he knows well that he cannot win when they already stumble. He knows that he cannot win if they stumble. He sees that even if someone falls into grave sin, it is not lost, because he can always get up again. Therefore he thinks he must do things differently and take the main thing. When he has come to the point of doubting whether this is God's word, then the game is won.
(13) Therefore it is necessary that we look to this very thing. Paul [1 Tim. 6, 20] and Christ [Matth. 7, 15. 16, 6. 12] have warned us enough; in addition, all of Scripture, in which there is no greater warning than to beware of false teaching. For God can consider everything good, as we stumble, only that we remain with the pure, loud word of God, which says: This is right, this is wrong. The devil knows this, that is why he creeps in at first; as soon as he snatches it away, man himself cannot resist him afterwards, he must fall into all vices; as you see that he does here, when he wants to move them around.
(14) She will do better, saying, We will not eat of the tree in the midst of the garden, lest we die (as we have always done better than God commanded); and she adds to it: Neither shall we touch it. With this she already begins to waver. When the devil sees this, he continues and pulls her to the point that she blasphemes God and stands straight against him. For when he brings man to this
1) rapture - to snatch away, to rapture.
If the man who has been commanded doubts, he soon causes him to blaspheme, saying, "God has not commanded it, or if He has commanded it, He does not mean it rightly.
15 Therefore he continues, and says to her: Yes, "you will be like God, and know" etc. These words have so much in them that there is not enough to say about them. For it is all so pictured, as he drives with all men whom he attacks. Therefore, beware that you do not think that this happened to Eve alone, nor that you think the story is an old tale, but think as if it had only happened this hour. For this is what Satan is still doing today, from the beginning of the world to the end. Thus we shall see, and already have before our eyes, how he deals with the Gospel, and how many souls he will snatch away from it, attacking it in such a way that from the beginning he puts God's word in doubt, and then goes on to deny it, and especially brings in, as he does here, that God is not friendly. This is the most poisonous challenge that can befall a man, that he looks at God with such eyes; which is nothing other than a hatred of God, for which we have mighty cause, especially when we begin to speak of the understanding why God chooses one and not another. This is what the devil does all the time.
(16) He also gives the woman evil thoughts, which are much worse. For by leaving the name and appearance that it is not against God, he first leads the woman and us poor people to think that they do not sin in it, and yet in essence they deny and hate God. For this we must still look at the examples we have before our eyes, otherwise we will not understand. So now he goes on, pretending to the pope, bishops, priests and monks that their conduct is right and not contrary to God; so they remain under the delusion that they are right; and yet God's word stands clearly before their eyes, that they should not do what they are not sure is God's word. Saying nevertheless: We know well that God has commanded that one should not do what he has not commanded; but
1) "Delusion" put by us instead of: "word", which does not seem to fit us. Because of our correctness compare § 21: "they stand out of your delusion" etc.
but one may well do a little more and higher service to God, that it may be done to his praise and honor. This means, first, negligere mandatum Dei; then, eligere mandatum hominum. Therefore, this is not an old challenge, but will last until the end of the world.
Now see what happens next. When Eve stands in the wavering, and he has decided that it is not against God, then he has won; the faith is out and strangled, the word she has lost. Then the text says, "And the woman looked," first, "that the tree was fine to eat of;" second, "and lovely to look upon;" third, "that it was an airy tree, because it made wise." These three unfortunate desires she did not have before everywhere, has now already fallen into evil air and love, which she had none before.
18 Therefore, when faith and the word of God are gone, it is not to be thought that one could then endure the evil desire and love; the arrogance is there, and vain sinful, evil inclination. Before, when she stood in faith and was full of God's love in her heart, she did not see that the tree was particularly funny, or that it made her particularly clever, but one was to her like the other; but now there is a difference, that none is so beautiful as this one. What God has commanded, she does not want; but what he has forbidden, that she wants, and would now like to become wise.
And broke off the fruit, and ate, and gave her husband also of it, and he did eat.
19 Now the work follows. She would not have eaten if she had not been dead before. The faith was already gone, and was full of sin and evil desire. But this is the pity that she also gives Adam and he eats with her. For there would have been no need for him to stay, God would have created another wife. "Adam," says Paul [1 Tim. 2:14], "was not deceived, but the woman." But that he also transgressed makes the sin especially grave and horrible. She was a fool, easily seduced, and knew it no other way; but he had God's word before him, he knew it well, and should have punished her; so he stands there, watches, and also eats, willingly consenting to the devil's counsel.
2) Wittenberg and Erlanger: er.
V. 7. Then both their eyes became alert. 1)
020 Now the gross sins follow. First, as the devil had said, their eyes will see and feel that they are naked. Now it was impossible to resist all the limbs they had, nor to control the evil lust. They both looked at each other with evil lust and unchaste desires when they were naked, which were unknown to them before. They had fallen away and disobeyed God, so that everything in their bodies became disobedient as well, so that they could not tame them, neither thoughts nor limbs. This is now inherited by us, and remains so; as they were, so are all their children. Where there is no faith and Christianity, it is impossible for them to be without evil desires and lusts, especially to resist the limbs that serve for anger and unchastity: Eyes, ears, tongue, and all other limbs.
21 So Adam and Eve, with all their fruit and children, are condemned, in sin, and none of them are exempt. We are all like father and mother, and bring the same plague and disease with us. This is how the devil deals with us even today, so that he leads us into the main challenge concerning faith; if he wins the word and faith, he has it all. As we see where priests and monks do not live in the faith, as they almost all are, there is none stingy, unchaste, angry people, and none so full of vice. For they are under the delusion that they want to help the cause with works, they do not see their unbelief and sickness, they do not know what they lack, they go on, and they also want to make aprons for them, so that they cover themselves; but they cannot resist their nature, it breaks out nevertheless that it comes to light what they are, and they themselves must confess it. When it is said to them that they lack God's word and faith, they do not believe it.
22 So the two go to the place. Seeing that they are naked, feeling the foul air in their flesh, and not being able to help them, they go and make them aprons.
1) Wittenberger: aufgethan.
or woven girdles of leaves, which they girded around themselves and covered the body. Now this means nothing else than what we have often said, how the same saints, when they have lost faith and see that they are in sins, want to help them, cover themselves and adorn themselves with works that they can devise. But it is beautifully expressed here that it does not help, even though they make aprons. When they saw that they were naked and felt the evil desire and love, they still could not resist it, nor dampen it; they thought they wanted to attack another way, but it did not help; they could well get out of each other's sight, so that one did not see the other; but the desire ceased nothing the more.
(23) It is the same with monks and priests. People who felt their sin and could not get rid of it thought they wanted to help the cause with a strict life, and locked themselves up in the monasteries all their lives; but as long as they are in them, they feel that it helps nothing, and only gets worse. So it seems that people think they are pious and holy, but this is nothing, because they cover themselves from the people; before God they remain just peelings in the skin, as before. Where we are not helped again by God's word, all is lost.
(24) So we have the miserable fall that Adam and Eve did, in which we are all stuck, so that no one can prevent it. For though the sword of the world, and the father and mother, may prevent the work, yet the foundation of the heart is not prevented, but the word alone must come again, from which we have fallen, and raise us up.
025 Wherefore this temptation is written for a warning unto us, that we may take heed, and not be carried away from the word, as they have done: for all things together are for the word and for the faith. Now that they have been deceived by the devil and have fallen into sin and death, and feel their unbelief and disobedience in all their limbs, body and soul, so that they had to cover their shame with aprons and leaves, here is how God has restored them and given them grace.
V. 8-13. And they heard the voice of God the Lord walking in the garden, when the day 1) had become cool, and Adam hid 2) himself and his wife from the presence of God the Lord under the trees of the garden. And God the Lord called Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said: I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid; for I am naked, therefore I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou not eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat thereof? And Adam said, The woman whom thou gavest me, she gave me of the tree to eat of. Then God the Lord said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And the woman said, The serpent hath so set me up, 3) that I did eat.
(26) Now it is sufficiently said that the supreme sin in this case was that Adam and Eve were led away from the word of God by the cunning deceit of the devil. When this was snatched away from them, life was no longer there, for where the word is not, there is also no life. When life was gone, they felt the fruit of death, that they had gained evil desire.
(27) Now you see again in this piece that God restores them from death to life through the word. For there comes another word of God that saves them again; but not before they feel death before. And the text is well to be remembered, for it is not to be thought as if it were a thing that had passed away, and would never so happen; for where it does not so happen, there no Christian ever becomes. Let us see this.
28) Since the two were dead, having lost the word of God, and were in sin, yet they did not feel it so soon, but went, as the text says, girded themselves and covered themselves, not yet feeling how evil they had done.
1) Marginal gloss: Day was cool. This was around evening, when the heat had passed; it means that after a sin the conscience suffers anguish until God's gracious voice comes, and again cools and refreshes the heart; although even the stupid nature is terrified and shies away from the gospel, because it teaches the cross and dying.
2) Marginal gloss: Adam hid. Adam means man in Hebrew, therefore one may say man where Adam stands, and again.
3) put on - deceive, seduce (illudere).
They were full of the fruits of death and evil desires and love, and the tickling had not yet passed away. But when they heard the voice of God walking in the garden, says Moses, when the heat was over and cool, at the time of vespers, they hid themselves, not wanting to be seen; then the tickle was driven away from them, so that they felt such sorrow and distress that they forgot whether they were naked or not.
(29) For, as we shall see, when a man is condemned to death, such fear comes under his eyes that he does not know whether he is a man or a woman. And so it happened to them, when they had almost covered themselves and made aprons: as soon as God lets Himself be heard, their consciences are frightened, they want to hide and run away, and the garden becomes too narrow for them, so that they do not know where they should stay. Then they felt what they had done, saw sin, death and hell before their eyes; there was all sorrow and heartache. They wanted to flee and crawl, where they could find a hole, 4) where they could stay before God; but there is no room. The more they hid, the closer God came, and so close that He said, "Adam, where are you?"
(30) They could not stand this, and at that hour they were both in the midst of mortal distress that God should deal so unkindly with them, and not want to know them any more; as if he wanted to say: Before you were my child, now I have lost you. When they hear that he is so strange to them, they are certainly in hell. For thus their heart was: Behold, God is hostile to thee, but because God is hostile to thee, all creatures are hostile and against thee. Then everything became too narrow for them. In the same way, every day when God wants to convert a person from sin, He first leads him into such terror and fear.
Now behold, what should Adam do? When he sees how he has been fooled, he goes on, wants to make himself beautiful, and only fools more crudely, so that there is enough to see, if there were no other examples of how foolish nature acts without God's word. Believe this without doubt: if they had been able to do everything that could be done, they would have dared to do it with three necks. And if free will stands there
4) Erlanger: find.
The highest, that he can never do what he did not do this time. For there they stood in hell, trying their best and highest to get out; but there is no help nor counsel to be found. See how he does it. He is not so pious that he could give glory to God and say: Oh, Lord, I have sinned, and would have asked for mercy and help; but only the heart thinks, Oh, that it did not know the sin! would gladly adorn it and help it; therefore he says, "I heard your voice in the garden, and was afraid," as if to say, "I feel well that before you no apron or covering is valid, nor does it help; I am utterly naked. Therefore he says: 1) You fool! Is this the way to act before God, to flee from Him, so that one should crawl to Him with all fours? .
32 Then God starts with him and pushes him even deeper into hell, so that he perishes. "Who told you," he says, "that you are naked," since you were naked before? This was asked too deeply that he could no longer answer, and was now decided and stood in the depths of hell, indeed condemned by God. For thus he concludes a verdict: "Because you feel that you are naked, and are afraid and afraid of me, you must have acted against me, and be disobedient, so that you and I are at odds. But what does he do? He goes on, and does not want to put the blame on himself, but on the woman, even on God himself. As if he were to say, "Oh, if you had not given me the woman, I would have remained pious. That is so much talk: If you had been so wise and so pious, you would not have created the woman. What else is this said, but so much: You have sinned yourself? So he answers the divine majesty.
Now no one speaks such words against God except a blasphemer who feels that he is condemned. For where there is a right heart, it confesses sin and gives God so much honor that it does not punish him. But this one goes to him and punishes him, blames him. As if he should say: If I am to be condemned, then you are guilty. Because Eve was God's work, it must take it upon itself. But he should have said: You have given me a wife
that I should have ruled, and not her, but she should have obeyed me; that I did not do. So he turns it around and puts the blame on God, making it much worse now than before, when he ate from the tree, that he would be worthy that God would have cast him eternally into hell. Now see what free will and reason do when it comes to a meeting, especially in mortal distress, how finely it can help itself, how it quarrels with God, what honor it gives Him, and how kindly it speaks to Him, so that the longer it goes on, the deeper it sinks into hell.
Now God has left him in such distress, and he will probably sink into hell; for he is completely of one mind, cannot feel or think otherwise than that he is eternally damned; he has no help nor comfort.
But where is the woman? She must also pass through. Therefore he starts again and asks: why she did it? still postpones the consolation, does not let himself be heard that he wants to help. Now she is just as foolish as Adam, and does not want to bear the guilt either. It is a high temptation, in which the mistake is accused in the most secret way. The serpent has set me up, she says. As if she should also say: Why did you create the snake? Since you were such a wise God, and knew such things, could you have accommodated it? This is horrible and frightening to hear.
36 So now they are both condemned. But now comes comfort and God's word again; Christ descends from heaven and helps; another word comes, as follows:
Then God the Lord said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed before all cattle and before all the animals of the field. You shall walk on your belly and eat dust all your life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bite his heel.
37 First, that he says to the serpent, You shall walk on your belly, is already half comfort; that is already as if he should let it be known that he does not want to condemn it forever. As if he should say: I still judge you.
not even to death, but it grieves me that you did it.
038 But the right consolation cometh, saying, I will put enmity between thy seed and the seed of the woman: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bite his heel. This saying is worthy to be diligently cut out. For therein is the word of life, whereof they shall live again; therein it is promised them in plain, clear words, that the woman shall bring forth a seed. But woman's seed, as the Scripture speaks, means a natural child born of woman, a child that brings flesh and blood from its mother. Therefore he wants to say: I will create a natural fruit, born of the woman. Does not express whether it should be a man or a child, but only that the mother might say of it, this is my child, and again the child might say, this is my mother. The same shall bruise the serpent's head; that is, the harm it has done, he shall suppress, trample underfoot, and crush. When Adam heard this, he came out of hell again, and he was comforted.
(39) Now this is the faith that the seed should take all the power of the devil and tread it down, so that it perishes. So Adam took these words and thought, "This is what God says, he does not lie; so we can hope for a man who will trample on the head 1) of the serpent who trampled us. And the fathers who came after them all waited and believed, and always preached that a fruit would come and crush the serpent's head. And included in this short saying is everything that the gospel and our faith contain, such as that a resurrection and another life should come after death; item, that one becomes pious and blessed through faith alone (Rom. 3, 28. Gal. 2, 16.); after that, that it is attached to this, that no man becomes righteous before God through his works; also that no monk or nun is blessed.
40 For the saying includes so much in itself. Your apron, your fortune will all not
1) Erlanger: the snake head.
For the devil has brought you completely under himself; so now there is no help, but all is lost. But if you want to be helped, there is no other remedy than the seed of the woman. It is a strong saying that destroys everything that is preached otherwise; it has already been decided that one must despair and give up all hope, and cling to the seed that alone does it. For if there were any other way to salvation, the text would have to be wrong.
41 Therefore see how the Old Testament speaks so bravely of things. It says that Adam was a Christian long before Christ was born, because he had the same faith in Christ that we have. For time makes no difference in faith: faith is the same from the beginning of the world to the end. Therefore he received by his faith the very things that I have received. He did not see Christ with his eyes, as we also do; but he had him in word, so we also have him in word. This alone is the difference, that it should have happened then, but now it has happened. Faith is the same; so all the fathers, like us, were justified by the word and faith, and died in it. This is the main saying in this text. But I will leave it here as it is said: "The serpent will bite him in the heel", because it will follow afterwards; item, whether the serpent also crawled before, and that he now eats the earth. For we must stay with the main part, where the power lies.
V.16. And to the woman he said, I will cause thee much grief when thou art with child; thou shalt bring forth thy children with grief, and thou shalt bow down thyself before thy husband, and he shall be thy master.
So God continues, and attacks the woman, and punishes her also. And there is a fine order. First, he claims Adam, then the woman, then the serpent; here he reverses this with the punishment. To the woman he gives her plague, but he goes carefully and spares her, absolves her from the sorrow of the soul, puts the punishment on the body, as also Adam,
2) Jenaer and Erlanger: beautiful.
saying, "I will cause thee much grief when thou art with child"; after that, "Thou shalt bear thy children with grief"; thirdly, "Thou shalt cower before thy husband, and he shall be thy master."
(43) In these three pieces you see nothing but what concerns the body; the soul has already been saved and become God's child. Therefore he turns the eternal punishment into a temporal and bodily one, puts away the iron rod and gives a fox's tail instead.
44 The punishment now goes over all those who become daughters of Eve; it is not spoken to her alone. He also speaks as if they were all to become pregnant, but those whom he chastises with mercy have their portion. Otherwise in the congregation, as for women, he puts them to grief, so that they have much grief when 1) they are with child; he does not take from them what he gave before, that they should be fruitful. This is both God's word, which no one can change. In addition, he commands her to abstain from the man, that is, not to live her free will; otherwise it would have happened that they would have gone away from each other, one here, the other elsewhere, but with breeding. But now the woman can do nothing without the man; where he is, she must go with him and bow down before him. Now he comes further from the woman to Adam, also imposes a punishment on him, and says:
V.17-19. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed be the field for thy sake; thou shalt feed thereon with grief all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bear thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, until thou return unto the ground from whence thou wast taken. For thou art dust, and shalt become dust.
This is also a gentle, merciful punishment. But I think that the text alone makes the country full of whores and knaves, since otherwise there would be many pious boys and maidens who would enter into marriage together. Since 2) will never-
1) Erlanger: because.
2) Erlanger: There, there.
man. It is not laid upon a man that he should have heartache with childbearing; that belongs to the wife; but there is another, that he must provide and nourish wife and child; there belongs to toil and labor; there everyone shrinks from it, no one wants to bear it, and yet it must be borne. For if you do not take a wife and eat your bread by the sweat of your brow, God takes the punishment that he has laid on the body and lays it on the soul. This is not well changed. He wants to be merciful to the soul and help it, but he wants to afflict the body. Therefore, where there are people in the faith, they are quite prepared and gladly bear this burden, take wives, work and make it sour for them. It is not a good thing according to the flesh, but a good state according to the soul. The whole world still cries out about marriage, how evil it is. But whom do they blame? God alone, that he does not say, "You shall sit on a cushion, live in ease, and have no misfortune.
46 Therefore I conclude: Where there are married people, so that the wife is not unhappy with children and the husband is not angry, it is not right. Right married woman and man shall not have good days, there must be misfortune and trouble, or [it] is not right in the sight of God. If God gives you a rich wife or husband, so that you have good days and there is no trouble or work, then you are already absolved from the sentence and are not well. The world is so foolish and foolish against God that it thinks to live in wedlock and to enter into such a state that it may have good days and live well. Therefore, whoever wants to live conjugally must consider the sentence, or consider that he is going to the devil. You will not do better than God has done; if you want to follow the world and hear what it says and thinks of God's word and works, you must stay with it and not come to God. Therefore, send thyself in; God will not change it with thee, but he will do a miraculous work.
47 If this is the way things are in marriage, in sorrow and work, take comfort in this, and think that this is how it must be.
3) Erlanger: beautiful.
God has appointed and ordained that I should be married; therefore I will put on my body, and take upon me the burden in God's name, and enter into it willingly and cheerfully. But if thou doest not so, and wilt do better, thou shalt cause the soul to perish, though the body prosper.
For this reason, God still shows mercy to the world by marrying several of them against their will and giving them toil and work, if only they understood. For everyone would like to live in good days, that is what we all strive for; so God must come and salt it, so that 1) it does not go according to our will.
For this reason God curses the earth, so that it does not bear half of the grain, but most of the thorns and thistles, which otherwise would not grow, since man should not work. Now he mixes it so that it bears almost most of the thorns and thistles. Therefore this is the summa, that he thus wants to keep us in check, so that he may drive away the tickle. These are the three punishments laid upon sin: one abominable upon the serpent, and two consoling upon man and woman.
50) So now 3) it is written for the first time, how Adam was summoned and called before the court, that God said, "Adam, where are you?" The words are all short, but almost rich. So much, however, have 4) taken from it, who wrote on it that no one should judge anyone, unless he is first heard and overcome, because God did not want to condemn Adam (if He knew well that he had transgressed His commandment) before He had summoned him to court and heard his answer; and thus forbade all judges to judge before they hear the self-guilty. This is to be preached to those who have power to govern, that everywhere the manner and form of the law should be let go. We will now let this go.
51 But this is also indicated here, that when a man has fallen into sin, God is still such a man, who does not follow with the punishment as soon as it comes, but postpones it, and acts as if He knew nothing about it.
1) Erlanger: da.
2) "not" is missing in the Erlanger.
3) Wittenbergers: are.
4) "but" is missing in the Erlanger.
For although Adam has fallen here, and lies there in sin, nevertheless the right judgment, so that he has forfeited, is not yet there. For the text says that God will not come until evening and call them. Now I have said before that all this happened on the sixth day, but that man did not stand long, but soon sinned at noon, and the Lord then came at evening.
52) This is all the meaning, which is all directed to the future being, which should come into the world through the gospel and spiritual rule, that first man must come to the knowledge that he knows what he lacks. Because he sins, he is not despondent; but afterwards, when his conscience strikes him, and God comes to summon him, his eyes are opened, then he first becomes aware of how terrible, how great a sin he has committed. This is what Moses means by saying that they heard the voice of God when the day was cool and almost over, that is, when the evil desire passed, God came, leaving them enough time and space before.
53. item that Moses so diligently describes that God summons Adam to judgment, and leaves out that he summoned Evam. For when he came forth, she left afterward. Where was she to go? She was bound to him, where he came, she had to go. Therefore he was silent about it. But he did not call the serpent at all, because, I think, it was not there. With this, I say, the Holy Spirit indicated that God commands the office of ruling, teaching and preaching to the man-person. For the summoning of Adam is nothing other than a preaching of the law, so that he may know what he has done and what he owes to God. The preaching is commanded to the man, not to the woman; as Paul also teaches [1 Tim. 2, 12], as far as Christian matters are concerned; otherwise it can happen that a woman gives better counsel, as one also reads in Scripture. Otherwise, the office of leading, preaching and teaching God's word is given to the man.
54) But the fact that the serpent is not called, but the judgment goes straight over him, is that God has already condemned the devil, that he has
5) Wittenberger: "he" instead of: him. In the Erlanger, "him" is missing.
90 Eri. 33, ioü-107. interpretations on the first book of Moses. W. m, 126-129. 9k
can neither hear the law nor the gospel nor preach. Therefore he calls the serpent to walk and crawl on his belly; he is already lost, that no preaching will help him, and there is no hope that he will be able to come to grace.
55 Now see how God attacks. First he calls Adam, then he punishes the serpent. It is just the other way around. St. Peter said [1 Ep. 4, 17] that the punishment starts at the house of God, but the end goes over those who do not believe. This order is also kept here, since Adam and Eve are also punished, but the serpent remains damned. This is why he says: "I will put enmity between you and the woman" etc. There it separates itself in the last punishment, and becomes so soon merciful, that it changes the eternal into a temporal, as a merciful and friendly father. Those whom one thinks he will not punish, he punishes most cruelly; again, those whom one thinks he will punish most severely, he punishes most mercifully. It seems as if he has attacked Adam the hardest, and yet spares his the most.
Thus, his work is different from everything else in the world. Those he should attack first, he keeps until the last. [First he attacks man, so that one would think he was worse than the serpent. Then he turns it around, puts the greatest plague on the serpent, then on Eve, the least on Adam. For to the woman it is life, but not to the man, but toil and labor. The serpent has its part, that it is eternally damned; the woman in the body. The woman in the body; the man in the work, that he may not die over it.
This is God's work, and we must learn to know it. For he acts in the same way when it comes to punishments; when one thinks that he is most merciful, he is most angry, and again. Thus he inflicts much punishment on the faithful, and attacks them severely; the punishment goes only over the body and goods, the soul he saves; but the unbelievers he condemns eternally.
58. So then, the sentence was: Cursed be you on earth etc. There the spirit is damned, and no more grace.
1) Erlanger: teach.
And this is not enough, but also puts enmity between the serpent and the woman's seed, which bruises his head. This 2) is the gospel preached, by which Adam came to life again, and the spiritual punishment is applied to the body. With this, death, sin and hell, all power and ability of the devil are abolished. That means he crushes the head, the tail and belly he leaves.
This seed, as I said, is Jesus Christ, a natural child, born of woman [Gal. 4:4] and nourished like others, who has crushed the head of this serpent. Adam also waited for this, but did not know when it would happen or how it would happen. They are dark words, but almost rich. It is well understood how it should happen, but the spirit had to teach and explain it. This much they took from it, that from this woman, she be who she wants, a natural child would be born, who would bring this about; although it is understood that he had to come from a virgin [Is. 7, 14], because he assigns him to the woman, and calls him only a woman's seed. But both of them did not understand it that way, as we will hear [Cap.4, 1.], when she says: "Now I have come over the husband of the Lord."
(60) Now God subjected this seed to the devil, thinking that he would devour it, so that he took from it its life, honor, good works, and nothing remained in Christ but death, disgrace and dishonor: so he took everything from it. But what happened? The seed was God, therefore he could not be defeated. The devil wrestled with another creature, because he thought that God was not there, the Lord of the devil and of all things. Therefore God gave this judgment on him: "Because you have attacked the man [1 Tim. 2, 5], the innocent blood [Matth. 27, 4], my only Son [Rom. 8, 32], you and death shall be damned. You knew that you had nothing in him; therefore you must pay, or again be subject to him and lie at his feet [Heb. 2, 8.]. So sin and 4) death must also be under-
2) Erlanger: Da.
3) "and" is missing in the Wittenberg and in the Erlanger.
4) "the" is missing in the Erlanger.
than be because they ran to him and have no right; likewise also disgrace, dishonor and dishonor etc. 1) Then all that had run to this person fell and lost the battle. He is an eternal king [Jer. 10, 10. 1 Tim. 1, 17. Luc. 1, 33.] and Lord of life [Apost. 3, 15.], grace and all honors [Ps. 24, 7. 8.], eats disgrace, death, sin and hell [1 Cor. 15, 54. ff.], it must be captive and subject, or be loosed. 2) Now none of them can break away, because it has done against God; therefore it has lost all strength and power and must now lie under his feet. Who would have thought that Moses, who spoke in such a simple way, would have grasped such great things, in which the overcoming of death and all heartache is written, even everything that is written in the Gospel?
Now, to whom is all this preached? No one but Adam and Eve. Now God's word does not go in vain nor without fruit; therefore it must have brought Adam back together with the woman and comforted him again, that he stood on it and relied that a man would come who would overcome death and sin. Then he believed, and recovered, and thought, here again is grace and peace, life and comfort. So you see how God can speak in such short words that one word cannot be spread out sufficiently if one preaches about it for an equally long time. In these words, Christ's future from the Virgin, suffering, death and resurrection, His kingdom and Gospel are understood and written. Who could summarize it in such short words, or find it in them? Therefore it is called the word of God, that it speaks differently and higher than the word of man.
The other part of this saying, "You will bite him in the heel," has been sufficiently interpreted by St. Paul. Although Christ crushed the serpent's head and took away the power of death and the devil's authority over all who believe in him (Heb. 2:14), the devil is not left dead or idle, so that he does not create anything. What does he do? He still has to bite his heels, that is, he is always challenging. That is why the
1) "etc." is missing in the Wittenberg and Erlanger. 2) "lösen" - to buy loose.
The gospel ministry is not established at once, at a moment's notice, as has been preached up to now, but proceeds in this way: When God has established a man, he does not leave him idle, but keeps him in constant training, so that he always has to work. Therefore, when one begins to believe, it is not perfect; but if he bruises his head, the devil bites him in the heel, so that he has to fight without ceasing. Adam and Eve heard this, therefore it also produced fruit.
63 It is still the same. If we recognize Christ and know that he has overcome sin, the devil and death for us, it is still not dead and does not cease as long as we live on earth. The main thing we have overcome is the devil; 4) but because we are here on earth, God and the gospel should have so much to do, that we should always fight against sin, and resist the devil who bites us in the heel [Eph. 6, 12]. The serpent's tail remains in the flesh and blood, so that we feel unbelief in the heart, hatred, envy and avarice, and what more are the sins that reigned before and were the head.
This was often taught by St. Paul to the Romans, when he says: "Do not therefore let sin reign in your mortal body, to render obedience to its lusts" etc. We still have evil lust stirring within us [Rom. 7, 8.], but the Spirit drives it back, so that an eternal strife remains in Christians [Gal. 5, 17.]. For something always remains in the flesh; sin contests without ceasing to be felt, but is subdued by the fact that Christ is there, and reigns stronger than the devil and sin [Luc. 7:22]. But in those who do not have faith, the devil reigns even, is still alive with the head [Eph. 2:2], that one follows him and does not resist [Jac. 4:7]. This is the beautiful sweet saying given here to Adam, by which God takes eternal damnation from him and gives him eternal blessedness.
What did Adam do to deserve this? With great, mighty sins. To the first.
3) "Devil" is missing in the Erlanger.
4) Erlanger: that overcomes the devil.
that he wanted to flee from God's eyes; then, that he still had to justify himself. That in this way one may see clearly what God gives, that he gives it freely, not for the sake of any merit, yes, even for the sake of evil merit, and that one may learn from this how God does to us, so that we may do likewise. He gives us his grace and all goods out of pure goodness and love: so we should also be gods to our neighbors, so that we love even the worst enemies, and the worse they are, the more we should serve them and do good [Matth. 5, 44]. How happy do you think Adam was? that his faith undoubtedly broke forth and showed itself, thinking: "Because God the Lord so graciously accepts me and shows me such abundant mercy, I who have so violated and blasphemed Him, will again do all good from the heart, even to the worst enemy I may have on earth. Such is the fruit of the gospel, when it comes into the heart, that a man becomes full of joy, and serves everyone with love, gladness and joy.
When the serpent was cursed, and the gospel of the seed of the woman was promised, the punishment nevertheless followed, laid upon the womb of both Adam and Eve, of which enough is said: that the woman must have trouble and heartache when she conceives and gives birth; the man toil and labor with food, until the man again becomes the earth, from which he is taken. For the part goes both to the man and the woman; though the woman recover from childbearing, that she may escape, yet she shall not escape death. In the same way, even if a man works and toils for a long time, his reward will be that he dies at last and escapes misfortune in life.
(67) Though this be hard spoken in the sight of the world, yet, when the spirit looketh upon it, it is a true and great mercy. For if the punishment were not laid upon our necks, we would all be the worst of boys, and no one would remain pious. Therefore all this is a loud gospel, and just as much spoken: I will forgive you your sins, and bring your souls into grace; but I will give the body restraint, that it be not too fierce and wicked, neither the flesh too proud.
(68) For if death were not, sin would never perish; therefore, by this very means, sin is finally stopped, and there is no other way to get rid of it. He gives us such a merciful and salutary punishment that sin is strangled by death. Therefore we should receive and bear this with joy, as from a gracious Father, as believers do. For so good is the Father, that even death must serve to kill and destroy all evil.
69 For this reason death is nothing but a pure grace, even a beginning of life. For after he makes the soul recover, the bodily being, what there is, sickness, danger, toil and labor, must all serve for the best, so that nothing better could be desired. Where the spirit is, it finds so much evil desire in the flesh, which does not want to be tamed, that if it blues itself for a long time, [and] yet nothing helps, it must itself wish that the body were dead [Rom. 7:24]. That therefore death is given for a remedy, which devours itself, strangles sin, and helps the spirit to be saved. Therefore, as before he threatened Adam with death, saying, "If thou eat of the tree, thou must die," so now he reverses it, and comforts him with it. As if he should say: If you want to get rid of all misfortune and live forever, die. These are the powerful comforting sayings, since our gospel is written completely inwardly, although not as clearly as it is preached and spread out to us. They had the Spirit more abundantly than we, but we have it much more surely; for they could not know who the Christ and Savior should be, whom we now know. Now follow on:
V. 20. And Adam called his wife Heda, 2) because she is a mother of all the living.
So far we have heard how God Almighty raised Adam and Eve from their fall, and through His divine Word and Gospel restored them to the hope of life after death. 3) Now it goes again to the
1) Jenaer and Erlanger: not.
2) Marginal gloss: Heva. Hai means life, hence Heva or Hava, life or living.
3) Erlanger: escape.
Life, brings them together to sit down at home and in the state he has put them in. But first he tells how Adam gives his wife a name after life, and the reason why he calls her that. For the word Heva means life in Hebrew. As if he should say: He called her life, so that what should live, must come from her.
71] There is only confirmed what is written before [v. 16], that the woman should be subject to the man; for so much dominion is given to him over her that she must let herself be called by him. Therefore women are still called after men, and not again. Now this also happened out of God's gracious will, so that the woman would remain without 1) rule, who, as a weak creature, cannot rule herself, nor is she fit for rule. This is one reason why this is written.
But there is also another, namely, that Adam already begins to feel a taste of life, because he gives the woman the name, that she should be the mother of all living, and speaks, of course, of bodily life. But, because he has heard that a seed is to come, which is to suppress the serpent, he lets himself think that he will have children from now on, who will enjoy the seed, he thinks that this woman should bring the seed, but it is far away. She also thinks the same, although she will realize it later. But this shows that they have taken the words of God with pleasure and receive them with joy. Therefore he speaks of it, and gives his wife such signs and names of the saying, and wishes all days that the seed should come; as also the patriarchs [Gen. 49, 18. Ps. 14, 7. Ps. 53, 7. Isa. 45, 8. 64, 1.]. Therefore the sayings of God are certain, but yet dark, so that the person, 2) time and way, how it should go, is restrained to the man. It was certain that he would be born, but it was dark and hidden which woman's seed he would be, what time, and how he would be born.
1) All editions offer "im", but it seems to us that "on" (i.e. without) should be read, although according to § 77 the woman "shall rule the house". But that is not what is meant here.
2) "Person" is missing in the Erlanger.
Thus God still makes certain promises, but keeps them from time, person, and manner; as He did with Abraham. He has the promise that from his seed the child should be born, in whom all the world should be blessed [Gen. 15, 4. 17, 5. 6.]. Now he could not know how it should happen; he was sure of his body, but he did not know the wife; he thought it should be Sarah, and waited sixteen years, but nothing came of it. Then she thought it was not she, and gave him her maid, which bare a son [Gen. 16:2, 3]; then she thought it should be he, but they were both absent: yet they were sure that the seed would come of Abraham. After that, in the thirteenth year, God came again, probably after twenty years, when He first indicated the person that it should be Sarah [Gen. 18:14]. This is how God works to keep us in the faith, lets His word be sure, but does not want us to agree on a certain time or person, lets us think about it, but also often misses it, like Adam, who says to Heva that she should become a mother of the living, but nothing comes of it, because she remains a mother of Adam's children.
V. 21. And God the Lord made Adam and his wife skirts of fat, and clothed them.
(74) Hitherto they have gone covered with aprons, not yet wise enough to know how to make garments; therefore God now lifts up and puts on furs for them, that they may be completely covered. This is a piece of comfort, and a sign of mercy, that he is so kind to them, and also provides them with clothing. For the food and nourishment he gave them before, saying [v. 19], "In sweat shalt thou eat thy bread. "etc. Here we see the fatherly faithfulness that he does not leave us, even though we are sinners, provides food and clothing. As we see before our eyes that the saying is so strong that even those are fed and clothed who have no care for it; as one finds many a desolate child who neither thinks nor respects what grain or wool is worth.
The desperate unbelief is still so deep in us that we are always worried that we will not be fed. That makes alone,
We want to know for sure how God will feed us, so that we have a house full of grain and a chest full of money, so we want to bind God to house and chest: so he will be free and unbound, neither to time, person, place, nor this or that. Let him take care how he will feed us, he will give grain and money, the time and measure well; that you only think: I will work today, will well fehen, from where he gives it; tomorrow again; so you would realize that he feeds you without your care.
For he will not let anyone die of hunger who relies on him [Proverbs 10:3, Psa. 84:12, 13], as Christ said [Matt. 6:25-34], "Do not be careful for your life what you eat or what you drink, nor for your body what you put on. Is not the life more than the food? and the body more than the clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, they do not reap, they do not gather into the sheds, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more than they? Who is there among you who can add a cubit to his length, though he cares for it? Why then do you care for clothing? Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither work nor spin. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which stands today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, should He not do this much more to you? Therefore shall ye not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? what shall we drink? wherewith shall we be clothed? The Gentiles seek all these things, for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about the morrow, for the morrow will provide for its own." As if to say, "Let each man work the day he lives; tomorrow he will not know whether he lives. If he lives, then he works. What will he provide today for tomorrow?
Therefore, let him not worry. The labor and toil you do is not against faith, but is useful to tame the flesh; but worry is against God.
The woman shall wait for the children, govern [the] house, and wait for what God will do with her. The man of the same shall work, and command himself unto God: he shall not leave him, for he hath promised strongly enough: for before Adam or Eve thinketh of it, or careth for it, God cometh first, and clotheeth them, and maketh them to eat. Therefore we do no more with our cares than to hinder him and lie in the way.
Now what this means, that Adam calls his wife; item, that God puts on them the furs, I will command idle spirits. Adam is a model of Christ; the wife of his bride, the Christian church, which he calls by his name; of which it is otherwise said. It is enough for us that we teach and establish the faith from the text.
V. 22. And God the Lord said: Behold, Adam became as our one, and knows what is good and evil.
79 Then again he tickled the conscience of Adam and Eve: for these words are spoken maliciously and mockingly. As if to say, "How well you have done! I have said, Ye shall not eat of the tree: so have ye obeyed the serpent, which saith, Ye shall be as God, and know what is good and what is evil. How fine is it now? These words, however, are not to be thought that God said them as if he had a desire to mock altogether in the greatest sorrow and misery, but that this is indicated by the fact that his conscience told him so, when the sorrow in which he had fallen struck him in the face, that he had to feel it daily. So it still happens to us, too, that we have to beat our conscience when we have fallen, and our heart says to us: "How well you have done it!
(80) Therefore it is not more than said, that a man all his life bears remorse for the foolishness he has committed. As if he should say: Yes, I mean, we have now become gods! Oh, how we have become such poor, laborious people; we have no one to thank but the serpent. They have had weeping and wailing, and all must have it if we are to be saved. For the fall that Adam made, we must all weep and lament, and say like him, "Oh, how I am!
fine we have now become gods! Thus shall one be witty who forsakes God and follows the devil. These are, I think, the words interpreted in the most simple way. What does he feel now?
But now lest he put forth his hand, and break also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
The words, I say, are all spoken as Adam feels in his heart, for that is where God speaks the most; when the conscience hears, it hears rightly. And so much is spoken: Adam has been sentenced to death; now there is a tree of life in the middle of the garden; therefore I will prevent him from breaking and eating from it, and he will live forever. How does this work? According to the lamentation, whereof it is said, that they must cry and weep for sin, because the devil hath deceived them so.
(82) So we also find and feel that there is no counsel in the matter; we must die, for there is no one to protect us or to hold us out; we are sentenced to death, so severe and strong that no one can defend us; we must go up, so that we can never come to the tree of life, that we may break from it and live forever. Now this does not only apply to those who are in sin, but also to the faithful, because it still remains in them that they feel sin and complain about death. Thus, in short, it is canceled with the saying that we all must die; only dead, dead, and no other.
V. 23, 24: Then God the Lord sent him out of Eden to build the field from which he was taken. And he cast Adam out, and pitched before the garden of Eden the cherubim, and a shining fiery sword to keep the way unto the tree of life.
There we come again into a wild forest. Above [Cap. 2, § 19 ff.] it is said of the spouse or paradise that this text is still dark, and illuminated by no one, what the garden is. In some places it is said that it was nothing but the whole ground at the time when they had not yet fallen, when it still bore good fruit, but after that it was cursed. That is one opinion. But I hardly trust it to be preserved, although it is great.
It seems that many words in this and the previous chapter sound like this. Again, this is also strong, that God made a special place, which he called a garden; and it is especially expressed [Gen. 2, 8.] that he planted it in Eden toward the east; and here it is repeated that it was driven out of the garden of Eden, and fell into the field, so that the field was not the garden. Also the word Eden will come more afterwards, that it must be a name of a country towards the east, and not the whole earth.
So the text forces against it, that it is a special place, planted as a special pleasure garden in a funny place (because the word Eden also means pleasure in Greek), that man lived there before all animals on earth. There we must stay. Although we cannot be sure, the safest thing is to stick to the simple words; we are too small for the matter. For above [Cap. 2, 8.] he said, "God had planted." We must let the words stand, that of course he planted, as one otherwise plants; so that he says: He has made grow out of the earth all kinds of things; also does not suffer that one dreams [Cap. 2, § 19], that it is above the earth, not far from the moon. We give glory to God, if we do not know it, and do not do like the high schools, who think it would be a shame that they should not know something, or could not say anything about it.
So the text is clear that Adam could not come to the tree of life, because the heart told him that there was no counsel for life; therefore he was cast out of it, and came again to the land and worked. This is all so much: God has set him so far from life that the heart says: Nothing else will come of it, we must die on earth.
86) But that God camps the cherub before the door of the garden toward the morning, and a shining fiery sword, which turns to and fro, and shines like a flame, he has done for this reason, he says, that he kept the way, so that no one would come to the garden; is all spoken, as enough is said, that man feels in his heart and gives the experience that death is not to be resisted and no help is against it.
But here the fool, the reason, must blind her eyes, which almost worries what the cherub and the shining sword are. Cherub, what kind of animal is called, is still unconscious today; but up to now it is considered by our high schools that it is one of the nine choirs of angels in heaven. In the Hebrew language one finds no more of it, than that it has wings; it is for a beast, what it wants. Thus we read in Exodus 25:20 that Moses was to make two cherubs on the ark of God, which were to cover the mercy seat with their wings and 1) turn their faces toward each other. From this it is clear that the cherub must have wings like the birds. But what kind of faces they have, I do not know. Therefore they thought that they were angels, as painters paint them with wings, according to this word. The text does not conclude that the cherub had and held the sword in his hand, but only states that it was placed in front of the garden next to or with the cherub.
(88) But as to all this, let us first of all keep the simple mind, how that Adam and all his descendants were shut up from help, comfort, and all the ways that life might be saved or stopped. Therefore the cherub is there, and the sword that flasheth and terrifieth, and if any man would go thither, that it might slay him; which he felt all about him.
1) The bracketed words are inserted by us for the sake of what follows.
has. For this reason, I am not displeased that this is interpreted in the spiritual sense, that it is the evil conscience. For cherubim actually means the preaching office or word, and the oral speech, which is compared to a fittig; just as the pagans did when they wanted to paint the word. That is why they painted their Mercurio, who does the talking, with fittig, and the poets say of the word, how it flies along like an arrow, and cannot be revoked. So Cherubim here means the preaching of the law of God, which has next to it a shining fiery sword, that is, a severe judgment of God, which is terrible to the conscience.
89. is now the opinion: God has set Adam a word, which was: "You shall die"; item: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread", and "with sorrow you shall feed" etc. These were fiery swords, severe judgments, so that he saw and felt that he could not overthrow them, nor could he get past them, he had to despair of returning to his former nature on earth. This is the interpretation that rhymes well with the bad, simple sense. Whether one now understands that it happened bodily in such a way, I also gladly allow, because I did not want gladly that one deviates from the words. Whether we cannot cover everything is not important; it is enough that we have as much as we have said about it. Thus we have the third chapter, how man was created, fell, and was raised again, and the whole of human life.