Chap, 33. An Expo/trials upon the Book of J o B. Verf. 4, 169 tins foule. Elihu fpeakes neere in the fame forme, fully to the am efje£fi,ant_ fame erfe& ; The breath ofthe Almighty bath given me life, or, man; ter fir enlivened me ; As' if he had fayd, That foule which the.Lordbath necódo n breathed into me, bath made me live. Thefoule of man may be iDeut: Y Pifc: itt Deut: .called the breathof-theAlmighty , becaufe the Almighty is ex- to, 16. pretled infufing it into man at fall by breathing. And therefore the word Nefhansah, which properly itgniñes the breath, doth al- fo by a Meconymie of theeffe& fignifie the foule it feífe which caufeth breathing. Thus our tranflaters'render it (Ifa: 57. 16.) I ( faith the Lord ) will not contendfor ever , neither will I be al- wayes wroth, for thefpiritfhouldfaile before me,and thefoules which I have made. As the foule ofman was breathed inbyGod, fo the foule is that by which man-breafhes. Breath and foule come and goe together. Some comparing the original! word ( Shansaijm) for the heavens, with this word (Nefhamah) Which here we tranfiate breath, fake notice of their neere affinity, intimating that the foule of manis ofa heavenly pedegree, or comes from heaven ; yea thelatine word (mens ) fignifying the mind, is of the fame confonant letters with the HebrewNefhaarnah, and, as force conceive, is derived from it: Sothen, I take thefe words, The breathof the Almighty, as a defcription of that part of man which is oppofed to hisbody ; The Spirit of Godhath made me.; that is, hath fet me upas a man, 'inhumane Crape, And the breath of theAlmghty bath given me life; that is, this foule which the Almighty lath breathed into Me, bathmade me a living man, ready for any humane a&, or (as Mofes fpeakes) god breathing into my nofirtlls the breath of life, I became a 'living foule. Hence obCerve. Fir(} , Th-e foule ofman floweth immediately from God. 'Tis the breathof rod; not that God liveth by breathing; the wayof his life is infinitely above our apprehenfion ; But'tis cleare in Scripture, That the Almighty.'breathed into man the powers of life. And therefore he is called( by way of Eminence). The father offpir1ts, (Hebt 12. y.) For though the Almighty is rightly entiruled the Father of the whole man, though bothbody and foule are the worke of God, yet he is in a further fence, the farher of ourfpirits, or foules, then of oar bodges. And here L Solo-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=