Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
21. coats of skins ] in reference to Gen 3:7. The sense of shame is the result of the knowledge of evil.
The present verse gives the traditional explanation of the origin of clothes. The word “coats” hardly represents the Hebrew so well as LXX , and Lat. “tunicas,” cf. 2Ki 1:8, Heb 11:37. The Heb. k’thneth (= ) was a kind of shirt without sleeves, reaching down to the knees.
The first mention of death among animals is implied in this provision for man’s clothing. Does it contain an allusion to the otherwise unrecorded institution of sacrifice?
The Divine sentence of punishment is thus followed at once by a Divine act of pity, as if to certify that chastisement is inflicted not in anger, but in affection.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 21. God made coats of skins] It is very likely that the skins out of which their clothing was made were taken off animals whose blood had been poured out as a sin-offering to God; for as we find Cain and Abel offering sacrifices to God, we may fairly presume that God had given them instructions on this head; nor is it likely that the notion of a sacrifice could have ever occurred to the mind of man without an express revelation from God. Hence we may safely infer, 1. That as Adam and Eve needed this clothing as soon as they fell, and death had not as yet made any ravages in the animal world, it is most likely that the skins were taken off victims offered under the direction of God himself, and in faith of HIM who, in the fulness of time, was to make an atonement by his death. And it seems reasonable also that this matter should be brought about in such a way that Satan and death should have no triumph, when the very first death that took place in the world was an emblem and type of that death which should conquer Satan, destroy his empire, reconcile God to man, convert man to God, sanctify human nature, and prepare it for heaven.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The Lord God, either by his own word, or by the ministry of angels,
made coats of skins, of beasts slain either for sacrifice to God, or for the use of man, their lord and owner;
and clothed them, partly to defend them from excessive heats and colds, or other injuries of the air, to which they were now exposed; partly to mind them of their sin, which made their nakedness, which before was innocent and honourable, now to be an occasion of sin and shame, and therefore to need covering; and partly to show his care even of fallen man, and to encourage his hopes of Gods mercy through the blessed Seed, and thereby to invite him to repentance.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. God made coats of skinstaughtthem to make these for themselves. This implies the institution ofanimal sacrifice, which was undoubtedly of divine appointment, andinstruction in the only acceptable mode of worship for sinfulcreatures, through faith in a Redeemer (Heb9:22).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Unto Adam also, and to his wife,…. Besides the kind intimation of grace and favour to them, another token of God’s good will towards them was shown, in that whereas they were naked and ashamed,
did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them; not that before this they were only bone and flesh, and now God brought a skin over them, and covered them with it, or ordered a beast, which was very like a man, to have its skin stripped off, and put on him, as some in Aben Ezra foolishly imagined; but these were made of the skins of beasts, not of the skin of the serpent, as the Targum of Jonathan; but of creatures slain, not merely for this purpose, nor for food, but for sacrifice, as a type of the woman’s seed, whose heel was to be bruised, or who was to suffer death for the sins of men; and therefore to keep up and direct the faith of our first parents to the slain Lamb of God from the foundation of the world, and of all believers in all ages, until the Messiah should come and die, and become a sacrifice for sin, the sacrifices of slain beasts were appointed: and of the skins of these the Lord God, either by his almighty power, made coats for the man and his wife, or by the ministry of angels; or he instructed and directed them to make them, which was an instance of goodness to them; not only to provide food for them as before, but also raiment; and which though not rich, fine, and soft, yet was substantial, and sufficient to protect them from all inclemencies of the weather; and they might serve as to put them in mind of their fall, so of their mortality by it, and of the condition sin had brought them into; being in themselves, and according to their deserts, like the beasts that perish: as also they were emblems of the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and the garments of his salvation, to be wrought out by his obedience, sufferings, and death; with which being arrayed, they should not be found naked, nor be condemned, but be secured from wrath to come. The Heathens had a notion, that the first men made themselves coats of the skins of beasts: the Grecians ascribe this to Pelasgus, whom they suppose to be the first man m among them, and Sanchoniatho n to Usous, who lived in the fifth generation.
m Pausanias in Arcadicis, sive, l. 8. p. 455, 456. n Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 35.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
We have here a further instance of God’s care concerning our first parents, notwithstanding their sin. Though he corrects his disobedient children, and put them under the marks of his displeasure, yet he does not disinherit them, but, like a tender father, provides the herb of the field for their food and coats of skins for their clothing. Thus the father provided for the returning prodigal, Luke xv. 22, 23. If the Lord had been pleased to kill them, he would not have done this for them. Observe, 1. That clothes came in with sin. We should have had no occasion for them, either for defence or decency, if sin had not made us naked, to our shame. Little reason therefore we have to be proud of our clothes, which are but the badges of our poverty and infamy. 2. That when God made clothes for our first parents he made them warm and strong, but coarse and very plain: not robes of scarlet, but coats of skin. Their clothes were made, not of silk and satin, but plain skins; not trimmed, nor embroidered, none of the ornaments which the daughters of Sion afterwards invented, and prided themselves in. Let the poor, that are meanly clad, learn hence not to complain: having food and a covering, let them be content; they are as well done to as Adam and Eve were. And let the rich, that are finely clad, learn hence not to make the putting on of apparel their adorning, 1 Pet. iii. 3. 3. That God is to be acknowledged with thankfulness, not only in giving us food, but in giving us clothes also, ch. xxviii. 20. The wool and the flax are his, as well as the corn and the wine, Hos. ii. 9. 4. These coats of skin had a significancy. The beasts whose skins they were must be slain, slain before their eyes, to show them what death is, and (as it is Eccl. iii. 18) that they may see that they themselves were beasts, mortal and dying. It is supposed that they were slain, not for food, but for sacrifice, to typify the great sacrifice, which, in the latter end of the world, should be offered once for all. Thus the first thing that died was a sacrifice, or Christ in a figure, who is therefore said to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. These sacrifices were divided between God and man, in token of reconciliation: the flesh was offered to God, a whole burnt-offering; the skins were given to man for clothing, signifying that, Jesus Christ having offered himself to God a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour, we are to clothe ourselves with his righteousness as with a garment, that the shame of our nakedness may not appear. Adam and Eve made for themselves aprons of fig-leaves, a covering too narrow for them to wrap themselves in, Isa. xxviii. 20. Such are all the rags of our own righteousness. But God made them coats of skins; large, and strong, and durable, and fit for them; such is the righteousness of Christ. Therefore put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
21. Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make, etc. Moses here, in a homely style, declares that the Lord had undertaken the labor of making garments of skins for Adam and his wife. It is not indeed proper so to understand his words, as if God had been a furrier, or a servant to sew clothes. Now, it is not credible that skins should have been presented to them by chance; but, since animals had before been destined for their use, being now impelled by a new necessity, they put some to death, in order to cover themselves with their skins, having been divinely directed to adopt this counsel; therefore Moses calls God the Author of it. The reason why the Lord clothed them with garments of skin appears to me to be this: because garments formed of this material would have a more degrading appearance than those made of linen or of woolen. (212) God therefore designed that our first parents should, in such a dress, behold their own vileness, — just as they had before seen it in their nudity, — and should thus be reminded of their sin. (213) In the meantime, it is not to be denied, that he would propose to us an example, by which he would accustom us to a frugal and inexpensive mode of dress. And I wish those delicate persons would reflect on this, who deem no ornament sufficiently attractive, unless it exceed in magnificence. Not that every kind of ornament is to be expressly condemned; but because when immoderate elegance and splendor is carefully sought after, not only is that Master despised, who intended clothing to be a sign of shame, but war is, in a certain sense, carried on against nature.
(212) “ Quia [vestes] ex ea materia confectae, belluinum quiddam magis saperent, quam linae vel laneae.”
(213) “As the prisoner, looking on his irons, thinketh on his theft, so we, looking on our garments, should think on our sins.” — Trapp.
For an ample discussion of the reasons why a more comprehensive view should be taken of this subject than Calvin here adopts, the reader may turn to Dr. Magee’s learned “Discourses and Dissertations on the Scriptural Doctrines of Atonement and Sacrifice;” where he will see, that the origin of the clothing with skins was most probably connected with a previous appointment of the sacrifice of animals. — See Magee, note 52:— Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) Coats of skins.Animals, therefore, were killed even in Paradise; nor is it certain that mans diet was until the flood entirely vegetarian (see Note on Gen. 1:29). Until sin entered the world no sacrifices could have been offered; and if, therefore, these were the skins of animals offered in sacrifice, as many suppose, Adam must in some way, immediately after the fall, have been taught that without shedding of blood is no remission of sin, but that God will accept a vicarious sacrifice. This is perhaps the most tenable view; and if, with Knobel, we see in this arrival at the idea of sacrifice a rapid development in Adam of thought and intellect, yet it may not have been entirely spontaneous, but the effect of divinely-inspired convictions rising up within his soul. It shows also that the innocence of our first parents was gone. In his happy state Adam had studied the animals, and tamed them and made them his friends; now a sense of guilt urges him to inflict upon them pain and suffering and death. But in the first sacrifice was laid the foundation of the whole Mosaical dispensation, as in Gen. 3:15 that of the Gospel. Moreover, from sacrificial worship there was alleviation for mans bodily wants, and he went forth equipped with raiment suited for the harder lot that awaited him outside the garden; and, better far, there was peace for his soul, and the thoughteven if still but faint and dimof the possibility for him of an atonement.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Coats of skins To procure these, animals must have been slain, and this was probably done by the man in accordance with a divine commandment . With much reason, therefore, have Christian divines believed that this was the origin of sacrifices, the offering of blood as an atonement for the soul . Comp . Lev 17:11. Possibly these animals were slain for food, but Gen 9:3, taken in connexion with Gen 1:29-30, has been thought to imply that animal food was not used by man before the flood . The covering of skins might have been an appropriate object-lesson to enforce the deeper lesson of the covering of guilt by the shedding of vicarious blood. Only by symbol could this deep lesson be then set forth.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife clothing made from skins and covered them.’
God now makes clear their new position. They can no longer walk naked before him, for they have made themselves feel vulnerable, inadequate and ashamed. Thus they must be covered to give them a feeling of security and acceptance. The clothes will ever be a reminder of the wonderful relationship with God that they have lost.
Yet with some surprise we learn that the clothes were ‘of skins’. Here we have the first hint of actual deaths. No reader could fail to relate the provision of skins with the deaths of animals. And in this story it stands out dramatically, for death has been totally absent. Thus man receives his first lesson that his disobedience has brought death. Already a substitute is required. Others die that he might be able to face God. Here we have the primitive beginnings of the idea of sacrifice, which will lead on to the final Sacrifice.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 3:21. Did the Lord God make coats, &c. But of what beasts it has been asked? such as were killed on purpose for the occasion, or such as were killed in sacrifice? which many suppose was instituted from this period, as from this period its necessity commenced. This can be but conjecture from the present passage singly considered; we shall therefore omit the discussion of the question till we come to the next chapter, where we shall have more light into the subject.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 8
THE WAY OF SALVATION ILLUSTRATED TO OUR FIRST PARENTS
Gen 3:21-24. Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
THE works of God are extremely different from those which are carried on by man. Creatures of limited capacity are compelled to act as unforeseen occasions require; and hence their works are, for the most part, independent and detached, without being regulated by any fixed system: but the works of God are all united and harmonious, as parts of one grand whole. In the structure of the tabernacle and all its diversified rites, there was not any thing, however minute or obscure, which did not shadow forth some mystery. This appears from the strict injunction given to Moses to make every thing according to the pattern shewn to him in the mount. It is thus also with respect to all the most remarkable events recorded in the Bible, whether they relate to the Jewish, patriarchal, or antediluvian ages; they were all, in some respect, figurative and emblematical. Amongst these we must certainly number the fall of man, with all its attendant circumstances: the covenant made with him, the means by which he was induced to violate it, the way provided for his recovery, were all of lasting and universal importance. In like manner, the facts specified in our text must be regarded, not as mere uninteresting casualties, but as occurrences of most mysterious import. In Gods conduct towards our first parents, as it is here related, we may see,
I.
The manner in which He illustrated to them his promised salvation
Our first parents, feeling in themselves the sad effects of their fall, sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons, or rather, twined together the tender branches of the fig-tree for girdles. But God was pleased to clothe them in another manner, even with the skins of beasts; and thus to direct their attention to,
1.
The blood of atonement
[We are not expressly told, that the animals which were slain on this occasion were offered in sacrifice; but if we duly weigh the reasons for believing that God ordered them to be slain for this purpose, we can scarcely entertain any doubt upon the subject.
In the first place, we may be sure that the offering of sacrifices was not an institution of mans device; and that, if it were, it could not be pleasing and acceptable to God. How could it enter into the mind of man to imagine, that the blood of a beast could make any satisfaction to God for sin? What connexion is there between the blood of a beast and the sin of man? There was much more reason to think that God would be displeased with the unauthorized destruction of his creatures, than that he would be so pleased with it as to forgive the iniquities of mankind on account of it. Moreover, had not God himself enjoined this method of propitiating his anger, we cannot doubt but that he would have answered the presumptuous offerer, as he did the Jews, Who hath required this at your hands [Note: Isa 1:12.] ? But we know that when a bleeding sacrifice was offered to him by Abel, he testified his acceptance of it in a visible manner, probably by sending fire from heaven to consume it. We cannot doubt, therefore, but that the institution of sacrifices was of divine appointment.
In the next place, if sacrifices were not now instituted, we can scarcely account for the slaughtering of the animals, and much less for Gods direction respecting it. It is thought indeed by some, that the flesh was given to our first parents for food: but this seems very improbable, because God told Adam at this very time, that he should henceforth subsist, not upon the fruits of the garden as before, but on the herb of the field, which should be produced only by constant and laborious cultivation [Note: Gen 3:18-19.]. Nor was it till after the flood that God gave to man the liberty of eating the flesh of animals [Note: Gen 9:3.]. Hence, if the animals were not offered to God in sacrifice, they were killed merely for their skins, which seems to be by no means an adequate reason for Gods interposition. On the contrary, if they were by Gods commandment offered in sacrifice, we see, what we are in no other place informed of, the origin of the institution; and at the same time we behold abundant reason for Gods special interference. We see what instruction and consolation our first parents must derive from such an ordinance: for while they beheld their own desert in the agonies and death of an unoffending creature, they must be encouraged to look forward to that Seed of the Woman, who was in due time to offer himself a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
We cannot doubt therefore but that this was the time when sacrifices were instituted; and that, as they were appointed of God to prefigure the great sacrifice, they were enjoined at this time for the express purpose of directing the views of fallen man to that atonement which Christ should afterwards offer to God upon the cross. In this sense, as well as in the divine purpose, may Christ be called, The Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world [Note: Rev 13:8.].]
2.
The righteousness of Him who made that atonement
[When we are told that the Lord God made them coats of skins, and clothed them, can we suppose that nothing was intended by him but to provide more conveniently for their decency and comfort? Impossible! There was in this a deep stupendous mystery. Adam and Eve thought only of a covering for their bodies: God pointed out to them a covering for their souls. They were despoiled of their original righteousness; and they needed a robe to cover their naked souls, that they might again stand before God without spot or blemish. All means which they could devise for this purpose would be ineffectual. God therefore was pleased to shadow forth to them the righteousness of Christ; of Him who was to be the propitiation for their sins, and emphatically to be called, The Lord our Righteousness [Note: Jer 23:6.]. How far they beheld the substance in the shadow, we cannot say: but there is abundant proof that the same means were used in subsequent ages to represent the Saviour to the world. All the vestments of the priests, sprinkled with the blood of sacrifices, clearly shewed in what manner all were to be clothed who would be an holy priesthood to the Lord. And the language of Prophets, and Apostles, and of Christ himself, has so strict an analogy with the event before us, that we cannot but discern their harmony and agreement. Isaiah speaks of being clothed with the garments of salvation, and covered with a robe of righteousness [Note: Isa 61:10.]: St. Paul, enjoying the fuller light of the Gospel, says more plainly, Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ [Note: Rom 13:14.]: And our blessed Lord more plainly still, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear [Note: Rev 3:18.].
We need only further observe, that in this marvellous appointment God taught our fallen parents to look to Him through one Mediator, and to make that one object the only ground of all their hopes; or, in other words, to expect pardon only through His atoning blood, and acceptance only through His meritorious and perfect righteousness.]
Having seen how strongly God illustrated to them his promised salvation, let us notice,
II.
The means he used to secure their acceptance of it
He banished his guilty creatures from Paradise, and, by the ministration of angels, prohibited effectually their return to it. This he did,
1.
Partly in judgment
[The ironical and sarcastic expressions which purport to be the reason of this dispensation, are certainly strong indications of his heavy displeasure. The flattering hope of becoming as Gods, had led Adam and his wife to transgress the divine command. Now therefore God casts it, as it were, in their teeth, with holy indignation, in order that they might see what they had gained by their folly and presumption. And whereas they had hitherto enjoyed the liberty of eating all the fruits of Paradise, and especially that which was a pledge and earnest to them of Gods eternal favour, he drives them out from the garden, to live in a far different manner by the sweat of their brow, and to feel that they were cut off from that life, which, had they maintained their innocence, would have been consummated in glory.
Thus we behold them driven as outcasts from God and happiness, and doomed to a life of labour and sorrow which should issue in a painful death, and (if repentance intervened not) in everlasting misery.]
2.
Partly in mercy
[Gods judgments in this world have always been tempered with mercy; yea so tempered, as to be capable of being turned into the richest blessings. Thus it was in the case before us. Our first parents had been accustomed to consider the tree of life as a pledge of the divine favour; and would be likely to regard it in the same view after their fall, as they had done before. Under this delusion they would be ready to embrace these means of reconciliation with their offended God, and would be led thereby to neglect the means which God had prescribed. Persisting in this mistake, they would pacify their own consciences; and having lulled themselves asleep under the guilt of their transgressions, they would perish in the midst of all the mercy which God had offered them through the mediation of his Son. To prevent these fatal consequences, God cuts them off from all access to the tree of life, and thus necessitates them to seek for mercy in his appointed way. Precisely as, in destroying the Jewish nation and polity, God punished his people indeed, but at the same time consulted their truest interests, by rendering it impossible for them to fulfil the righteousness of the Mosaic law, and thereby shutting them up unto the faith of Christ [Note: Gal 3:23.] ; so did he expel our first parents from Paradise, that they might have nothing to divert their attention from that Seed of the Woman who was in due time to bruise the Serpents head.
Thus did God in judgment remember mercy; and, in the very hottest exercise of his anger, provide means for the richest display of his unmerited, unsought kindness.]
From this subject we may learn,
1.
The antiquity of the Gospel
[Whenever Salvation by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus is insisted on, it is exclaimed against as a new doctrine: but it is none other than the good old way [Note: Jer 6:16.], which has been pointed out by our Reformers, by the Apostles, by the Prophets, and by God himself from the beginning of the world. God shewed it to our first parents immediately after their fall: he shewed it them not only by a prophetical declaration, but also by an emblematical exhibition. And our very clothing in which we are so apt to pride ourselves, would, if we considered the origin and occasion of it, lead us to that way, even to Jesus, in whom alone we can find righteousness and life. Let us then hold fast the Gospel, without regarding the senseless cavils of the world: and while the proud make it only a stumbling-block, and the conceited reject it as foolishness, let us receive and glory in it as the power of God and the wisdom of God.]
2.
The necessity of embracing it
[Like our first parents, we are ready to rest in the seals of the covenant (as baptism and the Lords supper), instead of fleeing to the Saviour himself. But whatever devices we use for the reconciling of ourselves to God, they will all prove vain and useless: we shall find them a bed too short to stretch ourselves upon, and a covering too narrow to wrap ourselves in [Note: Isa 28:20.]. There was one way appointed from the beginning: that way has been progressively displayed, and illustrated in different ages; but it has never been altered, no not in the slightest degree. There never has been any other name whereby we could be saved, but that of Jesus Christ [Note: Act 4:12.] ; and the only difference between us and the Jews, or us and Adam, is, that we behold in meridian splendour the truths, of which they saw only the early dawn. Let us be persuaded then that all access to life by the first covenant is stopped; and that all plans for covering our own shame will be in vain. We must all be accepted through one sacrifice, and all be clothed in one righteousness; and all comply with that direction of the prophet, In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Rom 13:14 . Were not these the skins of beasts slaughtered for sacrifice? They could not be for food, for at this time no animal food was made use of. And if it were so, how beautiful is it to trace sacrifices immediately after the fall. And let the Reader further remark, that not only was the blood of Jesus hereby set forth in type and figure, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world: but also the righteousness of Jesus, as a covering and a garment of salvation sweetly shadowed forth also. And Reader! do not overlook. that other interesting part of the verse: the Lord God made Adam and his wife the covering. He that provides the righteousness must put it on also. Rom 13:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Ver. 21. Coats of skins and clothed them. ] God put them in leather, when yet there was better means of clothing, to humble them doubtless, and draw them to repentance. Whether God created these skins anew, or took them off the backs of sheep and goats killed for sacrifice, to remind man of his mortality and mortification, it much matters not. Our first parents, who, even after the fall were the goodliest creatures that ever lived, went no better clothed: no more did those worthies “of whom the world was not worthy.” Heb 11:38 And surely, howsoever our condition and calling afford us better array, and the vulgar, like a Bohemian cur, a fawn upon every good suit ( purpuram magis quam Deam colunt ), yet we must take heed that pride creep not into our clothes, those ensigns of our sin and shame, since our fineness is our filthiness, our neatness our nastiness. It is a sure sign of a base mind, b though in high place, to think he can make himself great with anything that is less than himself, and win more credit by his garments than his graces. St Peter teacheth women (who, many of them, are too much addicted to over-much fineness) to garnish themselves, not with gay clothes, but with a “meek and quiet spirit,” 1Pe 3:3-4 as Sarah did, and not as those mincing dames, whose pride the prophet inveighs against, as punctually as if he had viewed the ladies’ wardrobes in Jerusalem. Isa 3:1-26 Rich apparel are but fine covers of the foulest shame. The worst is nature’s garment; the best but folly’s garnish. How blessed a nation were we, if every silken suit did cover a sanctified soul: or if we would look upon our clothes, as our first parents did, as lovetokens from God!
Nam, cum charissima semper
Munera sunt, author quae pretiosa facit.
How could they but see it to be a singular favour that God with his own hands should clothe them (though he had cast them out of Paradise for their nurture); a visible sacrament of his invisible love and grace concerning their souls, in covering their sins, and so interesting them into true blessedness. Psa 32:1-2
a The dogs that kept Vulcan’s temple would tear those that came in tattered clothes. – Hospinian .
b Vestium curiositas, deformitatis mentium et morum ndicium est . – Bernard .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
coats. Compare the structure of Genesis 3, Gen 3:7.
of skins = skin. Omitted in the Codex “Severus” See App-34.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
coats of skins
Coats of skins: Type of “Christ, made unto us righteousness”– a divinely provided garment that the first sinners might be made fit for God’s presence. See Righteousness, garment Gen 3:21; Rev 19:8.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
make: Gen 3:7, Isa 61:10, Rom 3:22, 2Co 5:2, 2Co 5:3, 2Co 5:21
Reciprocal: Lev 1:6 – General Lev 7:8 – skin 1Co 12:23 – bestow 2Co 3:7 – was
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The promise of God that there should arise a Deliverer, who should break the power of the adversary, was supplemented by an act of God, which shed light on the way the deliverance would be brought to pass. Adam and his wife had attempted to cover their nakedness with fig-leaf aprons, and had failed. The Lord God did cover them with coats of skins. Now skins are not a vegetable but an animal product, and only available to clothe man when death has come upon the animal that produced them. Here then we find the primitive revelation of the fact that man can only stand clothed before God on the basis of death. He must own that the death sentence, which righteously lies upon him, has been endured by another in his stead.
The act that revealed this was followed by another act of God equally significant. Man had acquired the knowledge of good and evil without any power to achieve the good but rather with an acute propensity to the evil. Lest he should perpetuate his living in this condition he was driven forth from the garden of Eden, and his way back to the tree of life was barred by the cherubim with a flaming sword. This was doubtless an additional act of judgment but it contained within itself a strong element of mercy.
Supposing Adam had been able to put forth his hand and eat of the tree of life, what would have been the result? He would have perpetuated his condition of sin and misery, making himself a deathless creature in a hell of his own devising. That would have been bad enough. But it would have been a much worse disaster in this respect, that even by becoming Man it would not have been possible for Christ to die. His death has become to us the door into life. In eating of the tree of life Adam would have closed and barred that door. We may well thank God for the cherubim and the flaming sword!
Our first parents had now lost their innocence, lost their Paradise, and lost such happy communion with God as they had at the beginning. They had gained the knowledge of good and evil, but only to find themselves enslaved by the evil, and they had brought themselves and the creation beneath them under a curse. Under these sad conditions the propagation of the race began, as stated in the first verse of Gen 4:1-26.
The first man to be born of woman appeared and Eve thought she had acquired him “from” or “with” the Lord, and hence the name that was given to him. We are not told what Adam said but only what she said, so it may have been again the case that she took the leading place which belonged to her husband. Anyway she again was wrong, for Cain was not from the Lord, but rather “of that wicked one” (1Jn 3:12). The Lord Jesus told the Jews that the devil “was a murderer from the beginning,” and again that “he is a liar, and the father of it” (Joh 8:44). We see him as the liar in Gen 3:1-24, and as the murderer in Gen 4:1-26.
When the second son appeared a name was given him more in accord with the fallen state of mankind; Abel meaning Vanity or Transitoriness. At this point the record of Adam’s family stops, and we hear no more as to them until we come to the end of our chapter. Adam doubtless had many sons and daughters but God’s object in Genesis is not to give us history, but to furnish us with sufficient detail to instruct us in His governmental dealings with fallen men, and that with a view to their ultimate deliverance and blessing.
When Adam was expelled from the Garden he was bidden to go forth and “till the earth,” so there was no fault to be found with the occupation that Cain followed. Abel became a shepherd, since sheep are defenceless creatures and man’s fall had produced wild beasts. Man had revolted from God, and feared His presence. The animal creation, broadly speaking, consequently revolted from man, and feared his presence.
Yet a day came when both brothers felt they ought to render some tribute to the Creator and seek a basis of approach td Him. In the sacrificial offering that Abel brought we see the second foreshadowing or type of the death of Christ. The first was in the coats of skins that clothed the guilty pair, where we discover that only by death can man’s nakedness and sin be covered. Now we advance a step and find that the only basis of approach recognized by God is the death of an acceptable sacrifice.
In Cain’s offering. there was no recognition of this. He brought the fruit of the ground which God had cursed – though probably he brought the finest produce of the toil of his own hands – and in this there was no acknowledgment of the death sentence that lay upon him. He was like a condemned criminal under sentence of death, seeking to curry favour with his judge by bribing him with something nice. Whatever an earthly judge might be tempted to do, God had no respect to this manoeuvre, and he found himself rejected.
Abel’s offering involved the death of the sheep, as is evidenced by the words, “and of the fat thereof.” At this point Heb 11:4 should be read. It shows us that his offering was an act of faith – the first to be put on record. Now faith lays hold on what God has revealed. If we ask what had been revealed for Abel’s faith to apprehend, we can only refer to what we have in verse Gen 3:21 of Gen 3:1-24. Abel apprehended the significance of the coats of skins, and hence by his offering acknowledged that he was a sinner under the death sentence, and could only approach on the ground of the death of a victim. Cain had no faith, He ignored this, and approached under false pretences.
Thus almost at the start we see human life like a river dividing into two diverging and even opposite streams. which have continued to this day. Hence we regard this incident as one of the most fundamental in the whole Bible, and lay the greatest stress upon it Near the end of the New Testament we read of a “Woe” that rests on those who “have gone in the way of Cain” (Jud 1:11), and the number of those doing this – even though they might wish to be called “Christian – has greatly increased in our day. The verse in Jude shows it to be the first of three steps that lead down to perishing in utter apostasy.
On the other hand, Abel stands at the head of the men of faith, who are recognized in Heb 11:1-40. The sacrifice he offered was “more excellent,” and to it God bore testimony, accepting it in some way that was visible and definite, and this acceptance was clear evidence to Abel that he was righteous, or in other words, right with God. Yet even today there are to be found not a few who do sincerely trust is Christ and through a defective understanding of the Gospel, considering themselves rather than the Divine testimony, they have their doubts as to how they stand with God. Amazing, is it not? to think that nearly four thousand years before Christ came, Abel enjoyed what many are missing nineteen centuries after He has come.
Rejected by God, Cain became very angry with God, and wreaked his vengeance on the man of faith whom God had accepted. The picture is true to life, for the same thing has been re-enacted times without number in the history of the world. Cain was not irreligious. Had he been, he would not have troubled himself even to make an attempt at approaching God. No! He was a religionist, and just because he was, anger and hatred filled his breast. God. was beyond his reach. He could not strike at Him. Abel was well within his reach, so the blow was effectually aimed at him. The most prominent example of this in the New Testament is Saul of Tarsus. He hated Jesus of Nazareth with an intense hatred, and because He was in glory beyond his reach he struck at His followers on earth.
Cain became a murderer in spite of God having remonstrated with him, reminding him that, in spite of what had happened, his rights as the elder brother should be respected – Abel having the subject place – and indicating where the mischief, and perhaps the remedy, lay. We are told that the Hebrew word translated “sin” also has the meaning of “sin-offering.” So it may literally have been that there was almost at his feet a lamb which he might even at this juncture have brought as a sacrifice, and thus have put himself right with God.
Slaying his brother, Cain revealed himself to be “of that wicked one,” and he did it because ” his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” He proved himself moreover to be not only a murderer as regards his brother but utterly defiant as regards God. Challenged as to his brother’s whereabouts, he showed not the slightest sign of repentance, but rather a truculent spirit that feared not God, and made a play in words upon the fact that Abel had been a “keeper” of sheep. He was not going to admit that he was “keeper” to Abel!
But Abel’s blood from the ground had uttered its voice into the ear of God, and swiftly a special curse descended upon him, in addition to the curse that had already fallen upon Adam and his race, as we saw in Gen 3:1-24. Adam was to obtain his food only by the sweat of his face, but Cain was to find the earth unproductive even if he laboured to till it, so that he would become a wanderer, fleeing from the face of God Verse Gen 3:14 shows that Cain realized the significance of this curse and declared it was too great to be borne. From that day to this sinful men, if unrepentant, have complained of the severity of God’s judgment. Only when men are repentant do they bow and humbly own that God’s judgment is just.
Without a doubt there is in mankind an instinct that urges them to avenge wanton murder by the death of the murderer. Cain himself had that instinct and anticipated that some others of his brethren would slay him. No government was yet instituted in the earth and therefore God would allow no punitive action to be taken against Cain. When government in its most primitive form was instituted, then action was to be taken, as we see in verses Gen 3:5-6 of Gen 9:1-29.
In the last verse of Gen 3:1-24, Adam was driven out of the Garden; in verse Gen 3:16 of our chapter Cain “went out from the presence of the Lord.” The one was a compulsory judgment; the other a deliberate forsaking. To an unrepentant murderer the presence of God was abhorrent. We read in Rom 1:1-32 of the barbarians that, “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,” and this was exactly the case with Cain. He departed to the land of “Nod,” or “Wandering,” carrying with him a wife and a son, and there he built a “city,” some primitive kind of stronghold. As far as he could, he defied God’s sentence upon him, and showed that he distrusted what God had done that he might not be slain. If the earth was not going to yield its produce for him, then let others have the trouble of cultivating it! Rather than wander he would settle down and protect himself!
With this we take leave of Cain. Verse Gen 3:18 merely mentions the names of his more immediate descendants. Verse Gen 3:19 stops at Lamech to give us a few details. Remarkably enough this man was the seventh from Adam in the line of Cain, just as Enoch was in the line through Seth. In the details given we see the world system beginning to take shape. Its basic principles are revealed to us, and they agree with the analysis given to us in 1Jn 2:16.
It was Lamech apparently who first broke through the Divine ordinance as to marriage of one man with one woman, and instituted polygamy. He was a forceful character who intended to do what he liked, and not what God had said. Here, without any question, we see the lust of the flesh raising its ugly head.
The two wives bare children and in the details given as to them we see the lust of the eyes appearing, for that term covers man’s search for what appeals to the inner eyes of his mind as well as spectacular shows that appeal to the eyes of his head. In Lamech’s family there was the beginning of the life of freedom and the acquiring of wealth – for in primitive times a man’s possessions lay in his herds – the beginning also of the arts and sciences in music; and the beginning of applied science in manufactures, especially in brass and iron. Here mankind started its career of expanding inventiveness, which in our day has reached the atom bomb stage. Man’s eyes of lust have probed all too deeply into the secrets of the earth, and how much further they will penetrate before God drops the extinguisher upon all his projects by the appearing of Christ in flaming fire – who can say?
Lamech’s daughter, Naamah, is the first woman to be mentioned after Eve. This is, we judge, because her name has the meaning of Pleasure or Charming. If we add pleasure, and its pursuit, to the features we have just noticed, we have the foundation principles on which man’s world is based.
Lamech’s speech to his wives may seem a little obscure, but the rendering of the New Translation, “for my wounding,” and “for my hurt,” makes it clearer. Some unfortunate young man had wounded and hurt Lamech, who in revenge, simply rose up and slew him. When Cain had murdered centuries before, he betrayed some sense of wrongdoing. Not so Lamech, who came home to brag to his wives of what he had done, and to make scornful allusion to God’s action in forbidding revengeful action against Cain. If Cain was to be avenged sevenfold, why, he would be seventy and sevenfold. He felt himself to be eleven times more important than Cain. Here was the pride of life in high degree!
In this man, then, the seventh from Adam, we see both corruption and violence coming plainly to light. All evil may be classified broadly under these two heads, and evidently Lamech’s polygamy and murder quickly bore their bitter fruit until just before the flood, “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” It is a sad fact that in our day, and in lands where for long the light of the Gospel has been shining, similar conditions are rapidly multiplying.
The two verses that conclude our chapter carry us back long before the days of Lamech, for the next chapter tells us that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born. Many children may have been born between Abel and Seth, but they are passed over in silence for Seth was the seed appointed to carry on the line of faith, as contrasted with the line of Cain. That Seth was a man of faith we gather from the name he gave his son – Enos signifying mortal, weak.
One of the first signs of faith springing up in the heart is that a man acknowledges himself to be a sinful creature under the death sentence. The next thing is that in the light of this he begins to call upon the Name of the Lord. So the closing words of our chapter are very striking. In the New Testament we find that “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom 10:13).
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Gen 3:21. Unto Adam and his wife did God make By his own word, or by the ministry of angels; coats of skins Of beasts slain, either to show them what death is, or rather, as is more probable, in sacrifice to God, to prefigure the great sacrifice which, in the latter days, should be offered once for all. Thus the first animal that died was a sacrifice, or Christ in a figure. God clothed them: 1st, to defend them from the heat and cold, and other injuries of the air to which they were now to be exposed: 2d, to remind them of their fall, which had made that nakedness, which was before innocent and honourable, an occasion of sin and shame, and therefore it needed a covering. God also, by this act of kindness, probably intended to show his care even of fallen man, to encourage his hopes of mercy through a Mediator, and thereby to invite him to repentance.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God {u} make coats of skins, and clothed them.
(u) Or, gave them knowledge to make themselves coats.