And hath made of one blood
That is, of one man's blood; the Vulgate Latin version reads, "of
one"; and the Arabic version of De Dieu reads, "of one man"; of
Adam, the first parent of all mankind, and who had the blood of
all men in his veins: hence the Jews F21 say,
``the first man was (Mlwe lv wmd) , "the blood of the world";''and this by propagation has been derived from him, and communicated to all mankind. They also say F23, that
``the reason why man was created alone (or there was but one man created) was, on account of families, that they might not be stirred up one against another;''that is, strive and contend with one another about pre-eminence: and they add,
``that the righteous might not say we are the sons of the righteous, and ye are the sons of the wicked.''And it is a certain truth that follows upon this, that no man has any reason to vaunt over another, and boast of his blood and family; and as little reason have any to have any dependence upon their being the children of believers, or to distinguish themselves from others, and reject them as the children of unbelievers, when all belong to one family, and are of one man's blood, whether Adam or Noah: of whom are
all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the
earth;
for from Adam sprung a race of men, which multiplied on the face
of the earth, and peopled the world before the flood; these being
destroyed by the flood, and Noah and his family saved, his
descendants were scattered all over the earth, and repeopled it:
and this is the original of all the nations of men, and of all
the inhabitants of the earth; and stands opposed to the fabulous
accounts of the Heathens, which the apostle might have in his
view, that men at first grew up out of the earth, or after the
flood were formed of stones, which Deucalion and Prometheus threw
over their heads; and particularly the Athenians boasted that
they sprung out of the earth, which Diogenes ridiculed as common
with mice and worms. But the apostle ascribes all to one blood:
and hath determined the times before appointed;
how long the world he has made shall continue; and the several
distinct periods, ages, and generations, in which such and such
men should live, such and such nations should exist, and such
monarchies should be in being, as the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian,
and Roman, and how long they should subsist; as also the several
seasons of the year, as seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night; and which are so bounded,
and kept so distinct in their revolutions, as not to interfere
with, and encroach upon each other; and likewise the several
years, months, and days of every man's life; see ( Job 7:1 ) ( 14:5 ) to which may be
added, the times of the law and Gospel; the time of Christ's
birth and death; the time of the conversion of particular
persons; and all their times of desertion, temptation,
affliction, and comfort; the times of the church's sufferings,
both under Rome Pagan and Rome Papal; of the holy city being
trodden under foot, of the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth,
and of their being killed, and their bodies lying unburied, and
of their resurrection and ascension to heaven, ( Revelation
2:10 ) ( 12:6 ) (
Revelation 11:2
Revelation 11:3
Revelation 11:9
Revelation 11:11 ) (
Revelation 11:12 ) the
time of antichrist's reign and ruin, ( Revelation
13:5 ) and of Christ's personal coming, and the day of
judgment, ( 1 Timothy
6:15 ) ( Acts 17:31 ) and of his
reign on earth for a thousand years, (
20:4-6 ) . All these are appointed times, and determined by
the Creator and Governor of the world:
and the bounds of their habitation;
where men shall dwell, and how long they shall continue there the
age or distinct period of time, in which every man was, or is to
come into the world, is fixed and determined by God; nor can, nor
does anyone come into the world sooner or later than that time;
and also the particular country, city, town, and spot of ground
where he shall dwell; and the term of time how long he shall
dwell there, and then remove to another place, or be removed by
death. And to this agrees the Ethiopic version, which renders the
whole thus, "and hath appointed his times, and his years, how
long they shall dwell"; see ( Deuteronomy
32:8 ) to which the apostle seems to refer.