And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Ver. 1. When men began to multiply.] Not good men only, but bad men too; who therefore took them more wives than one, that they might multiply amain. A numerous offspring is no sure sign of God's special favour. It is well observed, that when God promised children as a blessing, he said, “The wife should be as the vine, and the children as olive plants”; - two Psa 128:3 of the best fruits, the one for cheering the heart, the other for clearing the face; Psa 104:15 Judges 9:9 ; Jdg 9:13 the one for sweetness, the other for fatness. “Blessed is the man that hath his quiver full of such, as are the arrows of a strong man.” Psa 127:4-5 Hence it follows, that they must have more in them than nature; for arrows are not arrows by growth, but by art: so they must be such children, the knottiness of whose nature is refined and reformed, and made smooth by grace. This workmanship of God in the hearts and lives of children, is like the engraving of a king's “palace,” or the “polished corners” of the temple. Psa 144:12 This preserves “Jacob from confusion, and his face from waxing pale”: - this makes religious parents to “sanctify God's name,” even to “sanctify the Holy One,” and with singular encouragement from “the God of Israel.” Isa 29:22-23 It never goes well with the Church, but when the son marries the mother. Isa 62:5