V. 19a. _And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them._ As if Moses had said, "God now willed by a certain deep and deliberate counsel to create woman. For he saw that every other living creature had a helpmeet for generation. Adam alone had none. God therefore now brought all the living creatures of the earth and of the air to Adam, to see what he would call them. And when Adam had given to each one its appropriate name, he found no living creature like unto himself as an helpmeet for him." And here we are again struck with the wonderful knowledge and wisdom which Adam possessed. Created as he was in innocency, righteousness and knowledge, he beholds all living creatures stand before him; and without any new illumination for the purpose, but by the pure properties and excellency of his nature alone, he so discerns in a moment the characteristic nature of each creature, that he gives it a name exactly descriptive of its created peculiarities. Well indeed might the "dominion" over all living creatures have been added of God to man, to whom he had given such intellectual light as this! And this "dominion" which God had conferred on Adam, he now ratifies anew by bringing to him all creatures to be named according to his judgment. By all this it is further manifest that Adam could by one single word compel lions, bears, boars, tigers and any other of the noble animals to do any thing he wishes, according to their natural properties and powers; all which properties he thoroughly understood at a moment's glance when he gave them their names. But all these original endowments of man are utterly lost by sin. No wonder therefore that we have no knowledge of the adorable God, when we know nothing as Adam did of the natures, powers and properties even of the beasts of the earth. There exist indeed very many books, which describe the natures of the beasts and of plants. But what a length of time, what an extent of observation and of experience were necessary to collect the contents of all these volumes! In Adam however there was a marvelously different illumination and intellect. He discovered by a moment's glance at each living creature its whole nature and all its separate faculties and created endowments; and that too with a perfection far above that to which we can ever attain by a whole life of devoted study and research in natural history. And as this knowledge in Adam was a peculiar and eminent gift of God, so was it greatly pleasing and delightful to God. And on account of this pleasure God brought the living creatures to Adam and commanded him to use the knowledge he had thus given him in assigning to each living creature its appropriate name.