Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Through faith we understand - By worlds, , we are to understand the material fabric of the universe; for can have no reference here to age or any measurement of time, for he speaks of the things which are Seen; not being made out of the things which do Appear; this therefore must refer to the material creation: and as the word is used in the plural number, it may comprehend, not only the earth and visible heavens, but the whole planetary system; the different worlds which, in our system at least, revolve round the sun. The apostle states that these things were not made out of a pre-existent matter; for if they were, that matter, however extended or modified, must appear in that thing into which it is compounded and modified, consequently it could not be said that the things which are seen are not made of the things that appear; and he shows us also, by these words, that the present mundane fabric was not formed or reformed from one anterior, as some suppose. According to Moses and the apostle we believe that God made all things out of nothing. See the note on Genesis 1:1, etc.
At present we see trees of different kinds are produced from trees; beasts, birds, and fishes, from others of the same kind; and man, from man: but we are necessarily led to believe that there was a first man, who owed not his being to man; first there were beasts, etc., which did not derive their being from others of the same kind; and so of all manner of trees, plants, etc. God, therefore, made all these out of nothing; his word tells us so, and we credit that word.
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