Genesis · Chapter 6

V. 1. Men began to multiply upon the face of the earth-This was the effect of the blessing, Genesis 1:28, and yet man’s corruption so abused this blessing, that it turned into a curse.

Verse 1. When men began to multiply] It was not at this time that men began to multiply, but the inspired penman speaks now of a fact which had taken place long before. As there is a distinction made here between men and those called the sons of God, it is generally supposed that the immediate posterity of Cain and that of Seth are intended. The first were mere men, such as fallen nature may produce, degenerate sons of a degenerate father, governed by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. The others were sons of God, not angels, as some have dreamed, but such as were, according to our Lord’s doctrine, born again, born from above, John 3:3, 5, 6, &c., and made children of God by the influence of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:6. The former were apostates from the true religion, the latter were those among whom it was preserved and cultivated.

Dr. Wall supposes the first verses of this chapter should be paraphrased thus: “When men began to multiply on the earth, the chief men took wives of all the handsome poor women they chose. There were tyrants in the earth in those days; and also after the antediluvian days powerful men had unlawful connections with the inferior women, and the children which sprang from this illicit commerce were the renowned heroes of antiquity, of whom the heathens made their gods.”

Verse 1. For the glory of God’s justice, and for a warning to a wicked world, before the history of the ruin of the old world, we have a full account of its degeneracy, its apostacy from God, and rebellion against him. The destroying of it was an act, not of absolute sovereignty, but of necessary justice; for the maintaining of the honour of God’s government. When men began to multiply — This was the effect of the blessing, Genesis 1:28, and yet man’s corruption so abused this blessing that it was turned into a curse.

V. 2. The sons of God-Those who were called by the name of the Lord, and called upon that name, married

the daughters of men-Those that were profane, and strangers to God. The posterity of Seth did not keep to themselves as they ought, but intermingled with the race of Cain: they

took them wives of all that they chose-They chose only by the eye: They saw that they were fair-Which was all they looked at.

Verse 2. The sons of God — Those who were called by the name of the Lord, and called upon that name; married the daughters of men — Those that were profane, and strangers to God. The posterity of Seth did not keep to themselves as they ought, but intermingled with the race of Cain: they took them wives of all which they chosen — They chose only by the eye. They saw that they were fair — Which was all they looked at.

Verse 2. Sons of God. Some understand this expression of Seth’s sons, who intermarried with Cain’s daughters, but assign no reason for their being called the daughters of men. Others understand it, and with greater propriety, of the sons of great men, who are repeatedly called Elohim, or gods, in the scriptures. So Exodus 21:6; 22:8, 28; and Psalm 82., where the same term occurs. Hence the sons of the judges, or great men, seized the daughters of the poor; and rapes, prostitution, and violence were without restraint. Being gigantic in stature, and having no regular government, they filled the earth with murder and robbery. All our Saxon chiefs claimed descent from Odin, and all the Greeks from Jupiter. Ulyssus says in Ovid, Nam mihi Laertes pater est, Arcesius illi, Jupiter huic.— Metam, lib. 13. ver. 145.

2. Sons of God — There has been much dispute as to the nature and character of the “sons of God” mentioned in this section. Three different theories have been maintained in the Jewish and Christian Churches. The first, arising apparently from the Samaritan, which translates the phrase sons of mighty men, is found in the Targums of Jonathan and Onkelos, and was maintained by eminent Jewish commentators, like Aben Ezra and Rashi, but is now abandoned. A second view, which seems to have some countenance from the LXX, some copies of which read aggeloi tou qeou, instead of uioi tou qeou, makes the sons of God angels, as in Job 1:6; 2:1. The Alexandrian commentators, and Jews who fell under strong Greek influences, as Philo and Josephus, in their anxiety to bridge over the chasm between Judaism and heathenism, and many of the Rabbins and oldest Church Fathers, (Justin., Clem., Alex., Tertul., Cyp., etc.,) adopted this view; while others of the Rabbins, and Chrysostom and Augustine, vehemently opposed it. Modern commentators who regard the early history of Genesis as mythical, as well as some orthodox commentators, from Luther to Stier and Delitzsch, embrace this view. The third view, that of Chrysostom, Cyril, etc., and now generally held, is, that the “sons of God” were the children of the godly Sethite line. Against the second view it may be conclusively urged 1) that we have had thus far no account of the creation of the angels, and the author would not for the first time mention them thus incidentally. 2) Our Lord expressly says (Matthew 22:30) that angels “neither marry nor are given in marriage.” 3) Although in poetical pieces (as in Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalms 29:1Psalm 29:1; 89:6) angels are styled sons of God, in pure historical composition this never occurs. On the other hand, godly men and the chosen race are expressly said to stand in this filial relation to God. Exodus 4:22, 23, “Israel is my son;” Deuteronomy 14:1, “Ye are the children of the Lord your God;” also, Hosea 11:1, 4) It is not the corruption of angels but of men that forms the subject of the narrative. No judgment is pronounced upon angels, but a flood destroys the race of men. If the sin of angels is here recorded, it is inappropriate to follow it with an account of the punishment of men. 5) “Sons of God,” is a Hebrew idiom for “men in the likeness of God.” Noah (Genesis 5:32) is called the “son of five hundred years;” Abraham calls Eliezer (Genesis 15:3) “son of my house;” Rachel named her son Benoni, “son of my sorrow,” but Jacob called him Benjamin, “son of the right hand;” “sons of the prophets” (1 Kings 20:35, etc.) are the disciples or followers of the prophets. “Son” thus has a latitude of meaning in the Hebrew idiom that specially fits it to convey the idea of the text, as is also seen in the New Testament phraseology, wherein “sons of God” and “born of God” are applied to true Christians. John 1:12, 13. Took them wives of all which they chose — Sensuality, polygamy, and the intermarriage of the Sethite and Cainite families were the great causes of the “corruption” and “violence” that now filled the earth. These causes may have been centuries in operation, even from the time of Seth and of Cain. The author has separately described the fleshly and the godly race; and now, after his manner, he returns to take up events which were transpiring contemporaneously. From the time that “men began to multiply” the godly race did not keep itself wholly distinct, but the “sons of God” looked on the beauty of the “daughters of men,” rather than on their moral character, and took them wives of all which they chose, that is, took such and as many as carnal choice might prompt. The personal charms of the daughters of the Cainites are commemorated in the names of Lamech’s wives, (Genesis 4:19,) yet we are not to suppose that it was these women only that are intended by the daughters of men. The phrase is general, and means simply womankind. The word lkm, from all, is noteworthy and emphatic. The choice was indiscriminate among those that were fair, selecting one or many, according to a carnal desire. Not the amours of angels, but family degradation, does the historian assign as the great cause of the antediluvian corruption. This is written for our instruction. It is a solemn warning against poisoning with sin the family fountain. See the Mosaic law, Deuteronomy 7:3, 4, repeated by Joshua. Joshua 23:12. Thus Israel was led into apostasy in the desert, (Numbers 25,) and in the time of the judges. Judges 3:6. Thus Solomon fell, and Ezra and Nehemiah could not deliver the restored nation from idolatry till the people had put away their “strange wives.” The anxiety of Abraham concerning the marriage of Isaac, and of Isaac and Rebekah for their sons Jacob and Esau, (Genesis 24:3; 26:34, 35; 27:46,) will illustrate the text.

V. 3. My spirit shall not always strive with man-The spirit then strove by Noah’s preaching, 1 Peter 3:19, and by inward checks, but ‘twas in vain with the most of men; therefore saith God, he shall not always strive, for that he also is flesh-Incurably corrupt and sensual, so that ‘tis labour lost to strive with him. He also, that is, all, one as well as another; they are all sunk into the mire of flesh.

Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years-So long will I defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. Justice said, cut them down; but mercy interceded, Lord, let them alone this year also; and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six score years.

Verse 3. My spirit shall not always strive] It is only by the influence of the Spirit of God that the carnal mind can be subdued and destroyed; but those who wilfully resist and grieve that Spirit must be ultimately left to the hardness and blindness of their own hearts, if they do not repent and turn to God. God delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given. Even at this time the earth was ripe for destruction; but God promised them one hundred and twenty years’ respite: if they repented in that interim, well; if not, they should be destroyed by a flood. See note on “Genesis 6:5”

Verse 3. My spirit shall not always strive with man — The Spirit then strove by Noah’s preaching, 1 Peter 3:19, and by inward checks, but it was in vain with the most of men; therefore, saith God, he shall not always strive, for that he (man) also is flesh — Incurably corrupt and sensual, so that it is labour lost to strive with him. He also; that is, all, one as well as another; they are all sunk into the mire of flesh. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years — So long will I defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. Justice said, Cut them down; but mercy interceded: Lord, let them alone this year also; and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six-score years; and during this time Noah was preaching righteousness to them, and, to assure them of the truth of his doctrine, was preparing the ark.

3. My Spirit shall not always strive with man — ˆwd, here rendered strive, occurs nowhere else, and its meaning is doubtful. Our translation assumes that it is the same as ˆyd, following in this respect Symmachus (ou krinei) and Kimchi. This is not impossible, as the verbs w[ and y[ often interchange their middle radical. Gesenius renders the word to be made low, depressed; (so Vatablus and Ewald;) and, if this be the meaning, the sense of the text would seem to be, my Spirit shall not be trampled on, despised by man forever; language of weariness after long forbearance. Some (as Grotius) have favoured the translation ensheathed, and understand that Jehovah here threatens that his spirit (the soul breathed into man by God) shall not forever be sheathed in the human body, as a sword in the scabbard; that is, the human race shall be cut off. But most of the ancient versions, as well as the Targums, render, my spirit shall not abide, or dwell among men; and understand the words to threaten that the spirit breathed into man at his creation shall no more dwell on the earth, now that man has become brutalized with fleshly lusts. T. Lewis somewhat modifies this view, understanding by my spirit not simply the life principle, but the spiritual or rational in man, as distinguished from the carnal — (the pneuma, as distinguished from the yuch,) — and, moreover, considers it a sorrowing prediction rather than a threat. The meaning shall dwell or abide, is more in harmony with the context than strive. The reason of the threat, or prediction, is because he is flesh. This would seem to be a reason why the Spirit should continue to strive, unless, indeed, we understand it as the language of weariness and hopelessness in view of man’s degradation. But this expression furnishes a reason, most forcible and appropriate, why God should refuse to allow his image to be longer defiled upon the earth. Man’s kinship with God, his sonship, (comp. verse 2,) gives special flagrancy to his guilt. Man has dishonoured the divine image; it is the “Spirit of God that giveth him understanding;” that he has defiled, and, therefore, that “Spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7. It was a resolution made in divine justice and mercy. It was a fearful sin for a son of God to prostitute his highest powers in the service of the flesh, a sin that called for the divine wrath. But the very enormity of the sin leads a merciful God to resolve on blotting out the race, to stop the ever-increasing flood of wretchedness that flows from increasing wickedness. So he drove man away from the tree of life, lest he should secure an immortality of sin. For that he also is flesh — Or, because of their transgression, he is flesh, (Ewald, Nordh., Furst, Gesen.,) that is, he is all flesh. The flesh — the body, with its appetites and passions, has risen above the spirit. The divine has become quenched in the carnal. Jehovah describes the being whose nobler part was made an image of himself, as now wholly flesh. Flesh and spirit were originally made in happy, harmonious adjustment; but now all is flesh. From this text arose the Pauline phraseology carnal and spiritual, flesh and spirit, so common in the epistle to the Romans. The difficult word µgcb may also be construed with what precedes, thus disregarding the Masoretic punctuation and reading: My spirit shall not dwell with men forever in their errors. He is flesh, and his days, etc. In this case, the word is composed of the preposition b, and pronominal suffix µ, connected with the construct infinitive of the verb ggv. His days — His allotted time on the earth. Hundred and twenty years — This language is used of man, the race with whom God’s Spirit dwelt, not of individual men. It refers, then, to the duration of the then existing race, and not, as some have supposed, to the length of human life. It was then in the four hundred and eightieth year of Noah’s life that the antediluvian world received its sentence; but it was allowed a respite of one hundred and twenty years, during which, according to 2 Peter 2:8, Noah was a “preacher of righteousness,” “when once the longsuffering of God waited” for the world’s repentance, “while the ark was a preparing.” 1 Peter 3:20.

V. 4. There were giants, and men of renown-They carried all before them, 1. With their great bulk, as the sons of Anak, Numbers 13:33, and, 2. With their great name, as the king of Assyria, Isaiah 37:11. Thus armed, they daringly insulted the rights of all their neighbours, and trampled upon all that is just and sacred.

Verse 4. There were giants in the earth] נפלים nephilim, from lpn naphal, “he fell.” Those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion. The Septuagint translate the original word by gigantev, which literally signifies earth-born, and which we, following them, term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word when properly understood makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God; those were the nephilim, the fallen earth-born men, with the animal and devilish mind. These were the sons of God, who were born from above; children of the kingdom, because children of God. Hence we may suppose originated the different appellatives given to sinners and saints; the former were termed gigantev, earth-born, and the latter, agioi, i.e. saints, persons not of the earth, or separated from the earth.

The same became mighty men-men of renown.] myrbg gibborim, which we render mighty men, signifies properly conquerors, heroes, from rbg gabar, “he prevailed, was victorious.” and השם yvna anshey hashshem, “men of the name,” anqrwpoi onomastpi, Septuagint; the same as we render men of renown, renominati, twice named, as the word implies, having one name which they derived from their fathers, and another which they acquired by their daring exploits and enterprises. It may be necessary to remark here that our translators have rendered seven different Hebrew words by the one term giants, viz., nephilim, gibborim, enachim, rephaim, emim, and zamzummim; by which appellatives are probably meant in general persons of great knowledge, piety, courage, wickedness, &c., and not men of enormous stature, as is generally conjectured.

Verse 4. There were giants — Men so called partly for their high stature, but principally for their great strength and force, whereby they oppressed and tyrannised over others. For this is mentioned as another sin and cause of the flood.

Ver. 4. Giants. These the poets call children of the earth, or earth-born, as is the etymon of the Greek gigantev. They were men of prodigious stature, said to have made war with the gods; and with that view, they raised ladders towards heaven, and piled rocks on rocks. When the thunderbolts of Jupiter threw down their works, those rocks which fell into the sea became islands, and those which rolled on the earth became mountains. Ovid. Meta. lib. 1. Plato mentions this war of the giants or Titanes in Critias, which he calls Atlantic, as having happened before the deluge of Noah. Arnobius in his first book against the gentiles, after Berosus, describes these giants as greater monsters of cruelty and crimes than of stature. The late Rev. W. Ward, seventeen years a missionary at Serampore in India, has written the history of the Mythology of the Hindoos, in which he says “The giants [before the deluge] sprang from Ditee.” He adds, that the sixth, seventh, and eighth incarnation of Vishnoo was to destroy the giants.—The Hebrews call the giants before the flood the Nephilim or apostates, the Gibborim or mighty men. Those of Palestine are called the Anachim. They were beyond all dispute from nine to ten feet in stature.—The origin of pagan fable is founded on facts stated by Moses. Those monsters mocked at the Ark, and filled the earth with violence; and when driven to the summits of the mountains, piled rocks in vain to gain a momentary reprieve from the high rolling tides of the deluge. Heaven retaliated, laughing at their calamity, and mocking at their fears. These are the Rephaim or the dead, who sunk under the waters, and are now associated with all the inhabitants of hell. Job 26:5, 6. Proverbs 2:18.

4. Giants in the earth — Literally, The Nephilim were in the land in those days, and also after that, (or specially after that,) when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of man, and they bare children to them, these are the heroes (Gibborim) who from the olden time were the men of name — renowned, notorious men. There is no authority in the Hebrew for the translation giants. The word comes from the Sept., which renders Nephilim, gigantev, earth born, from which it has been supposed that the Nephilim were men of immense size and stature, Nephilim is derived from lpn, to fall, (fallo, sfallw,) and this fall may be understood physically or morally. Some (Kimchi) understand it to mean those who caused men to fall, (through fear;) others, (Aq., Symm., Ges., Keil,) understand those who fell upon men, (epipiptontev,) fierce and violent men. The word occurs in but one other passage, (Numbers 13:33,) where it is applied by the terrified spies to the sons of Anak. The word vividly pictures scenes of violence and bloodshed in the antediluvian world. Lewis supposes another derivation, making it mean famous men, corresponding to the Gibborim, who afterward arose from the marriage of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men,” and who, in the last clause of the verse, are called men of name. Of old — That is, in the old or ancient time; applied to the warlike heroes of the antediluvian epoch.

It is noteworthy that no mention is made of kings, rulers, or civil government of any kind in this antediluvian era. In this respect the record presents a remarkable contrast to all profane histories. The eye of the author was upon the moral rather than upon the political condition of man; he surveys the world not from a political or scientific, but from a spiritual, point of view.

V. 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth-Abundance of sin was committed in all places, by all sorts of people: and those sins in their own nature most gross and heinous, and provoking: and committed daringly, with a defiance of heaven.

And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually-A sad sight, and very offensive to God’s holy eye. This was the bitter root, the corrupt spring: all the violence and oppression, all the luxury and wantonness that was in the world, proceeded from the corruption of nature; lust conceives them, James 1:15, see Matthew 15:19. The heart was evil, deceitful and desperately wicked; the principles were corrupt, and the habits and dispositions evil. The thoughts of the heart were so. Thought is sometimes taken for the settled judgment, and that was biased and misled; sometimes for the workings of the fancy, and those were always either vain or vile. The imagination of the thought of the heart was so, that is, their designs and devices were wicked. They did not do evil only through carelessness, but deliberately and designedly, contriving how to do mischief. ‘Twas bad indeed, for it was only evil, continually evil, and every imagination was so. There was no good to be found among them, no not at any time: the stream of sin was full and strong, and constant; and God saw it. Here is God’s resentment of man’s wickedness. He did not see it as an unconcerned spectator, but as one injured and affronted by it; he saw it as a tender father sees the folly and stubbornness of a rebellious and disobedient child, which not only angers but grieves him, and makes him wish he had been written childless.

Verse 5. The wickedness of man was great] What an awful character does God give of the inhabitants of the antediluvian world! 1. They were flesh, (Genesis 6:3,) wholly sensual, the desires of the mind overwhelmed and lost in the desires of the flesh, their souls no longer discerning their high destiny, but ever minding earthly things, so that they were sensualized, brutalized, and become flesh; incarnated so as not to retain God in their knowledge, and they lived, seeking their portion in this life. 2. They were in a state of wickedness. All was corrupt within, and all unrighteous without; neither the science nor practice of religion existed. Piety was gone, and every form of sound words had disappeared. 3. This wickedness was great hbr rabbah, “was multiplied;” it was continually increasing and multiplying increase by increase, so that the whole earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with violence, (Genesis 6:11;) profligacy among the lower, and cruelty and oppression among the higher classes, being only predominant. 4. All the imaginations of their thoughts were evil-the very first embryo of every idea, the figment of every thought, the very materials out of which perception, conception, and ideas were formed, were all evil; the fountain which produced them, with every thought, purpose, wish, desire, and motive, was incurably poisoned. 5. All these were evil without any mixture of good-the Spirit of God which strove with them was continually resisted, so that evil had its sovereign sway. 6. They were evil continually-there was no interval of good, no moment allowed for serious reflection, no holy purpose, no righteous act. What a finished picture of a fallen soul! Such a picture as God alone, who searches the heart and tries the spirit, could possibly give. 7. To complete the whole, God represents himself as repenting because he had made them, and as grieved at the heart because of their iniquities! Had not these been voluntary transgressions, crimes which they might have avoided, had they not grieved and quenched the Spirit of God, could he speak of them in the manner he does here? 8. So incensed is the most holy and the most merciful God, that he is determined to destroy the work of his hands: And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created; Genesis 6:7. How great must the evil have been, and how provoking the transgressions, which obliged the most compassionate God, for the vindication of his own glory, to form this awful purpose! Fools make a mock at sin, but none except fools.

Verse 5. God saw that the wickedness of man, &c. — Abundance of sin was committed in all places, by all sorts of people; and those sins in their own nature most gross, and heinous, and provoking; and committed daringly, and in defiance of heaven. And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually — A sad sight, and very offensive to God’s holy eye! This was the bitter root, the corrupt spring: all the violence and oppression, all the luxury and wantonness that was in the world, proceeded from the corruption of nature; lust conceived them, James 1:15, see Matthew 15:19. The heart was evil, deceitful, and desperately wicked; the principles were corrupt, and the habits and dispositions evil. The thoughts of the heart were so. Thought is sometimes taken for the settled judgment, and that was biased and misled; sometimes for the workings of the fancy, and those were always either vain or evil. The imagination of the thoughts of the heart was so; that is, their designs and devices were wicked. They did not do evil only through carelessness, but deliberately and designedly contrived how to do mischief. It was bad indeed, for it was only evil, continually evil, and every imagination was so. There was no good to be found among them, no, not at any time: the stream of sin was full, and strong, and constant; and God saw it. Here is God’s resentment of man’s wickedness. He did not see it as an unconcerned spectator, but as one injured and affronted by it; he saw it as a tender father sees the folly and stubbornness of a rebellious and disobedient child, which not only displeases but grieves him, and makes him wish he had been written childless.

5. God saw… only evil — A fearful picture of human depravity, in its thoroughness and universality. The genealogy of the lust and violence that now raged through the world is powerfully traced in a few pregnant words. First, the foul heart, then the thinking, (process,) then the thought, (product,) the imaged sin, (rxy,) then the foul deed. From the corrupt heart swarm the carnal thoughts; in these are bred the sinful imageries and purposes, whence are spawned the abominable crimes which break upon the world. How philosophically is this deluge of universal evil traced by secret channels to the parent fountains in the human heart. Comp. Matthew 15:19. Continually — Hebrews only evil all the day. There is terrible emphasis in the few Hebrew monosyllables here employed, which express the idea of sin in every thought and deed, at every time and place.

V. 6. And it repented the Lord that he had made man upon the earth-That he had made a creature of such noble powers, and had put him on this earth, which he built and furnished on purpose to be a comfortable habitation for him;

and it grieved him at his heart-These are expressions after the manner of men, and must be understood so as not to reflect upon God’s immutability or felicity. It doth not speak any passion or uneasiness in God, nothing can create disturbance to the eternal mind; but it speaks his just and holy displeasure against sin and sinners: neither doth it speak any change of God’s mind; for with him there is no variableness; but it speaks a change of his way. When God had made man upright, he rested and was refreshed, Exodus 31:17. and his way towards him was such as shewed him well pleased with the work of his own hands; but now man was apostatized, he could not do otherwise, but shew himself displeased; so that the change was in man, not in God.

Verse 6. It repented the Lord, it grieved him at his heart — Properly speaking, God cannot repent, Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:11-29; for he is perfectly wise and unchangeable in his nature and counsels, Malachi 3:6, and James 1:17. Neither is he liable to grief or disappointment, being constantly happy. But this is spoken of God after the manner of men, by the same figure of speech whereby eyes, ears, hands, and feet are ascribed to God, and must be understood so as not to reflect on his immutability or felicity. It doth not imply any passion or uneasiness in God; for nothing can create disturbance to the eternal mind: but it signifies his just and holy displeasure against sin and sinners. Neither doth it speak any change of God’s mind, for with him is no variableness; but it signifies a change of his way. When God had made man upright, he rested and was refreshed, Exodus 31:17, and his way toward him was such as showed him to be well pleased with the work of his own hands; but now that man was apostatized, he could not do otherwise than show himself displeased: so that the change was in man, and not in God.

Ver. 6. It repented—it displeased the Lord; or, the creation of the sons of Adam was abhorred of the Lord; but Augustine prefers the first reading, as implying a change in God’s conduct. He had created man to live, but now determined on his destruction.

6. It repented the Lord — The pain of the divine love at man’s sin is thus tenderly and forcibly set forth; explained more fully by the following words: It grieved him at his heart — Or rather, He grieved himself to the heart. A beautiful picture of God’s tenderness, yearning over the sinful child who had so fearfully corrupted his way and befouled the earth (made “very good” for him) by abominable wickedness. God’s acts and purposes are here, as everywhere, necessarily described in human words, which can only in a figurative sense be applied to Him whose ways are not our ways, nor his thoughts our thoughts. Repentance appears no more at variance with immutability, when we look closely into the matter, than any divine act, purpose, or resolve that is revealed. As in man all such mental acts and states involve the idea of change, it is impossible for us to reconcile them with immutability. But all revelation is a condescension to human weakness, a clothing of divine thoughts in human draperies, for thus only could it be of any value to man. So God, the Infinite, imprisons himself in time and space that he may talk with the child who dwells there. It is the condescension of all instruction, wherein the teacher must come down to the plane of the pupil, and adapt himself to his thoughts and feelings in order to convey the lessons of wisdom. In fact, absolute truth in regard to supernatural things can be conveyed to man only in negations; that is, it can only be said that the supernatural facts are not like the natural. But absolute truths like these are pointless, soulless, and spiritually profitless, and, therefore, God gives us relative truths that are positive to meet the deep religious wants of the soul. But he gives us the negative absolute truths also, in order that we may see that the affirmative truths are only relative. Thus of the spirits of the just made perfect it is said “they neither marry nor are given in marriage,” and, “a spirit hath not flesh and bones,” while yet these saints hold harps, sing songs, wear robes and crowns, and dwell in a city made of precious metals and precious stones. God is described, in this relative language of imagery, as having a human form, yea, even human eyes, and hands, and feet, and, as in this passage, human voice and thoughts; yet the absolute truth is also revealed to correct and modify the relative. “Ye saw no manner of form;” “God is a spirit;” “the ETERNAL ONE of Israel… is not a man that he should repent.” 1 Samuel 15:29. This is a paradox, but it is the paradox of revelation. He who understands its spirit can believe that they saw the God of Israel, (Exodus 24:10,) while yet no man hath seen God at any time, and feel that there is no contradiction.

V. 7. I will destroy man-The original word is very significant. I will wipe off man from off the earth; as dirt is wiped off from a place which should be clean, and thrown to the dunghill. Or, I will blot out man from the earth, as those lines are blotted out of a book which displease the author, or as the name of a citizen is blotted out of the rolls of the freemen when he is disfranchised.

Both man and beast the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air-These were made for man, and therefore must be destroyed with man. It repenteth me that I have made them-For the end of their creation also was frustrated: they were made that man might serve and honour God with them and therefore were destroyed, because he had served his lusts with them, and made them subject to vanity.

Verse 7. I will destroy man — The original word is very significant, I will wipe off man; from off the earth — As dirt is wiped off from a place which should be clean, and thrown to the dunghill. Or, I will blot out man from the earth, as those lines are blotted out of a book which displease the author, or as the name of a citizen is blotted out of the rolls of the freemen when he is disfranchised. Both man and beast, the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air — These were made for man, and therefore destroyed with man. It repenteth me that I have made them — For the end of their creation also was frustrated: they were made that man might serve and honour God with them; and therefore were destroyed, because he had served his lusts with them, and made them subject to vanity.

7. I will destroy — Literally, I will wipe out man. When God destroys his own creature, the creature must have made itself fearfully guilty and corrupt. Both man, and beast — Heb, from man unto beast; that is, beginning at man, the destruction shall descend to beasts, man’s subjects and servants. It is one of the deep mysteries of this life that the lower orders of animate beings rejoice and suffer in sympathy with man, and are, therefore, involved in the calamities which result from human sin. But they are also a part of the whole creation, (pasa h ktisiv,) which groans and travails together with sinning and suffering man, waiting “for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Romans 8:19-21. What and how much the apostle means by these wondrous words we cannot conceive, but it is something ineffably glorious.

V. 8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord-This vindicates God’s justice in his displeasure against the world, and shews that he had examined the character of every person in it, before he pronounced it universally corrupt; for there being one good man he smiled upon him.

Verse 8. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.] Why? Because he was, 1. A just man, qydx vya ish tsaddik, a man who gave to all their due; for this is the ideal meaning of the original word. 2. He was perfect in his generation-he was in all things a consistent character, never departing from the truth in principle or practice. 3. He walked with God-he was not only righteous in his conduct, but he was pious, and had continual communion with God. The same word is used here as before in the case of Enoch. See Genesis 5:22.

Verse 8. Noah found grace — That is, he obtained mercy and favour; for although he was by nature corrupt and sinful, he had been renewed in the spirit of his mind, and by repentance and a lively faith, had obtained witness that he was righteous. This vindicates God’s justice in his displeasure against the world, and shows that he had examined the character of every person in it, before he pronounced it universally corrupt; for, there being one good man, he smiled upon him.

8. Noah found grace — Because of his godly filial fear and faith, (Hebrews 11:7,) which wonderfully showed itself in preaching righteousness to that corrupt generation, and especially by working through more than a century in the construction of the vast ark for the saving of his house.

Generations of Noah, Genesis 6:9-9:29.

Note here, again, how the history doubles back upon itself. Noah has been already introduced, (Genesis 5:29, 32,) but now the divine record of beginnings and developments takes a new departure. Compare note at beginning of chap. v, and Introd., pp. 49, 50.

HISTORY OF THE DELUGE, Genesis 6:9-8:22.

The traditions of a deluge which at one time covered the whole inhabited earth and swept away the whole human race except a single family, or very few persons, who were saved in an ark, (ship, boat, or raft,) is almost, if not quite, as widely spread as the human race itself. Some terrible event of this character; some dreadful catastrophe that overwhelmed the race in destruction by water, is deeply impressed on the memory of mankind. Among the nations of Western Asia, the Chaldeans, Phrygians, and Phenicians remarkably reproduce the biblical account. Noah is the Xisuthrus of the Chaldee Berosus, while the Sibylline books mention that the earth was peopled by his three sons, one of whom was named Japetus. The traditions of Eastern Asia, as the Persian, Indian, and Chinese, though more or less mixed up with their peculiar mythologies and cosmogonies, are yet unmistakable. The Noah of the Chinese is Fahhe, who escaped from the deluge with his wife, three sons, and three daughters, and was the second father of the human race. In a Chinese Buddhist temple is a beautiful stucco picture of Noah floating in his ark amid the watery deluge, while a dove flies toward the vessel with an olive branch in her beak. (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 16:79.) The Noah of the East Indians is Manu, to whom Bramah announced the approach of the deluge, and bade him build a ship, store it with all kinds of seeds, and then enter into it with seven holy beings. When the flood covered the earth Bramah, in the form of a horned fish, drew the ship through the waters and landed it finally on the loftiest summit of the

Himalaya. Manu was the father of a new race. The Koran relates the story with peculiar amplifications and embellishments, describing, at great length, Noah’s faithful preaching, and picturing its rejection by the scoffing world, stating that one of his sons was among the scoffers, who attempted to escape to a mountain and was drowned before his father’s eyes. In the well-known Greek traditions Noah appears as Ogyges or Deucalion. The story is found in various forms in Pindar and Apollodorus, and is related with graphic power and poetic embellishment by Ovid and Lucian. Lucian describes Deucalion, the single righteous man, putting his family and many kinds of animals into a chest, when a heavy rain fell, and the earth opened, sending forth floods of water by which the greater part of Hellas was submerged, while Deucalion’s chest floated to the top of Parnassus. The traditions of the deluge among the various aboriginal American nations are interesting and remarkable. The Noah of the Aztecs is Coxcox, who saved himself, with his wife, on a raft. Humboldt describes Mexican pictures of this deluge and of the confusion of tongues; the race being represented as dumb after the catastrophe, and a dove being pictured distributing among them tongues from the top of a tree. He also relates that the Noah of another Mexican nation was called Tezpi, who was saved in a spacious bark with his wife, children, some animals and food. “When the Great Spirit ordered the waters to withdraw Tezpi sent out from his bark a vulture. The bird did not return on account of the carcases with which the earth was strewn. Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which, the hummingbird, alone returned, holding in its beak a branch clad with leaves.” In the Chaldee tradition, Xisuthrus sends out the birds three times, the second time they returned with mud on their feet, and the third time they return no more. Many of the American traditions blend the history of Noah with that of Adam, while the Chaldee and Phrygian stories confuse Enoch and Noah. Thus Xisuthrus is taken to heaven after the ark is stranded, while the Phrygian Annakos, or Nannakos, (Enoch,) foretells the flood and weeps and prays for the people. In the reign of Septimus Severus, (A.D. 193-211,) a coin was struck in Apamea of Phrygia, which commemorates this local tradition, though by that time it may have been modified by the Bible history. This city was anciently called Kibotos, or the “Ark,” and the medal represents a square vessel, floating in the water, containing two persons, while on its top is perched a bird, another flying toward it bearing a branch. Before the ark are represented the two inmates stepping on the dry land. Some specimens have the name NW or NWE, on the vessel.

Was the deluge universal? The universality of this tradition certainly points to a deluge that was universal as far as mankind is concerned. The Scripture language demands, Delitzsch remarks, that the flood be considered as universal for the earth as inhabited, but not for the earth as such; Scripture has no interest in the universality of the flood in itself, but only in the universality of the judgment of which it was the execution. Our exposition of the whole narrative is determined in the settlement of the primary question, Was this a miraculous or simply a providential judgment? Did God in this catastrophe destroy the human race through natural or supernatural causes? For if it were a miracle, it is perfectly idle, because utterly unphilosophical, to speculate as to its causes and effects. Miraculous events are entirely beyond the province of reasoning; and if the deluge belongs to this class we can no more tell how the waters were made to cover the earth, and how Noah could gather and preserve the animals in the ark, than we can tell how Christ turned water into wine, or rose from the dead. No Christian doubts that God’s power is adequate to the production of even such a series of stupendous miracles as are involved in the hypothesis of a universal deluge; but the simple question is, Does the text, on fair interpretation, teach that such a vast array of miracles were concentrated in this event, or does it describe the destruction of a wicked race by natural causes? We think that all the circumstances of the event, abounding as they do in allusions to natural causes and effects, show that the sacred historian did not intend to describe a miracle, but a natural catastrophe, by which God destroyed the “world of the ungodly,” and which is, therefore, as to all its phenomena, a legitimate subject for speculation. Commentators are now agreed, that if it were universal it must have been a miracle, yet few realize the stupendousness of the miracle supposed. Unless there were a new creation after the flood, which some gratuitously imagine without the least authority from the sacred narrative, and which, if assumed, renders any preservation of animals in the ark unnecessary, all existing species of land-animals, including mammals, birds, and insects, must have been saved in the ark. In former times, when the extent of the animal kingdom was imperfectly known, commentators (as Clarke) were able to show, with great plausibility, that the ark furnished ample accommodations. But several important items have always been omitted; the insects, of which there are probably half a million of species, and which would have been as surely destroyed by a universal deluge as cattle or fowls; marine animals, which have their habitat on the shores between the tide-marks, and cannot live under fifty fathoms of water; the coral animals, which would all have been destroyed by water standing at the depth supposed; and the fresh water fishes, if the waters of the deluge be supposed to have been salt, or the salt water fishes, if they be supposed to have been fresh. Also, it is not generally considered that, miracle apart, it was necessary to preserve the vegetable as well as the animal kingdom in the ark, since many terrestrial plants and seeds would have been destroyed by such a deluge. But Noah was not commanded to gather marine animals nor seeds. Each continent and zone has now its zoological provinces, determined by climate, elevation, soil, etc. The polar bear cannot live in the torrid zone; the carnivora of the tropics cannot live within the Arctic circle. The animals of America are wholly different from those of the old continent in the corresponding zones. The South American jaguar must have travelled through several zones and the greater part of two continents, to have reached the ark. If, after a cursory study of the zoological provinces of the earth, we endeavour to imagine a procession of animals from the uttermost parts of both continents and from the isles of the sea, towards Western Asia, one thousand six hundred pairs of mammals, six thousand pairs of birds, insects more numerous than all other animals together, gathering about the ark, it is only by supposing a series of miracles that the picture can be made possible to thought. These miracles multiply in number and magnitude as we try to think of this vast menagerie dwelling together in harmony, fed and kept clean for a year by Noah and his sons, and finally departing in safety from Ararat, and thence diffusing themselves through the world. All this, we most freely admit, is possible to God. If it were a miracle, all these questions and objections are idle; but in that case it is also idle to attempt to reason on the matter at all. All miracles are alike easy to God. He could have gathered these animals to Noah and afterwards have dispersed them, as easily as he created them in their various provinces at first, but the text says, that Noah was commanded to bring them into the ark. Genesis 6:19. God could have fed them as he fed Israel with manna, as he fed Elijah by ravens, and if the text stated that they were thus miraculously fed we should believe it, but it states (Genesis 6:21) that Noah was commanded to gather of all food that is eaten for the sustenance of all the population of the ark. There is no indication of miraculous help in this work; all is described as a natural transaction.

Some (Prichard, Kurtz, Jacobus) suppose that new species were created after the flood, but if this be so there was obviously no need of making any provision for animals in the ark; besides, there is not a word in the text on which to base such a supposition, while the whole narrative clearly implies that the work of creation ceased at the end of the creative week. Others (Wordsworth, Lange) strongly favour the Darwinian theory of the origin of species, and suppose, or hint, that new species were brought into being, naturally or supernaturally, after the deluge. This is not the place to discuss Darwinism, but it is certainly premature for the Scripture commentator to call in its aid before it has been made to appear as even a plausible hypothesis. It would be more consistent for those who regard the transaction as miraculous not to attempt to explain it in any way. Many eminent biblical scholars (for example, Stillingfleet, Poole, Le Clerc, Dothe, Pye Smith, Murphy, Lewis) interpret the text as teaching that the deluge was, as Delitzsch expressed it, universal for mankind, but not for the earth. This is simply a question of exegesis, and as such should be settled. The first impression naturally received by the English reader from the narrative is certainly that the waters covered the whole geographical earth, rose above the highest mountains, and destroyed every living terrestrial thing except the dwellers in the ark. “Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven.” Genesis 6:17. “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth.… All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.” Genesis 7:21, 22, etc. “And all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.” Genesis 7:19. But the change of a single word in these passages would greatly modify this impression, and yet this is a change which parallel passages fully warrant us in making. The word xra, here translated earth, is quite as often rendered land throughout the Old Testament. In the Pentateuch it is applied in a multitude of instances to the land of Egypt and of Canaan. Comp. Exodus 1:7, 10; 3:8, 17, etc. Thus in Genesis 43:1: “And the famine was sore in the land,” that is, of Canaan. Genesis 41:56. “And the famine was over all the face of the earth,” (certainly not the geographical earth, but Egypt and the adjacent countries.) Exodus 10:15, “Locusts… covered the face of the whole earth,” that is, land of Egypt. The Concordance will show a multitude of such passages. Hence Murphy renders the word land, throughout the description of the deluge. In the mind of the inspired writer this word meant simply that portion of the earth where man dwelt — and which was the inhabited land. Of the vast geographical earth he had no idea, and so to him the word could not have had the meaning that it now conveys. See Introd., pp. 64, 65, and notes on Genesis 1:1.

Again, the word lk, rendered all or every in this description, in common with other Hebrew words and phrases of a similar character, often has a partial signification. Until accustomed to this idiom the text sometimes appears even to contradict itself. For example, in Exodus 9:25, we read, “And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.” Yet that the word “all,” or “every,” is not to be understood literally, in a universal sense, appears from Exodus 10:15, wherein it is said that the locusts “did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left.” So also in Exodus 9:6, in describing the plague of the murrain, it is said “all the cattle of Egypt died;” yet the next two plagues — that of the boils and that of the hail — are said to have fallen upon the cattle that were in the field. King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:1) and Darius (Daniel 6:25) make their proclamations “unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth;” language that would seem to be emphatically and laboriously universal; yet in Daniel 6:26, we find it explained by “every dominion of my kingdom.” The New Testament Greek shows the same idiom. Thus in Acts 2:5, we read, “There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” Yet in verses 9-11 we have a list of these nations given, which by no means embraces the whole human race. So Paul speaks of the Gospel which he declares was then “in all the world;” and “preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Colossians 1:6, 23. Thus we see that the expression, “all the high hills which were under the whole heaven” may, without the least exegetical strain upon the language, be understood to describe a deluge that, with reference to the earth, geographically considered, was local and partial.

V. 9. Noah was a just man-Justified before God by faith in the promised seed; for he was an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Hebrews 11:7. He was sanctified, and had right principles and dispositions implanted in him: and he was righteous in his conversation, one that made conscience of rendering to all their due, to God his due, and to men theirs.

And he walked with God as Enoch had done before him: in his generation, even in that corrupt degenerate age. It is easy to be religious when religion is in fashion; but it is an evidence of strong faith to swim against the stream, and to appear for God, when no one else appears for him: so Noah did, and it is upon record to his immortal honour.

Verse 9. Noah was a just man — Justified before God by faith in the promised Seed; for he was an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, Hebrews 11:7. He was sanctified, and had right principles and dispositions implanted in him; and he was righteous in his conversation, one that made conscience of rendering to all their due, to God his due, and to men theirs. And he walked with God, as Enoch had done before him: in his generation — Even in that corrupt, degenerate age. It is easy to be religious when religion is in fashion; but it is an evidence of strong faith to swim against the stream, and to appear for God when no one else appears for him: so Noah did, and it is upon record to his immortal honour.

9. These are the generations of Noah — First came the history (generation) of the heavens and earth; then that of man, and now that of the just and perfect man, who was a second father of the race. In a few strong words Noah’s high religious character is sharply contrasted with the surrounding moral corruption which his godly walk and wonderful faith condemned. The ark, during one hundred and twenty years slowly rising under the hands of its builders and steadily prophesying God’s judgment, was a manifestation of faith unique and perhaps unparalleled in sublimity. Just man — Justified by faith. Hebrews 11:7. Perfect — µymt, literally, whole; for holiness is wholeness. So integrity, from integer. He who walks with God in the faith of Noah is whole-minded toward God. Christian perfection is essentially the same as that righteousness, which some of the patriarchs are said to have attained through faith. It is Christian holiness, integrity, entirety. Walked with God — This touch completes the picture. It is a trait assigned only to Noah and Enoch. Comp. note on Genesis 5:22.

10. Three sons — In this and in the three following verses the narrator, after his manner, goes back again over the ground already traversed.

V. 11. The earth also was corrupt before God-That is, in the matters of God’s worship; either they had other gods before him, or worshipped him by images: or, they were corrupt and wicked in despite of God. The earth was also filled with violence, and injustice towards men; there was no order nor regular government, no man was safe in the possession of that which he had the most clear right to, there was nothing but murders, rapes and rapines.

Verse 11. The earth also was corrupt] See Clarke on “Genesis 6:5”.

Verse 11. The earth — Put for its inhabitants; was corrupt before God — In matters of God’s worship; either having other gods before him, or worshipping him by images; or before the face of God, whose eye was upon it, and in despite and contempt of his presence and justice. They sinned openly and impudently, without shame, and boldly and resolutely, without any fear of God. The earth also was filled with violence and injustice toward men; there was no order, nor regular government; no man was safe in the possession of that which he had the most clear right to; there was nothing but murders, rapes, and rapines.

11-13. The earth also was corrupt — This verb, in the same form, is used in Exodus 8:24, to describe the land of Egypt corrupted by the swarms of flies, the black, blood-sucking multitudes that made the land uninhabitable. It is also used in Jeremiah 13:7, of a girdle rotted in the ground, which symbolized to the prophet the awful sin of idolatrous Israel. Earth, or rather the land, is used by metonomy for the inhabitants of the land, as in the last clause of verse 13. The expression is repeated and thus explained in the following verse. Before God — In the three successive verses this sinful corruption and violence is described in words of increasing vigour and vividness, as going on before the very eyes of God. Violence — A chaos of sinful destructive passion raged through the inhabited world. God looked upon the earth, and, behold — A sublime and solemn anthropomorphism. The universal destruction of the sinful race rises before God’s eye as a vivid fearful vision, and he describes what he sees to the solitary righteous man who “walked with him” in confidential communion. Through them — Hebrews, from before their face. Violence heralded their steps wherever they trod. I will destroy them — Hebrews I am destroying them, even (the inhabitants of) the earth. The determination to destroy having been formed, the event is spoken of as already in process of execution.

V. 12. God looked upon the earth-And was himself an eye-witness of the corruption that was in it, for

all flesh had corrupted his way-It was not some particular nations that were thus wicked, but the whole world so; there was none good beside Noah.

Ver. 12. All flesh had corrupted its way. Had there been ten righteous persons in Sodom, it had not been destroyed: now there were, after Methuselah was gone, but eight who remained in covenant with God. Therefore the Almighty took them into his ark, and destroyed the wicked. The ark was a type of the church. Food and safety, life and righteousness were there. It brought its family safely through the waves and storms, from the old to a new and peaceful world. By the like figures of wood and water, the cross and baptism, are we now saved, and placed under the covenant protection of the Lord. 1 Peter 3:20, 21.

11-13. The earth also was corrupt — This verb, in the same form, is used in Exodus 8:24, to describe the land of Egypt corrupted by the swarms of flies, the black, blood-sucking multitudes that made the land uninhabitable. It is also used in Jeremiah 13:7, of a girdle rotted in the ground, which symbolized to the prophet the awful sin of idolatrous Israel. Earth, or rather the land, is used by metonomy for the inhabitants of the land, as in the last clause of verse 13. The expression is repeated and thus explained in the following verse. Before God — In the three successive verses this sinful corruption and violence is described in words of increasing vigour and vividness, as going on before the very eyes of God. Violence — A chaos of sinful destructive passion raged through the inhabited world. God looked upon the earth, and, behold — A sublime and solemn anthropomorphism. The universal destruction of the sinful race rises before God’s eye as a vivid fearful vision, and he describes what he sees to the solitary righteous man who “walked with him” in confidential communion. Through them — Hebrews, from before their face. Violence heralded their steps wherever they trod. I will destroy them — Hebrews I am destroying them, even (the inhabitants of) the earth. The determination to destroy having been formed, the event is spoken of as already in process of execution.

V. 13. The end of all flesh is come before me; I will destroy them-The ruin of this wicked world is decreed; it is come, that is, it will come surely, and come quickly.

Verse 13. I will destroy them with the earth.] Not only the human race was to he destroyed, but all terrestrial animals, i.e. those which could not live in the waters. These must necessarily be destroyed when the whole surface of the earth was drowned. But destroying the earth may probably mean the alteration of its constitution. Dr. Woodward, in his natural history of the earth, has rendered it exceedingly probable that the whole terrestrial substance was amalgamated with the waters, after which the different materials of its composition settled in beds or strata according to their respective gravities. This theory, however, is disputed by others.

Verse 13. The end, or ruin, of all flesh is come before me — Is approaching, is at the very door. It is come in my purpose and decree, and shall as certainly take place, as if it were come already, in what manner soever vain men may flatter themselves with hopes of longer impunity. I will destroy them with the earth; but make thee an ark — I will take care to preserve thee alive. This ark was like the hulk of a ship, fitted not to sail upon the waters, but to float, waiting for their fall. God could have secured Noah by the ministration of angels, without putting him to any care or pains; but he chose to employ him in making that which was to be the means of his preservation, both for the trial of his faith and obedience, and to teach us that none shall be saved by Christ, but those only that work out their salvation; we cannot do it without God, and he will not without us: both the providence of God, and the grace of God, crown the endeavours of the obedient and diligent.

11-13. The earth also was corrupt — This verb, in the same form, is used in Exodus 8:24, to describe the land of Egypt corrupted by the swarms of flies, the black, blood-sucking multitudes that made the land uninhabitable. It is also used in Jeremiah 13:7, of a girdle rotted in the ground, which symbolized to the prophet the awful sin of idolatrous Israel. Earth, or rather the land, is used by metonomy for the inhabitants of the land, as in the last clause of verse 13. The expression is repeated and thus explained in the following verse. Before God — In the three successive verses this sinful corruption and violence is described in words of increasing vigour and vividness, as going on before the very eyes of God. Violence — A chaos of sinful destructive passion raged through the inhabited world. God looked upon the earth, and, behold — A sublime and solemn anthropomorphism. The universal destruction of the sinful race rises before God’s eye as a vivid fearful vision, and he describes what he sees to the solitary righteous man who “walked with him” in confidential communion. Through them — Hebrews, from before their face. Violence heralded their steps wherever they trod. I will destroy them — Hebrews I am destroying them, even (the inhabitants of) the earth. The determination to destroy having been formed, the event is spoken of as already in process of execution.

V. 14. I will destroy them with the earth, but make thee an ark-I will take care to preserve thee alive. This ark was like the hulk of a ship, fitted not to sail upon the waters, but to float waiting for their fall. God could have secured Noah, by the ministration of angels without putting him to any care or pains, but he chose to employ him in making that which was to be the means of his preservation, both for the trial of his faith and obedience, and to teach us that none shall be saved by Christ, but those only that work out their salvation; we cannot do it without God, and he will not without us: both the providence of God and the grace of God crown the endeavours of the obedient and diligent. God gave him particular instructions concerning this building. 1. It must be made of Gopher-wood; Noah, doubtless, knew what sort of wood that was, though now we do not. 2. He must make it three stories high within: and,

3. He must divide it into cabins with partitions, places fitted for the several sorts of creatures, so as to lose no room. 4. Exact dimensions are given him, that he might make it proportionable, and might have room enough in it to answer the intention, and no more. 5. He must pitch it within and without: without, to shed off the rain, and to prevent the water from soaking in; within, to take away the ill smell of the beasts when kept close.

6. He must make a little window towards the top to let in light. 7. He must make a door in the side of it by which to go in and out.

Verse 14. Make thee an ark] tbt tebath, a word which is used only to express this vessel, and that in which Moses was preserved, Exodus 2:3,5. It signifies no more than our word vessel in its common acceptation-a hollow place capable of containing persons, goods, &c., without any particular reference to shape or form.

Gopher wood] Some think the cedar is meant; others, the cypress. Bochart renders this probable, 1. From the appellation, supposing the Greek word kuparissov, cypress, was formed from the Hebrew rpg, gopher; for take away the termination issov, and then gopher and kupar will have a near resemblance. 2. Because the cypress is not liable to rot, nor to be injured by worms. 3. The cypress was anciently used for ship-building. 4. This wood abounded in Assyria, where it is probable Noah built the ark. After all, the word is of doubtful signification, and occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. The Septuagint render the place, ek xulwn tetpagwnwn, “of square timber;” and the Vulgate, de lignis laevigatis, “of planed timber;” so it is evident that these translators knew not what kind of wood was intended by the original. The Syriac and Arabic trifle with the passage, rendering it wicker work, as if the ark had been a great basket! Both the Targums render it cedar; and the Persian, pine or fir.

Ver. 14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood: the idea of the precise species of wood seems lost. Our countryman, Mr. Evelyn, contends for the cypress tree. Of this the Indians make their war canoes; for a single tree when excavated, will hold sixty men.

As to Mr. Lawrence’s objection, in his medical lectures, against the capacity of the ark to hold the creatures, the learned Budœus of Paris has written a volume on the subject in Latin. Moses gives us here the dimensions of the ark, 300 cubits long, 50 high, and 30 broad; and the cubit of those gigantic men from the elbow to the end of the long finger, could not be less than 30 inches. Others are of opinion that the antediluvian cubit was reckoned the third part of the stature of those men, who may be supposed to have been at least eight or nine feet high; so that according to these dimensions the ark must have been equal to ten or twelve first-rate ships of war; and the long space of 120 years, in which the ark was in building, coincides with its magnitude. Prodigious superstructure! No one but a reigning prince, like Noah, could have built it. It was divided into three stories, the better to accommodate the different species of creatures, and to store up what was necessary for their subsistence. It drew 15 cubits of water, and rose 15 above the surface. It would float in so quiescent a state as to allow the beasts to couch on the deck. This stupendous fabric was piloted and preserved by the special care of heaven; and oh how awful, that many of the scoffing age should have assisted in its construction, and perished at last in the flood.—The two best writers on this subject are Budœus and bishop Wilkins.

Of its existence, antiquity is agreed. Abydenus, and Berosus a priest of Babylon, and Herodotus have all recorded the fact.—Vide Euseb. Præp. lib. 9. c. 11, 12. Origen in Alexandria, and Jerome at Rome, have rebutted the objections started in their day. And as the Alps of Italy have been washed by the tides, how could either men or beasts be saved without an Ark? See Genesis 8:3.

Yet we concede, that many creatures might be saved on floats of timber, as aquatic birds, toads also, for a hundred of these have been found in the great coal of Dudley; a fact which I affirm on conversations with practical men, after a residence in those coalfields. Serpents and vermin might partially subsist on the waters, and find some shelter in the earth during the flux and reflux of the tides. Nor do I see any thing against the text of Moses, to admit that creatures might be saved on icebergs, or on the mountains of Asia, and of South America, which far exceed the Alps in elevation.—See more, Genesis 1:15. 8:3.

14. Make thee an ark — hbt, a word applied only to the structure built by Noah and to the little papyrus vessel made by the mother of Moses, (Exodus 2:3,) and like this, “daubed with slime and with pitch,” to make it water-tight, in which she put her child, (afterwards the Noah of Israel,) and laid it in the flags of the Nile. It was a chest, or oblong box, and in no sense a ship. It was flat-bottomed, not boat-shaped, as often pictured, was without spars or sails, oars or rudder, built simply for floating and carrying a precious freight, not for sailing. Gopher wood — Or pitch wood; a general name for resinous timber, and especially cypress, which the Phenicians used for ship-building on account of its lightness and durability. Rooms — Literally, nests; little compartments arranged for the accommodation of Noah’s family and of the various animals which were to dwell for a year in the ark, as well as for the provisions that were to sustain their lives through this long period. Pitch — Hebrews rpk, kopher, cognate with gopher. Mineral pitch or asphalt; an opaque, inflammable, very tenacious substance, used, according to Josephus and Strabo, for mortar and for the calking of ships, (Genesis 11:3, where it is called slime,) and, according to Wilkinson, used by the Egyptians to make their papyrus boats water-tight.

Verse 15. Thou shalt make-the length of the ark-three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits] Allowing the cubit, which is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, to be eighteen inches, the ark must have been four hundred and fifty feet in length, seventy-five in breadth, and forty-five in height. But that the ancient cubit was more than eighteen inches has been demonstrated by Mr. Greaves, who travelled in Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, in order to be able to ascertain the weights, moneys, and measures of antiquity. He measured the pyramids in Egypt, and comparing the accounts which Herodotus, Strabo, and others, give of their size, he found the length of a cubit to be twenty-one inches and eight hundred and eighty-eight decimal parts out of a thousand, or nearly twenty-two inches. Hence the cube of a cubit is evidently ten thousand four hundred and eighty-six inches. And from this it will appear that the three hundred cubits of the ark’s length make five hundred and forty-seven feet; the fifty for its breadth, ninety-one feet two inches; and the thirty for its height, fifty-four feet eight inches. When these dimensions are examined, the ark will be found to be a vessel whose capacity was more than sufficient to contain all persons and animals said to have been in it, with sufficient food for each for more than twelve months. This vessel Dr. Arbuthnot computes to have been eighty-one thousand and sixty-two tons in burden.

As many have supposed the capacity of the ark to have been much too small for the things which were contained in it, it will be necessary to examine this subject thoroughly, that every difficulty may be removed. The things contained in the ark, besides the eight persons of Noah’s family, were one pair of all unclean animals, and seven pairs of all clean animals. with provisions for all sufficient for twelve months.

At the first view the number of animals may appear so immense that no space but the forest could be thought sufficient to contain them. If, however, we come to a calculation, the number of the different genera or kinds of animals will be found much less than is generally imagined. It is a question whether in this account any but the different genera of animals necessary to be brought into the ark should be included Naturalists have divided the whole system of zoology into CLASSES and ORDERS, containing genera and species. There are six classes thus denominated: 1. Mammalia;

2. Aves; 3. Amphibia; 4. Pisces; 5. Insectæ; and 6. Vermes. With the three last of these, viz., fishes, insects, and worms, the question can have little to do.

The first CLASS, Mammalia, or animals with teats, contains seven orders, and only forty-three genera if we except the seventh order, cete, i.e. all the whale kind, which certainly need not come into this account. The different species in this class amount, the cete excluded, to five hundred and forty-three.

The second CLASS, Aves, birds, contains six orders, and only seventy-four genera, if we exclude the third order, anseres, or web-footed fowls, all of which could very well live in the water. The different species in this class, the anseres excepted, amount to two thousand three hundred and seventy-two.

The third CLASS, Amphibia, contains only two orders, reptiles and serpents; these comprehend ten genera, and three hundred and sixty-six species, but of the reptiles many could live in the water, such as the tortoise, frog, &c. Of the former there are thirty-three species, of the latter seventeen, which excluded reduce the number to three hundred and sixteen. The whole of these would occupy but little room in the ark, for a small portion of earth, &c., in the hold would be sufficient for their accommodation.

Bishop Wilkins, who has written largely and with his usual accuracy on this subject, supposes that quadrupeds do not amount to one hundred different kinds, nor birds which could not live in the water to two hundred. Of quadrupeds he shows that only seventy-two species needed a place in the ark, and the birds he divides into nine classes, including in the whole one hundred and ninety-five kinds, from which all the web-footed should be deducted, as these could live in the water.

He computes all the carnivorous animals equivalent, as to the bulk of their bodies and food, to twenty-seven wolves; and all the rest to one hundred and eighty oxen. For the former he allows one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five sheep for their annual consumption; and for the latter, one hundred and nine thousand five hundred cubits of hay: these animals and their food will be easily contained In the two first stories, and much room to spare; as to the third story, no person can doubt its being sufficient for the fowls, with Noah and his family.

One sheep each day he judges will be sufficient for six wolves; and a square cubit of hay, which contains forty-one pounds, as ordinarily pressed in our ricks, will he amply sufficient for one ox in the day. When the quantum of room which these animals and their provender required for one year, is compared with the capacity of the ark, we shall be led to conclude, with the learned bishop, “that of the two it is more difficult to assign a number and bulk of necessary things to answer to the capacity of the ark, than to find sufficient room for the several species of animals and their food already known to have been there.” This he attributes to the imperfection of our lists of animals, especially those of the unknown parts of the earth; and adds, “that the most expert mathematicians at this day,” and he was one of the first in Europe, “could not assign the proportion of a vessel better accommodated to the purpose than is here done;” and concludes thus: “The capacity of the ark, which has been made an objection against Scripture, ought to be esteemed a confirmation of its Divine authority; since, in those ruder ages men, being less versed in arts and philosophy, were more obnoxious to vulgar prejudices than now, so that had it been a human invention it would have been contrived, according to those wild apprehensions which arise from a confused and general view of things, as much too big as it has been represented too little.” See Bishop Wilkins’s Essay towards a Philosophical Character and Language.

15. Three hundred cubits — The cubit being at first a natural measure, like the foot and the hand, denoted the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger, and varied from 18 to 21.888 inches. It was generally reckoned (Ges., Jahn., Smith’s Dict.) at 21 inches, or 1.75 feet. This would make the ark 525 feet long, 87.5 feet wide, and 52.5 feet high. Experiments made in Holland and Denmark show that vessels built on this model are admirably adapted to freightage, though, of course, unfit for rapid progress through the water.

Verse 16. A window shalt thou make] What this was cannot be absolutely ascertained. The original word rhx tsohar signifies clear or bright; the Septuagint translate it by epwunagwn, “collecting, thou shalt make the ark,” which plainly shows they did not understand the word as signifying any kind of window or light. Symmacbus translates it diafanev, a transparency; and Aquila, meshmbrinon, the noon. Jonathan ben Uzziel supposes that it was a precious luminous stone which Noah, by Divine command, brought from the river Pison. It is probably a word which should be taken in a collective sense, signifying apertures for air and light. In a cubit shalt thou finish it above] Probably meaning that the roof should be left a cubit broad at the apex or top, and that it should not terminate in a sharp ridge. But this place is variously understood.

16. A window — rhx. The Hebrew word here employed occurs nowhere else in the singular, but is frequently found in the dual, denoting the noontide. A different word is used in Genesis 8:6, to describe the window which Noah opened to send forth the raven. The making of that window is nowhere described. In a cubit… finish it above — Or, unto a cubit (within a cubit of the ridge) shalt thou finish it (the ark) from above, (on the roof, measuring from the eaves upward.) Leave an aperture the whole length of the roof and a cubit wide, on each side of the ridge. This seems to be the best interpretation of this concise and obscure passage. This aperture, two cubits wide and running through the middle of the roof, was at once a skylight and a ventilator, being wholly or partially closed by some sort of a covering, perhaps a semi-transparent awning, (Genesis 8:13,) during the rain, and which Noah lifted up to get a wide view of the face of the earth. Directly beneath the ridge there was probably a wide space, or hall, the whole length and depth of the ark, into which the rooms or stalls opened on the right and left. It was thus a vast three-story building, with a hall through the middle from floor to ridge. The door — One large door for entrance and exit in the side.

V. 17. And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth-I that am infinite in power, and therefore can do it; infinite in justice, and therefore will do it.

Verse 17. I—do bring a flood] lwbm; mabbul; a word used only to designate the general deluge, being never applied to signify any other kind of inundation; and does not the Holy Spirit intend to show by this that no other flood was ever like this, and that it should continue to be the sole one of the kind? There have been many partial inundations in various countries, but never more than ONE general deluge; and we have God’s promise, Genesis 9:15, that there shall never be another.

Verses 17, 18. Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth — I, who am infinite in power and therefore can do it; infinite in justice, and therefore will do it. But with thee will I establish my covenant — 1st, The covenant of providence, that the course of nature should be continued to the end of time, notwithstanding the interruption which the flood would give to it: this promise was immediately made to Noah and his sons, Genesis 9:8, &c.; they were as trustees for all this part of the creation, and a great honour was thereby put upon them. 2d, The covenant of grace, that God would be to him a God, and that out of his seed God would take to himself a people.

17. Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood — Language setting forth a special and awful providence. The word lwbm, flood, here used, is applied only to the deluge of Noah; Psalms 29:10Psalm 29:10, is no exception; and everywhere except in Genesis 9:15, where it is promised that a similar judgment shall never recur, it invariably has the article, pointing out the great inundation that once washed out the world’s sin in judgment. To destroy all flesh — This language is absolute and unqualified, as in verse 13, yet afterward the exceptions are introduced. Such rhetorical peculiarities mark the extreme antique simplicity of the style. These simple, absolute assertions, pictorially describing facts when seen, as it were, on successive sides, would have been interwoven into balanced periods in a more modern historical production.

V. 18. But with thee will I establish my covenant-(1.) The covenant of Providence, that the course of nature shall be continued to the end of time, not withstanding the interruption which the flood would give to it: this promise was immediately made to Noah and his sons, Genesis 9:8, &c. they were as trustees for all this part of the creation, and a great honour was thereby put upon him and his. God would be to him a God, and that out of his seed God would take to himself a people.

Verse 18. With thee will I establish my covenant] The word tyrb berith, from rb bar, to purify or cleanse, signifies properly a purification or purifier, (see on chap. xv.,) because in all covenants made between God and man, sin and sinfulness were ever supposed to be on man’s side, and that God could not enter into any covenant or engagement with him without a purifier; hence, in all covenants, a sacrifice was offered for the removal of offences, and the reconciliation of God to the sinner; and hence the word tyrb berith signifies not only a covenant, but also the sacrifice offered on the occasion, Exodus 24:8; Psalms 50:5Psalm 50:5; and Jesus Christ, the great atonement and purifier, has the same word for his title, Isaiah 42:6; 49:8; and Zechariah 9:11.

Almost all nations, in forming alliances, &c., made their covenants or contracts in the same way. A sacrifice was provided, its throat was cut, and its blood poured out before God; then the whole carcass was divided through the spinal marrow from the head to the rump; so as to make exactly two equal parts; these were placed opposite to each other, and the contracting parties passed between them, or entering at opposite ends met in the centre, and there took the covenant oath. This is particularly referred to by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 34:18, 19, 20: “I will give the men (into the hands of their enemies, Jeremiah 34:20) that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,” &c. See also Deuteronomy 29:12.

A covenant, says Mr. Ainsworth, is a disposition of good things faithfully declared, which God here calls his, as arising from his grace towards Noah (Genesis 6:8) and all men; but implying also conditions on man’s part, and therefore is called our covenant, Zechariah 9:11. The apostles call it diaqhkh, a testament or disposition; and it is mixed of the properties both of covenant and testament, as the apostle shows, Hebrews 9:16, &c., and of both may be named a testamental covenant, whereby the disposing of God’s favours and good things to us is declared. The covenant made with Noah signified, on God’s part, that he should save Noah and his family from death by the ark. On Noah’s part, that he should in faith and obedience make and enter into the ark-Thou shalt come into the ark, &c., so committing himself to God’s preservation, Hebrews 11:7. And under this the covenant or testament of eternal salvation by Christ was also implied, the apostle testifying, 1 Peter 3:21, that the antitype, baptism, doth also now save us; for baptism is a seal of our salvation, Mark 16:16. To provide a Saviour, and the means of salvation, is GOD’S part: to accept this Saviour, laying hold on the hope set before us, is ours. Those who refuse the way and means of salvation must perish; those who accept of the great Covenant Sacrifice cannot perish, but shall have eternal life. See Clarke on “Genesis 15:10”, &c.

Verses 17, 18. Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth — I, who am infinite in power and therefore can do it; infinite in justice, and therefore will do it. But with thee will I establish my covenant — 1st, The covenant of providence, that the course of nature should be continued to the end of time, notwithstanding the interruption which the flood would give to it: this promise was immediately made to Noah and his sons, Genesis 9:8, &c.; they were as trustees for all this part of the creation, and a great honour was thereby put upon them. 2d, The covenant of grace, that God would be to him a God, and that out of his seed God would take to himself a people.

18. With thee will I establish my covenant — tyrb, covenant; Septuagint and New Testament, diaqhch. For the origin of the word, see notes on chap. 15. This word and act contain the weightiest and most vital truths. God’s personal condescension and love, man’s dignity and sonship, with all the duties and obligation involved in these exalted relations, are contained in this word. It is a rich, strong, elevating, and consoling word. Man, God’s image, God’s son, is accepted by him as a partner in promises and obligations. There is something indescribably ennobling and inspiring in the thought. God’s fatherly nearness and man’s immortal nature and destiny are implied in the word. 1) It was solemnly repeated to Abraham, the father of the covenant people; revealed to Isaac and Jacob; enlarged, explained, and more formally ratified with Moses; and all of these covenants were but typical of that sublimest and most mysterious transaction, “the new testament,” diaqhch,) revealing that infinite condescension and love which “the angels desire to look into,” ratified by the blood of the Son of God. A covenant of works was made with Adam at his creation, wherein man, as his part, was to furnish legal obedience, and God, as his part, eternal life; but when the promise came to sinful man, “faith was counted for righteousness” in the covenant of mercy. How empty, belittling, and cold are those systems of religion that would substitute obedience to the laws of nature for worship in faith and love, which takes hold on a personal, covenant-keeping Father! A covenant with man was implied in his moral nature; it was first expressed in the promise of the woman’s seed, but now, for the first time, appears under the covenant name.

Verse 19. To keep them alive] God might have destroyed all the animal creation, and created others to occupy the new world, but he chose rather to preserve those already created. The Creator and Preserver of the universe does nothing but what is essentially necessary to be done. Nothing should be wantonly wasted; nor should power or skill be lavished where no necessity exists; and yet it required more means and economy to preserve the old than to have created new ones. Such respect has God to the work of his hands, that nothing but what is essential to the credit of his justice and holiness shall ever induce him to destroy any thing he has made.

19. Two of every sort — From this statement, repeated in the next verse, as well as from that made in Genesis 7:15, 16, it would be understood that only a pair of the animals were to be preserved; but from Genesis 7:2, 3, we see that the clean beasts and fowls went into the ark by seven pairs. Animals instinctively foresee great natural convulsions or earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tornadoes, and often, on such occasions, quite subdued by fear, seek human protection. It is natural to suppose that there would have been in the earth, atmosphere, and clouds fearful premonitions of this unparalleled convulsion, which lasted through forty days, and which is described as opening the windows of heaven and breaking up “the fountains of the great deep.” Beasts and birds of all kinds, that is, of all the species in that region, affrighted by these signs of the coming tempest, and tamed by their fears, may be reasonably believed to have gathered around or settled on the vast ark, during the few days before the deluge actually began. From these Noah selected twos or sevens of each kind. Instinct was thus providentially (we need not say miraculously) made the means of their preservation. Shalt thou bring — They came unto Noah, (Genesis 5:20,) and he caused them to come (for this is the true idea of the word rendered bring) into the ark.

Verse 21. Of all food that is eaten] That is, of the food proper for every species of animals.

21. All food — Noah had had abundant opportunity to lay in provisions for the animals before the signs of the catastrophe appeared. It was not till the last seven days that they began to enter the ark. Genesis 7:4, 10.

Verse 22. Thus did Noah] He prepared the ark; and during one hundred and twenty years preached righteousness to that sinful generation, 2 Peter 2:5. And this we are informed, 1 Peter 3:18, 19, &c., he did by the Spirit of Christ; for it was only through him that the doctrine of repentance could ever be successfully preached. The people in Noah’s time are represented as shut up in prison-arrested and condemned by God’s justice, but graciously allowed the space of one hundred and twenty years to repent in. This respite was an act of great mercy; and no doubt thousands who died in the interim availed themselves of it, and believed to the saving of their souls. But the great majority of the people did not, else the flood had never come.

GENESIS

Verse 22. Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him — And that both as to the matter and manner of it. And when we consider how laborious, tedious, and dangerous a work the building of the ark was, and what ridicule he would have to encounter from the ungodly and profane, while engaged in a business apparently foolish, and that for so many scores of years together, we shall not wonder that the faith whereby he surmounted all these difficulties should be so celebrated in the Scriptures. See Hebrews 11:7.

22. Thus did Noah — And thus he showed his faith (Hebrews 11:7) by ready and long-continued obedience to all that God commanded him, “by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”