Gen_6:1-22; Gen_7:1-24; Gen_8:1-22; Gen_9:1-29; Gen_10:1-32; Gen_11:1-32
Pg. 47-57
Ch. 6-11
SECTION II ELEH TOLEDOTH NOACH.
These are the memorials of Noach. Noach was a man righteous and perfectin his generation; in the fear of the Lord walked Noach. And Noach begat threesons, Shem, Cham, and Yapeth. And the earth was corrupted before the Lord, andthe earth was filled with violences.[1] <\l > And the Lord saw the earth, and,behold, it was corrupt, because all flesh had corrupted, each one, his way uponthe earth. And theLord said to Noach, The end of all flesh cometh before Me, because the earth isfilled with violences from the face of their wicked works; and, behold, I willdestroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark with the wood of cedar; dwellingsshalt thou make in the ark, and overlay it within and without with pitch. Andthus shalt thou make it: three hundred cubits shall be the length of the ark,fifty cubits its breadth, and thirty cubits its height. A light shalt thou maketo the ark, and at a cubit shalt thou complete it above, and the door of theark thou shalt place in its side. Lower dwellings, second and third, shalt thoumake in it. And I, behold, I do bring the deluge of waters upon the earth todestroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens. Everything that is on the earth shall die. And I will establish My covenant withthee; and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, andthe wives of thy sons with thee. And of all that liveth of all flesh two andtwo of all that enter into the ark to abide with thee, male and female shallthey be. Of fowl according to its kind, and of cattle according to her kind,and of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of all shall enterwith thee to abide. And thou, take with thee of all food which is eaten, andgather to be with thee; and it shall be for thee and for them to eat. And Noachdid according to all which the Lord had commanded him, so did he.
VII. Andthe Lord said to Noach, Enter thou and all the men of thy house into the ark;for thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation. Of all cleananimals take thou seven and seven, male and female; and of animals not clean,two and two, male and female. Also of the fowls of heaven, seven and seven,male and female, to continue the seed upon the face of all the earth. Becauseyet a time of seven days and I will cause rain to descend upon the earth fortydays and forty nights, and I will blot out every subsistence[2] <\l > whichI have made upon all the face of the earth. And Noach did according to all thatthe Lord had instructed him. And Noach was a son of six hundred years; and thedeluge[3] <\l > of waters was upon the earth. AndNoach entered, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, into the ark from before the water of thedeluge. Of animals clean, and of animalsnot clean, and of birds, and of all which creepeth upon the earth, two and two,they entered with Noach into the ark, male and female, as the Lord hadinstructed Noach. And it was at the time of seven days, and the waters of thedeluge were upon the earth. In the six-hundredth year of the life ofNoach, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, in thatday were all the springs of the great abyss upbroken, and the windows of heavenopened, and the rain came down upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Inthat very day entered Noach, and Shem, Cham, and Yapheth, sons of Noach, andthe wife of Noach, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;they, and every animal after his kind, and all cattle after its kind, andevery, reptile which creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every fowlafter its kind, every bird, every one that flieth: and they entered with Noachoach into the ark, two and two of all flesh in which is the breath of life; andthey, entering, male and female of all flesh, entered, as the Lord hadcommanded him, and the Lord protected them by His Word.[4] <\l > Andthere was a deluge forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, andtook up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailedand increased mightily upon the earth, and the ark went upon the faces of thewaters. And the waters prevailed most mightily over the earth, and all the highhills were covered which were under all the heavens. Fifteen cubits upward didthe waters prevail, and the mountains were covered; and all flesh died whichmoved upon the earth, of fowl, and of cattle, and of the wild beast, and ofevery reptile which creepeth upon the earth, and every man. Everything in whosenostrils was the breath of the Spirit of life, of all which was upon the dryground, died. And every subsistence was blotted out that was upon the faces ofthe earth, from man to the beast, to the reptile, and to the fowl of heaven, itwas blotted out from the earth, and Noach was left alone, and they who werewith him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred andfifty days.
VIII. And the Lordremembered Noach, and every living thing, and all the cattle which were withhim in the ark; and the Lord caused a wind to pass over the earth, and thewaters rested, and the springs of the abyss were shut, and the windows of theheavens, and the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters turnedfrom on the earth, going and returning; and the waters diminished from the endof a hundred and fifty days. And the ark rested on the seventh month, on theseventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Kardu.[5] <\l > Andthe waters went and diminished until the tenth month: in the tenth, on thefirst of the mouth, the heads of the mountains appeared. And it was at the endof forty days, and Noach opened the windows of the ark which he had made. Andhe sent forth a raven, and going he went out, and returned until the waterswere dried upon the earth. And he sent forth a dove from (being) with him, tosee whether the waters were lightened (or consumed) from the surface of theearth. But the dove found no rest for the dividing of her foot, and shereturned unto him into the ark, because the waters were upon all the earth; andhe stretched forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to be with him inthe ark. And he prolonged[6] <\l > yet seven days, and afterward addedto send forth the dove from the ark. And the dove came to him at the time ofevening, and, behold, a leaf of olive broken off was in her mouth; and Noachknew that the waters were lightened from upon the earth. And he prolonged yetother seven days, and sent forth the dove, and she added not to return to bewith him again. And it was in the six-hundredth and first year, in thebeginning of the first month, the waters were dried from off the earth; andNoach removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the faces ofthe ground were dry. And in the second month, in the seventeenth day of themonth, the earth was fully dry. And theLord spake with Noach, saying: Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, andthy sons, and the wives of thy sons with thee. Every living thing which is withthee of all flesh, of fowl, and of cattle, and every creeping thing thatcreepeth upon the earth, bring forth with thee, and they shall generate in theearth, and spread abroad and multiply upon the earth. And Noach went forth, andhis sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him; every animal, everyreptile and bird, everything which moveth upon the earth after their kind, wentforth from the ark. And Noachbuilded an altar before the Lord, and took of every clean beast and of everyclean bird, and uplifted an offering upon the altar. And the Lord received withapproval his oblation; and the Lord said in His Word,[7] <\l > I willnot add to curse again the earth on account of the guilt of man, because thecreations of the heart of man[8] <\l > are evil from his infancy;[9] <\l >and I will not add again to smite every living thing as I have done. Yet allthe days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, andsummer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.
IX. And the Lord blessed Noach and his sons, and said to them, Spreadabroad, and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread ofyou shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the heavens,in all which creepeth upon the earth, and in all fish of the sea; into yourhands shall they be delivered. Every moving thing that liveth, for you it shallbe to eat; as the green herb I have given you the whole. But the flesh with itslife-blood you shall not eat. And also your blood of your lives will Irequire, from every beast will I require it, and from the hand of man. From thehand of the man who sheddeth the blood of his brother will I require the lifeof man. Whoso sheddeth the blood of man, by witnesses, upon the sentence of thejudges, his blood shall be shed; because in the image of the Lord[10] <\l >made He man. And you, spread abroad and multiply; bring forth in the earth andmultiply therein. And the Lord spake to Noach, and to his sons with him, saying, AndI, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your children after you,and with every living thing which is with you, of fowl, of cattle, and of everybeast of the field that is with you, of all going forth from the ark of everyanimal of the earth. And I will establish My covenant with you, and all fleshshall not again be consumed by the waters of a deluge, nor shall there be againa deluge to destroy the earth. And the Lord said, This is the sign of thecovenant which I appoint (give) between My Word, and between you, and betweenevery living soul that is with you unto perpetual generations. I have set Mybow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between My Wordand between the earth. And it shall be that when clouding I becloud the earth,the bow shall be seen in the cloud,and I will remember the covenant which isbetween My Word, and between You, and between every living soul of all flesh;and there shall not be again the waters of a deluge to destroy all flesh. Andthe bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, to remember theeverlasting covenant between the Word of the Lord andbetween every living soulof all flesh that is upon the earth. And the Lord said, This is the sign of thecovenant which I have established between My Word and between all flesh whichis upon the earth. And the sons of Noach who went forth from the ark were Shem andCham and Yapheth: and Cham is the father of Kenaan. These three are the sons ofNoach and from them was the whole earth Overspread. And Noach began to be a manworking on the earth;[11] <\l > andhe planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine,[12] <\l > andwas drunk; and he was uncovered in the midst of his tent. And Cham the fatherof Kenaan saw the nakedness of his father, and he showed to his two brethrenwithout. And Shem and Yapheth took a mantle, and laid it upon the shoulders ofboth, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and theirfaces were averted, and the nakedness of their father they saw not. And Noach awokefrom his wine, and knew that which his youngest son had done unto him; and hesaid:-- Accursed be Kenaan, A workingservant shall he be to his brethren. And he said:-- Blessedbe the Lord the God of Shem, AndKenaan shall be servant unto them.
TheLord shall enlarge Yapheth,[13] <\l > And be shall make his Shekinah to dwell in the tabernacles of Shem: And Kenaan shall be servantunto them. And Noach livedafter the deluge three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noach werenine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
X. And these are the generations of the sons of Noach, Shem, Cham,and Yapheth; and sons were born to them after the deluge. The sons of Yepheth,Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Yavan, and Thuval, and Meshek, and Tiras. Andthe sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, and Rephath, and Thogarmah. And the sons of Yavan,Elishah and Tharshish, and Dodanim. From these were the isles (nagvath) of thepeoples divided in their lands, each according to his language, according totheir families in their nations. And the sons of Cham, Kush, and Mizraim, andPhut, and Kenaan. And the sons of Kush, Seba, and Chavilah, and Sabetha, andRaamah, and Sabtekah. And the sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. And Kush begatNimrod: he began to be a powerful man in the earth. He was a powerful manbefore the Lord: therefore it is said, Like Nimrod the man of might before theLord. And the head (beginning) of his kingdom was Bavel, and Erek, and Akad,and Kalneh in the land of Bavel.[14] <\l > From that land he went forth toAthura,[15] <\l > and built Nineveh, and the city ofRechov,[16] <\l > and Kalach,[17] <\l > andResen,[18] <\l > between Nineveh and Kalach, whichwas a great city. And Mizraim begat the Ludaee, and Anamaee, and Lehabaee,[19] <\l >and Naphtuhaee, and Pathrusaee, and Kasluchaee, from whom came forth thePelishtaee and Kaputkaee. And Kenaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Cheth, and the Jebusaee, andAmoraee, and Girgashee, and Hivaaee, and Arkaee, and Antasaee, and Arvadaee,and Zemaraee, and Chamathaee: and afterwards the seed of the Kenaanaee werescattered abroad. And the frontier of Kenaanaah was from Zidon, coming to Gerarand to Azza, coming unto Sedom, and Amorah, and Admah, and Zeboim, unto Lasha.These are the sons of Cham, according to their progenies, to their languages,in their lands, in their peoples. And ofShem was born: (also he is the father of all the sons of Eber, and the brotherof Yapheth the Great:) the sons of Shem, Elim, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, andLud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram, Uz, and Chul, and Gether, and Mash. AndArphaxad begat Shelach; and Shelach begat Eber. And to Eber were born two sons:the name of the one was Peleg: because in his day the earth was divided. Andthe name of his brother was Yoktan. And Yoktan begat Almodad, and Shaleph, andChatsarmaveth, and Yarech, and Chadoram, and Uzal, and Dikelah, and Obal, andAvimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Chavilah, and Yobab: all these are the sonsof Yoktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha,[20] <\l > coming to Sephar, aneastern mountain. These are the sons of Shem,[21] <\l > according to theirprogenies, according to their languages, in their lands, in their peoples.These are the progenies of the sons of Noach, by their generations, in theirpeoples: and by them were the peoples outspread in the earth after the deluge.
XI. Andall the earth was of one language and one speech. And it was in theirmigrations[22] <\l > at the beginning, that they found aplain in the land of Babel., and dwelt there. And they said, a man to hiscompanion, Come, let us cast bricks and bake them in the fire. And they hadbrick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build acity, and a tower, the bead of it coming to the pinnacle of the heavens. And wewill make to us a name, lest we be dispersed upon the face of all the earth.And the Lord was revealed to punish the work of the city and the tower whichthe sons of men had builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one andthe language one with all of them: and this is what they begin to do. And nownothing will be restrained from them of what they imagine to do. Come, We willbe manifest, and will confuse their language there, that a man shall not bearthe language of his companion. And the Lord dispersed them from thence upon theface of all the earth, and they were restrained from building the city.Therefore the name of it is called Confusion,[23] <\l > because the Lordthere confused the tongue of all the earth, and from thence the Lord dispersedthem upon the face of all the earth.
These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a son of a hundred years,and he begat Arphaxad, two years after the deluge. And Shem lived after he hadbegotten Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. AndArphaxad lived thirty and five years, and begat Shelach. And Arphaxad livedafter he had begotten Shelach four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons anddaughters. And Shelach lived thirty years, and begat Eber. And Shelach lived afterhe had begotten Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eberlived thirty and four years, and begat Peleg. And Eber lived after he hadbegotten Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu. And Peleg lived after hehad begotten Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived thirty and two years, and begat Serug. And Reu livedafter he had begotten Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons anddaughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nachor. And Serug livedafter he had begotten Nachor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Nachor lived twenty and nine years, and begat Terach. And Nachorlived after he had begotten Terach a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sonsand daughters. And Terach lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nachor, and Haran. Andthese are the generations of Terach. Terach begat Abram, Nachor, and Haran; andHaran begat Lot. And Haran died before Terach his father in the land of hisnativity, in Ura of the Kasdaee. And Abram and Nachor took to them wives: thename of the wife of Abram, Sara; and the name of the wife of Nachor, Milcha,daughter of Haran the father of Milcha and the father of Yiska. And Sara wasbarren, she had no child. And Terach took Abram his son, and Lot the son ofHaran, the son of his son, and Sara his daughter-in-law, wife ofAbram his son, and went forth with them from Ura of the Kasdaee to go to theland of Kenaan. And they came to Charan, and dwelt there. And the days of Terachwere two hundred and five years, and Terach died in Charan.
[1]Or,"rapines." Sam Ver. "oppressions."
[1]Yekuma.
[1]Tuphana.
[1] Or,"The Lord overshadowed them by His Word." The Samaritan has,"And the Lord sealed over them."
[1] Sam Vers. Alteborah Sarnedib, "Upon the mountainsSarnedib." The Peschito Syriac, "Upon the mountians of Kardu"(Armenia).
[1]Veorik: the Samaritan text has, Vajichel, "And he expected;" the Samaritan Version, Veamen, "And he believed, or confided yet,"&c.
[1] "Unto(rozch) his mystery." --Sam. Vers.
[1] "Thesecret of the heart of man." --Sam Vers.
[1] "Hissmallness," zeireia.
[1] Sam. Vers."of angels."
[1] Sam."A man of husbandry."
[1]Chamra, "red wine;" Heb. Hayayin; Sam. Amrah.
[1]YaphtiLeia l’Yepheth. Yapheth signifies "enlargement."
[1] Sam. Vers."Zopha."
[1]"Astun."
[1]"Satkan."
[1]"Lakisa."
[1]"Aspa."
[1]"Enamim."
[1]"Misbal." --Sam.
[1] Sam. Vers."This is the portion of the sons."
[1] Heb."their removal from the east." Syriac, "It was while theyascended from the east."
[1]"Babel." Sam. Vers. "Lilaq."
[1] <\l >Or, "rapines." Sam Ver."oppressions."
[2] <\l >Yekuma.
[3] <\l >Tuphana.
[4] <\l > Or, "The Lord overshadowed themby His Word." The Samaritan has, "And the Lord sealed overthem."
[5] <\l > Sam Vers. Al teborah Sarnedib, "Upon the mountains Sarnedib." ThePeschito Syriac, "Upon the mountians of Kardu" (Armenia).
[6] <\l >Veorik: the Samaritan text has,Vajichel, "And heexpected;" the Samaritan Version, Veamen, "And he believed, or confided yet,"&c.
[7] <\l > "Unto (rozch) his mystery." --Sam. Vers.
[8] <\l > "The secret of the heart ofman." --Sam Vers.
[9] <\l > "His smallness," zeireia.
[10] <\l > Sam. Vers. "of angels."
[11] <\l > Sam. "A man of husbandry."
[12] <\l >Chamra, "red wine;" Heb. Hayayin; Sam. Amrah.
[13] <\l >Yaphti Leia l’Yepheth. Yaphethsignifies "enlargement."
[14] <\l > Sam. Vers. "Zopha."
[15] <\l > "Astun."
[16] <\l > "Satkan."
[17] <\l > "Lakisa."
[18] <\l > "Aspa."
[19] <\l > "Enamim."
[20] <\l > "Misbal." --Sam.
[21] <\l > Sam. Vers. "This is the portionof the sons."
[22] <\l > Heb. "their removal from theeast." Syriac, "It was while they ascended from the east."
[23] <\l > "Babel." Sam. Vers."Lilaq."