Genesis 7
DOYLY— the mountains were covered.] It appears upon examination that the highest mountain in the world is not more than four miles perpendicular. Bp. Stillingfleet.
Genesis 7:4
- — upon the mountains of Ararat.] That is, upon one of the mountains; as chap. xix. 29. “God overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt;” that is, in one of which AND God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
Genesis 7:5
- — were the tops of the mountains seen.] The ark by its weight settled on Mount Ararat, while the top of the mountain, where it rested, was covered with water, and that several cubits high: so that the top of this mountain might not appear much before the tops of the other mountains. That the top of it was higher than the neighbouring ones, is probable from the ark’s settling upon it. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.
Genesis 7:6
- — window] Or, casement. It is not the same word, which is used chap. vi. 16. And most probably, (by comparing the word used here by the Chaldee, with Dan. vi. 10,) it is to be understood of some shut or casement; which, being easily removed, gave a prospect abroad, as well as a passage out for the raven, and
Genesis 7:11
- — were all the fountains of the great deep broken up.] By “the great deep” is meant those waters that are contained in vast quantities within the bowels of the earth: which by some cause unknown to us were now made suddenly to gush out at several parts of the earth, where they either found or made a vent: the waters of the sea likewise at the same time breaking in upon the land. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells.
— and the windows of heaven were opened.] By this must be understood the causing of the waters, which were suspended in the clouds, to fall upon the earth, not in ordinary showers, but in floods, or (as the Seventy translate it) in cataracts; of which travellers may have the truest notion, who have seen those prodigious falls of water, so frequent in the Indies, where the clouds many times do not break into drops, but fall with a terrible violence in a torrent. Bp. Patrick, Stackhouse.
In the Scriptures, the heavens are said to be “opened” when it rains, and “shut” when rain is withholden, and the like. The original word here does not signify wisdom, according to the modern idea; but rather clefts, fawces, passages: these were opened, the clouds were rest, as we say. The waters, rising from beneath, met the rains descending from above; and uniting their forces, they deluged the world. Bp. Horne.
Some are puzzled to find water enough to form an universal deluge: to assist their endeavours it may be remarked, that was all that precipitated, which is dissolved in the air, it might probably be sufficient to cover the surface of the whole earth to the depth of above thirty feet. Bp. Watson.
Genesis 7:12
- And the rain was upon the earth forty days &c.] It continued raining so long without any intermission. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 7:16
- — and the Lord shut him in.] God, probably by the ministry of an angel, fastened and secured the door of the ark, into which Noah was entered, from the danger of the waters, as well as against the attempts of
Genesis 7:17
17, 18. And the flood &c.] At the end of forty days the waters were come just high enough to lift the ark from the ground; and afterward increased so far as to carry it freely up and down, as the waves drove it. Pyle.
Genesis 7:19
- — all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.] These words, and other passages, which say, that “all flesh died,” ver. 21, prove the flood to have been universal. The truth is, there is every reason to suppose that the world was, at the least, full as well peopled as it is now; perhaps much more so: and that to destroy its inhabitants, the inundation must have fallen upon every quarter, and encompassed the whole globe. Bp. Patrick, Stackhouse.
Genesis 7:20
- Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail;] That is, about twenty-two feet and a half above the mountains. Whereas Moses assures us, that the waters prevailed fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, let the mountains themselves be appealed to for the truth of this assertion. Examine the highest eminences of the earth, and they all with one accord, produce the spoils of the ocean, deposited upon them on that occasion; the shells and skeletons of sea-fish and sea-monsters of all kinds. The Alps, the Apennines, the Pyrenoses, the Andes, the Atlas, and Ararat, every mountain of every region under heaven, from Japan to Mexico, all conspire in one uniform universal proof, that they all had the sea spread over their highest summits. Search the earth, and you will find the Moose-deer, natives of America, buried in Ireland; Elephants, natives of Asia and Africa, buried in the midst of England; Crocodiles, natives of the Nile, in the heart of Germany; shell-fish, never known in any but the American seas, together with entire skeletons of whales, in divers other countries; and, what is more, trees and plants of various kinds, which are not known to grow in any region under heaven. All which are
Before CHRIST 2349. The continuance of the flood. The ark resteth on Ararat. Before CHRIST 2360. b Wind. 10. 4. + Heb. the breath of the spirit of life. c Wind. 10. 4.
Genesis 7:21
- And all flesh died] “If God spared not the old world, but saved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, &c. the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished,” 2 Pet. ii. 4, &c. “As it was in the days of Noah,” saith our Saviour, so shall sinners be surprised in the midst of their security. Consider here, what was the consequence of a forgetfulness of God, a contempt of His Laws, an abuse of His patience, and the turning of a deaf ear to the preachers of righteousness: a whole world of sinners, surprised by death and judgment, in the midst of the greatest security! Whether something like this is not the case of too many Christians, when death surprises them, is worthy of the consideration of every one who reads this history. Bp. Wilson. Chap. VIII. ver. 1. And God remembered Noah.] This is spoken of God after the manner of men. The meaning is, that God shewed His care of Noah. We are said to remember that which we take care of. God is said to “remember,” when He relieves and shews mercy, Heb. vi. 10; Pa. cxxxvi. 23. Bp. Kidder. He remembered the promise He had made to Noah, of preserving him, and all that were with him in the ark. Dr. Wells. — and God made a wind to pass over the earth.] Which by degrees drove back the waters into the several channels and caverns, whence they had broken out. Pyle.