Genesis 7

1. Thee have I seen righteous. The security of the faithful is frequently stated in the O.T. For the safety of Noah contrasted with the destruction of other men, cp. Psa. xci. 7, 8; Prov. xiv. 26.

2 clean. That is, such as were appointed to be offered in sacrifice or used for food (Lev. xi.).—by two. Of these only one pair was to be taken, as being generally less serviceable to man.

11 second. Probably the second of the civil Hebrew year, afterwards called Marchesyan; which would fix the day of entering the ark about November 7. This time of the year was well adapted for collecting the requisite stores of food. For our Lord’s reference to the event, see Matt. xxiv. 37-39.

16. God. Elohim. The Lord. Jehovah, The Eternal, The Covenant God.—shut him in. Or, as the Chaldee reads, “protected him.”

17. Forty days. The period of full development of the Deluge. In ver. 24, one hundred and fifty days may imply period of the flood at its height, at the end of which it abated (viii. 3). Almost all peoples have traditions of a deluge; even the isolated tribes of the Amazon region in S. America.

19 whole heaven. The words, sometimes used in a restricted sense (Deut. ii. 25), are supposed by many to be so employed here, the deluge and its destructive effects being local. But see ver. 23.