Genesis 7

I myself will bring a deluge upon them: not an ordinary flood, but one of which I will appear to be the author. All nations, it plainly appears, by such records as remain, had heard something of this flood. Lucian in his Dea Syria tells a long story of it, out of the archives of Hierapolis, very like to this of Moses, only puts the name of Deucalion instead of Noah. Plutarch mentions the dove sent out of the ark: and so doth Abydenus, mentioned by Eusebius, (lib. ix. Praepar. Evang. cap. 12.) speak of birds in general, which being sent out, returned again to the ship, finding no place to rest in but there only. Josephus mentions a great many more, not only Berosus the Chaldean, but Hieronymus Egyptius, who wrote the ancient Phoenician History, Mnaseas, Nicholaus Damascenus, with many others. St. Cyril also (lib. i.) against Julian, quotes a passage out of Alexander Polyhistor, wherein is part of the story; only he calls Noah by the name of Xisuthros (as Abydenus calls him Seisithrus), in the dialect of the Assyrians, as some conjecture. And now it appears that the Americans have had a tradition of it (as credible authors, Acosta, Herrera, and others, inform us), which saith, " The whole race of mankind was destroyed by the deluge, except some few that escaped." They are the words of Augustin Corata, concerning the Peruvian tradition* And Lupus Gomara saith the same from those of Mexico. And, if we can believe Mart. Martinius’s History of China, there is the like among the people of that country. from the beginning. And then clean beasts, in this place, are such as are not rapacious; which were not to be offered unto God. Iu short, the rite of sacriiicing being before the flood, this difference of beasts was also before it. The only question is, How men came to make this difference? Some imagined, that they considered the nature of beasts, and by common reason determined that ravenous creatures were unfit for sacrifice: but it is more likely that they had directions from God for this, as they had for sacrificing. Which tiiough they be not recorded, yet, I think, are rather to be supposed, than imagine men were left in such matters to their own discretion. Abarbincl, indeed, here says, that " Noah out of his profound wisdom discerned clean from unclean:" and if he had stopped here, and not added, that " he discerned the difference from their natures," he had said the truth. For he being a prophet, may be thought to have had instructions from above about such matters; though others, who first were taught to sacrifice, had them before him. By sevens.] Seven couple, it is most probable, that they might have sufficientfor sacrifice when they came out of the ark; and, if need were, for food, if other provision did not hold out: at least for food, after the flood, when God enlarged their former grant, ix. 3. After forty days’ rain the waters were so high that they bare up the ark,.so (hat it did not touch the earth. [ciiai\ viii. tempests. But there is not a word in this story to countenance it. This wind, it is very probable, was the north ivind, which is very drying, and drives away rain, (Prov. xxv. 23.) which came, perhaps, out of the south, as I said upon iv. 14. Thus Ovid represents it in the flood of Deucalion, where he saith Jupiter, " Nubila disjecit, nimbisque Aquilono remotis/’ &c. And the ivaters assuaged.] This drying wind, and the sun, which now began to shine with great power, made the waters fall. For, if the second month, when the flood began, was part of our October and November; then the flood abated (after a hundred and fifty days) in the beginning of May, when the summer came on apace."

Genesis 7:1

_s03IE thou and all thy house into the ark. When the time of God’s patience was expired, he required him to enter into the ark which he had prepared; and unto which all sorts of creatures were gathered. For I have seen thee, &c.J I have observed thee sincerely obedient, when all the rest of the world were impious. JjLND God remembered Noah, &c.] Took compassion upon him, and heard his prayers, which we may well suppose he made for himself and for all creatures that were with him. Thus the word remember is used, xix. 29. xxx. 22. The Hebrew doctors here again took notice of the word Elohiin, (sec vi. 12.) which is the name for judges; and observe, that even God’s justice was turned to mercy. Justice itself was satisfied, as Sol. Jarchi expresses it. And God made a ivind to pass over the earth, &c] Some gather from hence, that, during the fall of the rain, there was no storm or violent wind at all; but the rain fell downright. And consequently, the ark was not driven far from the place where it was built: it having no masts, or sails, but moving as a hulk or body of a ship, without a rudder, upon a calm sea. Philo, indeed, (in his book De Abrahamo) gives a quite different description of the deluge; representing the incessant showers to have been accompanied with dreadful thunder and lightning, storms and

Genesis 7:2

Of every clean beast, &c. The distinction of beasts, clean andunclean, being made by the law of Moses, hath given some a colour to say he wrote this book after they came out of Egypt and received the law: which made him speak in that style. But it may be answered to this, that though, with respect to men’s food, the distinction of clean and unclean creatures was not before the law; yet some were accounted fit for sacrifice, and others not fit The fountains also of the deep.] There was no farther eruption, or boiling up of the water, out of the bowels of the earth. And the rain from heaven was restrained.] So that the rains ceased at the end of a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 7:3

And the waters returned from off the earth continually, &c. The waters, rolling to and fro by the wind, fell by little and little: and, after the end of the hundred aud fifty days, began to decrease. So the Vulgar Latin well translates the latter end of this verse, were abated; i.e. began sensibly to decrease.

Genesis 7:4

For yet seven days,-&c. So much lime he gave him for the disposing himself, and all things else in the ark. And the ark rested in the seventh month, &cj Of the year, not of the flood. Upon the mountains of Ararat.] i. e. Upon one of the “mountains, as xix. 29: " God overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt;” i.e. in one of which he dwelt, Judg. xii.7. " Jephthah was buried in the cities of Gilead f i. e. in one of the cities. For there was no one mountain called by this name of Ararat: but it belonged to a long ridge of mountains, like the Alps or Pyreneau, which are names appertaining not to one but to all. And Sir W. Raleigh, I think, truly judges that all the long ridges of mountains, which run through Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, Susiana, &c. i. e. from Cilicia to Paraponisus, are called by Moses Ararat, as by Pliny they are called Taurus. And that author thinks the ark settled in some of the eastern parts of Taurus, because Noah planted himself in the east after the flood (and it is likely did not travel far from the place where the ark rested), as appears, he thinks, from Gen. xi. 2. where we read his posterity, when they began to spread, went westward, and built Babel. The common opinion is, that the ark rested in some of the mountains of Armenia, as the Vulgar Latin translates the word Ararat; i.e. saith St. Jerome, upon the highest part of Taurus. But Epiphanius (who was before him) saith, upon the Gordiaean mountains; and so Jonathan, and Onkelos, and the Nubiensian geographer, and many others mentioned by Bochartus: who is of this “opinion, as having the most authority. Many of which say, that some relics of the ark were remaining upon these mountains: which (as Theodoret observes upon Isa. xiv. 13.) were accounted the highest in the whole world. Vid. Pbaleg. lib. ii. cap. 3. and lib. iv. cap. 38. There were such remainders of this history among the ancient Scythians, that, in their dispute with the Egyptians about their antiquity, they argue it partly from hence; that if (ho earth had ever been drowned, their country must needs be first inhabited again, because it was first cleared from the water; being the highest, of all other countries in the world. Thus their argument runs in Justin, lib. ii. cap. 1. where he hath given us a brief relation of it (if we had Trogus, whom he epitomizes, it is likely we should have understood their tradition more perfectly), in this manner: “If all countries were anciently drowned in the deep, profecto editissimam quamque partem, we must needs grant the highest parts of the earth were first uncovered of the waters that ran down from them: and the sooner any part was dry, the sooner were animals there generated. Now Scythia is so much raised above all other countries, that all the rivers which rise there run down into the Moeotis, and so into the Pontic and Egyptian sea,” &c.

Genesis 7:5

AnijL Noah did according nnto all that the Lord commanded him. He had said the same bcfore,(vi.22.) with respect to the preparation of the ark and provision of food: and now repeats here again,- with respect to his entering into it himself, with all other creatures. For so it follows, ver. 7, 8, &c. Ver. G. Noah teas six hundred years oH, 8cc] Current, ns we speak, not complete, as appears by comparing this with ix. 28, 29. where he is said to have lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, and in all nine hundred and fifty; whereas it should have been nine hundred fiftyone, if he had been full six huudred years old when the flood began. And the ivaters decreased continually until the tenth month.] For the summer’s heat must needs very much dry them up when there was no rain. In the tenth month were the tops of the mountains seen.’] This shews the mountain on which the ark rested was the highest, at least in those parts: because it settled there above two months before the tops m other mountains were seen. And, perhaps, the ark, by its weight, might settle there, while the top of that mouiHain was covered with water: which, it is possible, might not appear much before the rest Ver. G. At the end of forty days.] Forty days after the tops of the mountains appeared; i.e. on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, which was about the end of our July.

Genesis 7:7

He sent forth a raven. For the same end, no doubt, that the dove was sent forth; to make discovery whether the earth were dry: for, if it were, the smell of the dead carcasses, he knew, would allure it to fly far from the ark: which it did not, but only hovered about it, as it follows in the next words.. Went forth to and fro.] In the Hebrew more plainly, " going forth and returning.” That is, it often went from the ark, and as often returned to it. For after many flights, finding nothing but water, it still betook itself unto the ark: either entering into it, or sitting upon it; till at last the waters being dried up, it returned no more; that is, fifty days after its first going forth, (ver. 13.) All which time it spent in going out and coming back. Bochart, indeed, approves of the Greek version; which makes the raven “not to have returned:” for which he gives some specious reasons, (lib. ii. cap. 12. p. 2. Hierozoic.) and hath such of the Hebrews to countenance him as R. Eliezer, who saith (Pirke, cap. 23.) that " the raven found a carcass of a man upon a mountain, and so would return no more." But the next words (which in the Greek and Hebrew are both alike) confute this translation. Until the waters were dried up from the earth.] Which make this plain and easy sense, in connexion with the foregoing (as they run in the Hebrew), that while the earth continued covered with water, the raven often flew from the ark, but, finding no convenient place to rest in, returned thither again, till the ground was dry. Whereas, according to the Greek, we must suppose the raven to have returned to the ark, when the waters were dried up from the

Genesis 7:10

“And it came to pass after seven days, &c. As he had said, ver. 4.

Genesis 7:11

In the second month. Of the year, not of the six hundredth year of Noah’s life: i. e. in October; for anciently the year began in September: which was changed, among the Israelites, in memory of their coming out of Egypt, into March, Exod. xii. 2. The seventeenth day of the month.] Which was the beginning of our November. All the fountains of the great deep tvere broken tip, &c] Here are two causes assigned of the deluge: first, The breaking up the fountains of the great deep: and, secondly, TJie opening of the windows of heaven. By the great deep is meant, those waters that are contained in vast quantities within the bowels of the earth., Which, being pressed upward, by the falling down of the earth, or some other cause unknown to us, gushed out violently at several parts of the earth, where they either found or made a vent. For that is meant by breaking up the fountains of the great deep: the great holes, or rather gaps, that were made in the earth; at which those subterraneous waters burst out. This, joined with the continual rains for forty days together, miglit well make such a flood as is here described.’ For the rain came down, not in ordinary showers, but in floods; which Moses calls. opening the windows or flood-gates of heaven: and the LXX. translate cataracts. Winch they cau best understand who have seen those fallings of waters in the Indies, called spouts: where clouds do not break into drops, but fall, with a terrible violence, in a torrent. In short, it is evident from this history, that the waters did once cover the earth (we know not how deep), so that nothing of the.earth could be seen, till God separated them, and raised some into clouds, and made the rest fall into channels, which were made for them, and commanded dry land to appear, (Gen. i. 2, 7. 10.) Therefore, it is no wonder if these waters were raised up again, by some means or other, to cover the earth as before: especially when the waters above the firmament, came down to join with those below, as they did at the beginning. This some wise heathen looked upon as a possible thing. For Seneca, treating of ihvX fatal day (as he calls it, lib. iii. Nat. Quest, cap. 27.) when the deluge shall come (for he fancied it still future), questions how it may come to pass. Whether by the force of the ocean overflowing the earth; or by perpetual rains without intermission; or by the swelling of rivers, and the opening of new fountains; or, there shall not be one cause alone of so great a mischief; but all these things concur, vno agmine ad exitium humani generis, in one troop to the destruction of mankind. Which last resolution, he thinks, is the truth, both there and in the last chapter of that book, wiiere he hath these remarkable words: u Where hath not nature disposed moisture, to attack us, on all sides, when it pleases V Immanes sunt in abdito lams, &c. “There are huge lakes which we do not see; much of the sea that lies hidden; many rivers that slide in secret. So that there may he causes of a deluge on all sides, when some waters flow in under the earth; others flow round about it, which being long pent up overwhelm it; and rivers join with rivers, pools with pools, &c. And as our bodies sometimes dissolve into sweat, so the earth shall melt, and, without the help of other causes, shall find in itself what will drown it, &c. There being on a sudden, every -where, openly and secretly, from above and from beneath, an. eruption of waters.” Which words are written as if they had been directed to make a commentary upon Moses.

Genesis 7:12

And the rain was upon the earth forty days, &c.* It continued raining so long without any intermission.

Genesis 7:13

In the selfsame day, &c. In that very day, when the rain began, did Noah and his family, &c. finish their going into the ark. Which could not be done in a day or two; but required a good deal of time: and now he had completed it; the very last creature being there bestowed. For, it is likely, he put in all other things first; and then went in himself, with his wife, and children, and their wives: who were no sooner entered, but the waters brake in upon the earth from beneath; and came down pouring from above.

Genesis 7:16

The Lord shut him in. Or, shut the door after him: closed it so fast, that the waters could not enter, though it was not pitched, as the rest of the ark. How this was done, we need not inquire. It is likely by an angelical power; which, I supposed before, conducted the several creatures into the ark.

Genesis 7:17

And the flood was forty days upon the earth, &c.)

Genesis 7:18

And with thee I will establish my covenant J. I will make good the promise I have made thee, to preserve thee and all that are with thee in the ark. For so the word covenant is sometimes used: and it is reasonable to think God made him such a promise; which is plainly enough implied in ver. 8. Or, otherwise, we must understand this of the covenant about the promised seed, (iii. 15.) which, he saith, he will stablish with him; and consequently preserve him from perishing. Thou, thy sons, and thy sojis’ wives with thee. This passage shews the ark was not a hundred years in building, as some have imagined: for none of these sons were born a hundred years before the flood: and we must allow some years for their growth, till they were fit to take wives. Compare v. 32. with vii.6. And, if we observe how Shem, though he had a wife before the flood, yet had no children, (for Arphaxad, his first child, was not born till two years after the flood, xi.10.) it will incline us to think, that Noah received the command for building the ark not long before the flood came. And the waters prevailed.] By more rain, which fell after the forty days, the inundation grew strong and mighty (as the Hebrew word signifies); so strong, that the waters bore down houses and trees, as some expound it. And were increased greatly.] He said before, (vcr. 17.) they were increased, but now, that they were greatly increased. Which must be by more rain still falling on the earth; though not in such uninterrupted showers, as during the forty days. And the ark went upon the face of the waters.] Moved, from place to j#ace, as the waves drove it.

Genesis 7:19

Two of every sort. i.e. Of unclean beasts, as it is explained, vii. 2. They shall be male and female.’] To preserve the species. Lucian, in his book of the Syrian Goddess, where he describes the flood, saith, all creatures went into the ark, fir&ym, by pairs. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth.] This is a higher expression than before; signifying their rising still to a greater pitch by continued rains. And all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.] There were those anciently, and they have their successors now, who imagined the flood was not universal, aW iv $ ol r6rt dydp^irot $Kow t but only there where men then dwelt; as the author of the Questions, Ad Orthodoxos, tells’us, Q. 34. But they arc confuted by these words, and by other passages, which say all flesh died. For the truth is, the world was then fully peopled as it is now; and not only inhabited in some parts of it; as maybe easily demonstrated, if men would but consider, that, in the space of one thousand six hundred fifty-six years, when men lived so long as they then did, their increase could not but be six times more than hath been in the space of five thousand years, since men’s lives are shortened as we now see them. Therefore it is a strange weakness to fancy, that only Palestine, Syria, or Mesopotamia, or some such country, was drowned by the flood; no more of the earth being then inhabited: for those countries could not have held the fortieth part of the inhabitants, which were produced between the creation and the flood; no, all the earth was not more than sufficient to contain them; as many have clearly proved. Plato says, there were in his days, IlaXaioi \6yoi, ancient traditions, which affirmed there had been sundry destructions of mankind by floods, as well as other ways: in which, Pp^x* Tl ™ v a^pwTTwv XeiVnrrScu yLvoc, a small parcel of mankind were left. And particularly he saith concerning floods, that they were so great, that only cfiixpa favvpa, some very little sparks of mankind were saved, and those upon the tops of mountains: and the like he saith of beasts, that fr6fa ravra, very few of them were left, to support the life of mankind. (Lib. iii. Dc Legib. p. G77. Edit. Scran.) But this appears to have been an imperfect tradition; the higher mountains having been covered with the waters, as well as the low countries, and that all the eurth over: which need. not seem strange, if we consider what was said before upon ver. 11. And withal observe, that the diameter of the earth being seven thousand miles, and consequently, from the superficies to the centre, no less than three thousand five hundred miles, it is not incredible, (as Sir AV. Raleigh discourses, lib. i. cap. 7. §.6.) that there was water enough in the great deep, which, being forced up from thence, might overflow the loftiest mountains: especially, when water came pouring down, also, from above so fast, that no words can express it. For there is no mountain, above thirty miles high, upright; which thirty miles being found in the depths of the earth, one hundred and sixteen times; why should we think it incredible that the waters in the earth (three thousand five hundred miles deep) might be well able to cover the space of thirty miles in height? It would help men’s unbelief, if they would likewise consider the vast inundations which are made yearly in Egypt, only from the rains that fall in Ethiopia: and the like overflowings yearly, in America, of the great river Oronooko; whereby many islands and plains, at other times inhabited, are laid twenty foot under water, between May and September. -

Genesis 7:20

Of fowls after their kind, &c. In such numbers as is directed afterward, (vii. 6.) Which seems to some to be so very great, there being many sorts of living creatures, that they could not possibly be crowded into the ark; together with food sufficient for them. But such persons never distinctly considered such things as these: First, That all those which could live in the water arc excepted: and so can several creatures besides fishes. Sccondly, That of the species of beasts, including also serpents, there are not certainly known and described above a hundred and fifty (as Mr. Ray hath observed), and the number of birds about five hundred. Thirdly, That there are but a few species of very vast creatures; such as elephants, horses, &c. And, fourthly, That birds generally are of so small a bulk that they take up but a little room. And, fifthly, That, if we suppose creeping insects ought to be included, they take up less, though very numerous. And,, lastly, That less provision would serve them all, when they were shut up close, and did not spend themselves by motion; and besides, were in a continual confused agitation, which palled their appetites. From all which, and many more considerations, it is easy to demonstrate, there was more than room enough for all sorts of creatures that God commanded to be brought into the ark; and for their food, during the time they stayed in it. Tivo of every sort shall come unto thee, &c.j In the foregoing verse he had said, " Two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark.” Which he might think impossible; for by what means should he get them altogether? Therefore here it is explained in these words, " they shall come unto thee;" by the care of God,.who made them and moved them to it. R. Eliezer (chap. 23. of his Pirke) is commonly censured for saying, ** The angels that govern every species of creatures brought them thither." But (setting aside the opinion of angels peculiarly presiding over every kind of creature), I see no incongruity in affirming that God, by the ministry of his angels, brought them to the ark: but it is rather agreeable to the Holy Scriptures, which represent the Divine Majesty as employing their service in all affairs here below. Fifteen cubits upwards did the waters prevail, &c] Moses doth not here plainly say that the waters prevailed fifteen cubits above the highest mountains; though I do not sec but there might be water enough heaped up, by the forementioned means, to cover them so high; and the whole verse be thusdnterpreted, " The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upwards, after the mountains were “covered/* Otherwise, by the high hills in the verse before, we must understand only such single hills as are in several countries; and by mountains in this verse, those long ridges of hills (such as Caucasus and Taurus, &c.) which stretch themselves many hundreds of miles through a great part of the earth. See viii. 5.

Genesis 7:21

, Take unto thee of all food that is eaten, &c. Either by man or beast: food suitable to every creature; Among which, though there be many that feed on flesh; yet other food, as several histories testify, will go downwith them, when they are accustomed to it. See Philos-: tratus, lib. v. cap. IS. Tzetzes Chil, v. Hist. 9. Sulpit. Severus, De Monacho Thebaid. Dial. i. cap. 7.*

Genesis 7:22

TJius did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, &c. i. 6. He made the ark of sucji dimensions, and laid up provisions for all creatures, as he was directed. This he did when the hundred and twenty years drew towards an end. See ver. 18 f

Genesis 7:24

And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days. These words seem to me to import, that whatsoever short intermissions there might be, yet the rain continued a hundred and fifty days. Otherwise, it is hard to explain how the waters increased more and more, as it is said ver. 17, 18, 19. Besides, had the rain ended, as we commonly suppose, at forty days’ end, the waters could not have prevailed a hundred and fifty days, but would have sunk much before that time; by reason of the declivity of the earth. And yet they were so far from falling, that (as Mr. Ray hath observed, in his pious and learned discourse of the Dissolution of the World), the tops of mountains were not seen till the beginning of the tenth month; that is, till two hundred and seventy days were passed. CHAP. vnr.