Genesis 6:16
Ver. 16. A window shalt thou make to the ark,.... Or a "light", such as is that at noon, for which the word in the dual number is used; and therefore Junius and Tremellius translate it a "clear light". The Jewish writers {s} will have it to be a precious stone, a pearl which Noah fetched from the river Pison, and hung up in the ark, and it gave light to all the creatures, like a large chandelier; but a window no doubt it was to let light into the several apartments, and to look out at on occasion, since Noah is afterwards said to open it; but what it was made of is difficult to say, since it does not appear that as yet glass was invented. Some think it was made of crystal, which would let in light, and keep off the water. A very learned {t} man is of opinion, that Noah understanding chemistry, prepared a fine subtle fragrant spirit, of an oily nature and luminous, which he put into vessels made of crystal or glass, and hung them up in every room in the ark, and which was both illuminating and refreshing; and this he thinks is what is meant by the "Zohar", or "light", which we translate a "window"; but this is afterward said to be opened by Noah, to send forth the raven and the dove, which will not agree with such a vessel of spirituous liquor:
and in a cubit shall thou finish it above; not the window, as some think, which they place at top of the ark, and suppose to be a cubit in length, but the ark itself, which was finished with a roof raised up a cubit high in the middle:
and the door of the ark shall thou set in the side thereof; on which it is not said; an Arabic writer {u} places it on the east side of it, on which side he supposes Noah and his sons dwelt, and on the west side his wife and his sons' wives. How large this door was is not said; it is reasonably supposed {w} to be ten cubits high and eight broad, that there might be room enough for an elephant to enter in by it; and it seems it was so large, that Noah, and those with him, could not shut it, but it was done by the Lord, Ge 7:16[with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it: the above Arabic writer {x} makes the lower story to be for the beasts, the second for the birds, and the third for Noah and his children; and with him agrees a Jewish writer {y}: but as by this distribution no place is left for provisions, they seem most correct who place the beasts in the lower story, and the birds with Noah and his family in the uppermost, and the provisions for all in the middle. This ark was a type of the church of God. As to the form and pattern of it, it was of God, so the separation of men from the world in a church state is of God; it is by his appointment, and it is his will, that when any numbers of men are converted in a place, that they should be incorporated together in a church state, the form of which is given by him, its officers appointed, and the laws and ordinances of it fixed by him: and as to the matter of it, "Gopher wood", a lasting and incorruptible wood, denoting the duration of the church; God ever had, and ever will have a church in the world: as to the parts of it, and rooms in it, the rooms may point at particular churches, of which there have been many; or may signify, that there is always room enough in the church of God to receive saints. The ark had three stories in it, as the tabernacle and temple had three divisions, which were types of the same also; and may have respect to the visible church, consisting of believers and unbelievers, the invisible church, or general assembly of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, and the church triumphant. The door into the ark may signify Christ, who, and faith in him, may be said to be the door into the church, and to all the ordinances of it: the window may either typify the glorious light of the Gospel, held forth in the church, or the ordinances of it, to which sensible souls betake themselves, as doves to their windows, Isa 60:8. Into this ark not only Noah and his family, but creatures of all sorts were admitted, as sinners of all sorts called by grace, and become peaceable, are received into the church of God; yea, even good and bad have a place here, though the latter under the notion and character of the former, but are hypocrites in Zion: here also were plenty of provisions for all in it, as there are in the church of God fulness of spiritual provisions for all the people of God. The ark was of the use of a ship, and was the means of saving a few men, even Noah and his family; so the church of God has the nature and use of a ship, of which Christ is the pilot, and conducts it through the sea of this world, in which it is often tossed with tempests, and distressed; but at last brought to its haven, in which a few are saved, not as the cause, which alone is Christ, but as the means. The Apostle Peter makes baptism its antitype, 1Pe 3:21 which is God's ordinance, and not man's, of his appointing; as to the form and manner of it, is the object of the world's scorn, when rightly administered, as Noah's ark was; represents a burial, as that did when Noah entered into it; and was an emblem of Christ's resurrection and ours, when he came out of it: it was a type of baptism in its salutary effect, it saves by water, as that does by leading to the resurrection of Christ; it saves not as a cause, but as a means of directing to Christ, the author of salvation; and saves not all in the water, only those that are in the ark, that is, truly and rightly in the church, and real members of it, or that are in Christ; and so many make the ark also a type of Christ.{s} Targum Jonathan in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. {t} Dickinson. Physic. vet & vera, c. 20. p. 324, 325. {u} Patricides, apud Hottinger. p. 248, 250. {w} Scbeuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 40. {x} Patricides, apud Hottinger. p. 248, 250. {y} Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. Genesis 6:17Ver. 17. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth,.... That there was such a flood of waters brought upon the earth, is confirmed by the testimonies of Heathen writers of all nations; only instead of Noah they put some person of great antiquity in their nation, as the Chaldeans, Sisithrus or Xisuthrus; the Grecians and Romans, Prometheus or Deucalion, or Ogyges. Josephus {z} says, all the writers of the Barbarian or Heathen history make mention of the flood and of the ark; and he produces the authorities of Berosus the Chaldean, and Hieronymus the Egyptian, who wrote the Phoenician antiquities, and Mnaseas, and many others, and Nicolaus of Damascus: and there are others that Eusebius {a} makes mention of, as Melo, who wrote against the Jews, yet speaks of the deluge, at which a man with his sons escaped; and Abydenus the Assyrian, whose account agrees with this of Moses that follows in many things; as do also what Lucian {b} and Ovid {c} have wrote concerning it, excepting in the name of the person in whose time it was: and not only the Egyptians had knowledge of the universal deluge, as appears from the testimony of Plato, who says {d}, that an Egyptian priest related to Solon, out of their sacred books, the history of it; and from various circumstances in the story of Osiris and Typhon, which name they give to the sea, and in the Chaldee language signifies a deluge; and here the Targum of Onkelos renders the word by "Tuphana"; and the Arabs to this day call the flood "Al-tufan"; but the Chinese also frequently speak of the deluge {e}; and even it is said the Americans of Mexico and Peru had a tradition of it {f}; and the Bramines also {g}, who say that 21,000 years ago the sea overwhelmed and drowned the whole earth, excepting one great hill, far to the northward, called "Biudd"; and that there fled thither one woman and seven men (whose names they give, see Ge 7:13) those understanding out of their books that such a flood would come, and was then actually coming, prepared against the same, and repaired thither; to which place also went two of all sorts of creatures (see Ge 6:19) herbs, trees, and grass, and of everything that had life, to the number in all of 1,800,000 living souls: this flood, they say, lasted one hundred and twenty years (see Ge 6:3) five months and five days; after which time all these creatures that were thus preserved descended down again, and replenished the earth; but as for the seven men and woman, only one of them came down with her, and dwelt at the foot of the mountain.And this flood was not topical or national only, but general and universal: it was brought "upon the earth", upon the whole earth, as the following account shows; and by the Lord himself, it was not through second causes, or the common course of things: and to show it possible and certain, this form of expression is used, "behold, I, even I, do bring"; it was wonderful, beyond the power of nature, and therefore a "behold" is prefixed; it was possible, because the Almighty God declares he would bring it; and it was certain, which the redoubling of the word points at; and would be quickly, since he said, "I am bringing", or "do bring"; just about to do it; wherefore the ark was not so long preparing as some have thought, and the command to build it was not long before the flood came. The word for the flood comes from one which signifies to fall {h}, either because of the fall of the waters at it, or because it made all things to fall, wither, and decay, as herbs, plants, men, beasts, and all creatures; or from one that signifies to consume, or to mix and confound, and bring all things to confusion, as Jarchi suggests {i}: and the end and intention of it, as here expressed, wasto destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every living creature, men and women, the beasts and cattle of the earth, and every creeping thing on it, and the fowls of the heaven, man principally, and these for his sake.[And] everything that is in the earth shall die; but not what was in the waters, the fishes of the sea, which could live in the flood.{z} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 6. {a} Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 12, 19. {b} De Dea Syria. {c} Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 7. {d} In Timaeo, & de Iside & Osir. {e} Sinic. Hist. l. 1. p. 3, 26. {f} See Bishop Patrick, in loc. {g} Miscellanea Curiosa, vol. 8. p. 261, 262. {h} lbn "cecidit". {i} hlb "consumpsit, vel" llb "confudit, miscuit". Genesis 6:18Ver. 18. But with thee will I establish my covenant,.... Made with Noah at this time, though not expressed, that on his making an ark, as God directed him, and going into it at his command, he would preserve him while building it from the rage of wicked men, and save him in it and his family, when the flood should come; and that they should come safe out of it, and repeople the world, which should be no more destroyed by one; for this covenant respects that later mentioned, Ge 9:11 so Aben Ezra; or the promise of the Messiah, which should spring from him, for the fulfilment of which Noah and his family were spared; and this in every article God would confirm, of which he might be assured from his power, veracity, and faithfulness, and other perfections of his:and thou shalt come into the ark; when the covenant would begin more clearly to be established, and more plainly to be fulfilling; Noah on the one hand being obedient to the divine will, having built an ark, and entering into it; and on the other, God giving him leave, and an order to enter into it, and shutting him up in it to preserve him:thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee; that is, Noah and his wife, and his sons and their wives, in all eight persons; and eight only, as the Apostle Peter observes, 1Pe 3:20 by this it appears that Noah's three sons were married before the flood, but as yet had no children. Jarchi concludes, from the mode of expression used, that the men and women were to be separate; that they entered the ark in this manner, and continued so, the use of the marriage bed being forbidden them while in the ark. Genesis 6:19Ver. 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,.... That is, of fowls, cattle, and creeping things, as after explained; and two of each sort at least were to be brought, as Jarchi observes, and not fewer; though of the clean sort there were to be more, even seven, as after directed; and these were to be brought, that they might preserve their species, as it follows:to keep [them] alive with thee; to be fed and nourished by him in the ark, while others perished by the flood, that so they might propagate their own species, and be continued, for which reason it is further ordered:they shall be male and female; not any two, but one male and one female, for the end before mentioned. Genesis 6:20Ver. 20. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind,.... What before is generally expressed by "every living thing", is here particularly explained of every sort of them; and from the order of them some have thought that in the same manner they were disposed of in the ark, the fowls in the first story, the cattle in the next, and the creeping things in the lowermost: but others place them in a different manner, See Gill on "Ge 6:16" the roots and grain in the lower story, the living creatures of all sorts in the second, and their hay and litter in the third: the second story being three hundred cubits long, and fifty broad, contained in the whole fifteen thousand cubits, which is supposed to be divided into an hundred and fifty equal rooms; so the Targum of Jonathan on Ge 6:14 of these, four are allowed for Noah and his family, two with earth for those animals that live underground, one for those which live on herbs and roots, and the other for those which live on flesh; and the other one hundred and forty four rooms are divided into three parts, that is, twenty four for birds, twenty five for beasts, and the other ninety five for such animals as are designed to be food for the rest; and according to the calculations of learned men, there appear to have been in this story rooms sufficient for all sorts of birds, beasts, and creeping things {k}:two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive; that is, they shall come of themselves, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, the providence of God so directing and impelling them, just as the creatures came to Adam; so that there was no need for Noah to take any pains by hunting or hawking to get such a number together: the Targum of Jonathan is,"they shall come unto thee by the hand of an angel, who shall take and cause them to come.''So says another Jewish {l} writer, that they were collected by the angels who presided over each species; in which, except the notion of angels presiding over every kind of creature, there is no incongruity, as Bishop Patrick observes; and two of every sort were to come to the ark, to be preserved alive there, that they might propagate their species. So Lucian says {m}, that swine, and horses, and lions, and serpents, and all other creatures which were on the earth, entered into the ark "by pairs".{k} Vid. Bedford's Scripture Chronology, c. 12. p. 155. {l} Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. {m} De Dea Syria. Genesis 6:21Ver. 21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten,.... By man and beast; of which see Ge 1:29and thou shall gather [it] to thee; to lay up in the ark:and it shall be for food for thee, and for them: during the flood, a quantity sufficient for them: and according to the calculation of learned men {n}, well versed in mathematics, there was room enough in the ark, and to spare, to put food for them all during the time the flood was on the earth.{n} Buteo de Area Noe, Wilkins's Essay towards a real Character, Bedford's Chronology, &c. Genesis 6:22Ver. 22. Thus did Noah,.... Or "and" or "therefore Noah made" {o} the ark; and "all things", as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions:according to all that God commanded him, so did he; he made the ark according to the pattern God gave him, he gathered together food for himself and family, and for all the creatures, and laid it up in the ark as God directed him; and when the time was come, he and they not only entered into it, but he took with him all the creatures he was ordered, as after related; in this we have an instance of his fear of God, of his faith in his word, and of his obedience to his will, see Heb 11:7 in all which he was a type of Christ, the builder of his church the ark was a figure of, and the pilot of it through the tempestuous sea of this world, and the provider of all good things for it, for the sustenance of it, and of those who are in it.{o} veyw "et fecit", Pagninus, Montanus; "fecit itaque", Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.