Annotations on the Pentateuch, Psalms, Song of Songs, Biblical commentary 1 · Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII.
1, The waters of the flood asswage. 4, The Arke resteth on Ararat. 7, Noe sends forth the Raven and the Dove. 15, God biddeth, Noe goe forth of the Ark, 18, and he goeth. 20, He buildeth an Altar, and offereth sacrifice; 21, which God accepteth, and promiseth to curse the earth so no more.
ANd God remembred Noe, and every beast, and all the cattell that was with him in the Arke: and God made a wind to passe over the earth; and the waters asswaged. And the fountaines of the Deep, and the windows of the heavens were stopped: and the raine from heavens was restrained. And the waters returned from off the earth, going and returning: and the waters abated at the end of the hundred and fifty dayes. And the arke rested in the seventh monethmonth, in the seventeenth day of the monethmonth: upon the mountaines of Ararat. And the waters were going and abating, untill the tenth monethmonth: in the tenth (monethmonth) in the first of the monethmonth, the tops of the mountaines were seene. And it was at the end of fortie dayes, that Noe opened the window of the arke which he had made. And he sent forth a Raven: and it went-forth goingforth, and returning: untill the waters were dryed from off the earth. And he sent forth a Dove from him: to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. And the Dove found not rest for the sole of her foot; and shee returned unto him into the arke; for the waters were on the face of all the earth: and he put-forth his hand, and tooke her; and caused her to come unto him into the arke. And hee waited yet other seven dayes: and did againe send forth the Dove out of the arke. And the Dove came in to him at eventide; and loe an olive leafe pluckt off, was in her mouth: and Noe knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he waited yet other seven dayes: and sent-forth the Dove; and she did not againe returne unto him any more. And it was in the sixe hundred and one yeere; in the first (monethmonth) in the first of the monethmonth; the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noe removed the covering of the arke; and he saw, and behold the face of the ground was dry. And in the second monethmonth, in the seven and twentieth day of the monethmonth; the earth was dryed.
And God spake unto Noe, saying. Goe-forth out of the arke: thou, and thy wife, and thy sonnes, and thy sonnes wives with thee. Every beast which is with thee, of all flesh; of fowle, and of cattell, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, bring thou forth with thee; that they may breed abundantly in the earth; and be fruitfull and multiply upon the earth. And Noe went forth: and his sonnes, and his wife, and his sons wives with him. Every beast, every creeping-thing, and every fowle; all that creepeth upon the earth: after their families, went forth out of the arke. And Noe builded an Altar unto Iehovah: and tooke of every cleane beast, and of every cleane fowle, and offered-up burnt offerings on the altar. And Iehovah smelled a smell of rest: and Iehovah said in his heart; I will not againe curse any more the ground for mans sake; for the imagination of mans heart is evill from his youth: and I will not againe any more smite every living thing, as I have done. Henceforth all dayes of the earth; seed-time, and harvest, and cold, and heat, and sommer, and winter, and day, and night, shall not cease.
Annotations.
GOd remembred] that is, shewed himselfe to have care of Noe, and helped him out of his troubles. Things are often spoken of God, after the manner of men: as Gen. 6. 6. So after Gen. 30. 22. every beast] or, every living thing; the Greek translateth, all wild beasts, and addeth all fowles and all creeping things. a wind:] The Hebrew name Ruach, signifieth generally any spirit, or wind; and all winds are brought forth of God out of his treasuries, Psal. 135. 7. and wee know not whence they come, or whither they goe, Ioh. 3. 8. but God maketh the weight for them, Iob 28. 25. and raised this wind extraordinarily, in mercy. asswaged] or, were stilled, quieted. This word is applyed also to the asswaging of anger, Est. 2. 1. and of murmurings, Num. 17. 5. Wherefore this wind, (which seemeth to be extraordinary,) had a miraculous effect in asswaging the waters, whereas usually wind maketh them rage, Psal. 107. 25. Ion. 1. 4. Therefore one Chaldee paraphrase calleth it a wind, (or spirit) of mercies.
Vers. 2. of the deepe] the water gulfes within the earth, which before were broken up: see Gen. 7. 11. stopped] thus God shewed himselfe to be hee that can stay the bottles of heaven, Iob 38. 37.
Vers. 3. going and returning] that is, continually returning, to weet, into their channels and treasuries within the earth, Psal. 33. 7. Eccles. 1. 7. So after in vers. 5. going and abating, that is, continually abating, more and more. So going, is elsewhere used for continuing, and increasing, Exod. 19. 19. The like is in Gen. 12. 9. at the end] or after: as the Greeke translateth it here, and in v. 6.
Vers. 4. of Ararat] that is, of Armenia: a country neere Assyria and Mesopotamia, mentioned also in 2 King. 19. 37. Esay 37. 38. Ier. 51. 27. The Greek here calleth them as the Hebrew Ararat, but in Esay 37. 38. it translateth it Armenia. Also the Chaldee here calleth them mounts of Kardu, which many Writers witnesse to be hills in Armenia. And the name Ararat seemeth to bee turned into Armenia, of Aram, (that is Syria) and Minni, (wherof see Ier. 51. 27) or of Ararat & Minni compounded.
Vers. 5. tops] Hebr. the heads.
Vers. 6. that Noe opened] Hebr. and Noe opened: we may leave the word and, as doth the Greeke, and our English speech also beareth: which the Hebrew it selfe elsewhere sheweth may bee done, as 2 King. 14. 10. and why shouldst thou meddle? but in 2 Chron. 25. 19. and is left out: so in 2 Chron. 18. 12. and is set downe, which in 2 King. 22. 13. is left out. So it may be in many other places, as Gen. 22. 4.
Vers. 7. a Raven] an uncleane fowle, Deut. 14. 14 sent forth forty dayes after the tops of the mounts appeared, to see if the waters were abated, as the Greek addeth, and as the next verse sheweth of the dove. For the Raven would have fed on the dead karkasses, if any had appeared, Prov. 30. 17. returning] that is, flying to and fro, returning to the arke, but not into the same, which the Dove after did, vers. 9. whereupon the Greeke interpreters (as it seemeth) translated it returned not. Noe had no tydings of the waters abating, brought by this messenger, therefore he sendeth another, the Dove: which returning with an Olive leafe or branch; vers. 11. signified the glad tidings of peace, by the ministery of the Gospell, and of the Spirit, (which the Dove represented Mat. 3. 16.) but the ministery of the Law & letter (which the Raven seemeth here to figure out,) giveth the heart of man no evidence, that the waters of Gods wrath for sinne, are any whit abated.
Vers. 8. a Dove from him] the Greeke saith, after him, meaning the Raven. This Dove seemeth to be sent out seven dayes after the Raven, as may bee gathered by the 10. verse, where is mentioned Noes waiting other seven dayes. Of the sending forth of this Dove, and of her returning unto Noe, (whom heathens name Deucalion) there is express mention in humane Writers, Plutarch. dialog. de industr. animal. abated] Hebr. lightned: that is, decreased: so in v. 11.
Vers. 10. he waited] or, patiently abode: so in v. 12. did againe send] or, added to send: so in v. 12. did not adde to returne: and verse 21. I will not adde to curse; that is, not curse any more.
Vers. 11. leafe] or branch: as it is elsewhere englished, Nehem. 8. 15. a signe that the waters were low: and spiritually a token of grace and peace in Iesus Christ, brought in the mouth, that is, the word and doctrine of the Ministers of the Gospell, compared unto Doves, Mat. 10. 15. Esay 60. 8. Romanes 10. 15. which came unto the Church in the evening of times, in these last dayes, Heb. 1. 1.
Vers. 13. the 601 yeere] to weer, of Noes life: as the Greeke expresseth. in the first] to weet, the first monethmonth, as the Greeke addeth; and the Hebrew before in v. 4. and after in v. 14. plainly speaketh; but affecting brevity, such words are often omitted. So after: the first of the monethmonth, that is, the first day, as the first of the feast, Mat. 26. 17. is expounded by the holy Ghost, the first day of the feast, Marke 14. 12.
Vers. 14. the 27 day of the monethmonth] By this it appeareth that Noe was in the arke a full yeere (or yeere of dayes) containing 365 dayes, according to the course of the Sunne. For he entred the ark, the 17 day of the second monethmonth, in the 600 yeere of his life, Gen. 7. 11. 13. and there he continued till the 27 day of the second monethmonth in the 601 yeere of his life, as the 13 and 14 verses of this 8th Chapter shew. Now the twelve moneths of the Hebrewes had 354 dayes, (for sixe moneths had each of them thirty dayes, and the other sixe moneths had each 29 dayes, which make 354:) to which adde 11 dayes, (till the 27 of the 2 monethmonth full ended) and there are dayes 365.
Vers. 19. after their families] that is, the male with his female, not confusedly rushing out all together, but in order, and after their kind, as the Greeke translateth. Families are here attributed to the bruit creatures, as before, man and wife, Gen. 7. 2.
Vers. 20. built an Altar] of earth, as is probable by the Law after given in Exod. 20. 24. an Altar of earth shalt thou make unto me. And such the Nations after used, mentioning Altars of grasse, and of turfe, Uirgil. Aeneid. 12. Horat. l. 1. od 19. An Altar is called in Hebrew, Mizbeach, that is, a sacrificatory, or place of slaying the sacrifice, for the sacrifices were killed, upon it, or by it, Gen. 22. 9. 10. Lev. 1. 11. It was a holy place, and sanctified the offering. Mat. 23. 19. Exod. 29. 37. and so was a figure of Christ, by whom we offer the sacrifice of praise alwayes to God, Heb. 13. 10.—15. And it is a tradition of the Iewes, that the place where Noe built this altar, was the place where Abraham afterward built an Altar to offer Isaak, Gen. 22. 2. and where Kain and Abel offered before. See the notes on Gen. 4. 3. every cleane beast] of the bullocks, sheep, and goats: see the notes on Gen. 7. 2. So in Pirke R. Eliezer, chap. 23. it is said, Noe brought of the kind of cleane beasts, a bull, a sheepe, and a goat, and of the kind of cleane fowles, turtle doves and young Pigeons, and built an Altar, and offered, &c. burntoffrings:] named in Hebrew gnoloth, that is, ascensions, for that they went up in fire to the Lord, all (except the skin) upon the altar, as Moses sheweth, saying, It is the burnt-offring, because of the burning upon the altar all the night, unto the morning, Leviticus 6. 9. Therefore the Holy Ghost in Greeke calleth them holocautomata, that is, whole burntofferings, and sheweth how they figured Christs body offered up unto God for us, Hebrewes 10. 6. 10. and our reasonable service of God by him, whiles we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, Rom. 12. 1. Externall burnt offerings were in use in the Church, before the Law given at mount Sinai, as appeareth by this, and Exod. 10. …5. and 18. 12.
Vers. 21. the smell] or, the odour savour: It hath the name originally of respiration, and it signified Gods gracious acceptation of the sacrifice offered; as 1 Sam. …6. 19▪ let him smell an offring: Lev. 26. 31 I will not smell the smell of your sweet odours: So in Amos 5. …1. Wherefore the Chaldee translateth, the Lord accepted with favour his oblation. The Scripture speaketh of God, after the manner of men, who are delighted with sweet odours, Esay 3. 24. Song 1. … of rest] that is, of sweetnesse, or of sweet savour, which refresheth, comforteth, and quieteth the sense. The Hebrew word is of the same root that Noes name was of, which signified rest and comfort, Gen. 5. 29. The Greeke here, and usually, turneth it eu…di…s, of sweet-savour: which the Apostle followeth, saying; Christ hath given himselfe for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a smell of sweet savour, Ephesians 5. 2. where this sacrifice of Noe, and all other in the Law, are shewed to have their accomplishment in Christs death: for otherwise, as it was unpossible that the blood of buls and goats should take away sinnes, Heb. 10. 4. so was it unpossible that the smoake of such flesh burned, should be a sweet odour to God. in his heart] or, unto his heart, that is, hartily, minding and purposing this thing which followeth. Some understand it, unto Noes heart, as spoken to his comfort: but the Hebrew (el) unto, is often used for in: as Gen. 6. 6. 1 Sam. 27. 1. and the Greek explaineth it in the former sense. The Chaldee translateth in (or by) his word: which may bee understood as an oath; as not onelyonly the Hebrew Doctors say, that God stretched out his right hand, and swar…, &c. (Pirke R. Eliezer, chap. 23.) but the Prophet also witnesseth, I have sworne that the waters of Noe▪ shall no more goe over the earth, Es. 54. 9. not againe curse] or, not adde to curse: This taking away of the curse (notwithstanding mans corrupt heart remaining) is a notable testimony of Gods rich mercy in Christ, by whom we are freed from the curse, Gal. 3. 13. Rev. 22. 3. Zach. 14. 11. For the covenant now made concerning the waters with Noe▪ was a figure of that spirituall and eternall covenant of peace with us in Christ, as is shewed in Esay 54. 8. 9. 10. for mans sake] the Greek saith, for mens workes. for the imagination] or, though the fiction: See Gen. 6. 5. where from mens merits, the contrary is concluded to that which here God in mercy promiseth. youth] or child-hood: so that it meaneth not onelyonly mans age, but infancy or childs age, as the word▪ whence youth here is derived, is spoken of Moses when he was a babe, Exod. 2. 6. and we all are transgressors from the womb, Esay 48. 8. Psal. 51. 7. and 58. 4. In Breshith rabba (an Hebrew commentary upon this place) a Rabbine is said to bee asked, When is the evill imagination put into m…n? And hee answered, From the … that he is formed. as I have done] to weet, universally with water: howbeit, fire shall consume the remnant, Iob 22. 20. for the heavens and the earth now, are by Gods word kept-in-store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgement; and perdition of ungodly men: 2 Pet. 3. 7.
Vers. 22. Henceforth, all dayes of the earth] that is, Hereafter, so long is the earth endureth. It is a promise to conserve the orderly course and state of the world through all ages, unto the end: under which also the promise of stability of grace in Christ, is spiritually covenanted unto the faithfull: as Ier. 33. 20. 21.