Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
Ver. 1. COme 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.] I have obſerved thee ſincerely Obedient, when all the reſt of the World were impious.
Ver. 2. Of every clean Beaſt, &c.] The diſtinction of Beaſts clean and unclean being made by the Law of Moſes, hath given ſome a colour to ſay that 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 Mens Food the diſtinction of clean and unclean Creatures was not before the Law; yet ſome were accounted fit for Sacrifice, and others not fit, from the beginning. And then clean Beaſts in this place, are ſuch as are not rapacious; which were not to be offered unto God. In ſhort, the rite of Sacrificing being before the Flood, this difference of Beaſts was alſo before it. The only Queſtion is, How Men came to make this difference? Some imagine, 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 though they be not recorded, yet, I think, are rather to be ſuppoſed, than imagine Men were left in ſuch Matters to their own Diſcretion. Abarbinel indeed here ſays, That Noah out of his profound Wiſdom diſcerned clean from unclean: And if he had ſtop'd 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 ſufficient for 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 inlarged their former Grant, IX. 3.
Ver. 4. For yet ſeven Days, &c.] So much time he gave him for the diſpoſing himſelf, and all things elſe in the Ark.
Ver. 5. And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.] He had ſaid the ſame before, VI. 22. with reſpect to the preparation of the Ark and proviſion of Food: And now repeats here again with reſpect to his entring into it himſelf, with all other Creatures. For ſo it follows, verſe 7, 8, &c.
Ver. 6. Noah was ſix hundred years old, &c.] Current, as we ſpeak, not compleat, 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 fifty one, if he had been full ſix hundred Years old when the Flood began.
V. 10. And it came to paſs after ſeven Days, &c.] As he had ſaid, verſe 4.
Ver. 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 were broken up, &c.] Here are two Cauſes aſſigned of the Deluge: Firſt, The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep: And, Secondly, The opening 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's 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, might well make ſuch a Flood, as is here deſcribed. For 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. Which they can 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 look'd upon as a poſſible thing. For Seneca treating of that fatal Day, (as he calls it, L. III. Nat. Queſt. c. 27.) when the Deluge ſhall come, (for he fanſied 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 concurr, uno 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. Where he hath theſe remarkable Words; Where hath not Nature diſpoſed Moiſture, to attack us on all ſides, when it pleaſes? Immanes ſunt in abdito lacus, &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 be 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 it ſelf, 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 he had been directed to make a Commentary upon Moſes.
Ver. 12. And the Rain was upon the Earth forty Days, &c.] It continued raining ſo long, without any intermiſſion.
Ver. 13. In the ſelf-ſame 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 compleated 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 entred, but the Waters brake in upon the Earth from beneath; and came down pouring from above.
Ver. 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 enquire. It is likely by an Angelical Power; which, I ſuppoſed before, conducted the ſeveral Creatures into the Ark.
Ver. 17. And the Flood was forty Days upon the Earth, &c.] After forty Days Rain, the Waters were ſo high; that they bare up the Ark, ſo that it did not touch the Earth.
Ver. 18. 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, verſe 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 place, as the Waves drove it.
Ver. 19. And the Waters prevailed exceedingly upon the Earth.] This is an higher Expreſſion than before; ſignifying their riſing ſtill to a greater pitch by continued Rains.
And all the high Mountains, 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, foreign, but only there, where Men then dwelt; as the Author of the Queſtions, Ad Orthodoxos, tells us, Q. 34. But they are 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 may be 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 Mens lives are ſhortned, as we now ſee them. Therefore it is a ſtrange weakneſs to fanſie, that only Palaeſtine, 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, foreign, ancient Traditions, which affirm'd there had been ſundry deſtructions of Mankind by Floods, as well as other ways: In which foreign, a ſmall parcel of Mankind were left. And particularly he ſaith concerning Floods, That they were ſo great, that only foreign, ſome very little Sparks of Mankind were ſaved, and thoſe upon the tops of Mountains: And the like he ſaith of Beaſts, That foreign, very few of them were left, to ſupport the life of Mankind. L. III. De Legib. p. 677. Edit. Seran. 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 Earth over. Which need not ſeem ſtrange if we conſider what was ſaid before upon Verſe 11. And withal obſerve that the Diameter of the Earth being ſeven thouſand Miles, and conſequently from the Superficies to the Center, no leſs than Three thouſand five hundred Miles, it is not incredible, (as Sir W. Raleigh diſcourſes, L. I. c. 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 heighth? It would help Mens unbelief, if they would likewiſe conſider the vaſt Inundations, which are made yearly in Egypt, only from the Rains that fall in Aethiopia: And the like Overflowings yearly in America, of the great River Orenoque; whereby many Iſlands and Plains, at other times inhabited, are laid twenty Foot under Water, between May and September.
Ver. 20. 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 ſee, but there might be Water enough heaped up, by the fore-mentioned means, to cover them ſo high: And the whole Verſe be thus interpreted, 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.
Ver. 24. And the Waters prevailed upon the Earth an hundred and fifty Days.] Theſe words ſeem to me to import, That whatſoever ſhort intermiſſions there might be, yet the Rain continued an Hundred and fifty Days. Otherwiſe, it is hard to explain how the Waters increaſed more and more, as it is ſaid, verſe 17, 18, 19. Beſides, had the Rain ended as we commonly ſuppoſe, at forty Days end, the Waters could not have prevailed an 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.