GE�ESIS 8 COMME�TARY

EDITED BY GLE�� PEASE

1

But God remembered �oah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

BAR�ES, "Gen_8:1-3

The waters commence their retreat. “And God remembered Noah.” He is said to remember him when he takes any step to deliver him from the waters. The several steps to this end are enumerated.

A wind. - This would promote evaporation, and otherwise aid the retreat of the waters. “The fountains of the deep and the windows of the skies were shut.” The incessant and violent showers had continued for six weeks. It is probable the weather remained turbid and moist for some time longer. In the sixth month, however, the rain probably ceased altogether. Some time before this, the depressing of the ground had reached its lowest point, and the upheaving had set in. This is the main cause of the reflux of the waters. All this is described, as we perceive, according to appearance. It is probable that the former configuration of the surface was not exactly restored. At all events it is not necessary, as the ark may have drifted a considerable space in a hundred and fifty days. Some of the old ground on which primeval man had trodden may have become a permanent water bed, and a like amount of new land may have risen to the light in another place. Hence, it is vain to seek for a spot retaining the precise conditions of the primitive Eden. The Euphrates and Tigris may substantially remain, but the Pishon and Gihon may have considerably changed. The Black Sea, the Caspian, the lakes Van and Urumiah may cover portions of the Adamic land. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the prevalence of the waters begins to turn into a positive retreat.

CLARKE, "And God made a wind to pass over the earth - Such a wind as produced a strong and sudden evaporation. The effects of these winds,

which are frequent in the east, are truly astonishing. A friend of mine, who had been bathing in the Tigris, not far from the ancient city of Ctesiphon, and within five days’ journey of Bagdad, having on a pair of Turkish drawers, one of these hot winds, called by the natives samiel, passing rapidly across the river just as he had got out of the water, so effectually dried him in a moment, that not one particle of moisture was left either on his body or in his bathing dress! With such an electrified wind as this, how soon could God dry the whole of the earth’s surface! An operation something similar to the conversion of water into its two constituent airs, oxygen and hydrogen, by means of the galvanic fluid, as these airs themselves may be reconverted into water by means of the electric spark. See the note Gen_7:11. And probably this was the agent that restored to the atmosphere the quantity of water which it had contributed to this vast inundation. The other portion of waters, which had proceeded from the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, would of course subside more slowly, as openings were made for them to run off from the higher lands, and form seas. By the first cause, the hot wind, the waters were assuaged, and the atmosphere having its due proportion of vapours restored, the quantity below must be greatly lessened. By the second, the earth was gradually dried, the waters, as they found passage, lessening by degrees till the seas and gulfs were formed, and the earth completely drained. This appears to be what is intended in the third and fifth verses by the waters decreasing continually, or, according to the margin, they were in going and decreasing, Gen_8:5.

GILL, "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark,.... Not that God had forgotten Noah, for he does not, and cannot forget his creatures, properly speaking; but this is said after the manner of men, and as it might have seemed to Noah, who having heard nothing of him for five months, and having been perhaps longer in the ark than he expected, might begin to think that he was forgotten of God; but God remembered him, and his covenant with him, and the promise that he had made to him, that he and his family, and all the living creatures in the ark, should be preserved alive during the flood, Gen_6:17 and God may be said particularly to remember him, and them, when he began to take measures for removing the waters from the earth, as he did by sending a wind, next mentioned: and thus God's helping his people when in difficulties and in distress, and delivering out of them, is called his remembrance of them; and he not only remembered Noah and his family, who are included in him, but every living creature also, which is expressed; for as the creatures suffered in the flood for the sins of men, so those in the ark were remembered and preserved for the sake of Noah and his family, and the world of men that should spring from them:

and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; not a stormy blustering one, that would have endangered the ark, but a gentle, hot, drying one; which stopped the increase of the waters, and made them less, and both drove away the rain, as the north wind does, as this perhaps was (r), and caused the waters to move wards their proper channels and receptacles: this was the work of God, who has the command of the winds

and waters, brings the former out of his storehouses, and restrains the latter at his pleasure; and this wind had this effect to assuage the waters, not from its own nature, but was attended with the mighty power of God to make it effectual, in an extraordinary manner: and it was, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call it, "a wind of mercies", or a merciful wind; or a wind of comforts, as Jarchi; for so it was to Noah and his family, and to all the creatures, since it served to dry up the waters of the flood, and caused them to subside.

(r) ------------for clouds were fled, Driv'n by a keen north wind, that, blowing dry, Wrinkled the face of Deluge, as decay'd. Milton, B. 11. l. 841, &c.

HAWKER, "The last Chapter concluded with the melancholy relation of the world destroyed, and the church brought within very narrow limits. This opens with an account of the renewals of mercy, in restoring the former and enlarging the borders of the latter. The fountains of the great deep, which were broken up, are stopped; the windows of heaven, for the out-pouring of the rain, are closed; the whole earth recovers its verdure: and Noah and his family are brought forth from the ark, after inhabiting it for the space of a year and ten days. Noah erects an altar, and offers sacrifice. God accepts the oblation, and promiseth never more to drown the world, but that the seasons of the year shall have their appointed weeks, while the earth remaineth.

Gen_8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

By God’s remembrance, we must suppose is meant, only some fresh instance of grace. Luk_12:6; Isa_49:15-16. Pious believers may learn from hence, that every renewed manifestation of divine love, is among the remembrances of their God.

HE�RY 1-3, "Here is, I. An act of God's grace: God remembered Noah and every living thing. This is an expression after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures (Luk_12:6), much less any of his people, are forgotten of God, Isa_49:15, Isa_49:16. but, 1. The whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, was now extinguished, and driven into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered no more; so that God's remembering Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full end. It is a strange expression, Eze_5:13, When I have accomplished my fury in them, I will be comforted. The demands of divine justice had been answered by the ruin of those sinners; he had eased him of his adversaries (Isa_1:24), and now his spirit was quieted (Zec_6:8), and he remembered Noah and every living thing. he remembered mercy in wrath (Hab_3:2), remembered the days of old (Isa_63:11), remembered the holy seed, and then remembered Noah. 2. Noah himself, though one that had found grace in the eyes of the Lord, yet seemed to be forgotten in the ark, and perhaps began to think himself so; for we do not find that God had told him how long he should be confined and when he should be released. Very good men have

sometimes been ready to conclude themselves forgotten of God, especially when their afflictions have been unusually grievous and long. Perhaps Noah, though a great believer, yet when he found the flood continuing so long after it might reasonably be presumed to have done its work, was tempted to fear lest he that shut him in would keep him in, and began to expostulate. How long wilt thou forget me? But at length God returned in mercy to him, and this is expressed by remembering him. Note, Those that remember God shall certainly be remembered by him, how desolate and disconsolate soever their condition may be. He will appoint them a set time and remember them, Job_14:13. 3. With Noah, God remembered every living thing; for, though his delight is especially in the sons of men, yet he rejoices in all his works, and hates nothing that he has made. He takes special care, not only of his people's persons, but of their possessions - of them and all that belongs to them. He considered the cattle of Nineveh, Jon_4:11.

II. An act of God's power over wind and water, both of which are at his beck, though neither of them is under man's control. Observe,

1. He commanded the wind, and said to that, Go, and it went, in order to the carrying off of the flood: God made a wind to pass over the earth. See here, (1.) What was God's remembrance of Noah: it was his relieving him. Note, Those whom God remembers he remembers effectually, for good; he remembers us to save us, that we may remember him to serve him. (2.) What a sovereign dominion God has over the winds. He has them in his fist (Pro_30:4) and brings them out of his treasuries, Psa_135:7. He sends them when, and whither, and for what purposes, he pleases. Even stormy winds fulfil his word, Psa_148:8. It should seem, while the waters increased, there was no wind; for that would have added to the toss of the ark; but now God sent a wind, when it would not be so troublesome. Probably, it was a north wind, for that drives away rain. However, it was a drying wind, such a wind as God sent to divide the Red Sea before Israel, Exo_14:21.

2. He remanded the waters, and said to them, Come, and they came. (1.) He took away the cause. He sealed up the springs of those waters, the fountains of the great deep, and the windows of heaven. Note, [1.] As God has a key to open, so he has a key to shut up again, and to stay the progress of judgments by stopping the causes of them: and the same hand that brings the desolation must bring the deliverance; to that hand therefore our eye must ever be. He that wounds is alone able to heal. See Job_12:14, Job_12:15. [2.] When afflictions have done the work for which they are sent, whether killing work or curing work, they shall be removed. God's word shall not return void, Isa_55:10, Isa_55:11. (2.) Then the effect ceased; not all at once, but by degrees: The waters abated (Gen_8:1), returned from off the earth continually, Heb. they were going and returning (v. 3), which denotes a gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more. Note, As the earth was not drowned in a day, so it was not dried in a day. In the creation, it was but one day's work to clear the earth from the waters that covered it, and to make it dry land; nay, it was but half a day's work, Gen_1:9, Gen_1:10. But, the work of creation being finished, this work of providence was effected by the concurring influence of second causes, yet thus enforced by the almighty power of God. God usually works deliverance for his people gradually, that

the day of small things may not be despised, nor the day of great things despaired of, Zec_4:10. See Pro_4:18,

JAMISON, "Gen_8:1-14. Assuaging of the waters.

And God remembered Noah — The divine purpose in this awful dispensation had been accomplished, and the world had undergone those changes necessary to fit it for becoming the residence of man under a new economy of Providence.

and every living thing ... in the ark — a beautiful illustration of Mat_10:29.

and God made a wind to pass over the earth — Though the divine will could have dried up the liquid mass in an instant, the agency of a wind was employed (Psa_104:4) - probably a hot wind, which, by rapid evaporation, would again absorb one portion of the waters into the atmosphere; and by which, the other would be gradually drained off by outlets beneath.

CALVIN, "1.And God remembered Noah. Moses now descends more particularly to that other part of the subject, which shows, that Noah

was not disappointed in his hope of the salvation divinely promised to

him. The remembrance of which Moses speaks, ought to be referred not

only to the external aspect of things, (so to speak,) but also to the

inward feeling of the holy man. Indeed it is certain, that Gods from the

time in which he had once received Noah into his protection, was never

unmindful of him; for, truly, it was by as great a miracle, that he did

not perish through suffocation in the ark, as if he had lived without

breath, submerged in the waters. And Moses just before has said that by

God’s secret closing up of the ark, the waters were restrained from

penetrating it. But as the ark was floating, even to the fifth month,

upon the waters, the delay by which the Lord suffered his servant to be

anxiously and miserably tortured might seem to imply a kind of oblivion.

And it is not to be questioned, that his heart was agitated by various

feelings, when he found himself so long held in suspense; for he might

infer, that his life had been prolonged, in order that he might be more

miserable than any of the rest of mankind. For we know that we are

accustomed to imagine God absent, except when we have some sensible

experience of his presence. And although Noah tenaciously held fast the

promise which he had embraced, even to the end, it is yet credible, that

he was grievously assailed by various temptations; and God, without

doubt, purposely thus exercised his faith and patience. For, why was not

the world destroyed in three days? And for what purpose did the waters,

after they had covered the highest mountains rise fifteen cubits higher,

unless it was to accustom Noah, and his family, to meditate the more

profitably on the judgments of Gods and when the danger was past, to

acknowledge that they had been rescued from a thousand deaths? Let us

therefore learn, by this example, to repose on the providence of God,

even while he seems to be most forgetful of us; for at length, by

affording us help, he will testify that he has been mindful of us. What,

if the flesh persuade us to distrust, yet let us not yield to its

restlessness; but as soon as this thought creeps in, that God has cast

off all care concerning us, or is asleep, or far distant, let us

immediately meet it with this shield, ‘The Lord, who has promised his

help to the miserable will, in due time, be present with us, that we may

indeed perceive the care he takes of us.’ Nor is there less weight in

what is added that God also remembered the animals; for if, on account

of the salvation promised to man, his favor is extended to brute cattle,

and to wild beasts; what may we suppose will be his favor towards his

own children, to whom he has so liberally, and so sacredly, pledged his

faithfulness?

And God made a wind to pass over the earth. Here it appears more

clearly, that Moses is speaking of the effect of God’s remembrance of

Noah; namely, that in very deed, and by a sure proof, Noah might know

that God cared for his life. For when God, by his secret power, might

have dried the earth, he made use of the wind; which method he also

employed in drying the Red Sea. And thus he would testify, that as he

had the waters at his command, ready to execute his wrath, so now he

held the winds in his hand, to afford relief. And although here a

remarkable history is recorded by Moses, we are yet taught, that the

winds do not arise fortuitously, but by the command of God; as it is

said in Psalms 104:4, that ‘they are the swift messengers of God;’ and

again, that God rides upon their wings. Finally, the variety, the

contrary motions, and the mutual conflicts of the elements, conspire to

yield obedience to God. Moses also adds other inferior means by which

the waters were diminished and caused to return to their former

position. The sum of the whole is, that God, for the purpose of

restoring the order which he had before appointed, recalled the waters

to their prescribed boundaries so that while the celestial waters, as if

congealed, were suspended in the air; others might lie concealed in

their gulfs; others flow in separate channels; and the sea also might

remain within its barriers.

K&D, "With the words, “then God remembered Noah and all the animals...in the ark,”

the narrative turns to the description of the gradual decrease of the water until the ground was perfectly dry. The fall of the water is described in the same pictorial style as its rapid rise. God's “remembering” was a manifestation of Himself, an effective restraint of the force of the raging element. He caused a wind to blow over the earth, so that the waters sank, and shut up the fountains of the deep, and the sluices of heaven, so that the

rain from heaven was restrained. “Then the waters turned (ישבו i.e., flowed off) from the

earth, flowing continuously (the inf. absol. ושוב expresses continuation), and הלוך

decreased at the end of 150 days.” The decrease first became perceptible when the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat on the 17th day of the seventh month; i.e.,, reckoning 30 days to a month, exactly 150 days after the flood commenced. From that time forth it continued without intermission, so that on the first day of the tenth month, probably 73 days after the resting of the ark, the tops of the mountains were seen, viz., the tops of the Armenian highlands, by which the ark was surrounded. Ararat was the name of a province (2Ki_19:37), which is mentioned along with Minni (Armenia) as a kingdom in Jer_51:27, probably the central province of the country of Armenia, which Moses v. Chorene calls Arairad, Araratia. The mountains of Ararat are, no doubt, the group of mountains which rise from the plain of the Araxes in two lofty peaks, the greater and lesser Ararat, the former 16,254 feet above the level of the sea, the latter about 12,000. This landing-place of the ark is extremely interesting in connection with the development of the human race as renewed after the flood. Armenia, the source of the rivers of paradise, has been called “a cool, airy, well-watered mountain-island in the midst of the old continent;” but Mount Ararat especially is situated almost in the middle, not only of the great desert route of Africa and Asia, but also of the range of inland waters from Gibraltar to the Baikal Sea-in the centre, too, of the longest line that can be

drawn through the settlements of the Caucasian race and the Indo-Germanic tribes; and, as the central point of the longest land-line of the ancient world, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Behring Straits, it was the most suitable spot in the world, for the tribes and nations that sprang from the sons of Noah to descend from its heights and spread into every land (vid., K. v. Raumer, Paläst. pp. 456ff.).

COKE, "Genesis 8:1. God remembered Noah—and made a wind to pass, &c.— God had compassion upon Noah in his melancholy confinement: and this stupendous end of his providence being answered by the destruction of the iniquitous generation, which brought on this dissolution of the earth, he was pleased to make use of the same natural means for the separation of the waters again to their appointed places as he used at the beginning of the creation: he caused the wind or air to operate as at first in order to assuage the waters, or rather to cause them to subside, and retreat to their appointed places. See notes on Genesis 1:6, &c. In consequence of this, Genesis 1:3 the waters returned from off the earth continually, or, as the margin of our Bibles has it, in going and returning. The heathen poet Ovid, (First Book of Metamorph.) says, that Jove loosed the northern wind to restore the earth to its primitive state, &c.

REFLECTIONS.—Since the work of vengeance was finished, it was time to remember mercy to Noah, now so long a prisoner in the ark, and perhaps by this time looking with some solitude for release from his confinement. It is said,

1. God remembered Noah; not that he had ever been forgotten of him. The eyes of the Lord are ever upon his children to do them good; if he tarry therefore, wait for him: none ever trusted on him, and was ashamed.

2. He remembered the cattle also. His mercies are over all his works: he careth for beasts that perish, and shall he forget or forsake his people? that be far from him.

3. We have also the evidence of his remembrance. He stayed the waters from flowing. (1.) He sent a wind to dry up the floods. He hath winds in his treasures, as well as waters, to dry up, as well as to deluge. All things serve him. (2.) He stopped the windows of heaven, and the fountains of the deep. Note; When afflictive providences have accomplished their ends, they shall be removed. (3.) He caused the waters to return from off the earth continually; part shut up within its bowels, in the vast abyss, part exhaled by sun and wind, and re-ascending into the clouds. (4.) It was a work of time, a hundred and fifty days, before they were considerably abated. Note; When our trials are long, and our deliverance slow, we had need pray: hold out, faith and patience.

COFFMAN, "Verse 1

This chapter continues the story of the Flood, including the period of the ark's flotation, its coming to rest, and the decrease of the waters (Genesis 8:1-5), the sending forth of the raven and the dove (Genesis 8:6-12), the disembarkation (Genesis 8:13-19), and Noah's burnt-offering with God's response (Genesis 8:20-22).

"And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in

the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the water assuaged."

God here began to dismantle the prevailing destruction that had been visited upon the whole world, for He had not forgotten His beloved human creation. The loving pity of the Father is the only thing that prevented the total annihilation of mankind, and that merciful concern is evident in God's remembering Noah.

The great point of this entire narrative is that humanity deserved destruction. This Flood is a type and symbol of that ultimate sentence of death that shall yet be executed upon all men for the rebellion against the Creator. This stupendous event was pointed out by Christ himself as a "foreshadowing of the final Assize"[1] that shall at last summons all men before that solemn tribunal where every man shall receive the appointment of his eternal destiny (Matthew 24:37-39). "Extinction is what we deserve and what man has always deserved."[2] (See also under Genesis 8:21, below.)

"God made a wind to pass over the earth ..." Such a phenomenon would have had a dual effect of (1) evaporation, and of (2) substantially aiding the movement of vast quantities of water back into the depression created by subsidence of the land level under the seas. The amount of the waters visible in this narrative requires the understanding that some major shift in land and ocean levels occurred. Tides that rise to great heights when a mighty hurricane moves inland are an illustration of how effective such a wind could have been. Whitelaw also discerned that this event saw both in its onset and its subsidence, "violent changes in the depths of the sea."[3]

BENSON, "Genesis 8:1. And God remembered Noah, &c. — This is an expression after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures, much less any of his people, are forgotten of God. But the whole race of mankind, except Noah and his family, was now extinguished, and gone into the land of forgetfulness, so that God’s remembering Noah was the return of his mercy to mankind, of whom he would not make a full end. Noah himself, though one that had found grace in the eyes of the Lord, yet seemed to be forgotten in the ark; but at length God returned in mercy to him, and that is expressed by his remembering him.

MACLAREN, "‘CLEAR SHINING AFTER RAIN’

The universal tradition of a deluge is most naturally accounted for by admitting that there was a ‘universal deluge.’ But ‘universal’ does not apply to the extent as embracing the whole earth, but as affecting the small area then inhabited-an area which was probably not greater than the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris. The story in Genesis is the Hebrew version of the universal tradition, and its plain affinity to the cuneiform narratives is to be frankly accepted. But the relationship of these two is not certain. Are they mother and daughter, or are they sisters? The theory that the narrative in Genesis is derived from the Babylonian, and is a purified, elevated rendering of it, is not so likely as that both are renderings of a more primitive account, to which the Hebrew narrative has kept true, while the other has tainted it with polytheistic ideas. In this passage the cessation of the flood is the theme, and it brings out both the love of the God who sent the awful punishment, and the patient godliness of the man who was spared from it. So

it completes the teaching of the flood, and proclaims that God ‘in wrath remembers mercy.’

1. ‘God remembered Noah.’ That is a strong ‘anthropomorphism,’ like many other things in Genesis-very natural when these records were written, and bearing a true meaning for all times. It might seem as if, in the wild rush of the waters from beneath and from above, the little handful in the ark were forgotten. Had the Judge of all the earth, while executing ‘terrible things in righteousness,’ leisure to think of them who were ‘afar off upon the sea’? Was it a blind wrath that had been let loose? No; in all the severity there was tender regard for those worthy of it. Judgment was discriminating. The sunshine of love broke through even the rain-clouds of the flood.

So the blessed lesson is taught that, in the widest sweep of the most stormy judgments, there are those who abide safely, fearing no evil. Though the waters are out, there is a rock on which we may stand safe, above their highest wave. And why did God ‘remember Noah’? It was not favouritism, arbitrary and immoral. Noah was bid to build the ark, because he was ‘righteous’ in a world of evil-doers; he was ‘remembered’ in the ark, because he had believed God’s warning, obeyed God’s command as seeing the judgment ‘not seen as yet,’ and so ‘became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.’ They who trust God, and, trusting Him, realise as if present the future judgment, and, ‘moved with fear,’ take refuge in the ark, are never forgot by Him, even while the world is drowned. They live in His heart, and in due time He will show that He remembers them.

2. The gradual subsidence of the flood is told with singular exactitude of dates, which are certainly peculiar if they are not historical. The slow decrease negatives the explanation of the story as being the exaggerated remembrance of some tidal-wave caused by earthquake and the like. Precisely five months after the flood began, the ark grounded, and the two sources, the rain from above and the ‘fountains of the deep’ (that is, probably, the sea), were ‘restrained,’ and a high wind set in. That date marked the end of the increase of the waters, and consequently the beginning of their decrease. Seven months and ten days elapsed between it and the complete restoration of the earth to its previous condition. That time was divided into stages. Two months and a half passed before the highest land emerged; two months more and the surface was all visible; a month and twenty-seven days more before ‘the earth was dry.’ The frequent recurrence of the sacred numbers, seven and ten, is noticeable. The length of time required for the restorative process witnesses to the magnitude of the catastrophe, impresses the imagination, and suggests the majestic slowness of the divine working, and how He uses natural processes for His purposes of moral government, and rules the wildest outbursts of physical agents. The Lord as king ‘sitteth upon the flood,’ and opens or seals the fountains of the great deep as He will. Scripture does not tell of the links between the First Cause and the physical effect. It brings the latter close up to the former. The last link touches the fixed staple, and all between may be ignored.

But the patient expectance of Noah comes out strongly in the story, as well as the gradualness of God’s working. Not till ‘forty days’-a round number-after the land appeared, did He do anything. He waited quietly till the path was plain. Eager impatience does not become those who trust in God. It is not said that the raven was sent out to see if the waters were abated. No purpose is named, nor is it said that it returned at all. ‘To and fro’ may mean over the waste of waters, not back and forward to and from the ark. The raven, from its blackness, its habit of feeding on carrion, its fierceness, was a bird of ill-omen, and sending it forth has a grim suggestion that it would find food enough, and ‘rest for the sole of its foot,’ among the swollen corpses floating on the dark waters. The dove, on the other hand, is the emblem of gentleness,

purity, and tenderness. She went forth, the very embodiment of meek hope that wings its way over dark and desolate scenes of calamity and judgment, and, though disappointed at first, patiently waits till the waters sink further, discerns the earliest signs of their drying up, and comes back to the sender with a report which is a prophecy: ‘Your peace shall return to you again.’ Happy they who send forth, not the raven, but the dove, from their patient hearts. Their gentle wishes come back with confirmation of their hopes, ‘as doves to their windows.’

3. But Noah did not leave the ark, though ‘the earth was dry.’ God had ‘shut him in,’ and it must be God who brings him out. We have to take heed of precipitate departure from the place where He has fixed us. Like Israel in the desert, it must be ‘at the commandment of the Lord’ that we pitch the camp, and at the commandment of the Lord that we journey. Till He speaks we must remain, and as soon as He speaks we must remove. ‘God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth . . .and Noah went forth.’ Thus prompt must be our obedience. A sacrifice of gratitude is the fit close of each epoch in our lives, and the fit beginning of each new one. Before he thought of anything else, Noah built his altar. All our deeds should be set in a golden ring of thankfulness. So the past is hallowed, and the future secure of God’s protection. It is no unworthy conception of God which underlies the strongly human expression that he ‘smelled the sweet savour.’ He delights in our offerings, and our trustful, grateful love is ‘an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable’ to Him. The pledge that He will not any more curse the ground for man’s sake is occasioned by the sacrifice, but is grounded on what seems, at first sight, a reason for the very opposite conclusion. Man’s evil heart the reason for God’s forbearance? Yes, because it is ‘evil from his youth.’ He deals with men as knowing our frame, the corruption of our nature, and the need that the tree should be made good before it can bring forth good fruit. Therefore He will not smite, but rather seek to draw to repentance by His goodness, and by the faithful continuance of His beneficence in the steadfast covenant of revolving seasons, ‘filling our hearts with food and gladness.’

WHEDON, "1-3. God remembered Noah — The ark, containing the seed of the Church and of the human race, a solitary speck in the watery wilderness, was remembered by God. The tokens of that remembrance followed. The providential means by which the land was dried and made once more a habitation for man are now related. Three causes are mentioned: a wind passing over the earth, (toward the sea,) which dispelled the clouds and laid open the earth to the sun, (a land breeze, which carried the clouds seaward;) as a consequence of this, the shutting of the windows of heaven; and, thirdly, the stopping of the fountains of the great deep, which was probably effected by the gradual re-elevation of the land which had been gradually subsiding during the increase of the deluge. As the sun broke through the clouds the waters were thus seen to follow the wind. As the result of these causes the waters subsided. And the waters turned from off the earth, continually turning, and diminished at the end of the hundred and fifty days.

TRAPP, "Genesis 8:1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that [was] with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

Ver. 1. And God remembered Noah.] He might begin to think that God had forgotten him, having not heard from God for five months together, and not yet seeing how he

could possibly escape. He had been a whole year in the ark; (a) and now was ready to groan out that doleful Usquequo Domine :Hast thou forgotten to be merciful? &c. But forgetfulness befalls not the Almighty. The butler may forget Joseph; and Joseph, his father’s house: Ahasuerus may forget Mordecai; and the delivered city the poor man that by his wisdom preserved it. [Ecclesiastes 9:15] The Sichemites may forget Gideon; but "God is not unfaithful to forget your work and labour of love," saith the apostle. [Hebrews 6:10] And there is "a book of remembrance written before him," saith the prophet, "for them that fear the Lord". [Malachi 3:16] A metaphor from kings that commonly keep a calendar or chronicle of such as have done them good service: as Ahasuerus, [Esther 6:1] and Tamerlane, (b) who had a catalogue of their names and good deserts, which he daily perused, oftentimes saying that day to be lost wherein he had not given them something. God also is said to have such a book of remembrance. Not that he hath so, or needeth to have; for all things, both past and future, are present with him: he hath the idea of them within himself, and every thought is before his eyes, so that he cannot be forgetful. But he is said to remember his people (so he is pleased to speak to our capacity) when he showeth his care of us, and makes good his promise to us. We also are said to be his "remembrancers" [Isaiah 62:6] when we plead his promise, and press him to performance. Not that we persuade him thereby to do us good, but we persuade our own hearts to more faith, love, obedience, &c., whereby we become more capable of that good.

God made a wind.] So he worketh usually by means, though he needeth them not. But many times his works are, as Luther speaketh, in contrariis mediis . As here he assuageth the waters by a wind, which naturally "lifteth up the waves thereof," and enrageth them. [Psalms 107:25 Jonah 1:4] God worketh by contraries, saith Nazianzen, (c) that he may be the more admired.

Though our ark be driven in a tempestuous sea, saith one, yet it shall neither sink nor split, whiles we sail in the thoughts of Almighty God.

BI 1-5, "The waters assuaged

The gradual cessation of Divine retribution

I. THAT IT IS MARKED BY A RICH MANIFESTATION OF DIVINE MERCY TO THOSE WHO HAVE SURVIVED THE TERRIBLE RETRIBUTION.

1. God’s remembrance of His creatures during the cessation of retribution is merciful.

2. God’s remembrance of His creatures during the cessation of retribution is welcome.

3. God’s remembrance of His creatures during the cessation of retribution is condescending.

II. THAT IT IS MARKED BY THE OUTGOING AND OPERATION OF APPROPRIATE PHYSICAL AGENCIES. “And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters

assuaged.” There have been many conjectures in reference to the nature and operation of this wind; some writers say that it was the Divine Spirit moving upon the waters, and others that it was the heat of the sun whereby the waters were dried up. We think controversy on this matter quite unnecessary, as there can be little doubt that the wind was miraculous, sent by God to the purpose it accomplished. He controls the winds. The Divine Being generally works by instrumentality.

1. Appropriate.

2. Effective.

3. Natural. Anti in this way is the cessation of Divine retribution brought about.

III. THAT IT IS MARKED BY A STAYING AND REMOVAL OF THE DESTRUCTIVE AGENCIES WHICH HAVE HITHERTO PREVAILED. Here we see—

1. That the destructive agencies of the universe are awakened by sin.

2. That the destructive agencies of the universe are subdued by the power and grace of God.

3. That the destructive agencies of the universe are occasional and not habitual in their rule.

IV. THAT IT IS MARKED BY A GRADUAL RETURN TO THE ORDINARY THINGS AND METHOD OF LIFE. This return to the ordinary condition of nature is—

1. Continuous.

2. Rapid.

3. Minutely chronicled.

The world is careful to note the day on which appeared the first indication of returning joy, when after a long period of sorrow the mountain tops of hope were again visible. It is fixed in the memory. It is written in the book. It is celebrated as a festival. Lessons—

1. That the judgments of God, though long and severe, will come to an end.

2. That the cessation of Divine judgment is a time of hope for the good.

3. That the cessation of Divine judgment is the commencement of a new era in the life of man. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat

The village of the ark

On the slopes of Ararat was the second cradle of the race, the first village reared in a world of unseen graves.

I. It was THE VILLAGE OF THE ARK, a building fashioned and fabricated from the forests of a drowned and buried world. To the world’s first fathers it must have seemed a hallowed and venerable form.

II. The village of the ark was THE VILLAGE OF SACRIFICE. They built a sacrificial altar in which fear raised the stones, tradition furnished the sacrifice, and faith kindled the flame.

III. The first village was THE VILLAGE OF THE RAINBOW. It had been seen before in the old world, but now it was seen as a sign of God’s mercy, His covenant in Creation.

IV. The village of the ark gives us our FIRST CODE OF LAWS. As man first steps forth with the shadows of the Fall around him, scarce a principle seems to mark the presence of law. Here we advance quite another stage, to a new world; the principles of law are not many, but they have multiplied. As sins grow, laws grow. Around the first village pealed remote mutterings of storms to come.

V. The village of the ark was THE VILLAGE OF SIN. Even to Noah, the most righteous of men, sin came out of the simple pursuit of husbandry. A great, good man, the survivor of a lost world, the stem and inheritor of a new, he came to the moment in life of dreadful overcoming. (E. P. Hood.)

Mount Ararat; or, The landing of the ark

I. SIN PUNISHED. Mount Ararat was a solemn witness to the severity of God’s judgments upon a guilty world.

II. GRACE REVEALED. Mount Ararat saw Divine grace displayed to sinful men.

III. SALVATION ENJOYED. Mount Ararat beheld salvation enjoyed by believing sinners: This temporal deliverance was a type of the spiritual. Immeasurably grander, however, will be the salvation of the saints.

1. In respect of its character, being spiritual instead of merely temporal.

2. In respect of its measures, being complete and not merely partial.

3. In respect of its duration, being eternal, and not merely for a brief term of years.

IV. GRATITUDE EXPRESSED. Mount Ararat heard the adorations and thanksgivings of a redeemed family.

V. SAFETY CONFIRMED. Mount Ararat listened to the voice of God confirming the salvation of His people. (T. Whitelaw, M. A.)

The resting of Noah’s ark

The ark of Noah, so far as man was concerned, was left alone upon the waters—no human hand steered it, no human counsel guided it. It was like many a poor soul which is struggling, perhaps, its heavenward way through difficulties and fears, without one earthly friend to comfort it, or one heart in all the world to which to turn for solace and advice. And yet not alone was it tossed and heaved upon this solitary waste. There was an arm unseen directing it, there was strength unseen supporting it, and love unseen that was wafting it. The inhabitants of the ark, at that time, constituted the whole body of God’s believing people. “Are there few that shall be saved?” asked one of old. Yes, they are few, but they are all that can be saved; all that, by the largest stretch of mercy, consistent with God’s justice, can be brought in, shall be brought in. There is no class on earth, if I may so speak, which has not got its representative in heaven. For 150 days—and when, we would ask you, was waiting time stretched out so long?—for 150 days Noah was left without any visible token of God’s care, when, as the narrative simply and beautifully goes on, “God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark.” Yes; for everything when it comes into covenant with God

becomes, from that moment, dear to God. You may be the least—you may be the vilest of all His creatures, but if you are in the ark, if you are a Christian, God must love you. If the whole world is crying in terror, to a good and merciful God we must go: He has a store for His children. How many a man has had reason to look back and say, “That long, tedious affliction which seemed to me as if it would never end—what has it been to me but the saving of my soul? It has been thesnatching of me from that destruction where thousands of my companions have perished, and where perhaps I should have been this day, but for God afflicting me”? The heaviest storm that follows you must one day be calmed; the rudest wind that assails you must one day be hushed. The waters at last began to assuage, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month—it is well for the mind to keep an accurate record of the date of mercies—the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. But Noah was not so soon as this to be released from his confinement, his term was not yet half completed: five months he had been locked in the ark, but seven months more must he yet remain in it. It is natural to imagine, that this last seven months must have seemed to pass more slowly than all the time while they were lying on the waves. If the troubled time of life brings its trials, so also does its calms. It is a hard thing to sit still, and very often there are the greatest perils in the still seasons of life. When is it that the soul of man is so tempted to presumption and self-righteous confidence? When is it that we become careless? When is it that the practical duties of life are neglected, and we sit down it a most dangerous spiritual slumber? Is it not in seasons when we have been imagining that we have reached a place of rest; when the soul, through an overweening confidence, abandons its efforts as if the work were done, and settles down on its lees? Oh, when I think of the dangers of life’s calms, I bless God, that the voyage is generally a rough one! When I remember the trials of the resting ark, I bless God that it is kept so long struggling in the storm! We look at the ark resting seven months upon the mountains of Ararat. What a lesson have we here against impatience! Did Noah and his family complain that they had to wait so long? Oh, no; on the contrary, we know the feelings of the mariner, after a long and dangerous voyage, when he is becalmed within sight of his native land, how he looks at the land and longs to spring upon the shore,—and much more than that, probably, was Noah’s felling;—but nowmark his conduct: no impatient prayer escapes his lips, no restlessness seems to disturb his mind, his faith—as God will expect all faith to be—was a waiting faith. Not even when the least drop of water had dried away would he venture to leave the ark unbidden. God had shut the ark, and God, Noah knows, must open it. Not till the welcome word is given, “Go forth,” will he presume to leave the place, how dark and how drearisome soever that place may be. Now learn, from Noah’s example, your line of duty under many a similar dispensation. Let us learn not to be impatient—I do not say of forbidden pleasures, that would be an easy thing; but do not be impatient of pleasure which it is permitted, nay, of pleasure which it is commanded you to enjoy; no, not for heaven itself. If God has shut any Noah in, be content to wait patiently till God shall open. It is your confidence to sit still. Take another lesson from the resting of the ark. The flood—the type of this our present life—was not yet half completed when Noah found a resting place on earth. From that hour he is, indeed, to wait for many a day before he shall be permitted to come forth; but from that hour Noah is safe. He can thus change no more, for he is anchored on a Rock. Now just so may it be with us on life’s long voyage. The time when it shall be good for us to land on the eternal shore, God alone has fixed—be it ours to wait for it. Long before our sojourn is nigh full—ay, at any time in all the course—we may find a safe anchorage under the Rock of Ages; and from the happy moment when you shall have been received upon a better mountain than that of Ararat, you will feel that you will move no more. There may be a rising of the deep waters around you, but you will be settled and at rest; and oh, how triumphant will you

look down on the waters and floods of this world’s struggles, while your faith, standing high on the mountain of God, can feel that the foundations of eternity are under you. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The ark resting

What a splendid spectacle! The resting of an eagle who, after soaring half-way to the sun, and stretching across whole provinces; at last, the light of the evening gleaming on her golden feathers, folds on the crag her unwearied wing; the resting of a ship of the line at anchor after contending all day with the angry billows; even the resting of the great moon, as if tired with her long journey through the ether, upon some mount of pines or some hill of snow—are only faint images of the sublimity of the scene, when the Wanderer of the Waters, the God-built ship, its journey done, its work accomplished, its glory gathered, its crew safe, the commencement of a new era of hope for earth through it secured, calmly, and one would almost dream, consciously, reposes upon the proud summit which God has prepared to bear its burden and to share in its immortal fame. (G. Gilfillan.)

Safety

Noah anchored his ark to the Providence of God. No sails were unfurled to the breeze, no oars were unshipped to move the lumbering ark, no rudder was employed to steer. The Providence of God was deeper than the winds and waves and contrary current; and to that, he fastened his barque with the strong cable of faith. Hence the security of the ark with its living freight. (W. Adamson.)

Security

When Alexander the Great was asked how he could sleep so soundly and securely in the midst of surrounding danger, he replied that he might well repose when Parmenis watched. Noah might well be in peace, since God had him in charge. A gentleman, crossing a dreary moor, came upon a cottage. When about to leave, he said to its occupant, “Are you not afraid to live in this lonely place?” To this the man at once responded, “Oh! no, for faith closes the door at night, and mercy opens it in the morning.” Thus was Noah kept during the long night of the deluge; and mercy opened the door for him. (W. Adamson.)

Tops of the mountains seen

The emerging world

To realize this, let us suppose ourselves standing on a hill on a September morning, surrounded by a sea of mist. Nothing for awhile is visible but wild, rolling waves of dripping darkness, till at last the sun looks out, a wind begins to blow, and then there loom forth, peak after peak, the hundred hills around, starting up, as if newly created, from the gulf below, their bases still bathed in mist, but their tops crowned with light, and resembling the islands of some “melancholy main.” It is one of the sublimest of spectacles, reminding you of the worlds rising out of chaos, of God’s “calling the things

that were not, and they appeared,” and compelling you, the spectator, to uncover, as the mountains have doge, in the presence of the God of day, although you see in him, what they do not, only the vicegerent of his heavenly King. And similar, but still more striking, must have been to Noah’s eye, as he stood on the sides of the resting ark, the sight of the ancient landmarks of nature reappearing, the ridges of Taurus heaving up like islands through the waters, their shows for the time melted, and perhaps over them all, in the remote distance, the “Finger Mount” arising, relieved against, and pointing significantly to the calm blue sky! Sight reminding us of the rising of great buried truths, as at the Reformation, out of the darkness of ages; struggling, too, to free themselves from the incrustations of error, as the lion from the impediments of the Daedal earth, Sight reminding us of the resurrection of great reputations buried under loads of calumny, or whelmed in deluges of oblivion, into the light of general appreciation, and the consecration of long-denied reverence and love. Sight reminding us of the resurrection of the dead from their sepulchres—specially, shall we say, of the resurrection of aged and venerable patriarchs, having left their hoary hairs in the dust, arising to the vigour and freshness of immortal youth. (G. Gilfillan.)

LANGE, "1. Stages of the Flood as taken in their Order. a. To its highest point: 1. Seven days, the going in to the ark; 2. forty days of the flood-storm; 3. one hundred and ten days, thereupon, of steady rain, and of the steady rising of the flood—so in general one hundred and fifty days. Threefold grade of advance: 1. The ark is lifted up from the ground; 2. the ark’s going upon the face of the waters; 3. its rising fifteen cubits high above the mountains, b. To the disappearance of the waters: In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, that Isaiah, after five months, or one hundred and fifty days, just as the waters begin to fall, the ark rests on Ararat. On the first day of the tenth month, that Isaiah, after two months and about twelve days (Knobel: seventy-two days after the settling of the ark), the mountain-peaks project[FN7] above the surface of the water. After forty days Noah opens the window and lets fly the raven. Next goes forth the dove. It is not directly said how long after the flight of the raven was the first flight of the dove. The second flight of the dove, however, was seven other days after the first, and therefore it is inferred that there were seven days between the flight of the raven and that of the dove; the third flight, again, was seven days after the second. We must either reckon in here an unnamed portion of time, or the time between the flight of the raven and the flight of the first dove must have been longer than seven days. Hereupon follows the last section of time, from the first day of the first month to the seven-and-twentieth day of the following, or the period of the full drying of the earth. In the six hundred and first year, etc. Luther, following the Septuagint, and by way of explanation, adds, “of Noah’s age.”

2. Genesis 8:1-4. The first Decrease of the Flood to the Resting of the Ark upon Ararat. And God remembered Noah and every living thing.—God’s remembering must be understood in an emphatic sense. God has always remembered Noah; but now he remembers him in a special sense—that he may accomplish his deliverance. There comes a turn in the flood, and the ground of it lay in the government of God. To the rule of judgment upon the human world, succeeds the rule of compassion for the deliverance of Noah and humanity, as also of the animal-world. It is his compassion, not simply his grace. For God remembered also the beasts. Thus did he remember them all, as Elohim, in his most universal relation to the earth. Had there been a longer continuance of the flood, there would not only have been want in the ark, but the ark itself would have been

destroyed. A wind must blow to disperse and dry up the flood, whilst, on the other side, the fountains of the flood were closed. With the shutting of the fountains of the deep, or with the restoring of the continental tranquillity of the earth, and of the equilibrium of the atmosphere, there ceases also the extraordinary rain; and besides, the windows of heaven were closed. It is an inexactness of the narration, but which gives it an unmistakable historic character, that the time of the flood’s advance is given as one hundred and fifty days, and that the point of time when the ark settles, and when, therefore, the actual sinking of the waters must have commenced, falls in like manner at the end of the one hundred and fifty days. For Noah, indeed, the first turning-point in the sinking of the waters, which had commenced already before the running out of the one hundred and fifty days, could not have been a matter of observation. For him, the first sure sign of the sinking of the waters was the grounding of the ark.—And the waters returned.—Here is the whole process preliminarily described—how the waters, in their undulations here and there, kept steadily settling more and more. Then follows the indication of the first decrease.—Upon the mountains of Ararat.—“אררט is the name of a territory ( 2 Kings 19:37) which is mentioned Jeremiah 51:27, as a kingdom near to Minni (Armenia),—probably the middle province of the Armenian territory, which Moses of Chorene calls Arairad, Araratia. The mountains of Ararat are, doubtless, the mountain-group which rises from the plain of the Araxes in two high peaks, the Great Ararat, 16,254feet, and the Lesser, about12,000 feet, above the level of the sea. This landing-place of the ark is of the highest significance for the development of humanity, as it is to be renewed after the flood. Armenia, the fountain-land of the Paradise rivers, a ‘cool, airy, well-watered, insular mountain-tract,’ as it has been called, lies in the middle of the old continent. And Song of Solomon, in a special manner, does the mountain of Ararat lie nearly in the middle, not only of the Great African-Asiatic desert tract, but also of the inland or Mediterranean waters, extending from Gibraltar to the sea of Baikal,—at the same time occupying the middle point in the longest line of extension of the Caucasian race, and of the Indo-Germanic lines of language and mythology, whilst it is also the middle point of the greatest reach of land in the old world as measured from the Cape of Good Hope to Behring’s Straits—in fact, the most peculiar point on the globe, from whose heights the lines and tribes of people, as they went forth from the sons of Noah, might spread themselves to all the regions of the earth (compare Von Raumer, ‘Palestine’).” Keil. See also Delitzsch, p266. The Koran has wrongly placed the landing-place of Noah on the hill Judhi[FN8] in the Kurd mountain-tract; the Samaritan version locates it on the mountains of Ceylon; the Sybillme books in Phrygia, in the native district of Marsyas. The Hindoo story of the flood names the Himalaya, the Greek Parnassus, as the landing-place of the delivered ancestor.” Knobel. Delitzsch and Keil agree in the supposition of the Armenian highlands.

PETT, "Genesis 8:1-3

‘And God (Elohim the Creator) remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters began to subside. The fountains also of the deep, and the openings in the heavens were stopped, and the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded continually from the earth, and after one hundred and fifty days the waters had subsided.’

God, the Creator, ‘remembered’ His creatures. This is the author’s vivid way of stating that God stepped in to act, and it was as Elohim that He acted in order to preserve His

creation. He had not of course actually forgotten them, for He was in control of the whole event, and He had Himself ensured that they would be safe throughout the voyage.

It is noteworthy that the author makes the action indirect. He does not say ‘God blew’ but that He caused a wind to blow. (Incidentally this seems to confirm that Genesis 1:2 is correctly translated ‘Spirit’ of God, otherwise the author would also here have said ‘wind of God’. There is a difference between His direct action and His indirect action). But as well as the wind blowing the actions of the seas also ceased, and the torrential rains subsided, and the waters thus began noticeably to drop, and this went on for one hundred and fifty days (five moon cycles), thus paralleling the period when the waters prevailed. Note that Genesis 8:2 is a parallel reversal of Genesis 7:11-12.

Note that Genesis 8:1-3 are a summary of events, and will now be followed up with some of the detail. Now we are to learn some of the things that happened during the one hundred and fifty days of the receding of the waters, including the touching down of the ark, the first sighting of the tops of the mountains, and the further wait before Noah felt it might be time to act.

(The question arises as to whether the one hundred and fifty days mentioned here is the same as that mentioned in Genesis 7:24. It would appear to us that it is indeed a second period of one hundred and fifty days during which the floods continually abated, commencing with the touching down on the mountains of Ararat and finishing when the earth was again ‘dry land’. However the question is not of primary importance).

2

�ow the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.

GILL, "Gen 8:2 - The fountains also of the deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped,.... The passages which let out the subterraneous waters in great quantity upon the earth, and the clouds of heaven, which poured down water upon it like spouts, were stopped from sending forth any more, as they had from the first of the flood unto one hundred and fifty days from thence: Jarchi observes, that it is not said that "all" the fountains of the deep, as when they were broken up, Gen_7:11 because some of them were left open for the use and benefit of the world; besides, some must be left for the return of the waters:

and the rain from heaven was restrained: which seems to confirm what has been before observed, that after the rain of forty days and nights it ceased not to rain, more or less, though not so vehemently, until the end of an hundred and fifty days, and then it entirely ceased.

COFFMAN, "Verse 2"The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained."

Until a more normal situation prevailed, the wind was a great blessing, but when the ocean had returned to its usual level with reference to the land, such a wind would no longer have been a blessing but a great detriment. (See under the preceding verse.) Significantly, the wind, as an instrument of God, appears prominent in Jonah, and also in the opening of a passage through the Red Sea for the deliverance of Israel from Egypt.

"The fountains also of the deep ... were stopped ..." "This can mean only one thing; the land level was shifted again, so that the sea went back to its former place or nearly so."[4]

3

The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down,

GILL, "Gen 8:3 - And the waters returned from off the earth continually,.... Or "going and returning" (s); they went off from the earth, and returned to their proper places appointed for them; some were dried up by the wind, and exhaled by the sun into the air: and others returned to their channels and cavities in the earth, or soaked into it:

and after the end of the hundred and fifty days, the waters were abated; or began to abate, as Jarchi and the Vulgate Latin version; which days are to be reckoned from the beginning of the flood, including the forty days' rain; though Jarchi reckons them from the time of the ceasing of it; so that there were from the beginning of the

flood one hundred and ninety days; six months, and ten days of the year of the flood now past; and in this he is followed by Dr. Lightfoot (t): but the former reckoning seems best, and agrees better with what follows.

CALVIN, "3.And after the end of the hundred and fifty days. Some think that the whole time, from the beginning of the deluge to the abatement of the waters, is here noted; and thus they include the forty days in which Moses relates that there was continued rain. But I make this distinction, that until the fortieth day, the waters rose gradually by fresh additions; then that they remained nearly in the same state for one hundred and fifty days; for both computations make the period a little more than six months and a half. And Moses says, that about the end of the seventh month, the diminution of the waters appeared to be such that the ark settled upon the highest summit of a mountain, or touched some ground. And by this lengthened space of time, the Lord would show the more plainly, that the dreadful desolation of the world had not fallen upon it accidentally, but was a remarkable proof of his judgment; while the deliverance of Noah was a magnificent work of his grace, and worthy of everlasting remembrance. If, however, we number the seventh month from the beginning of the year, (as some do,) and not from the time that Noah entered the ark, the subsidence of which Moses speaks, took place earlier, namely, as soon as the ark had floated five months. If this second opinion is received, there will be the same reckoning of ten months; for the sense will be, that in the eighth month after the commencement of the deluge, the tops of the mountains appeared. Concerning the name Ararat, I follow the opinion most received. And I do not see why some should deny it to be Armenian the mountains of which are declared, by ancient authors, almost with one consents to be the highest. (277) The Chaldean paraphrase also points out the particular part, which he calls mountains of Cardu, (278) which others call Cardueni. But whether that be true, which Josephus has handed down respecting the fragments of the ark found there in his time; remnants of which, Jerome says, remained to his own age, I leave undecided.

COFFMAN, "Verse 3"And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased."

So vast a subsidence of such tremendous amounts of water could have been caused by a phenomenal reduction of the earth's elevation "that lowered sea beds"[5] which had previously been abnormally elevated by such a disturbance as an earthquake, or other geological changes. The strange legend (if it is legend) of the disappearance of the fabled city of Atlantis could well have been founded on events related to the Deluge. Plato accepted that tale as a fact, and well it could have been. If indeed there was buried beneath the waves of the Atlantic ocean, named after the lost continent, an ancient antediluvian civilization, the logical cause of it would have been these changes evident in the Genesis account of the Flood.

ELLICOTT, "Verse 3(3) The waters returned from off the earth.—This backward motion of the

waters also seems to indicate that a vast wave from the sea had swept over the land, in addition to the forty days of rain.

Were abated.—Heb., decreased. Those in the ark would notice the changing current, and would know, by their being aground, that the flood was diminishing. But it was not till the first day of the tenth month that the tops of the mountains were seen. This slow abatement of the waters and their stillness, described in Genesis 8:1, makes it probable that the ark had grounded on some land-locked spot.

BENSON, "Verses 3-5

Genesis 8:3-5. The waters returned from off the earth continually —

Hebrews they were going and returning; a gradual departure. The heat of

the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in

more. And the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat — Or, Armenia,

whither it was directed, not by Noah’s prudence, but the wise providence

of God. The tops of the mountains were seen — Like little islands

appearing above water. They felt ground above forty days before they saw

it, according to Dr. Lightfoot’s computation, whence he infers, that if

the waters decreased proportionably, the ark drew eleven cubits in

water.

4

and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

GILL, "Gen 8:4 - And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month,.... That is, five months after the flood began, and when the waters began to decrease; for this is not the seventh month of the flood, but of the year, which being reckoned from Tisri, or the autumnal equinox, must be the month Nisan, which answers to part of our March, and part of April; and so the Targum of Jonathan explains it,"this is the month Nisan;''but Jarchi makes it to be the month Sivan, which answers to part of May, and part of June, taking it to be the seventh month from Cisleu, when the forty days' rain ceased; in which he is followed by Dr. Lightfoot (u); and according to Bishop Usher (w) the seventeenth day of the seventh month, on which the ark rested, was Wednesday the sixth of May: and then it rested

upon the mountains of Ararat; that is, on one of them, for Ararat is said to be a long ridge of mountains like the Alps, or the Pyrenean mountains; which, as Sir Walter Raleigh (x) thinks, are the same which run through Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, &c. and are by Pliny (y) called Taurus. But what is now called Ararat, and by the Armenians

Messis or Macis, and by the Turks Augri-daugh or Agrida, is a single mountain, and is so high that it overtops all the mountains thereabout; and that which makes it seem so very high is, that it stands by itself in the form of a sugar loaf, in the middle of one of the greatest plains one can see; it has two tops, one greater, and the smaller is most sharp pointed of the two (z). The Vulgate Latin version renders it the mountains of Armenia; and so Ararat in the Septuagint of Isa_37:38 is rendered Armenia, and in our version also; and it is the more commonly received opinion, that Ararat was a mountain there; and this agrees with the testimonies of various Heathen writers, which are produced by Josephus and Eusebius. Berosus the Chaldean (a) says,"it is reported that in Armenia, on a mountain of the Cordyaeans, there is part of a ship, the pitch of which some take off, and carry about with them, and use it as an amulet to avert evils.''And Nicholas of Damascus (b) relates, that in Minyas in Armenia is an huge mountain called Baris, to which, as the report is, many fled at the flood, and were saved; and that a certain person, carried in an ark or chest, struck upon the top of it, and that the remains of the timber were preserved a long time after; and, adds he, perhaps he may be the same that Moses, the lawgiver of the Jews, writes of. Now this mountain seems plainly to have its name from the ark of Noah, for a boat, or ship, is, with the Egyptians, called Baris. Herodotus (c) gives a large account of ships they call by this name; and the boat in which Charon is said to carry the dead bodies over the lake Acherusia, near Memphis, is said by Diodorus Siculus (d) to have the same name. Abydenus the Assyrian (e) tells us, that"Saturn having foretold to Sisithrus, that there would be a vast quantity of rain on the fifteenth of the month Daesius, he immediately sailed to the Armenians; and that the ship being driven to Armenia, the inhabitants made amulets of the wood of it, which they carried about their necks, as antidotes against diseases.''And hence Melo (f), who wrote against the Jews, suggests, as if the deluge did not reach Armenia; for he says,"at the deluge a man that had escaped with his sons went from Armenia, being driven out of his possession by those of the country, and passing over the intermediate region, came into the mountainous part of Syria, which was desolate.''And with what Berosus says of a mountain of the Cordyaeans, in Armenia, agree the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and the Syriac and Arabic versions, who all render the words here the mountains of Cardu or Carda: from the resting of the ark on this day on the mountains of Ararat, Jarchi concludes, and Dr. Lightfoot (g) after him, that the ark drew eleven cubits water, which, according to them, thus appears; on the first day of the month Ab, the mountain tops were first seen, and then the waters had fallen fifteen cubits, which they had been sixty days in doing, namely, from the first day of Sivan, and so they had abated the proportion of one cubit in four days: by this account we find, that on the sixteenth day of Sivan they had abated but four cubits, and yet on the next day, the seventeenth, the ark resteth on a hill, where the waters yet lay eleven cubits above it.

CLARKE, "Gen 8:4 -

The mountains of Ararat - That Ararat was a mountain of Armenia is almost universally agreed. What is commonly thought to be the Ararat of the Scriptures, has been visited by many travelers, and on it there are several monasteries. For a long time the world has been amused with reports that the remains of the ark were still visible there; but Mr. Tournefort, a famous French naturalist, who was on the spot, assures us that nothing of the kind is there to be seen. As there is a great chain of mountains which are called by this name, it is impossible to determine on what part of them the ark rested; but the highest part, called by some the finger mountain, has been fixed on as the most likely place. These things we must leave, and they are certainly of very little

consequence.

From the circumstance of the resting of the ark on the 17th of the seventh month, Dr. Lightfoot draws this curious conclusion: That the ark drew exactly eleven cubits of water. On the first day of the month Ab the mountain tops were first seen, and then the waters had fallen fifteen cubits; for so high had they prevailed above the tops of the mountains. This decrease in the waters took up sixty days, namely, from the first of Sivan; so that they appear to have abated in the proportion of one cubit in four days. On the 16th of Sivan they had abated but four cubits; and yet on the next day the ark rested on one of the hills, when the waters must have been as yet eleven cubits above it. Thus it appears that the ark drew eleven cubits of water.

HE�RY, "Gen 8:4-5 -Here we have the effects and evidences of the ebbing of the waters. 1. The ark rested.

This was some satisfaction to Noah, to feel the house he was in upon firm ground, and no longer movable. It rested upon a mountain, whither it was directed, not by Noah's prudence (he did not steer it), but by the wise and gracious providence of God, that it might rest the sooner. Note, God has times and places of rest for his people after their tossings; and many a time he provides for their seasonable and comfortable settlement without their own contrivance and quite beyond their own foresight. The ark of the church, though sometimes tossed with tempests, and not comforted (Isa_54:11), yet has its rests, Act_9:31. 2. The tops of the mountains were seen, like little islands, appearing above the water. We must suppose that they were seen by Noah and his sons; for there were none besides to see them. It is probable that they had looked through the window of the ark every day, like the longing mariners, after a tedious voyage, to see if they could discover land, or as the prophet's servant (1Ki_18:43, 1Ki_18:44), and at length they spy ground, and enter the day of the discovery in their journal. They felt ground above forty days before they saw it, according to Dr. Lightfoot's computation, whence he infers that, if the waters decreased proportionably, the ark drew eleven cubits in water.

JAMISON, "Gen 8:4 - seventh month--of the year--not of the flood--which lasted only five months.

rested--evidently indicating a calm and gentle motion.

upon the mountains of Ararat--or Armenia, as the word is rendered (2Ki_19:37; Isa_37:38). The mountain which tradition points to as the one on which the ark rested is now called Ara Dagh, the "finger mountain." Its summit consists of two peaks, the higher of which is 17,750 feet and the other 13,420 above the level of the sea.

K&D, "This landing-place of the ark is extremely interesting in connection with the development of the human race as renewed after the flood. Armenia, the source of the rivers of paradise, has been called “a cool, airy, well-watered mountain-island in the midst of the old continent;” but Mount Ararat especially is situated almost in the middle, not only of the great desert route of Africa and Asia, but also of the range of inland waters from Gibraltar to the Baikal Sea-in the centre, too, of the longest line that can be drawn through the settlements of the Caucasian race and the Indo-Germanic tribes; and,

as the central point of the longest land-line of the ancient world, from the Cape of Good Hope to the Behring Straits, it was the most suitable spot in the world, for the tribes and nations that sprang from the sons of Noah to descend from its heights and spread into every land

COKE, "Genesis 8:4. The ark rested in the seventh month.— Of the year; that is, not of the flood, as appears from Genesis 8:13-14. as well as from Genesis 8:11 of the former chapter: on the tenth month of the year the tops of the mountains were seen, Genesis 8:5.

After tossing on the billows, at last the ark rests on Ararat. Note; Though the church suffer long in this tempestuous world, it shall rest at last upon the mount of God. It was two months and upwards after they felt ground, before the mountains were seen. They looked out every day, there is no doubt, and wished for dry land; at last, with joy it appears. Life is a long voyage: in age or sickness the believer perceives he draws near the shore; and when death's shadows are stretching over him, he begins to discover the happy land of glory beyond the grave, as the morning spread upon the mountains.

Upon the mountains of Ararat— The general opinion is, that the ark rested upon one of the mountains which separated Armenia from Mesopotamia, which Ptolemy calls the Gordiaean, and Q. Curtius the Cordaean Mountains. This opinion is supported by the authority of the Chaldee paraphrase and Arabic version, which render Ararat, the Cordae Mountains; as also by Berosus, quoted in Josephus, b. i. c. 4. of his Antiquities. Bochart has been at the pains to collect several testimonies from authors in favour of this opinion. Mr. Whiston remarks here "the care and wisdom of Providence for the preservation of Noah, and all the creatures, after their coming out of the ark, by so ordering it that the ark should rest on one of the highest mountains in the world; for though the earth must have been generally uninhabitable for a considerable time after the flood, by reason of the sediment which the water left upon its surface, and which would require no small space of time to settle, consolidate, and become fit for vegetation; yet on the high mountains, which would be covered by the waters but a little time, the quantity of sediment would be so inconsiderable, that the earth would not be much altered from what it was before, nor its vegetables much hurt by this universal deluge."

COFFMAN, "Verse 4

"And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat."

For the duration of the Flood, see Genesis 8:14.

"Upon the mountains of Ararat ..." This designates, not a particular peak, but a district, described by Skinner thus: "It is the province of Armenia lying northeast of Lake Van, including the fertile plain watered by the Araxes, on the right (southwest) side of which Mount Massis rises."[6] The area is that

which lies along the alluvial plain of the Aras (Araxes) river near the point were the three borders of the Soviet Union, Iran, and Turkey come together. Out of this region there rise two peaks, the Greater and the Lesser Ararat, the Greater rising to an elevation of 16,945 feet and the Lesser to a height of 12,877 feet above sea level. The plain itself is about 3,000 feet in altitude. The peaks are in Turkish terrritory[7]. Either of these peaks, or any of the foothills could have been the place where the ark rested. It is amazing that some scholars find "difficulty" with how the animals could have come down through snows from a high peak, but such difficulties do not come from anything in the Bible but from the interpretations that men have imported into it. Josephus wrote that, "The ark rested on the top of a certain mountain in Armenia"[8], and that is just about all that the text states. It is of interest that as late as the times of Josephus, the remains of the ark were said to be still visible: "Its remains are shown by the inhabitants there to this day."[9]

ELLICOTT, "(4) The seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month.—As the months had each thirty days (see Note on Genesis 8:14), this makes exactly 150 days (see Genesis 7:11). The seventh civil month would be Abib; and the Speaker’s Commentary notices the following remarkable coincidences:—“On the 17th day of Abib the ark rested on Mount Ararat; on the 17th day of Abib the Israelites passed over the Red Sea; on the 17th day of Abib, Christ, our Lord, rose again from the dead.”

Ararat.—If in Genesis 11:2 the Authorised Version is right in saying that the descendants of Noah travelled “from the east” to Shinar, this could not be the Ararat of Armenia. Moreover, we are told that the word in, Assyrian means “highland,” and thus may signify any hilly country. In the Chaldean Genesis the ark rests upon Nizir, a region to the east of Assyria, the highest peak of which, now named Elwend, is called in the cuneiform texts “the mountain of the world” ( Chaldean Genesis, p. 307). The rendering, however, “from the east,” is by no means certain, and many translate “eastward,” and even the Authorised Version renders the word east, that is, eastward, in Genesis 13:11. In 2 Kings 19:37 “Ararat” is translated Armenia; but it is more correctly described in Jeremiah 51:27 as a country near Minni, that is, near Armenia. There are in this region two mountains of great altitude, the Aghri-Dagh and the Kara-Dagh, the highest of which is 17,260 feet above the sea-level; and naturally legend chooses this as the place where the ark settled. But the inspired narrative says that it rested “upon the mountains of Ararat,” upon some chain of hills there, and seventy-three days afterwards Noah found himself surrounded by an amphitheatre of mountains, the word used in Genesis 8:5 being emphatic, and signifying “the tops of the mountains became distinctly visible,” and not that they had just begun to emerge. For, doubtless, after so vast a flood, mists and vapours would for a long time prevail, and shut out the surrounding world from Noah’s view.

The Targum of Onkelos and the Syriac translate “on the mountains of Carduchia.” This range, which separates Armenia from Kurdistan, is regarded by many authorities as the hills really meant, because, as they are

nearer the place whence the ark started, the difficulty regarding the course taken by it is not so insuperable.

WHEDON, "4. The ark rested — Here is the reason of the statement made in the previous verse; at the end of five months, or one hundred and fifty days, it is known that the waters had begun to diminish, because the ark, which had hitherto floated freely, now caught ground, and finally rested. It is not likely that the year of the flood was reckoned from Abib, the beginning of the sacred year as established at the Exodus; but, as the Speaker’s Commentary observes, about the autumnal equinox. “If so, the seventeenth day of the second month (Genesis 7:11) would bring us to the middle of November, the beginning of the wintry or rainy season.… With regard to the forty days’ rain, it seems pretty certain that these were not additional to, but part of, the one hundred and fifty days of the prevalence of the flood. Supposing the above calculation to be correct, we have the very remarkable coincidences that on the seventeenth day of Abib (five months later than November) the ark rested on Ararat; on the seventeenth of Abib the Israelites passed the Red Sea, and on the seventeenth of Abib our Lord rose from the dead.”

Upon the mountains of Ararat — Not the mount or double peak now called Ararat, which from its height, steepness, ruggedness, and cold (the summit is higher than Mont Blanc) would have been totally unsuited for the ark’s resting-place, but the highlands of the country or district of Ararat, probably the central province of Armenia. Von Raumer has shown that this was the most suitable spot in the world for the cradle of the human race. “A cool, airy, well-watered mountain-island in the midst of the old continent,” whence the waters descend toward the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean Seas and the Persian Gulf. At the center of the longest land-line of the ancient world from Behring Straits to the Cape of Good Hope, it stood in the great highways of colonization, near the seats of the greatest nations of antiquity.

SBC, "The history of the deluge is alleged in the New Testament as a type of the deep waters of sin, in which a lost world is perishing, and from which there is no escape but in that ark which God hath prepared for us. The eight souls saved from the deluge are types of that little flock which rides safely and triumphantly, though the floods lift up their waves and the billows break over them. And their safety is assured to them, because they are in Christ.

I. At the root of all Christianity lies that deep mysterious truth, the spiritual union of the Redeemer with those whom He redeemed. To this truth most emphatically witnesses all the New Testament teaching about the ark as a symbol and a prophecy. For (1) The ark is a figure of Christ. The ark floated over the waste of waters as Christ dwelt and toiled and suffered in the wilderness of this world and amid the waters of affliction. (2) The ark is a figure of the redeemed of Christ. The Church, which is Christ’s body, is also the ark of refuge from the wrath of God. This life is still to the Church a conflict, a trial, a pilgrimage, a voyage. The crown shall be at the resurrection of the just.

II. The practical thoughts to which this subject leads us differ but little from the doctrinal. Is not the substance and the end of all—safety in Christ, rest in Christ, and at last glory in Christ? Those only who have rested in the Ark will rest upon Mount Ararat. The life of the Christian is begun on earth; it is perfected in heaven. When the voyage is over, the Saviour, who has been to us the Ark upon the waters, shall be to us, in the eternal mountains of the Lord, rest and peace and light and glory.

Bishop H. Browne, Sermons preached before the University of Cambridge, p. 67.

Genesis 8:4

Gen_8:4, Gen_8:18, Gen_8:20

On the slopes of Ararat was the second cradle of the race, the first village reared in a world of unseen graves.

I. It was the village of the ark, a building fashioned and fabricated from the forests of a drowned and buried world. To the world’s first fathers it must have seemed a hallowed and venerable form.

II. The village of the ark was the village of sacrifice. They built a sacrificial altar in which fear raised the stones, tradition furnished the sacrifice, and faith kindled the flame.

III. The first village was the village of the rainbow. It had been seen before in the old world, but now it was seen as a sign of God’s mercy, His covenant in creation.

IV. The village of the ark gives us our first code of laws. As man first steps forth with the shadows of the fall around him, scarce a principle seems to mark the presence of law. Here we advance quite another stage, to a new world; the principles of law are not many, but they have multiplied. As sins grow, laws grow. Around the first village pealed remote mutterings of storms to come.

V. The village of the ark was the village of sin. Even to Noah, the most righteous of men, sin came out of the simple pursuit of husbandry. A great, good man, the survivor of a lost world, the stem and inheritor of a new, he came to the moment in life of dreadful overcoming.

E. Paxton Hood, The Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iii., p. 92.

NISBET, "THE ARK OF SAFETY

‘And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.’

Genesis 8:4

The history of the Deluge is alleged in the New Testament as a type of the deep waters of sin, in which a lost world is perishing, and from which there is no escape but in that ark which God hath prepared for us. The eight souls saved from the Deluge are types of that little flock which rides safely and triumphantly, though the floods lift up their waves and the billows break over them. And their safety is assured to them, because they are in Christ.

I. At the root of all Christianity lies that deep mysterious truth, the spiritual union of the Redeemer with those whom He redeemed.—To this truth most emphatically witnesses all the New Testament teaching about the ark as a symbol and a prophecy. For (a) the ark is a figure of Christ. The ark floated over the waste of waters as Christ dwelt and toiled and suffered in the wilderness of this world and amid the waters of affliction. (b) The ark is a figure of the redeemed of Christ. The Church, which is Christ’s body, is also the ark of refuge from the wrath of God. This life is still to the Church a conflict, a trial, a pilgrimage, a voyage. The crown shall be at the resurrection of the just.

II. The practical thoughts to which this subject leads us differ but little from the doctrinal.—Is not the substance and the end of all—safety in Christ, rest in Christ, and at last glory in Christ? Those only who have rested in the Ark will rest upon Mount Ararat. The life of the Christian is begun on earth; it is perfected in heaven. When the voyage is over, the Saviour, who has been to us the Ark upon the waters, shall be to us, in the eternal mountains of the Lord, rest and peace and light and glory.

Bp. Harold Browne.

Illustration

‘The Ark a Type of Christ. The ark was a refuge from coming doom. So Christ. It was also a Divinely appointed refuge. God was its architect, and it was built according to Divine conception. So is the plan of human redemption and salvation. The Ark was made of earthly material. It was not something sent down fully prepared from heaven, but was built from the trees of the forest. Christ was the Son of God, but He was also the Son of man. The Ark had but one door of access. Through Christ alone man finds salvation. “I am the door.” The hope of the human race floated in the Ark. Had the waters engulphed it, the race of man would have perished on the earth. So the hope of man’s eternal future is in Christ Jesus.’

PETT, "Verses 4-14

Stages of Deliverance (Genesis 8:4-14)

Genesis 8:4-5

‘On the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains (or hills) of Ararat, and the waters continued going down until the tenth month, and in the tenth month on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains (or hills) were seen.’

Notice the exact reverse parallel with Genesis 7:18-19. There ‘the ark went on the face of the waters, and the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered’. This demonstrates the careful construction of the whole account.

During the second one hundred and fifty days, while the waters were receding, the first noteworthy event was when they felt the ark come to rest on a mountain among the mountains or hills of Ararat (not specifically, be it noted, on Mount Ararat), and it was in the ‘seventh’ moon cycle. They must have seen this as God’s perfect timing for seven is the number of divine perfection and completeness. This would have been at the beginning of the second one hundred and fifty days.

Can you imagine the tremendous sense of relief when ‘dry land’ was again encountered even though the waters prevailed and it was still submerged under the waters? But there was still some way to go, and the subsiding of the waters continued, until the tops of the mountains were actually seen, and that was on the first day of the tenth moon cycle. One can almost see Noah marking off events as they happened. The fact that it took two and a half months for the drop in water level to reveal the tops of the mountains/hills after the first coming to rest on a mountain/hill demonstrates that the total water level could not be too extreme given the time range for its subsidence. This is not, however, to deny that at one stage it was much deeper due to the tidal wave effect.

Whether we can correctly identify these ‘mountains’ is open to doubt, and it is even more doubtful whether we could hope to find the ark, or even know that it was the ark if we found it. As we have pointed out this was not Mount Ararat but mountains or hills within ‘Ararat’. This may have been Urartu, but while the later Ararat (2 Kings 19:37; Jeremiah 51:27) is almost certainly Urartu, Urartu is not witnessed until late 2nd millennium BC and would therefore be doubtful here unless there had been a scribal updating. This is quite possibly a different ‘Ararat’.

The cataclysmic Flood had continued to its highest point in five moon cycles, and now through a further five moon cycles (one hundred and fifty days) it decreases to a point where the ark is on ‘dry land’ and the tops of the mountains are visible, and during which Noah waits patiently for ‘forty days’ (just over a moon cycle), and then sends out birds to scout the land. It must have seemed significant that it was in the seventh moon cycle that the ark struck dry land. Here was an indication of the divine perfection of the work of God. But we note that the author does not try to twist the facts to meet his criteria. His dating shows that the periods of ‘one hundred and fifty days’ were not of the same exact length (see Excursus after Genesis 7:16). This smacks of genuineness.

5

The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the

mountains became visible.

GILL, "Gen 8:5 - And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month,.... That is, from the seventeenth of the seventh month, to the first of the tenth month, a space of two months and thirteen days, and being summer time, through the heat of the sun, they decreased apace:

in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen; not the tenth month of the flood, but of the year; the month Tammuz, as the Targum of Jonathan, and answers to part of June, and part of July; and the first day of this month, according to Bishop Usher (h), was Sunday the nineteenth of July: but according to Jarchi, whom Dr. Lightfoot (i) follows, this was the month Ab, which answers to July and August, the tenth from Marchesvan, when the rain began.

JAMISON, "Gen 8:5 - And the waters decreased continually--The decrease of the waters was for wise reasons exceedingly slow and gradual--the period of their return being nearly twice as long as that of their rise.

HAWKER, "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

The gradual decrease of the waters, afforded scope to the exercise of Noah’s faith. And is not the same process of mercy made use of now, by way of calling forth the faith and patience of the believer? see Heb_10:36.

LANGE 5-12, ". Genesis 8:5-12. The time of the Signs of Deliverance, and of the increasing Hope, from the first Decrease until the Disappearance of the Flood. The first sign of deliverance was the resting of the ark upon Ararat. Now it continues still until the first day of the tenth month (Tammuz), or from seventy to seventy-three days, when there appears the second sign: the peaks of the Armenian highlands become visible; at all events, the ark, on their summit, had become free from the influence of the water. Noah, however, is not satisfied, until after forty days more, that the flood will not return; and then he opens the window (ןIJח) of the sky-light (צהר). Fresh light and air awaken, or rather gradually reanimate, the torpid animal-world, and Noah’s longing desire sends forth the raven through the opened window. (It is to be remarked that the ark had only one male raven, because from the unclean animals there was taken but one pair. From the staying out or returning of the raven Noah might, at all events, draw inferences; but this bird is noted for his appetite, that which makes all life in the ark strive for freedom. The raven, therefore, may be first ventured on this craving flight, since he can find food from the dead bodies left by the flood upon the mountains. “In the ancient world, the

raven was regarded as a prophetic bird, and was therefore held sacred to Apollo. Something of this appears ( 1 Kings 17:4; 1 Kings 17:6) in his connection with the prophet Elias. He was thus esteemed among the Arabians, who assumed to understand the voice and flight of the birds. Especially was he regarded as a prophet of the weather, as inferred from his flight and cry. Pliny describes him as a wild and forgetful bird,[FN9] who forgets to come back to his nest. And so he came not back to the ark; but Noah could know from this that the earth was no longer wholly covered with water.” Knobel. We may refer here to the two ravens on the shoulders of Odin. Without returning into the ark, he flew here and there between the ark (to which he was bound by fear and sympathy, the attraction of his mate perhaps, and on the outside of which he could rest) and the emerging mountain-tops, where he found food and freedom.—And he sent forth the dove.—The raven lights everywhere; therefore his remaining out furnishes no proof of the drying of the lower places. But the dove lights upon the plains, and not in the slime and marsh; therefore does its flying abroad give information whether or no the plains are dry. The Septuagint translates ITמא by ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, the Vulgate, post eum, Luther correctly, from himself. (So the English translation, from him.) It is perhaps indicated that he had to drive it from him. The time of sending away is reckoned by Baumgarten, Knobel, and others (after Aben Ezra and Kimchi), as being seven days after the sending of the raven; because it is said, Genesis 8:10, he waited other seven days. The delicate dove finds no place fit for her lighting, because all the lower lands are yet covered, and so she turns back. And Noah drew her back again into the ark. The question may be asked: Since the top of Ararat was free from water, why did not Noah go out with the beasts? It Isaiah, however, a truthful characteristic that he did no such thing; since a hasty disturbance of the beasts might have yet brought the whole in danger of destruction. But the second sending forth of the dove, after seven other days, brings to him the fourth and fairest sign of deliverance: the dove returns with a fresh olive-leaf in its mouth. “חלeו fut. Hiphil from חיל,[FN10] to be in trouble, to wait painfully and longingly.” Delitzsch. “The olive-tree has green leaves all the year through, and appears to endure the water, since Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. 48, and Pliny, Hist. Nat. 13, 50, give an account of olive trees in the Red Sea. It comes early in Armenia (Strabo), though not on the heights of Ararat, but lower down, below the walnut, mulberry, and apricot tree, in the valleys on the south side (Ritter, “Geography,” 10. p920). The dove must, therefore, have made a wide flight in search of the plains, and on this account have just returned at evening time. This olive-leaf,—which was not something picked up on a mountain-peak, where it might have been floated by the water, but (טרף) something torn off, and, therefore, fresh plucked from the tree,—taught Noah what was the state of things in the earth below. It was the more fitting here, since the olive-branch was an emblem of peace ( 2 Maccabees 14:4; Dion, Halic, Virg, Liv.), and yet in the text it is not an olive-branch (Symm, Vulg.), but only an olive-leaf.” Knobel.—The sign gave intelligence that at least the lower olive-trees, in the lower ground, were above the water; the olive-loaf, moreover, in the mouth of the dove, was a fair sign of promise.—Yet seven other days.—This time the dove returns no more. The attraction of freedom and the new life outweighs the desire to return; in which it is presupposed that it is an attraction which the others will follow. “The dove is found also in the classical myths. According to Plutarch (De Solert. Animal. 13), Deucalion had a dove in the ark, which indicated bad weather by its return, and good weather by its onward flight.” Knobel. It was, in like manner, a prophetic bird at Dodona, according to Herodotus and others; and the ancients were also acquainted with its use as a letter-carrier, according to Ælian and Pliny. On the significance of the dove in the New Testament, see the account of the baptism of Jesus.—In the six hundred and first year.—This reckoning completes the old life of Noah. His seventh hundred is the beginning of his sabbath-time.—In the first month, in the first day, etc.—This date looks

back to the beginning of the flood, in the second month of the previous year, on the seventeenth day. Now Noah removes the covering of the ark, and takes a free look around and upon the new earth. The waters, no longer flowing back, were evaporating from the earth, and the ground was in the process of becoming dry. Yet still he waited a month and twenty-seven days, that he might not too hastily expose to injury the living seminarium of the ark, the precious seed of the new life that had been entrusted to his care. But he waited only for the clear direction.—And Noah removed the covering of the ark.—מכסה. Because this word is used elsewhere only of a covering made of leather and skins with which they covered the holy vessels on the march ( Numbers 4:8; Numbers 4:12), and of the third and fourth covering of the ark of the testimony ( Exodus 26:14, etc.), it does not follow, as Knobel supposes, that the author had in view a similar covering. The deck of an ark on which the rain-storms spent their force, must surely have been of as great stability as the ark itself.—And God (Elohim) spake to Noah.—It is Elohim, because this revelation belongs to the universal relation of God to the earth. “The time of the flood, according to verse14, amounted to twelve months and eleven days, that Isaiah, three hundred and sixty-five days, or a full solar year; consequently in the course of one full circuit of the natural change or period (נהp), does the earth become destroyed and renewed. In the fact that Noah might not leave the ark from his own free, arbitrary will, there is expressed his preservation of the seal of the divine counsel, and of the divine work.” Baumgarten. New blessings upon the creatures, similar to those which were pronounced at the creation, are connected with his going forth at the divine command; it is the beginning of a new world. “As in creation the beasts were blessed before Prayer of Manasseh, so is it here.” Baumgarten. In the beasts going out of the ark in pairs there is given to us a clear idea of the stability of the new order in nature, and of the security for its continuance.

[Note on the Week, and on the Seventh Day Observance in the Ark.—“And he waited seven days,” Genesis 8:10. “And he waited seven other days.” Dr. Lange gives little attention to the important question connected with this language, as he passes over, with a very few remarks, the whole question of the sabbath in Genesis 1. There is certainly indicated here a sevenfold division of days, as already recognized, whatever may be its reasons. Of these, no one seems more easy and natural than that which refers it to the traditionary remembrance of the creation, and its seventh day of rest, although some of those who claim to be “the higher school of criticism” reject it. Had such a reference to a sevenfold division been found in some ancient Hindoo or Persian book, and along with it, or in a similar writing closely connected with it, an account of a hexameral creation with its succeeding day of rest, they would doubtless have discovered a connection between the ideas. But here they do not hesitate to violate their own famous canon, that “the Bible is to be interpreted like any other ancient writings.” Now it may be regarded as well settled that such a division of time existed universally among the Shemitic and other Oriental peoples. (See this clearly shown in the article Week, in Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible.”) It is a fact, too, well established, that a similar division existed among the Egyptians, as is particularly stated, with the names given to the days of the week, by Dion. Cassius (Hist. Rom. xxxvii18). They are the names of the seven celestial bodies, and yet there are no astronomical phenomena that could of themselves have given rise to it. It is evidently an after-thought. The things named must have been known before, and when the original reason of the division was lost, the planetary series was adapted to it, although it had to be taken in an irregular and disproportioned manner. This was to give it mystery and interest, and to accommodate it to the astrological superstition, which early came in, of lucky and unlucky days. The same names came into the Roman (ecclesiastical) and Saxon

calendars. They could not so readily have found place, had there not been some previous ground in the Occidental heathen ideas (Roman and Scandinavian), although they do not appear in classical literature.

But how shall such a division be explained? The reference to the lunar phases seems plausible, but will not bear close examination. It is true that a lunation (about twenty-nine and one-half days) is approximately divisible into four parts, of nearly seven days each, but the beginnings and endings, especially of the second and fourth quarters, are so obscure, and incapable of easy determination, that it could never have been adjusted with the required practical precision to any settled weekly reckoning of definite days. Besides, in that case, the week would have had its series commence and end with the divisions of the lunation. But we find nowhere any such reckoning. The week has no reference to the month. Such a day, of such a month, is in all calendars, but first or second week, of such a month, is nowhere found. Again, there were adjustments of the months to the solar year by admitted inequalities and intercalations, but there is no trace anywhere of any such attempts to regulate the days of the week with reference to the month. A seventh portion of time computed from an ever-shifting beginning would have been of no use, or would only have introduced confusion. The week, therefore, must have had, and did have, its reckoning from some point entirely independent of any annual, monthly, or even astronomical calculus. It must, too, have been from some remote period, fixed in itself (or supposed to be so fixed), just as we reckon our weeks from the day of Christ’s resurrection, in a series continuing steadily on, though there has been, since then, repeated rectifications of the month (or moons), and even a change of style in respect to the year. The weekly series has been unbroken.

The Jewish reckoning of the seven days, and of the sabbath, we know, was thus independent. In Exodus 16:23, we find the particular sabbath there mentioned as coming on the sixteenth day of the second month (the day after they came to the Wilderness of Sin), and on the twenty-third following, as reckoned without reference to any monthly or annual beginning. It comes on such a day, but computed by itself, and seems to have been thus known as something dating from some ancient, remote period, and kept in remembrance even during the ignorance and debasement of a servile bondage. It must have come by tradition from their patriarchal ancestors, and was probably the same seventh day which was recognized by the Egyptians (their day of Saturn, Remphan, Hebrew ןqer, Arabic كيو ان see Amos 5:26, Septuagint version, and Acts 7:43), although with them the observance may have lost its original idea and reason, and become wholly idolatrous or superstitious. Therefore does Moses tell the Jews to remember, and keep it holy, calling back their minds to the primitive ground of its institution. So Kimchi and Aben Ezra, in their comment on Amos 5:26, say “that ןqer(Kiyun) is the same with יTzp, Shabbatai (Saturn, or the sabbath-god), for they made tohim an image, whilst another interpretation makes it to be יTzp כבIכ, the star of Saturn, and so is he called כיואן, Khivan, in the tongue of the Arabians and the Persians.” In the earliest Egyptian mythology, as in the most ancient Greek derived from it, the dynasty of Saturn (Κρόνος = χρόνος, time), or the old creative, generative power, was before that of Ζεύς, the light, or the Sun; that Isaiah, his day (dies Saturni) was before the dies Solis, or, sun-day, the primitive dies Jovis.[FN11] So does the darkened mirror of heathenism give to all these early things both a pantheistic and a polytheistic hue. The Hebrew revelation alone preserves them truthful, pure, and holy. The silence of the Scriptures in respect to the patriarchal observance of the sabbath, religiously or otherwise (unless this that is said of Noah be an exception), furnishes no answer to the

strong inference to be derived from Exodus 16, 20. See remarks on this in Note on the Sabbath, page197.

The more we examine these acts of Noah, the more it will strike us that they must have been of a religious nature. He did not take such observations, and so send out the birds, as mere arbitrary Acts, prompted simply by his curiosity or his impatience. God had “shut him in,” and as a man of faith and prayer he looks for the divine directions in determining the times of waiting. Every opening, therefore, of the ark, and every sending forth of the birds, may be regarded as having been accompanied. or preceded by a divine consultation. He “inquired of the Lord,” as the Scripture records other holy men as having done. What more likely, then, than that such inquiry should have its basis in solemn religious exercises, not arbitrarily entered into, but on days held sacred for prayer and religious rest. When this was done, then the other, or more human means of inquiry that were in accordance with it, would be resorted to. In this point of view, the sending forth of the raven and the dove may be reverently regarded as divine auspications. (See remarks in marginal note, p310.) They immediately followed such stated religious exercises, and hence his periods of waiting would, in the most natural and appropriate manner, be regulated by them. On any other view, his proceedings would seem wholly reasonless and arbitrary. The idea gives an interest to the life of this lonely, “righteous Prayer of Manasseh,” during his long sojourn in the ark. He did not forget God, nor God’s ancient hallowing of a certain day in seven, and, therefore, is there the stronger emphasis in what is said Genesis 8:1, that “the Lord remembered Noah.” See Lange’s most striking and beautiful remarks on this expression, p309.

There must be reasons for such a seven-days’ waiting, and what more natural and consistent ones could there be than those here stated? It amounts to nothing to say that seven is a sacred or mystic number. How came it to be such? Though afterwards thus used in Scripture, there could have been nothing of this sacredness at that early day, unless it had come from the still earlier account of the creation. It must have been founded on some great fact; for, of all the elementary Numbers, seven may be said to have the least of any mathematical or merely numerical interest, such as gave rise to peculiar speculations in the earliest thinking. There was a mystery about the number one, as the fountain of the infinite numerical series, or as representing a point, the principium of all magnitude. Two had an interest as representing the line, and as the root of that most regular of all series, the binary powers. Three was the binding of unity and duality, and represented the triangle, the simplest or most elementary plane figure in space. Four (the tetractys of Pythagoras) represented the tetraedron, or the most elementary solid. Five was the number of the fingers on the hand, and thus became the origin of the universal decimal notation. Six was the double triad, and so on. But it is not easy to find any such mathematical or numerical peculiarity in seven that could have drawn special attention to it, as having, in itself, anything mystical or occult. It is not a square, nor a power of any kind; it is not what is called an oblong number, or one that can be divided into factors. It represents no figure that, like the hexagon or pentagon, can be geometrically produced. Its sacredness, or mystery, therefore, could only have arisen from some great historical truth, or institution, supposed to have been connected with it; and if we “interpret the Hebrew books like other ancient writings,” this origin could have been no other than a belief in the great events mentioned Genesis 1, as laying the foundation for all subsequent veneration of the hebdomadal number and period.—T. L.]

6

After forty days �oah opened the window he had made in the ark

BAR�ES, "Gen_8:6-12

The raven and the dove are sent out to bring tidings of the external world. “Forty days.” Before �oah made any experiment he seems to have allowed the lapse of forty days to undo the remaining effect of the forty days’ rain. “The window.” He seems to have been unable to take any definite observations through the aperture here called a window. The raven found carrion in abundance, floated probably on the waters, and did not need to return. This was such a token of the state of things as �oah might expect from such a messenger. He next sends the dove, who returns to him. “Yet other seven days.” This intimates that he stayed seven days also after the raven was sent out. The olive leaf plucked off was a sign of returning safety to the land. It is said by Theophrastus (Hist. Plant. 4, 7) and Pliny (H. �. 13, 50) that the olive strikes leaves even under water. From this event, the olive branch became the symbol of peace, and the dove the emblem of the Comforter, the messenger of peace. After seven other days, the dove being despatched, returns no more. The number seven figures very conspicuously in this narrative. Seven days before the showers commence the command to enter the ark is given; and at intervals of seven days the winged messengers are sent out. These intervals point evidently to the period of seven days, determined by the six days of creation and the seventh day of rest. The clean beasts also and the birds are admitted into the ark by seven pairs. This points to the sacredness associated with the number arising from the hallowed character of the seventh day. The number forty also, the product of four, the number of the world or universe, and ten the number of completeness, begins here to be employed for a complete period in which a process will have run its course.

GILL, "Gen 8:6 - And it came to pass at the end of forty days,.... From the appearance of the mountains, that is, from the first day of the tenth month, to forty days after; and being ended, this must be the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the month Ab, which answers to July and August; and according to Bishop Usher (k) it was Friday the twenty eighth of August:

HE�RY 6-12, "We have here an account of the spies which �oah sent forth to bring him intelligence from abroad, a raven and a dove. Observe here,

I. That though God had told �oah particularly when the flood would come, even to a day (Gen_7:4), yet he did not give him a particular account by revelation at what times, and by what steps, it should go away, 1. Because the knowledge of the former was necessary to his preparing the ark, and settling himself in it; but the knowledge of the latter would serve only to gratify his curiosity, and the concealing of it from him would be the needful exercise of his faith and patience. And, 2. He could not foresee the flood, but by revelation; but he might, by ordinary means, discover the decrease of it, and therefore God was pleased to leave him to the use of them.

II. That though �oah by faith expected his enlargement, and by patience waited for it, yet he was inquisitive concerning it, as one that thought it long to be thus confined. �ote, Desires of release out of trouble, earnest expectations of it, and enquiries concerning its advances towards us, will very well consist with the sincerity of faith and patience. He that believes does not make haste to run before God, but he does make haste to go forth to meet him, Isa_28:16. Particularly, 1. �oah sent forth a raven through the window of the ark, which went forth, as the Hebrew phrase is, going forth and returning, that is, flying about, and feeding on the carcases that floated, but returning to the ark for rest; probably not in it, but upon it. This gave �oah little satisfaction; therefore, 2. He sent forth a dove, which returned the first time with no good news, but probably wet and dirty; but, the second time, she brought an olive-leaf in her bill, which appeared to be first plucked off, a plain indication that now the trees, the fruit-trees, began to appear above water. �ote here, (1.) That �oah sent forth the dove the second time seven days after the first time, and the third time was after seven days too; and probably the first sending of her out was seven days after the sending forth of the raven. This intimates that it was done on the sabbath day, which, it should seem, �oah religiously observed in the ark. Having kept the sabbath in a solemn assembly of his little church, he then expected special blessings from heaven, and enquired concerning them. Having directed his prayer, he looked up, Psa_5:3. (2.) The dove is an emblem of a gracious soul, which finding no rest for its foot, no solid peace or satisfaction in this world, this deluged defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its �oah. The carnal heart, like the raven, takes up with the world, and feeds on the carrions it finds there; but return thou to thy rest, O my soul, to thy �oah, so the word is, Psa_116:7. O that I had wings like a dove, to flee to him! Psa_55:6. And as �oah put forth his hand, and took the dove, and pulled her in to him, into the ark, so Christ will graciously preserve, and help, and welcome, those that fly to him for rest. (3.) The olive-branch, which was an emblem of peace, was brought, not by the raven, a bird of prey, nor by a gay and proud peacock, but by a mild, patient, humble dove. It is a dove-like disposition that brings into the world earnests of rest and joy. (4.) Some make these things an allegory. The law was first sent forth like the raven, but brought no tidings of the assuaging of the waters of God's wrath, with which the world of mankind was deluged; therefore, in the fulness of time, God sent forth his gospel, as the dove, in the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended,

and this presents us with an olive-branch and brings in a better hope.

JAMISO�, "at the end of forty days — It is easy to imagine the ardent longing �oah and his family must have felt to enjoy again the sight of land as well as breathe the fresh air; and it was perfectly consistent with faith and patience to make inquiries whether the earth was yet ready.

K&D 6-12, "Forty days after the appearance of the mountain tops, �oah opened the window of the ark and let a raven fly out (lit., the raven, i.e., the particular raven known from that circumstance), for the purpose of ascertaining the drying up of the waters. The raven went out and returned until the earth was dry, but without being taken back into the ark, as the mountain tops and the carcases floating upon the water afforded both resting-places and food. After that, �oah let a dove fly out three times, at intervals of seven days. It is not distinctly stated that he sent it out the first time seven days after the raven, but this is implied in the statement that he stayed yet other seven days before sending it out the second time, and the same again before sending it the third time (Gen_8:10 and Gen_8:12). The dove, when first sent out, “found no rest for the sole of its foot;” for a dove will only settle upon such places and objects as are dry and clean. It returned to the ark and let �oah take it in again (Gen_8:8, Gen_8:9). The second time it returned in the evening, having remained out longer than before, and brought a fresh (טרף freshly plucked) olive-leaf in its mouth. �oah perceived from this that the water must be almost gone, had “abated from off the earth,” though the ground might not be perfectly dry, as the olive-tree will put out leaves even under water. The fresh olive-leaf was the first sign of the resurrection of the earth to new life after the flood, and the dove with the olive-leaf a herald of salvation. The third time it did not return; a sign that the waters had completely receded from the earth. The fact that �oah waited 40 days before sending the raven, and after that always left an interval of seven days, is not to be accounted for on the supposition that these numbers were already regarded as significant. The 40 days correspond to the 40 days during which the rain fell and the waters rose; and �oah might assume that they would require the same time to recede as to rise. The seven days constituted the week established at the creation, and God had already conformed to it in arranging their entrance into the ark (Gen_7:4, Gen_7:10). The selection which �oah made of the birds may also be explained quite simply from the difference in their nature, with which �oah must have been acquainted; that is to say, from the fact that the raven in seeking its food settles upon every carcase that it sees, whereas the dove will only settle upon what is dry and clean.

COKE, "Genesis 8:6. At the end of forty days— i.e.. Forty days after the first day of the tenth month, when the tops of the mountains began to appear, then �oah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro; which going forth and returning, as the Hebrew has it, often flew from and to the ark again, finding no place of rest till the waters were dried up.

REFLECTIO�S.—�oah was told when the flood should come, but not when it should abate. He begins now, therefore, to open the window after forty days; perhaps he feared to expose himself sooner to the waters: he felt himself safe where he was. It is folly to expose ourselves to needless danger.

CALVI�, "6.At the end of forty days. We may hence conjecture with what great anxiety the breast of the holy man was oppressed. After he had perceived the ark to be resting on solid ground, he yet did not dare to open the window till the fortieth day; not because he was stunned and torpid, but because an example, thus formidable, of the vengeance of God, had affected him with such fear and sorrow combined, that being deprived of all judgment, he silently remained in the chamber of his ark. At length he sends forth a raven, from which he might receive a more certain indication of the dryness of the earth. But the raven perceiving nothing but muddy marshes, hovers around, and immediately seeks to be readmitted. I have no doubt that �oah purposely selected the ravens which he knew might be allured by the odour of carcasses, to take a further flight, if the earth, with the animals upon it, were already exposed to view; but the raven, flying around did not depart far. I wonder whence a negation, which Moses has not in the Hebrew text, has crept into the Greek and Latin version, since it entirely changes the sense. (279) Hence the fable has originated, that the raven, having found carcasses, was kept away from the arks and forsook its protector. Afterwards, futile allegories followed, just as the curiosity of men is ever desirous of trifling. But the dove, in its first egress, imitated the raven, because it flew back to the ark; afterwards it brought a branch of olive in its bill; and at the third time, as if emancipated, it enjoyed the free air, and the free earth. Some writers exercise their ingenuity on the olive branch; (280) because among the ancients it was the emblem of peace, as the laurel was of victory. But I rather think, that as the olive tree does not grow upon the mountains, and is not a very lofty tree, the Lord had given his servant some token whence he might infer, that pleasant regions, and productive of good fruits, were now freed from the waters. Because the version of Jerome says, that it was a branch with green leaves; they who have thought, that the deluge began in the month of September, take this as a confirmation of their opinion. But the words of Moses have no such meaning. And it might be that the Lord, willing to revive the spirit of �oah, offered some branch to the dove, which had not yet altogether withered under the waters.

COFFMA�, "Verse 6"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that �oah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from the earth. And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand and took her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off: so �oah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again

unto him anymore."

This incident of sending forth the birds is also a feature of the Babylonian myth regarding the flood, but there are also marked differences. In the myth, the raven was sent out last, to which there could have been no point whatever. This is only one of many unreasonable and illogical characteristics of the extra-Biblical stories of the Flood, the same being merely "perverted versions"[10] of the true Biblical account. We shall notice another of these under Genesis 8:21.

"And, lo, in her mouth an olive leaf ..." Here is the origin of the universally-known symbol of the dove and the olive leaf as signifying peace and good will. In the �.T., the dove is seen as a symbol of the Holy Spirit (John 1:32,33), thus marking a connection between the salvation of �oah and the salvation of mankind. Brownville presented a remarkable study on the dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit,[11] and the subject of the fitness of the dove for the elaborate symbolism connected with it is discussed in this series of commentaries (See my commentary on Matthew 3:16).

"Yet other seven days ..." occurs in both Genesis 8:10 and Genesis 8:12; and despite the fact of no such period having been mentioned prior to the sending out of the dove the first time (Genesis 8:8), scholars usually agree that there was also similar waiting of seven days after the raven was sent out and before the dove was sent out for the first time, as seemingly implied by the recurrence of this expression. It is one of the ambiguities connected with the chronology of this event.

ELLICOTT, "(6) �oah opened the window.—�ot the zohar of Genesis 6:16, but an aperture. He had waited forty days after seeing the heights around him rising clearly into the air, and then, impatient of the slow subsidence of the waters, �oah at last sent forth a raven to bring him some news of the state of the earth. This bird was chosen as one strong of flight, and also, perhaps, because anciently regarded as prophetic of the weather; besides this, it is easily tamed, and as �oah retained its mate he had security for its return. And so it seems to have done, for it is described as going “forth to and fro.” Each night it returned to the ark, and probably to its old perch near the female. The Chaldean Genesis agrees with many commentators and the ancient versions in supposing that the raven did not return, finding abundant food in the floating dead bodies (Chaldean Genesis, p. 286); but this is contrary to the Hebrew. The versions must have had a negative in their copies, and have read, “which went forth, going, and not returning.” The present Hebrew text is, however, consistent with itself; for it adds, “until the waters,” &c. This must mean that as soon as the earth was dry this going to and fro ceased.

PETT, "Genesis 8:6-9

‘And after forty days �oah opened up the opening he had made in the ark and sent out a raven, and it went about to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. And he sent out a dove to see if the waters had abated from the face of the ground, but the dove found nowhere to land and returned to the ark, for the waters were covering the face of the whole earth (land). And he put out his hand and took

her and brought her in to him into the ark.’Only the tops of the mountains were visible at the end of Genesis 8:5 so �oah waits just over one more moon cycle (‘forty days’ - see on Genesis 7:3), and then decides to act.

And how descriptive the next words are. It is clear that �oah still sees waters all around so that he has to open up the opening at the top to release first a raven and then a dove so that he can find out what is happening in the wider world outside, on ‘the face of the ground’, the cultivated areas. This sounds like a memory of those moments passed down through history, and similar events respecting the sending out of birds are mentioned in Mesopotamian mythology. This was something never to be forgotten. The raven does not return, but the dove returns, and this satisfies �oah that the waters still prevail.

We note that no timing is given for these particular events. The author has his pattern of 7 - 40 - 150 - 150 - 40 - 7 to adhere to. The symmetry is not perfect as the last seven days is part of the second ‘150 days’ whereas the first was apparently not part of the first, but this would not really concern the author, and indeed he may have considered the first ‘150 days’ commenced at the start of the seven days. Thus he sees these flights as taking place over an unidentified period. The ancients had no problem with ‘manipulating’ numbers in order to get over their message. �umbers were adjectives with which to illustrate, not important in themselves, and not used with our modern penchant for mathematical exactness, and it is almost certain that to his readers and listeners these numbers had great significance. �ow with seven days to go to the great event he again introduces numbers.

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and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.

GILL, "Gen 8:7 - And he sent forth a raven,.... That by it he might make his observation, how high or low the waters were upon the earth; and the rather he sent out the raven, a bird of prey, which feeds on carrion, that if the earth had been dry, the smell of the dead carcasses would have invited it to go far off from the ark, and not return; but

if not, he would see it again:

which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from the earth; or, "and it went forth, going forth and returning" (l); it went forth out of the ark, and returned, but might not go into it, but went forth again, and then returned; and thus it continued going backwards and forwards, until the waters were dried up, when it returned no more: the Septuagint version is, "and it returned not"; and so some Jewish writers (m) say, it found the carcass of a man on the top of the mountains, and sat upon it for food, and returned not: hence came the fable of Apollo's sending a raven to fetch water, while he was sacrificing, which lighting on a large corn field, yet green, and being willing to enjoy some grains of it, waited till it was ripe, and neglected its orders (n); and hence is the proverb, "corvus nuntius". Some make this creature to be an emblem of the law, first sent forth, but brought no good tidings of the waters of God's wrath being assuaged, but worketh wrath, and is the ministration of condemnation and death: rather it is an emblem of unregenerate men, who are, like it, black through original sin and actual transgressions; are unclean and polluted in all the powers and faculties of their souls; are hateful, hating one another, and live in carnal and sensual lusts pleasures.

CLARKE, "Gen 8:7 -He sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro - It is generally supposed

that the raven flew off, and was seen no more, but this meaning the Hebrew text will not

bear; ������������ vaiyetseyatsovashob, and it went forth, going forth

and returning. From which it is evident that she did return, but was not taken into the ark. She made frequent excursions, and continued on the wing as long as she could, having picked up such aliment as she found floating on the waters; and then, to rest herself, regained the ark, where she might perch, though she was not admitted. Indeed this must be allowed, as it is impossible she could have continued twenty one days upon the wing, which she must have done had she not returned. But the text itself is sufficiently determinate.

HAWKER, "And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

Opening the window of the ark, and sending forth the messengers of enquiry, serves to teach, no less, that while faith is in the liveliest exercise, in waiting for the fulfilment of the Divine promises, it is no impeachment of faith, but, on the contrary, the truest proof of its being genuine, that we humbly send forth the enquiries of prayer and supplication, for the time of the Lord’s deliverance from trouble. Pro_30:4; Psa_148:8; Psa_135:7

JAMISON, "And he sent forth a raven — The smell of carrion would allure it to remain if the earth were in a habitable state. But it kept hovering about the spot, and, being a solitary bird, probably perched on the covering.

BENSON, "Verses 7-12

Genesis 8:7-12. Noah sent forth a raven — Through the window of the ark; which went forth — As the Hebrew phrase is, going forth and returning; that is, flying about, but returning to the ark for rest; probably not in it, but upon it. This gave Noah little

satisfaction: therefore, he sent forth a dove — Which returned the first time with no good news, but probably wet and dirty; but the second time she brought an olive-leaf in her bill, which appeared to be fresh plucked off; a plain indication that now the trees began to appear above water. Note here, that Noah sent forth the dove a second time, seven days after the first time, and the third time was after seven days too: and probably the first sending of her out was seven days after the sending forth of the raven. The olive-branch is an emblem of peace.

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Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.

GILL, "Gen 8:8 - Also he sent forth a dove from him,.... Seven days after he had sent out the raven, as in Gen_8:10.

to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; for the dove is a creature that delights in cleanness, flies low, and goes far off, so that if it returned not again, he might conclude that the waters were gone off the earth; but being a sociable creature, and familiar to men, and especially loving to its mate, if they were not gone off, it would certainly return again. This some take to be an emblem of the Gospel, bringing the good tidings of peace, pardon, righteousness and salvation by Jesus Christ: rather it is an emblem of a sensible sinner, and true believer in Christ, being mournful, timorous, swift, modest, and affectionate; such persons, like doves of the valley, mourn for their iniquities; tremble at the sight of their sins, and the curses of the law, at the apprehension of divine wrath, at the awful judgment of God; and are fearful lest Christ should not receive them, to whom they swiftly fly for refuge, as doves to their windows; and who are modest, meek, and lowly, and affectionate to Christ, and one another. The Targum of Jonathan calls this an house dove, or tame one: hence, perhaps, came the practice of making use of doves as messengers to carry letters from place to place (o).

CLARKE, "Gen 8:8 -

He sent forth a dove - The dove was sent forth thrice; the first time she speedily returned, having, in all probability, gone but a little way from the ark, as she must naturally be terrified at the appearance of the waters. After seven days, being sent out a second time, she returned with an olive leaf pluckt off, Gen_8:11, an emblem of the restoration of peace between God and the earth; and from this circumstance the olive has been the emblem of peace among all civilized nations. At the end of the other seven days the dove being sent out the third time, returned no more, from which �oah conjectured that the earth was now sufficiently drained, and therefore removed the covering of the ark, which probably gave liberty to many of the fowls to fly off, which circumstance would afford him the greater facility in making arrangements for disembarking the beasts and reptiles, and heavy-bodied domestic fowls, which might yet remain. See Gen_8:17.

COKE, "Genesis 8:8. Also he sent forth a dove, &c.— From Genesis 8:10 it appears, that there was seven days' interval between the sending forth the raven and the dove. The dove was sent forth, probably, because it is a bird of strong wing, flies long and far, and feeds upon the seeds which are cast or fall upon the ground; and returns to its nest or home from the most remote places. The dove found no place to rest upon, and returned; but being sent out a second time, she brought with her an olive-leaf, or branch, plucked off: "Folia olivae viridis," the leaves of a green olive-tree, says Houbigant, Who reads the word in the plural, עלי ali. She brought this, it is supposed, from Assyria, which abounded with olive-trees, the property whereof is to live and be green under water. Thus it first became a pledge of restored favour and peace with God, and it hath continued an emblem of peace from that time to the present. It may just be hinted, that these little circumstances testify the truth of the scripture-account of things, and ought to have their weight. Bochart justly observes, that two things might be collected from this by �oah: the one, that not only the mountains were dried, but also the plains, or at least the lower hills, in which the olive-trees principally flourish; the other, that the earth was not so corrupted by the waters of the deluge, but that trees remained upon it, which might shortly vegetate again by the heat of the sun, and afford him food. This writer may be consulted for a full account of this great event, the heathen traditions concerning it, and other things, which our compass will not allow us to admit.

ELLICOTT, "Verse 8-9

(8, 9) He sent forth a dove . . . —From the nature of its food, the raven had not brought back to �oah any special information; but as the dove feeds on vegetable products, he hopes that he shall learn by her means what is the state of “the ground,” the low-lying adâmâh. But as this species of bird does not fly far from its home, except when assembled in vast numbers, it quickly returned, finding water all around. This proves that the ark had not settled upon a lofty eminence; for as it had been already aground 120 days, and as within another fortnight the waters had “abated from off the earth,” it could only have been in some valley or plain among the mountains of Ararat that the waters were thus “on the face of the whole earth,” the larger word, yet which certainly does not mean here the whole world, but only a very small region in the immediate neighbourhood of the ark. For, supposing that

the raven was sent out one week before the dove, forty-seven days (see Genesis 8:6) would have elapsed since �oah beheld the glorious panorama of mountain heights all around, and seven days afterwards the dove brought him a freshplucked olive-leaf. Yet, literally, the words are, for waters were upon the face of the whole earth. Plainly these large terms in the language of the Bible are to be limited in their interpretation by the general tenor of its narratives. For a similar conclusive instance, comp. Exodus 9:6 with Exodus 9:19-20.

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But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to �oah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.

GILL, "Gen 8:9 - But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark,.... It being a creature that feeds upon seeds it picks off from the ground, and loving cleanness, it could find no place where it could alight, and have food to live upon, and retain its cleanness; for though the tops of the mountains were clear of the waters, yet they might be muddy and filthy with what the waters had raised up in them, or left upon them; and therefore it returned to Noah again, and not only like the raven unto the ark, but into it:

for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: there was no place dry, and so neither food nor footing for this creature; and which was an emblem of a sensible sinner, who finds no rest in anything short of Christ; not in worldly enjoyments; nor in external duties, not in hearing, reading, praying, fasting, nor in external humiliation and tears; nor in the law, and in the works of it; nor in natural descent, nor in education principles, nor in a profession of religion, and subjection to ordinances; only in Christ, where it finds rest from the burden and guilt of sin, and the tyrannical power of it; from the bondage, curse, and condemnation of the law, and from a sense of divine wrath and fear of it; and though not from afflictions, yet it finds rest in Christ amidst them:

then he put forth his hand and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the

ark: she hovered about it, and got near the window, which Noah opened and took her in; which may represent the gracious reception sensible souls meet with from Christ, who apply to him; he kindly embraces them, and they find room in his heart and affections, fulness of everything they want, and security from all danger.

HAWKER, "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

It is worthy remark, that in Psa_116:7, where the sacred writer saith, Return unto thy Rest, O my soul, the original is, Return unto thy Noah; evidently meaning, that Jesus is the alone Rest of a seeking soul.

BI 9-12, "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot and she returned unto him into the ark

The dove’s return to the ark

I. LOOK AT THE DOVE SETTING OUT UPON HER VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. Why did she fly away?

1. Because she had wings. Natural instinct. So it is with us. Our soul has many thoughts and many powers which make the spirit restless. If we were without imagination, we might be content with the few plain truths which we have so well known and proved; but having an imagination, we are often dazzled by it, and we pant to know whether certain things which look like solid verities really are so. If we had no reason, but could abide entirely in a state of pure and simple faith, we might not be exposed to much of the restlessness which now afflicts us, but reason will draw conclusions, ask questions, suggest problems, raise inquiries, and vex us with difficulties. Therefore, because our souls are moved by so vast a variety of thoughts, and possess so many powers which are all restless and active, it is readily to be understood, that while we are here in our imperfect state, our spirits should be tempted to excursions of research and voyages of discovery, as though we sought after some other object of love besides the one who still is dearer to us than all the world besides.

2. Possibly there was another reason. This dove was once lodged in a dovecote. Yes, the dovecote still has its attraction. The best of men have still within them the seeds of those sins which make the worst of men so vile. I marvel not that the dove flew away from the ark when she recollected her dovecote, and I do not wonder that at seasons, the old remembrances get the upper hand with our spirit, and we forget the Lord we love, and have a hankering after sin.

3. Yet it would not be fair to forget that this dove was sent out by Noah; so that whatever may have been the particular motives which ruled the creature, there was a higher motive which ruled Noah who sent her out. Even so there are times when the Lord permits His people to endure temptation.

II. Now MARK THE DOVE AS SHE FINDS NO REST. No rest outside of Christ for intellect, heart, conscience

III. WHY THE DOVE COULD FIND NO REST FOR THE SOLE OF HER FOOT.

1. The dove had a will to find rest for the sole of her foot, but she could not. It is not from want of will that I am compelled to say I cannot find anything beneath these

stars, nor within the compass of the skies, that can satisfy my soul’s desires; I must get my God and have Him to fill my large expectations, or I shall not be content. I mention these things because people are apt to suppose that Christians are all a set of melancholy dyspeptics, who put up with religion because there is nothing else that helps to make them to be so happily miserable, and therefore they take to it as congenial with their melancholy disposition; but it is not so; we are a cheerful, genial race, and yet for all that we are not resting the sole of our foot anywhere in earthly things.

2. Again, the reason why the dove could find no rest, was not because she had no eye to see. I know not how far a dove’s eye can discern, but it must be a very vast distance, perfectly incredible I should think. We see the dove sometimes mount aloft: we can see nothing, and yet she perceives her dovecote, and darts towards it. I know many Christians who are as quick in apprehension as refined in taste, and as ready to appreciate anything that is pleasurable as other men, and yet these men who are not fanatics, who are not shut up to a narrow range of things, but whose vision can take in the whole circle of sublunary delights, these men who have not only seen but even tasted, yet bear their witness that like the dove they can find no rest for the sole of their foot.

3. Moreover, the reason why the dove found no rest, was not because she had no wings to reach it. So the Christian has power to enter into the enjoyments of the world if he liked. Now, what was the reason then? It was not want of will, it was not want of eye, nor was it want of wing—what was it? The reason lay in this, that she was a dove. If she had been a raven, she would have found plenty of rest for the sole of her foot. It was her nature that made her unresting, and the reason why the Christian cannot find satisfaction in worldly things is because there is a new nature within him that cannot rest. “Up! up! up!” cries the new heart, “what hast thou to do here?”

IV. Being disappointed, WHAT DID THE DOVE THEN DO? When she found there was no contentment elsewhere, what then? She flew back to the ark. Josephus tells us that the dove came back to Noah, with her wings and feet all wet and muddy. Some of you have grown wet and muddy. You have been trying to find rest in the world, Christian, and you have got mired with it.

V. I want you now to turn your eye for a moment to THE VERY BEAUTIFUL SCENE, So it seems to me to be, at the end of her return journey. Noah has been looking out for his dove all day long. Mark that: “pulled her in unto him.” It seems to me to imply that she did not fly right in herself, but was too fearful, or too weary. Did you ever feel that blessed gracious pull, when your heart has been desiring to get near to Christ? Lord! pull me in. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

The homebound dove—a lesson of faith

God has designed but one resting place for the soul, and that is the restoration of peace between it and Himself. On Jesus’ breast we may lay our weary heads. Here at last the dove finds a sure perch.

I. AS IT WANDERED TO AND FRO, IT COULD FIND REST NOWHERE SAVE BY RETURNING TO THE ARK. There, and only there, was rest. Oh, weary soul, have you Bet come to that point? You will not come until you give up all confidence in your self-

power.

II. “When the dove came back, IT CAME WITHOUT ANYTHING. Bring no excuse.

III. God had provided but ONE ARK. Only one name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

IV. That ark had only ONE WINDOW AND THAT WINDOW WAS OPEN. A woman, who was striving to find rest for her soul, was sitting in her summer house, when in through an open door flew a bird. It was alarmed, and flew up toward the roof, and tried to get out at this window and at that. It flew from side to side until it panted with fright and weariness. The woman said, “Poor bird, why do you not come down lower, then you would see this open door, and you could fly out easily?” But the bird kept wounding itself against the closed windows and at every crevice. At last its wings grew tired, and it flew lower and lower until it was on a level with the open door, when quickly it escaped, and soon its song was heard in the trees of the churchyard near by. A new light dawned upon the mind of the woman: “I, like that poor bird, through my pride and self-sufficiency, have been flying too high to see the door which stands wide open.” Her heart was humbled, and soon she too was singing songs of gladness. (T. L.Cuyler, D. D.)

If we, cannot be as we would, we must be as we can

The ark to the dove was like a prison, a place of restraint, and not according to her kind, which was to fly abroad; yet, finding no rest, rather than she will perish, she returneth to the same again. It may teach us this, that better is a mischief than an inconvenience, if we cannot as we would, we must as we can. I speak it against all heathenish and unchristian like impatience. The heathens, rather than they would serve, they would kill themselves. And many in these days, rather than they will suffer what God imposeth, will do what God detesteth. Let it not be so. If we cannot be abroad and at liberty, because God’s judgment against sin hath taken away our footing in such or such sort, whilst it shall please Him let us be content; return, as the clove did, to the place appointed, and thank Him for mercy even in that, that yet there we live, and are not destroyed as others have been. (Bishop Babington.)

A quaint epitaph

The following quaint epitaph has reference to a little girl buried at the age of five months: “But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark.” (Old Testament Anecdotes.)

An olive leaf

The olive leaf

I. Let us look at the profound, far-reaching SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GREEN LEAF in the mouth of the dove, as the first production of a new and regenerated world.

1. In the first plaice, the green leaf is the great purifier of nature. This is one of the most important offices which it was created to fulfil. In the early ages of the earth, long before man came upon the scene, the atmosphere was foul with carbonic acid gases, so poisonous that a few inspirations of them would be sufficient to destroy life.

These formed a dense covering which kept in the steaming warmth of the earth, and nourished a rank and luxuriant vegetation. Gigantic ferns, tree mosses, and reeds grew with extraordinary rapidity, and absorbed these noxious gases into their own structures, consolidating them into leaves, stems, and branches, which in the course of long ages grew and decayed, and by subtle chemical processes and mechanical arrangements were changed into coal beds under the earth. In this wonderful way two great results were accomplished at the same time and by the same means—the atmosphere was purified and made fit for the breathing of man, and animals useful to man, and vast stores of fuel were prepared to enable future generations to subdue the earth and spread over it the blessings of civilization. And what the green leaves of the early geological forests did for the primeval atmosphere of the world, the green leaves of our woods and fields are continually doing for our atmosphere still. They absorb the foul air caused by the processes of decay and combustion going on over the earth, and by the breathing of men and animals, and convert this noxious element into the useful and beautiful products of the vegetable kingdom. They preserve the air in a condition fit for human breathing. These considerations will show us how significant it was that the first object of the new world that was about to emerge from the flood should be a green leaf. It was a symbol, a token to Noah that the world would be purified from the pollution of those unnatural sins which had brought death and destruction upon it, and would once more be fitted to be the home of a peculiar people zealous of good works. What the green leaf is in nature the leaves of the tree of life are in the spiritual sphere. The gospel of Jesus Christ, which the Heavenly Dove carries to the homes and the hearts of men, is the great purifier of the world.

2. In the second place, the green leaf is the source of all the life of the world. It is by its agency alone that inert inorganic matter is changed into organic matter, which furnishes the starting point of all life. Nowhere else on the face of the earth does this most important process take place. Everything else consumes and destroys. The green leaf alone conserves and creates. In this light how suitable it was that an olive leaf freshly plucked should have been the first object brought to Noah in the ark! For just as the green leaf is the means in the natural world of counteracting all the destructive forces that are reducing its objects to dust and ashes, and clothing its surface with vegetable and animal life, so the olive leaf in the mouth of the dove spoke to Noah of the undoing of the work of destruction caused by the flood, and of the raising up of a new and fairer creation out of the universal wreck. And just as all this beautiful world of life and joy is the product of the work of the green leaf, so all that mankind has achieved and enjoyed since the flood—the great results of civilization and the still greater results of redemption—arose out of the work of grace whose dawning the green leaf intimated, and whose operation it typified. For sin and grace are in constant antagonism—like the force of the fire that burns everything to ashes, and the force of the green leaf that builds up life and beauty out of the ashes; and God has suffered sin to continue because He knows that grace can conquer it, strip its spoils, and convert its ruins into higher and nobler forms of life.

3. In the third place, the green leaf is the best conductor of electricity—that most powerful and destructive of all the forces of the earth. A twig covered with leaves, sharpened by nature’s exquisite workmanship, is said to be three times as effectual as the metallic points of the best constructed rod. And when we reflect how many thousands of these vegetable points every large tree directs to the sky, and consider what must be the efficacy of a single forest with its innumerable leaves, or of a single meadow with its countless blades of grass, we see how abundant the protection from

the storm is, and with what care Providence has guarded us from the destructive force. And was not that green leaf which came to Noah in the ark God’s lightning conductor? Did it not bear down harmlessly the destructive power of heaven? Did it not assure Noah that the wrath of God was appeased, that the storm was over, and that peace and safety could once more be enjoyed upon the earth? And is not He to whose salvation that leaf pointed—who is Himself the “Branch”—God’s lightning conductor to us? He bore the full force of the Father’s wrath due to sin; He endured the penalty which we deserved; and having smitten the shepherd, the sheep for whom He laid down His life are deathless and unharmed. He is now our refuge from the storm; and under His shadow we are safe from all evil.

4. In the fourth place, the green leaf is the source of all the streams and rivers in the world. It is by the agency of the leaf that water circulates as the life blood of the globe. And how appropriately in this light did the green leaf come to Noah as the earnest and the instrument of the rearrangement of a world which had been reduced to a desert by the punishment of man’s sin! That leaf assured him that the old rivers would flow again; that the former fields would smile anew; that the forests would, as in previous times, cover the earth with their shadow; and that all the conditions of seed time and harvest, and of a pleasant and useful home for man, would be present as of yore. And is not the Heavenly Dove bringing to us in the ark of our salvation a leaf of the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, as a token that beyond the destructive floods of earth, beyond the final conflagration in which all things shall be burned up, the river of life will flow again; and amid the green fields of the paradise restored the Lamb shall lead us to living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes?

5. In the fifth place, the green leaf is the type upon which the forms of all life are moulded, All organisms, whether animal or vegetable, are similar in their elementary structure and form; and the most complicated results are attained by the simplest conceivable means, and that without the slightest violation of the original plan of nature. Thoreau has said that the whole earth is but a gigantic leaf, in which the rivers and streams resemble the veins, and the mountains and plains the green parts: And did not He who sent the dove with the olive leaf to Noah thereby assure him that out of that leaf would be evolved the whole fair world of vegetable and animal life, which for a while had perished beneath the waters of the flood; that it would be reconstructed upon the old type and developed according to the old pattern? And did not He who developed this great world of life out of the single leaf develop all the great scheme of grace, all the wondrous history of redemption, out of the first simple promise to our first parents after their fall? Amid all the varying dispensations of His providence He has been without variableness or shadow of turning, unfolding more and more the germinating fulness of the same glorious plan of grace.

II. Of all the green leaves of the earth it was MOST FITTING THAT THE OLIVE LEAF SHOULD HAVE BEEN SELECTED as the first product of the new restored world. The olive tree spreads over a large area of the earth; it combines in itself the flora of the hills and the plains. It clothes with shade and beauty and slopes where no other vegetation would grow. It extracts by a vegetable miracle nourishment and fatness from the driest air and the barest rock; on it may be seen at the same time opening and full-blown blossoms, and green and perfectly ripe fruit. Each bough is laden with a wealth of promise and fulfilment; beauty for the eye and bounty for the palate. No tree displays such a rich profusion and succession of flowers and fruits. It is the very picture of prosperity and abundance. Its very gleanings are more plentiful than the whole harvest of other trees. It strikingly illustrates, therefore, the overflowing goodness of the Lord, to

whom belong the earth and the fulness thereof. What the olive leaf began in Noah’s case was consummated under the olive trees of Gethsemane. He who destroyed the antediluvian sinners by the flood endured the contradiction of greater and more aggravated sinners against Himself. He who sent the flood as a punishment for sin, now suffered it Himself in a more terrible form as an atonement for sin. The olive leaf of Noah’s dove showed that God’s strange work was done, and that He had returned to the essential element of His nature, and love shone forth again. The olive leaves of Gethsemane, that thrilled with the fear of the great agony that took place beneath them, tell us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What sweeter message, what dearer hope, could come to us in our sins and sorrows than this! (H. Macmillan, D. D.)

Lessons

1. God’s delay of answer and His saints waiting are fitly coupled.

2. God’s gracious ones are of a contented, waiting and hoping frame.

3. Faith will expect from seven to seven, from week to week, to receive answers of peace from God.

4. After waiting, faith will make trial of lawful means again and again. It will add messenger to messenger (Gen_8:10).

5. Waiting believers shall receive some sweet return by use of means in God’s time.

6. He that sends out for God is most likely to have return from Him.

7. Visible tokens of God’s wrath ceasing sometimes He is pleased to vouchsafe to His.

8. It concerns God’s saints to consider His signal discoveries of grace, to know them, and gather hope and comfort from them. (G. Hughes, B. D.)

Servants good and bad

First, mark the often sending of the dove, when the raven goeth but once. It showeth the difference of a good servant and a bad. The first is often used, because he is faithful and true; the latter but once, because then he is found to be a raven, more heeding the carrions that his nature regardeth than performing his message which his sender desireth. The praise of these two fowls, how they differ in this place for their service we all see, and it should thus profit us as to prick us to the good and affray us from the evil. In some place or other we are all servants, as these fowls were, to God, to prince, to master, to some or other. Let us be doves, that they may often use us; let us not be ravens, that they may justly refuse us. Secondly, in the dove’s not returning any more let us mark a type of the saints of God, that having sundry times discharged the truth of their places, as the dove did, at last have their departure out of the ark—that is, out of this life and Church militant—and, finding rest for their foot in God’s blessed kingdom, return no more to the ark again, but there continue and abide forever. (Bp. Babington.)

The returning dove

Noah stayed upon this seven days, and then sent out the dove again, saith the text, which returned to him in the evening, bringing in her mouth an olive leaf which she had plucked, whereby Noah knew the waters were abated. This dove may note the preachers also of the Word again, who bring in their mouths some good tidings to the ark—that is, to the Church; and every good news may be compared also to an olive leaf, and the tellers to doves. That good news that the women brought to the disciples, that Christ was risen, was like an olive leaf in their mouths, and they like this dove in this place. So all others. Read 2Ki_7:1-20, of the good news of the lepers, and 2Sa_18:27. “He is a good man,” saith David, “and cometh with good tidings.” So good men and women have words of comfort in their mouths, when others have the poison of asps under their tongues; they have olive leaves to cheer up Noah and his company withal, when others have wormwood and gall to make their hearts ache with the bitterness thereof. Such does God make us evermore, and if this be regarded of us, we will endeavour it. (Bp. Babington.)

10

He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.

GILL, "And he stayed yet other seven days,.... As he had stayed seven days between the sending out of the raven and the dove, so he stayed seven days more after he had sent out the dove, and it returned to him, waiting patiently for his deliverance, and the signs of it; though he could have been glad to have known its near approach, for which he made the experiments be did:

and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; very probably the selfsame dove he had sent out before.

HAWKER, "And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

I humbly conceive that it was the Sabbath-day, at each of these distinct periods of seven days, in which Noah waited between sending forth those messengers of enquiry; and if so, what a precious thought doth it suggest, that in the ark, as on the earth, Noah religiously observed the Lord’s day, as a day, particularly, to enquire of God. Psa_5:3.

JAMISON, "again he sent forth the dove — Her flight, judging by the time she was abroad, was pursued to a great distance, and the newly plucked olive leaf, she no doubt by supernatural impulse brought in her bill, afforded a welcome proof that the declivities of the hills were clear.

ELLICOTT, "(10-12) Again he sent forth the dove . . . —When, after another week’s delay, Noah again sent forth the dove, it remained away until “the time of evening,” finding both food and ground on which it could alight near the ark. It was not till nightfall that it came home, bringing to him “an olive leaf pluckt off,” or, possibly, a fresh olive-leaf. The olive-tree, which grows abundantly in Armenia, is said to vegetate under water; but what Noah wanted to learn was, not whether the topmost boughs were emerging from the flood, but whether the soil beneath was becoming free from water. Now, after a seven days’ interval, when Noah again sent forth the dove, she did not return, “because the ground was dry.” It is thus plain that the olive-tree had had plenty of time on some of the higher lands, while the flood was subsiding, to put forth new leaves. From this event the olive-leaf, thus sent by the regenerated earth to Noah in proof that she was ready to yield herself to him, has been ever since, among all mankind, the symbol of peace.

PETT, "Genesis 8:10-11

‘And he waited another seven days and again sent the dove from the ark, and the dove came back in the evening and lo, in its mouth was a plucked off olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had abated from the earth.’

This seven day period parallels the opening seven day period and introduces the moment when Noah knows again that all is well. Again seven indicates the divinely perfect time.

The fresh olive leaf was a sign that the earth was once again fruitful. However he is too wise to try to leave the ark immediately. The earth may be ‘dry’ but it is still very wet and would not be suitable to be trodden on for some time. (‘Another seven days’ does not necessarily mean there had been a previous ‘seven day’ period. It simply refers to a fixed time period after a previous period whether fixed or not. Thus I could say ‘I worked for a number of days, then I did this, then I worked for another seven days. This would not necessarily mean that the first period was one of seven days).

11

When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then �oah knew that the water had receded from the

earth.

GILL, "Gen 8:11 - And the dove came in to him in the evening,.... It having been out all day delighting itself in a free air, and perching upon the trees, but yet not finding sufficient food, or a proper lodging, it returned to Noah at the evening for food and dwelling in the ark:

and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: which might easily be done, and even an "olive branch", as the word sometimes signifies, and is by some (p)rendered; for it being now the summer season, young branches sprouted out, which being tender, were easily cropped: the Targum of Jonathan adds,"which it had took from the mount of Olives;''but there is no necessity to suppose it went so far from the ark, since Assyria, a country nearer, was a land of olive oil, like that of Judea; 2Ki_18:32 and besides, olives grew in Armenia itself, where the ark rested. Gogarene, in Armenia, is said by Strabo (q) to produce olive trees; though a modern author says (r)"I do not see where the dove which was sent out of the ark could find an olive branch, if the ark be supposed to have rested on Mount Ararat, or any of the mountains in Armenia; for this sort of trees is not found hereabout, where the species must be lost, and yet olives are known to be a kind of trees which never die:''but the above accounts show it to be otherwise in ancient times:

so Noah knew the waters were abated from off the earth: by this he perceived not only that they were gone off the mountains, but the lower grounds, at least the hills on which olive trees delight to grow; and yet that they were only abated, and not entirely gone off, since the dove returned to him: this dove sent out the second time, and returning, may be considered as an emblem of a Gospel minister, comparable to a dove, for the dove like gifts of the Spirit of God, by which he is qualified for his work, and for his simplicity, harmlessness, meekness, and humility; and the olive leaf in its mouth may be an emblem of the Gospel, which is from Christ, the good olive; is the Gospel of peace, which an olive branch is a symbol of, proclaiming and publishing peace and reconciliation by Christ; and as that is ever green, the Gospel always continues, and is the everlasting Gospel, and which was brought, and more fully and clearly dispensed in the evening of the world; and by it, it is known that the waters of divine wrath are assuaged, and the people of God may be assured they will never return to come upon them.

TRAPP, "Genesis 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth [was] an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

Ver. 11. In her mouth was an olive leaf.] The olive never casteth her leaf, and is greenest in the spring, saith Pliny. It might very well continue so under water during the flood. It may also very well, by an allegory, set forth that grace and peace by Jesus Christ, brought in the mouth of his ministers in this evening of the world. [Romans 10:15] The dove returned at first without her errand; but, sent again, she brought better tidings. The man

of God must not only be "apt to teach," but "patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; proving, if at any time, God will give them repentance." (a) All are not sent into the vineyard at the same hour of the day. Holy Melancthon, being himself newly converted, thought it impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel. But after he had been a preacher a while, ‘tis said he complained, "that old Adam was too hard for young Melancthon." (b) And yet he lacked not afterwards the seal of his ministry. For among many others converted by him, was that sweet saint, George, Prince of Anhalt, whose house was eccelesia, academia, curia , and whose heart was so upright with God, his life so laudable among men, that Melancthon (c) (once publicly defending the certainty of our future felicity by this argument, that godly men must be hereafter rewarded, wicked men punished), he named this pious prince as an unquestionable example of such a man, as might assuredly expect the promised crown of life eternal, which God the righteous Judge will give to all his. [2 Timothy 4:8]

12

He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

GILL, "Gen 8:12 - And he stayed yet other seven days,.... After the dove had returned:

and sent forth the dove; the same dove again:

which returned not again unto him any more: the earth being dry, it found rest for the sole of its feet, sufficient food to eat, and a proper place for its habitation; and liking to be at liberty, and in the open air, chose not to return to the ark, even though its mate was there: of those birds sent out, the Heathen writers make mention: Abydenus says (s), that Sisithrus, the same with Noah, sent out birds making an experiment to see whether the earth was emersed out of the water, which returned again to him; and after them he sent out others; and having done so three times, obtained what he wished for, since the birds returned with their wings full of clay or mud; and so Josephus (t) says, the dove which brought the olive leaf was all over with clay or mud: and Plutarch (u)makes particular mention of the dove, and says that, according to the mythologists, a dove was let out of the ark; and that her going out was to Deucalion, (the same with Noah) a sign of fair weather, and her return of foul: and the story that Lucian (w) tells of a golden dove upon the head of a statue in the temple of Hierapolis, supposed to be

Deucalion's, seems plainly to refer to this dove of Noah; for the report, he says, was, that this golden dove flew away twice in a year, at the commemoration there made of the flood, by pouring out abundance of water into a chasm or cleft of the earth, then not very large; and which, it was told him, was formerly a very great one, and swallowed up all the flood that drowned the world.

JAMISON, "he ... sent forth the dove: which returned not ... any more — In these results, we perceive a wisdom and prudence far superior to the inspiration of instinct - we discern the agency of God guiding all the movements of this bird for the instruction of Noah, and reviving the hopes of his household.

other seven days — a strong presumptive proof that Noah observed the Sabbath during his residence in the ark.

13

By the first day of the first month of �oah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. �oah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

GILL, "Gen 8:13 - And it came to pass, in the six hundred and first year,.... Of Noah's life, and so the Septuagint adds, in the first month:

the first day of the month; so that it was the first day of the year, New Year's Day, and a joyful one it was to Noah and his family, when they saw dry ground; which they had not seen for above ten months: according to R. Joshua, this was the month Nisan, which was the first month with the Jews on sacred accounts; but according to R. Eliezer it was the month of Tisri, as Jarchi observes, which was their first month on civil accounts, and was their most ancient way of reckoning; and so the Targum of Jonathan explains it, adding, and Tisri; which answers to part of September, and part of October; and according to Bishop Usher (x), this day was Friday, October 23, A. M. 1657:

the waters were dried up from off the earth: by the wind that continued to pass over it, and by the sun, which exhaled great quantities of it throughout the whole summer season; as it was from the end of the one hundred days, when the wind was first made, and the waters began to assuage to this time; as well as also by their soaking into

the earth, and by returning to the cavities and receptacles in it:

and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked; not the roof of it, at least not the whole, only a board or two; though perhaps this was a covering made of skins, that was thrown over the ark, like that which was put over the tabernacle of Moses, and was made of skins, Exo_26:14 where the same word is used as here: the use of this might be to hang over the window and defend it from the rain; so that the uncovering of the ark was only putting by, or turning up this covering, that he might be able more clearly to see, out of the window, how things were:

and, behold, the face of the ground was dry; the ground or surface of the earth looked dry; but was not so dry and hard as to bear heavy bodies, or the foot to tread on it, being soft and tender, through the water so long upon it, and had left mud and slime, not yet sufficiently hardened by the wind and sun to walk upon.

BARNES

Gen_8:13-14

Noah delays apparently another month, and, on the first day of the new year, ventures to remove the covering of the ark and look around. The date of the complete drying of the land is then given. The interval from the entrance to the exit consists of the following periods:

Rain continued 40 days

Waters prevailed 150 days

Waters subside 99 days

Noah delays 40 days

Sending of the raven and the dove 20 days

Another month 29 days

Interval until the 27th of the 2nd month 57 days

Sum-total of days 365 days

1) Hence, it appears that the interval was a lunar year of three hundred and fifty-six days nearly, and ten days; that is, as nearly as possible, a solar year. This passage is important on account of the divisions of time which it brings out at this early epoch. The week of seven days is plainly intimated. The lunar month and year are evidently known. It is remarkable that the ten additional days bring up the lunar year in whole numbers to the solar. It seems a tacit agreement with the real order of nature. According to the Hebrew text, the deluge commenced in the 1656th year of the race of man. According to all texts it occurred in the time of Noah, the ninth in descent from Adam.

2)

HENRY, "Gen 8:13-14 -Here is, 1. The ground dry (Gen_8:13), that is, all the water carried off it, which, upon

the first day of the first month (a joyful new-year's-day it was), Noah was himself an eye-witness of. He removed the covering of the ark, not the whole covering, but so much as

would suffice to give him a prospect of the earth about it; and a most comfortable prospect he had. For behold, behold and wonder, the face of the ground was dry. Note, (1.) It is a great mercy to see ground about us. Noah was more sensible of it than we are; for mercies restored are much more affecting than mercies continued. (2.) The divine power which now renewed the face of the earth can renew the face of an afflicted troubled soul and of a distressed persecuted church. He can make dry ground to appear even where it seemed to have been lost and forgotten, Psa_18:16. 2. The ground dried (Gen_8:14), so as to be a fit habitation for Noah. Observe, Though Noah saw the ground dry the first day of the first month, yet God would not suffer him to go out of the ark till the twenty-seventh day of the second month. Perhaps Noah, being somewhat weary of his restraint, would have quitted the ark at first; but God, in kindness to him, ordered him to stay so much longer. Note, God consults our benefit rather than our desires; for he knows what is good for us better than we do for ourselves, and how long it is fit our restraints should continue and desired mercies should be delayed. We would go out of the ark before the ground is dried: and perhaps, if the door be shut, are ready to remove the covering, and to climb up some other way; but we should be satisfied that God's time of showing mercy is certainly the best time, when the mercy is ripe for us and we are ready for it.

3)

K&D, "Gen 8:13-19 -Noah waited some time, and then, on the first day of the first month, in the 601st year

of his life, removed the covering from the ark, that he might obtain a freer prospect over the earth. He could see that the surface of the earth was dry; but it was not till the 27th day of the second month, 57 days, therefore, after the removal of the roof, that the earth was completely dried up. Then God commanded him to leave the ark with his family and all the animals; and so far as the latter were concerned, He renewed the blessing of the creation (Gen_8:17 cf. Gen_1:22). As the flood commenced on the 17th of the second month of the 600th year of Noah's life, and ended on the 27th of the second month of the 601st year, it lasted a year and ten days; but whether a solar year of 360 of 365 days, or a lunar year of 352, is doubtful. The former is the more probable, as the first five months are said to have consisted of 150 days, which suits the solar year better than the lunar. The question cannot be decided with certainty, because we neither know the number of days between the 17th of the seventh month and the 1st of the tenth month, nor the interval between the sending out of the dove and the 1st day of the first month of the 601st year.

COFFMAN, "Verse 13

"And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering from the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried."

The exit from the ark took place one month and 27 days later than the time specified here, as revealed in Genesis 8:14; and presumably, Noah might have taken it upon himself to leave the ark during that period, but he patiently waited until God gave him the signal to disembark. After all, God had told him to enter and had closed the door, and Noah evidently decided to wait until God opened the door or commanded him to leave.

ELLICOTT, "(13) The first day of the month.—It will be plain to any one studying the following table that this was exactly one month after the day on which Noah, for the third time, sent out the dove (Genesis 8:12):—

The flood commenced in the second month, called

Marchesvan, on day 17.

The waters prevail during 150 days = 5 months,

unto month 7, day 17.

Mountain-tops seen on month 10, day 1,

i.e., after 73 days.

Noah sends out raven at end of 40 days.

Dove thrice sent out, at intervals of

7 days = 21 days.

134 days.

But from the seventeenth day of the seventh month to the first day of the first month of the following year, there are:—

Of the seventh month 13 days.

Five months of 30 days each = 150 days.

First day of new year 1 days.

164 days.

It was thus very slowly that the earth returned to its normal state. The intervals of seven days between the sending forth of the birds prove that the division of time into weeks was fully established, and also suggests that religious observances were connected with it.

The covering of the ark.—The word is elsewhere used of the covering of skins for the Tabernacle (Exodus 26:14; Numbers 4:25), and it has probably a similar meaning here.

To have removed the solid framework of the roof would have been a very laborious task, and still more so to have broken up the roof itself. But as the asphalte employed for filling up the interstices between the beams in the hulk of the ark would have been difficult to manage for the roof, it was apparently protected from the rain by a covering, probably of skins sewn together.

No one can read the narrative without noticing that Noah is not only described as shut up within the ark, but as having very slight means of observing what was going on around. Had there been a deck, Noah would have known exactly the state of the flood, whereas, peeping only through the zohar, he seems to have been able to see but little, possibly because his sight was obstructed by the overhanging eaves of the roof. Thus the freshly-plucked olive-leaf was like a revelation to him. But when these skins were taken off, there were numerous apertures through which he could obtain an uninterrupted view, and he “looked, and, behold, the face of the adâmâh was dry.”

WHEDON, "13. First month — Noah waits another month before removing the covering of the ark, and nearly two months more before he went forth. The successive epochs are given with the minutest accuracy, removing the narrative entirely from the region of the poetical or mythical, as will

be seen by the following comparison of texts which form the Noachian calendar:

The whole time that Noah remained in the ark was, then, one year (probably a lunar year is meant) and ten days, making, as nearly as is possible to be expressed in days, a solar year of three hundred and sixty-five days. What kind of a year and month is here intended is a question yet discussed among chronologists; from comparing Genesis 7:11, and Genesis 8:3-4, we find that five months were reckoned as one hundred and fifty days, and this points to months of thirty days each, and a year of twelve such months, or three hundred and sixty, or by the addition of the five intercalary days, three hundred and sixty-five days, that is, the solar year. The Hebrew year at the time of the Exodus was evidently lunar; but the Egyptians, as appears from their monuments, were before this time acquainted with the year of three hundred and sixty-five days. The Jewish lunar year consisted of three hundred and fifty-four days, and if this be intended, Noah remained in the ark just a solar year.

Noah removed the covering of the ark — This word is elsewhere used only of the . מכסהbadger-skin and ram-skin coverings spread upon the holy vessels in the tabernacle, the ark of the testimony, etc., and this usage would seem to imply that in the present case some such covering was spread on the top of the ark. We suppose that it was some kind of flexible, and probably semi-transparent, covering thrown over the windows which ran the whole length on both sides of the ridge, and which would shed the rain, while it could be easily removed in fair weather. See note on Genesis 6:16.

BI 13-14, "Noah removed the covering of the ark

Noah’s first consciousness of safety after the deluge

I. He would probably be impressed with the GREATNESS OF THE CALAMITY HE HAD ESCAPED. The roaring waters had subsided, but they had wrought a terrible desolation, they had reduced the earth to a vast charnel house; every living voice is hushed, and all is

silent as the grave. The patriarch, perhaps, would feel two things in relation to this calamity.

1. That it was the result of sin.

2. That it was only a faint type of the final judgment.

II. He would probably be impressed with the EFFICACY OF THE REMEDIAL EXPEDIENT. How would he admire the ark that had so nobly battled with the billows and so safely weathered the storm!

1. This expedient was Divine. Christianity, the great expedient for saving souls from the deluge of moral evil, is God’s plan. “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh.” Philosophy exhausted itself in the trial.

2. This expedient alone was effective. When the dreadful storm came, we may rest assured that every one of that terror-stricken generation would seize some scheme to rescue him from the doom. “There is no other name,” etc.

3. The expedient was only effective to those who committed themselves to it.

III. He would probably be impressed with the WISDOM OF HIS FAITH IN GOD. He felt now—

1. That it was wiser to believe in the Word of God than to trust to the conclusions of his own reason.

2. That it was wiser to believe in the Word of God than to trust to the uniformity of nature.

3. That it was wiser to believe in God’s Word than to trust to the current opinion of his contemporaries. (Homilist.)

Lessons

1. The giving in of one step of mercy maketh God’s saints to wait for more.

2. God’s gracious ones desire to let patience have its perfect work towards God.

3. The saint’s disposition is to have experience of mercy by trying means, as well as to wait for it.

4. In the withholding of return of means may be the return of mercy. Though the dove stay, yet mercy cometh.

5. Providence promotes the comfort of saints when He seems to stop them, as in staying the clove (Gen_8:12).

6. As times of special mercy are recorded by God, so they should be remembered by the Church.

7. At His appointed periods God measures out mercy unto His Church.

8. The saints’ patient waiting would God have recorded, as well as His performing mercies.

9. As mercies move to God’s Church, so He moveth His saints to remove veils and meet them.

10. Manifestations of mercies God vouchsafeth His, as well as mercy itself.

11. Several periods of time God takes to perfect salvation to His Church.

12. After all patient waiting, in God’s full time full and complete mercy and salvation is given into His Church (Gen_8:13). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

14

By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

GILL, "Gen 8:14 - And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month,.... This was the month Marchesvan, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of our October, and part of our November; though according to Bishop Usher (y), this day was Friday the eighteenth of December, A. M. 1657; it was on the seventeenth of this month that Noah went into the ark, Gen_7:11 so that be was in it twelve months and ten days, according to a solar year; but if the reckoning is made according to Jewish months, six of which consisted of thirty days, and six of twenty nine only, then the twelve months made but three hundred and fifty four days, add to which eleven days to the twenty seventh, fully ended, it makes three hundred and sixty five days; so that he was in the ark just a full year, according to the course of the sun; but it seems very plain that the months here reckoned consisted of thirty days, since the one hundred and fifty, days when the waters abated are reckoned, from the seventeenth day of the second month, to the seventeenth day of the seventh month; which make exactly five months, and allow thirty days to a month: and at this time, when Noah had waited almost two months, after he had removed the covering of the ark:

was the earth dried; so that it was fit to walk upon, and was become commodious both for man and beast: a different word from that in the preceding verse is here used for "dry", this being a different kind, or, however, a greater degree of dryness than the other.

CLARKE, "Gen 8:14 -And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day - From this it

appears that Noah was in the ark a complete solar year, or three hundred and sixty-five days; for he entered the ark the 17th day of the second month, in the six hundredth year of his life, Gen_7:11, Gen_7:13, and continued in it till the 27th day of the second month,

in the six hundredth and first year of his life, as we see above. The months of the ancient Hebrews were lunar; the first six consisted of thirty days each, the latter six of twenty-nine; the whole twelve months making three hundred and fifty-four days: add to this eleven days, (for though he entered the ark the preceding year on the seventeenth day of the second month, he did not come out till the twenty-seventh of the same month in the following year), which make exactly three hundred and sixty-five days, the period of a complete solar revolution; the odd hours and minutes, as being fractions of time, noncomputed, though very likely all included in the account. This year, according to the Hebrew computation, was the one thousand six hundred and fifty-seventh year from the creation; but according to the reckoning of the Septuagint it was the two thousand two hundred and forty-second, and according to Dr. Hales, the two thousand two hundred and fifty-sixth. See on Gen_11:12 (note).

ELLICOTT, "(14) In the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month.—That is, fifty-seven days after Noah removed the covering, and a year and eleven days after the flood began. The word rendered “dried” at the end of this verse is different from that translated “dried up” and “dry” in Genesis 8:13, and marks a further stage in the process. It should be translated, was thoroughly dry.

There is in this year and eleven days a curious fact. It is reasonably certain that thirty days were reckoned to a month. But as a matter of fact, twelve lunar months do not make 360 days, but only about 354. Probably, therefore, the day of the new moon was often twice counted, as the last of the old month and the first of the new. But if to these 354 days we add 11, that is, from the 17th to the 27th of the second month. the result is exactly a full solar year of 365 days.

COFFMAN, "Verse 14

"And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry. And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth from the ark, thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee."

Aalders pointed out that the word "dried," or "dried up," used in Genesis 8:13, "Means "free of water," while the word used here means, "dry and firm."[12] Thus, it would have been a mistake for Noah to have descended from the ark at an earlier date. The simple way of calculating the duration of the Flood is simply to compare this verse with Genesis 7:11. From the year 600 of Noah's life, 2month, 17th day, to year 601,2month, 27th day is exactly one year and ten days. The big problem, of course, is that men do not know whether the "Noahic year was solar or lunar."[13] The usual opinion of scholars is that, "Noah's year consisted of twelve months of thirty days each."[14]

15

Then God said to �oah,

BARNES, "Gen_8:15-19

The command to leave the ark is given and obeyed. As Noah did not enter, so neither does he leave the ark, without divine direction. “The fowl, the cattle, and the creeper.” Here, again, these three classes are specified under the general head of every living tiring. They are again to multiply on the earth. “Every living thing.” This evidently takes the place of the cattle mentioned before. “After their families.” This word denotes their tribes. It is usually applied to families or clans.

GILL, "And God spake unto Noah, saying,.... Whether in a dream or vision, or by an articulate voice, appearing in an human form, or by an impulse on his mind, is not certain; however, the Lord spoke so to him, that he heard him and understood him: it was, no doubt, very rejoicing to him, since he had not heard his voice for a year or more, at least that we read of; and what he said to him was as follows

HENRY, "Gen 8:15-19 -Here is, I. Noah's dismission out of the ark, Gen_8:15-17. Observe, 1. Noah did not stir

till God bade him. As he had a command to go into the ark (Gen_7:1), so, how tedious soever his confinement there was, he would wait for a command to go out of it again. Note, We must in all our ways acknowledge God, and set him before us in all our removes. Those only go under God's protection that follow God's direction and submit to his government. Those that steadily adhere to God's word as their rule, and are guided by his grace as their principle, and take hints from his providence to assist them in their application of general directions to particular cases, may in faith see him guiding their motions in their march through this wilderness. 2. Though God detained him long, yet at last he gave him his discharge; for the vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak, it shall speak truth (Hab_2:3), it shall not lie. 3. God had said, Come into the ark which he says, not, Come forth, but, Go forth, which intimates that God, who went in with him, staid with him all the while, till he sent him out safely; for he has said, I will not leave thee. 4. Some observe that, when they were ordered into the ark, the men and the women were mentioned separately (Gen_6:18): Thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives; hence they infer that, during the time of mourning, they were apart, and their wives apart, Zec_12:12. But now God did as it were new - marry them, sending out Noah and his wife together, and his sons and their wives together, that they might be fruitful and multiply. 5. Noah was ordered to bring the creatures out with him, that having taken the care of feeding them so long, and been at so much pains about them, he might have the honour of leading them forth by their armies, and receiving their homage.

1) II. Noah's departure when he had his dismission. As he would not go out without leave, so he would not, out of fear or humour, stay in when he had leave, but was in all points observant of the heavenly vision. Though he had been now a full year and ten days a prisoner in the ark, yet when he found himself preserved there, not only for a new

life, but for a new world, he saw no reason to complain of his long confinement. Now observe, 1. Noah and his family came out alive, though one of them was a wicked Ham, whom, though he escaped the flood, God's justice could have taken away by some other stroke. But they are all alive. Note, When families have been long continued together, and no breaches made among them, it must be looked upon as a distinguishing favour, and attributed to the Lord's mercies. 2. Noah brought out all the creatures that went in with him, except the raven and the dove, which, probably, were ready to meet their mates at their coming out. Noah was able to give a very good account of his charge; for of all that were given to him he had lost none, but was faithful to him that appointed him, pro hac vice - on this occasion, high steward of his household.

JAMISON, "Gen_8:15-22. Departure from the Ark.

And God spake ... Go forth — They went forth in the most orderly manner - the human occupants first, then each species “after their kinds” [Gen_8:19], literally, “according to their families,” implying that there had been an increase in the ark.

CALVIN, "15.And God spake unto Noah. Though Noah was not a little terrified at the judgment of God, yet his patience is commended in this respect, that having the earth, which offered him a home, before his eyes, he yet does not venture to go forth. Profane men may ascribe this to timidity, or even to indolence; but holy is that timidity which is produced by the obedience of faith. Let us therefore know, that Noah was restrained, by a hallowed modesty, from allowing himself to enjoy the bounty of nature, till he should hear the voice of God directing him to do so. Moses winds this up in a few words, but it is proper that we should attend to the thing itself. All ought indeed, spontaneously, to consider how great must have been the fortitude of the man, who, after the incredible weariness of a whole year, when the deluge has ceased, and new life has shone forth, does not yet move a foot out of his sepulcher, without the command of God. Thus we see, that, by a continual course of faith, the holy man was obedient to God; because at God’s command, he entered the ark, and there remained until God opened the way for his egress; and because he chose rather to lie in a tainted atmosphere than to breathe the free air, until he should feel assured that his removal would be pleasing to God. Even in minute affairs, Scripture commends to us this self-government, that we should attempt nothing but with an approving conscience. How much less is the rashness of men to be endured in religious matters, if, without taking counsel of God, they permit themselves to act as they please. It is not indeed to be expected that God will every moment pronounce, by special oracles, what is necessary to be done; yet it becomes us to hearken attentively to his voice, in order to be certainly persuaded that we undertake nothing but what is in accordance with his word. The spirit of prudence, and of counsel, is also to be sought; of which he never leaves those destitute, who are docile and obedient to his commands. In this sense, Moses relates that Noah went out of the ark as soon as he, relying on the oracle of God, was aware that a new habitation was given him in the earth.

PETT, "Genesis 8:15-17

‘And God spoke to Noah saying, “Go out from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, both bird and domesticated animal, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth”.’

At last the cataclysm is over and they can leave their refuge. Here God gives Noah His preliminary confirmation, which will be more solemnly enacted later, of His purpose for the world. This word of encouragement is nicely timed. The feelings of those who are in the ark are impossible to gauge. They have just experienced the destruction of their world and now they must face what appears to be an uncertain future. So God immediately confirms that there is a future. The earth is to begin again in the same way as before.

BI 15-19, "Noah went forth

Man’s going forth after the judgments of God -

I. THAT HE GOES FORTH UPON THE DIVINE COMMAND (Gen_8:15-17).

1. That Noah was counselled to go forth from the ark on a day ever to be remembered.

2. That Noah was commanded to go forth from the ark when the earth was dry.

II. THAT HE GOES FORTH IN REFLECTIVE SPIRIT. We can readily imagine that Noah would go forth from the ark in very reflective and somewhat pensive mood.

1. He would think of the multitudes who had been drowned in the great waters.

2. He would think of his own immediate conduct of life, and of the future before him.

III. THAT HE GOES FORTH IN COMPANY WITH THOSE WHO HAVE SHARED HIS SAFETY.

1. He goes forth in company with the relatives of his own family. God permitted the family of Noah to be with him in the ark, to relieve his solitude, to aid his efforts, to show the protective influence of true piety; and now they are to join him in the possession of the regenerated earth, that they may enjoy its safety and aid its cultivation.

2. He goes forth in company with the life-giving agencies of the universe. (J. S.Exell, M. A.)

16

"Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.

GILL, "Gen 8:16 - Go forth of the ark,.... Though the earth was dry and fit to be inhabited, yet be would not go out without orders, as he had to go in; which he waited for before he would, and now he has them: 1) 2) thou and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives, with thee: the Jewish writers (z) observe, that the manner of Noah and his family coming out of the ark is different from that of their going into it: when they went into it then went the men by themselves, and the women by themselves, and so continued apart in the ark, the use of the marriage bed being forbidden them, being a time of distress; but now when they came out they are coupled together, signifying that they were now free to cohabit together.

HAWKER, "Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

Observe, Noah did not go forth, until the Lord issued the divine command; see Lam_3:26.

COKE, "Genesis 8:16. Go forth, &c.— "After he had been three hundred and sixty-five days in the ark," says Mr. Locke, "God commands him to go forth, that he might leave the ark by the same authority which ordered him to enter it:" and he testified his obedience, as well as thankfulness, by offering burnt-offerings to the Lord for his great deliverance.

Not a day is he confined more than is needful for him. When the ground is fit for his abode, God sends to deliver him from his confinement. They are sure always of being in the right who do nothing without the divine warrant. And now the earth is renewed, the blessing is renewed also. They that serve the Lord shall want no manner of thing which is good.

17

Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

GILL, "Gen 8:17 - Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee,.... There is a various reading of the word for "bring forth"; according to the margin, as Jarchi observes, the sense is, order them to come forth; and according to the Scripture, if they will not, oblige them to come: 1) 2) of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; for of each of these there were some that went with him into the ark, and continued there: 3) 4) that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth, for which end they were preserved in the ark. Jarchi observes, it is said "on the earth", not in the ark, which shows he thinks that birds and beasts were not allowed to couple, and that they did not breed there. It is a question with some, how the creatures, which were only in Asia at their coming out of the ark, could spread themselves all over the earth; particularly how they could get into islands, and especially into America: to which it may be answered, that this might be done by many of them, by swimming over narrow seas, for some wild creatures will swim whole days and nights together, when they are forced to it; and by men's carrying others in vessels to distant and different parts, on one account or another, either for profit or pleasure; and especially, what is it the power and providence of God cannot do, who could not be at a loss for ways and means to replenish a world in all the parts of it he had made desolate, when it was his pleasure?(Most creationists think the earth entered an ice age after the flood. This would make the sea level lower than it is today. If the average sea level was lowered by only six hundred feet, all the major continents would be connected by land bridges. Animals could easily migrate to any continent. Ed.)

CALVIN, "17.That they may breed abundantly, etc. With these words the Lord would cheer the mind of Noah, and inspire him with confidence, that a seed had been preserved in the ark which should increase till it replenished the whole earth. In short, the renovation of the earth is promised to Noah; to the end that he may know that the world itself was inclosed in the ark, and that the solitude and devastation, at the sight of which his heart might faint, would not be perpetual.

18

So �oah came out, together with his sons and his wife

and his sons' wives.

GILL, "Gen 8:18 - And Noah went forth,.... Being obedient to the divine command, and no doubt with great pleasure in his countenance, and with a heart full of thankfulness for so great a deliverance: 1) 2) and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: in all eight persons, and no more were saved in the ark, as Peter observes, 1Pe_3:20 and the Arabic writers say (a), Noah and his sons built a city near the place where they came out of the ark, and called it Themanin, giving this as a reason of the name, we are eight, that is, who have escaped; so Berosus says (b), that the earth being dried of the waters, there were then only eight men in Armenia, from whence all mankind sprung.

SBC, "On the slopes of Ararat was the second cradle of the race, the first village reared in a world of unseen graves.

I. It was the village of the ark, a building fashioned and fabricated from the forests of a drowned and buried world. To the world’s first fathers it must have seemed a hallowed and venerable form.

II. The village of the ark was the village of sacrifice. They built a sacrificial altar in which fear raised the stones, tradition furnished the sacrifice, and faith kindled the flame.

III. The first village was the village of the rainbow. It had been seen before in the old world, but now it was seen as a sign of God’s mercy, His covenant in creation.

IV. The village of the ark gives us our first code of laws. As man first steps forth with the shadows of the fall around him, scarce a principle seems to mark the presence of law. Here we advance quite another stage, to a new world; the principles of law are not many, but they have multiplied. As sins grow, laws grow. Around the first village pealed remote mutterings of storms to come.

V. The village of the ark was the village of sin. Even to Noah, the most righteous of men, sin came out of the simple pursuit of husbandry. A great, good man, the survivor of a lost world, the stem and inheritor of a new, he came to the moment in life of dreadful overcoming.

E. Paxton Hood, The Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iii., p. 92.

19

All the animals and all the creatures that move along

the ground and all the birds--everything that moves on the earth--came out of the ark, one kind after another.

GILL, "Gen 8:19 - Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, andwhatsoever creepeth upon the earth,.... All went out, not one was left, and they went out 1) 2) after their kind; not in a confused disorderly manner, mixing with one another; but as they went in by pairs, male and female of every sort, so they came forth in like manner, or, "according to their families" (c); by which it seems as if the creatures did breed in the ark, and had their families of young ones; and which is the sense of some in Aben Ezra, and he himself thinks it not foreign, though he interprets it as we do, and as the Greek version does, "after their kind": thus they 3) 4) went forth out of the ark; everyone with his mate, in order to procreate and multiply upon the earth.

20

Then �oah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.

GILL, "Gen 8:20 - And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord,.... Not an house for himself and his family, but an altar for God; his first and greatest concern being for the glory of God, and not for the temporal good of himself and his: this altar was erected, and devoted to the service of God; it was built according to his will, and by his direction: Noah's view was to renew the worship of God, preserve and propagate it by his example; and this was done by way of thanksgiving to God for his wonderful preservation of him, and was also propitiatory and typical of Christ: the Jewish writers (d) say, this was the altar on which Adam sacrificed, when expelled the garden of Eden, and on which Cain

and Abel offered; and being demolished by the flood, was rebuilt by Noah, which is not at all probable; it is much more likely what Aben Ezra says, that it was built on one of the mountains of Ararat, and that as Noah took the first opportunity, so he built it in the first place he came to, or at least not far from the place where he came out of the ark:

and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar; the clean beasts were the bullock, the sheep, and goat, and the clean fowl, the turtle and young pigeon, one of each sort at least was taken. The Targum of Jonathan says, he offered four upon the altar: these were typical of Christ; the bullock or heifer might denote his strength, the sheep or lamb his patience and harmlessness, the turtle or dove his meekness; and being burnt offerings, may signify the painful and dolorous sufferings of Christ, when the wrath of God was poured on him like fire.

CLARKE, "Gen 8:20 -Noah builded an altar - As we have already seen that Adam, Cain, and Abel, offered

sacrifices, there can be no doubt that they had altars on which they offered them; but this, builded by Noah, is certainly the first on record. It is worthy of remark that, as the old world began with sacrifice, so also did the new. Religion or the proper mode of worshipping the Divine Being, is the invention or institution of God himself; and sacrifice, in the act and design, is the essence of religion. Without sacrifice, actually offered or implied, there never was, there never can be, any religion. Even in the heavens, a lamb is represented before the throne of God as newly slain, Rev_5:6, Rev_5:12, Rev_5:13. The design of sacrificing is two-fold: the slaying and burning of the victim point out, 1st, that the life of the sinner is forfeited to Divine justice; 2dly, that his soul deserves the fire of perdition.

1) The Jews have a tradition that the place where Noah built his altar was the same in which the altar stood which was built by Adam, and used by Cain and Abel, and the same spot on which Abraham afterwards offered up his son Isaac.

2) The word מזבח mizbach, which we render altar, signifies properly a place for

sacrifice, as the root זבח zabach signifies simply to slay. Altar comes from the Latin altus,

high or elevated, because places for sacrifice were generally either raised very high or built on the tops of hills and mountains; hence they are called high places in the Scriptures; but such were chiefly used for idolatrous purposes.

3) Burnt-offerings - See the meaning of every kind of offering and sacrifice largely explained on Leviticus 7:1-38.

BARNES, "Gen_8:20-22

The offering of Noah accepted. The return to the dry land, through the special mercy of God to Noah and his house, is celebrated by an offering of thanksgiving and faith. “Builded an altar.” This is the first mention of the altar, or structure for the purpose of sacrifice. The Lord is now on high, having swept away the garden, and withdrawn his visible presence at the same time from the earth. The altar is therefore erected to point toward his dwelling-place on high. “Unto the Lord.” The personal name of God is

especially appropriate here, as he has proved himself a covenant keeper and a deliverer to Noah. “Of all clean cattle, and every clean fowl.” The mention of clean birds renders it probable that these only were taken into the ark by seven pairs Gen_7:3. Every fit animal is included in this sacrifice, as it is expressive of thanksgiving for a complete deliverance.

We have also here the first mention of the burnt-offering עלה 'olâh; the whole victim,

except the skin, being burned on the altar. Sacrifice is an act in which the transgressor slays an animal and offers it in whole, or in part as representative of the whole, to God. In this act he acknowledges his guilt, the claim of the offended law upon his life, and the mercy of the Lord in accepting a substitute to satisfy this claim for the returning penitent. He at the same time actually accepts the mercy of the Most High, and comes forward to plead it in the appointed way of reconciliation. The burnt-offering is the most perfect symbol of this substitution, and most befitting the present occasion, when life has been granted to the inmates of the ark amidst the universal death.

HENRY, "Gen 8:20-22 -Here is, I. Noah's thankful acknowledgment of God's favour to him, in completing the

mercy of his deliverance, Gen_8:20. 1. He built an altar. Hitherto he had done nothing without particular instructions and commands from God. He had a particular call into the ark, and another out of it; but, altars and sacrifices being already of divine institution for religious worship, he did not stay for a particular command thus to express his thankfulness. Those that have received mercy from God should be forward in returning thanks, and do it not of constraint, but willingly. God is pleased with free-will offerings, and praises that wait for him. Noah was now turned out into a cold and desolate world, where, one would have thought, his first care would have been to build a house for himself; but, behold, he begins with an altar for God: God, that is the first, must be first served; and he begins well that begins with God. 2. He offered a sacrifice upon his altar, of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl - one, the odd seventh that we read of, Gen_7:2, Gen_7:3. Here observe, (1.) He offered only those that were clean; for it is not enough that we sacrifice, but we must sacrifice that which God appoints, according to the law of sacrifice, and not a corrupt thing. (2.) Though his stock of cattle was so small, and that rescued from ruin at so great an expense of care and pains, yet he did not grudge to give God his dues out of it. He might have said, “Have I but seven sheep to begin the world with, and must one of these seven be killed and burnt for sacrifice? Were it not better to defer it till we have greater plenty?” No, to prove the sincerity of his love and gratitude, he cheerfully gives the seventh to his God, as an acknowledgment that all was his, and owing to him. Serving God with our little is the way to make it more; and we must never think that wasted with which God is honoured. (3.) See here the antiquity of religion: the first thing we find done in the new world was an act of worship, Jer_6:16. We are now to express our thankfulness, not by burnt-offerings, but by the sacrifices of praise and the sacrifices of righteousness, by pious devotions and a pious conversation.

1) II. God's gracious acceptance of Noah's thankfulness. It was a settled rule in the patriarchal age: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? Noah was so. For,

2) 1. God was well pleased with the performance, Gen_8:21. He smelt a sweet savour,or, as it is in the Hebrew, a savour of rest, from it. As, when he had made the world at first on the seventh day, he rested and was refreshed, so, now that he had new-made it, in the sacrifice of the seventh he rested. He was well pleased with Noah's pious zeal, and these hopeful beginnings of the new world, as men are with fragrant and agreeable

smells; though his offering was small it was according to his ability, and God accepted it. Having caused his anger to rest upon the world of sinners, he here caused his love to rest upon this little remnant of believers.

3) 2. Hereupon, he took up a resolution never to drown the world again. Herein he had an eye, not so much to Noah's sacrifice as to Christ's sacrifice of himself, which was typified and represented by it, and which was indeed an offering of a sweet-smelling savour, Eph_5:2. Good security is here given, and that which may be relied upon,

4) (1.) That this judgment should never be repeated. Noah might think, “To what purpose should the world be repaired, when, in all probability, for the wickedness of it, it will quickly be in like manner ruined again?” “No,” says God, “it never shall.” It was said (Gen_6:6), It repented the Lord that he had made man; now here he speaks as if it repented him that he had destroyed man: neither means a change of his mind, but both a change of his way. It repented him concerning his servants, Deu_32:36. Two ways this resolve is expressed: - [1.] I will not again curse the ground, Heb. I will not add to curse the ground any more. God had cursed the ground upon the first entrance of sin (Gen_3:17), when he drowned it he added to that curse; but now he determines not to add to it any more. [2.] Neither will I again smite any more every living thing; that is, it was determined that whatever ruin God might bring upon particular persons, or families, or countries, he would never again destroy the whole world till the day shall come when time shall be no more. But the reason of this resolve is very surprising, for it seems the same in effect with the reason given for the destruction of the world: Because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, Gen_6:5. But there is this difference -there it is said, The imagination of man's heart is evil continually, that is, “his actual transgressions continually cry against him;” here it is said, It is evil from his youth or childhood. It is bred in the bone; he brought it into the world with him; he was shapen and conceived in it. Now, one would think it should follow, “Therefore that guilty race shall be wholly extinguished, and I will make a full end.” No, “Therefore I will no more take this severe method; for,” First, “He is rather to be pitied, for it is all the effect of sin dwelling in him; and it is but what might be expected from such a degenerate race: he is called a transgressor from the womb, and therefore it is not strange that he deals so very treacherously,” Isa_48:8. Thus God remembers that he is flesh, corrupt and sinful, Psa_78:39. Secondly, “He will be utterly ruined; for, if he be dealt with according to his deserts, one flood must succeed another till all be destroyed.” See here, 1. That outward judgments, though they may terrify and restrain men, yet cannot of themselves sanctify and renew them; the grace of God must work with those judgments. Man's nature was as sinful after the deluge as it had been before. 2. That God's goodness takes occasion from man's sinfulness to magnify itself the more; his reasons of mercy are all drawn from himself, not from any thing in us.

5) (2.) That the course of nature should never be discontinued (Gen_8:22): “While the earth remaineth, and man upon it, there shall be summer and winter (not all winter as had been this last year), day and night,” not all night, as probably it was while the rain was descending. Here, [1.] It is plainly intimated that this earth is not to remain always; it, and all the works in it, must shortly be burnt up; and we look for new heavens and a new earth, when all these things must be dissolved. But, [2.] As long as it does remain God's providence will carefully preserve the regular succession of times and seasons, and cause each to know its place. To this we owe it that the world stands, and the wheel of nature keeps it track. See here how changeable the times are and yet how unchangeable. First, The course of nature always changing. As it is with the times, so it is with the events of time, they are subject to vicissitudes - day and night, summer and winter,counterchanged. In heaven and hell it is not so, but on earth God hath set the one over

against the other. Secondly, Yet never changed. It is constant in this inconstancy. These seasons have never ceased, nor shall cease, while the sun continued such a steady measurer of time and the moon such a faithful witness in heaven. This is God's covenant of the day and of the night, the stability of which is mentioned for the confirming of our faith in the covenant of grace, which is no less inviolable, Jer_33:20, Jer_33:21. We see God's promises to the creatures made good, and thence may infer that his promises to all believers shall be so.

BENSON, "Genesis 8:20. Noah builded an altar — The first altar that we read of; but not the first which was built; for the sacrifices which were offered before, Genesis 4:3-4, presuppose an altar or altars. And it ought to be well observed, that the silence of Scripture concerning any thing is not sufficient evidence that it was not done; to remember which will greatly assist us in understanding many passages of the sacred oracles. Here we see, that the first thing that he did after his wonderful preservation was to pay this debt of gratitude so justly due to that God who had so wonderfully preserved him. Hitherto he had done nothing without particular instructions and commands from God: but altars and sacrifices being already of divine institution, he did not stay for a particular command thus to express his thankfulness. And he offered on the altar, of every clean beast, and of every fowl — One, the odd seventh that we read of, Genesis 7:2-3.

CALVIN, "20.And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord. As Noah had given many proofs of his obedience, so he now presents an example of gratitude. This passage teaches us that sacrifices were instituted from the beginning for this end, that men should habituate themselves, by such exercises, to celebrate the goodness of God, and to give him thanks. The bare confession of the tongue, yea, even the silent acknowledgment of the heart, might suffice for God; but we know how many stimulants our indolence requires. Therefore, when the holy fathers, formerly, professed their piety towards God by sacrifices, the use of them was by no means superfluous. Besides, it was right that they should always have before their eyes symbols, by which they would be admonished, that they could have no access to God but through a mediator. Now, however, the manifestation of Christ has taken away these ancient shadows. Wherefore, let us use those helps which the Lord has prescribed. (281) Moreover, when I say that sacrifices were made use of, by the holy fathers, to celebrate the benefits of God, I speak only of one kind: for this offering of Noah answers to the peace-offerings, and the first-fruits. But here it may be asked, by what impulse Noah offered a sacrifice to God, seeing he had no command to do so? I answer: although Moses does not expressly declare that God commanded him to do it, yet a certain judgment may be formed from what follows, and even from the whole context, that Noah had rested upon the word of Gods and that, in reliance on the divine command, he had rendered this worship, which he knew, indubitably, should be acceptable to God. We have before said, that one animal of every kind was preserved separately; and have stated for what end it was done. But it was useless to set apart animals for sacrifice, unless God had revealed this design to holy Noah, who was to be the priest to offer up the victims. Besides, Moses says that sacrifices were chosen from among clean animals. But it is certain that Noah did not invent this distinction for himself since it does not depend on human choice. Whence we conclude, that he undertook nothing without divine authority. Also immediately afterwards, Moses subjoins, that the smell of the sacrifice was acceptable to God. This general rule, therefore, is to be observed, that all religious services which are not perfumed with the odour of faith, are of an ill-savor before God. Let us therefore know, that the altar of

Noah was founded in the word of God. And the same word was as salt to his sacrifices, that they might not be insipid.

K&D, "Gen 8:20-22 -

The first thing which Noah did, was to build an altar for burnt sacrifice, to thank the

Lord for gracious protection, and pray for His mercy in time to come. This altar - ,מז"ח

lit., a place for the offering of slain animals, from זבח, like θυσιαστήριον from θύειν - is the

first altar mentioned in history. The sons of Adam had built no altar for their offerings, because God was still present on the earth in paradise, so that they could turn their offerings and hearts towards that abode. But with the flood God had swept paradise away, withdrawn the place of His presence, and set up His throne in heaven, from which He would henceforth reveal Himself to man (cf. Gen_9:5, Gen_9:7). In future, therefore, the hearts of the pious had to be turned towards heaven, and their offerings and prayers needed to ascend on high if they were to reach the throne of God. To give this direction to their offerings, heights or elevated places were erected, from which they ascended

towards heaven in fire. From this the offerings received the name of עלת from עולה, the

ascending, not so much because the sacrificial animals ascended or were raised upon the altar, as because they rose from the altar to haven (cf. Jdg_20:40; Jer_48:15; Amo_4:10). Noah took his offerings from every clean beast and every clean fowl - from those animals, therefore, which were destined for man's food; probably the seventh of every kind, which he had taken into the ark. “And Jehovah smelled the smell of satisfaction,” i.e., He graciously accepted the feelings of the offerer which rose to Him in the odour of the sacrificial flame. In the sacrificial flame the essence of the animal was resolved into vapour; so that when man presented a sacrifice in his own stead, his inmost being, his spirit, and his heart ascended to God in the vapour, and the sacrifice brought the feeling of his heart before God. This feeling of gratitude for gracious protection, and of desire for further communications of grace, was well-pleasing to God. He “said to His heart' (to, or in Himself; i.e., He resolved), “I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the image (i.e., the thought and desire) of man's heart is evil from his youth up (i.e., from the very time when he begins to act with consciousness).” This hardly seems an appropriate reason. As Luther says: “Hic inconstantiae videtur Deus accusari posse. Supra puniturus hominem causam consilii dicit, quia figmentum cordis humani malum est. Hic promissurus homini gratiam, quod posthac tali ira uti nolit, eandem causam allegat.” Both Luther and Calvin express the same thought, though without really solving the apparent discrepancy. It was not because the thoughts and desires of the human heart are evil that God would not smite any more every living thing, that is to say, would not exterminate it judicially; but because they are evil from his youth up, because evil is innate in man, and for that reason he needs the forbearance of God; and also (and here lies the principal motive for the divine resolution) because in the offering of the righteous Noah, not only were thanks presented for past protection, and entreaty for further care, but the desire of man was expressed, to remain in fellowship with God, and to procure the divine favour. “All the days of the earth;” i.e., so long as the earth shall continue, the regular alternation of day and night and of the seasons of the year, so indispensable to the continuance of the human race, would never be interrupted again.

COKE, "Genesis 8:20. Noah builded an altar, &c.— Offerings and sacrifices necessarily imply the whole apparatus required; Cain and Abel could not have sacrificed without an

altar. But that original one being destroyed, Noah erected a new one, on which to offer his sacrifice of clean beasts and clean birds. This seems to prove, as plainly as possible, the use of sacrifice before the deluge; as we read of no new revelation respecting that matter to Noah, and as it is plain his offerings were acceptable to God from the following verse.

COFFMAN, "Verse 20

NOAH'S BURNT-OFFERING

"And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

"Noah builded an altar ..." As Willis and other scholars have noted, "This is the first time that an altar is mentioned"[15] in the Bible. The fact of this having apparently been a free-will offering, not the result of a specific command from God, and the further fact of the animal sacrifices of antiquity being used universally as food for the worshipers, as later confirmed in the Mosaic regulations concerning such things, we are perhaps justified in seeing in this, strong evidence that the antediluvians were carnivorous and not vegetarians, as apparently indicated also by the fact that the food taken into the ark probably included, at least in part, a certain number of those clean beasts taken aboard.

Many have commented on the proportion of Noah's sacrifice. In regard to the relation of the number of the total supply of clean creatures available, assuming that some had been consumed for food, and that therefore the total must have been far less than seven each. And in view of the fact of Noah's presenting to God a burnt offering of "every clean beast, and of every clean bird," it must be concluded that this was indeed an appropriate and tremendous sacrifice, offered by Noah from the gratitude of a faithful heart for the marvelous deliverance that God had provided for him and his.

"Burnt-offering ..." We find agreement with Unger that such sacrifices were not first initiated by Moses, but "that they were instituted from the Fall of man."[16]

"And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor ..." The Hebrew word for God here is not [~'Elohiym] but [~Yahweh], as frequently used in connection with God's covenant actions and in exhibitions of His grace.[17] Such name changes in the references to God have absolutely nothing to do with various alleged documents which some think were combined to form the Book of Genesis. Here is another example of the impassable gulf that exists between mythical and Biblical accounts. God's smelling the "sweet savor" of Noah's magnificent sacrifice is merely an anthropomorphism to describe God's acceptance and approval of it. On the other hand, the vulgar Babylonian myth represents "the gods" as being "gathered like flies above the offerer of sacrifice,"[18] as if they were hungry and even starving because they had not been fed by sacrifice in such a long time!

Even the most casual glance at the various mythical stories with accounts of a great flood reveals them as distorted and perverted accounts of the event accurately recorded in Genesis.

"I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake ..." Some believe that this is the nullification of Genesis 3:17-19; but that is an error. This merely means that, "The curse will not be applied again in the same way as it was in the Deluge."[19] Whitelaw pointed out that:

"This is not a revocation of the curse of Genesis 3:17-19, nor pledge that such curse would not be duplicated. The language refers solely to the Deluge, and promises not that God may not sometimes visit particular localities with a flood, but that another such world-wide catastrophe should never overtake the human race."[20]

"As I have done ..." This clause is a qualifier of the whole passage. The simple meaning of it is that the Great Deluge will never be duplicated in the subsequent history of the world. The beneficent curse upon the ground for the sake of man will not be removed, but just such a thing as the Flood will never be repeated.

"For that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth ..." Although this is sometimes mistakenly assigned as the reason for the ensuing promise, such a view is erroneous. What is really meant by it is that Noah and his descendants will not be any better than were the posterity of Adam. Despite such a fact, God would nevertheless go forward with his Operation Mankind. It was exactly the same situation that Hosea, one of God's great prophets, confronted in the instance of sinful Gomer. Despite her wickedness, he took her back home, not as a wife, but as one who would "sit still" for him many days. Rather than destroy the whole race again, God would find other means of reaping the intended harvest from the populations of earth. Those other means would include at a later time, the introduction of the device of the "Chosen People," and still later, the visitation of our world by the Glorious One, even Jesus Christ our Lord (Luke 1:71f).

Elliott's comment on this unmistakable prophecy of the continuing wickedness of humanity was to the effect that Noah's behavior soon provided "a striking example"[21] of mankind's depravity.

"While the earth remaineth ..." This is not a promise that the established order will continue eternally, but that "as long as the earth itself exists," that order will continue. The Scriptures make it explicit that there is still another event that shall annihilate the whole world in the fires of the eternal judgment (2 Peter 3). The same world that was destroyed in the Flood has yet another appointment on the "day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men." This great promise that God would preserve the orderly constitution and course of nature "till the end of the world," is sometimes called God's covenant of the day and night. (See Jeremiah 33:20,25).

This whole passage is invaluable in the proper understanding of the phenomena prophesied in Revelation 16, because the validity of these promises forces an understanding of the disasters prophesied there as symbols of the corruption of man's spiritual, religious, and cultural environment. Many of the wild postulations about what

will happen in the "end times" are possible only by a gross misunderstanding of what is written here, or by a failure to accept the truth and validity of these assurances.

"Seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night..." Josephus described the necessity for the promises in these verses as follows:

"But as for Noah, he was afraid, since God had determined to destroy mankind, lest he should drown the earth every year. So he offered God burnt offerings and besought God that nature might hereafter go its further orderly course. He also prayed God to accept his sacrifice, and to grant that the earth might never again undergo the like effects of his wrath."

If this reasonable opinion should be accepted, then the event of the rainbow covenant mentioned in the next chapter would appear to be, at least partially, the result of Noah's fearful petitions.

ELLICOTT, "(20) Noah builded an altar unto the Lord (Jehovah).—The account of this sacrificial act is said to have been an interpolation of the Jehovist. Really it forms an integral portion of the numerous traditions of the flood. Thus in the Chaldean Genesis, after the sending forth of a dove, a swallow, and a raven, we read (p. 280):—

“I sent them forth to the four winds; I sacrificed a sacrifice;

I built an altar on the peak of the mountain.”

This extreme antiquity of sections ascribed to the Jehovist, and supposed to be an after-thought, is seriously detrimental to the whole theory.

One result of the flood was to sweep away all traces of the earthly paradise and of the subsequent abode of Adam; and it is probable also that Noah was removed far away from his previous home by the floating of the ark. Thus to him and his family it was a new earth, with no holy places, no spots hallowed by the past history of man. He therefore determines to consecrate the earth to Jehovah, who had been the object of the worship of his family since the days of Enos, and therefore builds an altar, the first mentioned in the Bible. By so doing he provided for future generations a central spot and sanctuary, round which their religious ideas would group themselves. The animals offered were probably the seventh of all clean kinds (see Note on Genesis 7:2). With Noah’s burnt offerings we must not connect any of the later Levitical ideas. Apparently it was a simple thank-offering, the dominant thought of which was the hallowing man’s future life by commencing it with worship. It thus contained within it the presage that a better state of things had now begun. Subsequently the thank-offering became a feast, at which the offerer and his family partook of the victim as Jehovah’s guests; and as God during this sacrifice gave Noah permission to eat flesh (Genesis 9:3), it is probable that such was the case now, and that the eating of flesh was inaugurated in this solemn way. We have, however, previously seen reason to believe that the flesh of animals had occasionally been eaten before, though not as an ordinary article of diet.

PETT, "Noah Offers a Sacrifice to Yahweh and Receives His Personal Covenant (Genesis 8:20-22)

Now we are approaching the covenants around which the whole account is based and was the reason why it was preserved so assiduously. The first is a personal covenant made in response to Noah’s act of worship. And yet because he encapsulates the whole human race, the covenant is also with them. But it is represented as a personal thought of Yahweh, not as a fiat from God as Creator. It is something that will primarily benefit man not the whole of creation, and is linked with man’s response in worship.

Genesis 8:20

‘And Noah built an altar to Yahweh and took of every clean animal and every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.’

Now we see clearly why it was necessary for there to be more than two of every clean animal and bird. It gives Noah the opportunity to present to God his immediate gratitude and worship. It is quite possible that the family partook of at least some of the offerings. We must not read into these sacrifices the Mosaic restrictions. It was probably seen as including an element of sin offering as well as of dedication and thanksgiving.

WHEDON, "20. Noah builded an altar — This is the first altar mentioned in history, although it is generally supposed that Abel built one for his acceptable offering. It is possible that the antediluvian saints brought their gifts to the gate of Eden, where God had “tabernacled the cherubim.” Chap. 3:24. Whether this were so or not, all traces of that paradise were obliterated by the deluge, so that even the geographical marks of the

antediluvian record cannot now be identified. מזבח,theHebrewforaltar,isfromזבח,toslay,

aplacewherevictimswereslaininconfessionofthedesertofsin.Noah,thepriestofthehuman

race,typeoftheGreatHighPriestwhoofferedhimselfwithoutspotuntoGod,comesforthupon

thebaptizedearth,andhisfirstactistomakethissolemnconfessionofsininbehalfofthe

rescuedremnantofhumanity.Thisman,whoalonewasperfectinhisgenerations,andwho

walkedwithGod,builtthefirstaltar,andsprinkleditwiththebloodofeverycleanbirdandbeast

asaconfessionofsin.Sacrificeissymbolicinitsveryessence.Theslainvictimrepresentsthe

worshipper,itsdeathbeingtypicalofthedesertofsin;theconsumedofferinggoingupfromthe

earthinsmoketypifiestheprayerinwhichthemansendshisinmostbeinguptoGod;whileat

thesametimeallthesesacrifices,divinelyappointed,preparedmantounderstandGod’sgreat

Sacrifice,whereinChristofferedhimselfupuntoGod,thatHemightbejustandthejustifierof

allthatcomeuntohimbyfaith.NoahdidnotseeCalvary,butGodsawit;andwenowseethe

smokefromthisfirsthistoricaltar,togetherwiththatfromthetabernacleandthetemple,

blendinginthecloudonthegospelmercy-seat.

TRAPP,"Genesis8:20AndNoahbuildedanaltaruntotheLORDandtookofevery

cleanbeast,andofeverycleanfowl,andofferedburntofferingsonthealtar.

Ver.20.AndNoahbuildedanaltartotheLord.]Thiswashisfirstcare;andsoitwas

Abraham’swhereverhecame.Itmustbealsoours,aftergreatdeliverancesespecially.

God’smerciesarebinders:Beneficiumpostulatofficium.Heiscontentwehavethe

comfortofhisblessings,sohemayhavethepraiseofthem.Thispeppercornisallthe

renthelooksfor.Oh,coverweGod’saltar"withthecalvesofourlips,givingthanksto

hisname".[Hebrews13:15]Thiswill"pleasehimbetterthananoxthathathhornsand

hoofs".[Psalms69:31]Onlyletitbedone,thefirstthingthatwedo,afterthereceiptofa

benefit,whichelsewillsoonwaxstaleandputrifyasfish.Nopartofthethankoffering

mightbekeptunspenttothethirdday.Hezekiahwrotehissongthethirddayafterhis

recovery.Noahwasnosooneroutoftheark,butheofferedonhisnewlybuiltaltar;as

wellfortestificationofhisthankfulness,asforconfirmationofhisfaithinthatLambof

God,slainandsacrificedfromthebeginningoftheworld."Godwas"nowalso"inChrist

reconcilingthis"new"worldtohimself".[2Corinthians5:19]

SBC, "Noah, we are told, "was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Noah reverenced right and justice; he ordered his family well; he lived in the presence of an unseen Being, who is right and true, and who had appointed him to be the head of a family. By the orderliness and quietness of his life he became a witness against the turbulent, self-willed world, in the midst of which he was dwelling. But there is in him also an earnest interest in his fellow-men. He separates from them only that he may be a witness to them of the good that they are flying from, and which he claims for himself and his family because he believes that God designs it for the creatures He has formed.

I. There is an evident difference between the sacrifice of Noah and those of Cain and Abel. Here, under God’s guidance, the mound of turf gives place to the altar which is built. An order is discovered in the dignity of the inferior creatures; the worthiest are selected for an oblation to God; the fire which consumes, the flame which ascends, are used to express the intention of him who presents the victim.

II. We must feel that there was an inward progress in the heart of the man corresponding to this progress in his method of uttering his submission and his aspirations. Noah must have felt that he was representing all human beings; that he was not speaking what was in himself so much as offering the homage of the restored universe.

III. The foundation of sacrifice is laid in the fixed will of God; in His fixed purpose to assert righteousness; in the wisdom which adapts its means to the condition of the creature for whose sake they are used. The sacrifice assumes eternal right to be in the Ruler of the universe, all the caprice to have come from man, from his struggle to be an independent being, from his habit of distrust. When trust is restored by the discovery that God means all for his good, then he brings the sacrifice as a token of his surrender.

F. D. Maurice, The Doctrine of Sacrifice Deduced from the Scriptures, p. 18.

The text teaches:—

I.That worship should succeed every act of Divine deliverance.

II. That sacrifice is the only medium through which acceptable service can be rendered. Noah’s sacrifice expressed: (1) a feeling of supreme thankfulness: (2) a feeling of personal guilt.

III. That no act of worship escapes Divine notice.

IV. That human intercession vitally affects the interests of the race.

Parker, The Cavendish Pulpit, vol. i., p. 61.

LANGE 20-22, " Genesis 8:20-22. The offering of Noah and the acceptance and promise of Jehovah. The offering of Noah is not, as has been maintained, to be referred back from the later time of the law, to the primitive history. It reflects itself, moreover, in the mythological stories of the flood (Delitzsch, p268). An altar to the Lord. The altar is

called מז"ה,placeofslayingthevictim,fromזבח,asθυσιαστήριονfromθύειν.Thatthesonsof

Adamofferedwithoutanaltarisameresupposition.AccordingtoKeiltherewasnoneedofan

altar,becauseGodwasstillpresentinparadisetomen.Inthejudgmentofthefloodwasparadise

destroyed;theplaceofhispresencewaswithdrawn,andhehadtakenhisthroneintheheaven,

thatfromthence,hereafterhemightrevealhimselftomen.(Comp.Genesis2:5;Genesis2:7).

“Towardsheavenmustnowtheheartsofthepiousliftupthemselves;theirofferingsandtheir

prayersmustgouponhigh,iftheywouldreachGod’sthrone.Inordertogivetheofferingsthis

upwarddirection,elevatedplaceswerefixedupon,fromwhichtheymightascendheavenwardsin

fire.Hencetheofferingsderivedtheirnameofעלות,fromעלה,theascending,notsomuch

becausetheanimalofferedwaslaiduponthealtar,ormadetoascendthealtar,butrather

becauseoftheascending(oftheflameandsmoke)fromthealtartowardsheaven.(Comp.

Judges20:40;Jeremiah48:15;Amos4:10).InlikemannerDelitzschinrelationtoPsalm29:10;

(accordingtoHofmann:“ProphecyandFulfilment,”pp80,88).Ifbythisismeantthatthe

religiousconsciousness,whichoncereceivedGodaspresentinparadise,mustnow,throughits

darknessbysin,reverehimastheHolyOne,faroff,dwellingonhigh,andonlyoccasionally

revealinghimselffromheaven,therewouldbenothingtosayagainstit;butifitismeantasa

literaltransferoftheplaceofthedivinedwellingandofthedivinethrone,itbecomesa

mythologizingdarkeningofthedivineidea(seePsalm139).Christwasgreaterthanthe

paradisaicalAdam;notwithstanding,inprayer,helifteduphiseyestoheaven(John11:41);and

alreadyisitintimated,Genesis1:1,thatfromthebeginning,theheaven,asthesymbolicalsignof

God’sexceedinghighness,hadprecedenceoftheearth.That,however,thewordעולהmayhave

somerelation,atleast,totheascendencyofthevictimuponthealtarisshownbytheexpression

earlieranatalready,hadworshipwhoseJehovah,toerectedwasaltarTheHiphil.theinהעלה

period,commenced(Genesis4:4).EverywherewhenElohimhadrevealedhimselfinhisfirst

announcements,andhadthusgivenassuranceofhimselfasthetrustedandtheconstant,thereis

Jehovah,theGodamen,ineverfullerdistinctness.AsJehovahmustheespeciallyappeartothe

savedNoah,astheonetowhomhehadfulfilledhiswordofpromiseinthewonderfulrelationhe

boretohim.—Ofeverycleanbeast.—AccordingtoRosenmullerandothers,wemustregardthis

asreferringtothefivekindsofofferingsunderthelaw,namely,bullock,sheep,goats,doves,

turtledoves.This,however,isdoingviolencetothetext;thereappearsrathertohavebeen

appointedforofferingtheseventhsurplusexamplewhichhehadtaken,overandabovethethree

pairs,ineachcase,ofcleanbeasts.—Andoffereditasaburntoffering.—Wearenottothink

hereoftheclassificationofofferingsasdeterminedintheleviticallaw.Theburntofferingforms

themiddlepoint,andtherootofthedifferentofferings(comp.Genesis22:13);andthe

undividedunityisheretobekeptinview.ThereIsaiah,atallevents,containedheretheideaof

thethankoffering,althoughthereisnothingsaidofanyparticipation,oreating,ofthevictim

offered.Theextremeleftsideoftheofferinghere,asanofferingforsinandguilt,wastheHerem

orpollutionofthecarcasesexposedintheflood(likethelambofthesacrificeofMosesas

comparedwiththeslainfirst-bornoftheEgyptians);theextremerightsidelayinthat

consecratedpartakingoffleshbyNoahwhichnowcommenced.—AndtheLord(Jehovah)

smelledasweetsavor.—Thesavorofsatisfaction.Ananthropomorphicexpressionforthe

satisfiedacceptanceoftheofferingpresented,asatrueofferingofthespiritoftheone

presentingit.[FN5]—Andsaidinhisheart.—Notmerelyhesaidtohimselforhethoughtwith

himself;itmeansrather,hetookcounselwith,hisheartandexecutedapurposeproceeding

from,theemotionofhisdivinelove.—Iwillnotagaincurse.—Inwordshadhedonethis,Genesis

3:17,butactuallyandinahighermeasure,inthedecreeofdestructionGenesis6:7;Genesis6:13.

Withthelast,therefore,isthefirstcurseretracted,inasfarasthefirstpreliminarylustrationof

theearthisadmittedtobeabaptismoftheearth.AccordingtoKnobel,thepleasingfragranceof

theofferingisnotthemovingground,butmerelytheoccasionforthisgraciousresolve,Butwhat

doestheoccasionmeanhere?InsofarasthesavinggraceofGodwasthefirstmovingground

forNoah’sthankoffering,wasthislatteralsoasecondmovingground(symbolically,causa

meritoria)forthepurposeofGodasafterwardsdetermined.—Fortheimaginationsofman’s

heart.—ThegroundheregivenforGod’sforbearanceandcompassionseemsremarkable.

Calvin:“Hicinconstantiœvideturdeusaccusariposse.Suprapuniturushominem,causam

consiliidicit,quiafigmentumcordishumanimalumest.Hicpromissurushominigratiam,quod

posthactaliirautinolit,eandemcausamallegat.”Betweenthispassage,however,andtheone

Genesis6:6,thereisatwofolddifference.Inthelatterthereprecedesthesentence:Jehovahsaw

thatthewickednessofmanwasgreatupontheearth;inconnectionwiththiscorruptionofactual

sin,theevilimaginingofthehumanheartitself,isreckonedforevil,asbeingitsfountain.Here,

however,theburntofferingofNoahgoesbefore.Inconnectionwithtillssacrificialservice,

expressingthefeelingofguiltandthewantofforgiveness,theevilimaginationofthehuman

heartappearsasasuffereroftemptation.Theinnatesinfulnessisnotdiseasemerely,butasit

standsinorganicconnectionwiththeactualsin,isalsoguilt.ItIsaiah,however,diseasetoo;and

preciselyinitsconnectionwiththedispositionforpardon,andthebetterdesireofPrayerof

Manasseh,isitregardedasdiseasebyGod,andasbeing,therefore,anobjectofhiscompassion.

Moreoveritiscalledheresimplyלביצר,theinvoluntaryunconscioussenseandimagination,but

there(Genesis6:6),itwas“theimaginationofthethoughts(thepurposes)ofhisheart,”and,

therefore,amatterofconsciousness;hereitiswickednessfromhisyouthup,there,itisonly

wickedness,nothingelsebutwickedness,wickednessthroughoutandcontinually.Intheeffectof

theflood,andinthelightofthesacrificialoffering,whichNoahoffersnotonlyinhisownname,

butinthatofhisfamilyandrace,theguiltoftheinnatesinfulnessofthehumanraceappears

typicallyweakenedinthesamewayasintheevangelicalchurch-doctrine,thecondemnationof

hereditarysinistakenawaybybaptism,ofwhichthefloodisatype.[FN6]Knobellaysstresson

thefactthatitissaidfromhisyouthup,notfromhismother’swomb;butthewordevidently

meansthatjustassoonastheheartcomestoitspeculiarimagining,orthesensualimaginingthat

isappropriatetoit,thenimmediatelyappearstheinnatesinfulness.—Whilsttheearth

remaineth.—“Thethreefirstpairsofwordsdonotdenote,astheJewishinterpreters(see

Raschi)explainit,sixtimesoftheyearreckonedbytwomonthseach(adivisionfoundinthe

VedasandtheAvesta),buttheydividetheyearintotwohalveseach,astheoldGreeksdidinto

θέροςandχειµών(inHesioditiswµητοςandyροτος),namelythesummer(includingthe

autumn),beginningwiththeearlyrisingofthePleiades,andthewinter(includingthespring,see

Job29:4)beginningwiththeearlysetting(Ideler,Chron1,p241).”Delitzsch.Andyetthe

antithesesarenottautological.Seed-timeandharvestdenotetheyearaccordingtoitsmost

obvioussignificanceforman.Coldandheatareaccordingtotheequilibriumoftheyear,lyingat

thegroundofseed-timeandharvest,andconditionedbytheregularchangeoftemperature.

Summerandwinterpresenttheconstantappearanceofthischange,theorderofwhichisimaged

inthesmallandordinarychangesofdayandnightthatbelongtothegeneralcourseofnature.

Delitzschsupposesthatthisnewcourseofnature,consistingininterchangesoftemperature,is

opposedtoa“sereneoruninterruptedwarmththatprevailedbeforetheflood.”Thattheearthin

theprimitiveperiodhadaneventemperaturemayberegardedasveryprobable;butnotthatthe

flood,inthisrespect,madeanysuddenturningpoint,althoughsuchanepochintheearth’slife

must,atthesametime,denotethebeginningofachange.Atallevents,theneworderofnature

isnotdenotedasamereimperfectearth,forthispurifiedearthwillGodneveragaincoverwitha

flood.Delitzschadmirablyremarks:“theyareGod’sthoughtsofpeacewhichhegivestoNoah’s

innerperceptionasananswertohisoffering;asevennoweveryonewhopraysinfaithgetsfrom

theheartofGodaninwardperceptionthathisprayerisanswered.”Thedoubledform,אסףלא,

hasasinIsaiah54:9,thepowerofanoath.Asanestablishmentoftheneworderofnature,this

promisecorrespondstothecreativewordsGenesis1.

2.TheblessingofGodonthenewhumanity,itsdominion,itsfreedomanditslaws(Genesis9:1-

7).ThebenedictionofNoahandhissons,Genesis9:1,correspondstotheblessingofAdamand

Eve,Genesis1:28.Inlikemanner,thegrantofdominionovertheanimalworldcorrespondsto

theappointmentthereexpressed.Thedistinctlicenseheregivenfortheslayingofthebeasts

correspondstoGenesis1:29,andGenesis2:16.Theprohibitionofeatingbloodcorrespondsto

theprohibitionofthetreeofknowledge.Finally,thecommandagainstmurderhasrelation,

withoutdoubt,tothemurdercommittedbyCain(Genesis4).Delitzsch:“Afterthatthegeneral

relationsofnature,inviewofsucharuinashashappenedintheflood,aremadesecureby

promise,therearegiventomennewphysical,ethical,andlegalfoundations.”—Andthefearof

you.—Yourfear,astheeffect,מורא.Theexcitingoffearandterroraretobethemeansofman’s

dominionovertheanimals.Delitzschremarks:“Itisbecausetheoriginalharmonythatonce

existedbetweenmanandnaturehasbeentakenawaybythefallanditsconsequences.According

tothewillofGod,manisstillthelordofnature,butofnaturenowasanunwillingservant,tobe

restrainedbyeffort,tobesubjugatedbyforce.”Notthroughout,however,isnaturethus

antagonistictoman;itisnotthecasewithaportionoftheanimalworld,namely,thedomestic

animals.Itistrue,therehascomeinabreachoftheoriginalharmony,butitisnotnowforthe

firsttime,andthemostpeculiarstrivingofthecreatureisagainstitsdoomofperishability(

Romans8:20).Moreover,itiscertainlythecase,that,theinfluenceofthefearofmanuponthe

animalsisfundamentallyanormalparadisaicalrelation.Butasevererintensityofthisis

indicatedbytheworddread.Knobelexplainsitfromthefact,thathence-forththeanimalis

threatenedinitslife,andisnowexposedtobeslain.Sincethelossoftheharmonicrelation

betweenmanandtheanimals(inwhichthehumanmajestyhadamagicalpoweroverthebeast),

thecontrastbetweenthetameandthewild,betweenthefriendlyinnocenceandthehostiledread

ofthewilderspecies,hadincreasedmoreandmore,untothetimeoftheflood.Nowisitformally

andlegallypresentedinthelanguageweareconsidering.Manishenceforthlegallyauthorizedto

exerciseaforcibledominionoverthebeasts,sincehecannolongerrulethemthroughthe

sympathyofaspiritualpower.Alsotheeatingofflesh,whichhaddoubtlessexistedbefore,isnow

formallylegalized;bywhichfactitIsaiah,atthesametime,commended.Alimitationofthepure

kindsisnotyetexpressed.When,however,thereisadded,bywayofappendix,allthatliveth

(thatIsaiah,isalive),thedeadcarcase,orthatwhichhathdiedofitself,isexcluded,andwithit

allthatisoffensivegenerally.ThereIsaiah,however,adistinctrestrictionuponthisflesh-eating,

intheprohibitionoftheblood:Butfleshwiththelifethereof.—Delitzschexplainsitasmeaning,

“thattherewasforbiddentheeatingofthefleshwhentheanimalwasyetalive,unslain,and

whosebloodhadnotbeenpouredout,—namely,piecescutout,accordingtoacruelcustomof

antiquity,andstillexistinginAbyssynia.Accordinglytherewasforbidden,generally,theeatingof

fleshinwhichthebloodstillremained.”ItIsaiah,however,moretothepurposetoexplainthis

textaccordingtoLeviticus17:11;Leviticus17:14,thanbythesavagepracticesofalater

barbarousheathenism,orbyRabbinicaltradition.“Withitslife,”therefore,meanswithitssoul,

oranimatingprinciple,andthisisexplainedbyitsblood,accordingtothepassagecited(

Deuteronomy12:23);sincethebloodisthebasis,theelementofthenerve-life,andinthissense,

thesoul.Thebloodisthefluid-nerve,thenerveistheconstructedblood.Theprohibitionof

blood-eating,thefirstoftheSongofSolomon-calledNoachiancommands(seebelow),Isaiah,

indeed,connectedwiththemoralreprobationofcrueltytoanimals,asitmayproceedtothe

mutilationoftheliving;itIsaiah,therefore,alsoconnectedwiththeavoidanceofrawflesh(שר"

theorsoul,theofseattheasregardedisblood“TheKnobel).2:15.Samuel1flesh,livingor,חי

life,andisevendenotedasנפש,orthesoulitself(Leviticus1:5),astheanimapurpureaofVirgil,

Æn.ix348;evenashereנפשוisexplainedbytheapposition�מו.ButthelifebelongstoGod,the

Lordofalllife,andmust,therefore,bebroughttohim,uponhisaltar(Deuteronomy12:27),

andnotbeconsumedbyman.”Knobel.ThisIsaiah,therefore,thesecondideaintheprohibition

oftheblood.Aslife,mustthelifeofthebeastgobacktoGoditscreator;or,aslifeinthevictim

offeredinsacrifice,itmustbecomeasymbolthatthesoulofmanbelongstoGod,thoughman

maypartakeoftheanimalmateriality,thatIsaiah,theflesh.Stillstrongeristherestrictionthat

follows:Andsurelyyourbloodofyourlives.—“Thesoulofthebeast,inthebloodofthebeast,is

tobeavoided,andthesoulofPrayerofManasseh,inthebloodofPrayerofManasseh,isnotto

beviolated.”Delitzsch.Atthegroundofthiscontrast,however,liesthemoregeneralone,that

theslayingofthebeastisallowedwhilsttheslayingofmanisforbidden.–WillIrequire;that

Isaiah,thecorresponding,proportionateexpiationorpunishmentwillIimposeupontheslayer.

Theexpressionלנפשתיהם,Knobelexplainsasmeaning“foryoursouls,”forthebestofyourlife

(comp.Leviticus26:45;Deuteronomy4:15;Job13:7).AccordingtoDelitzschandKeilל

expressestheregardhadfortheindividual.Andthisappearstobenearthetruth.Thebloodof

manisindividuallyreckonedandvalued,accordingtotheindividualsouls.—Atthehandofevery

beast.—ThemoreparticularlegalregulationisfoundinExodus21:28.Here,then,isfirstgivena

legalgroundforthepursuitanddestructionofhumanmurderousandhurtfulbeasts.Stillthereis

expressed,moreover,theslayingofthesinglebeastthathathkilledaman.“Intheenactmentsof

SolonandDraco,andeveninPlato,thereisasimilarprovision.”Delitzsch.—Andatthehandof

man.“ח�ofSong13:5;Genesiscomp.kinsman;Isaiah,thatManasseh,ofPrayerbrother,איש

Solomon,הן�איש,apriest-PrayerofManasseh,etc.Bythewordsחיו�betonotisאיש

understoodthenextofkintothemurderedPrayerofManasseh,whosedutyitwastoexecutethe

blood-vengeance(VonBohlen,Tuch,Baumgarten),astheonefromwhomGodrequiredthe

bloodthatwasshed,butthemurdererhimself.Inordertoindicatetheunnaturalnessofmurder,

anditsdeepdesertofpenalty,Goddenoteshim(themurderer)asinaspecialsensethebrother

ofthemurdered.”Knobel.Besidesthis,moreover,thereisformedfromאישtheexpressionevery

man(Delitzsch,Keil).EveryPrayerofManasseh,brotherman.—Thelifeofman.—Manis

emphasized.Thereforefollows,emphatically,theformula:Whosoeversheddethman’sblood,

andatthecloseagainthereisoncemoreman(דם�hisshallmanpresented.—Byprominently(ה

bloodbeshed:“namely,bythenextofkintothemurdered,whoserightanddutybothitwasto

pursuethemurderer,andtoslayhim.Heiscalledה�םאל�,thedemanderoftheblood,orthe

blood-avenger.TheHebrewlawimposedthepenaltyofdeathuponthehomicide(Exodus

21:12;Leviticus24:17),whichthebloodavengercarriedout(Numbers35:19;Numbers35:21);

tohimwasthemurdererdeliveredupbythecongregationtobeputtodeath(Deuteronomy

19:12).AmongtheoldHebrews,theblood-vengeancewastheusualmodeofpunishingmurder,

andwasalsopractisedbymanyothernations.”DelitzschandKeildisputetherelationofthis

passagetotheblood-vengeance.Itisnottobemisapprehended,1.thathere,inawidersense,

humanityitself,seeingitisalwaysnextofkintothemurdered,isappointedtobetheavenger;

and2.thattheappointmentextendsbeyondtheblood-vengeance,andbecomestherootofthe

magisterialrightofpunishment.Ontheotherhand,itcannotbedeniedthatinthepatriarchal

relationsoftheoldentimeitwasafundamentalprinciplethatthenextofkinwerenotonly

justifiedintheexecutionofthelawofblood,butonaccountofthewantofalegaltribunal,were

underobligationtoperformtheoffice.Thisprimitive,divinely-sanctionedcustom,became,inits

idealandtheocraticdirection,thelawofpunishmentasmagisteriallyregulatedintheMosaic

institutions(butwhichstillkeptinmindtheblood-vengeance),whereas,inthedirectionofcrude

heathenism,whichavengedthemurderevenupontherelationsofthemurderer,itbecameitself

amurderousimpulse.Delitzschremarks,thatGodhasnowlaidinthehandsofmenthepenal

forcethatbelongedtohimalone,becausehehaswithdrawnhisvisiblepresencefromthe

earth,—accordingtotheview,beforecited,ofhistransferofthedivinethronetotheheavens.—

ForintheimageofGodmadeheman.—Thisisthereasonforthecommandagainstmurder.In

manthereisassailedtheimageofGod,thepersonality,thatwhichconstitutestheveryaimofhis

existence,althoughtheimageitself,assuch,isinviolable.Inmurderthecrimeisagainstthe

spirit,inwhichthedivinekinsmanshiprevealsitself,andsoisitacrimeagainstthevery

appearingofGodintheworldinitsmostuniversalform,orasapreludetothatmurderwhich

wascommittedagainsttheperfectformofman(orimageofGodinman),Zechariah12:10;John

3:10;John3:15).—Butbeyefruitful.—Thecontrasttothepreceding.Thevalueofhumanlife

forbidsitsbeingwasted,andcommandsitsorderlyincrease.—Bringforthabundantlyinthe

earth—Inthespreadingofmenover,theearth,andoutofitssuppliesoffood(bywhich,asit

were,thelifeoftheearthistransformedintothelifeofman)arefoundtheconditionsforthe

multiplicationofthehumanrace.Thusregarded,thereisonlyanapparenttautologyinthe

verse,notanactualone.

NISBET, "THE FIRST ALTAR IN THE NEW WORLD

‘And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar,’ etc.

Genesis 8:20-22

Noah, we are told, ‘was a just man, and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.’ Noah reverenced right and justice; he ordered his family well; he lived in the presence of an unseen Being, who is right and true, and who had appointed him to be the head of a family. By the orderliness and quietness of his life he became a witness against the turbulent, self-willed world, in the midst of which he was dwelling. But there is in him also an earnest interest in his fellow-men. He separates from them only that he may be a witness to them of the good that they are flying from, and which he claims for himself and his family because he believes that God designs it for the creatures He has formed.

I. There is an evident difference between the sacrifice of Noah and those of Cain and Abel.—Here, under God’s guidance, the mound of turf gives place to the altar which is built. An order is discovered in the dignity of the inferior creatures; the worthiest are selected for an oblation to God; the fire which consumes, the flame which ascends, are used to express the intention of him who presents the victim.

II. We must feel that there was an inward progress in the heart of the man corresponding to this progress in his method of uttering his submission and his aspirations.—Noah must have felt that he was representing all human beings; that he was not speaking what was in himself so much as offering the homage of the restored universe.

III. The foundation of sacrifice is laid in the fixed will of God; in His fixed purpose to assert righteousness; in the wisdom which adapts its means to the condition of the creature for whose sake they are used. The sacrifice assumes eternal right to be in the Ruler of the universe, all the caprice to have come from man, from his struggle to be an independent being, from his habit of distrust. When trust is restored by the discovery that God means all for his good, then he brings the sacrifice as a token of his surrender.

—Rev. F. D. Maurice.

Illustration

(a) ‘Here was an act of worship. Noah’s first thoughts were of God. He did not think, as many would have done, “Now there is no one in the world beside myself and my family; everything belongs to us; we can do as we please.” He remembered God’s mercy and goodness, and so he praised Him. It is true he had built the ark, but he felt that his deliverance was altogether owing to God’s favour and God’s providence. Do we acknowledge His goodness every day?

(b) Here was an act of sacrifice. This is the first altar mentioned in history. We do not read that Adam or any of his immediate descendants built an altar on which to present their offerings. They may have have done so, but it is not related. Nor is it said that God gave Noah any instructions as to building an altar, as He had done in regard to building the ark. It was thus the free expression of his own gratitude, and therefore all the more acceptable.

(c) Note that Noah, though all other animals that he knew of were destroyed, except the few he had preserved in the ark, did not hesitate to sacrifice some of every sort of clean beasts and birds. He did not stop to ask what he should do for more. Like the man who gives up everything for conscience sake, trusting to God’s providence. Or, like the poor widow who gave “all her living.”’

21

The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "�ever again will I curse the ground because of man, even though[1] every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

GILL, "Gen 8:21 - And the Lord smelled a sweet savour,.... Or a "savour of rest" (e); he was delighted and well pleased with his sacrifice, which was offered up in the faith of the sacrifice of Christ; the apostle says, "is for a sweetsmelling savour", Eph_5:2referring to this passage; that being a satisfaction to the justice of God, an appeasing of his wrath, and a propitiation for the sins of men: 1) 2) and the Lord said in his heart; within himself; it was awhile a secret there, but Noah being a prophet, as Aben Ezra observes, he revealed it to him, or "to his heart" (f), that is, to the heart of Noah, as some interpret it, he spoke comfortably to him, as follows, when the Jewish writers (g) say he stretched out his right hand and swore, agreeably to Isa_54:9. 3) 4) I will not again curse the ground for man's sake, or drown it for the sin of man, as he had cursed it for the sin of Adam, and which continued till this time; but now was taken off, and it became more fruitful, and very probably by means of the waters which had been so long upon it, and had left a fructifying virtue in it, as the waters of the Nile do in Egypt. Some interpret the phrase, "for man's sake", for the man Christ's sake, for the sake of his sacrifice, of which Noah's was a type, and the sense be, that God would no more curse the earth; for by his sacrifice the curse of the law is removed, with respect to his people; they are redeemed from it, and shall inherit that new earth, of which this earth, renewed after the flood, was a type, in which there will be no more curse, Rev_21:1 which sense, though evangelical, cannot be admitted, because of the reason following, unless the first word be rendered "though", as it may: 5) 6) for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; his nature is depraved, his heart is corrupt, the thoughts of it evil, yea, the imagination of it, and of them, is sinful, and that originally, even from his birth; from the time he is shook out of his mother's womb, as Jarchi interprets the phrase: man is conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity, and is a transgressor from the womb, and so a child of wrath, and deserving of the curse of the law upon himself, and all that belong to him; and yet this is given as a reason why God will not any more curse the ground for his sake: that which was a reason for destroying the earth, is now one against it, see Gen_6:5 which may be reconciled

thus, God for this reason destroyed the earth once, for an example, and to display his justice; but such is his clemency and mercy, that he will do it no more to the end of the world; considering that man has brought himself into such a condition, that he cannot but sin, it is natural to him from his birth; his nature is tainted with it, his heart is full of it, and all his thoughts and imaginations are wicked and sinful, from whence continually flow a train of actual sins and transgressions; so that if God was to curse and drown the world as often as man sins, he must be continually doing it; for the words may be rendered, "though the imagination of man's heart is evil", &c. (h); yet I will not do it; and so they are expressive of the super abounding grace of God over abounding sin: 7)

8) neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done; this

hinders not but that there might be, as has been since, partial calamities, or particular judgments on individual persons, towns, and cities, as those of Sodom and Gomorrah, or partial inundations, but not a general deluge, or an universal destruction of the world and creatures in it, at least not by water, as has been, but by fire, as will be; for that the earth will have an end, at least as to its present nature, form, and use, may be concluded from the following words.

CLARKE, "Gen 8:21 -The Lord smelled a sweet savor - That is, he was well pleased with this religious

act, performed in obedience to his own appointment, and in faith of the promised Savior. That this sacrifice prefigured that which was offered by our blessed Redeemer in behalf of the world, is sufficiently evident from the words of St. Paul, Eph_5:2 : Christ hath loved us, and given himself for its an offering and a sacrifice to God for a Sweet-Smelling Savor; where the words οσµην ευωδιας of the apostle are the very words used by the Septuagint in this place.

1) I will not again curse the ground - osiph, I will not add to curse thelo לאאסף

ground - there shall not be another deluge to destroy the whole earth: for the

imagination of man’s heart, כי ki, Although the imagination of man’s heart should be

evil, i.e. should they become afterwards as evil as they have been before, I will not destroy the earth by a Flood. God has other means of destruction; and the next time he visits by a general judgment, Fire is to be the agent. 2Pe_3:7.

BARNES, "Gen_8:21

The effect of this plea is here described. The Lord smelled the sweet savor. He accepted the typical substitute, and, on account of the sacrifice, the offerers, the surviving ancestors of the post-diluvian race. Thus, the re-entrance of the remnant of mankind upon the joys and tasks of life is inaugurated by an articulate confession of sin, a well-understood foreshadowing of the coming victim for human guilt, and a gracious acceptance of this act of faith. “The Lord said in his heart.” It is the inward resolve of his will. The purpose of mercy is then expressed in a definite form, suited to the present circumstances of the delivered family. “I will not again curse the soil any more on account of man.” This seems at first sight to imply a mitigation of the hardship and toil which man was to experience in cultivating the ground Gen_3:17. At all events, this very

toil is turned into a blessing to him who returns from his sin and guilt, to accept the mercy, and live to the glory of his Maker and Saviour. But the main reference of the passage is doubtless to the curse of a deluge such as what was now past. This will not be renewed. “Because the imagination of his heart is evil from his youth.” This is the reason for the past judgment, the curse upon the soil: not for the present promise of a respite for the future. Accordingly, it is to be taken in close connection with the cursing of the soil, of which it assigns the judicial cause. It is explanatory of the preceding phrase, on account of man. The reason for the promise of escape from the fear of a deluge for the future is the sacrifice of Noah, the priest and representative of the race, with which the Lord is well pleased. The closing sentence of this verse is a reiteration in a more explicit form of the same promise. “Neither will I again smite all living as I have done.” There will be no repetition of the deluge that had just overswept the land and destroyed the inhabitants.

HAWKER, "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground anymore for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite anymore everything living, as I have done.

As this offering was in faith, the apostle explains what the sweet smelling savour was. Eph_5:2. The promise in this verse is a gracious promise, and, confirmed in Christ Jesus, is, like all others, yea and amen. 2Pe_3:13.

BENSON, "Genesis 8:21. God smelled a sweet savour — In the Hebrew it is a savour of rest: that is, he accepted the person, and faith, and thank-offering of Noah, and was well pleased therewith, and with these hopeful beginnings of the new world, as men are with agreeable and fragrant smells. I will not again curse the ground — Hebrews I will not add to curse the ground any more. God had cursed the ground upon the first entrance of sin, Genesis 3:17; when he drowned it he added to that curse: but now he determines not to add to it any more. For the imagination of man’s heart is evil — The original word, rendered for, may properly be rendered although. And then the meaning will be, I will not any more destroy the earth, although I have just cause so to do. But the sense given in our translation is confirmed by the Septuagint, and is probably the true meaning of the passage. But what a surprising reason it is for God’s resolving no more to curse the earth! It seems to be the same with the reason given for its destruction, Genesis 6:5. There is, however, this difference: there it is said, The imagination of man’s heart is evil continually, which implies, his actual transgressions continually cry against him. Here it is said, his heart is evil from his youth, or childhood: he brought it into the world with him, he was shapen and conceived in it. Therefore I will no more take this severe method; for he is rather to be pitied than punished, and it is only what might be expected from such a degenerate race.

JAMISON, "And the Lord smelled a sweet savour — The sacrifice offered by a righteous man like Noah in faith was acceptable as the most fragrant incense.

Lord said in his heart — same as “I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth” (Isa_54:9).

for — that is, “though the imagination is evil”; instead of inflicting another destructive

flood, I shall spare them - to enjoy the blessings of grace, through a Savior.

SBC, "These words were said by our Maker more than four thousand years ago, and they have been true ever since, down to this very hour. There is so much more bad than good in us that we should certainly go wrong if left to ourselves, and the bias of our nature to evil is so strong that it can only be corrected by changing the very nature itself; or, in the words of Scripture, by being born again of the Spirit. Everything is properly called good or evil according as it answers or defeats the purpose for which it was made. We were made for our Maker’s glory, after His own image, that we should make His will the rule of our lives, and His love and anger the great objects of our hope and fear; that we should live in Him and for Him and to Him, as our constant Guide and Master and Father. If we answer these ends, then we are good creatures; if we do not, we are bad creatures; nor does it matter how many good or amiable qualities we may possess, like the blossoms or leaves of a barren fruit-tree, we are bad of our kind if we do not bring forth fruit.

II. Now, instead of living to God, we by nature care nothing about God; we live as if we had made ourselves, not as if God had made us. This is the corruption of our nature, which makes us evil in the sight of God. Christ alone can make us sound from head to foot. He alone can give us a new and healthy nature; He alone can teach us so to live as to make this world a school for heaven. All that is wanted is that we should see our need of Him and fly to Him for aid.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. i., p. 19.

CALVIN, "21.And the Lord smelled a sweet savor (282) Moses calls that by which God was appeased, an odour of rest; as if he had said, the sacrifice had been rightly offered. Yet nothing can be more absurd than to suppose that God should have been appeased by the filthy smoke of entrails, and of flesh. But Moses here, according to his manner, invests God with a human character for the purpose of accommodating himself to the capacity of an ignorant people. For it is not even to be supposed, that the rite of sacrifice, in itself, was grateful to God as a meritorious act; but we must regard the end of the work, and not confine ourselves to the external form. For what else did Noah propose to himself than to acknowledge that he had received his own life, and that of the animals, as the gift of God’s mercy alone? This piety breathed a good and sweet odour before God; as it is said, (Psalms 116:12,)

“What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits? I will take the cup of salvation, and will call upon the name of the Lord.”

And the Lord said in his heart. The meaning of the passage is, God had decreed that he would not hereafter curse the earth. And this form of expression has great weight: for although God never retracts what he has openly spoken with his mouth, yet we are more deeply affected when we hear, that he has fixed upon something in his own mind; because an inward decree of this kind in no way depends upon creatures. To sum up the whole, God certainly determined that he would never more destroy the world by a deluge. Yet the expression, ‘I will not curse,’ is to be but generally understood; because we know how much the earth has lost of its fertility since it has been corrupted by man’s sin, and we daily feel that it is cursed in various ways. And he explains himself a little

afterwards, saying, ‘I will not smite anymore every thing living.’ For in these words he does not allude to every kind of vengeance, but only to that which should destroy the world, and bring ruin both on mankind and the rest of animals: as if he would say, that he restored the earth with this stipulation, that it should not afterwards perish by a deluge. So when the Lord declares, (Isaiah 54:9,) that he will be contented with one captivity of his people, he compares it with the waters of Noah, by which he had resolved that the world should only once be overwhelmed. (283)

For the imagination of man’s heart. This reasoning seems incongruous: for if the wickedness of man is so great that it does not cease to provoke the anger of God, it must necessarily bring down destruction upon the world. Nay, God seems to contradict himself by having previously declared that the world must be destroyed, because its iniquity was desperate. But here it behaves us more deeply to consider his design; for it was the will of God that there should be some society of men to inhabit the earth. If, however, they were to be dealt with according to their deserts, there would be a necessity for a daily deluge. Wherefore, he declares, that in inflicting punishment upon the second world, he will so do it, as yet to preserve the external appearance of the earth, and not again to sweep away the creatures with which he has adorned it. Indeed, we ourselves may perceive such moderation to have been used, both in the public and special judgments of God, that the world yet stands in its completeness, and nature yet retains its course. Moreover, since God here declares what would be the character of men even to the end of the world, it is evident that the whole human race is under sentence of condemnation, on account of its depravity and wickedness. Nor does the sentence refer only to corrupt morals; but their iniquity is said to be an innate iniquity, from which nothing but evils can spring forth. I wonder, however, whence that false version of this passage has crept in, that the thought is prone to evil; (284) except, as is probable, that the place was thus corrupted, by those who dispute too philosophically concerning the corruption of human nature. It seemed to them hard, that man should be subjected, as a slave of the devil to sin. Therefore, by way of mitigation, they have said that he had a propensity to vices. But when the celestial Judge thunders from heaven, that his thoughts themselves are evil, what avails it to soften down that which, nevertheless, remains unalterable? Let men therefore acknowledge, that inasmuch as they are born of Adam, they are depraved creatures, and therefore can conceive only sinful thoughts, until they become the new workmanship of Christ, and are formed by his Spirit to a new life. And it is not to be doubted, that the Lord declares the very mind of man to be depraved, and altogether infected with sin; so that all the thoughts which proceed thence are evil. If such be the defect in the fountain itself, it follows, that all man’s affections are evil, and his works covered with the same pollution, since of necessity they must savor of their original. For God does not merely say that men sometimes think evil; but the language is unlimited, comprising the tree with its fruits. Nor is it any proof to the contrary, that carnal and profane men often excel in generosity of disposition, undertake designs apparently honorable, and put forth certain evidences of virtue. For since their mind is corrupted with contempt of God, with pride, self-love, ambitious hypocrisy, and fraud; it cannot be but that all their thoughts are contaminated with the same vices. Again, they cannot tend towards a right end: whence it happens that they are judged to be what they really are, crooked and perverse. For all things in such men, which release us under the color of virtue, are like wine spoiled by the odour of the cask. For, (as was before said,) the very affections of nature, which in themselves are laudable, are yet vitiated by original sin, and on account of their irregularity have degenerated from their proper nature; such are the mutual love of married persons, the love of parents towards

their children, and the like. And the clause which is added, “from youth,” more fully declares that men are born evil; in order to show that, as soon as they are of an age to begin to form thoughts, they have radical corruption of mind. Philosophers, by transferring to habit, what God here ascribes to nature, betray their own ignorance. And to wonder; for we please and flatter ourselves to such an extent, that we do not perceive how fatal is the contagion of sin, and what depravity pervades all our senses. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the judgment of God, which pronounces man to be so enslaved by sin that he can bring forth nothing sound and sincere. Yet, at the same time, we must remember, that no blame is to be cast upon God for that which has its origin in the defection of the first man, whereby the order of the creation was subverted. And furthers it must be noted, that men are not exempted from guilt and condemnation, by the pretext of this bondage: because, although all rush to evil, yet they are not impelled by any extrinsic force, but by the direct inclination of their own hearts; and, lastly, they sin not otherwise than voluntarily.

ELLICOTT, "(21) A sweet savour.—Heb., a smell of satisfaction. The idea is not so much that the sacrifice gave God pleasure as that it caused Him to regard man with complacency. The anger at sin which had caused the flood was now over, and there was peace between heaven and earth.

Said in his heart.—Heb., to his heart: that is, Jehovah determined with himself, came to the settled purpose. (Comp. Genesis 17:17.)

For the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.—See Genesis 6:5. There seems at first sight to be an inconsistency between the two passages, and the Jehovist is accused of here contradicting the Elohist. For in the former place man’s inborn sinfulness is described as an aggravation of his offence, while here it is used as a reason for mercy. But it is a characteristic of the Bible that it states the two sides of every principle with abrupt simplicity, and most heresies have arisen from seizing upon one side only, and omitting the other from view. Man is one whose every imagination of the heart is only evil continually. (Comp. Matthew 15:19.) In the antediluvian world, with death indefinitely postponed, these imaginations had been unrestrained, and had therefore led to habitual and inveterate sin; and so justice at last had smitten it. But when man strives against them, and sin is the result of infirmity. then mercy heals and grace strengthens the penitent. When man, therefore, began his renewed life by hallowing it with religion, God saw therein the pledge of a struggle on his part after holiness, and the proof that the world would never again become totally corrupt. In this changed state of things human weakness was a reason only for mercy, and God gave the promise that so long as the world shall last, so total a destruction of man and his works upon it shall never again take place by the same agency.

WHEDON, "21. A sweet savour — Or, an odour of rest. Septuagint, οσµην ευωδιας, the Levitical phrase often used of acceptable sacrifices, (comp. Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 13:17; Leviticus 2:9, etc.,) and is quoted by Paul (Ephesians 5:2) in reference to the great Antitype, who was at once Priest and Victim: “as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savour.” Noah, as the priest of the new humanity, offers every clean bird and beast on his solitary

altar, and consecrates the renewed earth to God. The whole earth is the altar on which the Infinite Victim is offered up as a spotless offering in behalf of all mankind; and in his dying cry are gathered the prayers of universal humanity, which some up before God as a savour of sweet smell. No other figure of speech could so perfectly and beautifully express God’s delight in genuine prayer — that offering in which the soul’s very essence ascends to him.

The Lord said in his heart — A divine soliloquy inspired by infinite tenderness and mercy. God smells the sweet savour of prayer that rises, and is to rise, from earth, especially that of the Great High Priest, and covenants with man not to smite the earth again.

Imagination of man’s heart — The things imaged in his heart.

Evil from his youth — From the very dawn of his consciousness. The reason here given for the divine promise seems strange at first, as if the magnitude and hopelessness of man’s sins were grounds of mercy, yet this is in perfect harmony with the whole plan of salvation. Man’s innate sinfulness is to the merciful God a reason why he is not to be treated as a being under law, and hence in fatherly mercy he makes with him a covenant of grace. This is the rich and tender purpose of the divine heart in regard to the child that is lost, and because he is so hopelessly lost. Interpretation should not strive to soften away the bold, strong language of texts like this. Let it be noted, that it is while Jehovah smells the sweet odour of sacrifice — it is while man’s confession, consecration, and prayer rise before him — that this soliloquy of mercy is spoken to his heart.

PETT, "Genesis 8:21

‘And Yahweh smelt the sweet savour, and Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more because of what man does, because the thoughts in man’s heart are evil from his youth, nor will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter and day and night shall not cease”.’

“Yahweh smelt the sweet savour”. This is an anthropomorphism indicating God’s acceptance of the worship. It is acceptable to Him and pleases Him as a beautiful perfume would be acceptable to man, for it signifies to Him an obedient and responsive faith.

“Yahweh said in his heart”. This is not suggesting its secrecy but rather expressing the personal nature of the covenant, and distinguishing it from the major covenant to follow. This is Yahweh’s personal response to Noah’s faith and trust. It was clearly communicated to Noah as we have it in the account.

What God is promising is that He will no more take direct action against man because of sin. He is not reversing the curse, for the ground will still produce thorns and thistles.

But He will not take this any further. Nor will He ever again wreak such devastation as He has done. He accepts that man is sinful from his youth, and that it is now a natural part of man.

Notice that He speaks of ‘the thoughts in man’s heart’. It is not just man’s actions that are important to God, but primarily how he thinks. Many a good action disguises an evil thought. It is man who looks at the outward appearance, but Gods looks at the heart. There is also a contrast here between God’s heart and man’s heart. God’s heart is merciful in spite of man’s evil heart, for He recognises man’s weakness.

“While the earth remains -----” In some ways this was the most important covenant as far as the listeners were concerned in their day to day lives, (although not as far as man was concerned in the first light of what had happened). The promise of the perpetuating of the seasons was the guarantee of man’s food supply and of the certainties of life, and it is seen as a direct response to man’s submission and act of worship. So the relating of the account at sacred feasts was not only the celebration of the fact that no calamity would again destroy the world, it was also a celebration of the fact of God’s covenant that the sources of production would be maintained and continue, and that life would go on, on a steady course.

TRAPP, "Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Ver. 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour.] Heb., A savour of rest (a) Greek, ευωδιας; which the apostle followeth, saying that Christ gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a smell of sweet savour. [Ephesians 5:2] All our sacrifices are accepted for this of Christ, which otherwise would be turned off with, "who required these things at your hands?" [Isaiah 1:12] The sacrifice of the wicked is, abomination to the Lord; (b) yea, though he should bring "thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil," with those miscreants in Micah. [Micah 6:7] that by their munificence would fain have purchased a dispensation to sin: whereas Noah with his ox, ram, he-goat, turtle, and young pigeon, laid in for him by God himself for this same purpose, is highly accepted in that beloved One, as Christ is called [Ephesians 1:6] (c)

The Lord said in his heart.] All his promises are heart-sprung; the issue of a most faithful and righteous will, void of any the least insincerity and falsehood. Whatsoever he speaks, he speaks from his heart. We may write upon it, "the eternity of Israel cannot lie". [1 Samuel 15:29]

I will not again curse the ground, &c., for the imagination of man’s heart. As who should say, Man doth but his kind now, in committing evil before me. He hath by his fall brought upon himself a miserable necessity of sinning, so that he cannot but "do

wickedly with both hands earnestly"; [Micah 7:3] which though it be no excuse, but an aggravation rather of his actual sin (that he doth it out of the pravity of his nature), yet I will not take advantages to deal with him after his deserts; for then there would be no end of making worlds, and unmaking them again. "I will not curse, I will not smite any more." Where note, that God’s smiting his creature is a fruit of sin, and a piece of the curse. And unless men "return to him that smiteth them," [Isaiah 9:13] all that they suffer here, is but a typical hell. Here the leaves only fall upon them, the trees will fall upon them hereafter.

BI, "The Lord smelled a sweet savour

The sweet savour

How important is it, that this truth shall be as a sun without a speck before us! Hence the Spirit records that, when Noah shed the blood which represented Christ, “The Lord smelled a sweet savour.” Thus the curtains of God’s pavilion are thrown back; and each attribute appears rejoicing in redemption. The Lamb is offered, and there is fragrance throughout heaven. First, let Justice speak. Its claim strikes terror. It has a right to one unbroken series of uninterrupted obedience through all life’s term. Each straying of a thought from perfect love incurs a countless debt. Here Jesus pays down a death, the worth of which no tongue can reckon. Justice holds scales, which groan indeed under mountains upon mountains of iniquity: but this one sacrifice more than outweighs the pile. Thus Justice rejoices, because it is infinitely honoured. Next, there is a sweet savour here to the Truth of God. If Justice is unyielding, so too is Truth. Its yea is yea; its nay is nay. It speaks, and the word must be. Heaven and earth may pass away, but it cannot recede. Now its voice is gone forth, denouncing eternal wrath on every sin. Thus it bars heaven’s gates with bars of adamant. In vain are tears, and penitence, and prayers. Truth becomes untrue, if sin escapes. But Jesus comes to drink the cup of vengeance. Every threat falls on His head. Truth needs no more. It claps the wings of rapturous delight, and speeds to heaven to tell that not one word has failed. Need I add that Jesus is a sweet savour to the holiness of God. Sweet too is the savour which mercy here inhales. Mercy weeps over misery. In all afflictions it is afflicted. Is tastes the bitterest drop in each cup of woe. But when anguish is averted, the guilty spared, the perishing rescued, and all tears wiped from the eyes of the redeemed, then is its holiest triumph. (Dean Law.)

What does God see in the sacrifice of His Son to please Him?

1. The reflection of His own love.

2. The vindication of His righteousness. God prescribes the sacrifice in order that He may be just when He justifies (Rom_3:25-26).

3. The willingness of the self-devotion.

4. The prospect of pure service. Human nature, in Christ’s obedience and death, is purified and restored. Noah’s sacrifice might be compared to a morning prayer at the dawn of a new epoch in human history. It was a dedication of restored humanity to the service of God, the Deliverer. The hope of the human race consists in possessing acceptable access unto God. This we have in Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit (Eph_

2:18; Eph_3:12; Heb_10:19-22). (W. S. Smith, B. D.)

The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth

Man’s tendency to go wrong

I. These words were said by our Maker more than four thousand years ago, and they have been true ever since down to this very hour. There is so much more bad than good in us that we should certainly go wrong if left to ourselves, and the bias of our nature to evil is so strong that it can only be corrected by changing the very nature itself; or, in the words of Scripture, by being born again of the Spirit. Everything is properly called good or evil according as it answers or defeats the purpose for which it was made. We were made for our Maker’s glory, after His own image, that we should make His will the rule of our lives, and His love and anger the great objects of our hope and fear; that we should live in Him, and for Him, and to Him, as our constant Guide and Master and Father. If we answer these ends, then we are good creatures; if we do not, we are bad creatures. Nor does it matter how many good or amiable qualities we may possess; like the blossoms or leaves of a barren fruit tree, we are bad of our kind if we do not bring forth fruit.

II. Now, instead of living to God, we by nature care nothing about God; we live as if we had made ourselves, not as if God had made us. This is the corruption of our nature, which makes us evil in the sight of God. Christ alone can make us sound from head to foot. He alone can give us a new and healthy nature; He alone can teach us so to live as to make this world a school for heaven. All that is wanted is that we should see our need of Him, and fly to Him for aid. (T. Arnold, D. D.)

Human depravity and Divine mercy

I. A MOST PAINFUL FACT. Man’s nature is incurable. The statement of Scripture is corroborated by—

1. The confessions of God’s people.

2. Our own observation.

II. GOD’S EXTRAORDINARY REASONING. Good reasoning, but most extraordinary. He says, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Strange logic! In the sixth chapter, He said man was evil, and therefore He destroyed him. In the eighth chapter, He says man is evil from his youth, and therefore He will not destroy him. Strange reasoning! to be accounted for by the little circumstance in the beginning of the verse, “The Lord smelled a sweet savour.” There was a sacrifice there; that makes all the difference. When God looks on sin apart from sacrifice, Justice says, Smite! Smite! Curse! Destroy!” But when there is a sacrifice God looks on us with eyes of mercy, and though Justice says, “Smite!” He says, “No, I have smitten My dear Son; I have smitten Him, and will spare the sinner.” Rightly upon the terms of Justice, there is no conceivable reason why He should have mercy upon us, but grace makes and invents a reason.

III. INFERENCES. If the heart be so evil, then it is impossible for us to enter heaven as we are. Another step; then it is quite clear that if I am to enter heaven no outward reform will ever do it, for if I wash my face, that does not change my heart. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Man’s natural imaginations

I. OF MAN’S NATURAL THOUGHTS CONCERNING GOD.

1. Of this thought there is no God.

2. That the word of God is foolishness.

3. I will not obey God’s word.

4. It is a vain thing to worship God.

5. Of man’s thought of distrust—God will not regard, or be merciful to me.

II. OF MAN’S NATURAL THOUGHTS AGAINST HIS NEIGHBOUR

1. Thoughts of dishonour.

2. Thoughts of murder.

3. Thoughts of adultery.

III. OF MAN’S NATURAL THOUGHTS CONCERNING HIMSELF.

1. Man’s proud thoughts of his own excellency.

2. Man’s proud thoughts of his own righteousness.

3. Man’s thought of security in the day of peace.

IV. OF THE WANT OF GOOD THOUGHTS IN EVERY MAN NATURALLY.

1. Good thoughts about temporal things are much wanting.

2. In spiritual things they are much wanting.

3. The fruits of this want of good thoughts.

4. The timely preventing of evil thoughts by good parents and teachers.

5. The repentance of evil thoughts.

V. RULES FOR THE REFORMATION OF EVIL THOUGHTS.

1. They must be brought into obedience to God.

2. The guarding of our hearts.

3. The consideration of God’s presence.

4. The consideration of God’s judgments. (W. Perkins.)

Punishment not reformative

The first thing we learn after this solemn declaration is that there is to be no more smiting of every living thing, plainly showing that mere destruction is a failure. I do not say that destruction is undeserved or unrighteous, but that it is, as a reformative arrangement, a failure as regards the salvation of survivors. We can see men slain for doing wrong, and can in a day or two after the event do the very things which cost them their lives! It might be thought that one such flood as this would have kept the world in order forever, whereas men now doubt whether there ever was such a flood, and repeat

all the sins of which the age of Noah was guilty. You would think that to see a man hanged would put an end to ruffianism forever; whereas, history goes to show that within the very shadow of the gallows men hatch the most detestable and alarming crimes. Set it down as a fact that punishment, though necessary even in its severest forms, can never regenerate the heart of man. From this point, then, we have to deal with a history the fundamental fact of which is that all the actors are as bad as they can possibly be. “There is none righteous, no not one.” “There is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.” (J. Parker, D. D.)

The end answered by the deluge

It must have been a day of intense solemnity; and if ever men could be struck with awe, if ever men could feel their spirits bowed down and overwhelmed by the tremendousness of God—those who now presented that sacrifice, the lonely wreck of anunnumbered population, must have crouched, and trembled, and been full of the most earnest humility. And possibly they might have thought that, since the wicked were removed, a moral renovation would pass over mankind, and that themselves and their posterity would differ altogether from the ungodly race which had perished in the waters. It could not have seemed improbable that, after removing the multitude which had provoked Him by their impieties, God would raise up a people who should love Him and honour Him, seeing that, if there was to be the same provocation of wickedness, there was nothing to be looked for but a recurrence of the deluge; and if this earth were to be again and again the theatre of the same provocations and the same vengeance, it would be hard to say why God spared a remnant, or why He allowed the rebellious race to be continued and multiplied. Yet, however natural it might have been for Noah and his sons to calculate on a moral improvement in the species, it is certain that after the flood, men were just the same fallen creatures that they had been before the flood. There had been effected no change whatever on human nature, neither had God destroyed the wicked, expecting the new tenantry would be more obedient and more righteous than the old. And it is every way remarkable, that the reason which is given why God sent one deluge is given as the reason why God sent not a second deluge. He sent one flood because “the imagination of man’s thoughts was only evil continually”; and He resolved that He would not send another flood because—or, at least, though—this evil imagination remained unsubdued. Now, it is scarcely necessary for us to remark that wickedness must at all times be equal in God’s sight; and that however various the modes by which He sees fit to oppose it, He is alike earnest in punishing it. Why, then, did He not follow the same plan throughout? Or why did He administer once that punishment which He thought fit not to repeat? Such questions, you observe, are not merely speculative. If God Himself had not given the same reason for sparing as for smiting, we might have thought that the flood had made a change in the moral circumstances of our race, and there was not again the same intense provocation; but when we hear from the lips of Jehovah Himself, that there was precisely as much after the deluge as before, yea, that He refrained from cursing in the face of that very wickedness, we are only endeavouring to be wise up to what is written in searching out the reason for the change in God’s conduct.

I. SINCE A FLOOD WAS AS MUCH CALLED FOR TWICE AS ONCE, WHY SHOULD IT HAVE BEEN SENT ONCE, THE PROVOCATION BEING JUST THE SAME, AND YET THE DEALING MOST DIFFERENT? WAS ANY END ANSWERED BY THE DELUGE? Now, our first thought on finding that there was just the same reason for destroying the world twice as for destroying it once is, that no end was answered by the deluge which

might not have been answered without a deluge. But though it is most certain that there was as much provocation after as before the deluge, it is a most unwarranted conclusion that no great ends were answered by the deluge. The deluge was God’s sermon against sin, whose echoes will be heard until the consummation of all things. We give no harbourage for a moment—we know there could be nothing more false than the opinion—that the antediluvians must have been more wicked than ourselves because visited with signal and unequivocal punishment: but if you infer from this that the flood was unnecessary, that the antediluvians might as well have been spared as their successors, we at once deny the conclusion. Had there never been a flood, we should have wanted our most striking attestation to the truth of the Bible. We are prepared to contend that, in bringing water upon the earth, God was wondrously providing for the faith of every coming generation, and was writing in characters which no time can efface, and no ingenuity prove to be forgeries, that He hates sin with perfect hatred, and will punish it with rigid punishment. But it is important to bear in mind that, when God visibly interferes for the punishment of wickedness, there are some ends of His moral government to be answered, over and above that of the chastisement of the unrighteous. Ordinarily God delays taking vengeance till the last day of account; and we judge erroneously if we judge from God’s dealings with man on this side eternity. When there is a direct interposition, such as the deluge, we may be sure it answers other designs besides that of punishing unrighteousness: and before, therefore, we can show that there was the same reason for a second deluge as for one, we must not only show there was the same amount of wickedness, and the same evil in the imagination of the heart—we must show there was the same end of moral government to be answered, over and above that of the punishment of the rebellious. And here it is you will feel established in the belief that a great lesson was recorded as to God’s hatred of sin, and His determination to destroy, sooner or later, the impenitent. And God furnished this lesson, so that ages have obliterated no letter of the record, by bringing a flood on the earth, and burying in the womb of waters the unnumbered tribes that crowded its continents. But the lesson required not to be repeated; it was sufficient that it should be given once—sufficient, seeing that it is still so powerful and persuasive that it leaves inexcusable all who persist in rejecting it.

II. We propose to seek an answer to the inquiry, WHETHER LONG SUFFERING CAN PRODUCE THE SAME RESULTS AS PUNISHING. And this, after all, is the question most forcibly presented in our text. Whether God smites, or whether He spares, we know He must have the same objects in view—the promotion of His own glory and the well-being of the universe. But how comes it, then, to pass that it was best at one time to smite, and at another time to spare? We have given a reason for one deluge, which could not be given for a second. The lesson of the deluge was to be spread over the whole surface of time; and thus the one act of punishment was to have its effect throughout the season of long suffering. Punishment was a necessary preliminary to long suffering, to prevent the abuse of long suffering. God is only taking consecutive steps in one and the same design; and if we are right in saying that punishment was necessarily preliminary to long suffering, than even a child can perceive that God was only acting out the same arrangement when He said, “I will not spare,” and when He said, “I will spare, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil.” It is as though He said, “I might send flood after flood, and leave again only an insignificant fraction of the population; but the evil lies deep in the heart, and would not be swept away by the immensity of waters. I might deal with succeeding generations as I have with this very one; and as soon as the earth sent up new harvests of wickedness, I might come forth, and put in the scythe of My vengeance; but after all there would be no renovation, and evil would still be

predominant in this section of the creation. Therefore I will be long suffering; nothing but longsuffering can affect My purpose, for nothing but an atonement can reconcile the fallen; and long suffering is nothing but the atonement anticipated. I will not, then, again curse the ground, for man’s imaginations are evil. I will not curse—the evil will not be grappled with by the curse—the evil would not go away before the curse. If the evil were not in the very heart, it might be eradicated by judgment; if it were not engraven into the very bone and sinew and spirit, it might be washed out by the torrent; and I would again curse. But it is an evil for which there must be expiation; it is an evil which can only be done away by sacrifice, it is an evil which can only be exterminated by the entering in of Deity into that nature.” It is thus that, so far as we can judge, without overstraining the passage, the corruption of human nature will furnish a reason why there was no repetition of the deluge. God’s object was not to destroy, but to reconcile the world: and the reconciliation could not be effected by judgments; the machinery must be made up of mercies. Judgments might make way for mercies, but they could not do the work of mercies. Punishment was preliminary to sparing, but punishment continued would not have effected the object of the Almighty. So that long suffering was the only engine by which the machinery could be mastered. The whole of Christ’s work was gathered, so to speak, into long suffering.

III. But who can give himself to an inquiry which has to do with the cause or reason of the deluge, and not feel his attention drawn to the TYPICAL CHARACTER of that tremendous event? The history of the world before the flood is nothing but the epitome of the history of the world up to that grand consummation, the second coming of the Lord. And if we wanted additional reasons why one deluge should be sent and not a second, we might find it in the fact that all the affairs of time shall be wound up by a single visitation. The antediluvian world had been dealt with by the machinery of the most extensive loving kindness: the Almighty had long borne with the wickedness of the earth; and it was not till every overture had been despised that He allowed Himself to strike. Shall it not be thus with the world of the unrighteous? Wonderful has been the long suffering of the Almighty: and as there has gone on the building of the ark—as the Church of Christ has been gathered and cemented and enlarged, the voice and entreaties of ministers and missionaries have circulated through Christianity; and the despiser has been continually told, sternly, and reproachfully, and affectionately, that a day will yet burst upon the creation, when all who are not included in the ark shall be tossed on the surges and buried in the depths of a fiery sea. But as the time of the end draws near, the warning will grow louder, and the entreaty more urgent, that all men put away their wickedness, and prepare themselves for meeting their Judge. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

COKE, "Genesis 8:21. The Lord smelled a sweet savour— Heb. a savour of rest, or cessation from anger. This is a phrase accommodated to our conceptions, which implies not any actual smelling, but only that this sacrifice of Noah's arose as acceptable to God, as sweet odours are to us. See Leviticus 26:31. And how it can be possible that the sacrifice and death of animals could be pleasing to God upon any other consideration than as his own appointment, and as sacrificed with a view to the great atonement, I have no conception.

REFLECTIONS.—The first concern of a gracious soul is to praise God for his mercies. Noah's first building is an altar, and his employment a sacrifice of thanksgiving. His flock of clean beasts and fowl was small, and one out of seven might be thought much; but Noah knew they would never be diminished by such a use of them. No man was ever

the poorer for what he employed in God's service, nor the richer by what he defrauded it of.

The Lord said in his heart— Resolved within himself no more to curse the ground for man's sake; that is, as the last verse shews, no more to curse it in that manner, with a deluge. The sense of the passage, I conceive, runs thus: "I will no more destroy the ground (after this manner) on account of man [or, as a punishment for his iniquity]; I will not again punish the human race by a deluge, though the imagination of man's heart be (or should be hereafter) evil even from his youth: I will not smite every thing living as I have done. So long as the earth remains, its regular seasons shall not cease; or be interrupted, as they have been during this last melancholy year of darkness, rain, and desolation."

Observe here, a grateful heart is that sacrifice wherewith God is ever well pleased. The Lord accepts Noah's service, and blesses him abundantly in return.

1. The smell of the sacrifice is a sweet savour; it was the figure of that in which God hath since declared he is well pleased. It is for Christ's sake alone that any of our services are offerings of a sweet smell.

2. God's gracious promise, I will no more curse the ground, &c. Though man will be still a sinner, these floods shall not return.

Such is the history which the scripture gives us of this extraordinary event, "the general deluge, from which the family of Noah, and some of all living creatures, were preserved in a vessel, prepared by the immediate direction of God, to repeople and replenish the earth; when all that had breath beside perished."

REFLECTIONS on the Deluge.

The grand cause of the corruption which brought on the deluge, was the intermarriage of the children of God with the iniquitous and idolatrous children of men. For it happened, in that mixture, (what has always fallen out in following ages when a holy people mingled with a profane,) that the holy adopted the wicked manners of the profane, while the profane never imitated the manners of the holy. This remark, I am persuaded, will hold universally good in respect to communities, however a few instances may be produced to the contrary in respect to individuals. We learn hence the danger of an intercourse with the wicked and ungodly; and particularly in so close an union as the marriage-state.

Who can fail admiring the goodness and patience of God towards the inhabitants of the first world, in giving them such warning, and so long time to repent? Happy they, who, in every period, duly improve this long-suffering of God towards themselves! For God is

ever bountiful to them that fear him: He will not suffer the just Noah to perish; He regards those who honour him: He will ever regard those who, after the example of the faith of that patriarch, walk in righteousness, and duly improve all the notices both of the judgments and mercies of the Lord.

His judgments have been abroad in the earth, and nothing affords a more signal example of them than this fearful deluge: for if God spared not the old world, how can presumptuous sinners of this expect to escape his vengeance? Learn hence, O man! that thy God is just, as well as merciful; that his threatenings are not in vain; that he will not always be provoked, and that no number or rank of sinners can defend thee or others from the punishment denounced against obstinate offenders. Follow not therefore a multitude to do evil. Consider only eight persons were saved from the general destruction by water!

The imagination cannot be struck with a more dreadful spectacle, than that of the whole earth, and all mankind, buried under the waters: a spectacle, which presents to the mind ideas still more affecting, when it stands before the tribunal of conscience and religion. In those ordinary corrections wherewith God visits man, the reflections upon our bodily toils and sufferings are softened by the spiritual advantages they procure us: but here there was no room for any hopes: the plague of the deluge was inflicted by a justly-incensed God: it was the effect of a general depravation. What then, did all the souls perish that were swept away by it? God forbid, that we should presume to think of determining a point like this! They are in the hands of their God. Let us only improve the solemn admonition; and take heed, lest by presumptuous guilt we draw down the just vengeance of a merciful God upon us.

Whatever was the fate of their souls, it is certain that the lives of all who were out of the ark were lost: and as certainly, those, to whom the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, who neglect to embrace that proffered salvation, and to enter by faith into that everlasting covenant, will perish. This is what Christ warns us of in the Gospel, when he tells us, that it will be at the day of his coming as in the days of Noah, when the inhabitants of the world lived in security, and thought nothing of the flood till it came upon them, and destroyed them all. And, alas! how many live in this sad state of inconsideration at present, utterly neglectful of God, utterly regardless of futurity. By these, every call to repentance is treated with as much scorn and ridicule, as Noah's preparation of the ark and preaching were treated by the unthinking of his day! Oh, that they were wise! Awaken them, Lord, from their sleep of death, that they may not be surprised, when the dreadful moment of thy coming approaches!

In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy: not only saving Noah and his family, but by that means renewing the race of mankind, as well as restoring the earth to its present beautiful state and order: the comforts of which while we daily enjoy, let us daily raise our hearts in gratitude to the Sovereign Benefactor. Noah sets us a pattern: his first care, after his deliverance, was to return thanks to his Deliverer. If ever the sense of gratitude and filial fear have produced a sincere homage, it was doubtless upon this occasion: for what other could he render to God, while he was in the midst of so many objects, so lively representing the divine vengeance and mercy? Here, the ruins of a

world; there, his family preserved from the universal catastrophe, by a concurrence of many and continual miracles!—Thus too let us learn, for every deliverance, for every fresh mercy granted, to follow the amiable example of this great patriarch, and to present the best sacrifices of our hearts to the Sovereign Preserver! Attentive to his will, Noah comes not out of the ark, till he commands. He had, indeed, sent forth the raven and the dove from the ark to bring him intelligence of the state of the earth: the raven returned not,—emblem of those who forsake God's church, and embrace the present world; rather choosing to feed on foul and sensual pleasures, than to be confined within the bounds of holiness and obedience. The dove, like a true citizen of the ark, returns, and brings faithful notices with her: and oh! how worthy are those messengers to be welcomed, who, with dove-like innocence in their lives, bring glad tidings of peace and salvation in their mouths!

It is a gracious declaration, that the earth we inhabit shall no more be destroyed by a flood; a truth, which the experience of ages hath now attested. But reflect, O my soul! that a day is coming, in which this earth shall be destroyed by a more consummate destruction, when all its works shall be burnt up, and the final fate of all men be fixed! an event, which is sufficient to alarm all thy thoughts, and to withdraw thy affections from so transitory, so perishing a scene, and to fix them on that new heaven and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness; and where those, who have walked with God here below, shall ever live in bliss with Him, who is seated on the throne, round which the token of grace, the rainbow, shineth like an emerald; and before which they continually cry, (O may we too join the everlasting song!) "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created!" Revelation 4.

22

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

GILL, "Gen 8:22 - While the earth remaineth,.... Which as to its substance may remain for ever, Ecc_1:4 yet as to its form and quality will be changed; that and all in it will be burnt up; there will be an end of all things in it, for so the words are in the original, "as yet all the days of the earth", or "while all the days of the earth" are (i); which shows that there is a time fixed for its continuance, and that this time is but short,

being measured by days: but however, as long as it does continue: 1)

2) seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and

day and night, shall not cease; as they had done, or seemed to do during the flood; for the year past there had been no seedtime nor harvest, and it must have been for the most part damp and cold, through the rains, and the abundance of water on earth, that the difference of seasons was not very discernible; as neither of days and nights at some times, especially when the clouds were so black and thick over the heavens, that neither sun, moon, or stars could be seen; and such floods of water continually pouring down, that it must be difficult to know when it was day, and when night; but for the future it is promised, that these should not cease as long as the world stands: "seedtime and harvest"; the time of sowing seed in the earth, and the time of gathering in the fruits of it when ripe, so necessary for the sustenance of man and beast: once in seven years, and once in fifty years indeed, these ceased in the land of Judea, while the people of Israel resided there; but then this was not general all the world over, in other places there were seedtime and harvest: "and cold and heat, and summer and winter"; in some places indeed there is but little cold, in others but little heat, and the difference of summer and winter is not so discernible in some places as in others, yet there is of all these in the world in general. According to Jarchi, "cold" signifies a more severe season than "winter", or the severer part of the winter; and "heat" a hotter season than the summer, or the hotter part of it. The Jews observe, that the seasons of the year are divided into six parts, and two months are to be allowed to each part; which Lyra, from them, and chiefly from Jarchi, thus gives,"to seedtime the last half of September, all October, and half November; to cold, the other half of November, all December, and half January; to winter, half January, all February, and half March: to harvest, half March, all April, and half May; to summer, half May, all June, and half July; to heat, half July, all August, and the first half of September.''But these accounts refer to the land of Judea only: it is enough for the fulfilment of the promise, that they are more or less, at one time of the year or another, in all parts of the world, and so will be until the world shall be no more; and may, in a mystic sense, denote the continuance of the church of God in the world, as long as it endures, and its various vicissitudes and revolutions; sometimes it is a time of sowing the precious seed of the Word; and sometimes it is an harvest, is an ingathering of souls into it; sometimes it is a winter season with it, and all things seem withered and dead; and at other times it is summer, and all things look smiling and cheerful; sometimes it is in a state of coldness and indifference, and at other times exposed to the heat of persecution, and more warm and zealous usually then; sometimes it is night with it, and sometimes day, and so it is like to be, until that state takes place described in Rev_7:16.

CLARKE, "Gen 8:22 -While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, etc. - There is something

very expressive in the original, הארץימיכלעד odcolyemeyhaarets, until all the Days of the

earth; for God does not reckon its duration by centuries, and the words themselves afford a strong presumption that the earth shall not have an endless duration.

1) Seed-time and harvest - It is very probable that the seasons, which were distinctly marked immediately after the deluge, are mentioned in this place; but it is difficult to ascertain them. Most European nations divide the year into four distinct

parts, called quarters or seasons; but there are six divisions in the text, and probably all intended to describe the seasons in one of these postdiluvian years, particularly in that part of the globe, Armenia, where Noah was when God gave him, and mankind through him, this gracious promise. From the Targum of Jonathan on this verse we learn that in Palestine their seed-time was in September, at the autumnal equinox; their harvest in March, at the vernal equinox; that their winter began in December, at the solstice; and their summer at the solstice in June.

2) The Copts begin their autumn on the 15th of September, and extend it to the 15th of December. Their winter on the 15th of December, and extend it to the 15th of March. Their spring on the 15th of March, and extend it to the 15th of June. Their summer on the 15th of June, and extend it to the 15th of September, assigning to each season three complete months. Calmet.

3) There are certainly regions of the earth to which neither this nor our own mode of division can apply: there are some where summer and winter appear to divide the whole year, and others where, besides summer, winter, autumn, and spring, there are distinct seasons that may be denominated the hot season, the cold season, the rainy season, etc., etc.

4) This is a very merciful promise to the inhabitants of the earth. There may be a variety in the seasons, but no season essentially necessary to vegetation shall utterly fail. The times which are of greatest consequence to the preservation of man are distinctly noted; there shall be both seed-time and harvest - a proper time to deposit the different grain in the earth, and a proper time to reap the produce of this seed.

5) Thus ends the account of the general deluge, its cause, circumstances, and consequences. An account that seems to say to us, Behold the goodness and severity of God! Both his justice and long-suffering are particularly marked in this astonishing event. His justice, in the punishment of the incorrigibly wicked, and his mercy, in giving them so fair and full a warning, and in waiting so long to extend his grace to all who might seek him. Such a convincing proof has the destruction of the world by water given of the Divine justice, such convincing testimony of the truth of the sacred writings, that not only every part of the earth gives testimony of this extraordinary revolution, but also every nation of the universe has preserved records or traditions of this awful display of the justice of God.

6) A multitude of testimonies, collected from the most authentic sources in the heathen world, I had intended for insertion in this place, but want of room obliges me to lay them aside. But the state of the earth itself is a sufficient proof. Every part of it bears unequivocal evidence of disruption and violence. From the hand of the God of order it never could have proceeded in its present state. In every part we see marks of the crimes of men, and of the justice of God. And shall not the living lay this to heart? Surely God is not mocked; that which a man soweth he shall reap. He who soweth to the flesh shall of it reap destruction; and though the plague of water shall no more destroy the earth, yet an equal if not sorer punishment awaits the world of the ungodly, in the threatened destruction by fire.

7) In ancient times almost every thing was typical, and no doubt the ark among the rest; but of what and in what way farther than revelation guides, it is both difficult and unsafe to say. It has been considered a type of our blessed Lord; and hence it has been observed, that “as all those who were out of the ark perished by the flood, so those who take not refuge in the meritorious atonement of Christ Jesus must perish everlastingly.” Of all those who, having the opportunity of hearing the Gospel, refuse to accept of the sacrifice it offers them, this saying is true; but the parallel is not good. Myriads of those who perished during the flood probably repented, implored mercy, and found

forgiveness; for God ever delights to save, and Jesus was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And though, generally, the people continued in carnal security and sensual gratifications till the flood came, there is much reason to believe that those who during the forty days’ rain would naturally flee to the high lands and tops of the highest mountains, would earnestly implore that mercy which has never been denied, even to the most profligate, when under deep humiliation of heart they have returned to God. And who can say that this was not done by multitudes while they beheld the increasing flood; or that God, in this last extremity, had rendered it impossible?

8) St. Peter, 1Pe_3:21, makes the ark a figure of baptism, and intimates that we are saved by this, as the eight souls were saved by the ark. But let us not mistake the apostle by supposing that the mere ceremony itself saves any person; he tells us that the salvation conveyed through this sacred rite is not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God; i.e. remission of sins and regeneration by the Holy Spirit, which are signified by this baptism. A good conscience never existed where remission of sins had not taken place; and every person knows that it is God’s prerogative to forgive sins, and that no ordinance can confer it, though ordinances may be the means to convey it when piously and believingly used.

BARNES,Gen_8:22

Henceforth all the days of the earth. - After these negative assurances come the positive blessings to be permanently enjoyed while the present constitution of the earth continues. These are summed up in the following terms:

9)

HEAT Sowing, beginning in October

Reaping, ending in June

COLD Early fruit, in July

Fruit harvest, ending in September

1) The cold properly occupies the interval between sowing and reaping, or the months of January and February. From July to September is the period of heat. In Palestine, the seedtime began in October or November, when the wheat was sown. Barley was not generally sown until January. The grain harvest began early in May, and continued in June. The early fruits, such as grapes and figs, made their appearance in July and August; the full ingathering, in September and October. But the passage before us is not limited to the seasons of any particular country. Besides the seasons, it guarantees the continuance of the agreeable vicissitudes of day and night. It is probable that even these could not be distinguished during part of the deluge of waters. At all events, they did not present any sensible change when darkness reigned over the primeval abyss.

2) The term of this continuance is here defined. It is to last as long as the order of things introduced by the six days’ creation endures. This order is not to be sempiternal. When the race of man has been filled up, it is here hinted that the present system of nature on the earth may be expected to give place to another and a higher order of things.

3) Here it is proper to observe the mode of Scripture in the promise of blessing. In the infancy of mankind, when the eye gazed on the present, and did not penetrate into the

future, the Lord promised the immediate and the sensible blessings of life, because these alone are as yet intelligible to the childlike race, and they are, at the same time, the immediate earnest of endless blessings. As the mind developes, and the observable universe becomes more fully comprehended, these present and sensible sources of creature happiness correspondingly expand, and higher and more ethereal blessings begin to dawn upon the mind. When the prospect of death opens to the believer a new and hitherto unknown world of reality, then the temporal and corporeal give way to the eternal and spiritual. And as with the individual, so is it with the race. The present boon is the earnest in hand, fully satisfying the existing aspirations of the infantile desire. But it is soon found that the present is always the bud of the future; and as the volume of promise is unrolled, piece by piece, before the eye of the growing race, while the present and the sensible lose nothing of their intrinsic value, the opening glories of intellectual and spiritual enjoyment add an indescribable zest to the blessedness of a perpetuated life. Let not us, then, who flow in the full tide of the latter day, despise the rudiment of blessing in the first form in which it was conferred on Noah and his descendants; but rather remember that is not the whole content of the divine good-will, but only the present shape of an ever-expanding felicity, which is limited neither by time nor sense.

CALVIN, "22.While the earth remaineth (285) By these words the world is again completely restored. For so great was the confusion and disorder which had overspread the earth, that there was a necessity for some renovation. On which account, Peter speaks of the old world as having perished in the deluge, (2 Peter 3:6.) Moreover, the deluge had been an interruption of the order of nature. For the revolutions of the sun and moon had ceased: there was no distinction of winter and summer. Wherefore, the Lord here declares it to be his pleasure, that all things should recover their vigor, and be restored to their functions. The Jews erroneously divide their year into six parts; whereas Moses, by placing the summer in opposition to the winter, thus divides the whole year in a popular manner into two parts. And it is not to be doubted, that by cold and heat he designates the periods already referred to. Under the words, “seed-time,” and “harvest,” he marks those advantages which flow to men from the moderated temperature of the atmosphere. If it is objected that this equable temperament is not every year perceived; the answer is ready, that the order of the world is indeed disturbed by our vices, so that many of its movements are irregular: often the sun withholds its proper heat, — snow or hail follow in the place of dew, — the air is agitated by various tempests; but although the world is not so regulated as to produce perpetual uniformity of seasons, yet we perceive the order of nature so far to prevail, that winter and summer annually recur, that there is a constant succession of days and nights, and that the earth brings forth its fruits in summer and autumn. Moreover, by the expression, ‘all the days of the earth,’ he means, ‘as long as the earth shall last.’

HAWKER, "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

How hath time, through a period of near 4000 years, stamped the truth of this, all over the earth.

REFLECTIONS

I SHALL detain the Reader but with two observations, only, on this Chapter; and if they are well founded, may a gracious God give them their due weight on the mind!

Did Noah and his family remain perfectly secure in the ark, in the time of such awful

destruction of the whole world? Think, then, O my soul, what infinite and inexhaustible resources are in Christ Jesus, for all the wants of all his people. There are no straits, neither is there any narrowness, but what we ourselves make, in the everlasting covenant of grace, founded on the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ; but abounding love and abounding mercy, answering to every necessity of his people. Gracious God! cause the reader and writer of this reflection to be abundantly supplied out of this fulness, and grace for grace, until the heart’s experience of both, can join issue in the apostle’s song, and, under the same assurance, say, as he did, For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen.

The other observation I would beg to offer, ariseth from the different characters which the raven and the dove seem to suggest to our minds. May we not, without violence, consider the raven as an emblem of the carnal mind, which, amidst all its profession, can live upon the mere carcase without, and feels no desire to enter within the ark, for its comfort and enjoyment? and is not the dove a lovely similitude of a gracious soul, which can find no rest for the sole of its feet, until taken in and secured in Christ Jesus? Lord! grant that I may never be found among those that can rest satisfied without the ark; but, give me that dove-like simplicity, and godly sincerity, which pants to enter within. And Oh! Thou, who art the Almighty Noah of thy church and people, as without thee, Lord, I can do nothing, do thou, like him who was thy type, put forth thine hand, and take me into the ark, that I may live forever with thee, that where thou art, there I may be also.

JAMISON, "While the earth remaineth — The consummation, as intimated in 2Pe_3:7, does not frustrate a promise which held good only during the continuance of that system. There will be no flood between this and that day, when the earth therein shall be burnt up [Chalmers].

SBC, "I. Every harvest teaches the fact of God’s wise providence.

II. Every harvest teaches the fact of God’s definite purpose. One vast magnificent purpose has kept everything in exact order during all these years of Divine fidelity.

III. God expects every one of His creatures to be as faithful to a purpose as He Himself has been.

C. S. Robinson, Sermons on Neglected Texts, p. 258.

"While the earth remaineth... winter... shall not cease."

I. Spiritual winter is an ordination of God. The true spiritual analogue of winter is not spiritual death, not even feeble spiritual life. There is an orderly change in the soul. Unseen, yet very really, God’s Spirit is at work, altering influences, changing modes. He introduces a new state of spiritual experiences, seeking to accomplish varied objects, and summoning to new modes of improving His presence.

II. The objects of spiritual winter are: (1) to confirm and strengthen faith; (2) to act as a check upon excesses; (3) to help in the training of the Christian character and the Christian Church.

III. How are we to improve spiritual winter? (1) By learning a lesson of mutual Christian tolerance. (2) By treasuring up the clear vision and calm judgment which the winter of the soul is fitted to impart, for the improvement of the season when fervour shall be renewed and emotion once more excited.

A. Mackennal, Christ’s Healing Touch, p. 101.

BENSON, "Genesis 8:22. While the earth remaineth — Here it is plainly intimated that the earth is not to remain always: it, and all the works therein, must be burned up. But as long as it doth remain, God here promises the course of nature shall not be discontinued; but God’s providence will carefully preserve the regular succession of times and seasons. Seed-time and harvest shall not cease — To this we owe it that the world stands, and the wheel of nature keeps its track. See here how changeable the times are, and yet how unchangeable! 1st, The course of nature always changing. As it is with the times, so it is with the events of time; they are subject to vicissitudes, day and night, summer and winter, counterchanged. In heaven and hell it is not so; but on earth God hath set the one over against the other. 2d, Yet, never changed; it is constant in this inconstancy; these seasons have never ceased, nor shall cease while the sun continues such a steady measurer of time, and the moon such a faithful witness in heaven. This is God’s covenant of the day and of the night, the stability of which is mentioned for the confirming our faith in the covenant of grace, which is no less inviolable, Jeremiah 33:20. We see God’s promises to the creatures made good, and thence may infer that his promises to believers shall be made good also.

ELLICOTT, "(22) While the earth remaineth . . . —The traditional interpretation of this verse among the Jews represents the year as divided into six seasons. But this is untenable; for in Palestine itself there are two seed times, the winter crops being put into the ground in October and November, and the summer crops in January and February. Really the verse describes those great alternations upon which the well-being of the earth depends, whether considered absolutely, as of light and darkness, cold and heat, or with reference to man’s labours, as of sowing and harvesting; or relatively with respect to vegetation, winter being earth’s time of rest, and summer that of its activity.

As regards these promises, Delitsch considers that they probably came to Noah as strong inward convictions in answer to his prayers during the sacrifice.

WHEDON, "22. While the earth remaineth — Some (as Delitzsch) understand this promise to teach that the present alternation of the seasons did not take place in the antediluvian world; but the language does not warrant such an inference. A great convulsion had interrupted the regular order of nature, so that there had been no seedtime nor harvest through the whole inhabited world. Here it is promised that the great natural changes shall be orderly and uniform all the days of the earth. (Hebrews) The six agricultural seasons, as known among the Hebrews and the Arabs, are here mentioned. Yet we are not to think of them as dividing up the year among themselves after the manner of our four seasons. The words rendered seedtime and harvest have reference to the sowing and the reaping of grains, while the words rendered summer and winter have reference primarily to the cutting and gathering of fruits, and more exactly correspond to our summer and autumn. Of course the times of sowing, reaping, and gathering vary according to latitude and zone. The year is also divided, with regard to temperature, into cold and heat. The promise, then, is universal for mankind, and declares that the earth’s annual changes, with regard both to productions and temperature, shall be regular and perpetual. There are included, also, in this promise, the regular alternations of light and darkness, although these were not interrupted by

the flood. Man craves these changes in his present state, for they are essential to his happiness and development, but will not be so with man renewed and restored, who “needs no candle, neither light of the sun,” and John says of the New Jerusalem, “there shall be no night there.” Revelation 21:25.

TRAPP, "Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Ver. 27. While the earth remaineth.] Heb., All the days of the earth. The earth then (though Solomon in some sense says it endureth for ever) hath its set and certain number of days appointed it by God. For "the earth also and the works therein shall be burnt up". [2 Peter 3:10] And this the heathen had heard of, and hammered at; as Lucretius, who disputes the matter out of natural causes. So doth Cicero, De Nat. Deorum , lib. i. 2. And Ovid, Metamorph . i.: Esse quoque in fatis meminit ,& c. There he hath also a large relation of the general flood in Deucalion’s days: so he calleth Noah. Lucian (a) hath the like in his book, De Dea Syriae . And Plutarch speaketh of the sending forth of the dove, and of her return unto Deucalion into the ark. "But we have a more sure word of prophecy."

Cold and heat, and summer and winter, &c.] Lopez de Gomara saith that the kings of Mexico, when they are consecrated, use to take their oath after this manner: - I swear that the sun, during my life, shall hold on his course, and keep his wonted glory and brightness, and that the clouds shall send down rain, the river shall run, and the earth bring forth all manner of fruit, &c. But "can any of the vanities of the heathen give rain?" &c. [Jeremiah 14:22]

• • • •

PINK ON GOD’S COVENANTS

The covenants referred to therein constitute one of the principal keys to the interpretation

of the Old Testament, denoting, as they do, the dividing lines between the different

Dispensations, and indicating the several changes of procedure in God’s dealings with the

earth. At various times God condescended to enter into a compact with man, and failure

to observe the terms and scope of these compacts necessarily leads to the utmost

confusion. The Word of truth can only be rightly divided as due attention is paid to the

different covenants recorded therein. The covenants varied in their requirements, in their

scope, in their promises and in the seals or signs connected with them. The inspired

history growing out of the covenants furnishes a signal demonstration of God’s

faithfulness and of man’s faithlessness and failure.

There are exactly seven covenants made by God referred to in Scripture, neither more nor

less. First, the Adamic which concerned man’s continued enjoyment of Eden on the

condition that he refrained from eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. But Adam failed to

keep his part of the agreement, see Hosea 6:7 margin. Second, the �oahic which

concerned the earth and its seasons, see Genesis 9. Third, the Abrahamic which

concerned Israel’s occupancy of Palestine, see Genesis 15:18, etc. Fourth, the Mosaic

which concerned Israel’s continued enjoyment of God’s favors, conditioned by their

obedience to His law, see Exodus 24:7, 8; Exodus 34:27. Fifth, the Levitic which

concerned the priesthood, promising that it should remain in this tribe, see Numbers

25:12, 13; Malachi 2:4, 5; Ezekiel 44:15, which proves God’s faithfulness in respect to

this covenant in the Millennium. Sixth, the Davidic which concerns the Kingdom and

particularly the throne, see 2 Samuel 23:5; 2 Chronicles 13:5. Seventh, the Messianic or

New Covenant which concerns the Millennium, see Isaiah 42:6; Jeremiah 31:31-34.

Much might be written concerning these different covenants, but we limit ourselves to the

second, the Noahic. We wish to say, however, that a careful study of the above references

will richly repay every diligent and prayerful reader.

1. Coming now to the second of these great covenants let us notice the occasion of it. It

was as it were the beginning of a new world. There was to he a fresh start. With the

exception of those who found shelter in the ark, the flood had completely destroyed both

the human family and the lower orders of creation. On to the destruction-swept earth

came Noah and his family. Noah’s first act was to build, not a house for himself, but an

altar "unto the Lord," on which he presented burnt offerings. These were, unto the Lord, a

"sweet savor," and after declaring that He would not curse the ground any more for man’s

sake, and after promising that while the earth remained its seasons should not cease, we

are told "God blessed Noah and his sons" (Gen. 9:1). This is the first time that we read of

God blessing any since He had blessed unfallen man in Eden (Gen. 1:28). The basis of

this "blessing" was the burnt offerings; the design of it to show that the same Divine favor

that was extended to Adam and Eve should now rest upon the new progenitors of the

human race.

Here then we have the second "beginning" of Genesis, a beginning which, in several

respects, resembled the first, particularly in the command to be fruitful and multiply, and

in the subjection of the irrational creature to man’s dominion. But there is one difference

here which it is important to notice: all now rests upon a covenant of grace based upon

shed blood. Man had forfeited the "blessing" of God and his position as lord of creation,

but grace restores and reinstates him. God makes a covenant with Noah which in its scope

included the beasts of the field (Gen. 9:2) who are made to be at peace with him and

subject to his authority; and which in its duration would last while the earth remained.

Let us now note:

2. The source of this covenant. At least two of the seven covenants referred to above (the

first and the fourth) were mutual agreements between God and man, but in the one now

before us, God Himself was the initiator and sole compacter. The whole passage

emphasizes the fact that it was a covenant of God with Noah, and not of Noah with God.

God was the giver, man the receiver. Note "I will establish My covenant with you" (v.

11); "This is the token of the covenant which I make" (v. 12); "And I will remember My

covenant" (v. 15). That this was God’s covenant with �oah, and that man had no part in

the making or keeping of it is further seen from the following language: "I do set My bow

in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth" (v. 13),

and, "I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living

creature of all flesh" (v. 15).

It is further to be noted that God said to Noah "with thee will I establish My covenant"

(Gen. 6:18). The benefits of it have been enjoyed by Noah’s posterity, yet the covenant

was not made with them. Favor has been shown to his descendants for �oah’s sake.

Similarly, God made a covenant with Abraham in which He promised to bless his

offspring. Thus, at this early period in human history God was revealing the great

principle by which redemption should afterwards be effected by His Son, namely, that of

representation, the one acting for the many, the many receiving blessing through the one.

3. The basis of this covenant is seen in the closing verses of Genesis 8. The chapter

division here is most unfortunate. Genesis 8 ought to terminate with the nineteenth verse,

the remaining three forming the proper commencement of the ninth chapter. "And Noah

builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and

offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Gen. 8:20)—the next two verses, and the whole of

chapter nine down to the seventeenth verse, contain Jehovah’s response to Noah’s

offering. It is in these verses we learn God’s answer to the "sweet savor" that ascended

from the altar. This covenant, then, was based upon sacrifice, and being made by God

with Noah, and not by Noah with God, is therefore unconditionable and inviolable. How

blessed to learn from this type that every temporal blessing which the earth enjoys as well

as every spiritual blessing which is the portion of the saints, accrues to us from the

Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ of whom Noah’s burnt offerings spoke.

4. The contents of this covenant call for careful consideration. A part of these has already

engaged our attention. "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and

heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease" (Gen. 8:20); "And I will

establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters

of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth" (Gen. 9:11). These

promises were given more than four thousand years ago, and the unfailing annual

fulfillment of them all through the centuries forms a striking demonstration of the

faithfulness of God. The terms of this covenant refer us to that which is almost

universally lost sight of in these days, namely, the fact that behind Nature’s "laws" is

Nature’s Lord. Men now seek to shut God out of His own creation. We hear so much of

the science of farming and the laws of diet that our daily bread and the health of the body

are regarded as something that man produces and controls. Our daily bread is a gift, for

without the recurring seasons and God’s "renewal of the face of the earth" (<19A430>Psalm

104:30) man could produce no grain at all, and the recurring of the seasons and the

renewal of the earth are the fulfillment of the covenant that God made with Noah. A

casual observation of Nature’s "laws" reveals the fact that they are not uniform in their

operation, hence if a Divine Revelation be eliminated man possesses no guarantee that the

seasons may not radically change or that the earth shall not be destroyed again by a flood.

Nature’s "laws" did not prevent the Deluge in Noah’s day, why should they prevent a

recurrence of it in ours? How blessed for the child of God to turn to the inerrant Word

and hear his Father say, "And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh

be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to

destroy the earth!"

5. The design of the covenant is hinted at in the scripture just quoted. The timeliness and

blessedness of such a revelation are apparent. Such an awful catastrophe as the Flood

would shake violently the confidence of men in the established order of Nature, and

distressing apprehensions were likely to obsess their minds for generations to come. They

would be filled with terror as they feared a repetition of it. It was therefore a merciful act

on the part of God to set their minds at rest and assure His creatures that He would no

more destroy the earth with a flood. It was a wondrous display of His grace, for man had

fully shown that he was utterly unworthy of the least of heaven’s mercies, yet, despite the

fact that "the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth," the Lord said in His

heart, "Neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done" (Gen.

8:21). It was also an affirmation of His Creatorship—the varying seasons, the planets that

rule them, the influences of climatic conditions, were all beneath the control of Him who

upholds "all things by the word of His power" (Heb. 1:3).

6. The requirements of the covenant are of deep interest. Though the word itself does not

occur till the eleventh verse of the ninth chapter, a careful study of the context makes it

clear that the covenant itself is expressed in Genesis 8:22, and that from there on the

"covenant" is the one theme of the entire passage. Three things are included among the

Divine requirements: first, blood must not be eaten; second, the principle of retributive

judgment is clearly enunciated for the first time, capital punishment as the penalty of

murder being now commanded; the human race was to multiply and people the earth

which had been depopulated by the flood. Let us take a brief look at each of these things.

"But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat" (Gen. 9:4).

This is the second passage in Scripture in which the word blood occurs. Here, as

everywhere in the Word, the earliest references forecast in outline all that is subsequently

said upon the subject. The first seven passages in which the word blood is found contain a

complete summary of the teaching of God’s Word upon this fundamental theme. (1)

Genesis 4:10, 11, gives us the first mention of blood, and here we learn that the blood

cries unto God. (2) Genesis 9:4-6, here we learn that the blood is the life, and that blood

must be held sacred. (3) Genesis 37:22, 26, 31, Joseph’s coat is dipped in blood and is

brought to Jacob: here we learn, in type, that the blood of the Son is presented to the

Father. (4) Genesis 42:22, here we learn that blood is required at the hand of those who

shed it. (5) Genesis 49:11, here, in poetic and prophetic language, Judah’s clothes are said

to be washed in the blood of grapes." (6) Exodus 4:9, the waters of the Nile are turned

into blood, teaching us that blood is the symbol and expression of God’s judgment upon

sin. (7) Exodus 12:13, the blood provides a covering and shelter for Israel from the

avenging angel. We say again, that in these passages which are the first seven in the

Scriptures in which blood is referred to, we discover a marvelously complete summary of

all that is subsequently said about the precious blood. It is deeply significant, then, that in

the first requirement in this covenant, which God made with Noah, man should be taught

to regard the blood as sacred.

We turn now to the second of God’s requirements mentioned here in connection with His

covenant with Noah—"Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for

in the image of God made He man" (Gen. 9:6). Here we have instituted the principle of

all human government. The sword of magisterial authority is, for the first time,

committed into the hands of man. Before the flood, there does not seem to have been any

recognized form of human government designed for the suppression of crime and the

punishment of evil doers. Cain murdered his brother, but his own life was spared.

Lamech also slew a man, but there is no hint that he had to defend himself before any

tribunal that had been ordained by God. But now, after the flood, capital punishment as

the penalty of murder is ordained, ordained by God Himself, ordained centuries before the

giving of the Mosaic law, and therefore, universally binding until the end of time. It is

important to observe that the reason for this law is not here based upon the well-being of

man, but is grounded upon the basic fact that man is made "in the image of God." This

expression has at least a twofold significance—a natural and a moral. The moral image of

God in man was lost at the Fall, but the natural has been preserved as is clear from 1

Corinthians 11:7, and James 3:9. It is primarily because man is made in the image of God

that it is sinful to slay him. "To deface the King’s image is a sort of treason among men,

implying a hatred against him, and that if he himself were within reach, he would be

served in the same manner. How much more treasonable, then, must it be to destroy,

curse, oppress, or in any way abuse the image of the King of kings!" (Andrew Fuller’s

Exposition of Genesis). As we have said above, God’s words to Noah give us the

institution of human government in the earth. The sword of magisterial authority has been

given into the hands of man by God Himself, hence it is we read, "Let every soul be

subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are

ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of

God" (Rom. 13:1, 2).

We turn now to the third of God’s requirements—"And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply;

bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein" (Gen. 9:7). This was the renewal

of God’s word to Adam (Gen. 1:28). The human family was starting out afresh. There

was a new beginning. Noah stood, like Adam stood, as the head of the human race. The

need for this word was obvious. The earth had been depopulated. The human family had

been reduced to eight souls[1] (1 Pet. 3:20). If then the purpose of man’s creation was to

be realized, if the earth was to be replenished and subdued, then must man be "fruitful

and multiply." "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the

earth and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the

fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered" (Gen. 9:2) is further proof that Noah

stood as the new head of the race, the lower orders of creation being delivered into his

hands as they had been into the hands of Adam.

7. "And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you,

and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set My bow in

the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall

come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud;.

. . . and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God

and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth" (Gen. 9:12-16). These verses

bring before us the token of the covenant. In the giving of the rainbow God ratified the

promise which He had made. The bow in the cloud was not only to assure man that no

more would the earth be destroyed by a flood, but it was also the memorial of the new

relationship which God had entered into with His creatures. "His eye," and not man’s

only, is upon the bow, and thus He gives them fellowship with Himself in that which

speaks of peace in the midst of trouble, of light in the place of darkness; and what this

bow speaks of it is ours to realize, who have the reality of which all figures speak.

"‘God is light,’ and that which doth make manifest is light." Science has told us that the

colors which everywhere clothe the face of nature are but the manifold beauty of the light

itself. The pure ray which to us is colorless is but the harmonious blending of all possible

colors. The primary one—a trinity in unity—from which all others are produced, are blue,

red, and yellow; and the actual color of any object is the result of its capacity to absorb

the rest. If it absorb the red and yellow rays, the thing is blue; if the blue and yellow, it is

red; if the red only, it is green; and so on. Thus the light paints all nature; and its beauty

(which in the individual ray, we have not eyes for) comes out in partial displays wherein

it is broken up for us and made perceptible.

"‘God is light’; He is Father of lights." The glory, which in its unbroken unity is beyond

what we have sight for, He reveals to us as distinct attributes in partial displays which we

are more able to take in, and with these He clothes in some way all the works of His

hands. The jewels on the High Priest’s breastplate the many-colored gems whereon the

names of His people were engraved were thus the "Urim and Thummim" the "Lights and

Perfections," typically, of God Himself; for His people are identified with the display of

those perfections, those "lights," in Him more unchangeable than the typical gems.

"In the rainbow the whole array of these lights manifests itself, the solar rays reflecting

themselves in the storm; the interpretation of which is simple. "When I bring a cloud over

the earth," says the Lord, "the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I (not merely you) will

look upon it." How blessed to know that the cloud that comes over our sky is of His

bringing! and if so, how sure that some way He will reveal His glory in it! But that is not

all, nor the half; for surely but once has been the full display of the whole prism of glow,

and that in the blackest storm of judgment that ever was; and it is this in the cross of His

Son that God above all looks upon and that He remembers." (F. W. Grant).

In the rainbow we have more than a hint of grace. As some one has said, "The bow is

directed towards heaven, and arrow to it there is none, as if it had already been

discharged." There are many parallels between the rainbow and God’s grace. As the

rainbow is the joint product of storm and sunshine, so grace is the unmerited favor of God

appearing on the dark background of the creature’s sin. As the rainbow is the effect of the

sun shining on the drops of rain in a rain cloud, so Divine grace is manifested by God’s

love shining through the blood shed by our blessed Redeemer. As the rainbow is the

telling out of the varied hues of the white light, so the "manifold grace of God" 1 Peter

4:10) is the ultimate expression of God’s heart. As Nature knows nothing more

exquisitely beautiful than the rainbow, so heaven itself knows nothing that equals in

loveliness the wonderful grace of our God. As the rainbow is the union of heaven and

earth—spanning the sky and reaching down to the ground—so grace in the one Mediator

has brought together God and men. As the rainbow is a public sign of God hung out in

the heavens that all may see it, so "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared

to all men" (Titus 2:11). Finally, as the rainbow has been displayed throughout all the past

forty centuries, so in the ages to come God will shew forth "the exceeding riches of His

grace, in His kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:7).