The First Book of Moses, called Genesis
Genesis 8
Chapter VIII · Vol. I, pp. 224–225
1 The waters assuage. 4 The ark resteth on Ararat. 7 The raven and the dove. 15 Noah, being commanded, 18 goeth forth of the ark. 20 He buildeth an altar, and offereth sacrifice, 21 which God accepteth, and promiseth to curse the earth no more.
1 And God remembered Noah, and aevery living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made ba wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged:
2 The cfountains also of the deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained:
3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually;7 and dafter the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
7 Heb. in going and returning.
d ch. 7.11,24.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains8 of eArarat.9
8 One of them, ch. 19.29.
e Armenia, Is. 37.38. Je. 51.27. 2 Ki. 19.37.
9 Supposed to be a mountain of Armenia. C.——The Ararat of the Bible is a province, including the highlands of Armenia, around and between the sources of the Euphrates and Araxes. It is mentioned in 2 Ki. 19. 37; Is. 37. 38; but in both places the Authorized Version has 'Armenia.' It is a mountainous region, the highest peak in it being the traditional Ararat, which has an elevation of 17,112 ft. The great elevation of this region made it a natural resting-place for the ark; and its geographical position, affording easy outlets by fertile valleys to all quarters of the globe, fitted it in a remarkable manner for the impartial distribution of the primeval races.—P.
5 And the waters decreased continually1 until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
1 Heb. were in going and decreasing.
6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah fopened the window2 of the ark which he had made:
f ch. 6.16.
2 The word translated window in this verse is not zohar, as in ch. 6. 16, but hhalan, as in Da. 6. 10, which was the name given to the opening towards Jerusalem, at which Daniel prayed; and which, though not required by the law, seems to have universally prevailed in Jewish oratories, and therefore most probably originated from Noah.—See Bibliotheca Biblica, vol. ii.
7 And he sent forth a graven, which went forth to and fro,3 until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
g 1 Ki. 17. 6. Job 38. 41. Ps. 147.9.
3 Heb. in going forth and returning.
8 Also he sent forth ha dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground:
h ver. 10,11,12. Mat. 10.16. Song 2.11,12.
9 But the dove ifound 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.4 Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her5 in unto him into the ark.
i Eze. 7. 16. Mat. 11. 28. Jn. 16.33.
A.M. 1656. B.C. 2348.
4 Plain country.
5 Heb. caused her to come.
11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was lan olive-leaf6 pluckt off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
l Ne.8.15. Ro.10.15, 20. Ps. 89. 15. Ep.1.13. Is.57.19.
6 For this reason the olive leaf or branch is the emblem of peace, and the dove the emblem of joy.—P.
12 And he mstayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year,7 in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
7 2347.
14 And in the nsecond month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
n ch. 7. 11, 13, 14. About the beginning of December.
15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,
17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that pthey may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
p ch.1.22. Ps.144.13, 14;107.38.
18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:
19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds,8 went forth out of the ark.9
8 Heb. families.
9 The calendar of this melancholy year has been calculated as follows by Basnage:—A. M. 1656. Sept. Methuselah dies. Oct. Noah enters the ark. Nov. 17th, the fountains of the great deep broken open. Dec. 26th, the rain begins, and continues forty days. Jan. all men and beasts on earth perish. Feb. rain continued. March, the waters remained covering the mountains till the 27th, when they began to abate. April 17th, the ark rests on Ararat, May, the waters are receding. June 1st, mountain tops appear. July 11th, Noah lets go a raven; 18th, a dove which returns; 25th, the dove returns with an olive leaf. Aug. 2d, the dove let out, returns no more. Sept. 1st, dry land appeared. Oct. 27th, Noah leaves the ark with his family.—C.
20 And qNoah builded an altar unto the LORD, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.1
q He.13.10. Ro.12.1. 1 Pe.2.5,9.
1 The language of the original is here very expressive. The altar was dedicated to Jehovah, Noah's covenant God, of whose faithfulness he had now experimental evidence. The offering consisted of one at least of every species of clean animals which he had taken into the ark. It was, besides, as the Hebrew word signifies, a holocaust, the victims being wholly consumed upon the altar. Noah thus, while expressing gratitude for complete deliverance, devoted all that was saved to God.—P.
21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour;2 and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse3 the ground any more for man's sake; for the rimagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, sas I have done.
2 Heb. a savour of rest. Le.1.9,13,17. Ep. 5.2. 2 Co.2.15. Song 4. 10,11.
A.M. 1657. B.C. 2347.
3 So curse.
r ch.6.5. Mat. 15.19. Ro.8.7,8. Ps.51. 5. Ep. 2.1-3. Je.17.9.
s 2 Pe.3.6, 7. Job 22. 20. Is.54.9.
22 While the earth4 remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.
4 Heb. as yet all the days of the earth. Ps. 74.16,17. Song 2.11,12.
Notes
Ver. 1. God's remembering persons or things denotes his manifesting his notice of them, either in a way of mercy for their deliverance or benefit, according to his promise, as here, and ch. 19. 29; 30. 22; Ex. 32. 13; Ne. 13. 14, 22; Job 14. 13; Ps. 132. 1; 106. 4; 136. 23; or in a way of wrath for their punishment, Ps. 137. 7; Am. 8. 7; Re. 16. 19; 18. 5.
Ver. 12. [It is important to note the periods of seven days which are repeatedly mentioned in this narrative. They indicate that the creation week still regulated the smaller divisions of time, and that the Sabbath was observed by the family of Noah. P.]
Ver. 14. [It thus appears that the rain continued forty days, the waters prevailed during one hundred and fifty days; and the whole period from the time Noah entered the ark till he left it was a lunar year and ten days, or just one solar year of 365 days. P.]
Ver. 20. It was common for the patriarchs to erect altars and offer sacrifices of thanksgiving for mercies received, and for the expiation of their own guilt, as in the case of Abraham, ch. 12. 7, 8; 13. 18; Isaac, 26. 25; Jacob, 35. 7; and Moses, Ex. 17. 15. These were typical of Christ our New Testament altar, as the sacrifices were of his oblation of himself, He. 10. 10-15.
Ver. 21. The Lord accepted it as a thing pleasant and delightful, proceeding from faith and gratitude, 1 Sa. 26. 19; Le. 26. 31; Am. 5. 21. God would hereafter improve the sinfulness of mankind as an occasion of manifesting his patience and mercy, Ps. 103. 11-14; 25. 21; Ex. 34. 9; Is. 43. 24, 25; 44. 22; 48. 8, 9; 7. 17, 18; 1. 18; Je. 3. 1, 4, 5, 14, 22. Thus, Ps. 106. 6-8, 'Though we have sinned with our fathers, have committed iniquity, have done wickedly, nevertheless he saved, for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known;' Eze. 16. 60-63, 'Nevertheless, notwithstanding innumerable and grievous provocations, I will remember my covenant with thee; I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done;' 20. 4-44, 'I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings;' compare 36. 16-32; Ro. 5. 20, 21. 'Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound; that as sin had reigned unto death, grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
Ver. 22. How remarkably exact over all the world hath been the fulfilment of this prediction for more than 4000 years past!
Reflections.—How graciously God remembers, and in mercy visits, his people in due time! Therefore, though the vision tarry, let me wait for it. How easily, and often gradually, the Lord accomplishes his merciful designs! As he never wants instruments of affliction and ruin, so neither of gracious deliverances. Whatever means I may use of information, or of affecting my conscience and heart, let me in all my ways acknowledge God, and wait for his direction out of straits as well as in them. If I receive deliverance, let my heart be lifted up in his way, and my thanksgivings wait for him in Zion! Let my hopes of future favours wholly depend upon his tender mercy, not on my own or others' reformation: for, alas! blessed or chastised, we are flagrant rebels still! But in this patriarch's ark do I not discern Jesus Christ? He is the absolutely necessary mean of our escaping the justly deserved and destructive floods of God's everlasting wrath. Everything in his mediatorial person and office was devised and appointed of God. He was gradually reared up in promises before he was actually incarnate, and gradually he finished his all-covering atonement. How wide is the gate of access to him revealed in the gospel! and what abundant room is there in his saving power, his love, his blood, his intercession, his covenant, and promise, for endangered sinners of mankind! His stories are his ancient undertaking, his humiliation, and his endless glory. No light is in him but what is of a spiritual and heavenly nature. By exposing himself to the deluging rains, the fearful billows, of his Father's wrath; to depths wherein was no standing, till at last he rested in his grave, and at his Father's right hand he bears up and saves sinners. How many despise him and his atonement! But by the power of God all who believe, both of Jews and Gentiles, are saved by him, and made heirs of new promises, inhabitants of a new covenant state, and an eternal world of blessedness!—And is not the same a figure of the gospel-church, in which, reared by Jesus' labours of love, the nations of them that are saved do live in this world 'till the winter be past, and the floods be over and gone?' And, happy period, when, after tossings unnumbered, the Lord shall call us forth into our fields, 'our house eternal in the heavens,' where rains, where storms, where nights, where winters, where curses never enter!