Mga Komentaryo sa Bibliya

13. And God said unto Noah--How startling must have been the announcement of the threatened destruction! There was no outward indication of it. The course of nature and experience seemed against the probability of its occurrence. The public opinion of mankind would ridicule it. The whole world would be ranged against him. Yet, persuaded the communication was from God, through faith

(Heb 11:7),

he set about preparing the means for preserving himself and family from the impending calamity.

14. Make thee an ark--ark, a hollow chest

(Ex 2:3).

gopher wood--probably cypress, remarkable for its durability and abounding on the Armenian mountains.

rooms--cabins or small cells.

pitch it within and without--mineral pitch, asphalt, naphtha, or some bituminous substance, which, when smeared over and become hardened, would make it perfectly watertight.

15. And this is the fashion--According to the description, the ark was not a ship, but an immense house in form and structure like the houses in the East, designed not to sail, but only to float. Assuming the cubit to be 21.888 inches, the ark would be five hundred forty-seven feet long, ninety-one feet two inches wide, and forty-seven feet two inches high.

16. A window--probably a skylight, formed of some transparent substance unknown.

in a cubit shalt thou finish it above--a direction to raise the roof in the middle, seemingly to form a gentle slope for letting the water run off.

17-22. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood--The repetition of the announcement was to establish its certainty

(Ge 41:32).

Whatever opinion may be entertained as to the operation of natural laws and agencies in the deluge, it was brought on the world by God as a punishment for the enormous wickedness of its inhabitants.

18. But with thee will I establish my covenant--a special promise of deliverance, called a covenant, to convince him of the confidence to be reposed in it. The substance and terms of this covenant are related at

Ge 6:19-21.

22. Thus did Noah--He began without delay to prepare the colossal fabric, and in every step of his progress faithfully followed the divine directions he had received.

Ge 7:1-24.

ENTRANCE INTO THE ARK.

1. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark--The ark was finished; and Noah now, in the spirit of implicit faith, which had influenced his whole conduct, waited for directions from God.