13 was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day " entered vers. 1.7: ch. 6. 18; Heb. 11. 7; 1 Pet. 3. 20; 2 Pet. 2. 5. vers. 2, 3, 8, 9. y ch. 6. 20. I vers 2, 3 a Ps 46 2: Mt. 25.10; Lk 13. 25; John 10. 27-29; 1 Pet. 1. 5. b vers 4, 12. Ps. 104. 26. d Job 12. 15: Ps. 104. 6-9; Jer. 3. 23. ver. 4: ch. 6. 13, 17: Job 22. 16; Mt 24. 39; Lk. 17. 27; 2 Pet. 3. 6. Is. 24. 1-8; Mt. 24. 37-39. 21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and 8 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 2 waters assuaged. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven 3 were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; and the waters returned from off the earth continually and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.' 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, 5 upon the mountains of Ararat. 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. 6 A Eze. 14.14-20: Mal. 3. 18; 1 Pet. 3. 20; 2 Pet. 25. 3. 6. i eh. 8 3, 4, compared & ch. 19 29: Ex. 2. n ch. 7. 11. Ex 9 33; Job 38. 37 Is. 5. 6; Jam. 5. 17. 18. P ch. 7. 24. Le. 11. 15; 1 Ki. 17. Deu. 28. 65; Mt. 11. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of 7 ch. 6. 16. 7 the ark which he had made: and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and 8 fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove 9 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 into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his 10 hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. And he stayed 11 yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; and the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf Ro. 10. 15. 12 pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. - And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. 13 Noah leaves the ark; God's covenant with him. AND it came to pass in the six hundredth 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 of the ark, and looked, and, behold the face of the ground 14 was dry. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the mouth, was the earth dried. Ps. 40. 1; Ro. 8. 25. * Ps. 27. 14. a ch. 7. 15. 15 And God spake unto Noah saying "Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, Ps 121.8. 1 Or, as the Chaldee reads, 'protected him :' referring to the wonderful providence by which he was preserved during the deluge. 2 These words are sometimes used in a restricted sense. See Deut. ii. 25. By this great event, the general course of nature was interrupted for the infliction of merited ! punishment, and the exhibition of distinguishing grace. In the deluge we have an earnest of the destruction which awaits the world of the ungodly; while the preservation of the one righteous man and his family minifeste God's care over his people, and shadows for their final salvation by a means provided by God himself. d eh. 1. 22. 3 Intimating a special act of Divine interference on his behalf. See note on chap. vi. 6. 4 Or, began to abate;' having increased till now. 5 Nisan, or Abib. 6 This region is part of the country since called Armenia. The plural word 'mountains' renders it unnecessary to suppose that the ark rested on the highest peak of the range. 7 That is, of Noah's life: first month, Tisri. 8 The same month in which he had entered it; having been in the ark one year and ten days according to the Hebrew text, or exactly one year according to the Sept. 19 his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. i h 2 Ps. 50. 5: Ro. 12. 1; Lev. 1. 9: Exe 20. 41: 2 Cor. 2. 15; Eph 5 2. A eh. 3. 17: 6. 17. i eh. 6. 5: Job 14. 4: 15. 14; Ps 51.5:58. 3. Jer 11 8; 17.9: Mt. 15 19; Ro. L 21: 3. 23. k eh 9. 11, 15. 1 1. 54 9. Ps. 74. 16, 17; Jer. 5. 24: 33. 20. 25. " vers. 7, 19; ch. 1.28: 10 32; Ps. 112. 1,2; 128 3, 4. 20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took off every clean beast, 8 9 c ch 1 28; Job 5. 22, 23: Ps. 8. 6-8: Ho 2. 18; Jam.3.7. P Deu. 12. 15: 14. 3, 9.11: Ac 10. 12-15: 1 Tim. 4. 3-5. 4 ch. 129, 30: Ps. 104 14. 15. Ro 14 14. 20: 1 Cor. 10 23.26.31. Col. 2 16; 1 Tim. 4. 3. 4 Le. 3 17: 17. 10, 11, 14; 19 26: Deu. 12. 16. 23; 1 Sam 14. 33, 34: Ae. 15 20, 29. (Ex. 21 28. 29. ch. 4. 9, 10; Num. 35. 31-33; Ps. 9. 12. * Ae. 17. 25. Ex. 21. 12. 14: Le. 24. 17. 1 Ki. 2. 2834: Mt. 26 52; Rev. 13. 10. And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, ' And I, behold, 10 I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the 11 earth. 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 is 54 9. to destroy the earth. ch 1. 97: Jam. 39. avers. 1, 19, ch. 1. 28. b eh. 6. 18. d Ps. 145 9. * I. 54.9; 2 Pet. 3. 7. ch 17. 11: Ex. 12. 13: Mt. 26 26-28. A Ex. 28. 12: Le. 26. 42, 45; 1 Ki. 8. 23; Eze. 16. 60; Lk. 1.72. 12 And God said, 'This is the token of the covenant which I make between me 13 and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I5 Rev. 4. 3; 10. 1. do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between 14 me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, 15 that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the 16 waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting ch. 17. 13, 19. covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. 18 Further history of Noah; his prophecy concerning his three sons. AND the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and 19 Japheth and Ham is the father of Canaan. 'These are the three sons of ch. 10 6. Noah: " and of them was the whole earth overspread. 0 20 And Noah began to be an" husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his 23 two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto 25 him. And he said, ' Cursed be Canaan;' 'a servant of servants shall he be unto 1 Literally, of rest,' or satisfaction: often used (see Lev. xxvi. 31) to signify that the offering was acceptable to God. 2 Whatever deluges, famines, etc. there may have been since this promise, have affected comparatively small portions of the world. 3 To this Divine grant we owe the advantage which results from the labour of the domestic animals, and from the use of their flesh for food. 4 Some suppose this to be only a renewal of a former grant, in a form adapted to man's altered condition; whilst others think that animal food had never been eaten previously to this period. Others, again, are of opinion that, from the first institution of sacrifices, a portion of the animals so offered to God was eaten by the offerer, and Ich. 5. 32. " ch. 3. 19, 23: 42; • Pro 20 1: 23.31.32; Ex. 20. 12: Gal. 6. that this participation in the offerings formed a part of the sacrificial rite; but that the use of animal food had, until this period, been restricted to the flesh of such victims. 5 God having spared man's forfeited life, that he may have time to repent, sacredly guards it against injury. 6 It is not said here that God first formed the rainbow after the flood: the words may be translated, 'I do appoint my bow in the cloud to be a token (or, testimony) of the covenant,' etc. See note on chap. i. 16. 7 Perhaps Canaan is mentioned because he had instigated or shared in his father's misconduct; or it may be that we have only that part of Noah's curse recorded which, referring to Canaan, seemed to point to the expulsion of his descendants from the land destined for the Israelites and the same in vers. 19, 27. 26 his brethren.' And he said, 'Blessed be the LORD God of Shem:2 and Canaan Ps. 144. 15: Lk. 20. 27 shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth," and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. History of Noah's sons; their dispersion and settlement. 37; Heb. 11. 16. ch. 9. 1, 7, 19. Ps. 72. 10: Jer. 2 10; 25 22, Zeph. 2. 11. 10 NOW these are the generations of the sons of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth: 2 and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, Chr. 1. 5, etc. 3 and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the 4 sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; 5 Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. 6. And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the 1 Chr. 1. 8, etc. sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter" before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the 10 mighty hunter before the LORD." And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel 11 [Babylon], and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of 8 that land went forth Asshur [or, he went out into Assyria], and builded Nineveh, 12 and the city Rehoboth [or, the streets of the city], and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. 15 b Ps. 11.5 91.3: Jer. d Is. 39. 1; Mie. 5. 6. Jon. 1. 2: Na 1. 1 f 1 Chr. 1. 12. 3. 8. 13 And Mizraim begat" Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,") and Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the ch. 15. 18-21; Ex. 17 Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the 19 families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the border 12 of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, 20 and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations. 21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth 22 the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and 23 Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and 24 Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. 25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg [i. e. division]; for in his days was the earth divided;" and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, and 28 Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, 30 and Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling 31 was from Mesha, as thou goest, unto Sephar a mount of the east. These are the 1 That is, his descendants should be slaves of the lowest class to the posterity of Shem and Japhet. 2 Or, perhaps, 'Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem.' This benediction on Shem includes the peculiar religious distinction of his family, and especially the promised Messiah. 3 Some render this, 'and God shall dwell in the tents of Shem.' In the blessing on Japhet there is an assurance of a vast and wide-spreading progeny. 4 The future family of mankind is here viewed as distributed into three great divisions; and the curse laid on Canaan, the blessing associated with Shem, and the power and enlargement assigned to Japhet, have all been realized in the history of the world. These early prophecies give only a general sketch or outline of the subjects to which they relate, corresponding with their great distance of view. 5 Many of the names in this genealogical table are plurals; and several have the formal termination used to designate a tribe. Hence it has been thought that the greater part of them are names of nations; which may, however, have been so called from their founders. These nations were early and frequently intermixed; but it is probable that the descendants of Japhet occupied Armenia, the Caucasus, and Asia Minor, spreading thence through Europe and the northern parts of Asia and India, and A ch. 13. 12, 14, 15, 17; 15. 18-21: Num. 34. 2-12, Jos. 12. 7, 8. 1 Chr. 1. 17, ete. * ch. 11. 12; 14 13; perhaps also through America; that the nations descending from Shem settled in the central parts of Asia, extending their colonies into India on the east, and the north of Arabia on the west; and that Ham's family took possession of the south of Mesopotamia and Arabia, whence they passed on to Palestine and Africa. 6 From the chase he went on to war. 'Before the Lord' is probably a strong expression of his very great power. 7 His celebrity in these violent pursuits, and in deeds of rapine and blood, was proverbial in the days of Moses. 8 He founded the kingdom of Babylon, afterwards so famous. 9 Or, the city of streets' so called, perhaps, on account of its size and regularity. 10 He was ancestor of the following nations; these names denoting people, not individuals, as in chap. xxv. 3, etc. 11 Or, 'the Philistines.' 12 This particular account of Canaan's posterity, and of the country they possessed, was probably inserted by Moses as being peculiarly interesting to the Hebrews, for whom this land was destined. 18 The separation of the human race into distinct tribes and nations (see chap. xi.), probably took place about the time of his birth, his name signifying 'division.' sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues,' in their lands, after their 32 nations. These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations; "and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. Building of Babel; confusion of tongues. 11 AND the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east [or, eastward],' that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. t 8 ver. L. " ch. 9. 19. ch. 13. 11; 2 Sam. 6. 2; with 1 Chr. 13.6. ? eh. 4. 17. • Den. 1. 28. $ ver. 8, 9. ch. 18. 21; Ps. 33. 13, 14. ch. 9, 19; Ac. 17.26. * ver. 1. 3 "And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick,' and burn them P Ps. 64. 5. 10 a Shem's descendants to Terah. eh. 10. 22; 1 Chr. 1 17. A Called, Lk. 3. 35, THESE are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and 11 begat Arphaxad two years after the flood and Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad 12 five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and 13 thirty years, and begat Salah: and Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four See Luke 3. 36. 14 hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Salah lived thirty 15 years, and begat Eber: and Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and 16 three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived four and thirty 81 Chr. 1. 19. 17 years, and begat Peleg: and Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and 18 thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and 19 begat Reu: and Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and 20 begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: Lu. 3. 35, Saruch. 21 and Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons 22 and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: and Serug lived 24 after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And 25 Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: and Nahor lived after he❘ Lk. 3. 34, Thara. 26 begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy 10 years, and 'begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." Terah's family; his migration to Haran. 27 NOW these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and 28 Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the 29 land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives the name of Abram's wife was " Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. . 1 The division according to 'tongues,' or languages, is here mentioned by anticipation; it being consequent upon the events narrated in the next chapter. The fact of the dispersion is attested by profane as well as by sacred history, and supported by the present physiological peculiarities of different nations, and the mutual relations of their languages. 2 Probably these people had settled in Persia first. 'Shinar' is Babylonia, 3 There is no stone in this district; and the ancient bricks and pottery found here are fine and well burnt. 4 Bitumen, or asphalt; a natural production of an adhesive quality, which abounds there. 5 An idiomatic expression, meaning a very great height. See Deut. i. 28; Dan. iv. 11. They would erect a structure which might be a centre of union and power. 6 See note on chap. vi. 6. 7 Or, Shall they not be restrained in all they have imagined to do? If this project had been allowed to succeed, the founders of this city-perhaps Cushites, under Nimrod's sway-would have established an universal despotism, suppressing the worship of God, and fostering every crime. 8 Afterwards Babylon. Jos. 24. 2; 1 Chr. 1. 26. ch. 17. 15; 20. 12. "ch. 22 20. 9 This narrative gives the only satisfactory explanation of the existing variety of languages; the separation of which seems to have been suddenly and violently effected. 10 As in chap. v. 32, this is the date of the birth of the eldest. Comparing xi. 32 with xii. 4, we infer that Terah was one hundred and thirty years old at the birth of Abram. Probably, then, Haran was the eldest; and if, as the Jews affirm, Sarai was the same as Iscah his daughter (xi. 29), it will follow, from chap. xx. 12, that Haran and Abraham were sons of two different wives of Terah. 11 This genealogy, with those in chap. v. and in Matt. i., form together a complete genealogy of Christ, such as cannot be produced of any other person out of this line. 12 The Chaldees appear to have been originally a tribe of warriors from the north-east of Mesopotamia, probably the mountains of Koordistan. See Habak. i. 6-11. They afterwards overran the south, which from them took the name of Chaldæa, and where they formed the caste of priests and soldiers. Ur, therefore, must be looked for in Koordistan. |