The deluge ceaseth. Noe goeth out of the ark, and offereth a sacrifice. God’s covenant to him.
The waters diminishing by litle and litle, 6. Noe sendeth forth a crow, 8. after him a doue, thrise: 18. lastly goeth forth with al that were with him in the arke. 20. erecteth an Altar, and offereth Sacrifice.
1And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated:Ma il Signore ricordandosi di Noè, e di tutti gli animali, e di tutti i giumenti che erano con esso nell'arca, mandò il vento sopra la terra, e le acque diminuirono.AND God remembred Noe, and al the beasts, and al the cattle, which were with him in the arke, and brought a winde vpon the earth, and the waters decreased.Recordatus autem Deus Noë, cunctorumque animantium, et omnium jumentorum, quæ erant cum eo in arca, adduxit spiritum super terram, et imminutæ sunt aquæ. 2The fountains also of the deep, and the floodgates of heaven, were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.E furon chiuse le sorgenti del grande abisso, e le cataratte del cielo; e furono vietate le pioggie dal cielo.And the sountaines of the depth, and the floud gates of heauen, were shut vp: and the rayne from heauen was stayd.Et clausi sunt fontes abyssi, et cataractæ cæli: et prohibitæ sunt pluviæ de cælo. 3And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.E le acque andando, e venendo si partivano dalla terra: e principiarono a scemare dopo cento cinquanta giorni.And the waters returned from the earth going & comming: and they begane to decrease after a hundred fiftie dayes.Reversæque sunt aquæ de terra euntes et redeuntes: et cœperunt minui post centum quinquaginta dies. 4And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.E l'arca si posò il settimo mese a' ventisette del mese sopra i monti d'Armenia.And the arke rested the seauenth moneth, the seauen & twentith day of the moneth vpon the mountaines of Armenia.Requievitque arca mense septimo, vigesimo septimo die mensis, super montes Armeniæ. 5And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.E le acque andavano scemando sino al decimo mese: perocché il decimo mese, il primo giorno del mese, si scoprirono le vette dei monti.But the waters for al that were going and decreasing vntil the tenth moneth: for in the tenth moneth, the first day of the moneth, the topps of the mountaines appeared.At vero aquæ ibant et decrescebant usque ad decimum mensem: decimo enim mense, primo die mensis, apparuerunt cacumina montium.
6And after that forty days were passed, Noe opening the window of the ark, which he had made, sent forth a raven:E passati quaranta giorni, Noè, aperta la finestra, che avea fatta all'arca, mandò fuori il corvo:And after that fourtie dayes were passed, Noe opening the windowe of the arke, which he had made, let forth a crowe:Cumque transissent quadraginta dies, aperiens Noë fenestram arcæ, quam fecerat, dimisit corvum, 7Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.Il quale uscì, e non tornò fino a tanto che le acque fosser seccate sulla terra.which went forth, and did not returne, til the waters were dried vpon the earth.qui egrediebatur, et non revertebatur, donec siccarentur aquæ super terram. 8He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.Mandò ancora dopo di lui la colomba, per vedere se fossero finite le acque sopra la faccia della terra.He sent forth also a doue after him, to see if the waters were ceased yet vpon the face of the earth.Emisit quoque columbam post eum, ut videret si jam cessassent aquæ super faciem terræ. 9But she not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.La quale non avendo trovato, ove fermare il suo piede, tornò a lui nell'arca: perocché per tutta la terra eran le acque; ed egli stese la mano, e presala la mise dentro l'arca.Which finding not where her foote might rest, returned to him into the arke: for the waters were vpon the whole earth: and he stretched forth his hand, and caught her and brought her into the arke.Quæ cum non invenisset ubi requiesceret pes ejus, reversa est ad eum in arcam: aquæ enim erant super universam terram: extenditque manum, et apprehensam intulit in arcam. 10And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.E avendo aspettato sette altri giorni, mandò di nuovo la colomba fuori dell'arca.And hauing expected yet seauen moe dayes, againe he let forth a doue out of the arke.Expectatis autem ultra septem diebus aliis, rursum dimisit columbam ex arca. 11And she came to him in the evening carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the earth.Ma ella tornò a lui alla sera, portando in bocca un ramo di ulivo con verdi foglie. Intese adunque Noè, come le acque erano cessate sopra la terra.But she came to him at euentide, carrying a bough of an oliue tree, that had greene leaues in her mouth. Noe therfore vnderstood that the waters were ceased vpon the earth.At illa venit ad eum ad vesperam, portans ramum olivæ virentibus foliis in ore suo: intellexit ergo Noë quod cessassent aquæ super terram.
12And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned not any more unto him.E aspettò nondimeno sette altri giorni, e rimandò la colomba, la quale più non tornò a lui.And he expected yet neuertheles other seauen dayes: and he sent forth a doue, which returned not any more vnto him.Expectavitque nihilominus septem alios dies: et emisit columbam, quæ non est reversa ultra ad eum. 13Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.L'anno adunque secentesimo primo di Noè, il primo mese, il dì primo del mese, le acque lasciaron la terra: e Noè avendo scoperchiato il tetto dell'arca mirò, e vide, che la superficie della terra era asciutta.Therfore in the sixt hundred and one yeare, the first moneth, the first day of the moneth the waters were cleane diminished vpon the earth: and Noe opening the roofe of the arke, looked, and sawe that the face of the earth was dried.Igitur sexcentesimo primo anno, primo mense, prima die mensis, imminutæ sunt aquæ super terram: et aperiens Noë tectum arcæ, aspexit, viditque quod exsiccata esset superficies terræ. 14In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dried.Il secondo mese, a' ventisette del mese, la terra rimase arida.In the second moneth, the seuen & twentyth day of the moneth the earth was dried.Mense secundo, septimo et vigesimo die mensis arefacta est terra. 15And God spoke to Noe, saying:E Dio parlò a Noè, dicendo:And God spake to Noe, saying:Locutus est autem Deus ad Noë, dicens: 16Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy sons with thee.Esci dall'arca tu, e la tua moglie, i tuoi figliuoli e le mogli de' tuoi figliuoli con te.Goe forth of the arke, thou & thy wife, thy sonnes and the wiues of thy sonnes with thee.Egredere de arca, tu et uxor tua, filii tui et uxores filiorum tuorum tecum. 17All living things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.Conduci teco fuori tutti gli animali, che sono insieme con te, di ogni genere, tanto volatili, che bestie, e rettili, che strisciano sulla terra, e scendete sulla terra: Crescete e moltiplicate.Al cattle, that are with thee of al flesh, as wel in soules, as in beastes, & al creepers, that creepe vpon the earth, bring out with thee, & goe yee vpon the earth: increase and multiplie vpon it.Cuncta animantia, quæ sunt apud te, ex omni carne, tam in volatilibus quam in bestiis et universis reptilibus, quæ reptant super terram, educ tecum, et ingredimini super terram: crescite et multiplicamini super eam.
18So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.E uscì Noè, e con esso i figliuoli di lui, e la sua moglie, e le mogli de' suoi figliuoli.Noe therfore went forth, and his sonnes: his wife, and the wiues of his sonnes with him.Egressus est ergo Noë, et filii ejus: uxor illius, et uxores filiorum ejus cum eo. 19And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds went out of the ark.E tutti ancora gli animali, e le bestie e i rettili, che strisciano sulla terra, secondo la loro specie, uscirono dell'arca.Yea and al cattle, beastes, and creepers that crepe vpon the earth, according to their kinde, went sorth out of the arke.Sed et omnia animantia, jumenta, et reptilia quæ reptant super terram, secundum genus suum, egressa sunt de arca. 20And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.E Noè edificò un altare al Signore: e prendendo di tutte le bestie, e uccelli mondi, gli offerì in olocausto sopra l'altare.And Noe built an Altar to our Lord: and taking of al cattle and foules that were cleane, offered Holocausts vpon the Altar.Ædificavit autem Noë altare Domino: et tollens de cunctis pecoribus et volucribus mundis, obtulit holocausta super altare. 21And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.E il Signore gradì il soave odore, e disse: Io non maledirò mai più la terra per le colpe degli uomini: perocché la mente, e i pensieri degli uomini sono inclinati al male fin dall'adolescenza: io adunque non manderò più flagello sopra tutti i viventi, come ho fatto.And our Lord smelled a sweete sauour, and said: I wil no more curse the earth for men: for the sense and cogitation of mans hart are prone to euil from their youth: I wil no more therfore strike euerie liuing soule as I haue done.Odoratusque est Dominus odorem suavitatis, et ait: Nequaquam ultra maledicam terræ propter homines: sensus enim et cogitatio humani cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua: non igitur ultra percutiam omnem animam viventem sicut feci. 22All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.Per tutti i giorni della terra non mancherà giammai la semenza e la messe, il freddo e il calore, l'estate e il verno, la notte e il giorno.Al the dayes of the earth, seedtime and haruest, cold and heate, sommer and winter, night and day shal not rest.Cunctis diebus terræ, sementis et messis, frigus et æstus, æstas et hiems, nox et dies non requiescent.
8:1
Menochius
Remembered; not as if God had ever forgotten Noe, but he now shews his remembrance of him by the effects. (Menochius)
Haydock
A wind, literally a spirit, which St. Ambrose and Theodoret understood of the Holy Ghost, that as he moved over the waters at first, (Chap. 1:2.) to give them fecundity, and to exercise his power in establishing order, so he may shew the same care and providence for this new world, emerging, like the former, from the waters. (Haydock)
8:3
Estius
And the waters returned, etc. St. Jerome on this passage remarks, "that all waters and torrents repair to the womb of the abyss, through the hidden veins of the earth," and by the abyss understands the sea: according to that of Ecclesiastes 1:7, all the rivers run into the sea. But as the sea itself, on this occasion, exceeded its limits, (otherwise its waters would not have been higher than the land) the sense perhaps confined to this, that the waters by degrees were diminished; as we may say of the inundations of land, that the waters are gone off, not by the regular course of ditches, but from the effects of the sun and winds which dry them up. (Estius)
8:4
Estius
And the ark rested on the mountains of Armenia. The Hebrew word is Ararat, which also occurs in the 37th Genesis of Isaias, and the 51st of Jeremias; for in these places our interpreter retained the Hebrew word, but in the 4th book of Kings, 19:37, where the same history is related, it is translated by the land of the Armenians. (Estius)
Menochius
Seventh month, of the year, not of the deluge, as appears from ver. 13, etc. (Menochius).
Calmet
Seven and twentieth. So also the Septuagint, but the Hebrew, etc. have the 17th. It is not easy to decide which is right. On the seventeenth the waters only began to decrease, and some hence argue for the Vulgate, as they say it is not probable the ark would stop that very day. (Calmet)
Haydock
This, however, might be the only mean by which Noe could discern that the waters were abating. (Haydock)
Calmet
The ark being about fourteen cubits sunk in the water, might soon touch the summit of the highest mountains, such as Mount Taurus, of which the Ararat, here mentioned in the Hebrew, a mountain of Armenia, forms a part, according to St. Jerome. The Armenians still boast that they have the remains of the ark. Berosus, the Pagan historian, says bitumen was taken from it as a preservative. (Josephus, Antiquities 1:3; Eusebius, praep. 9:4.) The Chaldee has Cordu for Ararat, whence some have supposed, that the ark rested on the Cordyean or Gordiean mountains. The Armenians call the mountain near Erivan, Mesesonsar, or the mountain of the ark. (Calmet)
8:7
Challoner
Did not return. The negotiation Not, is not to be found in any Hebrew copy now extant; though it is still retained by the Septuagint, and several Latin manuscripts, according to the testimony of Liranus. If we adhere, therefore, to the Hebrew text, we must translate it with St. Jerome, thus; It went forth, going and returning, (Egredicbatur exiens et revertens) sometimes repairing to the mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on, and at other times returning not unto the ark, but to rest upon the top of it. (Estius) (Challoner)
Calmet
Or receded farther from it; as the Hebrew may be explained, agreeably to the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, etc. which admit the negation. (Calmet)
Menochius
Till, as long as the waters covered the earth, not that it returned to the ark afterwards. (Menochius)
8:9
Haydock
Whole earth, excepting the mountains; so that the dove presently returned. (Haydock)
8:11
Pliny
Green leaves. The olive tree preserves its verdure and grows even at the bottom of the Red sea, and other seas in the East. (Pliny, Natural History 12:25.)
Calmet
Many other trees and seeds will live for a long time under the waters. (Calmet)
This tender branch of the olive seems to agree better with the spring than autumn; whence Tirinus infers, that the deluge began and ended in spring.
8:13
Haydock
Year of Noe's age, who, we may suppose, was born on the first day of the year. So that his 601st year corresponds with the 1657th of the world, B.C. 2343, on which day the deluge ended. Still Noe waited for God's order to leave the ark till the 27th of the ensuing month, when the earth was more perfectly dried. (Haydock)
Calmet
Covering. Some think that the window was at the top, like a sky-light. (Calmet)
8:17
Increase. Hebrew, "let them increase." This is spoken of the brute creation, the blessing is given to men. (Chap. 9.)
Calmet
Neither Noe's family, nor any of the animals, had any young in the ark. (Calmet)
8:20
Challoner
Holocausts, or whole burnt offerings. In which the whole victim was consumed by fire upon God's altar, and no part was reserved for the use of priest or people. (Challoner)
Menochius
This is the first time we read of an altar, though Abel had surely made use of one. (Menochius)
Worthington
Noe delays not to shew his gratitude to God, St. Ambrose. (Worthington)
8:21
Smelled, etc. A figurative expression, denoting that God was pleased with the sacrifices which his servant offered, (Challoner) and in this sense it is expressed in the Chaldee, "God received his offering gratefully." God requires sacrifices of us, to testify his dominion, and not for any advantage he derives from them; but rather to bless us, if we perform our duty with fervour.
Calmet
For the sake of, or on account of men's sins. They are so prone to evil, that, if I were to punish them as often as they deserve, new deluges might be sent every day. I take pity on their weakness. I will punish the most criminal, but not as I have done, by cursing the earth. These words of God, are by some addressed to Noe, by others to God the Son. Hebrew, "he said to his heart;" Onkelos, "he said in his word;" Septuagint, "he said with reflection." (Calmet)
Haydock
Noe was beloved by God, and therefore may be called his heart. To speak to the heart, often means to comfort. (Haydock)
8:22
Calmet
Seed-time, according to the Targum of Jonathan, is the equinox of September; harvest, that of March; winter and summer denote the solstice of December and of June. But the Hebrews probably divided the year into summer and winter; or perhaps they might also admit the season of spring, with the Egyptians and the ancient Greeks, who represented the seasons by the three hours, daughters of Jupiter. (Calmet)
8:7
Did not return.... The raven did not return into the ark; but (as it may be gathered from the Hebrew) went to and fro; sometimes going to the mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on: and other times returning, to rest upon the top of the ark.
8:20
8:21
Smelled, etc.... A figurative expression, denoting that God was well pleased with the sacrifices which his servant offered.
8:1
The third part of this booke. Of the newincrease & multiplication of the world.
8:7
The crowe returned not into the arke, but (as appeareth by the He brew text) going and returning rested vpon the arke.
8:14
They entred into the arke the 17. day, the secōd moneth of the other yeare: so they remained there 12. monethes and tenne dayes.
8:20
20. Built an Altar] Noe without expresse commandment, and without Noes sacrifice manie wayes cōmendable. delay, offereth Sacrifice to God, for the benefite receiued, in his, and his families conferuation, with the other liuing creatures, in that general deluge of the world, VVel knovving (saith S. Ambrose) That to be true thankesgeuing, vvhich Li. de Noe & Arca c 22. 1. Voluntarie, 2. Speedie. is presented, not commanded: therfore he made no delay. For the vertue of a gratful mind excludeth doutful deliberation, and he that expecteth, til the debt of thankes be exacted, is an vngratful person. For more solemnitie, he dedicated an apt and 3. Solemne. permanent place, for this peculiar diuine seruice, Building an Altar to our Lord. The Hebrew word Mizbeach (of the verbe Zabach, to kil, or make sacrifice) Heb. 13, 10. and the Greeke Thysiasterion, signifie an Altar to sacrifice on, not a common table for meate. He offered of the cleane and best things because pure and 4. Pure. deuout Sacrifice is due to God. Moreouer it was large and bountiful, for he 5. Bountiful. offered of al the kindes of cleane beastes and foules. Finally he offered them in Holocaustes, where al was burned and consumed in the honour of God. How 6. Holocaust. gratful al this was to God, Moyses signifieth saying: Our Lord smelled a svveete Leuit. 1. Psal. 50. Isaie 1. Amos. 5. ••al. 1. Iust. Mar. li 3. q. 4. S. Hiero. •. Heb. Sacrifice is pleasant to God: not for the external things but for the sincere mind. sauour. not that either anie sweete corporal sauour could of it selfe delight God, who is the most spiritual substance, or that the burning of flesh, bones, and bowels of beastes could yeld sweete sauour; but the deuou• mind declared by such external dutie greatly pleased God. For God requireth both, but specially a sincere hart. As not only diuine Scriptures, and holie Fathers, but also moral Philosophers teach vs. It vvere a greu us thing (saith Plato writing of sacrifices) If God had respect railier to the giftes, and sacrifices of men, then to their mind. lib. perites proseuches.
8:22
In the whole yeare of the floud was no sowing nor reaping, nor pleasant varietie of times, but al desolate & miserable: hence forth God promiseth more seasonable times S. Amb. ii. de. Noe & Arca. c. 23.
8:1
St Melito of Sardis † AD 180 Melito, the Philosopher 9
The remembrance of God —His mercy, by which He rejects and has mercy on whom He will. So in Genesis: “The Lord remembered Noah;”
8:4
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 15.14
… Then afterwards, at the end of the flood, it is thus written: “And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. And the waters decreased continually until the eleventh month: on the first day of the month were the tops of the mountains seen.”
8:6
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 6.2
… Accordingly, when such are delivered from these same afflictions, they exult with loud voices, whereby it is made manifest that they are ravens, not doves. It was with good reason that a raven was sent forth from the ark, and returned not again; a dove was sent forth, and it returned. These two birds Noah sent forth.
8:7
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 5
… But why then, it may be said, hath he used the word, “till”? Because it is usual in Scripture often to do this, and to use this expression without reference to limited times. For so with respect to the ark likewise, it is said, “The raven returned not till the earth was dried up.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 103.13
… “He is long-suffering, and of great mercy.” But take heed lest by ill using the length of God’s mercy, thou treasure up for thyself, as the Apostle saith, wrath in the day of wrath.…For some there are who prepare to turn, and yet put it off, and in them crieth out the raven’s voice, “Cras! Cras!” The raven which was sent from the ark, never returned.
8:8
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.6
… When the world falls into sin nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 7.3
… When, then, it was sent forth, it brought an olive branch; but it had not leaves alone, it had also fruit.
8:10
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 19
… Therefore to you alone this circumcision was necessary, in order that the people may be no people, and the nation no nation; as also Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, declares. Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned, though they kept no Sabbaths,
8:11
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
… and moreover, the Dove has from distant ages been wont to proclaim the end of the Deluge.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 41.21
21. The Synagogue has not this oil, inasmuch as she has not the olive, and understood not that dove which brought back the olive branch after the deluge.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 2.16
… and ignorance of the beryl or the adamant often shuts the doors of knowledge. And the only reason why we find it easy to understand that perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark,
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.9
Olive oil is employed in baptism as a significant of our anointing, and as making us anointed, and as announcing to us through the Holy Spirit God’s pity: for it was the fruit of the olive that the dove brought to those who were saved from the flood.
8:16
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.24
… He separated them from their wives in order that with purity they might escape the flood and that shipwreck of the whole world. After the cessation of the flood, however, He said, Go forth of the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives
8:20
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 123.12
… And if of the clean animals there are seven taken of each kind, that is, an uneven number; this points to the palm which awaits virginal chastity. For on leaving the ark Noah sacrificed victims to God
Sulpicius Severus † AD 420 The Sacred History Of Sulpitius Severus 1.4
Then Noah first of all erected an altar to God, and offered sacrifices from among the birds.
8:21
St Melito of Sardis † AD 180 Melito, the Philosopher 9
The smelling of the Lord —His delight in the prayers or works of the saints. In Genesis: “And the Lord smelled an odour of sweetness.”
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 6
And although the heavenly Scripture often turns the divine appearance into a human form,—as when it says, “The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous;” or when it says, “The Lord God smelled the smell of a good savour;”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Miscellaneous Letters 7.153
Twice I have been tripped up by you, and have been deceived (you know what I mean), and, if it was justly, may the Lord smell from you an odour of sweet savour;
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… and so again by the words “The Lord heard me and had mercy upon me,” and again, “He smelled a sweet savour
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.7
68. For there are spiritual nostrils, as we read, which the spouse of the Word has, to whom it is said: “And the smell of thy nostrils;” and in another place: “The Lord smelled a smell of sweetness.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 15
… a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God.” Lo, whither he hath raised their gift; not I, he saith, received, but God through me. Wherefore though I be not in need, regard it not, for God had no need, and He received at their hands in such sort, that the Holy Scriptures shrunk not from saying, “God smelled a sweet savor” (
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius 1.38
“We must hold that men are by nature children of wrath because of this ‘body of humiliation’ and ‘body of death,’ and because
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 79.9
… The Lord of nature Himself says in the gospel:—“out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” It is clear from the testimony of another book that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth,”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… But afterwards when God saw that the heart of man from his youth was set on wickedness continually, and that His Spirit could not remain in them because they were flesh, He by the deluge passed sentence on the works of the flesh, and, taking note of the extreme greediness of men,
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
Gen. viii. 21 . I will not curse the ground….for the mind of man is set on evil from his youth.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 23.1
… Who against his will prepares plots against his neighbour? Who is driven by unavoidable necessity to oppress a man by false witness or cheat him by theft, or covet the goods of another or shed his blood? Nay rather, as Scripture says, “Mankind is diligently inclined to wickedness from his youth.”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.16
… The Greeks sacrificed and the Jews also sacrificed: but the Greeks to demons and the Jews to God. And the sacrifice of the Greeks was rejected and condemned, but the sacrifice of the just was very acceptable to God. For Noah sacrificed, and God smelled a sweet savour
Pseudo-Clement The Clementine Homilies 3.39
… For this reflection is a view by which one, through ignorance, wishes to inquire into the result of the things which he wills, or it is the act of one repenting on account of the event not being according to his expectation. And whereas it is written, ‘And the Lord smelled a scent of sweetness,’
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AND GOD REMEMBERED NOAH. -- As if God had forgotten Noah, when He left him floating in that horrible abyss of waters with the ark, here at the end of the flood He is said to remember him, because He now frees him from it, says Theodoret. We heard in the preceding chapter of the destruction of all the impious: here we hear of the consolation of the pious: As therefore He first showed that the joy of the impious was turned into mourning: so here He declares that the sorrow of the pious was turned into joy, according to that word of Tobias: "This surely every one that feareth thee knoweth, that his life, if it be tried with tribulation, shall be crowned." BROUGHT A WIND, -- that is, the Holy Spirit, says Theodoret and St. Ambrose. Secondly, Rupert understands by spirit the sun, which by its heat dried up the waters. But I say, spirit, that is, a strong wind, which by force, not so much natural (for how could that happen in such great waters, in so short a time?), but divine, partly dried up and consumed the waters, partly condensed them, and forced them into the abyss and channel from which they had burst forth: which being done, He shut them up there, the fountains of the deep being closed and their openings, and this is what follows: "And the fountains of the deep were shut up." Thus St. Chrysostom and Ambrose. What this abyss is I said in chapter vii, verse 11. The same wind by the same force effected that from this flood no plague, or any pestilent thing should afterwards be spread abroad.
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AND THE RAIN FROM HEAVEN WAS RESTRAINED. -- Not as if it had rained continuously until then for 150 days, but that as the flood decreased, God restrained all rain whatsoever, even ordinary rain, so that the waters might decrease more quickly, and the earth be dried. God therefore restrained rain here for seven whole months, namely from the 17th day of the seventh month, when the water began to decrease, to the 27th day of the second month of the following year, when the earth was dried, as appears from verse 14.
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GOING AND COMING, -- going returning to the sea, and to the subterranean abyss, through various channels, and through hidden veins. Thus St. Jerome. In the seventh month, -- from the beginning, not of the flood, as some wish, but of the year, as appears from verses 13 and following.
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ON THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY. -- Thus the Latin Bibles, the Septuagint and all the Fathers read constantly, and reason proves that it must be read thus. For since the waters remaining in their height held the earth for 150 days, it follows that they remained in their height until the 17th day of this seventh month; for the flood began on the 17th day of the second month. Now from the 27th day of the second month to the 17th day of the seventh month, there are precisely 150 days, after which the waters began to decrease; therefore on the 17th day of the seventh month they began to decrease; but they could not decrease by 15 cubits, by which the mountains everywhere, not only of Armenia but also those higher than these in all the earth, were exceeded, in such a way that on the same 17th day the ark would rest in the mountains of Armenia; but this happened gradually, namely in such a way that after 10 days, that is on the 27th day of the same month, the ark could rest in those mountains, as is said here. For it is very clear that the waters decreased very slowly from the fact that, after the ark came to rest in the seventh month, only in the tenth month did the peaks of the mountains appear. Wherefore the Hebrew and Chaldean texts here are not so much mutilated as distorted and corrupted; for instead of 17 they have 27, namely for two disjunct words asar iom, that is, "the tenth day," it should be read conjointly as a single word esrim, that is, "the twentieth," supply day. Therefore Eugubinus, Cajetan and Lipomanus wrongly said that our text here is corrupted. MOUNTAINS OF ARMENIA. -- In Hebrew it is mountains of Ararat, which the Chaldean translator rendered mountains of Cordu, which Josephus and Curtius call Cordiaeans. These mountains, say Pererius and Delrio, are part of the Taurus mountain (which receives various names in different places), where it overlooks Cilicia and the river Araxes, which perhaps is called Ararat in Hebrew. Hence Stephanus, in his book On Cities, thinks Tarsus of Cilicia was named from tarsis, that is, I dry up, which is evidence of the dried-up earth there, on account of which Tarsus was founded there. But others think Tarsus was founded and named from Tarsis, the son of Japheth. Whence is Armenia named? Note: Armenia afterwards seems to have been so called from Aram, the son of Shem, grandson of Noah, Genesis chapter 10. If you consider the Hebrew etymology, Aram and Armenia signify high and lofty; for Armenia is the highest of all parts of the world, and this can be gathered even from the fact that in the mountains of Armenia, when the flood was decreasing, the ark first came to rest.
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The tenth month, -- not from the beginning of the flood, as Tostatus and Cajetan wish, but from the beginning of the 600th year of Noah's life, as is clear from the preceding chapter verse 11, and here verses 13 and 14. Thus Lyra and Pererius.
THE PEAKS APPEARED. -- Although indeed the ark had already come to rest in the mountains of Armenia in the seventh month, nevertheless the mountains were not yet uncovered at that time; for the mass of the ark had penetrated some cubits (say seven or eight) beneath the waters by its weight, as laden ships are accustomed to do; therefore with these seven or eight cubits gradually decreasing as the water receded, at length the mountains were uncovered, so that to Noah looking through the window of the ark, the peaks of the mountains appeared only in the tenth month. It is likely that they were previously uncovered and laid bare by the waters, but only in the tenth month did they first appear and were seen by Noah himself. Add to this, it is not necessary to say that the waters always decreased equally and uniformly; for it is likely that at first they decreased more, and that so the ark would no longer float but would settle in the mountains of Armenia, for the safety and consolation of Noah: for at the very beginning not only were the waters dried and condensed by the wind, but they were also suddenly withdrawn by God into their abyss, from which they had come forth, which indeed received an immense quantity of waters, and there they are shut up; whence verse 2 says: "And the fountains of the abyss were shut up."
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Did the raven return? THE RAVEN (WHICH) WENT FORTH, AND RETURNED NOT. -- The Chaldean, Josephus, and, as it seems to some, the Hebrew text itself have the contrary, namely, the raven went forth and returned. Whence Calvin accuses our Latin text of falsehood; but the Septuagint, our Interpreter, and all the Fathers, except Procopius, read with the negation, the raven went forth, and returned not. Either version and reading can have a true sense, and therefore one can easily be reconciled with the other. For which note: The Hebrew has it word for word thus: The raven went forth going out and coming in, namely, this raven sent forth from the ark, as testified by St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom and others, seeing carcasses lying on the mountains, or swimming in the waters, which were not yet dissolved or devoured by fishes in their greed; or rather, as Pererius thinks, because wearied by the confinement in the ark, it was eager for liberty, it did not wish to return to the ark; because however the earth was still muddy and watery, it would fly back from time to time to the top of the ark, and perch there, so that it might fly forth again to the carcasses. The raven therefore returned to the top of the ark, but did not return to Noah, into the ark itself, but flew back and forth. Whence Noah could not know from it whether and how much the earth was drying; hence shortly after he sent forth the dove, which might explore that. See Francis Lucas, note 3 on Genesis. Secondly and more genuinely, the Hebrew schob signifies to return, not to Noah who sent it forth, but to its original place, liberty and custom: whence schob is often taken for to depart, as is clear here verse 3, and Ruth 1, 16, and Ezekiel xviii, 26, and elsewhere often; wherefore in Hebrew it is thus word for word: The raven went forth going forth and departing, until the waters were dried up upon the earth; that is, it went forth more and more, and departed, until the earth was dried; for it is natural to birds, when released from a cage, to fly away as far as possible. But our Interpreter explained this sense more clearly, when he translated: "It went forth, and returned not." Whence also St. Jerome in his Tradition of the Hebrew in Genesis says that in Hebrew it is, it went forth going forth and not returning; thus carefully and learnedly Father Gordonus, book I of Controversies, chapter xix. For the raven going forth returned to its liberty, and consequently did not return to the ark, but receded farther from it; and this is what the Hebrew schob signifies. UNTIL THE WATERS WERE DRIED UP. -- For this until does not signify that after the earth was dried the raven returned to the ark, but only that before the drying it did not return; thus until is taken, Matthew chapter 1, last verse; Psalm cix, 2, and elsewhere. Moral. From this place the raven became a proverb among the Hebrews, so that they say a raven messenger, of one who is sent and returns late or never. The raven did not return to the ark, but the dove: ravens are those who defer repentance, saying: Tomorrow, tomorrow; doves are those who groan and repent immediately, and return to the ark. Hence Alcuin, in the book On Virtues and Vices: "Perhaps, he says, you answer: Tomorrow, tomorrow (namely I will be converted); O raven's voice! the raven did not return to the ark, the dove returned; if then you wish to do penance, when you cannot sin, when sins have left you, not you them: you are quite alien from faith, who wait for the time of old age to do penance." Otherwise St. Ambrose, in the book On Noah, chapter xvii: The sending forth of the raven, he says, signifies "that every just man when he begins to cleanse himself, those things which are dark and unclean and rash, he first repels from himself. For indeed all shamelessness and guilt is dark, and feeds on the dead like a raven. And therefore as guilt is sent forth and put to flight, and separated from innocence, so that nothing dark remains in the mind of a just man. Finally the raven that went forth does not return to the just man, because all guilt that flees is opposed to equity, nor does it seem to befit probity and justice." And chapter xviii, the dove returning to the ark, he says signifies the simple and innocent, who sent to convert the worldly, when they see malice has abounded in them, lest they labor in vain and be defiled, they soon fly back to the ark of the mind: "For, he says, it is hard for simplicity to find a harbor amid the cunning of this world and the waves of worldly desires." See more in him if you wish.
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WHERE IT MIGHT REST. -- For all things were still muddy and covered with slime. FOR THE WATERS WERE UPON THE WHOLE EARTH. -- For although the waters had left the high mountains, yet they still occupied the whole flat or level earth.
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TOWARD EVENING. — All day having fed (says St. Chrysostom, homily 26) it returns to its companion in a known lodging, to avoid the cold of night. Thus Delrio. A BRANCH OF OLIVE. — Because the olive always remains green in its leaves, as Pliny testifies in book XVI, chapter xx. This olive could therefore preserve its leaves under the waters of the flood for a whole year. Thus St. Chrysostom, homily 26: although St. Ambrose, in the book On the Ark, chapter xix, prefers that this olive sprouted under the waters, not naturally, but by the omnipotence of God. Note: Although the flood laid waste to most all trees situated in the plain, this olive nevertheless, and some other trees and plants, could have been preserved among the rocks of the mountains, which broke the force of the waters. The Jews here jest, who fable that this branch was brought from Sion and the Mount of Olives, to which as if sacred the flood did not reach. Others dream that it was brought from paradise. The olive is a symbol of peace, victory and happiness. Tropologically: The olive, says St. Ambrose, is the sign of divine mercy. Again the olive, says Pererius, is a hieroglyphic of peace, victory and happiness. This dove therefore with the olive branch brought to Noe and the world as it were security from the waters, and peace and reconciliation with God. I shall say more concerning the symbol of the olive in Leviticus, chapter II, verse 4. THAT THE WATERS HAD CEASED. — That they had been diminished even to the trees and the earth.
Allegory: Noe, Christ, and the Church Allegorically, Noe is Christ, the ark is the Church; after the passion and death of Christ, God brought back the spirit of life returning, when He raised Christ from the dead, and then gave to men the Holy Spirit for the remission of sins. Secondly, the waters were not immediately dried up by the Spirit, because God does not immediately dry up the waters of concupiscence and temptations and all sins, but in time; thirdly, the ark first rested on the mountains, because at the time of the passion of Christ, the Church stood in the Apostles; fourthly, Noe opened the window on the 40th day, because Christ on the 40th day after the resurrection ascended into heaven and opened it; fifthly, the raven sent forth does not return, because the unfaithful Jews cast out from the Church do not return to it; sixthly, the dove is the Holy Spirit, who was seen in the form of a dove over Christ; seventhly, the dove is sent forth a third time, because the Holy Spirit comes to us three times: first, when we are baptized; secondly, when we are confirmed; thirdly, when He shall raise our bodies. Eighthly, the dove did not sit on the muddy earth, or on carcasses, because the Holy Spirit does not enter into a carnal and malevolent soul; ninthly, the dove comes toward evening, because the Holy Spirit was poured out in the last days of Christ; tenthly, the dove brings a branch of olive, because the Holy Spirit brings to us the oil of divine grace and peace with God; eleventhly, Noe is assured through the dove that the waters have ceased, because the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God; twelfthly, Noe removes the covering of the ark, because Christ removes all obstacles, so that we may have free entrance into heaven; which shall then happen, when He shall say: Come, ye blessed of my Father, etc.
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THE WATERS WERE DIMINISHED, — even to the earth, so that the earth appeared dry. Where note: On the first day of the first month, in the 601st year of Noe, the earth is here said to be dried; understand inchoately, that is, so that it was laid bare of waters, yet would still remain muddy and slimy: for it was perfectly dried from mud and slime after 57 days, namely on the 27th day of the second month, as is said in the following verse, that is, so that Noe with his could go forth from the ark and walk upon the earth. Thus Pererius. AND NOE OPENING THE COVERING OF THE ARK, LOOKED. — Noe did not open the whole covering of the ark, but only a part, namely one or another of its planks, as much namely as was necessary, so that he could conveniently raise himself above the covering itself, and from there look around on all sides (which he could not do from the window, since it was placed at the side of the ark) and see whether now everywhere the waters had left the earth. Tropologically St. Ambrose, in the book On Noe, chapter xx: Noe, that is, a just man, opens the covering, so that he may contemplate incorporeal things, namely God and the heavenly beings: "And therefore," he says, "the just man whom he did not see the Lord sought, free from corruption, desirous of eternity."
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IN THE SECOND MONTH, ON THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY OF THE MONTH THE EARTH WAS DRY. — From this place it is clear that the flood lasted a whole year and ten days; for it began in the 600th year of Noah, on the 17th day of the second month; but it was finished in the 601st year of Noah, on the 27th day of the second month: therefore Noah was in the ark for a whole year and ten days. Pererius thinks that a lunar year is to be understood here, which contains twelve lunations, or twelve circuits of the moon through the Zodiac, and consequently contains 354 days, and is therefore eleven days shorter than the solar year; for this contains 365 days. Pererius's reason is, that the Hebrews used lunar months, and consequently lunar years; therefore it seems that Moses uses the same here. But this reason does not altogether conclude: for the Hebrews used lunar months on account of many feasts, which were to be celebrated according to the moon, as the new moon was to be celebrated at the new moon, Passover on the 14th day of the moon of the first month; yet it does not follow from this that Moses uses the same in the Pentateuch. For Moses here writes the chronology of the world, which is customarily written according to solar years, as being the most usual and common. Add: the Hebrews reduced their lunar years to the solar year, and made them equal to it, by intercalation, in the second or third year; and thus they themselves also used the solar year: otherwise indeed they could not always begin their year in the month of new fruits, and celebrate Passover in it. That Moses uses the solar year is suggested by what I said in chapter VII, last verse, namely that from the 17th day of the second month to the 27th of the seventh month 160 days elapsed, so that for the first 150 days the waters remained in their state, then in the last ten days they were so diminished that the ark stuck fast in the mountains of Armenia. For if you take lunar months, it must be said that after those 150 days of the flood, the earth was suddenly so dried in four days that the ark could stick fast in those mountains, although afterwards it was dried very slowly, as is clear from verses 5, 13, 14.
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St. Ambrose, in the book On the Ark, chapter XXI, and Cajetan, at the entrance of the ark, chapter VI, verse 18, note that God commands the wives to enter separately from the husbands, but at the exit commands them to go out together: because, says St. Ambrose, at the entrance, by the phrase of separation tacitly, individuals are warned by God to abstain from marriage and from generation, because it was then a time of mourning and penance: but at the exit, by another phrase of combination they are warned to use marriage, for the propagation of mankind.
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ALL LIVING CREATURES, etc., BRING FORTH WITH THEE, AND GO UPON THE EARTH. — You will ask, how after the flood wolves, foxes, lions, tigers and other harmful beasts, from Asia, whence Noah went forth from the ark, could have come to islands and lands separated from it by the sea in the middle, and especially to America? St. Augustine responds, book XVI of The City of God, chapter VII: In three ways, namely these animals either swam to the islands, or were carried there by men in ships, or were produced there by God's ordinance and creation. This third way seems scarcely credible; for after the flood, indeed after the first creation of things, Genesis 1, God created nothing anew: for this reason He brought into the ark a male and female of each living creature, that their seed might be saved upon the earth, Genesis VII, 3. It is therefore more true that these beasts came to the islands by swimming. For experience teaches that beasts swim and swim across for whole days and nights, when necessity urges. A great indication of this is that in the new world, namely in America, these beasts are found throughout the whole continent, and in islands near to it; but in islands separated from the continent by a journey of four days they are not found at all (because namely they could not fast so long as to reach there by swimming), as our Josephus Acosta asserts he observed diligently while dwelling in America, book I On the New World, chapter XXI: whence he adds that no fox, lion, bear, boar, or tiger is found in the island of Cuba, Hispaniola, Margarita and Dominica, because they are farther from the continent: just as before the arrival of the Spanish in those same islands there were no cattle, horses, dogs, cows, which those islands now abound in after they were brought in by the Spanish. Furthermore, that both men and animals penetrated from this world into America by land journey, or by small and easy navigation, Acosta probably conjectures from the fact that these Indians had neither the use of great ships, nor skill in the magnet, astrolabe and quadrant, without which if you sail for many days on the open sea, you will err completely from the sky. Hence he says, wherever an island occurs separated from the continent and from other islands very much, such as Bermuda, we find it altogether lacking in human commerce. Whence he concludes that America is a continent to this world of ours, and coheres with our land in some places, or certainly is not very much separated from it, so that it can be crossed by small boats or little ships. For toward the Arctic pole not all the length of America has been sufficiently explored, and many think there is a very broad land above Florida, and that it extends from the Cod-lands even to the extremities of Europe. Secondly, certain beasts were brought there by men either for profit, or novelty, or hunting, or magnificence, or for some other reason, just as they are brought here in cages to be viewed, some of which having escaped from cages fled to mountains and forests, and there by breeding multiplied. If this is not sufficient for anyone, let him have recourse to God's providence, and say, just as all animals were brought to the ark by angels in the flood, so after the flood by their work they were dispersed through various lands and islands. Thus Torniellus in the year of the world 1931, no. 49.
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ACCORDING TO THEIR KIND, — according to their species, that is to say. Animals two by two, or seven by seven, according to their kinds went forth from the ark, so namely that animals (males and females) of the same species went forth together.
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ALTAR — This is the first altar which is read of in Scripture; yet there is no doubt that others existed before, namely those in which Abel sacrificed, chapter IV. Altar is called as it were alta ara, in which namely victims are slain and offered to God; whence altar in Hebrew is called mizbeach, from zabach, that is, he slew. Holocausts. — From that seventh of the clean animals, or solitary male, as I said verse 2. Thus Diodorus of Tarsus in the Catena.
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AND THE LORD SMELLED A SWEET SAVOUR, — namely a savour of good fragrance, as Novatian reads it, in his book On the Trinity, that is to say, God accepted the holocaust of Noah as something pleasant and agreeable to him; God was delighted by it, just as we are delighted and nourished by the odour of roasted meats: for sacrifice is as it were the food of God; whence the Chaldean translator renders it: "The Lord received his oblation with good pleasure." In Hebrew, for sweet savour, it is ריח reah hannichoach, the savour of rest: because namely this sacrifice appeased and calmed God, who was angry with the human race. Thus Vatablus and Oleaster. Moses speaks metaphorically and anthropopathically, that is to say, the smoke of this sacrifice, and the odour which ascended with the smoke upward, pleased God in the manner of a sweet odour, and as it were removed the stench of sins from the nostrils of God: because, as St. Chrysostom says: "The virtue of the just Noah made the smoke and odour of the victim to be to God a savour of fragrance." Thus Plato and Lucian in a similar manner introduce the gods of the gentiles, as if they were sweetly smelling sacrifices, and rejoicing in their odour. AND HE SAID UNTO HIM. — In Hebrew אמר אל לבו amar el libbo, he said to his heart; the Chaldean translator renders it, he said in his word; the Septuagint, he said upon reflection, or after much meditation and consideration of heart, that is to say, God said this with mature counsel and deliberate decree. Secondly, he said to his heart, can be taken for he said in his heart, or from his heart, that is to say, seriously and from his inmost heart he said; for el is often taken for min, or bet. Thirdly, Delrio thus explains it: he said to his heart, that is, he said to Noah, who was the darling of God. Fourthly, most excellently from the Hebrew phrase you may thus expound it: amar el libbo, that is, heart said to his heart, namely to Noah, who went before: for all the ancients agree that these things are said to Noah, that is to say, God, being appeased by the sacrifice of Noah, spoke to his heart, that is, he comforted him, he soothed him, he said to him those things which were most pleasing and most delightful to his heart; for this is to speak to the heart of someone among the Hebrews. I WILL NO MORE CURSE THE EARTH. — "I will curse," that is, I will do evil, that is to say, I will no longer destroy the earth with a flood, as I did. BECAUSE OF MAN, — because of the sins of men. FOR THE IMAGINATION. — that is to say, I will have mercy on human weakness and proneness to evil, and therefore I will not henceforth punish their sins with a general flood of the whole world; but I will chastise those who sin with their own particular and individual punishments: for I wish to preserve and propagate the human race itself.
THE SENSE AND THOUGHT OF THE HUMAN HEART. — In Hebrew it is יצר לב האדם yetser leb haadam, "the figment of the human heart," that is, the very nature and essence of man, namely reason and will, is evil, say Luther and Calvin, but ineptly: for the very nature, reason and will of man are a figment, not of man, nor of the human heart, but of God and the divine will. But the figment of the human heart is its very thought, intention, machination, as Our Interpreter, the Septuagint, R. Kimchi and others translate everywhere, both Hebrew and Greek and Latin authors; for man fashions and forms this for himself in the workshop of his heart; whence it is clear that man has free will: just as a potter is free to fashion such or such a figment, or a vessel as he pleases. Secondly and better, "figment," that is, the pottery and workshop of the human heart is prone to evil, so as to form and fashion it; for just as a potter in his pottery forms plates, pots, basins: so man in the workshop of his heart and concupiscence forms there imaginations of all things which he desires. This therefore pottery, or workshop of the human heart corrupted by sin, is concupiscence itself, or sense, and, as the Septuagint translates, διάνοια, the mind corrupted by sin, and brooding over evils, which the motions of concupiscence bring forth and produce. You will say: From concupiscence nothing good, but only the motions of concupiscence, which are evil, can proceed; therefore from the human heart nothing good, but only evil can proceed. I answer: I deny the consequence, because in the human heart there is a twofold workshop, one of concupiscence, the other of reason, law and virtue; the former tends to evil, the latter to good; for God has naturally implanted this inclination to good in us: now it is in the power of man's will to work in the workshop of concupiscence, or of reason, and consequently to choose and work either evil, or good, especially if aided by the grace of God. THEY ARE PRONE TO EVIL. — In Hebrew ya ra, that is, they are evil, namely the very figments, thoughts and machinations which the human heart, infected and corrupted by sin and concupiscence, forms and fashions for itself. But our Interpreter saw more deeply that to ra, that is, evils, is taken causally; for prone to evil, or, as the Septuagint translates, they incline to evils: for, as I said, figment is taken for the very pottery, sense and concupiscence, which formally are not evil, that is, sins; but causally, because they are prone to evil, and incite man to evil. For this is the fitting reason why God says He will have mercy on men, so as no longer to punish their sins with a flood, namely because men from birth are weak, feeble and prone to evil: for actual malice and sin provoke not the mercy, but the wrath of God. FROM THEIR YOUTH. — "For from that age," says St. Ambrose, "malice grows; for diligence and eagerness in sinning begins from youth: so that a boy sins as one weak, a young man as one wicked, who eagerly desires to commit sins, and glories in crimes."
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ALL THE DAYS OF THE EARTH. — Not as long as the earth shall endure: for it stands forever, but as long as there shall be on earth generation and corruption, and there shall be men and animals, on account of which this variety of times has been brought in. SEEDTIME AND HARVEST. — Isidore Clarius thinks that the year is here divided after the manner of the Hebrews into six parts, namely into flowering, ripening, heat, seedtime, cold and summer, concerning which Delrio here. But it is far more true, as appears from the very antitheses, that here are described, first, the vicissitudes of labor, one of sowing, the other of reaping: for seedtime here signifies the time of sowing; harvest, the time of reaping; secondly, the vicissitudes of the year, summer and winter: thirdly, the vicissitudes of qualities and seasons, cold and heat. THEY SHALL NOT CEASE. — They shall not stop, they shall not cease to succeed one another mutually, as they stopped and ceased throughout the whole year of the flood.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 1 « Recordatus autem Deus Noe », non post centum quinquaginta sed post quadraginta primos dies, quibus elapsis reapse " , 129 pluvia cessavit (Proc.), « cunctorumque animantium et omnium iumentorum, quae erant cum eo in arca », — Syr. addit volucres, LXX insuper reptilia : sed reapse auctor s. potuit aliquando ab enumerandis singulis quibusque temperare — « adduxit spiritum super terram et imminutae sunt aquae »,
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v. 9 « et clausi sunt fontes abyssi et cataractae coeli, et prohibitae sunt pluviae de coelo ».
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v. 3 « Reversaeque sunt aquae de Lerra euntes et redeuntes » , non « huc illuc fluctuantes » (Malv.), nam id etiam ante fecerant neque erat ratio id commemorandi; sed « subinde decrescentes » (Sa), persaepe sc. 9n exprimit actionem sequentis verbi fieri pedetentim, continuo. « Et coeperunt minui post centum quinquaginta dies ». Hebr. et minutae sunt, deprehensae sunt minui, quod observarentur descendere in lateribus arcae, quae fixa jam haerebat.
8:4
v. & « Requievitque arca mense septimo , vigesimo septimo die mensis super montes Armeniae ». Hebr. Sam. LXX wn est idem atque Urarda seu Urtu textuum cuneiformium, quod tempore regum Assyriorum eius gentis et regionis erat nomen, quae montana Ararat vallemque fluminis Araxis obtinebat. Sed nomen non necessario antiquissimis etiam temporibus eodem tractu circumscribebatur, sed latius fortasse patebat. Significat illud secundum etymon regionem montanam (Schrader K G p. 30). Z'argumim et Syr. scri- bunt 1p i. e. Kurdistan. Consentit Beros. : £v xoi; Kop8uaícv ópeot z7;; 'Apusvíac. Item narratio cuneiformis scribens montem /Vizir : tractus enim Nizir erat ad orientem fontis fluminis Zab inferioris. In hac sententia facilius, non tamen unice, explicatur 11, 2, homines itinere ab oriente occidentem versus directo descendisse in campum Sennaar. Gf. Schrader l. c. 219; Len. II. 1. 4 sqq. Haud mirum est, singulas post diluvium nationes e communi sede profectas traditionem diluvii in novas sedes secum attulisse et altissimo cuiusque regionis monti affixisse : Asiae Minoris populos monti Ararat stricte dicto, Phrygas monti prope Apameam, Persas monti Elvend prope Ecbatanam, Indos monti Meru alicubi ad septentrionem sito etc. At perperam I. B. F. Obry (Du berceau de l'espéce humaine etc., Amiens 1858-1860), Len. 1. c. aliique inde intulere, arcam substitisse in quodam Tartariae monte. Credendum hac in re potius libro Genesis historico, quam traditionibus et mythis populorum. Et concesso axiomate, populos e primis sedibus migrantes antiquissimas traditiones quibusdam novarum sedium locis attribuisse, migratio traditionis diluvii haud difficilius à montibus Armenis vel Gordiaeis Mediam et Tartariam versus, quam e Tartaria Armeniam versus profecta esse fingitur. Arg. — Apparuerant utique prope arcam montium cacumina, at limo omnia opplebantur. Noe igitur discere cupidus, an remotiores forte tractus iam essent siccati, dimisit aves. Et corvus quidem, quod non inveniret, ubi requiesceret pes eius, prope arcam perseveravit, manui tamen patriarchae se non commisit ideoque alteri ab eodem experimento adhiberi non potuit. Ter post eum emissa columba : neque tamen, postquam ea non est reversa, Noe inconsulto Deo ausus est arca excedere, sed integris quatuor hebdomadis (p. 267) in ea perstitit, ut ex emissis avibus eius excedendi desiderium, e consequente mora insignem in Deum obedientiam perspicias.
8:6
v. 6 « Cumque transissent quadraginta dies , aperiens Noe fenestram arcae , quam fecerat , dimisit corvum »; v. "1 « qui egrediebatur et non revertebatur, donec siccarentur aquae super terram ». Nota, Hebr. Sam. Chald. ignorare negationem non , lectionem Vulg. esse incertam (cf. Verc.), item Syri (cf. Fzeld); tandem quoad LXX Iosephum , qui LXX sequitur, negationem non exprimere. Ergo lectio longe probabilior egrediebatur et revertebatur, constanter evolabat et revolabat, arcam circumvolitabat. Nota corvi breves esse volatus, columbae multo longiores. Tamen adverte, secundum narrationem cuneiformem corvum 702 rediisse; additur vero ibidem explanatio, ex qua perspicias, quomodo illud on in narrationem traditam irrepserit, sc. corvus conspexit cadavera, quae undis ferebantur, in illis consedit iisque pastus est.
8:8
v. 8 « Emisit quoque »; uti v. 10 docemur, elapso septiduo : sed non ideo cum Budde p. 272 h. 1. emendandus textus — « columbam post eum » , — ita etiam LXX :; sed "nx significat a se, estque idem sensus atque v. 10 ez arca — « ut videret, si iam cessassent aquae super faciem terrae ». « Quaestio est, quomodo columba non invenerit, ubi resideret, si jam, sicut narrationis ordo contexitur, nudata fuerant cacumina montium. Quae videtur quaestio aut per recapitulationem posse dissolvi, ut ea posterius narrata intelligantur, quae prius facta sunt; aut potius quia nondum siccata fuerant » (Aug.). Licet cacumina apparuissent, omnia tamen occupata erant limo (CArys.), hine
8:9
v. 9 : « Quae cum non invenisset , ubi requiesceret pes eius » , columba quippe limum abhorret, loca amat sicca, « reversa est ad eum £n arcam; aquae enim erant super unzversam terram. Eztenditque manum et apprehensam intulit «n arcam ».
8:10
v. 10 « Ezspectatis autem ultra septem diebus aliis, rursum dimisit columbam ex arca».
8:11
v. 11 « At illa ventt ad eum ad vesperam portans ramum olivae virentibus foliis in ore suo » — Hebr. folium olivae recens. Cum oliva in Asia quidem anteriore frequens reperiatur, sed non in altissimis montibus, docemur aquas iam sat multum recessisse (DilIm.). « Intellexit ergo Noe, quod cessassent aquae super terram ».
8:12
v. 19 « Ezspectavitque nihilomznus septem alios dies et emisit columbam , quae non est reversa ultra ad eum ».
8:13
v. 13 « Igitur sexcentesimo primo anno, primo mense, prima die mensis àmminutae » — Hebr. siccatae, idem verbum atque postea — « sunt aquae super terram et, aperiens Noe tectum arcae, aspezit vidilque, quod exsiccata esset superficies terrae ».
8:14
v. 1& « Mense secundo, septimo et vigesimo die mensis arefacta est terra ». Ergo ab initio diluvii usque ad tempus, quo apparuerant cacumina montium, effluxerant dies 220; ab hoc tempore usque ad illud, quo exsiecata est superficies terrae, dies 88; hinc ad penitus arefactam terram dies 56; quibus efficitur summa dierum 364.
8:15
v. 15 « Locutus est autem Deus ad Noe dicens » :
8:16
v. 16 « Egredere de arca, tu et uxor tua, filii tui et uxores filiorum tuorum tecum ». Cf., quae diximus ad 6, 18 : notat Epr., h. 1. mutato ordine recen-
8:20
v. 920 « Aed?ficavit autem Noe altare Domino » : prima haec altaris in s. scriptura mentio, licet Abel et Cain etiam super altaria obtulisse censendi sint. Monet Di//m., ex narratoris mente ipso Noe aevo cultum divinum iam exstitisse legitime institutum, habentem altaria et mundorum immundorumque discrimina. « E/ tollens de cunctis pecoribus et volucribus mundis , obtulit holocausta super altare ».
8:21
v. 94 « Odoratusque est Dominus odorem suavitatis » — expressio frequens in Lev. et Num., quaeque sane eundem sensum habet atque altera expressio , 4 « respexit Dominus etc. » — « et at » Dominus àn corde suo : — haec verba habent reliqui textus : sane nonin solo corde suo locutus est haec Deus, sed mentis decretum revelavit — « Nequaquam ultra maledicam terrae propter homines : sensus enzm et cogitatio human cordis in malum prona sunt ab adolescentia sua » , qua sc. vitae aetate homo evadit suarum actionum plene compos. « Significatur, hominem propter naturalem pronitatem ad peccandum dignum esse quodammodo miseratione nec semper, quantum supplicii meretur, tanto esse in hae vita plectendum » (Per.). « Non igitur ultra percutiam omnem animam viventem , sicut feci ».
8:22
v. 99 « Cunctis diebus terrae », « sementts et messis, frigus et aestus, aestas et hiems, noz et dies non requiescent », — non d?u noctuque (LXX/). Cf. Act. 1*4, 15 sq. Non idem apud antiquos populos temporum anni numerus : Hebraei solam aestatem et hiemem videntur distinxisse. Confuderat utique diluvium frigoris et aestus, aestatis et hiemis tempora, forte etiam noctem et diem, atro videlicet coelo diem obscurante fulguribusque noctem illustrantibus ; nulla fuerat sementis et messis. Haec sententia confirmat id, quod supra de diluvio integrum annum durante edocebamur : sola fluminum annua inundatio non ita anni tempora permiscuisset. Arg. — Tria adnectuntur, quorum duo ad historiam diluvii intimius pertinent, tertium historiam Noe complet : v. 1-7 divina benedictio cum lege de cibis et homicidio Noe tradita, v. 8-17 foedus cum eodem initum, v. 18-29 benedictio Sem et Japhet cum Chanaani maledictione. « In exordio mundi homini recens creato tria Deus bona, eaque magna et praeclara impertivit : primum foecunditatem naturae ad celerem ac multiplicem humani generis propagationem, cum benedicens illi dixit : « Crescite et multiplicamini » ; alterum excellentiam principatus et imperiiin animalia : « Dominamini », inquit, « piscibus maris etc. »; tertium copiam cibi ad tuendam sustentandamque vitam : « Ecce dedi vobis omnem herbam etc. ». Eadem haec tria bona et beneficia, mundo per diluvium purificato ac renovato, Deus etiam renovare voluit » (Per.). Cap. IX
8:2
… 88:11). Above, the solid celestial vault ("firmamentum") has the task of dividing the upper waters from the lower (Gen. 1:6 ff.) and holding these back in their reservoirs (Job 38:22). When God wishes to send rain he opens the floodgates (Gen. 7:11; 8:2) and lets the waters flow. …
8:4
… Only later, through an erroneous exegesis of Gen. 8:4 (Noah's ark after the flood came to rest "on the mountains of A."), was the A. considered a specific mountain, identified with the present-day A., called in Persian Kôh-i-Nûh, "Mountain …
… From the text it may be inferred that the author was thinking of the region of lakes Van and Urmia, to the north of Mesopotamia (cf. Gen. 8:4), where the Tigris and the Euphrates have their sources; the Phison would be the Phasis (today's Rion) or the Čoroch (Hevilath = Colchis); the Gehon (v.) would be the Araxes, and Chus …
The name U. is certainly indigenous, but in the inscriptions of the ancient kings, contemporary with the Neo-Assyrian era, the region is called Bia and the nation bears the name Biaina; the Assyrians called the country and the nation U.; in the Old Testament the country is called Arārat (Gen. 8:4); still a few decades ago the name Vannici, derived from Lake Van, on whose shores monuments of this people have been found, was in vogue among scholars. …
8:6
… That the ark then had a window - with a closing device - appears from Gen. 8:6, where hallōn is used. …
8:13
It had elements not customary in a ship: a door in the side (Gen. 6:16 b; for its use cf. Gen. 6:18; 7:1, 7; 8:18), which God closed before sending the waters (Gen. 7:16), the roof or cover (cf. Gen. 8:13) to protect from the water. …
Noe (Heb. Nōah; Septuagint Nōe; cf. Old Babylonian Nuḫīja)
… The only exception is at el-Baghaouat, where it takes on the appearance of a gondola (W. De Bock, Matériaux pour servir à l'arch. chrét. de l'Égypte, St. Petersburg 1901, p. 22 and pl. 12). The ark has locks and a lid almost always raised, according to the text aperiens Noc tectum arcae (Gen. 8:13). To G. Wilpert's list (Pitture, p. 332) other scenes must be added; in a hypogeum discovered near the tomb of the Scipios, between the Appian and the Latin Way, in an arcosolium there …
8:18
It had elements not customary in a ship: a door in the side (Gen. 6:16 b; for its use cf. Gen. 6:18; 7:1, 7; 8:18), which God closed before sending the waters (Gen. 7:16), the roof or cover (cf. Gen. 8:13) to protect from the water. …
… Hām, Vulgar Chām). - One of the three sons of Noah (Shem, C. and Japheth, Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 9:18; 1 Chron. 1:4) saved from the flood (Gen. 8:18) and from whom "the whole human race spread over all the earth" (ibid. 9:19). He had four sons (v. CAMITES). …
8:20
… designates places of idolatrous worship), the altar is a mound, then a platform, on which gifts or victims are offered to God; later it implies the concept of a table ("table of Yahweh" Mal. 1:7, 12; Ez. 41:22). The first mentioned is that of Noah, Gen. 8:20; Abraham erects altars at Shechem, near Bethel, at Mamre, on Moriah, Gen. 12:7 ff.; 13:18; 22:9; Isaac at Beersheba, Gen. 26:25; Jacob at Bethel, Gen. 28:18; 35:14; Moses at …
III. THE SACRIFICE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. - The first examples of sacrifice in the Old Testament (Gen. 4:3 ff.; 8:20) clearly show that it is as ancient as the human race. …
8:21
Noe (Heb. Nōah; Septuagint Nōe; cf. Old Babylonian Nuḫīja)
When the flood was over, on the occasion of a sacrifice offered in gratitude by the survivors, God made a first promise that he would no longer in the future inflict upon the human race a punishment like that one (Gen. 8:21 ff.), a promise that God more solemnly confirmed some time later, stipulating with N. and his descendants a "covenant" (ibid. 9:8-17; cf. Is. 54:9), which he set as a divine seal upon …
8:22
The Bible does not properly speak of seasons, but only of summer and winter (Gen. 8:22), while the calendar of Gezer (v.) distributes the 12 months into 8 agricultural periods. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.