18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth and the ark went upon the face of the waters. q Ps. 104. 26. only shall the world, as then, be full of dissipation, but the concluding scene is described in nearly the same words, 'And they that were ready went in, and the door was shut! 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered. r Ps. 104. 6. Jer. 3. 23. all the desolating effects described above, it is not easy to determine. The probability we think is, that the latter was the case, and that the appearances on the surface of the earth indicating violent disruptions are to be referred rather to some anterior deluge tory of our globe, of which the sacred record makes no mention. That the rains, however, at first would produce all the common effects of a desolating freshet, is obvious. But these effects would naturally cease as the waters rose. 17. Forty days. That is, larger days, including the nights; wherefore the Gr. has 'forty days and forty nights.'or deluges, of unknown date in the hisThis of course implies not the whole term of the prevalence of the waters, which was 150 days, but merely that after the rain had fallen forty days and the sea had continued to rise, the ark was floating on the surface. It was probably 150 days before they reached their utmost height.- -¶ It was lifted up above the earth. Heb. 'it was on high from upon the earth.' The original denotes not the act, but the state of being lifted up or elevated. Heb. They would become calm in proportion as they became deep; unless the action of wind be supposed; of which there is no intimation till after the flood had continued an hundred and fifty days. 19. All the high hills-were covered. Rather 'the high mountains' (Heb. 18. The waters prevailed. 1733 yigberu. The words denote being strong, mighty, and prevalent in harim), as the original word is despite of opposition; and therefore here implies the conquering or carrying every thing before it, throwing down and sweeping away buildings, trees, and living creatures, and causing universal devastation. 'Where now were those profane scoffers, that asked what Noah meant to build such a vessel? And whether, when he had made his ship, he would also make a sea for it to swim in?' Trapp.- ¶ The ark went upon the face of the waters. Heb. walked; i. e. was borne by a gentle, equable motion, and not violently tossed or driven, to which its form was not adapted. Whether this was owing to a miracle, or to the fact that the rising of the waters was comparatively calm and unattended with tempestuous agitation, though still marked with the same with that so rendered in the next verse. It seems scarcely possible, from the language of this and the ensuing verse, to resist the conclusion that the deluge was universal. Doubts have indeed been entertained on this score by writers of eminence, many of whom contend that as the deluge had for its main object the destruction of man, it was therefore useless that a general catastrophe of this kind should submerge the parts of the earth not then inhabited. It is also unquestionable that learned men have in later times so modified their opinions in regard to the present visible traces of the Noachian deluge, that many of them are becoming less and less satisfied that any physical evidence exists at all of such an event. But even if this be ad mitted, as a tenable hypothesis, still it does not avail to set aside the recorded evidence of the fact of the occurrence of such a deluge as Moses here describes a deluge that was strictly universal in its extent. For though it be granted that Moses was not acquainted with the true form or size of the earth, and though to himself the language which he employed may have conveyed only the idea of the then inhabited earth, yet writing under inspiration he may have been led to adopt expressions more accurately coinciding with the fact, and there is certainly an emphasis in the expression, 'under the whole heaven,' which in our view can import nothing less than the absolute universality of the deluge. Besides it would not be difficult to show the very high probability that the earth then contained a vastly greater population than it ever has since, so that the whole race could only have been destroyed by making the flood universal. As to the source from whence the vast mass of diluvial waters were derived, if a miracle be admitted at all in the case, no farther inquiry is necessary; but apart from this consideration it is now agreed by the most competent judges, that there is water enough pertaining to the body of the globe to produce all the results described, though the highest mountains were covered even to the depth of fifteen cubits, or 22 feet. As to the precise manner in which they were made to pour themselves out of their ordinary receptacles and overwhelm the earth so completely, this will probably continue to give rise to of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. t ch. 2. 7. different theories among geologists for a long time to come, even should it ever be finally and satisfactorily settled. Whatever may be the truth respecting it, it does not properly fall within the range of these annotations. 22. The breath of life. Heb. 'the breath of the spirit of life.' But our version follows the Gr. Tvony (wns breath of life.- - That was in the dry land; thus excepting the fish of the sea, but extending the destruction to every tenant of the surface of the earth save those included in the ark. If this scene of terrific and awful desolation be rightly conceived, it will be seen how inadequate and infinitely below the real facts are all those representations of the deluge to which we have been accustomed. It appears from the narrative that the waters were 150 days advancing to their greatest height, and 275 days in descending; the period of their returning off the earth being nearly twice as long as their rising. Taking the height of the loftiest elevations of the earth, the snowy mountains of Inaia, at a measurement of 28,000 feet above the surface of the ocean, the rate of increase would be upwards of 186 feet per day for the rising of the waters, and 100 feet for their daily decrease. We may see from this how little foundation exists for those comments which exhibit animals and men as escaping to the highest grounds and hills, as the flood advanced. The impossibility of any such escape may be immediately seen. Neither man nor beasts under such circumstances could either advance or flee to any distance. Any CHAPTER VIII. 23 And every living substance upon the earth an hundred and was destroyed which was upon fifty days. the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth; and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24 u And the waters prevailed u 2 Pet. 2. 5. & 3. 6. w ch. 8. 3. & ch. 8. 4.. compared with ver. 11. of this chap. a AND God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged; a ch. 19. 29. Ex. 2. 24. 1 Sam. 1. 19. b Ex. 14. 21. soul, in the midst of all the inundations of evil.' Bp. Hall. animal found in the plain when the flood began would soon be merged in water several feet deep, independent of 24. The waters prevailed upon the the overwhelming torrents dashing up-earth an hundred and fifty days. That on his head. And were he to attempt is, five months, before they began to advancing up the rising grounds, a cataract or sheet of water, would be gushing all the way in his face, besides inpending water from the 'flood-gates' of heaven momentarily rushing over him. He would almost instantly become a prey to the resistless element. 'In vain is salvation hoped for from the hills.' Jer. 3. 23. yekom, as above, v. 4, rendered by the Gr. nav avaoтnpa every thing that stood up. -T Was destroyed. Rather according to the Heb. 'he, or it (the flood) destroyed (wiped out) every living thing.' The verb is active and not passive, though no nominative is expressed. This has to be supplied by the reader from the tenor of the narrative. How securely doth Noah ride out this uproar of heaven, earth, and waters! He hears the pouring down of rain above his head; the shrieking of men, and the roaring and bellowing of beasts on both sides of him; the raging and threats of the waves under him; and the miserable shifts of the unbelievers; and, in the meantime, sits quietly in his dry cabin, neither feeling nor fearing evil. How happy a thing is faith! What a quiet safety, what a heavenly peace, doth it work in the abate. This might seem to us unnecessary, seeing every living creature would be drowned within the first six weeks; but it would serve to exercise the faith and patience of Noab, and to impress his posterity with the greatness of the divine displeasure against man's sin. As the land of Israel was to have its Sabbath during the captivity; so now the whole earth, for a time, shall be relieved of its load, and fully purified, as it were, from its uncleanness. CHAPTER VIII. 1. God remembered Noah. That is, put forth a token of his remembrance; acted as a person does who would manifest remembrance towards one who was ready to deem himself forgotten. The phrase is figurative; for, strictly speaking, God cannot be supposed ever to have forgotten Noah from the moment of his entering the ark. But the import here is not that of a constant mindfulness. God remembered Noah by making a wind to pass over the earth, to assuage the waters of the deluge. Comp. Gen. 30. 22.- -T Made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. Heb. 1 settled down, sunk, were depressed, i. e. began to subside; the original being spoken Jer. 5. 2 The fountains also of the deep, and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: c ch. 7. 11. d Job 38. 37. 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, upon the mountains of Arara.. e ch. 7. 24. ly dangerous; but as the ark gently settled upon its resting-place, it is evident that the waters were calm. In a stormy sea it would have foundered and not rested; at least without a miracle. As Noah seems to have had no agency in steering the ark, it was doubtless conducted hither by the special providence of God, who watches equally over the floatings and the wanderings of his church.- ¶ Upon the mountains of Ararat. Heb. 26, of the stooping posture of a birdcatcher in laying or watching his snares. It is elsewhere applied to the subsiding of anger, Est. 21, and of murmurings, Num. 17. 5. The usual effect of wind upon a body of water is to agitate and work it to a tempest; in this case the effect was directly the reverse; but for w at reason is not wholly obvious. The blowing of a strong wind from the north, would naturally clear away the clouds from the atmosphere, and thus enable the sun al hare Ararat, literally renderto act upon the watery mass which ed in our version. The opinion is very would cause a rapid evaporation; but general among commentators that this by comparing this with what is said expression, though of a plural form, Ex. 14. 21, of the agency of the east points at one well known mountain of wind in drying up the Red Sea, it would the same name situated in the modern seem that the wind acted also mechan- Armenia. The Heb. Ararat ocically in propelling the waters off from curs but in three other places, 2 Kings the surface of the habitable regions 19. 37. Is 37. 38. Jer. 51. 27, in the which they had submerged and driving last of which it is rendered as here by them to their appropriate reservoirs. Ararat, and in the other two by ArmeYet it is obvious that the ark must nia. This mountain, which consists of have been so situated as to be exempt two separate peaks of unequal elevafrom this action of the aerial element. tion, is situated in a vast plain twelve 3. The waters returned—continual-leagues east from Erivan, and rises to ly. Heb. 1773 going or walk-an height of upwards of 15,000 above ing and returning; a Heb. idiom for the ocean. It is called by the Eastern expressing the gradual and yet con- people by the various names of Masis, stant progress of any thing. See note Ardag or Agridagh, i. e. the fingeron Gen. 3. 8. -¶ Were abated; i. e. mountain, from its standing alone went on abating. The true force of the and rising like a finger held up, Kuhi original term is to become scant. Nuach, or mountains of Noah, and Meresoussar, or the stopping of the ark. In like manner the name of the neighbouring city of Nak-schivan is said to be composed of two words Nak, ship, and Schivan, stopped or settled; all indicating a prevalent tradition that this was 4. The ark rested in the seventh month. That is, of the year, not of the flood. The flood had now continued precisely five months, or 150 days. For a ship in the sea to have struck upon a rock or upon land, would have been extreme my eye upwards again, refixed my gaze on the awful glare of Ararat; and this bewildered sensibility of sight being answered by a similar feeling in the mind, for some moments I was lost in a strange suspension of the powers of thought.' Of the two separate peaks, called Little and Great Ararat, which are separated by a chasm about seven miles in width, Sir Robert thus speaks;-'These inaccessible summits have never been trodden by the foot of man, since the days of Noah, if even then, for my idea is that the ark rested in the space between these heads, and not on the top of either. Various attempts have been made in different ages to ascend these tremendous mountain pyramids, but in vain; their form, snows, and glaciers are insurmountable obstacles, the distance being so great from the commencement of the icy regions to the highest points, cold alone would be the destruction of any person who should have the hardihood to persevere. On viewing mount Ararat from the northern side of the plain, its two heads are separated by a wide cleft, or rather glen, in the body of the mountain. The rocky side of the greater head runs almost perpendicularly down to the north-east, while the lesser head rises from the sloping bottom of the cleft, in a perfectly conical shape. no other than the real resting-place of the mists of the horizon; when an inexark after the flood. Of a place so memor-pressible impulse, immediately carrying able it will be proper to give a somewhat more detailed account, notwithstanding the reasons which we shall shortly of fer for entertaining very strong doubts whether this were in fact the true locality to which the inspired narrative points. Mr. Morier describes Ararat as being most beautiful in shape, and most awful in height; and Sir Robert Ker Porter has furnished the following graphic picture of this stupendous work of nature:-'As the vale opened beneath us, in our descent, my whole attention became absorbed in the view `before me. A vast plain peopled with countless villages; the towers and spires of the churches of Eitch-miaadzen arising from amidst them; the glittering waters of the Araxes flowing through the fresh green of the vale; and the subordinate range of mountains skirting the base of the awful monument of the antediluvial world, it seemed to stand a stupendous link in the history of man, uniting the two races of men before and after the flood. But it was not until we had arrived upon the flat plain that I beheld Ararat in all its amplitude of grandeur. From the spot on which I stood, it appeared as if the hugest mountains of the world had been piled upon each other, to form this one sublime immensity of earth, and rock, and snow. The icy peaks of its double heads rose majestiBoth heads are covered with cally into the clear and cloudless heav- snow. The form of the greater is simens; the sun blazed bright upon them, ilar to the less, only broader and roundand the reflection sent forth a dazzling er at the top, and shows to the northradiance equal to other suns. This west a broken and abrupt front, openpoint of the view united the utmost ing about half way down into a stupen grandeur of plain and height, but the dous chasm, deep, rocky, and peculiar. feelings I experienced while looking only black. At that part of the moun the mountain are hardly to be described. My eye, not able to rest for any length of time on the blinding glory of its summits, wandered down the apparently interminable sides, till I could no longer trace their vast lines in the tain, the hollow of the chasm receives an interruption from the projection of the minor mountains which start from the side of Ararat, like branches from the roots of a tree, and run along in undulating progression, till lost in the |