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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 6:13-21

Here it appears indeed that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's favour to him was plainly intimated in what he said of him, Gen. 6:8-10, where his name is mentioned five times in five lines, when once might have served to make the sense clear, as if the Holy Ghost took a pleasure in perpetuating his memory; but it appears much more in what he says to him in these verses?the informations and instructions here given him. I. God here makes Noah the man of his counsel, communicating to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 6:14

Make thee an ark of Gopher wood ,.... It is not called a ship, for it was not made for sailing to any distant parts, but an ark or chest, being like one, flat bottomed, and ridged and sloping upwards, and was made for floating on the waters for a little way. So Lucian F3 De Dea Syria. , and other Heathen writers, call it λαρναξ , "an ark" or "chest": this was made of "Gopher wood", which all the Targums, and the more ancient Rabbins, understand of cedar wood; some the box tree, as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 6:15

And this is the fashion which thou shall make it of ,.... The form and size of it, its length, breadth, and height, as follows: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits ; which some interpret of geometrical cubits, each of which contained six ordinary cubits; others of sacred cubits, which were larger by an hand's breadth than the common cubit; but the general opinion of learned men now is, that they were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 6:16

A window shalt thou make to the ark ,.... Or a "light", such as is that at noon, for which the word in the dual number is used; and therefore Junius and Tremellius translate it a "clear light". The Jewish writers F19 Targum Jonathan in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. will have it to be a precious stone, a pearl which Noah fetched from the river Pison, and hung up in the ark, and it gave light to all the creatures, like a large chandelier; but a window no doubt it was to let light into the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 6:14

Make thee an ark - תבת tebath , a word which is used only to express this vessel, and that in which Moses was preserved, Exodus 2:3 , Exodus 2:5 . It signifies no more than our word vessel in its common acceptation - a hollow place capable of containing persons, goods, etc., without any particular reference to shape or form. Gopher wood - Some think the cedar is meant; others, the cypress. Bochart renders this probable, 1. From the appellation, supposing the Greek word ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 6:15

Thou shalt make - the length of the ark - three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits - Allowing the cubit, which is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, to be eighteen inches, the ark must have been four hundred and fifty feet in length, seventy-five in breadth, and forty-five in height. But that the ancient cubit was more than eighteen inches has been demonstrated by Mr. Greaves, who traveled in Greece, Palestine, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 6:16

A window shalt thou make - What this was cannot be absolutely ascertained. The original word צהר tsohar signifies clear or bright; the Septuagint translate it by επωυναγων , "collecting, thou shalt make the ark," which plainly shows they did not understand the word as signifying any kind of window or light. Symmacbus translates it διαφανες , a transparency; and Aquila, μεσημβρινον , the noon. Jonathan ben Uzziel supposes that it was a precious luminous stone which Noah, by Divine... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 6:14

Verse 14 14.Make thee an ark of gopher wood. Here follows the command to build the ark, in which God wonderfully proved the faith and obedience of his servant. Concerning its structure, there is no reason why we should anxiously inquire, except so far as our own edification is concerned. First, the Jews are not agreed among themselves respecting the kind of wood of which it was made. Some explain the word gopher to be the cedar; others, the fir-tree; others, the pine. They differ also... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:9-22

The building of the ark. I. THE MAN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES . A common saying, and one possessed of a show of wisdom, that a person seldom rises far above the average goodness, or sinks far below the average wickedness, of the age in which he lives. Yet it is precisely in proportion as individuals either excel or fall beneath their generation that they are able to affect it for good or evil. All epoch-making men are of this stamp. Noah, it is obvious, was not a man whose character... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:9-22

Righteousness and peace. The description of Noah is very similar to that of Enoch, just and perfect in his generation, that is, blameless in his walk before men, which is saying much of one who lived in a time of universal corruption. And he walked with God, i.e. devout and religious, and, from the analogy of the preceding use of the words, we may say, a prophet. He preached righteousness both with lip and life. To this good and great prophet the announcement is made of the coming... read more

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