Genesis 6:16

Gen 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.

Ver. 16. A window shalt thou make.] The ark had little outward light; so the Church, till she become triumphant. There could not but be much stench among all those creatures, though shut up in several rooms; so here, there is much annoyance to those that have their "senses exercised to discern good and evil". {Heb 5:14} Compare the estate of Prince Charles in his queen-mother’s womb with his condition at full age, in all the glory of his father’s court; there is a broad difference. And it may fitly resemble, saith one, {a} the difference of our present and future estate; while the Church doth here travail of us, we are pent up in dark cloisters, and annoyed with much stench of sin, both in ourselves and others; but when we come to heaven, we shall see and enjoy the light of life, our feet shall be as hinds’ feet, upon the everlasting mountains.

{a} Bain’s Letter,

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:16 An 18-inch opening below the roof encircled the boat, providing light and air. • Noah was to build a door and God would close it (7:16). God was the captain of this peculiar boat with no sail or rudder. God also brought the animals to Noah (6:20).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, of three heights, as appeareth in the figure.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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

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

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 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 command, brought from the river Pison. It is probably a word which should be taken in a collective sense, signifying apertures for air and light.

In a cubit shalt thou finish it above] Probably meaning that the roof should be left a cubit broad at the apex or top, and that it should not terminate in a sharp ridge. But this place is variously understood.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) A window.—Not the word so rendered in Gen_7:11; Gen_8:2, which means a lattice; nor that in. Gen_8:6, which means an aperture; but “zohar,” light, brightness. In the dual, double-light, it is the usual word for “midday,” but it does not occur elsewhere in the singular. It was evidently a means, not merely of lighting the ark, but also of ventilating it; for as it was thickly covered within and without with bitumen—a point strongly insisted upon in the Chaldean Genesis—the two lower storeys would be so ill supplied with air as to be fit only for stores and. ballast, and the upper storey alone capable of being inhabited. If this zohar was an open space one cubit in height, running all round the ark, and formed by not boarding over the upright beams, it would have given a sufficient supply of air, and being protected by the overhanging eaves of the roof—for the ark had no deck—would not have admitted any serious amount. of rain. So in the Chaldean Genesis the ark has no deck, but a roof (p. 281).

Above.—Or, upward. The word is one of those reduplicated forms by means of which the Hebrew language expresses so much within a little compass. Consisting of only six letters, it is nevertheless a compound of five particles, and signifies from to upward .· that is, thou shalt finish it (the ark, as is shown by the gender) from beneath, working upwards till the last cubit, which is not to be finished, but left open for ventilation and light.

The door, on which also much stress is laid in the Chaldean account as being essential for the protection of the inmates (p. 281), was to be at the side, and probably extended throughout the three storeys, two-thirds of which, however, might be closed as soon as the lower storeys had received their freightage of provisions. Besides this door, there must also have been apertures to admit of cleaning the cells in which the animals were confined and removing their litter, but of such lower arrangements no mention is made.

It is not necessary to suppose that Noah and his three sons built this vast vessel with their own hands. He was probably a powerful chieftain, and many of the Sethites may have given him aid. Implements of iron had been invented by the Cainites, and on the intermarriage of the two lines would be brought into general use. It is difficult, however, to understand now four men could feed, clean, and give water to a very large collection of animals for so many months. Without scrupulous attention to such matters, a murrain would have broken out, and as only two of many species were taken into the ark, the loss of any one of these animals would have been equivalent to the destruction of the race. The narrative, however, implies that the health of man and beast throughout the twelve months was perfect; and probably the number of the animals received into the ark was less than is commonly supposed.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. Alight] Perhaps better than a roof. The word so rendered (ṣôhar) only occurs here in the singular: in the dual it is the regular Heb. word for “noonday.” Accepting the rendering which connects it with “light,” we should probably be right in conjecturing that it means here “a window,” or “opening,” beneath the over-hanging eaves of the roof on both sides of the ark. So Latin, fenestram. In the Babylonian version, a window is mentioned. Others, connecting the word with an Arabic form, render it by roof, deeming that the roof, being of such importance to the inmates, could not have been omitted in the description. LXX ἐπισυνάγων is unintelligible, but possibly gives the idea of the converging sides of the covering.

and to a cubit, &c.] This clause is very difficult. (a) The commonest opinion is that, if the reference be to a window, it was to be a cubit high, running round the ark. This, however, would have been a mere slit, and practically inadequate for purposes of light and air. Perhaps it may mean the distance of a cubit from the top of the window to the roof. (b) The idea that it represented a little square window in Noah’s own cell is fanciful. (c) If the word rendered “light” denoted the roof, the cubit “upward,” or “from above,” might indicate the amount of slope, which, however, would be extremely small. An allusion to the “window” is the most probable explanation. The opening would have run all round the ship, with the necessary intervals of beams and supports. The description must not be judged by modern standards either of ship-building or of hygiene. It is more or less imaginative.

upward] The rendering of the margin, from above, gives a more intelligible meaning.

Gunkel, who considers that the text is corrupt, makes the strange conjectural emendation, “and on a hinge shalt thou make it revolve.”

the door] Cf. Gen_7:16.

stories] The Babylonian account is more elaborate: “Then I built 6 decks in it so that it was divided into 7 stories. The interior (of each storey) I divided into 9 compartments.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But with thee will I establish my covenant,.... Made with Noah at this time, though not expressed, that on his making an ark, as God directed him, and going into it at his command, he would preserve him while building it from the rage of wicked men, and save him in it and his family, when the flood should come; and that they should come safe out of it, and repeople the world, which should be no more destroyed by one; for this covenant respects that later mentioned, Gen 9:11 so Aben Ezra; or the promise of the Messiah, which should spring from him, for the fulfilment of which Noah and his family were spared; and this in every article God would confirm, of which he might be assured from his power, veracity, and faithfulness, and other perfections of his:

and thou shalt come into the ark; when the covenant would begin more clearly to be established, and more plainly to be fulfilling; Noah on the one hand being obedient to the divine will, having built an ark, and entering into it; and on the other, God giving him leave, and an order to enter into it, and shutting him up in it to preserve him:

thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee; that is, Noah and his wife, and his sons and their wives, in all eight persons; and eight only, as the Apostle Peter observes, Pe1 3:20 by this it appears that Noah's three sons were married before the flood, but as yet had no children. Jarchi concludes, from the mode of expression used, that the men and women were to be separate; that they entered the ark in this manner, and continued so, the use of the marriage bed being forbidden them while in the ark.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In a cubit. This is understood by some, of the height of the window; by others, of the roof, which would be almost flat, like the top of a coach. Menoch supposes, that the whole ark was to be measured with the cubit in every part, from the bottom to the top; and the words of it, properly refer to the ark. --- Side, or at the end, about the middle way, that the animals might be coveyed easily to their stalls. The door would open into the story allotted to the beasts, and all things might enter it by a sort of bridge, or by sloping planks. (Calmet) --- Ordure might be thrown down into the lowest part of the ark, separated from the reservoir of fresh water, or might be brought up with ropes and buckets to the window at the top, which would easily open. (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

A window, or a light; or lights, or windows; the singular number being put for the plural, which is most frequent: or it might be one great light or lantern, by which light might be derived and distributed into several rooms.

Shalt thou finish it above, i.e. either,

1. The window, which was to be a cubit square. Or rather,

2. The ark; as appears,

1. From the gender of the Hebrew affix, which is feminine, and therefore agrees with the ark, which in the Hebrew is of the feminine gender, not with the window, which is masculine.

2. From the nature of the thing, the ark requiring a roof, and that sloping, that the rain might slide off from it, and not sink into it; for which end the roof in the middle was to be higher than the ark by a cubit. And as the other parts of the ark were made with exquisite contrivance, so doubtless this was not defective therein.

The highest story was for men and birds; the second for provision for the brute creatures; the lowest for the beasts, under which was the sink of the ark, which most probably was made sloping at the bottom, as all ships and boats are, where serpents and such like creatures might be put, with their proper provisions.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. A window — צהר. The Hebrew word here employed occurs nowhere else in the singular, but is frequently found in the dual, denoting the noontide. A different word is used in Gen_8:6, to describe the window which Noah opened to send forth the raven. The making of that window is nowhere described.

In a cubit… finish it above — Or, unto a cubit (within a cubit of the ridge) shalt thou finish it (the ark) from above, (on the roof, measuring from the eaves upward.) Leave an aperture the whole length of the roof and a cubit wide, on each side of the ridge. This seems to be the best interpretation of this concise and obscure passage. This aperture, two cubits wide and running through the middle of the roof, was at once a skylight and a ventilator, being wholly or partially closed by some sort of a covering, perhaps a semi-transparent awning, (Gen_8:13,) during the rain, and which Noah lifted up to get a wide view of the face of the earth. Directly beneath the ridge there was probably a wide space, or hall, the whole length and depth of the ark, into which the rooms or stalls opened on the right and left. It was thus a vast three-story building, with a hall through the middle from floor to ridge.

The door — One large door for entrance and exit in the side.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A window rhO, from rh; to shine, hence light ( double light, or light of midday (Gen_43:16; Jer_6:4) Not the window which Noah afterwards opened to let out the dove, which is called wOLh, (Gen_8:6) but obviously a lighting apparatus, which may have been a series of windows (Gesenius), scarcely one (Theodotion, quran; Symmachus, diafanev; Vulgate, fenestram; Kimchi, Luther, Calvin); or an opening running along the top of the sides of the ark, occupied by some translucent substance, and sheltered by the eaves of the roof (Knobel); or, what appears more probable, a light opening in the upper deck, stretching along the entire length, and continued down through the different stories (Baumgarten, Lange); or, if the roof sloped, as is most likely, an aperture along the ridge, which would admit the clear light of heaven (tsohar), and serve as a meridional line enabling Noah and the inmates of the ark to ascertain the hour of noon (Taylor Lewis). Keil and Murphy think we can form no proper conception of the light arrangement of the ark. The conjecture of Schultens, which is followed by Dathius, Michaelis, Rosenm and others, that the tsohar meant the covering (tectum, dorsum), "quo sane hoc aedificium carere non potuit, propter pluviam tot diernm continuam," is obviously incorrectshalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit to a cubit, i.e. all but a cubit (T. Lewis); into a cubit, i.e. to the extent of a cubit (Ainsworth); by the cubit, i.e. by a just measure (Kalisch)shalt thou finish it not the window (Gesenins, Ewald, Tueh), the feminine suffix agreeing with tebah, which is feminine, and not with tsohar, which is masculine; but the arkabove. Literally, from above to above; i.e. , according to the above interpretations of the preposition, either the roof, after the construction of the windows, should be regularly finished "by the just measure" (Kalisch); or the roof should be arched but a cubit, that it might be almost flat (Ainsworth); or from the eaves up toward the ridge it should be completed, leaving a cubit open or unfinished (T. Lewis). And the door of the ark the opening which should admit its inmatesshalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories. The word stories is not in the original, but some such word must be supplied. Lunge thinks that each fiat or story had an entrance or door in the side.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

a roof for the ark

This was probably a peaked or slanted roof. Its purpose was to protect everything in the ark from the rain.

cubit

A cubit was a little less than half a meter long. See how you translated this in Genesis 6:15. (See: Biblical Distance)

a lower, a second, and a third deck

"a lower deck, a middle deck, and an upper deck" or "three decks inside"

deck

"floor" or "level"

Listen

God said this in order to emphasize that he would do what he was about to say. "Pay attention" or "Listen to what I am saying"

I am about to bring the flood of waters

In some languages it may b e better to say "to send" instead of "to bring. It is also possible to avoid the direction and say "to cause." AT: "I am about to send a flood of waters" or "I am about to cause a flood" (See: Go and Come)

all flesh

Here "flesh" represents all physical beings, including humans and animals. (See: Synecdoche)

that has in it the breath of life

Here "breath" represents life. AT: "that lives" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

flood

flesh

heaven

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

צהר A LIGHT — Some say this was a window; others say that it was a precious stone that gave light to them (Genesis Rabbah 31:11).

ואל אמה תכלנה מלמעלה AND TO A CUBIT SHALT THOU FINISH IT UPWARD — Its covering (roof) slanted upwards so that it narrowed at the top to a cubit, in order that the water should run off on both sides.

בצדה תשים THOU SHALT SET [THE DOOR] IN THE SIDE THEREOF — in order that the rain might not penetrate.

תחתים שנים ושלישים WITH LOWER, SECOND AND THIRD STORIES — Three stories one above the other: the top rooms for the human beings, the middle ones as cabins for the cattle, and the bottom was for the refuse (Sanhedrin 108b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

צהר, this word is derived from the word צהרים, “noon,” an instruction that Noach make a window in the ark that would let in the light after the rain would stop falling, during the long period when the water level would gradually subside. This is what is meant in 8,7 when the Torah wrote ויפתח נח את החלון, “Noach opened the window.” Some of our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 31,11 ) believe that Noach suspended a brilliant gemstone which provided light inside the ark. The words תעשה לתבה, “you shall construct for or inside the ark,” contradict such an explanation. There is no question that Noach had prepared oil for the lamps he took along into the ark. The window mentioned here in our verse is a natural source of light, affixed by Noach in the highest part of the ark.

ואל אמה, to the uppermost cubit of the slanting roof of the ark. It is called thus seeing that at the top there was no more than one cubit of width between the roof sloping down on one side and that sloping down on the other side. The purpose of the slanting roof was to let the rain run off the ark.

ופתח התבה, the entrance/exit which was closed after everybody who was entitled to enter the ark had entered it.

תחתים, a lower deck; the letter י in this word serves a dual purpose, a) to represent the plural mode of the word, as well as 2) a letter describing a relative and not an absolute position. When speaking of the third deck, שלשים, the letter י which would reflect the relative position is unnecessary (seeing it was the top, i.e. highest deck) so that we do not find the dagesh in the י in that word. The י describing the plural mode does appear, just as it does in words such as נכרים, gentiles, or in מצרים, Egyptians. In Bereshit Rabbah 31,11 we are told that the lower deck served as the container of refuse, the middle deck as the accommodation for the family of Noach and the pure animals, [the ones fit as sacrifices], whereas the upper deck served as accommodation for the impure species of animals. Some scholars believe that the lowest deck accommodated the ritually impure species of animals, the middle deck was reserved for Noach and his family as well as for the ritually pure animals, whereas the top deck was for the refuse. Noach constructed sort of a trap door through which he shoveled the refuse.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.