Genesis 6:17

Gen 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die.

Ver. 17. And behold I, even I.] Verba stomachantis, &c., confirmantis veritatem comminationis suae . Abused mercy turns into fury. God will not alway serve men for a sinning stock. Crudelem medicum intemperans ager facit. {a}

Every thing that is in the earth shall die.] A dismal doom; and God is now absolute in his threatening, because he will be resolute in his execution. Oh, tremble and sin not; while others sin and tremble not. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry"; {Psa 2:12} "Who knoweth the power of his anger? Surely according to our fear, is his wrath". {Psa 90:11} It is a just presage and desert of ruin, not to be warned. God hath hanged up the old world in gibbets, as it were, for our admonition. Worthily are they made examples, that will not take them. Who pities the second captain, consumed by fire with his company, {2Ki 1:11-12} since he had a fair warning, but would not beware by it? "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, that shall burn as an oven," {Mal 4:1} This last day was foretold by Enoch, {Jdg 1:14} before the deluge was by Noah. Longer it is before it comes, but shall be more terrible when it is come.

{a} Mimus.

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.

Gen_6:17-22

I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh

The flood

I.

The first fact that strikes us in the story of the flood is this: that God, on account of the wickedness to which the world had grown, had made up His mind to sweep it away, once and for all.

II. Out of the seed of Noah God had determined to people the earth once more with a race that would not be so wicked as the one He destroyed.

III. Noah was told to go into the ark because his life was to be saved from the flood. God has provided another ark for us; He tells us to go into it and be saved.

IV. Noahs family was taken with him into the ark, showing the value God sets on family life.

V. God gave it as a reward to Noah for his righteousness that his children went with him into the ark. A holy and loving example preaches a sermon to those who watch it, and remains in the memory of the godless son and the godless daughter long after the parents have been laid in the grave. (Bp. Thorold.)

Lessons from the flood

A long period elapsed between the commencement of the building of the ark and the actual flood. During that period we notice--

1. The strength of Noahs faith. God has told him of a deluge of which there is no appearance; He has commanded him to build a strange vessel for no apparent purpose; He has told him that one hundred and twenty years of toil must elapse before the vessel can be of any use to him. And yet, in the face of all these difficulties, Noah forms and keeps his resolution to obey God.

2. Notice the reception which Noahs work and message probably met with. The first feeling excited would be one of derision and mirth, then would come wonder, then pity, then disappointment and disgust, and lastly, perhaps, a silent contempt.

I. THE FLOOD SHOWS US--

1. How absolute is Gods control over the natural world.

2. The evil of sin, and the light in which it appears to the eye of God.

3. It reminds us of another deluge, of which all unreconciled sinners stand in jeopardy.

II. Consider THE VARIOUS PURPOSES THAT WERE SERVED BY THE DELUGE.

1. It swept away an effete and evil generation, which had become of no use, except to commit sin and thus deprave and weaken the general stock of humanity.

2. The flood was calculated to overawe mankind, and to suggest the idea that other such interpositions might be expected when they were required.

3. The flood furnished an opportunity to God of coming more nearly and closely to men.

4. The flood brought the human family nearer to the promised land of Canaan. (G. Gilfillan.)

The history of the deluge

The history of the deluge is alleged in the New Testament as a type of the deep waters of sin, in which a lost world is perishing, and from which there is no escape but in that ark which God has prepared for us. The eight souls saved from the deluge are types of that little flock which rides safely and triumphantly, though the floods lift up their waves and the billows break over them. And their safety is assured to them, because they are in Christ.

I. At the root of all Christianity lies THAT DEEP MYSTERIOUS TRUTH, THE SPIRITUAL UNION OF THE REDEEMER WITH THOSE WHOM HE REDEEMED. To this truth most emphatically witnesses all the New Testament teaching about the ark as a symbol and a prophecy. For--

1. The ark is a figure of Christ. The ark floated over the waste of waters, as Christ dwelt and toiled and suffered in the wilderness of this world, and amid the waters of affliction.

2. The ark is a figure of the redeemed of Christ. The Church, which is Christs body, is also the ark of refuge from the wrath of God. This life is still to the Church a conflict, a trial, a pilgrimage, a voyage. The crown shall be at the resurrection of the just.

II. The practical thoughts to which this subject leads us differ but little from the doctrinal. Is not the substance and the end of all--safety in Christ, rest in Christ, and at last glory in Christ? Those only who have rested in the ark will rest upon Mount Ararat. The life of the Christian is begun on earth; it is perfected in heaven. When the voyage is over, the Saviour, who has been to us the ark upon the waters, shall be to us, in the eternal mountains of the Lord, rest and peace and light and glory. (Bp. Harold Browne.)

The record of the flood

I. Consider the record of THE FLOOD AS A HISTORY: a history having a two-fold aspect--an aspect of judgment, and an aspect of mercy.

1. God, St. Peter says, spared not the old world, He brought in a flood upon the world of the ungodly. He who made can destroy. Long trifled with, God is not mocked: and he who will not have Him for his Father must at last know Him as his Judge.

2. The record of judgment passes on into a record of mercy. Mercy was shown:

(1) in preservation;

(2) in reconstruction.

II. Consider THE FLOOD IN ITS USES: AS A TYPE, AS A PROPHECY, AND AS A WARNING.

1. The water through which Noah and his family passed into their ark was like the water of holy baptism, through which a Christian, penitent and believing, finds his way into the Church of the living God.

2. St. Peter exhibits the flood to us also as a prophecy. The flood of waters becomes in its turn the prediction of a last flood of fire. He who foretold the one--and notwithstanding long delay the word was fulfilled--may be believed when He threatens the other; and no pause or respite can defeat the certainty of the performance.

3. There is one special warning appended by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself to the Scriptural record of the great deluge: As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. (Dean Vaughan.)

Flood of waters

Mythology tells how Jupiter burned with anger at the wickedness of the iron age. Having summoned a council of the gods, he addressed them--setting forth the awful condition of the things upon the earth, and announcing his determination to destroy all its inhabitants. He took a thunderbolt, and was about to launch it upon the world, to destroy it by fire, when he bethought himself that it might enkindle the heavens also. He then resolved to drown it by making the clouds pour out torrents of rain:--

With his clenchd fist

He squeezed the clouds:

Then, with his mace, the monarch struck the ground;

With inward trembling earth received the wound,

And rising streams a ready passage found.

(W. Adamson.)

The impotence of floods

The Almighty is about to do here what some of us in our imperfect wisdom have often wished to see done: we have supposed that if all notoriously bad people could be removed at a stroke from the world the kingdom of heaven would be at once established on the earth. The idea may be put roughly thus: Bring together all prisoners, all idlers, drunkards, thieves, liars, and every known form of criminal; take them out into the middle of the Atlantic and sink them there, and at once society will be regenerated, and paradise will be regained. Now this is substantially the very course which the Almighty took in the days of Noah, with what results we know only too well. All our fine theories have been tested, and they come to nothing. The tree of manhood has been cut down to the very root, and it has been shown in every possible way that the root itself must be cured if the branches are to become strong and fruitful. If you were today to destroy all the world, with the single exception of one household, and that household the most pious and honourable that ever lived, in less than half a century we should see all the bad characteristics returning. Water cannot drown sin. Fire cannot burn out sin. Prisons cannot cure theft and cruelty. We must go deeper. In the meantime it was well to try some rough experiments, merely for the sake of showing that they were not worth trying. If the flood had not been tried there are some reformers amongst us who would have thought of that as a lucky idea, and wondered that it had never occurred to the Divine mind! After all, it is a very elementary idea. It is the very first idea that would occur to a healthy mind: the world is a failure, man is a criminal and a fool, sin is rampant in the land; very well; that being the case, drown the world. There are persons who seriously ask, Do you think the flood ever did occur? and there are others who find shells on hilltops, and show them in proof of a universal deluge. O fools and slow of heart! This flood is occurring every day; this judgment upon sin never ceases; this protection of a righteous seed is an eternal fact! How long shall we live in the mere letter, and have only a history instead of a revelation--a memorandum book instead of a living Father? That there was a flood exactly as is described in the Bible! have not so much as a shadow of a doubt; but even if I took it as an allegory, or a typical judgment given in parable, I should seize the account as one that is far more profoundly true than any mere fact could ever be. Look at it! God morally angry, righteousness asserted, sin judged, goodness preserved, evil destroyed; it is true, it must be true, every honest heart demands that it be taken as true. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen 6:17-18. Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth — I, who am infinite in power and therefore can do it; infinite in justice, and therefore will do it. But with thee will I establish my covenant — 1st, The covenant of providence, that the course of nature should be continued to the end of time, notwithstanding the interruption which the flood would give to it: this promise was immediately made to Noah and his sons, Gen 9:8, &c.; they were as trustees for all this part of the creation, and a great honour was thereby put upon them. 2d, The covenant of grace, that God would be to him a God, and that out of his seed God would take to himself a people.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:17 cover the earth with a flood: Some propose that the flood might only have covered the ancient Near East as it was known to Noah or Moses. However, the flood’s stated purpose—to destroy every living thing that breathes (see also 6:7, 11-13; 7:1, 4, 18-23; 8:21)—and its effect of undoing creation (see study notes on 1:9-10; 7:11-12) suggest that the flood covered the entire planet (see also 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 2:5; 3:6).

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

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood--The repetition of the announcement was to establish its certainty (Gen 41:32). Whatever opinion may be entertained as to the operation of natural laws and agencies in the deluge, it was brought on the world by God as a punishment for the enormous wickedness of its inhabitants.

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 17. I - do bring a flood] מבול; mabbul; a word used only to designate the general deluge, being never applied to signify any other kind of inundation; and does not the Holy Spirit intend to show by this that no other flood was ever like this, and that it should continue to be the sole one of the kind? There have been many partial inundations in various countries, but never more than ONE general deluge; and we have God's promise, Ge 9:15, that there shall never be another.

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

(17) A flood.—Mabbul, another archaic word. It is used only of the deluge, except in Psa_29:10, where, however, there is an evident allusion to the flood of Noah.

Every thing that is in the earth shall die.—That this by no means involves the theory of a universal deluge has been shown with admirable cogency by Professor Tayler Lewis in “Lange’s Commentary.” His view is that the writer described with perfect truthfulness that of which he was either an eye-witness, or of which he had received the knowledge by tradition; or lastly, that he recorded in his own language the impressions divinely inspired in his mind by God. “We have no right,” he adds, “to force upon him, and upon the scene so vividly described, our modern notions or our modern knowledge of the earth, with its Alps and Himalayas, its round figure, its extent and diversities, so much beyond any knowledge he could have possessed or any conception he could have formed.” The excursus is too long even for condensation, but we may add, first, that the idea of unnecessary miracle is contrary both to the wisdom of the Almighty, and to what we actually find in the Bible with respect to the exercise of supernatural power; and, secondly, that the narrative itself repeatedly negatives the theory that the flood extended to any great distance beyond the regions then occupied by man. Moreover, it is in exact accordance with the use of words in Holy Scripture that the large term, the earth, is limited to the earth as known to Noah and his contemporaries. We shall also discover in what follows reason for believing that the account originally came from one who was an eye-witness; and the extreme antiquity of the language is a proof that it was committed to writing at a time long anterior to the age of Moses.

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

17. And I, behold, I] The emphasis on the 1st person seems to bring out the thought of the terrible necessity of this act of universal destruction brought upon the world by its Creator.

the flood] Heb. mabbûl, a word used only of the Deluge in this passage (6–9) and in Psa_29:10, where “the flood of waters” fails to give the meaning, which is “the Deluge (the mabbûl) of waters.”

all flesh] See Gen_6:12. Here, however, it denotes the animals as well as mankind.

the breath of life] Lit. “the spirit (ruaḥ, LXX πνεῦμα) of life,” a different phrase from that in Gen_2:7, “the breath (nishmath) of life” (J). Noah is commanded to enter the ark, taking with him his own family and two of all the animals. The Priestly Writer could not endorse the idea that the distinction between “clean” and “unclean” was known before the days of Moses. In J, however (Gen_7:2-3), it is assumed that this distinction was primaeval (see note).

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.

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark,.... That is, of fowls, cattle, and creeping things, as after explained; and two of each sort at least were to be brought, as Jarchi observes, and not fewer; though of the clean sort there were to be more, even seven, as after directed; and these were to be brought, that they might preserve their species, as it follows:

to keep them alive with thee; to be fed and nourished by him in the ark, while others perished by the flood, that so they might propagate their own species, and be continued, for which reason it is further ordered:

they shall be male and female; not any two, but one male and one female, for the end before mentioned.

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

I, even I, which is thus emphatically repeated, to signify that this flood did not proceed from natural causes, but from the immediate hand and judgment of God,

do bring, i.e. will assuredly and speedily bring,

all flesh, i.e. all men, birds, and beasts.

Every thing that is in the earth. This limitation is added to show, that the fishes are not included in the threatened destruction, either because they did not live in the same element wherein men lived and sinned; or because they were not so instrumental in men’s sins as the beasts might be; or because man had a greater command over the beasts than over the fishes, and greater service and benefit from them; and therefore the destruction of the former was a greater and more proper punishment to man than the latter.

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

17. Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood — Language setting forth a special and awful providence. The word מבול, flood, here used, is applied only to the deluge of Noah; Psa_29:10, is no exception; and everywhere except in Gen_9:15, where it is promised that a similar judgment shall never recur, it invariably has the article, pointing out the great inundation that once washed out the world’s sin in judgment.

To destroy all flesh — This language is absolute and unqualified, as in Gen_6:13, yet afterward the exceptions are introduced. Such rhetorical peculiarities mark the extreme antique simplicity of the style. These simple, absolute assertions, pictorially describing facts when seen, as it were, on successive sides, would have been interwoven into balanced periods in a more modern historical production.

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

And, behold, I, even I More correctly, "And I, behold, I," an emphatic assertion that what was coming was a Divine visitation, and not simply a natural occurrence. Do bring. Literally, brining, the participle standing in place of the finite verb to indicate the certainty of the future action (vide Gesenius, "Gram.," A flood of waters upon the earth. lWKm, pronounced by Bohlen "far-fetched," "is an archaic word coined expressly for the waters of Noah, (Isa_44:9) and is used nowhere else except. (Psa_29:10) waters upon the earth" (Keil) The first intimation of the means to be employed in inflicting judgment on the morally corrupted world. To destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

The fishes only being excepted, "either

(1) because they did not live in the same element wherein man lived and sinned; or

(2) because they were not so instrumental in man"s sins as the beasts might be; or

(3) because man had a greater command over the beasts than over the fishes, and greater service and benefit from them" (Peele).

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

And behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth - I that am infinite in power, and therefore can do it; infinite in justice, and therefore will do it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Announcement of the Flood

v. 17. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die. The announcement is very definite: I am bringing the deluge of waters upon (or over) the earth. That is the punishment which the Lord had had in mind all the while, and this is about to be realized in that universal flood. The result would be the destruction of all flesh in which is the breath of life, of all beings that breathe with lungs: all such beings would have to yield up their spirit.

v. 18. But with thee will I establish My covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons and thy wife and thy sons’ wives with thee. Through Noah and his sons the Lord intended to propagate the human race after the Flood, with a new beginning, on the basis of the covenant which He was now making with him.

v. 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

v. 20. of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive. This was God’s provision against the total extermination of the animals with the breath of life. A pair of every kind, at the instigation of God, came to the ark and was admitted by Noah. This was true of the larger mammals as well as of the birds and reptiles: they all were to be kept alive in the midst of the general destruction.

v. 21. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee and for them. The providence of God overlooked nothing that was necessary to keep Noah with his entire cargo of animals alive; an abundant supply of food was laid in.

v. 22. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. This was an evidence of Noah’s faith, Heb 11:7. For as yet there was nothing to be seen of the Flood, and he was undoubtedly subjected to every form of ridicule. The essence of faith is trust in the Word of God in spite of all the attempts of the enemies to heap scorn upon His promises.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ואני הנני מביא AND I, BEHOLD, I DO BRING — God says, “Now I am prepared to agree with those angels who cautioned Me and long ago said to Me (when I was about to create man), (Psalms 8:5) “What is man that thou art mindful of him” (Genesis Rabbah 31:12).

מבול A FLOOD — so called because it ruined (בלה) everything; because it cast everything into confusion (בלל), and because it brought (הוביל from root יבל) everything down from the heights to a lower level. And this last explanation underlies the translation of Onkelos who translates it by טופנא (Ar. טוף = Heb. צוף) because the Flood caused everything to float about and brought it (the Ark) to Babel which is a low-lying district. That is the reason why it (Babylon) is called, also, Shinar (שנער): because all those who died through the Flood were shaken out (ננערו) into it (Shabbat 113b).

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.

AND, BEHOLD, I DO BRING THE FLOOD. “Now I agree with those angels who long ago said to Me [when I was about to create man], What is man that Thou art mindful of him.” Thus the words of Rashi quoting Bereshith Rabbah. But I wonder: in what way did He “agree” with them since He left man a remnant for a great deliverance through Noah and his sons and all living things to increase their seed as the sand! Perhaps this agreement with their opinion signified [His intent which was to come to fruition] when He would show them no mercy. [However, when the Divine quality of mercy was introduced, it resulted in the deliverance of mankind through Noah.]By way of the truth [the mystic lore of the Cabala], va’ani (And I) is similar to: And I also will chastise you; (And I) thus intimates the attribute of judgment. so also, I am He! behold, My covenant is with thee; And as for Me, this is My covenant. The verse here thus states: “I also will have My hand on them for having destroyed the earth.” This is why He said [after the flood]: This is the token of the covenant which I make. — He maketh sore, and He bindeth up. The learned student [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ואני...המבול מים, the word מבול after the word המבול is missing, a word which should have been written since we had not heard about a concept called מבול previously. There are some other parallels to this missing construct form when we would have expected it, as in Joshua 3,15 הארון הברית. The basic root of the word מבול is נבל, in the same sense as in Job 38,37 ונבלי מים מי ישכיב? “who can tilt the water bottles from the sky?” This is a reference to rain emanating from the celestial regions. At the same time the word also contains an allusion to “falling”, מפלה, as in Isaiah 1,30 נובלת עליה, things which fall from the sky and are poured on to earth The word מבול is an adjective describing a certain type of rain. The word גשם on the other hand, is a noun. This is why it is possible to use the word מבול concerning any matter that drops out of the sky, such as snow, fire, hail, etc. Also, this is the reason why the Torah did not need to write גשם מים מתחת השמים, if the Torah had not added the words כל אשר בארץ, I would have thought that the fish had also been meant to die. The word בארץ in our verse therefore means “on the dry land.” The decree of destruction did not include the fish because since they do not share man’s habitat they did not adopt man’s corrupt ways. (compare Zevachim 113)

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.