Genesis 6:5-22

J gives no explanation of the universal wickedness which caused God to repent man's creation, but the previous narrative has prepared for it. Probably, however, the story, which begins abruptly, has lost something at the beginning. Observe the strong anthropomorphism in Genesis 6:6, characteristic of J but combined with a lofty conception of God. P's narrative begins with Genesis 6:9. This writer does not account for the prevalence of violence. The ark or chest is made of logs of gopher, i.e. probably fine cypress, though the word occurs only here, and its meaning is uncertain. It was divided into cells and the shell made watertight by the smearing of bitumen (Exodus 2:3 *) on the inside and outside. The specifications in Genesis 6:16 are obscure. The rendering roof (mg.) is accepted by several, though generally the meaning, an opening for light and air, is preferred. The following clause is difficult. Wellhausen puts the words to a cubit thou shalt finish it at the end of the verse; the reference is in that case to the ark, which is to be accurately finished off. MT perhaps means that an opening for light, a cubit high, ran round the sides of the ark at the top. Since it is God's purpose to make a covenant with Noah, he and his family must be saved from the universal destruction the Flood is to accomplish. The covenant is not the present guarantee for security, but that recorded in Genesis 9:8.

Genesis 6:9 a. generations of Noah: i.e. the genealogy of Noah's descendants. The phrase is used by P to introduce a new section, which sometimes consists of a genealogy alone, sometimes of a more extended history. The Heb. for generations in Genesis 6:9 b is different; the meaning is that Noah was blameless among his contemporaries.

Genesis 6:14. ark: the word (Egyptian or perhaps Babylonian) means chest. It is used of the ark in which Moses was entrusted to the Nile, but not of the Ark made in the wilderness.

Genesis 6:15. The cubit was about 18 inches; the ark was apparently an immense box about 450 ft. long, 75 broad and 45 high, with a door in its side, and fitted up with cells in three tiers. The fondness for specifications is characteristic of P, so too are the formulæ of enumeration in Genesis 6:18 and Genesis 6:20, and the type of sentence in Genesis 6:22.

Genesis 6:17. flood: Heb. mabbul, a foreign word, always used of the Deluge, except possibly Psalms 29:10.