Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

“There went in two and two--Doubtless they were led by a divine impulse. The number would not be so large as at first sight one is apt to imagine.”

The waters rose and covered the mountaintops to a depth of fifteen cubits.

“Fifteen cubits upward . . . and the mountains were covered--twenty-two and a half feet above the summits of the highest hills. The language is not consistent with the theory of a partial deluge.”

And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.

“Besides, now that the human race was reduced to one single family, it was necessary that the beasts should be proportionally diminished, otherwise by their numbers they would have acquired the ascendancy and overmastered the few that were to repeople the world.”

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

“The mountain which tradition points to as the one on which the ark rested is now called Ara Dagh, the "finger mountain." Its summit consists of two peaks, the higher of which is 17,750 feet and the other 13,420 above the level of the sea.”

And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

“And the waters decreased continually--The decrease of the waters was for wise reasons exceedingly slow and gradual--the period of their return being nearly twice as long as that of their rise.”

When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is…

“Lord said in his heart--same as "I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth" (Isa 54:9).”

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall never cease.”

“While the earth remaineth--The consummation, as intimated in 2Pe 3:7, does not frustrate a promise which held good only during the continuance of that system.”

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

“And God blessed Noah--Here is republished the law of nature that was announced to Adam, consisting as it originally did of several parts.”

The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the…

“And the fear of you and the dread of you--The second part re-establishes man's dominion over the inferior animals; it was now founded not as at first in love and kindness, but in terror; this dread of man prevails among all the stronger as well…”

But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.

“But flesh . . . the blood . . . shall ye not eat--The sole intention of this prohibition was to prevent these excesses of cannibal ferocity in eating flesh of living animals, to which men in the earlier ages of the world were liable.”

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

“Whoso sheddeth man's blood . . . for in the image of God made he man--It is true that image has been injured by the fall, but it is not lost.”

I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.

“I do set my bow in the cloud--set, that is, constitute or appoint. This common and familiar phenomenon being made the pledge of peace, its appearance when showers began to fall would be welcomed with the liveliest feelings of joy.”

When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

“It is probable that there is a long interval included between these verses and that this prophecy, like that of Jacob on his sons, was not uttered till near the close of Noah's life when the prophetic spirit came upon him; this presumption is strengthened…”

He also declared: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the servant of Shem.

“Blessed be the Lord God of Shem--rather, "Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem,"--an intimation that the descendants of Shem should be peculiarly honored in the service of the true God, His Church being for ages established among them (the Jews), and of them, concerning…”

This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.

“Those descendants, with one or two exceptions, are described by names indicative of tribes and nations and ending in the Hebrew im, or the English "-ite."”

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one on the earth.

“Nimrod--mentioned as eclipsing all his family in renown. He early distinguished himself by his daring and successful prowess in hunting wild beasts.”

From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

“This raid into Assyria was an invasion of the territories of Shem, and hence the name "Nimrod," signifying "rebel," is supposed to have been conferred on him from his daring revolt against the divine distribution.”

During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

“Ur--now Orfa; that is, "light," or "fire." Its name probably derived from its being devoted to the rites of fire-worship. Terah and his family were equally infected with that idolatry as the rest of the inhabitants (Jos 24:15).”

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

“This call included two promises: the first, showing the land of his future posterity; and the second, that in his posterity all the earth was to be blessed (Ge 12:2).”

As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman, and when the Egyptians see you, they will…

“The counsel of Abram to her was true in words, but it was a deception, intended to give an impression that she was no more than his sister.”

So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

“Here is a most humiliating rebuke, and Abram deserved it. Had not God interfered, he might have been tempted to stay in Egypt and forget the promise (Ps 105:13, 15).”

And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

“An Arab sheik is considered rich who has a hundred or two hundred tents, from sixty to a hundred camels, a thousand sheep and goats respectively. And Abram being very rich, must have far exceeded that amount of pastoral property.”

In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim

“And it came to pass--This chapter presents Abram in the unexpected character of a warrior. The occasion was this: The king of Sodom and the kings of the adjoining cities, after having been tributaries for twelve years to the king of Elam, combined to throw…”

And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.

“And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants--domestic slaves, such as are common in Eastern countries still and are considered and treated as members of the family.”

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

“Melchizedek--This victory conferred a public benefit on that part of the country; and Abram, on his return, was treated with high respect and consideration, particularly by the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, who seems to have been one of the few native princes, if not…”