Genesis 6:15
in Genesis 6And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And this is how thou shalt make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
KJV
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
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This verse in Genesis 6
Commentary
9 notes on this verseWe read in Genesis that the ark that Noah built was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Notice the mystical significance of the numbers. In the number fifty, penance is symbolized because the fiftieth psalm of King David is the prayer of his repentance. Three hundred contains the symbol of crucifixion. The letter T is the sign for three hundred, whence Ezekiel says, "Mark THAV on the forehead of those who moan; and do not kill any marked with THAV."
This site's exposition
The ark is to be 300 cubits long
on Genesis 6:15-16
The measurements are exact: 300 cubits long, 50 wide, 30 high. There is one door in the side and one roof above, and Genesis 7:16 adds that the LORD shut him in. Jerome read the 300 cubits as the letter Tau and a sign of the cross, and Clarke works the figures out in feet. Every part of it is specified for Noah.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
There is, however, another memorable mystery in the shape of the ark, which is found to be formed according to the measure of the human body.
The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. The length of the ark signifies the long-suffering patience by which adversities are bravely endured; the width signifies the breadth of charity, which embraces even those …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
God could have secured Noah by the ministration of angels, without putting him to any care, or pains, or trouble, himself; but he chose to employ him in making that which was to be the means of his preservation, both for the trial of his faith and obedience and to teach us that none shall be saved by Christ but those only that work out their salvation.
And this is the fashion which thou shall make it of,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And this is the fashion--According to the description, the ark was not a ship, but an immense house in form and structure like the houses in the East, designed not to sail, but only to float.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
And this is the fashion--According to the description, the ark was not a ship, but an immense house in form and structure like the houses in the East, designed not to sail, but only to float.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
GOPHER. Gopher is the name of a wood that rides lightly upon the water. It is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְזֶ֕ה | vezeh | and this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | [is] how | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֖ה | taaseh | you will make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֹתָ֑הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁלֹ֧שׁ | shelosh | [will be] three | H7969 → | 432 times |
| מֵא֣וֹת | meot | hundred<s> | H3967 → | 581 times |
| אַמָּ֗ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| אֹ֚רֶךְ | ʾorekh | [the] length of | H753 → | |
| הַתֵּבָ֔ה | hatevah | the ark | H8392 → | 28 times |
| חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים | chamishim | [will be] fifty | H2572 → | 163 times |
| אַמָּה֙ | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| רָחְבָּ֔הּ | rachebah | breadth its | H7341 → | |
| וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים | usheloshim | and [will be] thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| אַמָּ֖ה | ʾamah | cubit[s] | H520 → | 247 times |
| קוֹמָתָֽהּ׃ | komatah | height its | H6967 → |
וְזֶ֕הand this
vezehH2088 →1180 times
אֲשֶׁ֥ר[is] how
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תַּֽעֲשֶׂ֖הyou will make
taasehH6213 →2628 times
אֹתָ֑הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
שְׁלֹ֧שׁ[will be] three
sheloshH7969 →432 times
מֵא֣וֹתhundred<s>
meotH3967 →581 times
אַמָּ֗הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
אֹ֚רֶךְ[the] length of
ʾorekhH753 →
הַתֵּבָ֔הthe ark
hatevahH8392 →28 times
חֲמִשִּׁ֤ים[will be] fifty
chamishimH2572 →163 times
אַמָּה֙cubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
רָחְבָּ֔הּbreadth its
rachebahH7341 →
וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֥יםand [will be] thirty
usheloshimH7970 →172 times
אַמָּ֖הcubit[s]
ʾamahH520 →247 times
קוֹמָתָֽהּ׃height its
komatahH6967 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
it leads to
- Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
- Jeremiah 49:2
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned.…
- 2 Samuel 12:26
Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
- Deuteronomy 2:20
(That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
- Ezekiel 21:20
Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
- Genesis 14:5
Through
Genesis 7:20The waters rose and covered the mountaintops to a depth of fifteen cubits.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 3:23
Surely deception comes from the hills, and commotion from the mountains. Surely the salvation of Israel is in the LORD our God.
- Psalms 104:6
You covered it with the deep like a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
- Jeremiah 3:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
On this verse
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILIES 84; Jerome, Homilies; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.