Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of Chapter VII
Noah enters the ark with the animals. Secondly, at verse 17, the flood covers the earth for 150 days.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 7:1-24
1. And the Lord said to him: Enter, you and all your household, into the ark: for I have seen you just before Me in this generation. 2. Of all clean animals take seven and seven, male and female: but of unclean animals two and two, male and female. 3. And also of the birds of the sky seven and seven, male and female: that seed may be saved upon the face of all the earth. 4. For yet after seven days I will rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights: and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the surface of the earth. 5. So Noah did all things that the Lord had commanded him. 6. And he was six hundred years old when the waters of the flood overflowed the earth. 7. And Noah entered, and his sons, his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. 8. And of clean and unclean animals, and of the birds, and of everything that moves upon the earth, 9. two and two went in to Noah into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noah. 10. And after the seven days had passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth. 11. In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of heaven were opened: 12. and rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. 13. On the very same day Noah entered, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, his sons, his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark: 14. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kind, and everything that moves upon the earth according to its kind, and every winged thing according to its kind, all the birds and all the flying creatures, 15. went in to Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, in which was the breath of life. 16. And those that went in, male and female of all flesh, entered in, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in from without. 17. And the flood was upon the earth forty days: and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth. 18. For they overflowed exceedingly: and filled everything on the surface of the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters. 19. And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20. The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it covered. 21. And all flesh was consumed that moved upon the earth, of birds, of animals, of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: all men, 22. and all things in which there is the breath of life on the earth, died. 23. And He destroyed every substance that was upon the earth, from man even to beast, both creeping thing and fowls of the air: and they were destroyed from the earth; and only Noah remained, and those who were with him in the ark. 24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Verse 1: All Your Household
ALL YOUR HOUSEHOLD -- all your offspring and family.
IN THIS GENERATION -- Among the men of this time.
Verse 2: Of All Clean Animals
Theodoret, Abulensis, and Bede think that these animals are called clean by anticipation, because they were to be declared clean by the law of Moses in Leviticus 11. But others more correctly hold that the distinction of animals (and also of birds, as the Septuagint has) into clean and unclean, about which Leviticus 11 speaks, existed also under the law of nature, and this by the instinct of God and by the tradition of the elders; namely that God in the time of the law of nature set apart those animals as clean for His sacrifices, which afterwards in the time of the law of Moses He set apart as clean for the Jews to eat. So St. Chrysostom, Didymus, and Pererius.
SEVEN AND SEVEN -- that is fourteen, namely seven males and seven females: for Origen, Justin, Oleaster, and Dionysius hold that fourteen of the clean animals, but four of the unclean, were preserved in the ark. But then the throng of animals would have been so vast that the ark could not have held them.
Better, therefore, Josephus, St. Ambrose, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Eucherius, Lyranus, Abulensis, Cajetan, and Pererius explain it thus: Of the clean you shall take seven and seven, that is, you shall take seven into the ark from each clean species, namely one pair for the propagation of the species; a second pair for sacrifice; a third pair for food after the flood; and finally a seventh male for the sacrifice to be offered as soon as the flood ceased, just as in fact, as soon as it ceased, Noah offered one from each clean animal to God in thanksgiving, chapter 8, verse 20: so Pererius; but of the unclean only one pair was preserved in the ark, for the propagation of the species.
Symbolically, St. Ambrose, in his book On Noah and the Ark, chapter 12, says that seven were taken "because the seventh number is pure and sacred. For it is mixed with no other, nor is it generated by another, and therefore it is called a virgin, because it generates nothing from itself: and so it possesses a masculine grace of sanctification."
The Phoenix Debate
From this passage and other arguments, Pererius and Aldrovandus prove that the phoenix was not in the ark, and therefore that no phoenix exists or ever existed in the world: because Scripture here teaches that from each species of animal pairs, namely male and female, were brought into the ark: but the phoenix is said to be one and alone in the world. And certainly there is no one who would assert that he has seen a phoenix.
Furthermore, those who assert the existence of the phoenix greatly disagree among themselves about it. The phoenix therefore appears to be a fable; perhaps arising from the fact that the Egyptians at Heliopolis depicted the sun as a bird, rising and setting, and they made and fashioned this to be the phoenix, since it was only a symbol and hieroglyph of the sun, which like a phoenix is alone in the world.
This conjecture is supported by the fact that the ancients, as Lactantius and Claudian attest, said the phoenix was the bird of the sun, which at its rising would sing most sweetly and worship it with bowed head. Wherefore Pliny, book 10, chapter 2, describing the phoenix, says it is a fable, and adds: "A phoenix was brought," he says, "to the City during the censorship of the Emperor Claudius, in the year 800 of the City, and displayed in the assembly, but no one doubted it was a fake." Hence it is surprising that the Conimbricenses, book 2 on The Heavens, chapter 3, question 6, article 4, assert that the phoenix exists, and confirm this both from other sources and from these very words of Pliny: for Pliny considers the phoenix a fable; the other ancients who assert the phoenix do so not from their own judgment but from the writings of earlier authors, whether true, fabulous, or symbolic. But the Conimbricenses add that the phoenix is not one but many; nor does it raise itself to life again, but is generated in the ordinary way; and so they posit a different phoenix from the one that the ancients described, as a symbol and type of the resurrection: and the Abyssinians and others boast of having such phoenixes. For the Conimbricenses and others now agree that there is no such phoenix as the ancients described, one that is unique and that is reborn when it dies. Unless, therefore, the question is about the name, we must say that the phoenix does not and never did exist in the world.
Verse 7: Eight Persons in the Ark
AND NOAH ENTERED, AND HIS SONS, HIS WIFE, AND THE WIVES OF HIS SONS. -- Note: Only eight persons entered the ark and were saved during the reign of the flood: of these eight, seven were saved on account of Noah. Enoch, meanwhile, when paradise was overwhelmed by the waters, was translated to another place.
The Berosus of Annius calls Noah's wife Tyraea; and the wives of Noah's sons he calls Pandora, Noella, and Noegla. But learned men greatly doubt whether the Berosus whom Annius published is the true and ancient Berosus of the Chaldeans; the Gnostics, according to Epiphanius, heresy 26, called Noah's wife Noria: Epiphanius refutes them and asserts she was called Barthenon. Again, one of these wives professes herself to have been the Babylonian Sibyl, in book 1 of the Sibylline Oracles, after the beginning, where she declares that she was in the ark with her husband. But learned men regard this as suspect, as if those verses were added by some half-learned person, to lend antiquity and authority to that book of oracles: for what she adds in the same place, that the ark came to rest not on the mountains of Armenia but of Phrygia, manifestly contradicts Moses in the next chapter, verse 4. I know that some scholars take these things symbolically, and believe that the true and original Sibyls were not female prophetesses, but were only the ancient Kabbalah, or Kibyllah, of the Hebrews (whence the name Sibyl), that is, the doctrine received from the fathers by tradition: for kabal in Hebrew means to receive, accept, take from another: hence Kabulla or Sibyl is paradosis, that is, the tradition of the fathers, which Noah received from the previous age and handed down to his descendants after the flood: just as Lactantius, book 1 of the Institutes, chapter 6, following Varro, considers that Sibyl was called as if theobulen, because she proclaimed the counsels of God. For the ancients called gods aious, not bious, and counsel not boulen but bulen. If therefore Sibyl is Kabbalah, or theobulen, then surely she was with Noah, and in Noah was in the ark. But the Sibyls must be discussed elsewhere.
Verse 11: The Six Hundredth Year of Noah
IN THE SIX HUNDREDTH YEAR OF THE LIFE OF NOAH -- fully completed, and the 601st year having begun for 40 days, says Pererius; but the contrary is more true, namely that the flood began in the year 600 of Noah's life just begun: for the flood lasted a whole year, and in the year 601 of Noah, in the second month, it ceased, as is clear from chapter 8, verse 13. Again, Noah lived 350 years after the flood; and he lived altogether 950 years. But if the flood had occurred in the year 601 of Noah, since it lasted a full year, it would follow that Noah lived 951 years, which is false. Moreover, the flood occurred in the six hundredth year, says St. Ambrose, in his book On Noah, chapter 14: "Because on the sixth day Adam was created. The same number is proportionate, and is preserved both in the originator Adam and in the restorer (Noah); because the source of the sixtieth and six hundredth is the number six."
Note here the constancy of faith in Noah; for he persisted in the faith of the flood for a hundred years, namely from the year 500 to 600, and he constantly preached it, even though he was mocked by all, even by his relatives, as one seized by a vain fear who toiled with foolish labor for so many years in the construction of the ark; but these people in that year exchanged their laughter for weeping and their late repentance. Noah was like Mattathias, 1 Maccabees 2, verse 19.
The Second Month
In the second month -- which in Hebrew is called Iyar, and roughly corresponds to our May, at least as to its latter part: for the first month of the Hebrews and of Sacred Scripture is Nisan, which corresponds partly to March and partly to April. In May, therefore, the flood began, and this so that God might show that the cause of the flood was not natural, from rain and winter storms, but that it was brought about by the special providence of God, at the beginning of summer, when heat and drought were setting in. So that the pain of the ungodly might be greater, God destroyed them at the most pleasant time, when they promised themselves nothing but joy. "They were eating and drinking," as Christ says in Luke 17:27; and St. Ambrose, in his book On Noah, chapter 14: "Then," he says, "He made the flood, when the grief of those who were punished in their abundance would be greater, then the vengeance more terrible as if God were saying, etc. Let all things perish with man, for whose sake all things were made. Let man be consumed in his riches, let him die with his dowry." The same judgment befell the rich man of the Gospel who, having gathered many goods, promised himself a sumptuous life thereafter; but that same night he perished. The same happened to King Nebuchadnezzar; the same to Haman; the same to Herod, Acts chapter 12. This is what Christ says: "At an hour when you do not expect, the Son of Man will come;" and Paul: "When they shall say: Peace and security, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." Let no one therefore trust in worldly prosperity. "For the hope of the wicked is like down that is carried away by the wind," Wisdom 5:15. Josephus, however, beginning the year from September, calls this second month Marcheshvan (for so it should be read, not Marsesona), which corresponds to our October, when rains are abundant; but what I said before is more true.
Finally, Antonius Fonseca in his Annotations on Cajetan, on Genesis chapter 8, and Torniellus think that the month of Noah's entry into and exit from the ark was January, which they therefore say was subsequently consecrated by the first Gentiles to Noah himself, and named after him: since Noah was called Janus by them; and therefore they depicted him as two-faced, because Noah had seen both the old and the new age and century. But I do not see a solid foundation for this opinion; for January was not the second month among the Hebrews, whether you take the sacred year or the common and civil one: although Torniellus tries to show this subtly, page 107.
The Seventeenth Day of the Month
Cedrenus asserts that this day was a Sunday: for he and some others teach that the flood both began and ended and came to its conclusion on a Sunday, for what that is worth.
WERE BROKEN UP -- In Hebrew nibkeu, that is, they were split apart, cut open, shattered, and burst open by the force and violence of the waters.
All the Fountains of the Great Deep
ALL THE FOUNTAINS -- all the springs, all the streams, all the openings, all the veins, all the aqueducts issuing from the abyss: so that the water of the abyss could no longer be contained within its streams, veins, channels, and aqueducts, but bursting through them flooded everything, and made as it were one sea over the whole earth: whence when the flood ceased, the waters were led back into this abyss of theirs, and enclosed there, when, as Scripture says, "the fountains of the abyss were closed."
OF THE GREAT DEEP -- that is, of the many deeps. For under the earth there are many deeps, that is, chasms of water. Hence for "great" the Hebrew has rabba, that is, "many." So Pererius and Delrio.
But since in Hebrew it is not theomot, that is "deeps" (plural), but theom, that is "deep" (singular), and rabba, that is "much," by an enallage familiar to the Hebrews, means the same as "great," as our translation renders it: others more correctly hold that the great deep here refers to a chasm, or that immense and most profound subterranean abyss, which is most full of waters both from the waters stored in it by God at the beginning of the world, and from the sea; which many believe to be the mother of all rivers, springs, and fresh waters, about which I spoke at chapter 1, verse 9. For this in Hebrew is called theom, both here and in Deuteronomy 33:13, where in Hebrew it is called theom robetset tachat, that is, "the deep lying beneath": which our translation renders "the deep that lies below"; for that such a subterranean abyss or chasm of waters exists, the Conimbricenses teach by manifold experience, by various arguments, and by the authority of Plato, St. Jerome, St. Basil, the Damascene, Philo, Pliny, Isidore, St. Thomas, Bernard, and others, as well as by the passages of Sacred Scripture already cited, in treatise 9 on the Meteorology, chapter 9, and Valesius in Sacred Philosophy, chapter 63. For although there are many chasms of water under the earth, nevertheless all of these are considered to be one subterranean chasm, or abyss, especially because it is probable that they are all joined to one another through veins and passages, and come together in some primary and greater chasm as in a womb. From this abyss, therefore, most abundant waters bursting forth, like rivers, indeed like seas, covered the earth: for every sea is joined and united through veins with the aforementioned abyss; hence by the abyss here, seas too are understood: for the abyss is a chasm of waters, both those that are contained in the earth and those that are contained in the sea.
You will say: Therefore there was a void then in the sea and the abyss. I respond that there was not, partly because air entered the abyss in place of the water; partly because God then rarefied the waters of the sea and the abyss, by which it happened that they demanded a greater space, and spread themselves not only through their own channels but also over the land.
Note: all the fountains were broken up, as if to say: So great was the force and abundance of water bursting forth from the abyss and the sea, that it overwhelmed all its springs, boundaries, and barriers, and poured itself out in every direction through the sides, and overwhelmed the whole earth; just as torrents confined in the earth do, when by the force of their waters they widen, break apart, and burst through their outlets, channels, and barriers, by which they were confined as if by prisons, and break out in every direction through the sides and flood everything.
The Floodgates of Heaven
AND THE FLOODGATES OF HEAVEN WERE OPENED. -- "The floodgates," say Eugubinus and Oleaster, are openings that God made in the sky, or firmament, so that through them the waters that are above the firmament might flow down: for they hold that these waters were stored there by God for the sake of the flood, at the beginning of the world; but in that case, not only the firmament but also all the planetary heavens would have had to be split open, which is improbable.
Secondly, Peter of Ailly, and others whom Pererius cites, page 252, understand the floodgates as constellations, by whose natural force the flood was caused; but this contradicts this verse and verse 4.
I say therefore that the floodgates of heaven are here called by catachresis clouds, and the second region of the air itself, divided into many parts and zones, which contains and restrains the vapors and waters within itself as if by certain bars and cataracts, that is to say: The clouds, and the second region of the air itself, hurled down the greatest force of waters upon the earth with such impetus during the flood, that the entire air seemed to be torn open into vast openings, through which it poured forth not so much drops and rains as the most dense showers, like rivers and streams, so that the air now seemed to be not air, but a continuous downpour, indeed a sea. So say St. Chrysostom, Rupert, and Pererius; for the cataracts are named from kataregnumi, that is, "I rush headlong downward." Whence, after these cataracts were broken open, Moses adds: "And rain fell upon the earth for forty days."
The cause of the flood was twofold: one from above, namely rain bursting forth from the cataracts of heaven; the other from below, namely the eruption and inundation of the abyss, so that the earth in the middle was invaded and overwhelmed from both sides by waters.
The Cause and Volume of the Flood
Indeed it is difficult to perceive whence such an abundance of waters came, which would cover the entire earth, indeed surpass the highest mountains by fifteen cubits. For it is established that some mountains rise to four Italian miles, or four thousand paces, and tower above the earth -- such is the height of the Alps gradually ascending. And if the waters were equally high everywhere on earth, as it seems (and Scripture indicates this in chapter 8, verse 3, where it says that Noah's ark, floating on the waters of the flood, as they gradually decreased, finally in the seventh month came to rest upon the mountains of Armenia, and in the tenth month the peaks of other mountains appeared -- therefore they had been covered by waters up to that point), indeed the circumference of the waters was immense, which would easily encompass within itself four seas and more, as is geometrically evident to anyone calculating and measuring this space: for the higher one ascends, the more the capacity of the circumference is expanded, and it increases step by step in geometric progression to an immense quantity. For the sea is far less than the earth, and seems not much greater than the mountains and hills; for it succeeded into their place. For God raised up mountains from the previously round earth, so that by this He might make hollows and trenches in it, into which He might lead the waters that previously covered the earth, so that the earth, free from waters, could be inhabited.
Therefore the sea contributed little to such a great flood. Again, vapors raised from the earth and the air do not seem to have been able to supply the remainder: for in order for water to be made from vapor and air, a great condensation of air must take place. For ten ounces of air, indeed far more, will not produce one ounce of water. Therefore even if the greater part of the air had been converted into water, it hardly seems to have sufficed to provide such a great mass of waters, even if you assert that they were extended and expanded by God through rarefaction -- especially because if the waters had been greatly rarefied, they would certainly have been very thin, light, and airy: whence so heavy and laden an ark could not have floated and stayed on top of them. Add that then, in place of the air converted and condensed into water, other bodies would have had to succeed, or an immense void would have been left, which nature abhors; or certainly new water or new air would have had to be created by God, and annihilated after the flood, which also seems absurd. Therefore some learned men say that they are compelled by the arguments already adduced to acknowledge with Oleaster and Eugubinus that the waters which caused the flood were those which were originally stored by God above the heavens in the greatest abundance for this purpose, and that therefore God made cataracts or channels in the firmament through which these waters might descend: for the plain narrative of Moses seems to require this. For since we find true waters suitable for the flood in the heaven, it is not necessary to search for so many and such great changes of the air. Moreover, many ancients and moderns consider the heavens to be not solid, but liquid and fissile like air or ether: and if you grant this, the waters could easily have descended through them. And lest the place of the upper waters should be empty, either air and ether succeeded, which seems to have exchanged place with the upper waters at the time of the flood; or certainly the remaining waters which remained above the heavens at the time of the flood, God rarefied so that they might fill the place of the companion waters that were descending. Furthermore, they say, God accelerated the descent of the waters by a singular impulse; for if they had descended by natural motion, they would have spent more than a hundred years in the descent from so high and remote a place, as I showed in chapter 1, verse 14. St. Peter favors this opinion, in his Second Epistle, chapter 3, verse 5, where if you carefully weigh the words, he seems to say that the world perished by the waters of the flood, that is, heaven and earth, just as it will perish at its end by the fire of conflagration. Therefore just as not only the elements, but the very heavens themselves, as he says in verse 12, "will be dissolved burning"; so likewise the same seem to have been split and overwhelmed by the waters in the flood, so that they can be considered to have in a certain way perished. For the full antithesis of St. Peter seems to require this; whence in verse 5 he says: "That the heavens were before and the earth," etc., "through which that world perished, flooded by water; but the heavens that now are," etc., "are reserved for fire," as if to say: The former world and heavens perished by the flood; but the heavens which were restored by God after the flood, and now exist, are in like manner reserved for fire, so that they may be consumed and perish; wherefore he adds in verse 13: "But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promises." Add to this that Esdras, book 4, chapter 6, verse 41, calls the firmament a spirit, that is, air or ether: for he himself calls it a spirit, as is clear from verse 39. Thus those who, having established this principle that the heavens are liquid or fissile, philosophize not badly, and give an easy and clear cause for as great an amount of waters as was required for the flood.
But, because Aristotle and the Philosophers utterly deny this principle, and because those waters above the heavens are subtle and celestial, and very far removed from the earth: therefore I respond and say, first, the sea alone could not have caused such a great flood: for the flood was far greater than the entire sea. For the sea in comparison to the earth is small: for when it was separated from the earth, it merely took the place of the trenches and hollows from which the mountains were raised; therefore it roughly equals the mountains in its quantity, as has already been said. Again, sailors who have explored the depth of the sea with a sounding line assert that the sea, at its middle, where it is deepest, is commonly no deeper than half an Italian mile, that is, five hundred paces: while the semi-diameter of the earth is three thousand miles, as mathematicians everywhere teach. What is half a mile, even at the highest, and therefore most ample surface of the earth, if compared with three thousand miles, which is the measurement of the earth's depth from the surface to the center? Moreover, the sea hardly covers half the surface of the earth, nor any mountains; indeed Esdras, book 4, chapter 6, verse 42, says that the waters and the sea occupy only the seventh part of the earth. Therefore, with these calculations made, it follows that the sea is scarcely the thousandth part of the earth: but the space to which the flood rose above the earth contained the two hundred and thirty-eighth part of the earth, as I shall soon say; which number contains the thousandth more than four times over, so that to fill with water the space to which the flood rose, four seas would not have sufficed, unless you say the sea was rarefied by God to quadruple its normal extent.
I say secondly: The cause of the flood was vapors raised up again from the globe of the earth and the sea and there resolved into rain. For this note: If you suppose the flood rose to five Italian miles above the earth -- for it covered the highest mountains by 15 cubits; and some mountains rise to four miles above the earth. Let us therefore suppose, for easier calculation, that the flood rose to five miles above the earth -- I say that this space of five miles is nothing other than the two hundred and thirty-eighth part of the globe of the earth, as skilled mathematicians showed me in Rome after making their calculations. Now it was easy for God to convert the 238th part of the earth, with which the sea is mixed, into vapors, and to convert those into rains: these therefore would have filled this entire space of five miles. Add that water is ten times less dense than earth: therefore the said number of the 238th portion of the earth, sufficient for filling the space of five miles just mentioned, must be multiplied by ten; and if you do this, you get 2380: therefore the 2380th part of the earth, resolved into vapors and rains, sufficed for filling this space of five miles. What is the 2380th part of the earth compared to the whole globe of the earth? And into the place of this portion of earth departing into vapors, air and water succeeded, expanded through rarefaction and spread out more than usual.
Finally, God could have rarefied and extended the rain in like manner: and given this, a much smaller portion of earth and rains sufficed to fill this space. It is also probable that God converted part of the air into rain and water. Three elements therefore, namely air, water, and earth, contributed to causing such a great flood. I have explained the passage of St. Peter in my Commentaries on his epistle.
Verse 12: Forty Days
The cause of this so continuous rain was the constant multiplication and conversion of vapors into waters; for God was then continually resolving vapors, air, and other things into waters for 40 days, and mercifully rained them down not all at once, but gradually, so that in the meantime men might be terrified and repent, says St. Chrysostom.
Note: Oleaster thinks that it rained continuously not only during these 40 days, but also during the 150 following. But Scripture only asserts that it rained for 40 days, which sufficiently implies that after 40 days the rain ceased. So say Abulensis and Pererius.
Verse 13: In the Very Moment
IN THE VERY MOMENT (at the point of that day; in Hebrew it is beetsem haiom, "in the bone of the day," that is, in the substance -- for bones give firm substance to the body -- of that day, namely on that day the 17th of the second month, of the year 600 of Noah) HE ENTERED, -- namely ultimately and completely, Noah with all into the ark. For it should be noted from verses 1, 4, and 7 that Noah had begun to enter the ark seven days before the flood, and during those days had gradually brought food and animals into the ark, so that on the very day of the flood, which was the seventeenth of the second month, all things and all persons had perfectly entered. The word "entered" therefore here signifies not the act begun, but completed and perfected. For the clemency of God willed, during these seven days, through the preparations that Noah was making, and through the continuous bringing in of animals and provisions into the ark, to warn men of the impending flood, and to move them to repentance. So say St. Ambrose, Tostatus, and Pererius.
Verse 14: All Birds and All Flying Creatures
Birds are those that have feathers: flying creatures are those that have wings, whether those be feathers or membranes, such as the bat has.
Verse 16: The Lord Shut Him In
THE LORD SHUT HIM IN FROM THE OUTSIDE, -- namely by smearing the door of the ark on the outside with bitumen against the waters, which Noah, being already enclosed in the ark, could not do. Whence the Hebrew has, "the Lord closed for him"; or, as Vatablus translates, "after him." See how great a care and providence God has for Noah and his family.
Verse 17: The Flood Came to Pass
Tropologically, St. Ambrose, in his book On Noah, chapter 13, says: "The appearance of the flood is a type of the purification of our soul. And so when our mind has washed itself from the bodily allurements of this world, in which it formerly delighted, it will also wipe away by good thoughts the filth of old desire, as if absorbing with purer waters the bitterness of previously turbid streams."
And overturn cities, uproot trees, and level to the ground all crops and shoots; indeed then, as Ovid sings: "All things were sea, and the sea had no shores."
Note here again the constancy of faith, hope, and patience in Noah. For he was in the most grievous temptations, so that it would be a wonder if he had not despaired: for first, he was forced to leave behind his home, friends, and all things, indeed to witness their destruction; second, he was shut up as if in a prison and in darkness, amid the stench of animals; third, he was shaken with terror seeing such great wrath of God, and the waters rushing in from every side, indeed seeing nothing but present death. For if men fear on the sea and amid the waves, how much did Noah fear? Fourth, he could fear that God might abandon even him, on account of some fault; fifth, he did not know how long the tempest would last; sixth, he could see no way out: for the ark was closed; seventh, the destruction of all men and animals tormented him; eighth, he labored to console and strengthen his family in the ark, lest they despair. Who in such great temptations would not have succumbed and preferred to die? But Noah sustained and overcame all these things, relying on God alone, and on His promise and providence, since there was no other help or counsel. Thus does God exercise and perfect His own, when He takes away all supports from them, so that they may commit themselves entirely to God. Let us also learn in every difficulty to unite ourselves to God and to hope in Him above all. For it is the Lord who "kills and gives life: leads down to the grave, and brings back." What wonder then if Paul so praises Noah for his faith, Hebrews 11:7, and Ecclesiasticus, chapter 44, verse 17.
Verse 20: Fifteen Cubits Above the Mountains
Therefore the flood reached up to the lowest part of the middle region of the air: for Olympus and other very high mountains reach up to that point; therefore the flood also overwhelmed and destroyed paradise. Some think that fire will rise equally high, namely fifteen cubits above the earth and mountains, at the conflagration at the end of the world, and St. Augustine suggests this, in book 3 of On Genesis Literally, chapter 2, and proves it from 2 Peter chapter 3, verses 5 and 7. It is therefore false what Cajetan supposed, that the mountains which are here said to be covered by the waters are those that are under the aerial sky, but not those that surpass the middle region of the air, such as he says Olympus and Atlas are: for this contradicts Sacred Scripture here, which asserts that all mountains of the earth were surpassed and overwhelmed by the flood, as St. Augustine rightly observes in book 15 of The City of God, chapter 27. The foundation of Cajetan's argument too, namely that some mountains surpass the middle region of the air, that is, the place of rain and snow, is false; for it has been ascertained that the summit of Atlas is covered with snow.
Note: The water exceeded all mountains by fifteen cubits, lest the tallest giants, or any other very large animal, could be preserved on the peak of the highest mountain. Therefore what the Jews relate -- that Og, king of Bashan, was one of those giants mentioned in chapter 6, and that standing on the highest mountain he escaped the flood, and they prove it from what is said in Deuteronomy 3:10: "Only Og remained of the race of the giants" -- is a fable, for then Og would have been 800 years old: for that many years passed from the flood until the entry of the Hebrews into Canaan, when Og was killed by them, Deuteronomy 3:3.
Noah's Life in the Ark
One may ask what Noah did with his family during the whole time in the ark. Torniellus responds that he felt compassion for all the others who were perishing, and congratulated himself on his salvation in the ark, and gave thanks to God; second, that he devoted himself to prayers and contemplation; third, that he cared for himself and all the animals, giving them food and drink, sweeping the refuse into the bilge, and from there lifting it up by pump or buckets, and throwing it out of the ark through the small windows that were above; finally, that he managed every affair of the ark.
Verse 22: All in Which Was the Breath of Life
AND ALL IN WHICH THERE WAS THE BREATH OF LIFE ON EARTH, DIED. -- The Hebrew has it literally thus: "and every thing whose breath of spirit (that is, the breath of respiration, or breathing) of life was in its nostrils, of all that were on the dry land, died," that is, absolutely all things breathing on earth died. Whence the Zurich Bible translates: "and whatever was in whose nostrils the breath of life breathed, of all that lived on dry land, died"; Vatablus: "they had already perished." It adds "on the dry land" on account of fish, which live in the wet, namely in water: for these remained alive and surviving. Pagninus: "All in whose face was the breathing of life, of all that were on the dry land, died." The Septuagint renders it thus: "And all whatsoever had the spirit of life, and everyone that was upon the dry land, died." The Chaldean: "All in which is the breath of the spirit of life in their nostrils, of all that are on the dry land, died."
Verse 24: A Hundred and Fifty Days
Note that these 150 days are not to be counted separately after the 40 days of rain mentioned in verse 12 (as Josephus, Chrysostom, Tostatus, and Cajetan maintain), but as including them; for from the 17th day of the second month, when the rain and the flood began, until the 27th day of the seventh month, when the waters having diminished, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Armenia, as stated in chapter 8, verse 4, only 160 days elapse; therefore during the first 40 days the rain fell, by which the earth and all mountains were covered to fifteen cubits: then for the following one hundred and ten days, the water remained at this level and height, after which it began to decrease, so that on the tenth day thereafter the ark came to rest on the mountains of Armenia: for that many days are counted in total, from the 17th day of the second month, when the flood began, until the 27th day of the seventh month, when the ark came to rest, namely 160 days, which must be divided and distributed in the manner I have just described. So say Lyranus, Hugo, and Pererius.
The Horror of the Flood
This spectacle of the flood was dreadful: gradually, what will the flood of fire in hell be like? Consider how terrible God is in His counsels over the sons of men, how terrible is His justice and vengeance. "The floods have lifted up their waves, at the voices of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea, wonderful is the Lord on high." What then will it be on the day of judgment, which will similarly overwhelm all from the unexpected? Hear Christ, the very Truth Himself, Matthew chapter 24, verse 37: "As in the days of Noah, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know, until the flood came and took them all: so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."
The horror of the flood. Then, as Hugo the Cardinal says from St. Bernard, the ways will be narrow on every side for the reprobate. Above will be the angry Judge; below, a dreadful abyss; on the right, sins accusing; on the left, countless demons dragging them to punishment; within, a burning conscience; without, a world on fire. Wretched sinner caught in the act, where will you flee? To hide will be impossible, to appear will be intolerable. If you ask, who will accuse you? I say, the whole world: because, when the Creator is offended, every creature hates the offender, namely the sinner.
As the waters were rising, trembling mothers with their little ones ran about through their houses, not knowing where to go; others rose terrified from the table and sought escape; from the marriage bed husband and wife leaped forth, he fleeing this way, she that way, to escape the surging wave; you would have seen some suddenly climbing to the upper stories of their houses, others even to the tops of roofs; some likewise scaling the branches of tall trees, others rushing in haste to the ridges of hills and mountains, but in vain: for no one could escape this force and violence of the waters; everywhere was dread, everywhere trembling. Oh, how they grieved then that they had not listened to Noah warning them of these things, but had mocked him! O Noah, how wise you were, they said, O how demented we were, how insane, how foolish! Oh, if only we could now enter the ark, how eagerly we would choose to be shut up in it for our whole lives! We could have once, but we refused; now we want to, but we cannot. The Phrygians learn wisdom too late. From these and similar considerations you see how horrible the flood was; and that you may see and grasp it more fully, imagine yourself standing on the summit of a mountain, and seeing the waters flooding the whole earth, destroying everything, swallowing up men and animals, overturning fortresses and towns, still rising and surpassing all the mountains, and so finally reaching you standing on the summit, and likewise engulfing and drowning you. From this learn what sin is, which brought this calamity upon the whole world; and if such was the flood of water upon the earth, what will the flood of fire in hell be like?