9 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: 7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. 8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; " And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. Noah sends forth his intelligencers. The raven of quick scent, of gross feed, of tough constitution. No fowl was so fit for discovery. The likeliest things succeed not always. He will neither venture far into that solitary world for fear of want, nor yet come into the ark for love of liberty, but hovers about in uncertainties. How many carnal minds fly out of the ark of God's church, and embrace the present world, rather choosing to feed upon the unsavoury carcases of sinful pleasures, than to be restrained within the strait lists of Christian obedience ! Next, the dove is sent forth, a fowl both swift and simple. She, like a true citizen of the ark, returns, and brings faithful notice of the continuance of the waters, by her restless and empty return-by her olive-leaf, of their abatement. How worthy are those messengers of a welcome, who, with purity in their lives, bring glad tidings of peace and salvation in their mouths! -Bp. Hall. Some make these things an allegory. The law was sent forth like the raven, but brought no tidings of the assuaging of the waters of God's wrath with which the world of mankind was deluged; therefore, in the fulness of time, God sent forth His gospel, as the dove, in the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended; and this presents us with an olive-branch, and brings in a better hope.'-M. Henry. The repeated mention of seven days seems to imply that from the beginning time had been divided into weeks, which can no otherwise be accounted for, that I know of, than by admitting that, from the beginning, those who feared God remembered the Sabbath day to keep it holy.A. Fuller. 13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. 15 And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 7 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. 17 18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. 'He that believeth shall not make haste.' Had Noah gone out of the ark sooner the earth would have been damp, and provisions would have been wanting for the beasts, and all might have perished together. There is nothing like having a commission from God. When our mercies are ripe, and we ourselves are ready for them, we may then, and not till then, expect to enjoy them.-Orton. 20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. Before the flood, God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth,' and that every imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually:' and, after the flood, we find this testimony con 22 While the earth remaineth, and heat, and summer and winter, Partial and occasional failures in the crops can scarcely be called exceptions to this rule; since from the time of the flood there has never been a year in which there has been no harvest throughout the world. To understand the promise of God's engaging never to afflict any particular nation, or number of nations, with famine, is to make it universal as to place, as well as uninterrupted in respect of time; and this would go to ensure a harvest to the sluggard who cerning the state of man repeated. It is repeated, indeed, in very striking terms-in terms which indicate that moral pollution is not a thing grafted upon the human character, but natural to it.-Dr. Payne. seed time and harvest, and cold and day and night shall not cease. refuses to sow.-A. Fuller. The provision made for the constant regulation of the universe in the disposition of the heavenly bodies, so that in the course of several thousand years nature should ever exhibit the same useful and grateful variety in the returns of light and darkness, of summer and winter, and ever furnish food and habitation to all the animals that people the earth, must be a lasting theme of wonder to every reflecting mind. Dr. H. Blair. CHAP. IX. AND God blessed Noal and his sons, and said unto them, Be 2 fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. It is probable that the subjection of the animals before the fall was voluntary, and that by instinct they regarded man as a friend; but since that event it hath been more the result of fear; most of them dread ing him as a powerful enemy whom they must either submit to or flee from. We continually witness the fulfilment of this promise among creatures of all sorts. The ease with which horses are managed, notwithstanding their strength and spirit, and the severity with which they are treated, and the safety with which large droves of oxen are goaded forward, frequently by a single youth, who, conscious of his superiority, fears not them, while they stand in awe of him, are circumstances which would be deemed very wonderful were they not so common. Were this instinctive fear removed, and should the animals, conscious of their force, rise in general rebellion, what confusion and devastation would ensue!-Scott. 8 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb I have given you all things. To Adam and his posterity had been granted at the creation every herb for meat,' and nothing more. In the last clause of this passage the old grant is recited and extended to the flesh of animals. But this was not till after the flood; the inhabitants of the antediluvian world had, therefore, no such permission that we know of. Whether they ac tually refrained from the flesh of animals is another question. Might not, however, some of the stricter sects among the antediluvians be scrupulous as to this point? And might not Noah and his family be of this description? For it is not probable that God would publish a permission to authorize a practice which had been never disputed.-Paley. 4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. It appears that the Israelites, in the days of Saul, had a strong propensity to this crime. After they had conquered the Philistines they flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and did eat them with the blood, that is, they cut off the flesh of the beasts while they were alive, and ate it raw. (1 Sam. xiv. 33, 34.) To prevent this, Saul caused a great stone to be rolled to him, and ordered that the cattle should all be killed upon that stone, by cutting their throats. Thus the blood was poured upon the ground like water, and the animal known to be dead before its flesh was eaten.-Anon. 5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast I will require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. According to the genius of the Hebrew language, the words of the sixth verse may be understood as the utterance of a prediction, as well as the enunciation of a law.-L. There is a peculiar sacredness put upon the life of man, beyond that of all other creatures that inhabit the earth; because this is an improvable life; this is a thing that may be grafted upon. Noble grafts may be inserted here into a human life; therefore God will have it counted precious, and preserved as such. This creature of mine,' says God, I will not have touched, for he carries my image upon him; I will not have any violence offered to my image.'-Howe. To deface the king's image is a sort of treason among men, implying a hatred against him, and that if he himself were within reach he would be served in the same manner; how much more treasonable must it be to destroy, curse, or any way abuse the image of is principally struck at when one man the King of kings! and it is God who murders another.-A. Fuller; Howe. 8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. It is obvious to infer from this passage that creatures are capable of being parties in a covenant, and receiving benefit from it, who are not 13 capable of understanding anything about it. The application of this remark to the subject of infant baptism is at once apparent.-L. 12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 18 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. The rainbow is a token of the covenant of preservation made with Noah, and with all the creatures of the earth. It is fixed and sure. It may be considered also as an emblem of the covenant of grace, or rather of Christ Himself (Rev. x. 1), as appears in many particulars. When we are apt to fear being overwhelmed by the rain, Jehovah shows this seal of His promise that we shall not. Thus He removes our fears when we weep for sin, and are afraid of a flood of wrath, by reminding us of the covenant of grace established in Jesus. Again, the thicker the cloud, the brighter is the bow in the cloud; so when afflictions abound, spiritual consolations do much more abound. The bow appears when one part of the sky is clear; which intimates mercy remembered in the midst of wrath. The rainbow, again, is caused by the reflec 6 tion of the beams of the sun; so all the glory of the covenant of grace, and the significancy of its seals, are derived from Christ, the Sun of Righteousness.' Once more, the bow speaks terror; but this is without string or arrow, is directed upwards, and not to the earth. God looks upon the bow to remember His covenant; so should we, that we may be mindful of the covenant of grace, with faith and thankfulness.-M. Henry. I behold this resplendent and beautiful exhibition of my Maker's skill, which adorns the retiring storm and cheers the face of nature. It seals security upon the promise made to Noah; it instructs me to believe that my Lord looks upon it with designs of mercy. So, blessed Lord, look also upon me, who am a sinner; take me into covenant with Thee; cause the infinitely glorious Sun of Righteousness to arise upon my soul; let His effulgent beams dispel the clouds of sin and ignorance which envelope my mind; let the storms of deserved judgment pass by, and the clear shining after the rain' succeed the relentings of repentance; and when I supplicate for pardon before a throne of grace, may the bow, as a token of mercy, surround the throne!-Mary Grafton. 18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. V. 21. One hour's drunkenness betrays that which more than 600 years' sobriety had modestly concealed.—Bp. Hall. This was like a ship, which had gone round the world, being overset in sailing into port.-A. Fuller. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's naked ness. The sins of those we love and honour we must hear of with indignation, fearfully and unwillingly believe, acknowledge with grief and shame, hide with honest excuses, and bury in silence.-Bp. Hall. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. malediction.-L. Bishop Newton gives good reasons for believing that, instead of reading 'Cursed be Canaan,' the expression should be Cursed be Ham the father of Canaan;' this reading, if admitted, will obviate some of the objections which have been urged against this 'Canaan' signifies depressed, abject, humbled; 'Shem,' renowned; Japhet,' enlarged. This play on words is common in the Hebrew writings.Old Bible. 28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died. NOW CHAP. X. [OW these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, |