A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.
16. Alight ] Perhaps better than a roof. The word so rendered ( har) only occurs here in the singular: in the dual it is the regular Heb. word for “noonday.” Accepting the rendering which connects it with “light,” we should probably be right in conjecturing that it means here “a window,” or “opening,” beneath the over-hanging eaves of the roof on both sides of the ark. So Latin, fenestram. In the Babylonian version, a window is mentioned. Others, connecting the word with an Arabic form, render it by roof, deeming that the roof, being of such importance to the inmates, could not have been omitted in the description. LXX is unintelligible, but possibly gives the idea of the converging sides of the covering.
and to a cubit, &c.] This clause is very difficult. ( a) The commonest opinion is that, if the reference be to a window, it was to be a cubit high, running round the ark. This, however, would have been a mere slit, and practically inadequate for purposes of light and air. Perhaps it may mean the distance of a cubit from the top of the window to the roof. ( b) The idea that it represented a little square window in Noah’s own cell is fanciful. ( c) If the word rendered “light” denoted the roof, the cubit “upward,” or “from above,” might indicate the amount of slope, which, however, would be extremely small. An allusion to the “window” is the most probable explanation. The opening would have run all round the ship, with the necessary intervals of beams and supports. The description must not be judged by modern standards either of ship-building or of hygiene. It is more or less imaginative.
upward ] The rendering of the margin, from above, gives a more intelligible meaning.
Gunkel, who considers that the text is corrupt, makes the strange conjectural emendation, “and on a hinge shalt thou make it revolve.”
the door ] Cf. Gen 7:16.
stories ] The Babylonian account is more elaborate: “Then I built 6 decks in it so that it was divided into 7 stories. The interior (of each storey) I divided into 9 compartments.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 16. A window shalt thou make] What this was cannot be absolutely ascertained. The original word tsohar signifies clear or bright; the Septuagint translate it by , “collecting, thou shalt make the ark,” which plainly shows they did not understand the word as signifying any kind of window or light. Symmacbus translates it , a transparency; and Aquila, , the noon. Jonathan ben Uzziel supposes that it was a precious luminous stone which Noah, by Divine command, brought from the river Pison. It is probably a word which should be taken in a collective sense, signifying apertures for air and light.
In a cubit shalt thou finish it above] Probably meaning that the roof should be left a cubit broad at the apex or top, and that it should not terminate in a sharp ridge. But this place is variously understood.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A window, or a light; or lights, or windows; the singular number being put for the plural, which is most frequent: or it might be one great light or lantern, by which light might be derived and distributed into several rooms.
Shalt thou finish it above, i.e. either,
1. The window, which was to be a cubit square. Or rather,
2. The ark; as appears,
1. From the gender of the Hebrew affix, which is feminine, and therefore agrees with the ark, which in the Hebrew is of the feminine gender, not with the window, which is masculine.
2. From the nature of the thing, the ark requiring a roof, and that sloping, that the rain might slide off from it, and not sink into it; for which end the roof in the middle was to be higher than the ark by a cubit. And as the other parts of the ark were made with exquisite contrivance, so doubtless this was not defective therein.
The highest story was for men and birds; the second for provision for the brute creatures; the lowest for the beasts, under which was the sink of the ark, which most probably was made sloping at the bottom, as all ships and boats are, where serpents and such like creatures might be put, with their proper provisions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. A windowprobably askylight, formed of some transparent substance unknown.
in a cubit shalt thou finishit abovea direction to raise the roof in the middle, seeminglyto form a gentle slope for letting the water run off.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
A window shalt thou make to the ark,…. Or a “light”, such as is that at noon, for which the word in the dual number is used; and therefore Junius and Tremellius translate it a “clear light”. The Jewish writers s will have it to be a precious stone, a pearl which Noah fetched from the river Pison, and hung up in the ark, and it gave light to all the creatures, like a large chandelier; but a window no doubt it was to let light into the several apartments, and to look out at on occasion, since Noah is afterwards said to open it; but what it was made of is difficult to say, since it does not appear that as yet glass was invented. Some think it was made of crystal, which would let in light, and keep off the water. A very learned t man is of opinion, that Noah understanding chemistry, prepared a fine subtle fragrant spirit, of an oily nature and luminous, which he put into vessels made of crystal or glass, and hung them up in every room in the ark, and which was both illuminating and refreshing; and this he thinks is what is meant by the “Zohar”, or “light”, which we translate a “window”; but this is afterward said to be opened by Noah, to send forth the raven and the dove, which will not agree with such a vessel of spirituous liquor:
and in a cubit shall thou finish it above; not the window, as some think, which they place at top of the ark, and suppose to be a cubit in length, but the ark itself, which was finished with a roof raised up a cubit high in the middle:
and the door of the ark shall thou set in the side thereof; on which it is not said; an Arabic writer u places it on the east side of it, on which side he supposes Noah and his sons dwelt, and on the west side his wife and his sons’ wives. How large this door was is not said; it is reasonably supposed w to be ten cubits high and eight broad, that there might be room enough for an elephant to enter in by it; and it seems it was so large, that Noah, and those with him, could not shut it, but it was done by the Lord, Ge 7:16
[with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it: the above Arabic writer x makes the lower story to be for the beasts, the second for the birds, and the third for Noah and his children; and with him agrees a Jewish writer y: but as by this distribution no place is left for provisions, they seem most correct who place the beasts in the lower story, and the birds with Noah and his family in the uppermost, and the provisions for all in the middle. This ark was a type of the church of God. As to the form and pattern of it, it was of God, so the separation of men from the world in a church state is of God; it is by his appointment, and it is his will, that when any numbers of men are converted in a place, that they should be incorporated together in a church state, the form of which is given by him, its officers appointed, and the laws and ordinances of it fixed by him: and as to the matter of it, “Gopher wood”, a lasting and incorruptible wood, denoting the duration of the church; God ever had, and ever will have a church in the world: as to the parts of it, and rooms in it, the rooms may point at particular churches, of which there have been many; or may signify, that there is always room enough in the church of God to receive saints. The ark had three stories in it, as the tabernacle and temple had three divisions, which were types of the same also; and may have respect to the visible church, consisting of believers and unbelievers, the invisible church, or general assembly of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, and the church triumphant. The door into the ark may signify Christ, who, and faith in him, may be said to be the door into the church, and to all the ordinances of it: the window may either typify the glorious light of the Gospel, held forth in the church, or the ordinances of it, to which sensible souls betake themselves, as doves to their windows,
Isa 60:8. Into this ark not only Noah and his family, but creatures of all sorts were admitted, as sinners of all sorts called by grace, and become peaceable, are received into the church of God; yea, even good and bad have a place here, though the latter under the notion and character of the former, but are hypocrites in Zion: here also were plenty of provisions for all in it, as there are in the church of God fulness of spiritual provisions for all the people of God. The ark was of the use of a ship, and was the means of saving a few men, even Noah and his family; so the church of God has the nature and use of a ship, of which Christ is the pilot, and conducts it through the sea of this world, in which it is often tossed with tempests, and distressed; but at last brought to its haven, in which a few are saved, not as the cause, which alone is Christ, but as the means. The Apostle Peter makes baptism its antitype, 1Pe 3:21 which is God’s ordinance, and not man’s, of his appointing; as to the form and manner of it, is the object of the world’s scorn, when rightly administered, as Noah’s ark was; represents a burial, as that did when Noah entered into it; and was an emblem of Christ’s resurrection and ours, when he came out of it: it was a type of baptism in its salutary effect, it saves by water, as that does by leading to the resurrection of Christ; it saves not as a cause, but as a means of directing to Christ, the author of salvation; and saves not all in the water, only those that are in the ark, that is, truly and rightly in the church, and real members of it, or that are in Christ; and so many make the ark also a type of Christ.
s Targum Jonathan in loc. Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. t Dickinson. Physic. vet & vera, c. 20. p. 324, 325. u Patricides, apud Hottinger. p. 248, 250. w Scbeuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 40. x Patricides, apud Hottinger. p. 248, 250. y Pirke Eliezer, c. 23.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(16) A window.Not the word so rendered in Gen. 7:11; Gen. 8:2, which means a lattice; nor that in. Gen. 8:6, which means an aperture; but zohar, light, brightness. In the dual, double-light, it is the usual word for midday, but it does not occur elsewhere in the singular. It was evidently a means, not merely of lighting the ark, but also of ventilating it; for as it was thickly covered within and without with bitumena point strongly insisted upon in the Chaldean Genesisthe two lower storeys would be so ill supplied with air as to be fit only for stores and. ballast, and the upper storey alone capable of being inhabited. If this zohar was an open space one cubit in height, running all round the ark, and formed by not boarding over the upright beams, it would have given a sufficient supply of air, and being protected by the overhanging eaves of the rooffor the ark had no deckwould not have admitted any serious amount. of rain. So in the Chaldean Genesis the ark has no deck, but a roof (p. 281).
Above.Or, upward. The word is one of those reduplicated forms by means of which the Hebrew language expresses so much within a little compass. Consisting of only six letters, it is nevertheless a compound of five particles, and signifies from to upward . that is, thou shalt finish it (the ark, as is shown by the gender) from beneath, working upwards till the last cubit, which is not to be finished, but left open for ventilation and light.
The door, on which also much stress is laid in the Chaldean account as being essential for the protection of the inmates (p. 281), was to be at the side, and probably extended throughout the three storeys, two-thirds of which, however, might be closed as soon as the lower storeys had received their freightage of provisions. Besides this door, there must also have been apertures to admit of cleaning the cells in which the animals were confined and removing their litter, but of such lower arrangements no mention is made.
It is not necessary to suppose that Noah and his three sons built this vast vessel with their own hands. He was probably a powerful chieftain, and many of the Sethites may have given him aid. Implements of iron had been invented by the Cainites, and on the intermarriage of the two lines would be brought into general use. It is difficult, however, to understand now four men could feed, clean, and give water to a very large collection of animals for so many months. Without scrupulous attention to such matters, a murrain would have broken out, and as only two of many species were taken into the ark, the loss of any one of these animals would have been equivalent to the destruction of the race. The narrative, however, implies that the health of man and beast throughout the twelve months was perfect; and probably the number of the animals received into the ark was less than is commonly supposed.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. A window . The Hebrew word here employed occurs nowhere else in the singular, but is frequently found in the dual, denoting the noontide . A different word is used in Gen 8:6, to describe the window which Noah opened to send forth the raven . The making of that window is nowhere described .
In a cubit finish it above Or, unto a cubit (within a cubit of the ridge) shalt thou finish it (the ark) from above, (on the roof, measuring from the eaves upward . ) Leave an aperture the whole length of the roof and a cubit wide, on each side of the ridge . This seems to be the best interpretation of this concise and obscure passage . This aperture, two cubits wide and running through the middle of the roof, was at once a skylight and a ventilator, being wholly or partially closed by some sort of a covering, perhaps a semi-transparent awning, (Gen 8:13,) during the rain, and which Noah lifted up to get a wide view of the face of the earth. Directly beneath the ridge there was probably a wide space, or hall, the whole length and depth of the ark, into which the rooms or stalls opened on the right and left. It was thus a vast three-story building, with a hall through the middle from floor to ridge.
The door One large door for entrance and exit in the side.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.
Ver. 16. A window shalt thou make. ] The ark had little outward light; so the Church, till she become triumphant. There could not but be much stench among all those creatures, though shut up in several rooms; so here, there is much annoyance to those that have their “senses exercised to discern good and evil”. Heb 5:14 Compare the estate of Prince Charles in his queen-mother’s womb with his condition at full age, in all the glory of his father’s court; there is a broad difference. And it may fitly resemble, saith one, a the difference of our present and future estate; while the Church doth here travail of us, we are pent up in dark cloisters, and annoyed with much stench of sin, both in ourselves and others; but when we come to heaven, we shall see and enjoy the light of life, our feet shall be as hinds’ feet, upon the everlasting mountains.
a Bain’s Letter,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
window. Hebrew = a place for light (Gen 7:11; Gen 8:6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
window: Gen 8:6, 2Sa 6:16, 2Ki 9:30
the door: Gen 7:16, Luk 13:25
with: Eze 41:16, Eze 42:3
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6:16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] {1} lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.
(1) That is, of three heights.