Noah Enters the Ark
Excerpt
Noah is given a week’s warning before the flood begins. The Hebrew word for “rain” in verse 4 is different than the word for “rain” in verse 12. That used inverse 12 designates a heavy downpour. The rain of verse 4 is no shower—it is to last forty days and forty nights. Noah does what God says (vv. 7–9) and God fulfills his word (v. 10).
As the flood starts (7:11–16), again we find the deliberate use of repetition and summarization. This is a characteristic of epic composition. Note: the flood (v. 6); entry into the ark (vv. 7–9); the flood (vv. 10–12); entry into the ark (vv. 13–16). Actually, there are two references to the flood’s beginning: verse 10 and verse 11. The additional data given in verse 11 are about the two sources of the rain: the springs of the great deep and the floodgates of heaven. But the following verse refers only to the second of these.
Elwell, Walter A. Evangelical Commentary on the Bible. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995. Print. Baker Reference Library.
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