John Calvin on Genesis 7:17-24

17. And the flood was forty days , etc . Moses copiously insists upon this fact, in order to show that the whole world was immersed in the waters. Moreover, it is to be regarded as the special design of this narrations that we should not ascribe to fortune, the flood by which the world perished; how ever customary it may be for men to cast some veil over the works of God, which may obscure either his goodness or his judgments manifested in them. But seeing it is plainly declared, that whatever was flourishing on the earth was destroyed, we hence infer, that it was an indisputable and signal judgment of God; especially since Noah alone remained secure, because he had embraced, by faith, the word in which salvation was contained. He then recalls to memory what we before have said; namely how desperate had been the impiety, and how enormous the crimes of men, by which God was induced to destroy the whole world; whereas, on account of his great clemency, he would have spared his own workmanship, had he seen that any milder remedy could have been effectually applied. These two things, directly opposed to each other, he connects together; that the whole human race was destroyed, but that Noah and his family safely escaped. Hence we learn how profitable it was for Noah, disregarding the world, to obey God alone: which Moses states not so much for the sake of praising the man, as for that of inviting us to imitate his example. Moreover, lest the multitude of sinners should draw us away from God; we must patiently bear that the ungodly should hold us up to ridicule, and should triumph over us, until the Lord shall show by the final issue, that our obedience has been approved by him. In this sense, Peter teaches that Noah’s deliverance from the universal deluge was a figure of baptism, (1 Peter 3:21;) as if he had said, the method of the salvation, which we receive through baptism, degrees with this deliverance of Noah. Since at this time also the world is full of unbelievers as it was then; therefore it is necessary for us to separate ourselves from the greater multitude, that the Lord may snatch us from destruction. In the same manner, the Church is fitly, and justly, compared to the ark. But we must keep in mind the similitude by which they mutually correspond with each other; for that is derived from the word of God alone; because as Noah believing the promise of God, gathered himself his wife and his children together, in order that under a certain appearance of death, he might emerge out of death; so it is fitting that we should renounce the world and die, in order that the Lord may quicken us by his word. For nowhere else is there any security of salvation. The Papists, however, act ridiculously who fabricate for us an ark without the word.

CHAPTER 8.

Genesis 8:1-22

1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

1. Recordatus est autem Deus Noah, et omnis bestiae, et omnis animalis quae erant cum eo in arca: et transire fecit Deus ventum super terram, et quieverunt aquae.

2. The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

2. Et clauserunt se fontes abyssi, fenestraeque coelo.

3. And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

3. Et reversae sunt aquae a superficie terrae, eundo et redeundo, et defecerunt aquae in fine quinquaginta et centum dierum.

4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

4. Et requievit arca mense septimo, septimadecima die mensis super montes Ararath.

5. And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month , on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

5. Et aquae ibant et deficiebant usque ad mensem decimum: in decimo, in prima mensis visa sunt cacumina montium.

6. And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

6. Et fuit, in fine quadraginta dierum, aperuit Noah fenestram arcae quam fecerat.

7. And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

7. Et misit corvum, et egressus est egrediendo et redeundo, donex siccarentur aquae quae erant super terram.

8. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

8. Deinde misit columbam a se, ut videret an extenuatae essent aquae a superficie terrae.

9. 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.

9. Et non invenit columba requiem plantae pedis sui, et reversa est ad eum in arcam: quia aquae erant in superficie omnis terrae: et misit manum suam, et accepit eam, introduxitque eam ad se in arcam.

10. And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

10. Et expectavit adhuc septem dies alios, et addidit ut mitteret columbam ex arca.

11. 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.

11. Et venit ad eum columba tempore vespertimo, et ecce, folium olivae raptum erat in ore ejus, et cognovit Noah quod extenuatae essent aquae a superficie terrae.

12. And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

12. Et expectavit adhuc septem alios, et misit columbam: et non addidit ut reverteretur ad cum amplius.

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.

13. Et fuit, primo et sexcentesimo anno, primo mense , in prima mensis, siccatae sunt aquae a superficie terrae: removit autem Noah operimentum arcae, et vidit, et exxe siccata erat facies terrae.

14. And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

14. Et in mense secundo, in septima et vicesima die mensis, aruit terra.

15. And God spake unto Noah, saying,

15. Loquutus est autem Deus ad Noah, dicendo,

16. Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

16. Egredere ex arca, tu, et uxor tua, et filii tui, et uxores filiorum tuorum tecum.

17. 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. Omnem bestiam quae est tecum, ex omni carne, tam de volatili quam de animali, et omni reptili quod reptat super terram educ tecum: ut se moveant in terra, et crescant, multiplicenturque super terram.

18. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him:

18. Et egressus est Noah, et filii ejus, et uxor ejus, et uxores filiorum ejus cum eo.

19. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

19. Omnis bestia, omne reptile et omne volatile, omne quod movetur super terram, secundum familias eorum egressa sunt ex arca.

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.

20. Et aedificavit Noah altare Jehovae, et tulit ex omni animali mundo, et ex omni volatili mundo, et obtulit holocausta in altari.

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.

21. Odoratusque est Jehova odorem quietis. Et dixit Jehova in corde suo, Non addam ut maledicam ultra terrae propter hominem: quia cogitatio cordis hominis mala est a pueritia sua: nec addam ultra ut percutiam omne vivens quemadmodum feci.

22. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

22. Posthac omnibus diebus terrae, sementis et messis, et frigus et aestus, et aestas et hyems, et dies et nox non cessabunt.