בְּרֵאשִׁית

BeReshit/Genesis

CHAPTER 7

With Commentaries

“And after seven days, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.”

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew

And YHVH said to Noakh, “Come into the ark, you and all your house/family, for you are the only one who is righteous before Me in this generation.

1 וַיֹּאמֶר יהוה לְנֹחַ בֹּא־אַתָּה וְכָל־בֵּיתְךָ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה כִּי־אֹתְךָ רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק לְפָנַי בַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה׃

א

From all the animals that are pure/clean, take for you seven, Seven Ish/man/husband and his Ish’To/woman/wife. And from the animals which are not pure/clean, take two, an/a Ish/man/husband and his Ish’To/woman/wife.

2 מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה תִּקַּח־לְךָ שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּמִן־הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא טְהֹרָה הִוא שְׁנַיִם אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ׃

ב

Seven Ish/man/husband and his Ish’To/woman/wife

Let us address the elephant in the room. Why does it say a man and his wife if it is referring to animals? Usually, it is translated as male and female, but that is not what this verse says. If it said that, it would read Zekhar/male VeNekeva/and female, but it does not. The verse explicitly reads husband and wife as if these animals were men and women.

The TALMUD in Sanhedrin 108b:6 comments about this verse: “Of every pure/clean animal you shall take to you by sevens, husband and wife” (Genesis 7:2). The Gemara asks: Is there marriage for animals? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says that Rabbi Yonatan says: The reference is to those animals with which the transgression of relations with another species was not performed. Therefore, the Torah underscores that the animals that entered the ark were husband and wife.

The Talmud says that before the Great Flood, animals had sex with other animals, not of their own species. But I will take things a little farther. We see it nowadays in the news: people are caught having sex with farm animals, and there is even specific pornographic content on the internet called bestiality in which people are having sex with animals (Yes, things are looking really bad nowadays). Also, I will add to the above by saying that since the generation before the Great Flood was especially evil, I would not be shocked to learn that these men and women were getting married to animals. Not just having sex but taking the relationship of man and animal companion to the point of being so sick in the head as to think and believe that they love their animals as equals.

To finish the explanation and simplify the answer, I think that these animals' purity level goes as far as this: These animals that were chosen to go into the Ark were animals that not only did not have sex with other species but only mated with one single animal of the same species and not with multiple of the same species. It is as if they were husband and wife, just like humankind should be one man and one woman, husband and wife. You can not get purer than that. I guess you can say that you could have gotten animals that had not mated yet, but that would not make them husband and wife. There had to be sexual intimacy to be called husband and wife.

Pure/Clean and Not pure/Not clean

Let us remember that until now, mankind was only allowed to eat fruits and vegetables, not animals. But things are about to change, and that is why seven pairs of pure/clean animals (animals permitted to be eaten like cows and sheep) and only one pair of non-pure/clean animals (not to be eaten like pigs and camels, etc.) were taken into the ark.

Ramban (1194–1270) Commentary: There were many huge beasts, such as elephants, and so many species of all sizes that even ten such arks could not have held them all, along with one year’s provisions. It was a miracle that the small Ark could contain them. Even though the same miracle could have taken place in a smaller ark, thus sparing Noah the hard physical labor of building such a huge one, nevertheless, God wanted it to be so large to make the miracle less obvious because people should try to reduce their reliance on miracles as much as possible.

Rashi (1040-1105); Sanhedrin 108b Commentary: The animals came to Noakh of their own accord, and he led them past the Ark. The Ark accepted only those who had not been involved in the sexual perversion that was one of the causes of the generation’s downfall.

Also birds of the heavens seven, seven males and females. To keep alive their offspring on the face of all the earth.

3 גַּם מֵעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה לְחַיּוֹת זֶרַע עַל־פְּנֵי כָל־הָאָרֶץ׃

ג

Notice how this verse does not say man and his wife. This verse writes it correctly: Zakhar U-Ne’Keva/Male and Female. I deduce two possibilities for this. One, the birds were not part of the perversion of man, or it was written correctly to make the previous verse stand out even more.

Because in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and wipe all existing life which I made from upon the face of the ground.”

4 כִּי לְיָמִים עוֹד שִׁבְעָה אָנֹכִי מַמְטִיר עַל־הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה וּמָחִיתִי אֶת־כָּל־הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה׃

ד

Rashi (1040-1105) Commentary: For in seven more days. After the original period that God allotted the people for repentance, His mercy decreed that He give them seven additional days. Alternatively, these were the seven days of mourning for M’Tushalakh (grand father of Noakh), who had just died and in whose honor God delayed the Flood.

And Noakh made all which was commended of him from YHVH.

5 וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּהוּ יהוה׃

ה

VaYaAs | Noakh | Ke’Khol | Asher-TzivaHu | YHVH

And Noakh was six hundred years old when the flood waters were to be upon the earth.

6 וְנֹחַ בֶּן־שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וְהַמַּבּוּל הָיָה מַיִם עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃

ו

This verse is usually translated as “when the flood water came upon the earth,” but in the original text, there is no came upon or anything similar to those words. The way it is usually translated tells us that Noakh was six hundred years of age when the flood started, but the way it is worded, it sounds like Noakh's age was to trigger the flood's start and not that it started when he turned six hundred. As an example, in Be’Reshit/Genesis 15:15-16, the Amorite's sin completion or fullness is the trigger for the Israelites to possess the promised land of Canaan.

Be’Reshit/Genesis 15:15-16

As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete/full.”

The date is not important in these two cases. What is important is the condition for the action to happen. In the case of the Great Flood, the condition was for Noakh to turn six hundred years of age and for the Israelites to possess the Nation of Canaan, the Amorites’ sins had to be full. There is also a prophecy of the future that says that a condition has to be met for the Messiah to come: for Israel to repent, for them all to follow the Law of the Torah, and for them to return to the Creator HaShem. Since this is a condition based on a united conscious decision of a Nation, no one can predict when this will happen. Only HaShem knows when this will happen because He is eternal and knows the future. To try and predict the coming of the Messiah is to say that you are equal to or better than Adonai HaShem, which would make it a great sin to do so.

And Noakh and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him came into the ark from the waters of the flood.

7 וַיָּבֹא נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי־בָנָיו אִתּוֹ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה מִפְּנֵי מֵי הַמַּבּוּל׃

ז

Rashi (1040-1105) Commentary: Noakh, with his sons. The men and women are listed separately because marital intimacy was forbidden at a time when the whole world was in distress.

Rashi (1040-1105) and Midrash Commentary: Because of the waters of the Flood. The implication is that Noakh and his family entered the Ark only when the rising water forced them to seek refuge. Indeed, the Midrash comments that his faith was less than perfect, for he would not have entered if the water had not reached his ankles. Me’am Loez (a work initiated by Rabbi Yaakov Culi in 1730) In this work, it is added that He may have thought that God, in His mercy, would relent or that the people would repent at the last minute. Nevertheless, the verse criticizes his reluctance, for man should not allow his calculations to stand in the way of his compliance with God’s command.

I try to see all sides of perspectives, and that is why, even when specific commentaries conflict with my way of thinking, I still incorporate them into my studies because I could be wrong. What I mean by this is that in this verse, Rashi states that Noakh did not go into the Ark until the last minute. Still, the very first verse of this chapter tells us that HaShem told Noakh to go into the Ark. I am not sure why the Bible is written this way, and because it is the Law of God, there has to be a reason. But I notice that sometimes the Bible does not stay, how can I put it, chronological in order of events. Meaning that it goes forward and backward. It is as if it were a puzzle that we must put together by remembering what we read so that the verse we read makes sense. Sometimes it goes the other way. We read a verse only for later verses to give us the answer for previous verses. But I do not question this as it makes me pay more attention to every word and how each sentence is structured. Because one word changed or one sentence that gets restructured can change the message's meaning. That is why one of the commandments of Adonai HaShem is not to change the Torah and not to change even a single word. But since we are reading a translation, it almost always can’t be helped. This is why I am trying to learn Hebrew; only by doing so can you really grasp the meaning of the Hebrew Bible, but not everyone can do that. So I do the best I can for right now.

From the animals that are pure/clean, and from the animals which are not pure/clean, and from the birds, and all which creep upon the land,

8 מִן־הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה וּמִן־הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנָּה טְהֹרָה וּמִן־הָעוֹף וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־רֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאֲדָמָה׃

ח

two by two came to Noakh, to the Ark, male and female as ELOHIM commanded Noakh.

9 שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם בָּאוּ אֶל־נֹחַ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֱלֹהִים אֶת־נֹחַ׃

ט

R’Yaakov Kamenetsky notes that this verse states that the unclean animals came to Noakh on their own, but verse 2 implies that the clean animals did not come, for Noakh had to take them. The unclean animals were in the Ark only to preserve their species, but the clean animals had the additional purpose of being offerings after the Flood. God wants offerings to come as a result of human effort. Therefore, God commanded Noakh to search them out and bring them.

I have to contribute my two cents here. If there is one thing I have learned through my studies, it is that nothing is given to you without effort. Nothing granted by HaShem will be given to you without effort. Even forgiveness from HaShem needs effort. Forgiveness comes from repentance, and repentance comes from you realizing that what you are doing is wrong and that you need to make an effort to correct it. You need to make even more effort to do good deeds to balance the sins you have committed in your lifetime. This applies to everything from the simple to the complicated things you ask of HaShem in your prayers. Effort is needed.

Ramban (1194–1270) Commentary: He comments that one pair of every species, the clean ones included, came of its own accord, meaning that God caused them to come instinctively. As for the additional six pairs of kosher/pure/clean animals that Noakh would use later for offerings, he had to gather them himself. [For God to have sent these animals to Noakh without any effort would have diminished the significance of his offerings. A person’s free will offering is an expression of his gratitude or an effort to increase his closeness to God. Consequently, his desire and his exertions give value to the offering.]

In addition, things will change after the flood. Mankind will be granted permission to consume clean animals and no longer be restricted to plants and fruits. Clean animals will be a source of food consumption, and because of this, seven pairs of each are needed. Since this would be a food source, Noakh had to get them on his own. As stated before, nothing is achieved without effort.

Ramban (1194–1270) Commentary: As God Had commanded. The Torah sums up verses 5-9 by praising Noakh, who had scrupulously followed every directive of God in bringing his family and the multitude of animals into the Ark.

And there were seven days, and the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

10 וַיְהִי לְשִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים וּמֵי הַמַּבּוּל הָיוּ עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃

י

In the six hundredth year of Noakh’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the abyss burst fully open, and the windows of the heavens opened.

11 בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ־מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה לְחַיֵּי־נֹחַ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה־עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִבְקְעוּ כָּל־מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם נִפְתָּחוּ׃

יא

On the seventeenth day of the second month

After the forty days of continuous rain, the Great Flood really got going. In the six hundredth year of Noakh’s life—the year 1656 from creation (Seder Olam—Tradition considers it to have been written about 160 CE by Jose ben Halafta, but it was probably also supplemented and edited later). The fountains of the abyss and the windows of heaven opened up fully and abruptly.

The Torah states that the Flood began in the second month, which Rashi interprets as the month of Marcheshvan, the second month of the year counting from Rosh Hashanah (Rosh Hashanah means Head of the Year, which is from the Jewish Lunar calendar, a lunar calendar was what most everyone followed before Rome made the Gregorian calendar which Dionysius Exiguus c. 470 – c. 544 invented and was commissioned and stated by Pope Gregory XIII 1505-1585 in Rome. This calendar changed from a lunar calendar to a sun calendar.). This follows the Talmudic view of Rabbi Eliezer (1st and 2nd centuries); Rabbi Yehoshua (d. 131 CE), however, maintains that it is the month of Iyar—the second month from Nissan (Rosh Hashanah Jewish calendar). From the time of the Exodus, however, all the months of the Torah are numbered from Nissan, in honor of the Exodus, which took Israel from servitude and began its mission as the recipient of the Torah at Sinai.

And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

12 וַיְהִי הַגֶּשֶׁם עַל־הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה׃

יב

Rashi (1040-1105) Commentary: Noting that in verse 17, the narrative mentions the Flood, while here it refers to rain, Rashi explains that the precipitation began gently so that if the people repented at the last minute, it still could have been transformed into a rain of blessing. Only when they refused did it become a Flood.

The Flood started in stages. First, rain for forty days and forty nights, then the abyss's fountains and the sky's windows opened up. And do I believe that Adonai did it in hopes of the people's repentance? I am no one to contradict such a man as Rashi was, but I do not believe so. Adonai, our Creator, knows the future, and He knew repentance would not happen, and even if it did, judgment has been dealt out. It would be too late; their sin is full. The people came to the end of their rope. If anything, Adonai did it that way so they would not repent because of fear of the punishment they had in front of them. Repentance should not come from forceful means but by your own choice. Imagine if all of a sudden, the Flood came with the force of a catastrophe. They would have repented for sure, just like most people do in such a situation. Only to go back to their sinful ways once the catastrophe is over. You don’t get to sin all your life, and then you try to repent once it is too late. It does not work that way.

Ezekiel 18:22-24

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him, for the righteousness that he has done, he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord YHVH, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?”

The repentance is not salvation. Your good actions are your salvation. Repentance is the trigger to your salvation. It is only the start of your salvation. After repentance, your work starts. Now, you must do good works that conform to the law of Adonai God. As an example, if you stole money, then you have to give it back and pay extra, or you fired an employee unjustly, then you have to admit your fault and rectify the situation by giving that person his/her job back or helping that person get a new job. Whatever your sins were. Now, you have to do enough good actions to upset the balance of your sins.

Then why start the Flood so slowly if it was not for repentance? I did not have to think this one out for too long. Just imagine what would happen to the people and animals in the Ark if the Flood came in too violently. Chances are that the Ark would have sustained some damage, and let us not talk about the passengers inside the Ark. The Flood started slowly to give the Ark enough water to float before it could take on the full front of the Flood.

On that very same day, Noakh, Shem, Kham, and Yafet, the sons of Noakh and Noakh’s wife, and the three wives of his sons who were with them entered the Ark.

13 בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה בָּא נֹחַ וְשֵׁם־וְחָם וָיֶפֶת בְּנֵי־נֹחַ וְאֵשֶׁת נֹחַ וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת נְשֵׁי־בָנָיו אִתָּם אֶל־הַתֵּבָה׃

יג

They and all the living things to their kind and all the animals to their kind and all the creeping that creeps upon the earth to their kind and all the birds to their kind, all winged birds.

14 הֵמָּה וְכָל־הַחַיָּה לְמִינָהּ וְכָל־הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ וְכָל־הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ לְמִינֵהוּ וְכָל־הָעוֹף לְמִינֵהוּ כֹּל צִפּוֹר כָּל־כָּנָף׃

יד

And they came to Noakh to the Ark, two by two from all the flesh which had spirit/breath of life.

15 וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל־נֹחַ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם מִכָּל־הַבָּשָׂר אֲשֶׁר־בּוֹ רוּחַ חַיִּים׃

טו

R’ Hirsch (1808-1888) Commentary: Here we find men at their highest state, for the entire world comes to Noakh; it was because of him that they were all saved and preserved.

Ibn Caspi (1280-1345) Commentary: The verse stresses that they come in matched pairs — not one species was missing — which was a miracle! (R’ Bachya) Comments: Such precision would have been impossible by natural means.

And those who came, male and female, of all flesh, came as ELOHIM had commanded, and YHVH closed/shut/sealed them in.

16 וְהַבָּאִים זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה מִכָּל־בָּשָׂר בָּאוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים וַיִּסְגֹּר יהוה בַּעֲדוֹ׃

טז

This verse uses ELOHIM to state that all animals come by the commandment of Elohim and uses HaShem’s Blessed Name to state that He shut them in. They could not get out even if they wanted to. Not until they were in the Ark did HaShem seal them in.

I think that Elohim is used because the task is being done by the commandment of Hashem but by utilizing the angels/messengers. The angels/messengers ran around the earth, gathering all the animals that the evil of mankind had not yet tainted, ensuring that only unmolested animals made it into the Ark.

Adonai HaShem made Adam (Adam and Khava) and told them to tend and look after the earth. That is only one of the reasons we were created on this earth. Adonai HaShem also made all the angels/messengers, but their creation is a mystery. The Torah does not relate to how they were created or their purpose. Only by the little that the Bible gives us can we glimpse their reason for being created. However, by studying the Bible, we can deduce that their creation purpose is to do what Adonai orders them to do.

There are many examples of angels/messengers doing Adonai’s will in the Torah, but it is not always clear when an angel/messenger is doing such a task. One example is in Be’Reshit/Genesis when Jacob wrestles Elohim/God. That chapter and verses say that Jacob wrestled with Elohim/God, who had the shape of a man. Still, later in the book of Hosea, it clarifies that Jacob wrestled not Elohim/God but an angel/messenger of Adonai. As you can see, this is a perfect example of Elohim sometimes being an angel/messenger doing God’s work for him but being named Elohim because the angel/messenger was doing Elohim’s orders.

HaShem, our God, created the angels/messengers; they are not just sitting around in Heaven doing nothing. They, too, have a purpose for being created. They are charged with doing all kinds of jobs for our God HaShem, but when they do, most often, it is written that Elohim did it, and that is because God did do all the things that the angels/messengers do, but He did this using the angels/messengers. Ultimately, everything I just said is meaningless because it does not matter if Adonai HaShem used angels/messengers to do specific tasks. What is important is that Adonai HaShem is responsible for these tasks getting done. It is not for us to know how it got done, but what is important is that God did it. I think this is why it is written in such a manner.

What does it look like when HaShem, our God, does come down to Earth?

Exodus 19:9-16

And YHVH said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” When Moses told the words of the people to YHVH, YHVH said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day YHVH will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.” On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Exodus 20:1-3

And Elohim spoke all these words, saying, “I am YHVH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before my face….(HaShem spoke the Ten Commandments in the ear of the people.)….

Exodus 20:18-19

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let Elohim speak to us, lest we die.”

They would have died if Moses had not prepared Aaron, the priests, and the people for HaShem's arrival. If the Glory of HaShem appeared right in front of us all of a sudden, we would not be able to survive it. Our spirit that belongs to Him would rip right out of us to return to Him. HaShem works in this world through prophets and angels/messengers for the world's sake. This world, as it is, is not ready for Him. That is where we come in. That is what our job, or reason for being created, is. To make this world a world that is worthy of Him. So we do not perish when He comes to us. As the world is right now, it can not stand the Glory of HaShem without it perishing.

And the flood continued forty days upon the earth. And the waters multiplied and lifted the ark, and it brought it above the earth.

17 וַיְהִי הַמַּבּוּל אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיִּרְבּוּ הַמַּיִם וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת־הַתֵּבָה וַתָּרָם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ׃

יז

And the waters multiplied. This verse is usually translated as “And the waters increased,” which could also be used and probably makes more sense, but the word used is multiplied. I chose to go with the original word, multiplied, because it got me thinking. How did the waters increase so much if there was only so much water on Earth and if there was more water coming in than there is on Earth? Then where did it come from? We also know that the Bible says that the fountains of the abyss and the window of the heavens opened. So, more water than there is on Earth came in from only HaShem know where from. By only one word, this tells me that this flood is a miracle. And what is a miracle? I say that any event that breaks the laws of nature or physics is a miracle. Hashem built this world and all the universe to be self-sustained with its laws of nature, and when these laws of nature get broken, that is a miracle.

And the waters grew (meant as grew in strength) and multiplied greatly upon the earth, and the ark was carried on the face of the waters.

18 וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם וַיִּרְבּוּ מְאֹד עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַתֵּלֶךְ הַתֵּבָה עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם׃

יח

And the waters grew up (meant as grew in strength) very, very much upon the earth, and all the highest mountains, which are under the entire heavens, were covered.

19 וְהַמַּיִם גָּבְרוּ מְאֹד מְאֹד עַל־הָאָרֶץ וַיְכֻסּוּ כָּל־הֶהָרִים הַגְּבֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־תַּחַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָיִם׃

יט

Ibn Ezra (born between 1089 and 1092 – 1167) Commentary: Verse 19 uses the word מְאֹד/Me’Od/very twice after it has already been used in verse 18 to emphasize the powerful surge of the waters; it could not possibly have been stronger.

The Sages added to Ibn Ezra that the waters were scalding hot (Sanhedrin 108b).

Fifteen cubits from above the mountains the waters grew strong.

20 חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה אַמָּה מִלְמַעְלָה גָּבְרוּ הַמָּיִם וַיְכֻסּוּ הֶהָרִים׃

כ

Haamek Davar (Author: Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (1816-1893)) Commentary: Suggests that Mt. Ararat was the world’s highest mountain at the time of the Flood, and the waters rose to 15 cubits above it. The numerous mountains that are now far higher than Ararat came into being or bulged up to their present height as a result of the upheavals of the upheavals of the Flood.

Rosh (1250 or 1259 – 1327) Adds: Thus, even those who climbed to the highest mountain peaks to escape the violent waters found nowhere else to flee and drowned.

Malbim (1809 - 1879) Adds: The upheaval of those months of intense heat and turmoil caused a great shifting and turning of geological strata and deep burial remains. Thus, the attempt to date the earth and fossils is futile, for no one can know how much the heat and water pressure affected the planet's geology and the animal and plant remains.

And all flesh died: the ones that creep upon the earth with birds, animals, all living things, and all swarming creatures that multiply on the earth, and all the Adam/Man.

21 וַיִּגְוַע כָּל־בָּשָׂר הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל־הָאָרֶץ בָּעוֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבַחַיָּה וּבְכָל־הַשֶּׁרֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל־הָאָרֶץ וְכֹל הָאָדָם׃

כא

All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of everything that was on dry land, died.

22 כֹּל אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁמַת־רוּחַ חַיִּים בְּאַפָּיו מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בֶּחָרָבָה מֵתוּ׃

כב

Is it a coincidence that ruakh/breath/wind and Nish’Mat/breath (of God)/breath (of man)/every breathing thing/spirit (of man) are both invisible to the naked eye? The air we feel daily can not be seen, but we know it is there. The spirit of God, or soul, as we call it nowadays, is there, too, and it also can not be seen. I find that interesting.

Verses 21-22

Mizrachi Commentary: The verses mention only land creatures, implying that God spared the fish because they did not participate in Man’s sins.

Blotted were all the living things upon the face of the ground, from Adam/man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. And indeed/surely, Noakh and those who were with him in the Ark remained.

23 וַיִּמַח אֶת־כָּל־הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה מֵאָדָם עַד־בְּהֵמָה עַד־רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד־עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיִּמָּחוּ מִן־הָאָרֶץ וַיִשָּׁאֶר אַךְ־נֹחַ וַאֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה׃

כג

And the waters prevailed upon the earth 150 days.

24 וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל־הָאָרֶץ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם׃

כד

To summarize this whole chapter, it rained for forty days and forty nights worldwide once the Flood started. This event on its own would be considered a worldwide catastrophe. Imagine a consistent rain that won't let up for forty days and nights. Rivers and lakes worldwide probably would overspill, destroying houses like a tsunami would. Let's remember that this started with just rain and storm-like weather so that the massive Ark that was longer than a football field would be able to float. So probably by the end of the forty days, houses were underwater, and a lot of people had already drowned, leaving only the strong and the lucky few people taking refuge in the mountains, wishing and praying to their foreign made-up gods that would never come to help, only for it to get worse.

After the forty days of rain without pause, things got worse. The world's people experience something they could not think could happen. Not even in their worst nightmares would they believe that things could escalate. Yes, maybe they were afraid that the rain would not let up before they died of hunger or from the frozen temperatures with no shelter up in the mountains because of the rain. Also, remember that even animals, including wild beasts, would have gone to higher ground. And then the fountains of the abyss opened up, and the windows of the heavens opened simultaneously.

What kind of picture does this conjure into your mind? It is already a full-blown storm bringing water to cover the land as far as the eyes can see. Then, the fountains of the abyss would probably make the water already there very chaotic, with powerful currents and giant guizers of water irrupting from the existing water everywhere. This was perhaps the scolding hot water from beneath the earth’s core being heated by the earth’s lava. Hot steaming water is forcefully introduced with immense pressure into the atmosphere. Creating a boiling pot-like scenario worldwide.

This water I just described is just the water from down below. Still, from above, I imagine that you could probably see gigantic waterfalls falling from the sky—waterfalls that seem endless because their drop point is far beyond the mountains and even where there are no mountains. This water was falling from the sky itself, from way above the clouds; if you could see beyond that point because the sky would have probably been black with thick, dark clouds covering the whole world. Can you imagine the sound of tons of water hitting the water already on the ground with an impact that probably left you deaf? The people were already exhausted, scared, and hungry, and all of a sudden, there were eruptions from the water and a thundering sound of water falling from the sky, impacting the water below. I do not think there is a word to describe what the few people left felt at seeing what was unfolding before them. From the time that the fountains of the abyss and the windows of the heavens opened, 150 days passed, and everyone and everything died. Only Noakh and those with him inside the Ark were saved. Such is the fate of a world that forgets the Creator and is selfish, only thinking of themselves and their self-indulgent. People who ignore the first commandment and have other gods in the face of Adonai HaShem, our God. People who only harm others without remorse in their hearts.