CHAPTER 4:

 

V. 1

1. "And" = seems to indicate this occurred soon after Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden; thus, the history of fallen man now proceeds.

2. "Knew" = speaks of an intimate relationship of husband and wife which resulted in a child being conceived; there is nothing dirty or vulgar about this, for it was ordained of God while in the garden (Gen. 1:28; Heb. 13:4)

3. "Bare Cain" = result of this intimate union‑‑a child was born; Cain means gotten, acquired, or acquisition‑‑"I have gotten a man from the LORD" = could be read in the Hebrew "I have gotten a man, the Lord;"Eve did not fully understand Gen. 3:15; she thought Cain was the seed of the woman; instead of Cain being the promised deliverer, I John 3:12 identifies him "of that wicked one" and thus the first in the long line of the Serpent's seed.

4. This causes some to believe that Cain and Abel were twins with Abel sired by Adam and Cain sired by Satan.  This is not so for angels cannot sire children and God promised man and animals would bring forth after their kind.  There is no hint of any form of evolution here.

5. Cain was of the wicked one in the sense that he rebelled against the truth Adam taught.

 

V. 2

1. "Again" = indicates she conceived again after Cain was born; these two boys were not twins.

2. "Abel" = name means vanity; this may suggest the futility of life apart from God or perhaps Eve's disappointment that Cain was not the "seed" of Gen. 3:15; also Cain may have already disappointed Eve's hopes, thus, the name for this child meaning "vanity;" she may have been reminded of her maternal sorrow‑‑rebellion may have already sprung up in Cain before Abel was born; Gen. 3:16‑‑may indicate the bitterness of spirit she would feel when the fruits of disobedience was discovered in Cain in a great degree.

3. "Abel was a keeper of sheep" = the Hebrew word refers to a flock of sheep or goats; this is what Abel grew up to be‑‑not what he was at birth; he was a shepherd.

4. "But" = reveals contrast between Abel and Cain.

5. "Cain was a tiller of the ground" = he was a farmer; this is what Cain grew up to be‑‑not what he was at birth.

 

V. 3

1. "And in process of time it came to pass" = this phrase reveals that both boys had grown up and reached the "knowledge of accountability" which means they were both 20 years of age as Deut. 1:39 reveals this age when the men of Israel were accountable (Num. 14:29‑31); also Gen. 5:4 states that Adam had daughters (plural)‑‑how many we know not; in fact some of them may have been born before or after Cain and before Abel; at any rate when Cain had to leave the country he carried his wife (had to be his sister) with him.

2. "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD" =

A. This indicates there was a place (an altar built) where God was to be worshiped‑‑Cain brought his offering unto the Lord.

B. We cannot say for certain but there is reason to believe that it was at the east of the garden where the cherubims and flaming sword were. This established visible monuments of Divine presence.

C. No doubt Adam had taught both boys by words and by example what God required in a sacrifice and where it was to be brought.

 

V. 4

1. "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" = this indicates he brought the best he had‑‑the best of the best; this was what the Lord required because it pictured our Lord Jesus being offered on Calvary as the supreme sacrifice.

2. "And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering" = this means the Lord looked at his offering with acceptance; this may have been revealed by fire coming down from heaven and consuming the sacrifice as in Moses' day (Lev. 9:23-24) and Elijah's day on Mount Carmel.

 

V. 5

1. "But" = reveals the contrast between the Lord's reaction to Abel's offering and Cain's.

2. "Unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect" = He (the Lord) did not look at his offering with acceptance‑‑no fire consumed it.

3. "And Cain was very wroth" = means to glow with anger; to burn; he was not this way when he came with his offering.

A. Cain, as a person, was no infidel or atheist.  He was ready to acknowledge the existence of God.  He was prepared to worship after his own fashion.  He offered these fruits possibly in the spirit of pride in what he had been able to produce despite God's curse on the ground.  He could have easily traded some of his fruit to Abel for a lamb and brought what God required, but he didn't.

B. Therefore, when the Lord would not accept his offering, Cain was very wroth.

4. "And his countenance fell" = refers to his face‑‑the look on his face revealed what was in his heart; he got bitterly angry and it showed on his face‑‑countenance.

5. There was no sorrow for sin, no self examination, no spirit of inquiry, and no prayer to the Lord for light or pardon.

 

V. 6

1. "And the LORD said" = Jehovah spoke to Cain asking him two questions.

2. "Wroth" = to glow with anger; to burn; and it showed on his countenance‑‑face.

 

V. 7

1. "If" = indicates the possibility of acceptance.

2. "Thou" = Cain; the Lord is speaking to Cain and instructing him as to how he too might obtain the same blessings of acceptance which Abel enjoyed; this reveals the longsuffering of God on a "vessel of wrath fitted to destruction." (Rom. 9:22)

3. "Doest well" = do what is right and bring a blood sacrifice and amend his intentions; Cain could have traded the fruit of his labor for one of Abel's sheep and offered that to God and he and his sacrifice would have been accepted.

4. "Doest not well" = choose to continue in anger, disobedience, and rebellion then "sin lieth at the door" = "lieth" = means to crouch as a beast of prey.

5. "And unto thee shall be his desire and thou shalt rule over him" = has the familiarity of a proverb; this phrase is difficult to rightly divide; whatever this is saying, this is a warning to Cain against the dangers of yielding to sin; there is more than one possibility as to what this means.

A. If "his" is referring to Abel, the desire, the forced compliance, of thy brother will be yielded unto thee, and thou wilt rule over him with a rigor and a violence that will terminate in his murder which happened in verse 8. I do not believe this is the meaning here.

B. If "his" is referring to sin, and I think it does, the desire, the entire submission and service of sin will be yielded to thee. Then thy case will no longer be a heedless ignorance and consequent dereliction of duty, but a willful overmastering of all that comes by sin, and an unavoidable going on from sin to sin--from inward to outward sin, or in specific terms, from wroth to murder, and so from unrighteousness to ungodliness.  This is an awful picture of his fatal end, if he will not instantly retreat. This is basically what James 1:14‑15 and Rom. 1:20‑28 says.

 

V. 8

1. "Cain talked with his brother" = this also means that Abel talked with Cain; no doubt Abel tried to persuade Cain to trade for one of his lambs and offer what God required‑‑reason being Luke 11:49‑51 lists Abel as a prophet; no doubt he preached to him and this kind of conversation only kindled Cain's anger.

2. "And it came to pass" = in process of time; Abel may have continued his message. (Isa. 28:10)

3. "Cain rose up against his brother and slew him" = the divine threat of verse 7 was carried out‑‑sin crouched and sprang up on Cain; this is an illustration of James 1:15; the precise order in Cain's case, first lust, then anger, then sin lying at the door, then death‑‑Abel was murdered.

4. "Slew" = to smite with deadly intent; carries a connotation of violence‑‑Cain possibly took the same knife that he could have used to slay the lamb and killed his brother.

5. Selfishness, wounded pride, jealousy, and a guilty conscience were all at work. (I John 3:12)

 

V. 9

1. "The LORD" = Jehovah.

2. "The LORD said unto Cain" = probably soon after the event of verse 8, at the next time of sacrifice and at the usual place of offering.

3. "Where is Abel thy brother?" = a question asked to go straight to the murderer's conscience; the Lord wasn't asking for information for He knew what happened.

4. Sin cannot be hid.  There may not have been a human witness to Cain's crime, but the eye of the Lord had seen it. (Gal. 6:7; Num. 32:23; Mat. 10:26; Pro. 28:13a)

5. Cain's answer was a partial lie‑‑"I know not" and a partial truth‑‑"Am I my brother's keeper?" = no man is the absolute keeper of his brother, so as to be responsible for his safety when he is not present, but every man is his brother's keeper, in that he is not himself to lay the hand of violence on him nor allow another to do so, if he can stop it.

V. 10

1. "He" = "me" = Jehovah.

2. "Thou" = "thy" = Cain.

3. "Brother" = Abel.

4. "What hast thou done" = the Lord knew and now He charges Cain with his guilt‑‑"the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground" = in the providence of God, blood has a voice crying to him to which He cannot help but give heed; it is vain to attempt concealment.

5. "From the ground" = into which it had disappeared, but not to become forgotten as the murderer hoped.

 

V. 11

1. The Lord continues to speak to Cain in verses 11‑12.

2. "And now" = because thou hast done this wicked deed‑‑"art thou cursed from the earth" = the earth had already been cursed due to Adam's sin and now Abel's blood was calling out from the ground an additional curse (calling evil or injury down on) on Cain.

3. He is cursed.

      A. In his soul.

 

V. 12

B. In his labor‑‑now the earth would no longer yield its increase for him.  He was to be banished to a less productive part of the earth.  East of Eden was desert-like country.  Before he was proud of the fruit of his labor as he brought it to God for a sacrifice.

C. In his body‑‑he was to be "a fugitive and a vagabond" = kindred words which mean to waver; wanderer; to and fro; up and down; that's why he went to the land of Nod. (verse 16)

1. Nod means wandering.  No matter where he should go in the world, the ground would be against him and the remembrance of his murder would follow him, so that he would not be able to content himself long in any place. (Isa. 57:20‑21)

2. He probably did not stay in one place long enough to plant and harvest.

 

V. 13

1. Now Cain speaks in verses 13‑14.

2. "Punishment" = iniquity; to bear iniquity in the Hebrew means to undergo the punishment of it; this word shows that Cain recognized his sin; he seems to be more concerned with his sentence than with his sin‑‑"greater than I can bear."

 

V. 14

1. "Behold" = an expression of surprise.

2. "Thou" = "thy" = Jehovah.

3. "Me" = "I" = Cain.

4. "Driven me from the face of the earth" = this refers to be driven farther from the garden of Eden than Adam and Eve were; to be driven from the face of the soil inhabited by the other surviving members of the human family.

5. "From thy face shall I be hid" = he would not be favored with God's manifested presence; this does not do away with the omnipresence of God.

6. "And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth" = he acknowledged his judgment from God and in contemplation of his miserable doom he expresses his fear, "it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me" = this implies that the family of Adam had now become numerous‑‑not only sons and daughters, but grandchildren and possibly great‑grandchildren and they no doubt were branching out in the earth.

 

V. 15

1. The Lord's reply was made to calm Cain's fears.

2. "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold" = because Cain's fears of what he deserved went beyond what the Lord purposed, He gave him assurance of freedom from personal violence.

3. "Vengeance" = punishment.

4. "Sevenfold" = seven is the number of completion; thus, this means complete vengeance would be administered to one who slew Cain.

5. "Set a mark upon Cain" = sign; evidence; what this mark was we know not, nor do we know if it was visible or invisible; another mark is mentioned in Rev. 13:16‑18 and it is probably not visible; also Rom. 16:17 speaks of a mark and it is not visible.

6. Whatever it was, it was not a sign of Cain's forgiveness, only a pledge of God's protection.  Cain missed his chance of ever having forgiveness when he walked out that door in verse 7 angry and refusing to obey the Lord's command.

7. Cain was a walking sermon of the tragic consequences of sin.

 

V. 16

1. Cain's leaving must have been accompanied with deep regret and remorse since he had to leave the area of parental affection, home association, and divine manifestation and went to "the land of Nod" = wandering; we know not for sure where this land is except "east of Eden;" some think it may have been China or at least close to that area.

2. "Dwelt" = to settle down; to live.

3. The historian Josephus writes (information passed down from generation to generation by mouth) that Cain never found repentance but waxed worse and worse, giving himself to plundering, robbery, oppression, and deceit.

 

V. 17

1. "Knew" = speaks of an intimate relationship of husband and wife which resulted in a child being conceived.

2. Many say, "Where did Cain get his wife?" The Bible doesn't say he got her in the land of Nod but that was where she conceived.  He carried his wife (had to be his sister or niece) with him when he left the home place just east of Eden and went farther east to the land of Nod‑‑named no doubt by him.

3. "Enoch" = means to instruct; dedicated; it is believed that Cain so named his son because he intended to instruct him from his early years in the duty of virtue; this is not the same Enoch who was translated in Gen. 5:24.

4. "Builded" = Cain was building a city at the time his first son was born and he named the city after his son; the building of a city in this time consisted of the erection of a wall enclosed for the defense of all who dwell within; Cain's motive for doing this was the fear that ruled him, not of animals but his family. (Gen. 9:2)

V. 18

1.  Years passed and the family of Cain grew to manhood and imitated their parents and founded homes for themselves. No doubt they also intermarried with their sisters and they had children born to them.

2. "Irad" = fugitive.

3. "Mehujael" = smitten of God.

4. "Methusael" = man asked of God.

5. "Lamech" = strong youth.

6. The resemblances between these names and those in the line of Seth (Gen. 5) are suggested to be as a result of the mingling of the two genealogies.  They may be similar but the particulars related to Enoch and Lamech in the line of Seth forbid their being identified with those of the same name in the line of Cain.

7. Note: Some of these names end in "el" which represent the name of God, Elohim.  This fact indicates that even those in the line of Cain continued to believe about God though they were disobedient to Him. Also when you look at the meaning of their names, it seems to reveal the vagabond ways of Cain.

 

V. 19

1. This is the first mention of polygamy. This was a new evil, without even the pretext that the first wife had no children (sometimes used as an excuse to marry a second wife), which held its ground until Christianity restored the original law‑‑Mat. 19:3‑6.  The moral aspect of marriage, as ordained by God, was turned into the lust of the eye and lust of the flesh.  In OT time it was permitted because of the hardness of men's hearts, but it was not so from the beginning. (Mat. 19:7‑9)

2. The name of Lamech's wives were suggestive of sensual attractions.

      A. "Adah" = the adorned; beauty.

B. "Zellah" = the shady; the tinkling, seems to refer to the charms which attracted Lamech.

3. A super abundance of wealth and power may also have led Lamech to have two wives.

 

V. 20

1. "Jabal" = signifies to flow, run, go forth; descriptive of his nomadic life‑‑wandering for the sake of finding pasture thus, the "father of such that dwell in tents" = made of thin shading canvas of goat's hair; the making of tents implies some skill in carpentry and also in spinning and weaving.

2. "Cattle" = the word means four‑legged, thus, it could include sheep, horses, and camels as well as cattle; a primitive form of wealth. (Job 1:3)

3. His dwelling in tents instead of cities indicates he does not have the fear of others as his forefather Cain did--remember he built cities--fortress. (Verse 17)

 

V. 21

1. "Jubal" = there is only one letter different from Jabal and their names means the same.

2. "Father of all such as handle the harp and organ" = implies a taste for music and song; inventor of instrumental music--both:

A. The stringed instruments, such as were touched by the fingers, or struck with a quill.  A harp is a stringed instrument.

B. The wind instruments, such as were blown.  An organ is a wind instrument.

3. "Organ" = means an instrument composed of many pipes; may have been the shepherd's bagpipe since the organ as we know of today was not invented until much later.

4. The construction of musical instruments shows considerable refinement in carving and molding wood.  This also denotes the development of culture.  There is nothing wrong with culture if it celebrates how God made us and the world.  But if it is used to draw attention from God, it is wrong.

 

V. 22

1. "Tubalcain" = notice again there is only one letter different in Tubal as Jubal; again this name means the basic same as the other two‑‑to flow; "Cain" was probably put in his name in memory of his forefather Cain.

2. "Instructer" = to hammer out; to sharpen; the word implies making and possibly teaching others to make also.

3. "Artificer" = a fabricator.

4. "Brass" = something made from metal and includes copper.

5. The working in brass and iron furnishes implements for war, hunting, or farming.

6. He was known as an inventor of smith‑work and agricultural implements.

7. "Naamah" = means lovely; women are not usually mentioned in genealogy but here she was mentioned on account of her personal charms; she was known as "the beautiful" as compared with Adam's wife "the living"‑‑a growing symptom of degeneracy of the times; beauty rather than helpfulness had now become the chief attraction in a woman and man began selecting wives for their lovely forms and faces rather than for their loving hearts.

8. Lamech had four children mentioned by name, but Josephus, a Jewish Historian, wrote that he had seventy seven children by his two wives.

9. This is seven generations of Cain and his descendants recorded; therefore, we need to remember that the span of time was hundreds of years‑‑well toward the time of the flood.

 

V. 23

1. Lamech tells his wives he had slain a man, who wounded him (Lamech), in self defense.

2. Some think this verse indicates Lamech killed two men but the "young man to my hurt" is the man who wounded him (Lamech), therefore, there is only one man involved.

 

V. 24

1. Here Lamech is comforting his wives and himself with the assurance that if Cain the murderer would be avenged sevenfold (verse 15), he the manslayer in self‑defense would be avenged "seventy and sevenfold."  In other words, if God protected Cain, who was guilty of murder, surely He would protect him in a greater degree because he killed in self-defense.

2. It has been noted that the inventive powers were more largely developed in the line of Cain than that of Seth.  The reason has been suggested that the worldly character of the Cainites account for this.  The descendants of Seth contemplated the higher things of God and therefore they paid less attention to the practical arts of life.

3. The line of Cain is traced no further that the seventh generation from Adam. We cannot tell whether there were any more in that line before the flood which came 1656 years after Adam was expelled from the garden.  The design of tracing it this far is to point out the origin of the arts of life, the first instance of bigamy, and homicide in self‑defense.

 

V. 25

1. "Knew" = speaks of an intimate relationship of husband and wife which resulted in a child being conceived; there is nothing dirty or vulgar about this, for it was ordained of God while in the garden (Gen. 1:28; Heb. 13:4)

2. "Seth" = appointed; substituted; to put or place; so named because "God had appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew;" this indicates that Eve had faith that it was through this son that God's promises would eventually be fulfilled; this is the third recorded birth of a son to Adam and Eve; this does not mean that there were no others born, both daughters and sons, but Seth is the head of the godly line while the rest may have gone the "way of Cain" and God pronounces judgment upon all who walked that way. (Jude 11‑13)

 

V. 26

1. Seth begat "Enos" = mortal; decaying man; a testimony to Seth's awareness of man's deep spiritual need.

2. And as a result "then began men to call upon the name of the LORD" = this denotes an act of faith.

 

CHAPTER 5:

 

      C. Noah and the flood. (Chap. 5-10)

V. 1

1. "Book" = writing; this indicates that man was educated from the beginning and was able to write..

2. "Generations" = descent; history; that which comes from a source as the child from the parent, the record of which is history; record of Adam's posterity through Seth‑‑the godly lineage.

3. "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him" = Gen. 1:26‑27; refers to Adam being created on the sixth day of creation in God's image.

 

V. 2

1. "He" = God.

2. "Them" = male and female; He named them Adam‑‑Mr. and Mrs. Adam; this was on the sixth day of creation; Adam named his wife, Eve, about the time they were cast out of the garden‑‑it could have been after they were cast out. (Gen. 3:20)

3. "Blessed" = to pronounce a blessing (benefit) upon them. (Gen. 1:28)

 

V. 3

1. "An hundred and thirty years" = the time after Adam was expelled from the garden of Eden when Seth was born.

2. "In his (Adam's) own likeness, and after his image" = not the Divine image in which he was created, but the image or likeness of his own fallen nature; this is no doubt intended to include that depravity (corruption) which had become the characteristic of fallen man; by sin Adam lost the image of God and became corrupt in his nature when he fell; a fallen parent could do no more than begat a fallen child;  Adam's moral depravity descended to his offspring; all mankind has been begotten in the image and likeness of a corrupt and sinful father. (Rom. 3:23)

 

V. 4

1. "Eight hundred years" = the number of years Adam lived after Seth was born.

2. "He begat sons and daughters" = how many we do not know; this does not mean he did not have more sons and daughters born to him during the first 130 years of his life for he did‑‑Cain married one of his sisters.

 

V. 5

1. "Nine hundred and thirty years" = the total years of Adam's life after he was expelled from the garden of Eden.

2.  "And he died" = this is a standing demonstration of the effect of disobedience; bears out the penalty for Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:17); the penalty is death (Rom. 6:23a); this also applies to verses 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, and 31.

3. See Chart 1 on page 21 drawn to scale of the ten generations from Adam to Noah spoken of in Chapter 5. They cover the space of time from expulsion from the garden to the flood. This period is labeled by man as the Dispensation of Conscience which covers a period of 1656 years. This is man's division since God has only divided time in two dispensations--time past and last days with Calvary being the dividing point. (Heb. 1:1-2) Man has divided time into these dispensations and states one is saved different in each dispensation. This is false.  Man has always been saved by grace through faith without works of any sort. (Eph. 2:8-9) By viewing this chart it will help put things in perspective as we see the lives of these men and how they overlap the period of this time.

 

V. 6

1. "An hundred and five years" = the number of years Seth lived before he begat Enos; this does not necessarily mean that Enos was his first born, for he could have had sons and daughters before; this also applies to verses 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 25, and 28.

2. "Enos" = mortal; decaying man.

 

V. 7

1. "Eight hundred and seven years" = the number of years Seth lived after Enos was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 8

1. "Nine hundred and twelve years" = the total number of years of Seth's life.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5.

 

V. 9

1. "Ninety years" = the number of years Enos lived before he begat Cainan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHART 1

2. "Cainan" = possessor.

 

V. 10

1. "Eight hundred and fifteen years" = the number of years Enos lived after Cainan was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 11

1. "Nine hundred and five years" = the total number of years of Enos' life.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5.

 

V. 12

1. "Seventy years" = the number of years Cainan lived before he begat Mahalaleel.

2. "Mahalaleel" = praise of God.

 

V. 13

1. "Eight hundred and forty years" = the number of years Cainan lived after Mahalaleel was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 14

1. "Nine hundred and ten years" = the total number of years of Cainan's life.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5.

 

V. 15

1. "Sixty and five years" = the number of years Mahalaleel lived before he begat Jared.

2. Jared" = descent.

V. 16

1. "Eight hundred and thirty years" =  the number of years Mahalaleel lived after Jared was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 17

1. "Eight hundred and and five years" = the total number of years of Mahalaleel's life.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5.

 

V. 18

1. "An hundred sixty and two years" = the number of years Jared lived before he begat Enoch.

2. "Enoch" = dedication.

 

V. 19

1. "Eight hundred years" = the number of years Jared lived after Enoch was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 20

1. "Nine hundred sixty and two years" = the total number of years of Jared's life.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5.

 

V. 21

1. "Sixty and five years" = the number of years Enoch lived before he begat Methuselah.

2. "Methuselah" = means "when he dies it shall come," speaking of judgment--the deluge--the flood.

 

V. 22

1. "Walked" = to live; to regulate one's life; to conduct one's self; to order one's behavior.

2. "Walked with God" = indicates to be in agreement with God (Amos 3:3); implies a steady progress; Enoch and Noah are the only two stated to have "walked with God," yet there were others who did so.

3. "Three hundred years" = the number of years Enoch lived on earth after Methuselah was born.

4. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 23

1. "Three hundred sixty and five years" = all the years Enoch lived upon this earth.

 

V. 24

1. "Walked with God" = see notes on verse 22.

2. "He was not; for God took him" = he did not die but was translated (Heb. 11:5); translated simply means carried over or carried across; across what? across death‑‑when he got there God picked him up and carried him over and put him on the other side.

 

V. 25

1. "An hundred eighty and seven years" = the number of years Methuselah lived before he begat Lamech.

2. "Lamech" = strong youth.

 

V. 26

1. "Seven hundred eighty and two years" = the number of years Methuselah lived after Lamech was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 27

1. "Nine hundred sixty and nine years" = the total number of years of Methuselah's life; he was the oldest man ever to live upon the face of the earth.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5.

3. It is believed that Methuselah lived up to what his name meant, died seven days before Noah went into the ark and seven days later the door was shut and it began to rain.

 

V. 28

1. "An hundred eighty and two years" = the number of years Lamech lived before he begat a son.

 

V. 29

1. "Called" = named.

2. "Noah" = rest.

3. "Saying" = prophesied, "this same (Noah) shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands" = Lamech trusted that Noah would be used of God to bring relief from the toil that resulted from the curse; the result of sin abounding no doubt resulted in the curse seemingly increasing just as it is today in our nation‑‑sin is abounding but so is the curse‑‑ice storms, wars, drought, earthquakes, and other catastrophes by which God is speaking to us.

4. "Because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed" = Jehovah, by whom the curse had been pronounced.

5. Lamech must have been a worshiper of God no doubt influenced by his daddy Methuselah and his granddaddy Enoch.  In fact if you will look at the chart on page 21 you will see that all of his lineage were still alive when Lamech was born.  It is a good thing to have a Godly heritage.

 

V. 30

1. "Five hundred ninety and five years" = the number of years Lamech lived after Noah was born.

2. "And begat sons and daughters" = see notes on verse 4.

 

V. 31

1. "Seven hundred seventy and seven years" = the total number of years of Lamech's life.

2. "And he died" = see notes on verse 5; he died five years before the flood came.

 

V. 32

1. "Five hundred years old" = the age of Noah when he begat his oldest son, "Japheth" = extension; blessed.

2. "Shem" = name; indicates they were dedicated worshipers of the Lord, upholding and exalting His name. (Gen. 4:26); Gen. 11:10 reveals Shem was 98 when the flood came, while Japheth was 100 years old, since Noah was 600 years old when he went into the ark (Gen. 7:11) and Japheth was born to Noah when he was 500 years old.

3. "Ham" = dark; the younger of the three. (Gen. 9:24)

4. Shem's name is placed first here because the chosen line was continued through him.  He was not the physical firstborn but spiritually he was.

5. There is no mention of other sons and daughters being born to Noah but no doubt there were some others beside the three boys mentioned by name.  If he had other children, it can be noted that they went the "way of Cain" and were cursed with the rest of the world, because only three sons got on the ark.

 

CHAPTER 6:

 

V. 1

1. "And it came to pass" = indicates time had elapsed since Adam had been expelled from the garden‑‑probably 1536 years; this figure is arrived at by subtracting 120 years spoken of in verse 3 from 1656 years of the period man labels as Conscience‑‑from the garden to the flood.

2. "Men" = human beings; mankind including females as well as males.

3. "Began to multiply" = in view of the Divine blessing. (Gen. 1:28)

4. "On the face of the earth" = over the face of the earth; indicates the population was spreading itself out as well as increasing.

5. "And daughters were born unto them" = girls are rarely mentioned in genealogies and few are called by name; both the descendants of Cain and Seth had daughters; their mention of the daughters seems to indicate they became snares to the descendants of Seth.

 

V. 2

1. "Sons of God" = refers to the godly lineage of Seth in context; they retained the purity of moral character; this does not refer to angels as some suggest, for angels were not created as humans and have no sexual desire (Mat. 22:30); it is contrary to the law of nature for different species even on earth to cohabit in a carnal way; there is no such thing as evolution--all reproduce after their kind. (Gen. 1:21)

2. "Daughters of men" = refers to those who did not retain the purity of moral character and went the "way of Cain" no matter whose family they were born to.

3. "Fair" = beautiful; pleasing to the eye; good to look at; there came a time that this was what men looked for in a woman‑‑outward beauty, and they chose wives based on this.

4. They took them wives of all which they chose" = did  not matter what God said (II Cor. 6:14‑17); this evil led to promiscuous (mixed without order or distinction) intermarriage, without regard to spiritual character.

 

V. 3

1. "LORD" = "my" = Jehovah.

2. "Spirit" = the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of the Lord.

3. "Strive" = to contend; to struggle; to try very hard; fight; I'm reminded of how the Spirit strived with Jacob.  (Gen. 32:24‑‑that man was God the Holy Spirit); negated by "not."

4. This represents God as continually using force on rebellious man to hold him in line and to keep him from utter destruction as a result of his sinful behavior. This verse shows God as determined to withdraw the vital breath of life from man, with the result that death would ensue. When the Spirit is withdrawn by the divine hand, judgment is complete.  This is what Romans 1:24‑28 is dealing with.

5. "For that he also is flesh" = in contradistinction (distinction by opposite qualities) to spirit‑‑the breath of life which the Almighty breathed into man nostrils. (Gen. 2:7)

6. "His days" = refers to the human race, with whom God was still striving.

7. "Shall be an hundred and twenty years" = this was spoken 20 years before Noah's oldest son was born for he was only a hundred years old when he went into the ark; compare Gen. 5:32 with 7:11; this is not the number of years it took Noah to build the ark for time elapsed from this time unto "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8), and then he "walked with God" (Gen. 6:9) before he was given instructions to build the ark.

 

V. 4

1. "Giants" = a person of extraordinary strength or power; they may have been of great physical stature caused by mutation of genes or what genetics call ‘hybrid vigor’ (when a trait excels in an offspring); they also had great physical force and violent wills; these were the offspring of the Cainites for they were "in (already on) the earth in those days."

2. "And also after that" = in addition to the giants, there were the children of "the sons of God and daughters of men."

3. The "children of them" = "the same became mighty men" = strong, fierce, and impetuous (rushing with great force and violence); their strength no doubt came from demon possession which was very rampant in those days.

4. "Which were of old" = Moses as the human instrument, who penned down this book, is reporting from his own standpoint, thus this phrase means before the flood.

5. "Men of renown" = men whose exploits of strength and violence had made them famous in song and fable in all nations in the ages following the flood; to rebellious men of later times, they were revered as great heroes; but in God's sight they were merely ungodly men of violence and evil.

 

V. 5

1. "God" = Jehovah; the LORD.

2. "Saw" = indicative of the longsuffering of God‑‑He knew all about them and still gave them 120 years before His wrath fell. (verse 3)

3. "Wickedness" = evil; corrupt; perverse; wrong; refers to their evil thoughts, evil deeds, and evil speaking.

4. "Great" = abundant; iniquity was wide‑spread, firmly‑rooted, and deeply stained corruption, so much so "that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

5. "Imagination" = the faculty of the mind by which it conceives and forms ideas of things communicated to it by the organ of sense.

6. "Thought" = an attitude of mind.

7. "Heart" = seat of the affections and emotions of the mind.

8. "Only evil continually" = bad in principle and practice; a habitual continuous lifestyle; submission to God, to truth, to right, to love, did not reign in their heart.

 

V. 6

1. "Repented" = when ascribed to the Lord it seems to imply wavering or change of purpose in the Eternal Self‑existent One; while it is true that God "is not a man, that he should repent" (I Sam. 15:29), He nevertheless seems on occasion to repent (change His mind) toward man, because man has changed in attitude and actions toward Him; God's attitude toward man is conditioned by man's attitude toward Him. (Example: Jonah 3:4-10; Exo. 32:10-14)

2. "That he had made man on the earth" = that He had created man at all, and in particular that He had settled him on the earth.

3. "And it grieved him at his heart" = to pain and anger‑‑thus verse 7.

 

V. 7

1. "LORD" = "I" = "me" = Jehovah.

2. "Destroy" = literally means to blot or wipe out by washing; the word is chosen on account of its significance because God was going to destroy the earth and man by the deluge‑‑flood.

3. "Man" = human being; this refutes the theory that the sons of God were angels.

4. "Both man, and beast, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the air" = animals were included in the punishment of man, not because of any moral corruption which had entered into them, but on the grounds of man's sovereignty over the animal world and its dependence on him.

5. Our Lord said in Luke 17:26-27 that these same conditions will exist on earth when the Lord comes back for His saints and His wrath will be poured out upon this earth.

 

V. 8

1. "But" = indicates there was one exception to verse 7; it seems some time elapsed after verses 3 and 7 were stated.

2. "Noah" = rest; Lamech's son.

3. "Found grace" = the gratuitous favor of God to sinful man; undeserved favor; this is the first time this word is used in the Bible even though it was in operation all the way back to Adam and Eve; this grace signified that there was new life and new hope for mankind in the days ahead.

4. "In the eyes of the LORD" = in the sight of the Lord; reveals the Lord's longsuffering.

 

V. 9

1. "Generations" = descent; history; that which comes from a source as the child from the parent, the record of which is history; record of Noah's three sons‑‑the godly lineage.

2. "Just" = righteous; one being in a just or right position before God; to be right in point of law, and thereby entitled to all the blessings of the acquitted and justified; implies pardon of sin.

3. "Perfect" = complete; whole; entire; sound; without blemish as a sacrificial lamb should be; perfect, not in the sense of sinlessness, but of moral integrity.

4. "In his generations" = among the men of his age.

5. "Walked" = to live; to regulate one's life; to conduct one's self; to order one's behavior.

6. "Walked with God" = indicates to be in agreement with God (Amos 3:3); implies a steady progress; Enoch and Noah are the only two stated to have "walked with God" yet there were others who did so.

 

V. 10

1. Noah was 500 years old when he begat his oldest son, "Japheth" = extension; blessed.

2. "Shem" = name; indicates they were dedicated worshipers of the Lord, upholding and exalting His name. (Gen. 4:26); Gen. 11:10 reveals Shem was 98 when the flood came, while Japheth was 100 years old, since Noah was 600 years old when he went into the ark (Gen. 7:11) and Japheth was born to Noah when he was 500 years old. (Gen. 5:32)

3. "Ham" = dark; the younger of the three. (Gen. 9:24)

4. Shem's name is placed first here because the chosen line was continued through him.  He was not the physical firstborn but spiritually he was.

5. There is no mention of other sons and daughters being born to Noah but no doubt there were some others beside the three boys mentioned by name.  If he had other children, it can be noted that they went the "way of Cain" and were cursed with the rest of the world because only three sons got on the ark.

 

V. 11

1. "The earth" = refers to human beings on the earth; its inhabitants.

2. "Also was corrupted" = in a moral sense, the causes and forms of corruption have already been detailed in the preceding verses; this is in contrast to Noah.

3. "Before God" = openly and publicly; reveals the fact that God had seen their corruption and yet He was still longsuffering.

4. "And the earth was filled with violence" = the outward exhibition of inward fleshly lust.

 

V. 12

1. "And God looked upon the earth" = denotes a special observance of it.

2. "Behold" = an expression of surprise; nothing surprises God but this is written for man's benefit.

3. "It was corrupt" = everything stood in sharp contradiction with that good state which God the Creator had established. (Gen. 1:31)

4. "All flesh" = the human race, who are so characterized here, not so much for their frailty as for their moral and spiritual degeneracy.

5. "Had corrupted" = literally, had destroyed, wrecked, ruined, and had wholly overthrown "his way" = signifies the entire plan and cause of life in all its ethical and religious aspects as designed for man by God.

 

V. 13

1. "God" = "me" = "I" = Elohim.

2. "Said" = God spoke directly to Noah; we are not told the method by which He spoke to Noah‑‑whether by vision, dream, or directly appeared to him.

3. "The end of all flesh" = speaks of the extermination of the human race with the exception of Noah and his family; this teaches us to beware of applying an inflexible, literal meaning to such terms as "all" when used in ordinary conversation.

4. "Is come before me" = before my face; indicates an event soon to be realized.

5. "For the land is filled with violence" = the reason He said, "I will destroy them" = the Hebrew construction conveys a fitting retribution for man's wickedness; the text refers only to the extinction of their bodily lives, which may give us an answer concerning those who had not reached the knowledge of accountability‑‑their bodies perished but their soul was safe in paradise; we know from the Bible that all who had reached the knowledge of accountability‑‑their body perished in the flood and their soul went to hell.

6. "With the earth" = not "from the earth" as some would suggest; like it or not, the Bible does teach that the Flood was a world‑destroying cataclysm. (II Peter 3:5-6)

 

V. 14

1. "Make" = the Lord commanded.

2. "Thee" = Noah.

3. "Ark" = a box or a chest; a huge large‑like structure capable of floating on the water; it would be exceedingly stable, almost impossible to capsize; it was designed for capacity and floating stability rather than for speed or navigability; it also probably had a flat roof; this ark is a type of Christ‑‑just as the ark was the only place of deliverance from wrath to come in that day, Christ is the only Saviour for lost sinners. (Acts 4:12)

4. "Gopher  wood" = we do not know exactly what tree this is today; some believe it was like cypress wood which was later used in Asia for ship building; it was light in weight but not subject to decay as much as some other wood; my dad made cattle gates out of cypress when I was younger and they were light in weight, thus easy for a boy to open and they were durable‑‑lasted a long time.

5. "Rooms" = cells; nests; or small chambers built along the sides of the three floors of the ark; in these the animals were placed.

6. "Pitch" = bitumen--an inflammable substance used as a calking compound to make the ark watertight; means to cover; the same Hebrew word is translated "atonement" in Lev. 17:11; thus it sufficed as a perfect covering for the ark, to keep out the waters of judgment, just as the blood of the Lamb provides a perfect atonement for the soul‑‑thus "pitch it within and without" = to make it waterproof and resistant to decay.

 

V. 15

1. "This is the fashion which thou shalt make it of" = the shape of it is not described; only its dimensions are given.

2. "Cubit" = there are many variations for the cubit in the world but most generally accept 18 inches for the Biblical cubit; thus:

A. "The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits" = 450 feet long.

B. "The breadth of it fifty cubits" = 75 feet wide.

C. "The height of it thirty cubits" = 45 feet in height.

 

V. 16

1. "Thou" = Noah.

2. "Window" = translated from a Hebrew word which means light; said to be a "cubit" = 18 inches in height; also said to be "above" = believed to be extended all around the top of the ark for ventilation and to let light in; Gen. 8:6 speaks of Noah opening the window, thus the opening around the ark may have been divided into sections which was covered with something like glass or screen‑‑to let light in and to let the air circulate.

3. "Door" = an opening; entrance way; only one which was an entrance for Noah and his family as well as the animals that went on the ark; this is a type of the Lord Jesus. (John 14:6; 10:7‑9)

4. "With lower, second, and third stories" = the ark had three levels.

5. There was not recorded the complete specifications for the ark's construction but enough was stated to let us know that it was adequate for its intended purpose and there was accommodation for all that needed to be there.  The size of the ark would be over 1,500,000 cubit feet which is equal to the capacity of 522 standard livestock cars such as used on American railroads in the 1970's.  It has been figured that one railroad car could hold 240 sheep; therefore, the ark could have held over 125,000 sheep.

 

V. 17

1. "Behold" = an expression of surprise; nothing takes God by surprise but this is written for man's benefit.

2. "I" = God; Elohim.

3. "Even I" = an emphatic assertion that what was coming was a Divine visitation and not simply a natural occurrence.

4. "Do bring" = indicates the certainty of the future action.

5. "A flood" = the first time this word is mentioned;  means to be used to inflict judgment on the morally corrupted world.

6. "To destroy all flesh, etc." = the fishes are exempted; as to why we do not know for certain except that they could continue to live in the flood waters.

 

V. 18

1. "But" = reveals Noah and his family are exempted from the destruction mentioned in verse 17.

2. "Thee" = "thou" = "thy" = "thee" = Noah.

3. "I" = God; Elohim.

4. "Establish" = to settle permanently.

5. "Covenant" = a solemn compact between two parties, in which each is bound to perform his part; note: "will" = means future; Noah did his part‑‑obeyed what God said (Heb. 11:7) and God established His covenant with Noah after he got off the ark in Gen. 9:11‑17.

6. "Come" = go; a means of safety‑‑entering the ark.

7. "And thy sons, etc." = Noah's household shared in the covenant; only eight were to enter the ark‑‑God foreknew that none from that generation would be converted through Noah's preaching and so all would perish in the waters of the flood; of course there were believers (example: Lamech, Methuselah) who died before the coming of the flood.

 

V. 19

1. God said every species of the animals would be preserved in the ark.

2. "Shalt thou bring into the ark" = actually the Hebrew reveals that the animals would "come into the ark."  Noah would not have to herd them in for God would cause them‑‑those He chose‑‑to enter the ark.

3. "They shall be male and female" = they were to come in pairs for propagation.

 

V. 20

1. This is a general representative list of the animals that were to "come unto thee" for the purpose "to keep them alive" = to preserve life in the safety of the ark.

2. Some say the ark was not big enough to hold all these animals.  But authorities on biological classification estimate that there are less than 18,000 species of animals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians living in the world today.  If that be the case then only 36,000 animals plus the extra clean animals God told Noah to preserve were on the ark.

3. In verse 15 we estimated the size of the ark would hold 125,000 sheep.  Since the average size of land animals is surely less than that of a sheep we can conclude, conservatively, that the animals took up less than 60% of the ark.  Some would say look how big the elephant, hippo, dinosaur, and giraffe are.  Yes, but no doubt the large animals were probably represented by young (therefore smaller) animals, since they had to spend a year in the ark without reproductive activity and then go out to repopulate the earth. 

4. Thus, we believe the ark was big enough to accommodate the animals, their food, living quarters for Noah and his family, and for any other necessary purposes.

 

V. 21

1. Fodder and other provisions for a year had to be stored in the ark‑‑for man and animals.

2. "That" = "thee" = Noah.

3. "Them" = the animals.

 

V. 22

1. Noah did all that God commanded him to do.

      A. Build the ark.

      B. Receive the animals.

      C. Store the provisions.

 

CHAPTER 7:

 

V. 1

1. "And" = indicates some time had elapsed from the time God's command was given to Noah in chapter 6.

2. "The LORD" = "I" = "me" = Jehovah; the self‑existent One, who stands alone with no aid from anybody or any other being in this world or out of this world; the self‑existent One who wants to reveal Himself to man.

3. "Thou" = "thy" = "thee" = Noah.

4. "Said" = commanded; it seems this was after being silent for the duration of building the ark.

5. "Come" = not go, for the Lord was in the ark as well as outside for He is everywhere; this command was given to Noah and his family whom the Lord said he would make a covenant with. (Gen. 6:18)

6. "Righteous" = just; upright; in a right relationship with the Lord.

7. "Before me" = in the Lord's presence; in His sight.

8. "In this generation" = at this time; indicates Noah and his family were the only family alive that was so characterized.

 

V. 2

1. It seems that Noah was to take on the ark seven pair of the clean beast‑‑the male and his female, while taking only two (one pair) of the unclean. Some believe that there were three pair plus one of the clean thus seven total. It is not easy to know for certain the exact number. Whatever the number, God provided a sacrifice for the sins of man. (Gen. 22:8)

2. "Clean beast" = there had been nothing said before concerning the clean and the unclean; Moses, the human instrument who penned this book, knew about the clean and the unclean; Noah did not have to fret over getting the right animals, clean or unclean, for the Lord put a certain instinct in the animals He chose.

 

V. 3

1. The Lord commanded the basic same thing concerning the fowl, as He did the beasts in verse 2, even though He did not mention the clean in this verse.

2. The reason for the extra clean animals being provided was so that Noah would be able to make a sacrifice as soon as he got off the ark. (Gen. 8:20)

 

V. 4

1. It is believed that Methuselah died seven days before the Lord told Noah to "come into the ark."  Then, the Lord said He would cause it to rain in seven days and that it would continue to do so for 40 days and 40 nights.  This is the first time we are told about it raining 40 days and 40 nights.

2. "Forty" = appears to be regarded as symbolical of a period of trial, ending in victory to the good and in ruin to the evil.

3. "Every living substance" = whatever is capable by principle of life of maintaining an erect posture‑‑all flesh, man and beast.

4. "Will I destroy" = to blot out.

 

V. 5

1. Again Noah obeyed the Lord and did all He had commanded.

2. During those seven days he probably went in and out of the Ark preparing their food supply and also warning (preaching) to the residents of the earth. (II Peter 2:5; I Peter 3:20)

 

V. 6

1. This verse marks the time the flood came as Noah being 600 years old.

2. This lets us know his oldest son was 100 years old for he was born when Noah was 500 years old. (Gen. 5:32)

 

V. 7

1. "And Noah went in" = began to go in a full week before the water came (verse 10); this shows the longsuffering of God because the door of the ark was not yet shut.

2. Listed are the others with Noah, "his sons, and his wife and his sons' wives" = a total of eight souls went into the ark.

 

V. 8

1. This verse lists the animals that went on the ark‑‑a general description.

 

V. 9

1. Repetition of Gen. 6:19‑20.

2. Nothing short of Divine power could have caused such a timely and orderly entrance of the creatures into the huge vessel‑‑just as "God had commanded Noah."

 

V. 10

1. After seven days had passed, the flood water began to rise.

 

V. 11

1. This verse tells us, not only the age of Noah, but what month and day of the 600th year of Noah's life that the flood waters began.

2. "The fountains of the great deep" = this was the chief source of the flood; this caused a change in the level of the land; they were "broken up."

3. "The windows of heaven were opened" = the firmament that divided the waters in Gen. 1:7 turned loose all the water canopy in the heaven; this caused what verse 12 states.

 

V. 12

1. "Rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights" = this was in reality only assisting the flood since the foundations of the great deep were broken up.

2. It appears that the deluge (flood) was produced by a gradual commotion of nature on a grand scale.

 

V. 13

1. "In the selfsame day entered etc." = speaking of the day the rain started.

2. There is actually a threefold description of the entrance of Noah and his family.

      A. First, in the command.

      B. Next, in the actual process during the seven days.

      C. Lastly, in the completed act on the seventh day.

 

V. 14

1. "They" = Noah and his family.

2. This is repetition of a general list of the animals that entered the ark.

 

V. 15

1. "They" = the animals.

2. "Went in" = of their own accord as the Lord put the desire in them.

3. "Two and two" = two by two.

 

V. 16

1. "They" = the animals; this is basically a repetition of verse 15.

2. "As God had commanded him" = as Elohim had told Noah.

3. "The LORD" = Jehovah; it is the covenant God who insures Noah's safety by closing the ark behind him.

4. "Shut him in" = preserves Noah from both the violence of the waters and the rage of men.

 

 

V. 17

1. "The flood was forty days upon the earth" = refers to the 40 days and nights' rain of verse 4 since the waters covered the earth for a much longer period of time.

2. "And the waters increased" = literally grew great.

3. "And bare up the ark, etc." = literally it rose above the earth‑‑the ark floated.

 

V. 18

1. "And the waters prevailed" = were strong; overwhelming mighty.

2. "And were increased greatly on the earth" = became great.

3. "And the ark went upon the face of the waters" = floated along on the surface of the water.

 

V. 19

1. "The waters prevailed exceedingly" = the waters became strong; repetition.

2. "Exceedingly" = as much as you can think and then some.

3. "And all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered" = a clear assertion of the universality of the flood.

 

V. 20

1. "Fifteen cubits" = a cubit is generally accepted to be 18 inches, thus this is 22.5 feet.

2. "And the mountains were covered" = this phrase lets us know that the waters were 22.5 feet above the highest mountain, not just above the ground in the valleys.

V. 21-23

1. Verses 21‑23 give double emphasis as it is repeated that all life on the earth including the human race was destroyed just as God had told Noah in Gen. 6:17.

 

V. 24

1. "And the waters prevailed" = were strong; overwhelming mighty.

2. "An hundred and fifty days" = this includes the 40 days of rain since Gen. 7:11 states the rain started in the 17th day of the second month and Gen. 8:4 states the ark rested on the 17th of the seventh month; this is five months consisting of 30 days, thus 150 days.

 

CHAPTER 8:

 

V. 1

1. "Remembered" = begin again to act on their behalf; He had not forgot them nor lost control‑‑it just was not time to act in their behalf until now.

2. There were three actions taken by God:

A. He caused a wind to pass over the earth.  This was a current of air that would promote evaporation and aid the retreat of the waters.  This resulted in waters being "asswaged" = assuaged‑‑modern spelling; means to ease‑‑the waters were checked; to begin to grow calm after a period of commotion.

 

V. 2

B. He stopped the foundations of the deep from further eruptions.

C. He closed the window of heaven from further downpours.  It had emptied itself after 40 days.

 

V. 3

1. "Abated" = diminished; to lessen; this indicates the waters beginning to diminish 150 days after the rain began and from that point "the waters returned from off the earth continually."

 

V. 4

1. "The ark rested" = stopped floating; was grounded and settled after five months of floating (Gen. 7:11); note: the exact same day of the month, five months later.

2. "Upon the mountains of Ararat" = refers to a range of mountains with the tallest peak being about 17,000 ft. above sea level today; this peak is said to abound in what is known as pillar lava‑‑a dense rock formed under great depths of water, due to the fountains of the deep breaking up; located in the northern range of Turkey today, with the tallest range being just north of Turkey's border in what used to be Russian territory.

3. Gen. 7:20 lets us know that the flood waters were 22.5 ft. above the peak of this mountain range.  The ark was 45 feet tall and probably took almost the 22.5 ft. of water to float it.  Therefore, when the water receded just a small amount, the ark came to rest on a level spot the Lord had prepared for the ark to rest‑‑right spot and right time.

 

V. 5

1. "Tenth month, on the first day of the month" = almost two and a half months after the ark rested on mountains of Ararat.

2. "The tops of the mountains could be seen" = seems to say they were on the tallest mountain.

 

V. 6

1. "It came to pass" = in process of time‑‑40 days after the tops of the mountains were seen.

2. "Noah opened the window of the ark" = see notes on Gen. 6:16; it is believed that the window or opening extended all around the top of the ark for ventilation and to let light in; this verse indicates the opening around the ark may have been divided into sections which was covered with something like glass or screen to let light in.

 

V. 7

1. "He" = Noah.

2. "Sent forth" = let go.

3. "Raven" = kin to the buzzard family of today; a scavenger which lives off carrion‑‑dead, putrefying flesh of animals and humans.

4. "Went forth to and fro" = the raven did not need to return to the ark because it found carrion in abundance floating on the waters; it never came back in the ark; makes you wonder when Noah released its mate so they could repopulate the earth with more ravens.

 

V. 8

1. "He" = "him" = Noah.

2. "Sent forth" = verse 10 seems to indicate this was seven days after the raven.

3. "Dove" = a clean fowl with a gentle nature.

4. "Abated" = to lessen; to diminish.

 

V. 9

1. "But" = shows the contrast between the dove and the raven.

2. "Found no rest for the sole of her foot" = the earth was not yet dry, but wet and muddy, and doves delight to settle only on such places as are dry and clean; the mountain tops, though visible, were either too distant or too high; doves like it in valleys and level plains.

3. Therefore, the dove "returned unto him into the ark" = the reason being "the waters were on the face of the whole earth" = the mountain tops were visible. (verse 5)

4. "Then he put forth his hand, etc." = the dove was no doubt weak from flying and Noah put his hand out the window so she could find a perch and then he pulled her back inside the ark.

 

V. 10

1. "He" = Noah.

2. "Stayed" = waited.

3. "Yet seven days" = indicates there were seven days between sending out the raven and the first dove.

 

V. 11

1. "Olive leaf" = it is said that the olive tree grows leaves even under water and the leaves keep green under water.

2. "Pluckt off" = freshly plucked; recently torn off.

3. By this action Noah knew the flood waters had "abated" = diminished from the earth.

 

V. 12

1. "He" = "him" = Noah.

2. "Stayed" = waited.

3. "And sent forth the dove" = the third time which resulted in the dove staying on the earth because it found a nesting place.

4. It is not recorded that the male dove was sent but we know it was at some time because their reason of being on the ark, male and female, was to reproduce in the earth after the flood. (Gen. 6:20)

 

V. 13‑14

1. "It came to pass" = literally "it was."

2. "In the six hundredth and first year" = of Noah's life.

3. "The first month, the first day of the month" = the mention of dates lets us know Noah had been on the ark 10 months and 13 days, using a 30 day month. (Gen. 7:11)

4. "The waters were dried up from off the earth" = simply means the absence of water because the ground was still not completely dry.

5. "Removed the covering of the ark" = he must have removed the roof or at least part of the roof which enabled him to get a better look at the ground outside the ark.

6. "The face of the ground was dry" = just indicated the absence of the flood waters for verse 14 states it was one month and 27 days later that "the earth dried."

 

V. 15

1. "God" = Elohim.

2. "Spake" = commanded; this is what Noah was waiting for‑‑the Lord's next command.

3. Whether or not the Lord spoke to Noah during these 12 months and 10 days while in the ark we do not know, but Noah was waiting for instructions from the Lord.

 

V. 16

1. "Go forth of the ark" = the Lord must have opened the door for He was the One who shut it; all Noah could do was stay put in the ark until the door was opened; this was the Lord's command to Noah and his family‑‑those with him on the ark.

 

V. 17

1. His command included to bring out all the animals on board the ark to multiply on the earth.

2. "Every living thing" = "both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing" = three classes which classify generally every living thing.

 

V. 18

1. Noah obeyed God's command.

 

V. 19

1. Every living thing also obeyed the Lord's command.

2. "After their kinds" = inserted to let us know that there would be no such thing as evolution since they were commanded to multiply within their own kind just as in the beginning of creation.

 

V. 20

1. "Builded" = constructed.

2. "An altar" = signifies a high place because the altar was commonly a raised structure or mound of earth or stones; a structure for the purpose of sacrifice; this is the first mention of an altar; before the flood it is believed that the Lord was present in visible form outside the gate of Eden in an enclosed area which had a door‑entrance (Gen. 4:7) and sacrifices were offered to Him there; but now the flood had swept away the garden and the Lord had withdrawn His visible presence from the earth; therefore, an altar was built to point towards His dwelling place on high.

3. "Unto the LORD" = Jehovah, the God of salvation; He had proved Himself a covenant keeper and a deliverer of Noah.

4. "Offered burnt offerings" = sacrificed one of every clean beast and fowl‑‑which the Lord had provided for such an occasion (Gen. 7:2‑3); in so doing Noah gave thanksgiving for deliverance from the corruption of the corrupted world before the flood and also for preservation through the flood, and no doubt made intercession for his descendants in the new world.

 

V. 21

1. "LORD" = "his" = "I" = Jehovah.

2. "Smelled a sweet savour" = an odor of satisfaction; this means the sacrifice of the patriarch was as acceptable to God as refreshing odors are to the senses of a man.

3. "Said in his heart" = resolved within Himself; refers to the inward resolve of His will.

4. "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake" = this refers solely to the visitation of the flood; this is not a revoking of Gen. 3:17; God may sometime visit particular localities with a flood, but He said that another such world‑wide catastrophe would never overtake the human race.

5. "For the imaginations of man's heart is evil from his youth" = inserted to reveal that this was the reason for man's destruction in the flood. (Gen. 6:5‑7)

6. "Neither will I again smite all living as I have done" = there will be no repetition of the deluge that had just over-swept the land and destroyed the inhabitants.

 

V. 22

1. "While the earth remaineth" = henceforth, so long as the earth continues; this states the duration of God's gracious promise to Noah.

2. The Lord then lists some things that will continue to be present upon the earth:

A. "Seedtime and harvest" = a time to plant and a time to harvest; therefore, there will be seasons.

B. "Cold and heat" = different degrees of temperature‑‑different seasons.

C. "Summer and winter" = repetition; revealing that there will always be different seasons; this refutes the old wives' tale that we can know when the Lord is coming back when we can't tell summer from winter, because the Lord said that the seasons will always continue.

D. "Day and night" = the daylight portion of a 24 hour day and the dark portion will always continue even though the lengths may vary with different times of year and in different locations; it is probable that day could not be distinguished from night during part of the deluge of waters; this is God's divine promise. (Jer. 33:20‑21)

CHAPTER 9:

 

V. 1

1. "God" = Elohim.

2. "Blessed" = to pronounce a blessing (benefit) upon them‑‑mankind‑‑Noah and his family; this is basically a repetition of Gen. 1:28 where God spoke to Adam.

3. "Said" = gave them their basic instructions and commission‑‑command.

4. "Be fruitful" = reproduce; grow and increase; to bear offspring.

5. "Multiply" = be very many.

6. "Replenish" = to fill; fulfill; be filled; this command is opposite of the world's thinking today; they tend to look down on you if you have more than two children; God said fill the earth, be very many, grow and increase.

7. The words "subdue it" of Gen. 1:28 given to Adam are omitted for the reason that the world dominion originally assigned to man in Adam had been forfeited by sin, and could only be restored through the seed of the woman‑‑the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

V. 2

1. "Fear" = a painful emotion excited by the apprehension of impending danger.

2. "Dread" = great fear; an uneasiness excited by expected pain, loss, or other evil; this word expresses more apprehension than "fear."

3. "Of you" = refers to mankind in general even though spoken to Noah.

4. "They" = refers to all of God's creation given in this representative list here.

5. "Into your hand are they delivered" = they are placed entirely at the disposal of man to do as he would with them as a responsible steward under God's jurisdiction.

6. From this verse it seems that the fear and dread of man was not upon the animals before the flood for they went into the ark with Noah.

 

V. 3

1. "Meat" = food.

2. "Every moving thing that liveth" = this excludes such as had died of themselves or had been slain by other animals; this is enforced by the restriction given in verse 4.

3. "Even as the green herb have I given you all things" = this phrase seems to indicate that before the flood man lived off the vegetation of the ground, the reason being that prior to the flood the herbs of the earth were more nutritious and better adapted for the sustenance of man's physical frame than after the flood due to the change in the earth's atmosphere.

4. "I" = God‑‑Elohim.

5. "All things" = it seems that there were no restrictions at this time between the clean and the unclean animals as later given to Israel. (Lev. 11:46‑47)

 

V. 4

1. "But" = an adverb of limitation or exception.

2. "Flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat" = God's first restriction of the use of animals for food; the animal must be slain before any part of it is used for food; the life‑blood must be drawn before its flesh may be eaten.

3. "Ye" = speaking to Noah but applies to all mankind.

 

V. 5‑6

1. "And surely" = introduces another restriction.

2. Verses 5‑6 deals with the establishment of capital punishment‑‑the punishment required for anyone who sheds man's blood by murder.

3. "Your blood of your lives" = the blood which constitutes the very life of man's nature.

4. "I" = God‑‑Elohim.

5. "Will I require" = literally, search after, with a view to punishment; hence avenge; I, the Lord, will find the murderer out, and exact the penalty of his crime. (Gen. 42:22)

6. "At the hand of every beast will I require it" = the very beast that causes the death of man shall be slain. (Exo. 21:28‑32)

7. "At the hand of man" = from the hand of man; this goes with the first phrase of verse 6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" = this is the formal institution of civil government; this judgment was not openly and directed by God, but by man himself, acting as God's instrument (minister of God, Rom. 13:1‑4) and agent; this is the instruction which involved the setting up of the magisterial office, by whom the sword (instrument of punishment) might be borne.

8. "At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man" = similar to the last phrase; this is not intended to initiate family revenge slayings, but rather to stress that all men are responsible to see that this justice is executed; when this was spoken all men indeed were literal brothers for only the three sons of Noah were living at the time, other than Noah himself; since all future people would be descended from these three men and their wives, in a very real sense all men are brothers, because all were once in the loins of these three brothers.

9. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood" = willfully and in a manner that cannot be justified and not simply accidentally; refers to murder.

10. "By man" =  by God's established institution of human government.

11. "Shall his blood be shed" = an imperative command ordering capital punishment; this command still stands today.

12. "For in the image of God made he man" = the reason why the murderer cannot be allowed to escape; Adam was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26) but the animals were not; man can shed the blood of an animal for his food, (verse 3) but he cannot shed the blood of man because he was created with a spirit which was breathed into him‑‑God inhabited Adam in the beginning.

13. It is true that when Adam sinned he died spiritually and all his descendants were made in the image of Adam. (Gen. 5:3) He did not evolve. A person need to be saved at which point the Spirit of God abides within and then man returns to the image of God because he is a new creation in Christ. (II Cor. 5:17; Rom. 8:29; will be completely like Him--thus Rom. 8:28)

 

V. 7

1. "You" = God was speaking to Noah but this refers to all mankind; this verse is basically a repetition of verse 1.

2. "Be fruitful" = reproduce; grow and increase; to bear offspring.

3. "Multiply" = be very many.

4. "Bring forth abundantly" = repetition with greater emphasis than just "multiply;" means to bring forth in swarms.

5. "In the earth" = "therein" = on the earth by repopulation.

 

V. 8

1. "And God spake" = there apparently was a pause in God's communication with Noah and his sons after He finished giving His instructions to them concerning the future responsibilities of them and their offspring; now He begins to convey the gracious promises of His covenant.

2. God addresses the sons of Noah as the forefathers of the future race.

 

V. 9

1. "I" = God; Elohim.

2. "Behold" = an expression of emphasis.

3. "Establish" = to settle permanently; not merely make but ratify--confirm.

4. "Covenant" = a conditional covenant is a solemn compact between two parties, in which each is bound to perform his part; this is an unconditional promise and God has and will fulfill it‑‑His part, no matter what man does.

5. "You" = Noah and his sons.

6. "Your seed after you" = all their offspring including us today.

 

V. 10

1. His covenant included the animal creation.  Even though they do not possess an eternal soul and spirit, as men do, they are God's creatures and He is concerned about them. (Mat. 6:26)

2. "From all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the field" = some believe that this phrase indicates that the beast of the field was not on the ark; this thinking is not true; this phrase simply expresses the totality of the animal creation and God is making a special point that even the portion of the animal kingdom, which might seem to be of the least concern, is also under His providential care and that all animals, as well as man, will never have to fear another worldwide flood.

 

V. 11

1. This verse is repetition which gives double emphasis to the Lord's promise.

2. "Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth" = regions might be devastated and tribes of men and herds of animals might be swept away, but never again would there be a universal destruction of the earth and man by water.

 

V. 12

1. "God" = "I" = "me" = Elohim.

2. "Token" = a sign; something intended to represent another thing; refers to the bow in the cloud of verse 13.

3. "Perpetual generations" = never ceasing ages; means the token will be a sign as long as the human race exists.

 

V. 13

1. "I" = "my" = "me" = God‑‑Elohim.

2. "I do set" = I have given or placed.

3. "My bow" = indicates it is God's workmanship.

4. "Bow in the cloud" = commonly called a rainbow; it is produced by the reflection of the sun's light through drops of rain; when a shower‑cloud is spread over the sky, the bow appears if the sun, the cloud, and the spectator are in the proper relation to one another; some would call this a natural phenomenon but this is God's workmanship "a token of a covenant between me and the earth" = between God and man and between God and animals.

5. This is a fitting sign of security from another universal deluge.

 

V. 14

1. "And it shall come to pass" = means in the days ahead when you see rain clouds forming and it looks like it is going to pour buckets of rain and it may but "the bow shall be seen in the cloud" = when the conditions are right‑‑when the sun's rays fall upon it, and if the spectators back is toward the light and his face towards the cloud.

2. At the moment when danger seems to threaten most, our attention is arrested by the token‑‑no more universal floods.

 

V. 15

1. "I" = "my" = "me" = God‑‑Elohim.

2. "I will remember" = a phrase to remind man that God is ever faithful to His covenant; God is said to remember because He makes us to know and to remember.

2. This verse is repetition for emphasis "and waters shall no more become a flood" = literally there shall no more be the waters to the extent of a flood.

 

V. 16

1. Repetition again.

2. "Everlasting covenant" = the covenant of eternity.

 

V. 17

1. God seems here to direct Noah's attention to a rainbow actually existing at that time in the sky, presenting to Noah the assurance of the promise, with all the impressiveness of reality.

2. My! What a beautiful rainbow that must have been!

 

V. 18

1. After recording the establishment of human government and capital punishment and establishing the covenant with Noah, the Lord now proceeds with the onward course of human history.

2. Noah's three sons are again mentioned by name not in order of age but seemingly in order of their closeness to God.

3. "And Ham is the father of Canaan" = mentioned as an introduction to the incident that is about to be recorded.

4. "Canaan" = means the depressed or low one; he is singled out for special mention because of his being the ancestor of the Canaanites, who were the wicked inhabitants of the land promised to Abraham and to the children of Israel at the time when Moses was writing this book and leading God's people there.

V. 19

1. "The whole earth" = refers to the earth's population.

2. "Overspread" = dispersed themselves abroad.

 

V. 20

1. "Began to be an husbandman" = a man of the soil; a tiller of the soil; this Noah becomes since before the flood he may have been only a carpenter.

2. "Planted a vineyard" = a garden of grapes.

 

V. 21

1. "He" = "his" = Noah.

2. "Drank of the wine" = the Hebrew word "yayin" = corresponds to the Greek word "oinos;" it is a generic word designating the fruit of the vine in all stages and the context determines what state the material was in; in this case it is referring to alcoholic content because he "was drunken" = to be intoxicated as the result of drinking; we do not know how much Noah was acquainted with the properties of the wine; we are not in a position to estimate the amount of Noah's guilt but we should take warning due to the consequences, and beware of the abuse of any of God's blessings and gifts.

3. "Uncovered" = to make naked; he uncovered himself; the Hebrew word clearly indicates a deliberate act and not a mere unconscious effect of drunkenness; indicates personal guilt; intoxication tends to sensuality; the sins of intemperance and impurity are twin sisters‑‑drunkenness and nakedness.

4. "Tent" = dwelling; evidently he was in a conspicuous place in his tent.

5. The fact that Noah's sin and failure is recorded and that no effort is made to excuse his sin is evident that the Bible was written by Divine inspiration and not just mere men. (II Peter 1:21; II Tim. 3:16) Someone said, "It is human to err," but it is also human to conceal the blemishes of those we admire.  Had the Bible been written by uninspired historians, the defeats of the leading characters would have been ignored or if they had recorded errors at all, there would have been an attempt to minimize the outcome.

 

V. 22

1. "Saw" = gazed at with satisfaction; this was not a normal look at a naked body but lust was involved; some believe a homosexual act was committed by Ham due to the phrase in verse 24, "knew what his younger son had done unto him."

2. "Told his two brethren without" = told with delight, possibly inviting them to come and look upon their father's shame; Ham may have thought that they would have the same desire he had.

3. The Hebrew seems to indicate that within Ham was a longtime hidden resentment of his father's authority and moral standards he had set for him and now seeing his father's human weakness before his very eyes, he rejoiced and quickly told with delight his brothers, thinking they would share his satisfaction.

 

 

V. 23

1. They did not and covered him without looking, showing their respect and honor for their father even though he was in sin.

2. "Garment" = an outer cloak which at night people wrapped themselves in.

3. Their actions demonstrated the regard they paid to their father's honor and their own modesty.

 

V. 24

1. "And Noah awoke from his wine" = refers to the effect of the wine he drank‑‑he became fully conscious of his condition.

2. "Knew" = to learn by making inquiries concerning the garment covering him and Ham's possible act on him; also he knew something about what he experienced even though he was intoxicated.

3. "Younger son" = the youngest son.

4. "Had done unto him" = indicates an action Ham did that involved him; a possible homosexual act cannot be ruled out.

5. At this time there are probably several years of time passed since the flood due to Ham having four children, all of mature age.

 

V. 25

1. First "he" = Noah.

2. "Said" = under the impulse of a prophetic spirit.

3. "Cursed" = to call evil or injury down on.

4. "Be Canaan" = second "he" = "his" = not Ham nor all the sons of Ham; by this some believe that he had something to do with the guilt of Ham's act; even though Noah did not mention Ham's other sons, it is believed they were also affected by this curse which was believed to be the skin of their descendants was black; I was privileged to view in 1976 the drawings on the walls of the city of Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, and he had the features of the black race; we also know the Canaanites were of the black race.

5. "A servant of servants" = a servant reduced to the lowest degree of bondage and degradation; part of this curse.

6. "Shall he be unto his brethren" = a prophecy which was afterwards abundantly fulfilled‑‑the Canaanites in the time of Joshua was partly exterminated and partly reduced to the lowest form of slavery by the Israelites who belonged to the family of Shem (Josh. 9:23); thus, the "brethren" refers to Shem and Japheth, not the other sons of Ham.

 

V. 26

1. "And he said" = Noah continues his prophecy.

2. "Blessed" = an act of adoration and praise.

3. "The LORD God of Shem" = Jehovah being the proper personal name of God, of whom it is predicated that He is the Elohim (God) of Shem; the one living and true God, should be his God, and that the knowledge and practice of true religion should continue among his descendants, with perhaps a hint that the promised Seed should spring from his loins.

4. "Canaan shall be his servant" = Shem would not be prevented from transmitting God's spiritual blessings to mankind through future opposition by Canaan and the other sons of Ham, for Canaan will be his "servant"‑‑helping him to accomplish it.

5. This prophecy implies that the two other families of mankind were estranged from the true and living God.

 

V. 27

1. Noah continues his prophecy.

2. "God shall enlarge Japheth" = the use of Elohim here indicates the fact that Japheth did not continue that nearness of approach to Him that is implied by the use of His personal name as applied to Shem in verse 26.

3. "He" = "his" = Japheth.

4. "Dwell" = co‑habit; speaks of marriage.

5. "He shall dwell in the tents of Shem" = indicates that the descendants of Japheth may intermarry even though they did not stay as near to God as Shem's descendants or at least part of them didn't; but not so with the descendants of Canaan (probably refers to all the descendants of Ham), they "shall be his servant."

6. I believe these principles are still valid today‑‑the Shemites and Japhethites can marry each other but the Hamites are forbidden to marry the Shemites or the Japhethites.  This is what God's Word states.

 

V. 28‑29

1. These verses conclude the story of Noah.  Noah himself was not greatly affected by the changed atmospheric conditions following the flood, as were his descendants.

2. He lived 350 years after the flood or a total of 950 years‑‑longer than any of his ancestors except Jared (962) and Methuselah (969).

3. "And he died" = this is a standing demonstration of the effect of disobedience; the penalty of which is death. (Rom. 6:23a)

 

 

CHAPTER 10:

 

V. 1

1. "Generations" = descent; history; that which comes from a source as the child from the parent, the record of which is history.

2. This chapter reveals the development of the human race‑‑from one family to many nations.  This process covers the space of time from Noah to Abraham. During this period the races were rapidly increasing under the covenant made with Noah.

3. "Shem, Ham, and Japheth" = "them" = the three sons of Noah; Shem's name is placed first, as it has been, because the chosen line was continued through him; he was not the physical firstborn but the spiritual firstborn.

4. "Unto them were sons born after the flood" = the genealogy only mentions sons but no doubt there were as many daughters as there were sons‑‑just not mentioned.

5. I will not try to deal with every verse and every name but just give the highlights in this chapter.

 

V. 2

1. Japheth's descendants are listed first probably because he is the oldest son of Noah.

2. Seven sons are listed of Japheth.

 

V. 3

1. Listed to Gomer are three sons.

 

V. 4

1. Listed to Javen are four sons.

2. Japheth's other son's offspring are not listed.  Why?  I do not know.

 

V. 5

1. "By these" = the descendants of Japheth.

2. "Isles" = this expression signifies maritime countries‑‑countries bordering the seas.

3. "Gentiles" = first time this term is used and it is applied to the descendants of Japheth.

4. "Divided in their lands" = the regions to which they spread were "divided" to the different groups, a development which took place at Babel (occurred in Gen. 11:5‑9).

5. "Every one after his tongue" = referred to speech or language; this reference indicates that chapter 10 was written after the Dispersion‑‑the scattering of the nations in Gen. 11:9.

4. "After their families" = in their tribes or clans.

5. "In their nations" = same Hebrew word as "Gentile" which means a foreign nation; it is believed that the descendants of Japheth spread all over Europe with one major branch heading eastward into Persia (Iran) and India.

 

V. 6

1. Ham's descendants and some of their activity is listed in verses 6‑20.

2. Ham had four sons.

3. Ham's genealogy is placed second, even though he is the youngest son of Noah, because he agrees with Japheth in becoming estranged from the true God, and because the last place, the more important, is reserved for Shem.

V. 8

1. "And Cush begat Nimrod" = Cush was not necessarily an immediate forefather but an anscestor being styled in the Hebrew as a father; in I Kings 15:11 David is referred to as King Asa's father but Asa is the great grandson of David.

2. We do not know exactly who was the father of Nimrod but he was a descendant of Cush.

3. "Nimrod" = name means "the rebel" or "let us rebel;" this indicates that Nimrod's father trained him from childhood to be a leader in a planned and organized rebellion against God's purposes for mankind; this seems to indicate that the curse pronounced upon Canaan was also upon Cush and his descendants as well.

4. "Began to be a mighty one in the earth" = this is not speaking of his size but his being powerful and a tyrant‑‑probably due to demon possession.

5. "Began" = gives the idea that he struggled for the preeminence and by mere force of will obtained it.

 

V. 9

1. "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD" = a mighty tyrant in the face of Jehovah.

2. Nimrod was a hunter of men.  In 1976 I saw the carvings of Nimrod on an excavated wall of a city he built and inside his girdle were several knives used to kill men who did not agree with his position.

 

V. 10

1. "The beginning of his kingdom was Babel" = Nimrod was evidently the leader of the group that built "Babel" which became the capital city of the region (Babylon, in Iraq today) over which he became king; at that time "Babel" meant "gate of God."

2. "In the land of Shinar" = a plain of Babylon.

 

V. 11

1. "Out of that land went forth Asshur" = this is not referring to Shem's son "Asshur" in verse 22 since this is Ham's geneology not Shem's; this simply means Nimrod went out of Babylon into Assyria where he built four cities. (verses 11 and 12)

2. "Nineveh" = became the capital city of Assyria; became the largest and most flourishing city of the ancient world; it was said to be three days journey in diameter in Jonah's day (Jonah 2:2‑4); this city is in Iraq today.

 

V. 15-17

1. Canaan is the forefather of the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite whom God told Moses He would drive out of the land of Canaan when Israel entered. (Exo. 33:2)

 

V. 19

1. "The border of the Canaanites" = the boundary was from Sidon which was in the north near the Mediterranean Sea to Gaza in the south also on the Mediterranean Sea; Gaza is due west of the Dead Sea which is believed to be the location of Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

V. 20

1. This verse summarizes the descendants of Ham.

V. 21

1. "Shem" = the second son of Noah; his name is mentioned first in Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:18 and 10:1; but he is listed last in these genealogies because his genealogy is more important due to the fact that the Seed, Jesus, came through him.

2. "The father of all the children of Eber" = Shem was the forefather of Eber and all of his descendants; it was from Eber that the name Hebrew came from.

3. Verses 22‑31 gives the general genealogy of Shem while Gen. 11:10‑27 gives the specifics of the genealogy of Shem and where he dwelt.

 

V. 32

1. This verse is a summary of the genealogy of Noah.