Genesis 6:20

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:12-21 God told Noah his purpose to destroy the wicked world by water. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Ps 25:14. It is with all believers, enabling them to understand and apply the declarations and warnings of the written word. God chose to do it by a flood of waters, which should drown the world. As he chooses the rod with which he corrects his children, so he chooses the sword with which he cuts off his enemies. God established his covenant with Noah. This is the first place in the Bible where the word 'covenant' is found; it seems to mean, 1. The covenant of providence; that the course of nature shall be continued to the end of time. 2. The covenant of grace; that God would be a God to Noah, and that out of his seed God would take to himself a people. God directed Noah to make an ark. This ark was like the hulk of a ship, fitted to float upon the waters. It was very large, half the size of St. Paul's cathedral, and would hold more than eighteen of the largest ships now used. God could have secured Noah without putting him to any care, or pains, or trouble; but employed him in making that which was to be the means to preserve him, for the trial of his faith and obedience. Both the providence of God, and the grace of God, own and crown the obedient and diligent. God gave Noah particular orders how to make the ark, which could not therefore but be well fitted for the purpose. God promised Noah that he and his family should be kept alive in the ark. What we do in obedience to God, we and our families are likely to have the benefit of. The piety of parents gets their children good in this life, and furthers them in the way to eternal life, if they improve it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And of all the living. - For the sake of Noah, the animal species also shall be preserved, "two of each, male and female." They are to come in pairs for propagation. The fowl, the cattle, the creeping thing or smaller animals, are to come. From this it appears that the wild animals are not included among the inmates of the ark. (See Genesis 7:2-3, Genesis 7:8.) The word "all" is not to be pressed beyond the specification of the writer. As the deluge was universal only in respect to the human race, it was not necessary to include any animals but those that were near man, and within the range of the overwhelming waters. Fodder and other provisions for a year have to be laid in.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. But with thee will I establish my covenant—a special promise of deliverance, called a covenant, to convince him of the confidence to be reposed in it. The substance and terms of this covenant are related at Ge 6:19-21.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

After their kind, i.e. according to their several kinds. They

shall come unto thee of their own accord, by my impulse, or by the conduct of angels, as Genesis 2:19.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind,.... What before is generally expressed by "every living thing", is here particularly explained of every sort of them; and from the order of them some have thought that in the same manner they were disposed of in the ark, the fowls in the first story, the cattle in the next, and the creeping things in the lowermost: but others place them in a different manner; see Gill on Genesis 6:16 the roots and grain in the lower story, the living creatures of all sorts in the second, and their hay and litter in the third: the second story being three hundred cubits long, and fifty broad, contained in the whole fifteen thousand cubits, which is supposed to be divided into an hundred and fifty equal rooms; so the Targum of Jonathan on Genesis 6:14 of these, four are allowed for Noah and his family, two with earth for those animals that live underground, one for those which live on herbs and roots, and the other for those which live on flesh; and the other one hundred and forty four rooms are divided into three parts, that is, twenty four for birds, twenty five for beasts, and the other ninety five for such animals as are designed to be food for the rest; and according to the calculations of learned men, there appear to have been in this story rooms sufficient for all sorts of birds, beasts, and creeping things (k):

two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive; that is, they shall come of themselves, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra observe, the providence of God so directing and impelling them, just as the creatures came to Adam; so that there was no need for Noah to take any pains by hunting or hawking to get such a number together: the Targum of Jonathan is,"they shall come unto thee by the hand of an angel, who shall take and cause them to come.''So says another Jewish (l) writer, that they were collected by the angels who presided over each species; in which, except the notion of angels presiding over every kind of creature, there is no incongruity, as Bishop Patrick observes; and two of every sort were to come to the ark, to be preserved alive there, that they might propagate their species. So Lucian says (m), that swine, and horses, and lions, and serpents, and all other creatures which were on the earth, entered into the ark "by pairs".

(k) Vid. Bedford's Scripture Chronology, c. 12. p. 155. (l) Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. (m) De Dea Syria.

Geneva Study Bible

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. Of the fowl, &c.] The order in which the animals are here mentioned is deserving of notice; first the fowls, then the cattle, and finally the creeping things. What is the reason of this order? Probably the order of the account of the Creation in chap. 1 is followed, where the creation of the fowls is recorded in Genesis 1:20-22, and of the cattle and creeping things in Genesis 1:24. The same order is maintained in Genesis 1:26.

kind] The same word as in Genesis 1:12 (P).

cattle] as in Genesis 1:24, denoting domestic animals generally. The only group of animals mentioned in Genesis 1:21; Genesis 1:24, which is here omitted, is “the beast of the earth,” i.e. “the wild beast.” Is this intentional? The LXX adds, after “every creeping thing,” καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν θηρίων = “and of every wild beast.”

creeping thing] See note on Genesis 1:24. The exact phrase “everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind” is reproduced from Genesis 1:25.

Genesis 6:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Noah was to build this ark, because God was about to bring a flood upon the earth, and would save him, with his family, and one pair of every kind of animal. מבּוּל, (the flood), is an archaic word, coined expressly for the waters of Noah (Isaiah 54:9), and is used nowhere else except Psalm 29:10. הארץ על מים is in apposition to mabbul: "I bring the flood, waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is a living breath" (i.e., man and beast). With Noah, God made a covenant. On בּרית see Genesis 15:18. As not only the human race, but the animal world also was to be preserved through Noah, he was to take with him into the ark his wife, his sons and their wives, and of every living thing, of all flesh, two of every sort, a male and a female, to keep them alive; also all kinds of food for himself and family, and for the sustenance of the beasts.