Genesis 7:13

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) In the selfsame day.—Heb., in the bone of this day. (See Note on Genesis 2:23.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:13-16 The ravenous creatures were made mild and manageable; yet, when this occasion was over, they were of the same kind as before; for the ark did not alter their natures. Hypocrites in the church, who outwardly conform to the laws of that ark, are yet unchanged; and it will appear, one time or other, what kind they are after. God continued his care of Noah. God shut the door, to secure him and keep him safe in the ark; also to keep all others for ever out. In what manner this was done, God has not been pleased to make known. There is much of our gospel duty and privilege to be seen in Noah's safety in the ark. The apostle makes it a type of christian baptism, 1Pe 3:20,21. Observe then, it is our great duty, in obedience to the gospel call, by a lively faith in Christ, to come into that way of salvation which God has provided for poor sinners. Those that come into the ark, should bring as many as they can with them, by good instructions, by persuasions, and by good examples. There is room enough in Christ for all comers. God put Adam into paradise, but did not shut him in, so he threw himself out; but when God put Noah into the ark, and so when he brings a soul to Christ, the salvation is sure: it is not in our own keeping, but in the Mediator's hand. But the door of mercy will shortly be shut against those that now make light of it. Knock now, and it shall be opened, Lu 13:25.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

There is a simple grandeur in the threefold description of the entrance of Noah and his retinue into the ark, first in the command, next in the actual process during the seven days, and, lastly, in the completed act on the seventh day. "Every living thing after its kind" is here unaccompanied with the epithet רעה rā‛âh, evil, or the qualifying term of the land or of the field, and therefore may, we conceive, be taken in the extent of Genesis 6:20; Genesis 7:2-3, Genesis 7:6. At all events the whole of the wild animals did not need to be included in the ark, as their range was greater than that of antediluvian man or of the flood. "And the Lord shut him in." This is a fitting close to the scene. The whole work was manifestly the Lord's doing, from first to last. The personal name of God is appropriately introduced here. For the Everlasting now shows himself to be the causer or effecter of the covenant blessing promised to Noah. In what way the Lord shut him in is an idle question, altogether unworthy of the grandeur of the occasion. We can tell nothing more than what is written. We are certain that it would be accomplished in a manner worthy of him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. There went in two and two—Doubtless they were led by a divine impulse. The number would not be so large as at first sight one is apt to imagine. It has been calculated that there are not more than three hundred distinct species of beasts and birds, the immense varieties in regard to form, size, and color being traceable to the influence of climate and other circumstances.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In the selfsame day on which the flood began by that terrible shower. Heb. In the body, or essence, or strength of the day, as Genesis 17:26 Leviticus 23:14 Joshua 10:27: q. d. Not in the dark or twilight, like one ashamed of his action, or afraid of the people, but when it was clear day, or about noon-tide, in the public view of the world.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah,.... That is, on the seventeenth day of the second month; See Gill on Genesis 7:11 the names of Noah and his three sons are expressed, but not the names of his wife, and of the wives of his sons; they are only described by their relation as follows:

and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons, into the ark: but other writers pretend to give us their names; Berosus (c) calls the wife of Noah "Tytea", the great, and Aretia, plainly from "Tit", clay, and "Aerets", the earth; and his sons' wives Pandora, Noela, and Noegla: according to Sanchoniatho (d), the name of Noah was "Epigeus", a man of the earth, see Genesis 9:20 and afterwards "Ouranus", heaven; and he had a sister whom he married, called "Ge", earth; and with this agrees the account that the Allantes give of their deities; the first of which was Uranus, and his wife's name was Titaea; who, after her death, was deified, and called "Ge" (e): so the Jewish writers say (f), the wife of Noah was called Titzia, and others say Aritzia, from the word "Eretz", earth (g); though others will have it, that she was Naamah, the daughter of Lamech: the Arabic writers (h) tell us, that the name of Noah's wife was Hancel, the daughter of Namusa, the son of Enoch; that the name of Shem's wife was Zalbeth, or, as other copies, Zalith or Salit; that the name of Ham's Nahalath; and of Japheth's Aresisia; who were all three the daughters of Methuselah; and they also relate (i), that when Noah entered the ark, he took the body of Adam with him, and placed it in the middle of the ark.

(c) De temporibus ante diluvium, l. 1. fol. 8. 20. l. 2. fol. 11. 1. l. 3. fol. 24. 2.((d) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evang. l. 1. p. 36. (e) Diodor. Sicul. Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 190. (f) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 75. 1.((g) Shalshalet, fol. 1. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 3. Jarchi in Genesis 4. 22. (h) Eutych. Annal. p. 34. Patricides, p. 8. apud Hottinger. p. 245. (i) Ibid. p. 250.

Geneva Study Bible

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. In the selfsame day] Observe that P represents the Flood as ommencing on the same day (cf. Genesis 7:11) that Noah entered the ark. There is no account taken here of the interval of seven days, mentioned by J in Genesis 7:4; Genesis 7:10, preceding the catastrophe. For the expression “selfsame day,” a characteristic of P, cf. Genesis 17:23; Genesis 17:26; Exodus 12:17; Exodus 12:41; Exodus 12:51. Lat. in articulo diei illius.

with them] LXX and Peshitto Syriac, “with him,” as in Genesis 8:16; Genesis 8:18.

13–16a (P). The Entrance into the Ark, according to P

The repetition of what has already been narrated in Genesis 7:7-9 can hardly fail to strike the reader; and, without our recognition of the composite elements which are here interwoven, it would be unintelligible.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 13, 14. - In the selfsame day - literally, in the bone, or strength, or essence (Genesis 2:23) of that day - in that very day (cf. Genesis 17:23, 26); "about noonday, i.e. in the public view of the world" (Peele) a phrase intended to convey the idea of the utmost precision of time" (Bush) - entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the wives of his three sons with them, into the ark. Not inconsistent with vers. 4, 5, which do not necessarily imply that the actual entry was made seven days before the Flood; but merely that Noah then began to carry out the Divine instructions. The threefold recital of the entry - first in connection with the invitation or command (ver. 5), and again in the actual process during the seven days (ver. 7), and finally on the day when the Flood began (ver. 15), - besides lending emphasis to the narrative, heightens its dramatic effect. They, and every beast after his Mad, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort (literally, wing). The creatures here specified correspond with the enumeration - viz., chay-yah, behemah, remes - in Genesis 1:25, q.v. The last clause, kol-canaph, Kalisch, following Clericus, translates, though, according to Rosenmüller, without satisfactory reasons, "every winged creature," and so makes "three classes of winged beings - the eatable species (עופ), the birds which people the air and enliven it by the sounds of their melodies (עִפור), and the endless swarms of insects (כָּנָפ), the greatest part of which possess neither the utility of the former nor the beauty of the latter. Gesenius, however, translates it "birds of all kinds," and Knobel regards it as synonymous with "every bird." The LXX. give the sense of the two clauses: καὶ πᾶν ὄρνεον πετεινὸν κατὰ γένος αὐτοῦ. Genesis 7:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"In the self-same day had Noah...entered into the ark:" בּא, pluperfect "had come," not came, which would require יבא. The idea is not that Noah, with his family and all the animals, entered the ark on the very day on which the rain began, but that on that day he had entered, had completed the entering, which occupied the seven days between the giving of the command (Genesis 7:4) and the commencement of the flood (Genesis 7:10).