And I will establish my covenant with you
This is repeated to denote the certainty of it, as well as to lead on to the particulars of it: neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a
flood;
neither man nor beast, at least not all of them, and especially by water: neither shall there be any more a flood to destroy the earth;
not a general deluge, otherwise notwithstanding this promise there might be, as there have been, particular inundations, which have overflowed particular countries and places, but not the whole earth; and this hinders not but that the whole earth may be destroyed by fire, as it will be at the last day, only not by water any more; and this is the sum and substance of the covenant with Noah, his sons, and all the creatures that have been, or shall be.