Genesis 6:13-22

13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!

14 “Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior.

15 Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

16 Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper.

17 “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.

18 But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives.

19 Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood.

20 Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive.

21 And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.”

22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.

Genesis 6:13-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 6

This chapter gives an account of the wickedness of the old world, both among the profane and the professors of religion, which was taken notice of and resented by God, upon which he determined the destruction of it, Ge 6:1-7 only one man, Noah, is excepted, who found favour with God, and whose character is given, Ge 6:8-10 and to whom was observed by God the general corruption of the earth, Ge 6:11-13 and to whom he gave orders and directions for the building an ark for himself, and his family, being determined to destroy the earth with a flood, and all creatures in it, Ge 6:14-17 only he would preserve him and his wife, his three sons and their wives, and two of every living creature, for which, and for himself and his family, he was to take food into the ark when built, Ge 6:18-21 and the chapter is concluded with observing, that Noah did as he was commanded, Ge 6:22.

Footnotes

• [a]. Traditionally rendered an ark.
• [b]. Or gopher wood.
• [c]. Hebrew 300 cubits [138 meters] long, 50 cubits [23 meters] wide, and 30 cubits [13.8 meters] high.
• [d]. Hebrew an opening of 1 cubit [46 centimeters].