LatineEnglish
Verse 14. Make thee an ark of planed timber; thou shalt make little rooms in the Ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without with bitumen.1
Vers. 14. Fac tibi arcam de lignis levigatis; mansiunculas in Arca facies, et bitumine linies intrinsecus et extrinsecus.
Considera, inquit Chrysostomus, dignationem Dei et ineffabilem misericordiam quae omnem rationem transcendit, simulque admirabilem eius erga Noë providentiam, imperantis Noë ut faceret sibi arcam ordinantisque modum quo esset construenda, atque ea re maximam illi consolationem afferentis, dum spem salutis per arcae constructionem ostendit. Volebat quoque Deus illos qui gravissime peccaverant per fabricationem arcae admoneri suorum scelerum, ut, resipiscendo, imminentem indignationem et vindictam nequaquam experirentur; neque enim parvum illis tempus denuo concessum est ad agendam paenitentiam, quoad scilicet perfecta est arca, quo vitam corrigere potuissent nisi adeo ingrati et stupidi fuissent ad suorum flagitiorum emendationem. Verisimile enim est, quicunque videbant Noë tanta arca fabricationi insistentem, eos causam extructionis ex ipso sciscitatos cognovisse divinam indignationem, quapropter, si voluissent, facile potuissent ad suorum peccatorum agnitionem venire. Verum haec illis nullam utilitatem attulerunt, non quia non potuerunt resipiscere, sed quia noluerunt. Haec Chrysostomus.
Consider, says Chrysostom, the condescension of God and the ineffable mercy which transcends all reckoning, and at the same time his admirable providence toward Noah, commanding Noah to make himself an ark and ordaining the manner in which it was to be built, and by that very thing bringing him the greatest consolation, while by the building of the ark he shows the hope of salvation. God also wished that those who had most grievously sinned should, by the building of the ark, be admonished of their crimes, so that, by coming to their senses, they might by no means experience the impending indignation and vengeance; for no small time was again granted them for doing penance — namely, while the ark was being completed — in which they could have corrected their life, had they not been so ungrateful and stupid toward the amendment of their crimes. For it is likely that whoever saw Noah insisting so on the building of so great an ark, having inquired from him the cause of the construction, came to know the divine indignation; wherefore, had they wished, they could easily have come to the recognition of their sins. But these things brought them no profit — not because they could not come to their senses, but because they would not. Thus Chrysostom.2
Fac tibi arcam. Monente et docente Deo intellexit Noë venturum diluvium, et quemadmodum eam cladem evitare posset. Quod igitur dixit Berosus Annianus, Noë virum Astrologiae scientissimum ex astrorum inspectione et observatione providisse venturum diluvium, nugae sunt Berosianae, aut potius figmentum Annianum. Nos enim libro duodecimo manifestis rationibus ostendemus nec diluvium Noëticum ex naturalibus causis esse profectum, nec per Astromantiae scientiam provideri potuisse. Indicat autem Moses supradictis verbis materiam ex qua Deus arcam fieri voluit. Illud fac non significat fuisse a Deo imperatum Noë ut solus ipse, vel ut suis manibus arcam faceret, sed ut ipse cum aliis, quotquot ad id operis necessarii essent, eam faceret, vel ut fieri curaret per alios peritos eius operis faciendi artifices mercede a se conductos. Illud tibi denotat usum arcae, quasi dicat, ad conservationem tui tuaeque familiae, quo diluvium, quo ceteri mortales delendi sunt, salvus et incolumis effugias.
‘Make thee an ark.’ By God’s warning and teaching, Noah understood that the Flood would come, and how he might avoid that calamity. As for what Berosus Annius said — that Noah, a man most learned in astrology, foresaw the coming Flood from the inspection and observation of the stars — these are Berosian trifles, or rather an Annian fabrication. For we shall show in the twelfth book, by manifest reasons, that the Noachic Flood neither proceeded from natural causes, nor could have been foreseen by the science of star-divination. Moses indicates by the aforesaid words the material of which God wished the ark to be made. That ‘make’ does not signify that it was commanded of Noah by God that he himself alone, or with his own hands, should make the ark, but that he, with others — as many as were necessary for the work — should make it, or should see to its being made by other craftsmen skilled in doing that work, hired by him for wages. That ‘for thee’ denotes the use of the ark, as if to say: for the preservation of thyself and thy family, that thou mayst escape, safe and unharmed, the Flood by which the rest of mortals are to be destroyed.3
Translator’s notes
- Genesis 6:14 (Vulgate lemma). ↩
- §1: Chrysostom on God’s condescension — commanding the ark gave Noah consolation and the sinners a further warning to repent. Margin: Chrysostom, homily 24 on Genesis. ↩
- §2: ‘Make thee an ark’ — Noah learned of the Flood from God, not (against Berosus Annius) from astrology; ‘make’ = by himself or by hired craftsmen; ‘for thee’ = for his own preservation. Margin: ‘Against Berosus Annius.’ ↩