The Pulpit Commentary
And the Lord—Jehovah; not because due to the Jehovist (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso), but because the sin above specified was a direct violation of the footing of grace on which the Sethites stood—said,—to himself, i.e. purposed,—My spirit—neither "ira, seu rigida Dei justitia" (Venema), nor "the Divine spirit of life bestowed upon man, the principle of physical and ethical, natural and spiritual life" (Keil); but the Holy Ghost, the Ruach Elohim of Gen_1:2—shall not always strive. London:—

1. Shall not dwell (LXX; οὐ μηÌ καταμειìνη; Vulgate, non permanebit; Syriac, Onkelos).

2. Shall not be humbled, i.e. by dwelling in men (Gesenius, Tuch).

3. More probably, shall not rule (De Wette, Delitzsch, Kalisch, Furst), or shall not judge (οὐ κριìνει), as the consequence of ruling (Symmachus, Rosenmüller, Keil), or shall not contend in judgment (arguere, reprehendere; cf. Ecc_6:10), i.e. strive with a man by moral force (Calvin, Michaelis, Dathe, 'Speaker's Commentary,' Murphy, Bush). With man, for that he also—beshaggam. Either be, shaggam, inf. of shagag, to wander, with pron. surf. = "in their wandering" (Gesenius, Tuch, Keil)—the meaning being that men by their straying had proved themselves to be flesh, though a plural suffix with a singular pronoun following is inadmissible in Hebrew (Kalisch); or be, sh (contracted from asher), and gam (also) = quoniam. Cf. Jdg_5:7; Jdg_6:17; So Jdg_1:7 (A.V.). Though an Aramaic particle, "it must never be forgotten that Aramaisms are to be expected either in the most modern or in the most ancient portions of Scripture" ('Speaker's Commentary)—is flesh, not "transitory beings" (Gesenius, Rosenmüller, Tuch), or corporeal beings (Kalisch), but sinful beings; bashar being already employed in its ethical signification, like σαìρξ in the New Testament, to denote "man's materiality as rendered ungodly by sin" (Keil). "The doctrine of the carnal mind (Rom_8:1-39.) is merely the outgrowth, of the thought expressed in this passage ' (Murphy). Yet his days—not the individual's (Kalisch), which were not immediately curtailed to the limit mentioned, and, even after the Flood, extended far beyond it (vide Gen_11:1-32.); but the races, which were only to be prolonged in gracious respite (Calvin)—shall be an hundred and twenty years. Tuch, Colenso, and others, supposing this to have been said by God in Noah's 500th year, find a respite only of 100 years, instead of 120; but the historian does not assert that it was then God either formed or announced this determination.

The Pulpit Commentary
There were. Not became, or arose, as if the giants were the fruit of the previously-mentioned misalliances; but already existed contemporaneously with the sons of God (cf. Keil, Havernick, and Lange). Giants. Nephilim, from naphal, to fall; hence supposed to describe the offspring of the daughters of men and the fallen angels (Hoffman, Delitzsch). The LXX, translate by γιìγαντες; whence the "giants" of the A.V. and Vulgate, which Luther rejects as fabulous; but Kalisch, on the strength of Num_13:33, accepts as the certain import of the term. More probable is the interpretation which understands them as men of violence, roving, lawless gallants, "who fall on others;" robbers, or tyrants (Aquila, Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Luther, Calvin, Kurtz, Keil,. Murphy, 'Speaker's Commentary'). That they were "monsters, prodigies" (Tueh, Knobel), may be rejected, though it is not unlikely they were men of large physical stature, like the Anakim, Rephaim, and others (cf. Num_13:33). In the earth. Not merely on it, but largely occupying the populated region. In those days. Previously referred to, i.e. of the mixed marriages. And also—i.e. in addition to these nephilim—after that,—i.e. after their up-rising—when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men. Ha'gibborim, literally, the strong, impetuous, heroes (cf. Gen_10:8). "They were probably more refined in manners and exalted in thought than their predecessors of pure Cainite descent" (Murphy). Which were of old. Not "of the world," as a note of character, taking olam as equivalent αἰωÌν to but a note of time, the narrator reporting from his own standpoint. Men of renown. Literally, men of the name; "the first nobility of the world, honorable robbers, who boasted of their wickedness" (Calvin) or gallants, whose names were often in men's mouths (Murphy). For contrary phrase, "men of no name," see Job_30:8.

The Pulpit Commentary
And God (Jehovah, which should have been rendered 'the Lord') saw—indicative of the long-continued patience (Calvin) of the Deity, under whose immediate cognizance the great experiment of the primeval age of the world was wrought out—that the wickedness (ra'ath; from the root raa, to make a loud noise, to rage, hence to be wicked) of man (literally, of the Adam: this was the first aggravation of the wickedness which God beheld; it was the tumultuous rebellion of the being whom he had created in his own image) was great (it was no slight iniquity, but a wide-spread, firmly-rooted, and deeply-staining corruption, the second aggravation) in the earth. This was the third aggravation; it was in the world which he had made, and not only in it, but pervading it so "that integrity possessed no longer a single corner" (Calvin). And that every imagination—yetzer, a device, like pottery ware, from yatza, to fashion as a potter (Gen_2:7; Gen_8:19). Cf. yotzer, a potter, used of God (Psa_94:9, Psa_94:20). Hence the fashioned purpose (ἐνθυìμησις) as distinguished from the thought out of which it springs—"a distinction not generally or constantly recognized by the mental philosopher, though of essential importance in the theory of the mind" (Murphy)—of the thoughts—mahshevoth; from hashal, to think, to meditate = ἐìννοια; cf. Heb_9:12 (T. Lewis)—of his heart—or, the heart, the seat of the affections and emotions of the mind. Cf. Jdg_16:15 (love); Pro_31:11 (confidence); Pro_5:12 (contempt); Psa_104:15 (joy). Here "the feeling, or deep mother heart, the state of soul, lying below all, and giving moral character to all (Lewis). Cf. the psychological division of Heb_4:12 was only evil continually. Literally, every day. "If this is not total depravity, how can language express it?" Though the phrase does not mean "from infancy," yet "the general doctrine" (of man's total and universal depravity) "is properly and consistently elicited hence" (Calvin).

The Pulpit Commentary
And it repented the Lord. Yinnahem; from naham, to pant, to groan; Niph; to lament, to grieve bemuse of the misery of others, also because of one's own actions; whence to repent (cf. German, rouen; English, rue: Gesenius); = "it grieved him at his heart." "Verbum nostae pravitatae accommodatum" (Chrysostom); "non est perturbatio, sod judi-cium, quo irrogatur pinna;" and again, "poenitudo Dei est mutandorum immutabilis ratio". "Deus est immutabilis; sed cum ii, quos eurat, mutantur, murat ipse res, prout ils expedit quos eurat". "The repentance here ascribed to God does not properly belong to him, but has reference to our understanding of him (Calvin). "The repentance of God does not presuppose any variableness in his nature or purposes" Keil). "A peculiarly strong anthropathic expression, which, however, presents the truth that God, in consistency with his immutability, assumes a changed position in respect to changed man" (Lange). That he had made man on the earth. i.e. that he had created man at all, and in particular that he had settled him on the earth. And it grieved him at his heart. A touching indication that God did not hate man, and a clear proof that, though the Divine purpose is immutable, the Divine nature is not impassible.

The Pulpit Commentary
And the Lord said,—"Before weird (doom) there's word: Northern Proverb" (Bonar)—I will destroy—literally, blot or wipe out by washing (cf. Num_5:23; 2Ki_21:13; Pro_30:20; Isa_25:8). "The idea of destroying by washing away is peculiarly appropriate to the Deluge, and the word is chosen on account of its significance" (Quarry)—man whom I have created from the face of the earth. An indirect refutation of the angel hypothesis (Keil, Lange). If the angels were the real authors of the moral corruption of the race, why are they not sentenced as the serpent was in Gen_3:14? Both man, and beast, and the creeping thing. Literally, from man unto beast, &c. The lower creatures were involved in the punishment of man neither because of any moral corruption which had entered into them, nor as sharing in the atonement for human sins (Knobel); but rather on the ground of man's sovereignty over the animal world, and its dependence on him (Keil, Lange), and in exemplification of that great principle of Divine government by which the penal consequences of moral evil are allowed to extend beyond the immediate actor (cf. Rom_8:20). For it repenteth me that I have made them. Vide supra on Gen_3:6.

The Pulpit Commentary
But Noah found grace. Hēn; the same letters as in Noah, but reversed (cf. Gen_18:3; Gen_39:4; 1Ki_11:19). The present is the first occurrence of the word in Scripture. "Now for the first time grace finds a tongue to express its name" (Murphy); and it clearly signifies the same thing as in Rom_4:1-25; Rom_5:1-21; Eph_2:1-22; Gal_2:1-21; the gratuitous favor of God to sinful men.

The Pulpit Commentary
These are the generations of Noah. "Novi capitis initium = "haec est historia Noachi (Rosenmüller; cf. Gen_5:1). Noah (vide Gen_5:29) was a just man. צַדִּיק: not of spotless innocence (Knobel); but upright, honest, virtuous, pious (vir probus); from צָדַּק, to be straight, hence to be just; Piel to render just or righteous (Eccl. Lat; justificare), to declare any one just or innocent (Gesenius); better "justified" or declared righteous, being derived from the Piel form of the verb (Furst). "Evidently the righteousness here meant is that which represents him as justified in view of the judgment of the Flood, by reason of his faith, Heb_11:7" (Lange). "To be just is to be right in point of law, and thereby entitled to all the blessings of the acquitted and justified. When applied to the guilty this epithet implies pardon of sin among other benefits of grace" (Murphy). And perfect. תָּמִים: complete, whole (τεìλειος, integer); i.e. perfect in the sense not of sinlessness, but of moral integrity (Gesenius, Calvin). It describes "completeness of parts rather than of degrees in the renewed character" (Bush). "The just is the right in law, the perfect is the tested in holiness" (Murphy). If, however, the term is equivalent to the τελειìωσις of the Christian system (1Co_2:6; Heb_7:11), it denotes that complete readjustment of the being of a sinful man to the law of God, both legally and morally, which is effected by the whole work of Christ for man and in man; it is "the establishment of complete, unclouded, and enduring communion with God, and the full realization of a state of peace with him which, founded on a true and ever valid remission of sins, has for its consummation eternal glory" (Delitzsch on Heb_7:11). In his generations. בְּדְֹרֹתַיו, from דּוּר, to go in a circle; hence a circuit of years; an age or generation (generatio, seeulum) of men. The clause marks not simply the sphere of Noah's virtue, among his contemporaries, or only the duration of his piety, throughout his lifetime, but likewise the constancy of his religion, which, when surrounded by the filth of iniquity on every side, contracted no contagion (Calvin). "It is probable, moreover, that he was of pure descent, and in that respect also distinguished from his contemporaries, who were the offspring of promiscuous marriages between the godly and the ungodly" (Murphy). And Noah walked with God. The special form in which his just and perfect character revealed itself amongst his sinful contemporaries. For the import of the phrase see on Gen_5:22. Noah was also a preacher of righteousness (2Pe_2:5), and probably announced to the wicked age in which -he lived the coming of the Flood (Heb_11:7).

The Pulpit Commentary
And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth (cf. Gen_5:32). Here (in the story of the Flood) if anywhere, observes Rosenmüller, can traces be detected of two distinct documents (duorum monumentorum), in the alternate use of the names of the Deity, the frequent repetitions of the same things, and the use of peculiar forms of expression; and in Gen_6:9-13, compared with Gen_6:5-8, Bleek, Tuch, Colenso, and others find' the first instance of needless repetition, on the supposition of the unity of the narrative, but a sure index of the Elohistic pen, on the hypothesis of different authors; but the so-called "repetition" is explained by remembering that Gen_6:5-8 forms the close of a section "bringing down the history to the point at which the degeneracy of mankind causes God to resolve on the destruction of the world," while the new section, which otherwise would begin too abruptly, introduces the account of the Deluge by a brief description of its cause. The structure of the narrative here is not different from what it appears elsewhere (cf. Gen_2:4; Gen_5:1).

The Pulpit Commentary
The earth—

(1) its inhabitants, as in Gen_6:11 (cf. Gen_11:1)—mankind being denominated earth because wholly earthly (Chrysostom);

(2) the land, which had become defiled through their wickedness (Gen_6:12, Gen_6:13; cf. Psa_107:34)—also (literally, and the earth) was corrupt—in a moral sense, the causes and forms of which corruption have already been detailed in the preceding paragraph. The term is elsewhere applied to idolatry, or the sin of perverting and depraving the worship of God (Exo_32:7; Deu_32:5; Jdg_2:19; 2Ch_27:2); but the special sins of the antediluvians were rather licentiousness and lawlessness—before God—i.e. openly, publicly, flagrantly, and presumptuously (cf. Gen_10:9); noting the intensity of their wickedness, or intimating the fact that God had seen their corruption, and so commending the Divine long-suffering (Calvin),—and the earth was filled with violence. "The outward exhibition of inward carnality" (Murphy); "injurious and cruel dealing, the violating of duties towards men, 'rapines or robberies (Chaldee)'" (Ainsworth). Cf. Gen_49:5; Joe_3:19; Oba_1:10.

The Pulpit Commentary
And God looked upon the earth. "God knows at all times what is doing in our world, but his looking upon the earth denotes a special observance of it, as though he had instituted an inquiry into its real condition" (Bush; cf. Psa_14:2; Psa_33:13, Psa_33:14; Psa_80:2, Psa_80:3). And, behold, it was corrupt. "Everything stood in sharpest contradiction with that good state which God the Creator had established" (Delitzsch, quoted by Lange). The nature of this corruption is further indicated. For all flesh, i.e. the human race, who are so characterized here not so much for their frailty (Isa_40:5, Isa_40:6) as for their moral and spiritual degeneracy (Gen_6:3, q.v. )—had corrupted—skachath (καταφθειìρω, LXX. ); literally, had destroyed, wrecked, and ruined, wholly subverted and overthrown—his way—derech (from darach, to tread with the feet), a going; hence a journey, a way; e.g.

(1) of living or acting (Pro_12:15; 1Sa_18:1-30 :44)';

(2) of worshipping God—ὀδοÌς, Act_19:9, Act_19:23 (Psa_139:24; Amo_8:14).

Here it signifies the entire plan and course of life in all its ethical and religious aspects as designed for man by God (cf. Psa_119:9; and contrast "the way of Cain," Jud_1:11; "the way of Balaam," 2Pe_2:15)—upon the earth.

The Pulpit Commentary
And God said unto Noah, The end. קֵץ (from Hophal of קָצַץ, to cut off) that which is cut off, the end of a time (Gen_4:3) or of a space (Isa_37:24); specially the end or destruction of a people (Eze_7:2; Amo_8:2), in which sense it is to be here understood (Gesenius, Rosenmüller). The rendering which regards ketz as, like τεìλος—the completion, consummation, fullness of a thing (here of human fleshliness or wickedness), and the following clause as epexegetic of the present (Bush), though admissible in respect of Scriptural usage (cf. Jer_51:13; Ecc_12:13; Rom_10:4) and contextual harmony, is scarcely so obvious; while a third, that the end spoken of is the issue to which the moral corruption of the world was inevitably tending (Keil, Lange), does not materially differ from the first. Of all flesh, I.e. of the human race, of course with the exception of Noah and his family, which "teaches us to beware of applying an inflexible literality to such terms as all, when used in the sense of ordinary conversation" (Murphy). Is come before me. Literally, before my face. Not "a me constitutus est" (Gesenius), "is decreed before my throne" (Kalisch); but, "is in the contemplation of my mind as an event soon to be realized" (Murphy), with perhaps a glance at the circumstance that man's ruin had not been sought by God, but, as it were, had thrust itself upon his notice as a thing that could no longer be delayed. If בָּא לְפָנַי = the similar expression בָּא אֶל, which, when applied to rumors, signifies to reach the ear (cf. Gen_18:21; Exo_3:9; 1Ki_2:1-46 : 28; Est_9:11), it may likewise indicate the closeness or near approach of the impending calamity. For the earth is filled with violence through them. More correctly, "from their faces; a facie eorum" (Vulgate). That is, "the flood of wickedness which comes up before God's face goes out from their face" in the sense of being perpetrated openly (Lange), and "by their conscious agency" (Alford). And, behold, I will destroy them. Literally, and behold me destroying them. The verb is the same as is translated "corrupt' in Gen_6:12, q.v; as if to convey the idea of fitting retribution (cf. 1Co_3:17 : εἰìτις τοÌν ναοÌν τοῦ θεοῦ δθειìρει φθερεῖ τοῦτον ὁ θεοìς; Rev_11:18 : καιÌ διαφθεῖραι τουÌς διαφθειìροντας τηÌν γῆν). Whether this destruction which was threatened against the antediluvian sinners ex tended to the loss of their souls throughout eternity may be reasoned (pro and con) from other Scriptures, but cannot be determined from this place, which refers solely to the-extinction of their bodily lives. With the earth. Not from the earth (Samaritan), or on the earth (Syriac, Rosenmüller), or even the earth, "thus identifying the earth with its inhabitants" (Bush), but, together with the earth (Kalisch, Keil, Alford; cf. Gen_9:11; καιÌ τηÌν γῆν, LXX.). The universality of representation which characterizes this section (Gen_6:9-13) is regarded by Davidson, Colenso, and others as contradictory of Gen_6:5, which depicts the corruption as only human, and limits the destruction to the race of man. But as the two accounts belong to different subdivisions of the book, they cannot properly be viewed as contradictory.

The Pulpit Commentary
Make thee an ark. תֵּבַת, constr. of תֵּבָה, etymology unknown (Gesenius); of Shemitic origin, from תָּבָה, to be hollow (Furst); of Egyptian derivation, a boat being called tept (Keil, Kalisch, Knobel); from the Sanskrit pota, a pot or boat (Bohlen); "a peculiar archaic term for a very unusual thing, like מַבּוּל, the term for the Flood itself" (T. Lewis); translated κιβωτοìς θιìβη (LXX.), area (Vulgate), λαìρναξ (Nicolas Damaseenus), πλοῖον (Berosus); not a ship in the ordinary acceptation of the word, but a box or chest (cf. Exo_2:3) capable of floating on the waters. "Similar vessels, generally, however, drawn by horses or men, were and are still used in some parts of Europe and Asia" (Kalisch). Of gopher wood. Literally, woods of gopher (גֹפֶר: ἁìπαξ λεγ.; the root of which, like כפר, seams to signify to cover (Kalisch); ligna bituminata (Vulgate); pitch trees, resinous trees, such as are used in ship-building (Gesenius); most likely cypress, κυπαìρισσος (Bochart, Celsius, Keil), which was used "in some parts of Asia exclusively as the material for ships, in Athens for coffins, and in Egypt for mummy cases" (Kaliseh). "It is said too that the gates of St. Peter's Church at Rome (made of this wood), which lasted from the time of Constantine to that of Eugene IV; 1. a 1100 years, had in that period suffered no decay" (Bush). Rooms—kinnim, nests, applied metaphorically to the chambers of the ark—shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. וְכָפַרְתָּ בַּכֹּפֶר: literally, shalt cover it with a covering. The substance to be employed was probably bitumen or asphalt (ἀìσφαλτος, LXX.; bitumen, Vulgate). The root (cf. English, cover) signifies also to pardon sin, i.e. to cover them from God's sight (Psa_65:3; Psa_78:38; 2Ch_30:18), and to make expiation for sin, i.e. to obtain covering for them (Gen_32:20; Dan_9:24); whence gopher is used for a ransom (Exo_21:30; Exo_30:12), and capporeth, the covering of the ark (Exo_25:17), for the mercy-seat (ἱλαστηìριον, LXX.; propitiatorium, Vulgate).

The Pulpit Commentary
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of. The shape of it is not described, but only its dimensions given. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits,—a cubit = the length from the elbow to the middle finger (Deu_3:11); nearly twenty-two inches, if the sacred cubit; if the common, eighteen inches,—the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. With a cubit of twenty-one inches, the length would he 525 feet, the breadth 87 feet 6 inches, dimensions not dissimilar to those of the Great Eastern which is 680 feet long, 83 feet broad, and 58 feet deep. The cubic contents of the ark with these dimensions would be 2,411,718'75 feet, which, allowing forty cubic feet per ton, would give a carrying capacity equal to 32,800 tons. P. Jansen of Holland, in 1609, proved by actual experiment that a ship constructed after the pattern of the ark, though not adapted for sailing, would in reality carry a cargo greater by one-third than any other form of like cubical content. The difficulty of building a vessel of such enormous magnitude, T. Lewis thinks, may be got over by remembering the extreme simplicity of its structure, the length of time allowed for its erection, the physical constitution of the builders, and the facilities for obtaining materials which may have existed in abundance in their vicinity. Bishop Wilkins ('Essay towards a Philosophical Character and Language'), Dr. A. Clarke, and Bush are satisfied that the ark was large enough to contain all the animals directed to be taken into it, along with provision for a twelvemonth; but computations founded on the number of the species presently existing must of necessity be precarious; and besides, it is at least doubtful whether the Deluge was universal, or only partial and local, in which case the difficulty (so called) completely vanishes.

The Pulpit Commentary
A window—עֹהַר, from עָהַר, to shine, hence light (עָהֲרַיִם, double light, or light of midday—Gen_43:16; Jer_6:4). Not the window which Noah afterwards opened to let out the dove, which is called הַלּוֹן (Gen_8:6), but obviously a lighting apparatus, which may have been a series of windows (Gesenius), scarcely one (Theodotion, θυìραν; Symmachus, διαφανεìς; Vulgate, fenestram; Kimchi, Luther, Calvin); or an opening running along the top of the sides of the ark, occupied by some translucent substance, and sheltered by the eaves of the roof (Knobel); or, what appears more probable, a light opening in the upper deck, stretching along the entire length, and continued down through the different stories (Baumgarten, Lange); or, if the roof sloped, as is most likely, an aperture along the ridge, which would admit the clear light of heaven (tsohar), and serve as a meridional line enabling Noah and the inmates of the ark to ascertain the hour of noon (Taylor Lewis). Keil and Murphy think we can form no proper conception of the light arrangement of the ark. The conjecture of Schultens, which is followed by Dathius, Michaelis, Rosenmüller, and others, that the tsohar meant the covering (tectum, dorsum), "quo sane hoc aedificium carere non potuit, propter pluviam tot diernm continuam," is obviously incorrect—shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit—to a cubit, i.e. all but a cubit (T. Lewis); into a cubit, i.e. to the extent of a cubit (Ainsworth); by the cubit, i.e. by a just measure (Kalisch)—shalt thou finish it—not the window (Gesenins, Ewald, Tueh), the feminine suffix agreeing with tebah, which is feminine, and not with tsohar, which is masculine; but the ark—above. Literally, from above to above; i.e; according to the above interpretations of the preposition, either the roof, after the construction of the windows, should be regularly finished "by the just measure" (Kalisch); or the roof should be arched but a cubit, that it might be almost flat (Ainsworth); or from the eaves up toward the ridge it should be completed, leaving a cubit open or unfinished (T. Lewis). And the door of the ark—the opening which should admit its inmates—shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories. The word stories is not in the original, but some such word must be supplied. Lunge thinks that each fiat or story had an entrance or door in the side.

The Pulpit Commentary
And, behold, I, even I. More correctly, "And I, behold, I," an emphatic assertion that what was coming was a Divine visitation, and not simply a natural occurrence. Do bring. Literally, bringing, the participle standing in place of the finite verb to indicate the certainty of the future action. A flood of waters upon the earth. מַכּוּל, pronounced by Bohlen "far-fetched," "is an archaic word coined expressly for the waters of Noah (Isa_44:9), and is used nowhere else except Psa_29:10 waters upon the earth" (Keil). The first intimation of the means to be employed in inflicting judgment on the morally corrupted world. To destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. The fishes only being excepted, "either

(1) because they did not live in the same element wherein man lived and sinned; or

(2) because they were not so instrumental in man's sins as the beasts might be; or

(3) because man had a greater command over the beasts than over the fishes, and greater service and benefit from them" (Poole).

The Pulpit Commentary
But with thee will I establish my covenant. בְּרית (διαθηìκη, LXX.; foedue, Vulgate; testamentum, N.T.), from בָּרַא, to cut or carve; hence a covenant, from the custom of passing between the divided pieces of the victims slain on the occasion of making such solemn compacts (cf. Gen_15:9; Gesenius); from בָּרַה, to eat, hence an eating together, a banquet (cf. Gen_31:54; Lee). On the Bible idea of covenant see Gen_15:9. My covenant = the already well-known covenant which I have made with man. And thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy son's wives with thee. This was the substance of the covenant agreement so far as Noah was concerned. The next three verses describe the arrangements about the animals.

The Pulpit Commentary
And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort (literally, by twos, i.e. in pairs) shalt thou bring into—or cause to enter, i.e. receive them when they come (Gen_6:20)—the ark, to keep them alive—literally, to cause to live; ἰìνα τρεìφης (LXX.); in order to preserve alive (sc. the animals)—with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind (literally, of the fowl after its kind), and of cattle after their kind (literally, of the cattle after its kind), of every creeping thing of the earth after its bind, two of every sort shall come unto thee. "Non hominis actu, sed Dei nutu". Perhaps through an instinctive presentment of the impending calamity (Lange, 'Speaker's Commentary'). And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee (collecting sufficient for a twelve month's sustenance); and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Thus did Noah; according to all that God (Elohim; in Gen_7:5 it is Jehovah) commanded (with respect to the building of the ark, the receiving of the animals, the collecting of provisions) him, so did he.