Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 6:16

"A light shalt thou make to the ark, and to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it." — Genesis 6:16 (ASV)

A window. —This is not the word so rendered in Genesis 7:11 and Genesis 8:2, which means a lattice; nor that in Genesis 8:6, which means an aperture; but “zohar,” light, brightness. In the dual form, double-light, it is the usual word for “midday,” but it does not occur elsewhere in the singular. It was evidently a means, not merely of lighting the ark, but also of ventilating it; for as it was thickly covered within and without with bitumen—a point strongly insisted upon in the Chaldean Genesis—the two lower stories would be so poorly supplied with air as to be fit only for stores and ballast, and the upper story alone capable of being inhabited.

If this zohar was an open space one cubit in height, running all round the ark, and formed by not boarding over the upright beams, it would have given a sufficient supply of air. Being protected by the overhanging eaves of the roof—for the ark had no deck—it would not have admitted any serious amount of rain. So in the Chaldean Genesis, the ark has no deck, but a roof (p. 281).

Above. —Or, upward. The word is one of those reduplicated forms by means of which the Hebrew language expresses so much with such brevity. Consisting of only six letters, it is nevertheless a compound of five particles, and signifies from to upward: that is, you shall finish it (the ark, as is shown by the gender) from beneath, working upwards until the last cubit, which is not to be finished, but left open for ventilation and light.

The door, which is also greatly emphasized in the Chaldean account as being essential for the protection of the inmates (p. 281), was to be at the side. It probably extended throughout the three stories, two-thirds of which, however, might be closed as soon as the lower stories had received their load of provisions. Besides this door, there must also have been apertures to allow for cleaning the cells in which the animals were confined and removing their litter, but of such lower arrangements no mention is made.

It is not necessary to suppose that Noah and his three sons built this vast vessel with their own hands. He was probably a powerful chieftain, and many of the Sethites may have given him aid. Implements of iron had been invented by the Cainites, and upon the intermarriage of the two lines, would have come into general use. It is difficult, however, to understand how four men could feed, clean, and give water to a very large collection of animals for so many months.

Without scrupulous attention to such matters, a plague among the animals would have broken out. Since only two of many species were taken into the ark, the loss of any one of these animals would have been equivalent to the destruction of that species. The narrative, however, implies that the health of man and beast throughout the twelve months was perfect, and probably the number of animals received into the ark was less than is commonly supposed.