John Gill Commentary Genesis 7

And the Lord said to Noah

After Noah had built the ark, and got all things ready as were commanded him; and when it was but seven days before the flood would begin: Come you and all your house into the ark ;

that is, he and his wife, his three sons and their wives; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation :

this was a great character of Noah; that he was a "righteous" person, not by his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of faith he was both heir and preacher of; and this he was "before" God, in his sight, seen, known, and acknowledged by him as righteous; and therefore must be really so:

and this shows that he was not so by the works of the law, but by the righteousness of Christ; because by them no flesh living is justified in the sight of God: and Noah was a rare instance of this character; there was none besides him in that wicked generation, so that he was very conspicuous and remarkable;

and it was wonderful grace to him, that he should have this blessing to be righteous in an age so sadly corrupt, which was the cause of his being saved; for whoever are justified shall be saved eternally, (Romans 8:30) as well as they are often saved from temporal calamities, see (Isaiah 3:10) .

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens ,
&c.] From this it appears, that the distinction of clean and unclean beasts, at least for sacrifice, if not for food, was known before the flood, and so before the law of Moses; though some think this is said by anticipation, and as providing a large stock of such creatures for the propagation of their species; because they would be most serviceable to men both for food and sacrifice: but as it is certain that sacrifices were offered ever since the fall of man; by the same way, namely, by divine revelation, that men were taught to sacrifice creatures as typical of the sacrifice of Christ, they were directed what sort of creatures to offer, as were most suitable figures of him; those beasts that were clean, and used under the law, and so no doubt, at this time, were oxen, sheep, and goats.

And these were to be taken into the ark by "sevens", or "seven seven" ^F16 ; either only three pairs, male and female, for procreation, and the seventh a male for sacrifice, when the flood was over; or rather fourteen, seven couple, an equal number of male and female, as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom, that there might be enough for propagation; since a large number of them would be consumed, both for food and sacrifice.

the male and his female ,
or "the man and his wife" ^F17 ; which confirms the sense given, that there were seven pairs, or otherwise, if there has been an odd seventh, there would not have been a male and his female.

and of beasts that are not clean by two ,
or only two: the male and his female ,
or "the man and his wife"; which was a number sufficient for the propagation of creatures neither used for food nor sacrifice; and many of which are harmful to mankind, as lions, wolves, tigers, bears

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: (hebv hebv) "septena septena", Pagninus, Montanus; "septem septem", Vatablus, Drusius.
• F17: (wtvaw vya) "virum et uxorem ejus", Pagninus, Montanus.

Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and his
female
That is, of such as were clean; seven couple of these were to be brought into the ark, for the like use as of the clean beasts, and those under the law; and so at this time, and here meant were turtledoves, and young pigeons that were for sacrifice; and the rest were for food: and the design of bringing both into the ark was, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth ;
that the species of creatures might be continued, both of beasts and birds, clean and unclean.

For yet seven days
Or one week more, after the above orders were given, which, the Jews say, were for the mourning at Methuselah's death; others, that they were an additional space to the one hundred and twenty given to the old world for repentance; in which time some might truly repent, finding that the destruction of the world was very near, and who might be saved from everlasting damnation, though not from perishing in the flood: but it rather was a space of time proper for Noah to have, to settle himself and family, and all the creatures in the ark, and dispose of everything there, in the best manner, for their sustenance and safety:

and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty
nights :
this was not an ordinary but an extraordinary rain, in which the power and providence of God were eminently concerned, both with respect to the continuance of it, and the quantity of water that fell:

and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off
the face of the earth :
not every substance that has a vegetative life, as plants, herbs, and trees, which were not destroyed, see (Genesis 8:11) but every substance that has animal life, as fowls, cattle, creeping things, and men.

And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him ,
&c.] He prepared for his entrance into the ark, and all the creatures with him; got everything ready for them, the rooms for their habitation, and food for their sustenance.