| B. | GOD COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN ARK. | ||
| * | That Noah had only three children is a sign of God's mercy [242]. | ||
| 1. | The kind of wood used in building the ark [243]. | ||
| 2. | Its various rooms [244]. | ||
| 3. | The pitch by which it was protected [245]. | ||
| 4. | Why God instructed Noah so particularly how each part was to be constructed [246]. | ||
| 5. | The form of the ark, and how teachers differ on this point [247]. | ||
| 6. | The place Noah occupied in the ark, and that of the animals [248]. | ||
| 7. | Whether the ark had the proportions of a human body [249]. | ||
| 8. | How the ark was a type of the body of Christ—of the Church [250]. | ||
| 9. | The windows of the ark: | ||
| a. | Whether it had more than one window [251]. | ||
| * | The Latin version is not clear here [252]. | ||
| b. | What kind of a window it was, and how it could stand the rain [253]. | ||
| c. | Luther's opinion of the Jews' ideas about the window [253]. | ||
| 10. | The door of the ark [254]. | ||
| 11. | How to meet the various questions about the ark [255-256]. | ||
| * | The deluge was a new method of punishment, hence the non incredible [257-258]. | ||
| * | God was in earnest in the threatening of this flood [259]. | ||
B. GOD COMMANDS NOAH TO BUILD AN ARK.
V. 14. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch (bitumen).
242. God's first thought was to save a remnant through that tiny seed, the three sons of Noah, for Noah ceased henceforth to beget children. This strongly attests the mercy of God toward those who walk in his ways.
243. Gopher some make out to be pine, others hemlock, still others cedar; hence, a guess is rather difficult. The choice appears to have been made owing to its lightness or its resinous quality, so that it might float more easily upon the water and be impervious to it.
244. Kinnim signifies "nests" or "chambers"; that is separate spaces for the various animals. Bears, sheep, deer and horses did not dwell in one and the same place, but the several species had their respective quarters.