§7.4Στιχ. δ΄.
Verse 4.
Ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ὑετὸν (ἐπὶ) τὴν γῆν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας, καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας.
"I will bring rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
Καὶ ἐξαλείψω πᾶσαν τὴν ἐξανάστασιν, ἣν ἐποίησα, ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπουἕως κτήνους. Τί δήποτε τῷ κατακλυσμῷ τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πλήθη διέφθειρεν;
And I will blot out every living thing that I made from the face of the earth, from man to beast." Why on earth did He destroy the multitudes of men by the flood?
Ἐξαλεῖψαι τοῦ Κάῖν τὸ γένος ἠθέλησε· ἀνεμίγη δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἡ φυλή· διὸ καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας μετέσχηκεν.
He wished to blot out the race of Cain; but the tribe of the pious also mingled with it, and therefore shared in the punishment.
Ἀρχὴν δέ τινα καιτοῦ βίου ποιήσασθαι βουληθεὶς, τὸν Νῶε καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνου παῖδας σὺν ταῖς γυναιξὶ διετήρησεν, εὐσεβῆ ὄντα καὶ δίκαιον, καὶ ἐκ τῆς τῶν συγγενῶν εὐσεβείας βλαστήσαντα, καὶ τὴν τῆς παρανομίας ἐπιμιξίαν μισήσαντα.
And wishing to make a new beginning of life, He preserved Noah and his sons along with their wives, as he was pious and righteous, having sprung from the piety of his relatives and hated the intermingling of lawlessness.
Οὐ μὴν, ὥς τινές φασιν, ὀργῇ (4) τινι καὶ μεταμελείᾳ ταῦτα πεποίηκε.
However, He did not do this, as some say, out of any anger or regret.
Ταῦτα γάρ τοι ἀνθρώπινα πάθη· ἡ δὲ θεία φύσις, ἐλευθέρα παθῶν.
For these are indeed human passions, whereas the divine nature is free from passions.
Ἄλλως τε ἡ μεταμέλεια τοῖς μετὰ τὴν πεῖραν μανθάνουσι τῶν πραγμάτων τὴν φύσιν κατάλληλος· εἶτα τῇ πείρᾳ μανθάνοντες ὡς οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἐβουλεύσαντο, μεταμέλονται.
Moreover, regret is appropriate for those who learn the nature of things after experience; then, learning by experience that they did not plan rightly, they regret.
Ὁ δὲ Θεὸς οὕτως ὁρᾷ τὰ μετὰ πολλὰς ἐσόμενα γενεὰς, ὡς ἤδη γεγενημένα.
But God sees what will happen after many generations as if it had already happened.
Ὡς προορῶν τοίνυν καὶ προγινώσκων, οὕτως ἅπαντα πρυτανεύει.
Since He foresees and foreknows, He governs all things accordingly.
Τί δήποτε τοίνυν μεταμέλεται, ἅπαντα πρὸς τὴν πρόγνωσιν τὴν οἰκε ίαν οἰκονομῶν;
Why then does He regret, administering all things in accordance with His own foreknowledge?
Οὐκοῦν ἐπὶ Θεοῦ μεταμέλεια οἰκε νομίας μεταβολή·
Therefore, in the case of God, "regret" is a change of administration.
Μεταμέλομαι γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι κέ κρικα τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα· ἀντὶ τοῦ· Εὐδοκίμασα μὲν παῦσαι τοῦτον, ἕτερον δὲ χειροτονῆσαι. Οὕτω κἀνταῦθα· Ἐνεθυμήθην, ὅτι ἐποίησα ἄνθρωπον· ἐδοκίμασα διολέσαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος. Ἀλλὰ φιλάνθρωπος ὢν, σπέρμα τὸν Νῶε τῇ φύσει τετήρηκεν.
For He says, "I regret that I established Saul as king," which means, "I have decided to depose this man, and to appoint another." So too here: "I am concerned that I made man" means "I have decided to destroy the race of men." But being a lover of mankind, He preserved Noah as a seed for our nature.
Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων τὰ γένη τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἵνεκα δεδημιούργηκε χρείας· καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνδιεφθάρη, πλὴν τῶν ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ σὺν τῷ Νῶε διαφυλαχθέντων.
And since He had created the races of irrational beasts for the sake of human need, these also were destroyed along with the men, except for those preserved in the ark with Noah.
Ἐκέλευσε γὰρ ὁ δεσπότης Θεὸς ἀνὰ δύο μὲν ἐξ ἑκάστου γένους τῶν δοκούντων ἀκαθάρτων διασωθῆναι, ἀνὰ ἑπτὰ δὲ τῶν καθαρῶν.
For the Sovereign God commanded that two of each kind of those deemed unclean should be saved, but seven of the clean.
Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἤμελλε συγχωρεῖν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις μεταλαμβάνειν κρεῶν, ἤμελλον δὲ καὶ θυσίας αὐτῷ προσφέρειν τῆς εὐσεβείας οἱ τρόφιμοι, πλείονα τὰ καθαρὰ φυλαχθῆναι προσέταξε· τὰς μὲν τρεῖς συζυγίας, εἰς τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ γένους, τὸ δὲ ἓν τὸ περιττὸν εἰς θυσίαν.
For since He was going to allow men to partake of meat, and the fosterlings of piety were also going to offer sacrifices to Him, He ordered that a greater number of clean animals be preserved: three pairs for the increase of the race, and the remaining single one for sacrifice.
Εὐθὺς γὰρ ὁ Νῶε μετὰ τὴν καῦλαν τῆς τιμωρίας, θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ εὐχαριστήριον προσενήνοχεν, ἀπὸ πάντων, φησὶ, κτηνῶν τῶν καθαρῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν πετεινῶν τῶν καθαρῶν. Ὡς εἶναι δῆλον ὅτι τούτου χάριν, ἀνὰ ἑπτὰ προσέταξεν ἐξ ἑκάστου γένους τῶν καθαρῶν εἰς τὴν τιβωτὸν εἰσαχθῆναι, ἵνα, τὸ ἓν ζῶον ἐξ ἑκάστου γένους ὁ Νῶε προσφέρων, μὴ διαφθείρῃ τὰς συζυγίας.
For immediately after the cessation of the punishment, Noah offered a thanksgiving sacrifice to God from "all the clean beasts," he says, "and from all the clean birds." So that it is clear that for this reason He ordered seven of each kind of the clean animals to be brought into the ark, so that Noah, by offering the one animal from each kind, would not destroy the pairs.
§7.16(4· ) Στίχ. ις΄.
Verse 16.
Καὶ ἔκλεισε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἔξωθεν
αὐτοῦ τὴν κιβωτόν. Θειοτέρας τινὸς δυνάμεως ἔχρῃζεν ἡ ἀσφάλεια τῆς θύρας κλειομένης.
"And the Lord God shut the ark from the outside of him." The securing of the closing door required some more divine power.