.

Vs. 2-3. _Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and
seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean
two, the male and his female. Of the birds also of the heavens, seven
and seven, male and female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all
the earth._

29. It is evident that God takes pleasure in speaking to Noah. Hence,
he does not confine himself to a single command, but repeats the same
things in the same words. To human reason such repetition appears to
be absurd talkativeness, but to a soul struggling against despair the
will of God cannot be repeated too often, nor can too exhaustive
instruction be given relative to the will of God. God recognizes the
state of a soul that is tempted, and hence makes the same statements
again and again, so that Noah may learn from frequent conversations
and conferences that he is not only not forsaken though the whole
world forsake him, but that he has a friend and protector in God who
so loves him that he never seems to weary of conversing with him. This
is the cause of the statements being repeated. However, as has been
explained, God spoke with Noah not from heaven but through men.

30. In respect to the language, this passage shows that _ha-behemah_
signifies not only cattle, the larger animals, but also the smaller
ones which were commonly used for sacrifice, as sheep, goats and the
like. The custom of offering sacrifices was not first instituted by
Moses, but was in the world from the beginning, being handed down, as
it were, by the patriarchs to their posterity; as shown by the example
of Abel, who brought of his first fruits an offering to God.

31. As to the remainder of the passage, we explained at the end of the
sixth chapter how to harmonize the discrepancies apparent in the fact
that here seven beasts of each kind are ordered to be taken into the
ark while only two of each kind are mentioned there. To repeat is not
necessary. Since Noah was saved by a miracle, he thought that a
seventh animal should be added to the three pairs of clean beasts as a
thank-offering to God, after the flood, for his deliverance.

V. 4. _For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made
will I destroy from off the face of the ground._

32. Here you see God's care to give Noah complete assurance. He sets a
limit of seven days, after which will follow a rain of forty days