OT § 11

The Scriptures have shown us the gravity of human wickedness and the severity of the punishment that had to be inflicted on it. They then point out to us the one who amid such a multitude had been able to keep a sincere virtue. Virtue in fact is admirable even for itself. If someone cultivates virtue among those who refuse it, he makes it much more worthy of admiration. Therefore the Scriptures, as though in admiration of this just man, point out the contrast: that only one man who was living among those who soon would experience the wrath of God, this Noah, "found favor in the eyes of the Lord God." He "found favor," but "in the eyes of God"; not simply "he found favor" but "in the eyes of the Lord God." This is said in order to show us that he had a single purpose, that is, to be praised by that eye that never sleeps or rests. He had no care for human glory or scorn or irreverence.

Do you see how the Lord created our nature to enjoy free will? I mean, how did it happen, tell me, that while those people showed enthusiasm for wickedness and rendered themselves liable to punishment, this man opted for virtue, shunned association with them and thus felt no effect of punishment? Is it not crystal clear that each person chose wickedness or virtue of his own volition? You see, if that were not the case and freedom did not have its roots in our nature, those people would not have been punished, nor would others receive reward for their virtue. Since, however, everything has been allowed to remain with our choice owing to grace from on high, punishment duly awaits the sinners, and reward and recompense those who practice virtue.

For the more ancient the instances that can be pointed out, the more are we surpassed. "Why so?" Because virtue was then more difficult. Those men had no written precepts, no patterns of living, but their nature fought, unarmed, by itself, and was forced to float in all directions unballasted. Wherefore also when praising Noah, God called him not simply perfect, but added, "in his generation"; signifying, "at that time," when there were many hindrances, since many others shone after him, yet will he have nothing less than they; for in his own time he was perfect.

Speaking of Noah, our unerring Scriptures tell us that he "was a just and perfect man in his generation," meaning that he was perfect as far as citizens of the city of God can be perfect during the pilgrimage of this present life, not, of course, as perfect as they are to be in that immortal life in which they will be as perfect as the angels of God.

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and perfect man in his generations; he walked with God. Noah is praised with the same commendation as Enoch, namely that he followed the footsteps of the divine command with upright steps of good works, and thus, while the world perished, he was saved in the ark. Noah was just and perfect, not as the saints are to be perfected in that immortality in which they will be equal to the angels of God, but as perfect as one can be in this pilgrimage; and therefore it is added, in his generations, to signify that he was just according to the righteousness of his generations, namely, those generations in which Seth, Enos, Enoch, and the other holy and perfect men of that time lived. To these generations, the following text of Holy Scripture indicates, also belonged his sons Shem and Japheth.

Let us steadfastly contemplate those who have perfectly ministered to his excellent glory... Noah, being found faithful, preached regeneration to the world through his ministry; and the Lord saved by him the animals which, with one accord, entered into the ark.

Noah was found faithful by reason of his service; he proclaimed a new birth to the world, and through him the Lord saved the living creatures who entered in harmony into the ark.

Again after these a third appeared: Noah who has received testimony as 'a righteous man in his generation.' And the following will be proofs of his righteousness. A great foulness and darkness of indescribable wickedness had overtaken the whole human race, and the giants talked of by every mouth were carrying on with ungodly and impious efforts their wars with God which are still so celebrated: and already the fathers of this their brood, whether they had sprung from some condition mightier than man's nature, or in whatever way endowed, are said to have begun the teaching of curious arts among men, and to have introduced devices of witchcraft and other mischievous sorcery into their life, so that the whole human race had fallen under one sentence of judgement with God.

(Verse 9) Noah was a righteous and blameless man in his generation, pleasing to God. Specifically, it says 'in his generation' to show that his righteousness was not according to the perfected righteousness, but according to the righteousness of his generation. And this is what is said in Hebrew: Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generations, he walked with God; that is, he followed in his footsteps.

Somebody may say to me, "Was Adam, created by God as the first man in the original state of the world, condemned for lack of faith or for sin?" It was not incredulity but disobedience that was the cause for his condemnation and the reason why all his posterity are punished. Cain too was condemned, not for lack of faith but because he killed his brother. Why need I seek further proof when I read that this whole world was destroyed not for incredulity but for wickedness.

And when God saw that the earth was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted its way. All flesh means all humans, according to the prophet's statement: "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Luke 3:6). For neither birds nor quadrupeds had corrupted their way by sinning, just as they will not see the Salvation of our God, that is Christ, but all humans will see.

Because the sons of Seth were going into the daughters of Cain, they turned away from their first wives whom they had previously taken. Then these wives, too, disdained their own continence and now, because of their husbands, quickly began to abandon their modesty, which up until that time they had preserved for their husbands' sake. It is because of this wantonness that assailed both the men and the women that Scripture says, "All flesh corrupted its path."

He said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before me; the earth is filled with iniquity because of them, and I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of smoothed wood, etc. The diverse form in the construction of the ark and the imminent flood contains a mystery. First, as the Lord himself showed by the sudden inundation of the flood, the unexpected hour of the last judgment is signified: "And as it was, he says, in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all" (Matthew 24:38). For the construction of the ark, which took a hundred years, signifies the entire period of this age, during which the holy church is also built and brought to its perfect end. There is no doubt that the hundred-year number signifies perfection, either because it is filled by ten decades, or because it moves from the left to the right, expressing an action which takes place in this life as though on the left, but will be consummated in the future life as on the right. But as the ark was made, and with everything that was to be saved brought into it, the flood came and took away all that was outside it; so, when all those who are predestined to eternal life have entered the church, the end of the world will come and all those found outside the church will perish; and according to this understanding, the ark clearly signifies the church, Noah signifies the Lord who builds the church with his saints, and the flood signifies the end of the age or the final judgment. However, aside from the construction of the ark, even in Noah, because his name means rest, and he was to give rest or comfort to men, it was prefigured that men would rest from the works and labors of their hands on the earth, which the Lord cursed, holding the image of the Lord Savior. For he consoles us through the illumination of his Spirit, who is therefore called the Paraclete, that is, the comforter. He has rescued us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us. He calls the weary to rest: "Come to me, he says, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28). He truly was the just and perfect man through all generations, that is, in every congregation of saints, as he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. According to another equally pious and catholic interpretation, the ark signifies the church, the flood signifies the water of baptism, by which the church itself is washed and sanctified in all its members, as the apostle Peter explains, saying: "When the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water, which also saves you now, a baptism of similar fashion, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:20). That he says we are saved in baptism through the resurrection of Jesus Christ briefly explains what the number of eight souls saved through water mystically signifies. For the day of the Lord's resurrection is indeed the third day from his passion, but the eighth from the day of the first creation. Some Fathers often interpret the waves of the flood as the trials of this age, by which the holy church is daily struck but not overcome; rather, by being tested through these trials, it is more elevated from earthly desires to seek heavenly things. Whatever is outside it is killed by the same temptations of the world, just as it is said that multiplying and mightily flooding waters on the surface of the earth lifted the ark above the land; whatever was outside the ark perished. This exposition aligns with the parable of the two houses from the Lord, one built on rock, the other on sand; when equally struck by rain, winds, and floods, the one founded on the rock of faith was tested by temptations; the one that placed its hope in the fleeting pleasures of this life, like on sands, was shaken. For what the builder Noah is to the ark, the foundation rock is to the house of faith; and what the corrupt mind of giants bent to earth is outside the ark, this is expressed by the sand gathered in the house of unbelief. Therefore, let the ark signify the church, the flood the font of baptism by which it is washed, the waves the temptations of the world by which it is tested, the end in which it is crowned. Moreover, the builder of the ark Noah typically denotes either the Lord and Savior himself or any devoted ruler of the same holy church.

Undoubtedly the ark is a symbol of the city of God on its pilgrimage in history. It is a figure of the church that was saved by the wood on which there hung the "Mediator between God and men, himself man, Jesus Christ." Even the very measurements of length, height and breadth of the ark are meant to point to the reality of the human body into which he came as it was foretold that he would come. It will be recalled that the length of a normal body from head to foot is six times the breadth from one side to the other and ten times the thickness from back to front. Measure a man who is lying on the ground, either prone or supine. He is six times as long from head to foot as he is wide from left to right or right to left, and he is ten times as long as he is high from the ground up. That is why the ark was made three hundred cubits in length, fifty in breadth and thirty in height. As for the door in the side, that surely, symbolizes the open wound made by the lance in the side of the Crucified—the door by which those who come to him enter in, in the sense that believers enter the church by means of the sacraments that issued from that wound. It was ordered that the ark be made out of squared timbers—a symbol of the foursquare stability of a holy life, which, like a cube, stands firm however it is turned. So it is with every other detail of the ark's construction. They are all symbols of something in the church.

Make for yourself, he says, an ark of smoothed wood. Not only the humans who were saved in the ark, but also the animals that entered it together; even the wood of which it was made mystically announces the faithful of the holy Church. Therefore, the wood of which it was made is commanded to be smoothed, because whoever is placed in the structure of the Church by coming to faith must first, being cut off from the root of his former lifestyle through the instruction or chastisement of those who have preceded in Christ, remove everything of harmful crookedness and deformity which he finds in himself, and direct his whole mind and action to the rule of the Catholic faith and truth, so that, in the order of the heavenly building, he may be fitly and opportunely placed for the creation of a new man in his proper place and time.

However, for the smoothed wood, the ancient translation used the term squared wood, which equally refers to the same perfection of the elect. For wherever you turn a square, it will stand, nor can it be prone to falling in any way. Thus indeed, thus the mind of the elect remembers to maintain the inviolate state of holy intention, whatever temptations it may encounter.

You shall make little rooms in the ark. All the mansions in the ark were arranged as receptacles for various animals that were to enter it, and in the Church there are many orders of institutions according to the diversity of those who come to the faith. For the same life or manner of living ought not to be that of the married and the continent, the sinners, and the rulers; and to this one it is said: If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness (Matthew 19:17), and other such things. But to another: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor (Ibid., 21). Hence also, concerning the reward itself of eternal retribution, the Lord says: In my Father's house there are many mansions (John 14:2). Therefore, there are little rooms in the ark because not all have the same merit in the Church, nor the same progress in faith, although all are contained within one faith and washed in the same baptism.

And you shall cover it inside and outside with bitumen, and you shall make it thus. Bitumen is the hottest and most violent adhesive, whose power is such that the woods which have been coated with it can neither be eaten by worms, nor can they be dissolved by the heat of the sun, or the blows of the winds, or the flooding of the waters; whence what else is mystically understood by bitumen than the constancy of faith? Moreover, the ark is covered inside and outside with bitumen, and thus it is completely perfected, while both the thoughts of the elect and their works, so that they may not be overcome or deceived by the incursions of vices, are fortified by the power of faith in all things.

We read in Genesis that the ark that Noah built was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Notice the mystical significance of the numbers. In the number fifty, penance is symbolized because the fiftieth psalm of King David is the prayer of his repentance. Three hundred contains the symbol of crucifixion. The letter T is the sign for three hundred, whence Ezekiel says, "Mark THAV on the forehead of those who moan; and do not kill any marked with THAV." No one marked with the sign of the cross on his forehead can be struck by the devil; he is not able to efface this sign, only sin can. We have spoken of the ark, of the number fifty, of the number three hundred. Let us comment on the number thirty because the ark was thirty cubits high and finished above in one cubit. First, we repent in the number fifty; then, through penance, we arrive at the mystery of the cross; we reach the mystery of the cross through the perfect Word that is Christ. As a matter of fact, when Jesus was baptized, according to Luke, "he was thirty years of age." These same thirty cubits were finished off one cubit above. Fifty, and three hundred, and thirty were finished above in one cubit, that is, in one faith of God.

(Verse 14) Make for yourself an ark of square wooden planks. For the square planks, we read it is coated with pitch in Hebrew.

But now, first beseeching Him who alone can take away the veil from the reading of the Old Testament, let us try to inquire what this magnificent construction of the ark also contains of spiritual edification. I think, then, so far as I for the smallness of my understanding am able to attain it, that that flood, by which an end was then almost given to the world, holds the figure of that end of the world which will truly come. This the Lord Himself also declared, saying: "For as in the days of Noah they bought, sold, built, married, and gave in marriage, and the flood came, and destroyed all: so also shall be the coming of the Son of man." In which He evidently designates one and the same figure of the flood which preceded and of the end of the world which He says will come. As, therefore, it was then said to that Noah, that he should make an ark and bring into it with himself not only his sons and his kinsmen, but also animals of diverse kinds, so also to our Noah, who alone is truly just and alone perfect, the Lord Jesus Christ, it was said by the Father, at the consummation of the ages, that He should make for Himself an ark out of squared timbers and give it measures filled with heavenly mysteries. For this is designated in the Psalm, where it says: "Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession." He builds, therefore, the ark and makes in it nests, that is, certain storerooms, in which animals of diverse kinds may be received. Of which the prophet also says: "Go, my people, enter into your storerooms, hide yourself for a little while, until the fury of my wrath passes by." This people, then, which is saved in the Church, is compared to all those, whether men or animals, which were saved in the ark. But since the merit of all is not one, nor is the advancement in faith one, therefore the ark too does not furnish one and the same dwelling to all these, but the lower parts are double-chambered and the upper parts triple-chambered, and nests are distinguished in it, so as to show that in the Church also, although all are contained within one faith and are washed by one baptism, nevertheless the advancement is not one and the same for all, "but each in his own order." Those indeed who live by rational knowledge and are fit not only to govern themselves, but also to teach others, since they are found to be very few, hold the figure of the few who are saved with Noah himself and are joined to him by the nearest kinship, just as our Lord too, the true Noah, Christ Jesus, has few kinsmen, few sons and relatives, who are partakers of His word and capable of His wisdom. And these are they who are placed in the highest rank and are settled in the top of the ark. But the rest, the multitude of irrational animals or even beasts, is held in the lower places, and most of all those whose savage ferocity not even the sweetness of faith has softened. But somewhat above these are those who, though they keep less of reason, keep nevertheless very much of simplicity and innocence. And thus, as one ascends through the individual ranks of dwellings, one arrives at Noah himself, who is interpreted as 'rest' or 'just,' who is Christ Jesus. For it does not fit that Noah what his father Lamech says: "for this one," he says, "will give us rest from the works and from the sorrows of our hands and from the earth which the Lord God cursed." For how will it be true that that Noah gave rest to that Lamech or to the people who were then held on the earth, or how did the sorrows and toil cease in the times of Noah, or how was the curse of the earth, which the Lord had given, taken away, where rather both the divine anger is shown to be greater and God is related to say, "It repents me that I made man upon the earth," and again He says, "I will destroy all flesh which is upon the earth," and above all the sign of the highest offense, the destruction of the living, is given? But if you look to our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it is said, "behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sin of the world," and again of whom it is said, "having been made a curse for us, that He might redeem us from the curse of the law," and again when He says, "come to me, you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will refresh you, and you shall find rest for your souls," you will find that this is He who truly gave rest to men and freed the earth from the curse with which the Lord God cursed it. To this spiritual Noah, then, who gave rest to men and took away the sin of the world, it is said: "You shall make for yourself an ark out of squared timbers."

Let us see, then, what the squared timbers are. That is squared which totters on no side, but, wherever you turn it, stands with faithful and solid stability. These are the timbers which bear all the weight, whether of the animals within or of the waves without. These I judge to be the teachers in the Church and the masters and the zealots of the faith, who both console the peoples placed within by the word of admonition and by the grace of teaching, and, by the power of the word and the wisdom of reason, withstand those attacking from without — whether pagans or heretics — and stirring up the waves of questions and the storms of contests. But do you wish to see that divine Scripture knows of rational timbers? Let us review what is written in the prophet Ezekiel: "And it came to pass," it says, "in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude: to whom do you liken yourself in your exaltation? Behold, Assur is a cypress in Lebanon, beautiful in branches and dense in shade and lofty in height. Among the midst of the clouds its top was set, water nourished it and the deep exalted it and led all its rivers around it and sent forth its gatherings to all the timbers of the field. Therefore its height was exalted above all the timbers of the field." And after a little it says: "The many cypresses in the paradise of God, and the pines were not like its branches, and the firs were not like them. No timber in the paradise of God was likened to it, and all the timbers of the paradise of the delights of God envied it." Do you notice of which and of what sort of timbers the prophet speaks? how he describes the cypress of Lebanon, to which all the timbers that are in the paradise of God cannot be compared? And he adds this too at the last, that all the timbers that are in the paradise of God envied it, evidently showing that, according to spiritual understanding, the timbers that are in the paradise of God are called rational, seeing that in them he describes there to be a certain envy against those timbers that are in Lebanon. Whence, that we may say this too in passing, consider whether perhaps that also which is written, that "cursed by God is everyone who hangs on a tree," ought to be understood in the same way as that which is said elsewhere, "cursed is the man who has his hope in man." For we ought to hang on God alone and on no other, even if someone should be said to proceed from the paradise of God, just as Paul too says: "even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you otherwise than we have preached to you, let him be anathema." But these things at another time. Meanwhile you have seen what the squared timbers are, which, like a kind of wall and defense, are set in place by the spiritual Noah for those who are within against the waves that come over from without; which timbers are smeared "within and without" with pitch. For Christ, the architect of the Church, wishes you not to be such as those "who indeed appear outwardly to men to be just, but within are sepulchers of the dead," but He wishes you to be both holy in body without and pure in heart within, guarded on every side and fortified with the virtue of chastity and innocence, that is, to be smeared within and without with pitch.

As we begin to discuss the ark that was built by Noah according to God's command, let us first of all see what things are related about it according to the letter, and, setting forth the questions that are commonly raised as objections by very many people, let us also seek the resolutions of them from those things which have been handed down to us by our predecessors, so that, when we have laid foundations of this kind, we may be able to ascend from the text of the narrative to the mystical and allegorical sense of spiritual understanding, and, if anything hidden is contained in these things, to open it up, the Lord revealing to us the knowledge of His word. First, therefore, let us set forth these very things which are written. "And the Lord said to Noah," it says, "the time of every man has come before me, since the earth has been filled with iniquities by them; and behold, I will destroy them and the earth. Make therefore for yourself an ark out of squared timbers, you shall make nests in the ark, and you shall pitch it within and without with pitch. And thus shall you make the ark: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, and fifty cubits the breadth, and thirty cubits its height; gathering it together you shall make the ark, and to a cubit you shall finish it at the top. But the door of the ark you shall make in the side; the lower parts double-chambered and the upper parts triple-chambered you shall make them." And after a little: "Noah did everything, whatsoever the Lord God commanded him, so he did." First, therefore, it is asked what sort of shape and form the ark itself ought to be understood to have. This ark I think, so far as appears from the things that are described, rose up on four corners from the bottom, and, these same corners being drawn in gradually into a narrow point right up to the top, was gathered into the space of a single cubit. For it is related thus, that in its foundations three hundred cubits were set in length, but fifty in breadth, and thirty were built up in height, yet gathered together into a narrow summit, so that there is a cubit of its breadth and length. Now indeed, within, those parts which are called its lower ones are set down as double-chambered, that is, containing a double dwelling, but the upper parts as triple-chambered, as if we should say built with triple upper rooms. But these distinctions of dwellings seem to have been made for this purpose, that the diverse kinds of animals or beasts might more easily be separated by individual quarters, and that all the tame and sluggish ones might be set apart from the wild beasts. These separations of dwellings, then, are called nests. And the timbers are related to have been squared, so that one might both more easily be fitted to another, and, when the flood overflowed, the whole onrush of the waters might be kept off, since the joint, smeared within and without with pitch, would be fortified. It has indeed been handed down to us, and not without probability, that the lower parts which we spoke of above, built in double fashion, which were also separately called double-chambered — apart from the upper parts, which are called triple-chambered — were double in this manner for the reason that all the animals spent an entire year in the ark, and certainly for a whole year it was necessary that foods be provided, and not only foods, but also that places for the digestions be established, so that neither the animals themselves, and especially the men, might be troubled by the stench of dung. They hand down, therefore, that the lowest region itself, which is at the bottom, was assigned and set apart for necessities of this kind, but that the part above this and adjoining it was appointed for preserving the fodder. For it seemed necessary that for those beasts to which nature has given the eating of flesh, animals should be brought in from without, on whose flesh, feeding, they might be able to preserve their life for the sake of restoring their posterity; but that for others other foods, which natural use demands, should be kept. For these uses, therefore, they hand down that the lower parts, which are called double-chambered, were divided, but the upper ones were appointed as a dwelling for the beasts or animals; among which the lower parts furnished a dwelling for the wild and untamed beasts or serpents, but the places adjoining these in the upper regions were stalls for the gentler living creatures. But above all things, on high, the seat was placed for the men, inasmuch as they excel all things both in honor and in reason, so that, just as by reason and wisdom man is said to hold sovereignty over all things that are on the earth, so also he should be placed higher in position and above all the living creatures that are in the ark. They hand down, moreover, that the door too, which is said to have been made in the side, was in that place so that it might have below itself the lower parts which he called double-chambered, and that the parts which he called triple-chambered were called upper from the position of the door, and that, once all the animals had entered through it, they were separated each through their own places, according to what we said above, with fitting distinction. But the fortifying of the door itself is not accomplished by human means. For how, after it was closed and no man was outside the ark, could the door be pitched on the outside, unless because without doubt it was a work of divine power, that the waters might not enter through the entrance which no human hand had fortified? For this reason, therefore, Scripture, when it had said of all the other things that Noah made the ark and brought in the animals and his sons and their wives, did not say of the door that Noah closed the door of the ark; but it says that "the Lord God closed the door of the ark from without, and thus the flood came to pass." Yet it must be observed that after the flood Noah is not said to have opened the door, but "the window," when he sent forth "the raven, to see whether the water had ceased upon the earth." And that Noah brought food into the ark for all the animals or beasts which entered with him, hear from those things which the Lord says to Noah: "You," He says, "take for yourself from all the foods that are eaten, and you shall gather them to yourself, and they shall be for you and for them to eat." And that Noah did those things which the Lord commanded him, hear Scripture saying: "And Noah did," it says, "everything that the Lord God commanded him, so he did." Indeed, as to the fact that Scripture related nothing about the places which we mentioned as set apart for the dung of the animals, but tradition holds it, it will opportunely seem that silence was kept about this, concerning which the reasoning of the sequence itself would sufficiently teach. And because it could less worthily be fitted to spiritual understanding, Scripture therefore rightly kept silent about this, since it rather fits its narratives to allegorical understandings. Nevertheless, as far as concerns the necessity of the rains and the flood, no shape of ark could be given so suitable and fitting as one that, from the top, as from a kind of roof drawn up into a narrow peak, might pour off the crashing downpours of the showers, and, standing at the bottom in the waters with squared stability, could neither be tipped over nor sunk by the thrust of the winds nor by the onset of the waves nor by the restlessness of the animals which were within.

But since the ark, which we are attempting to describe, is commanded by God to be built not only double-chambered but also triple-chambered, let us too give our effort, according to God's command, to join a third exposition as well to this double one which has preceded. For the first, which preceded, is the historical, placed as it were as a kind of foundation in the lower parts. This second, the mystical, was higher and loftier. Let us try, if we can, to add a third, the moral — although this very thing too, that it neither said "double-chambered" alone and kept silent, nor "triple-chambered" only and stopped, but, when it had said "double-chambered," added also "triple-chambered," does not seem to be without the mystery of this very exposition which we have in hand. For the triple-chambered designates this triple exposition. But because the historical sequence cannot always stand in the divine Scriptures, but sometimes fails — as, for example, when it is said, "thorns will grow in the hand of the drunkard," and when in the temple built by Solomon it is said, "the sound of the hammer and the axe was not heard in the house of God," and again in Leviticus, when "the leprosy of the wall and of the little skin and of the warp is commanded to be inspected by the priests and to be cleansed" — for these reasons, then, and for others like them, the ark is woven together not only "triple-chambered," but also "double-chambered," so that we may know that in the divine Scriptures the sense of exposition inserted is not always triple, because the history does not always follow us, but sometimes only double. Let us try, therefore, to discuss the third exposition also, according to the moral topic. If there is anyone who, while evils increase and vices overflow, is able to turn himself away from fluid and perishing and falling things and to hear the word of God and the heavenly precepts, this one builds within his heart an ark of salvation and consecrates within himself, so to speak, a library of the divine word, and places in it length and breadth and height — faith, charity, and hope. He stretches the faith of the Trinity to the length of life and immortality, he founds the breadth of charity by the affection of pardon and kindness, he raises the height of hope to the heavenly and lofty things; for, walking upon the earth, he has his "conversation in the heavens." But the sum of his acts he brings back to one. For he knows that "all indeed run, but one receives the prize" — namely, the one who has not been manifold through the variety of thoughts and the instability of mind. But this library he builds not out of rough and unpolished timbers, but out of squared ones directed according to the line of equity — that is, not out of the volumes of secular authors, but out of the prophetic and Apostolic ones. For these are the ones who, hewn by diverse temptations, with all vices cut away and excised, keep a squared life balanced on every side. For the authors of secular books can indeed be called "lofty timbers" and "shady timbers" — for "under every lofty and leafy tree" Israel is accused of having committed fornication — because they indeed speak lofty things and use flowery eloquence, yet they did not act as they spoke; and therefore they cannot be named "squared timbers," because in them life and word by no means balance out. You therefore, if you make an ark, if you gather a library, gather it out of the prophetic and Apostolic discourses, or of those who followed them with the right lines of faith, make it "double-chambered" and "triple-chambered." From it learn the historical narratives, from it acknowledge "the great mystery" which is fulfilled in Christ and in the Church; from it also understand how to amend your morals, to cut away vices, to purge the soul and to strip it of every bond of captivity, placing in it "nests" and "nests" of diverse virtues and advancements. Indeed, you shall pitch it "within" and "without" — bearing faith in the heart, uttering confession with the mouth, having knowledge within, works without, pure in heart within, walking chaste in body without. Into this ark, then — whether we for the present set it down, according to the moral topic, as a library of divine books or as a faithful soul — you ought to bring in animals also of every kind, not only clean but also unclean. But the clean animals we can easily say may be understood to be memory, learning, understanding, examination, and judgment of the things we read, and other things like these. But concerning the unclean ones it is difficult to pronounce, which are also named "two by two." Nevertheless, so far as in such difficult places we can dare, I think that concupiscence and anger, since they are in every soul, are necessarily called unclean according to this, that they are servants to man for sinning; but according to this, that neither is the succession of posterity restored without concupiscence, nor can any amendment stand without anger, nor discipline, they are called necessary and to be preserved. And although these things seem now to be discussed not by moral but by natural reasoning, nevertheless the things which could occur to us for the present we have treated for edification. Indeed, if anyone at leisure is able to compare and confer the divine Scripture itself with itself and to fit "spiritual things to spiritual," it does not escape us that in this place he will find many secrets of profound and hidden mystery, which we now cannot bring into the midst, either for the brevity of time or for the labor of the hearers. Yet let us beseech the mercy of Almighty God, that He may make us "not only hearers of His word," but also "doers," and may bring upon our souls too the flood of His water, and may destroy in us the things which He knows are to be destroyed, and may make alive the things which He judges are to be made alive, through Christ our Lord and through His Holy Spirit. To Him be glory unto the eternal ages of ages. Amen.

The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. The length of the ark signifies the long-suffering patience by which adversities are bravely endured; the width signifies the breadth of charity, which embraces even those who inflict adversities; the height signifies the sublimity of hope, by which the eternal reward in heaven is insinuated. Hence the length of the ark is commanded to be three hundred cubits, as this number, as we have previously noted, is represented by the letter T in Greek. This letter is written in the shape of a cross, because the holy Church, while remaining invincible and steadfast amid adversities, follows the footsteps of the Lord's passion, remembering His word where He said: And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:38). The width extends to fifty cubits, in which number the Holy Spirit is sent, and under the law universal rest and remission are bestowed upon God's people because the love of God is poured into our hearts, not by the merit of our actions but by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. And this is rest and remission of our debts, when we love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and our neighbor in God as ourselves, and our adversary for the sake of God. The height is thirty cubits, because this is the only and unique hope of the elect, that through the observation of the Decalogue, which is perfected in the love of God and neighbor, they ascend to the contemplation of the Holy Trinity. For three times ten makes thirty.

There is, however, another memorable mystery in the shape of the ark, which is found to be formed according to the measure of the human body. For the length of the human body from the top of the head to the feet is six times the height from one side to the other, and ten times the height measured from the back to the abdomen, as if you measure a lying man supine or prone; the length from head to feet is six times as long as the width from right to left or left to right, and ten times as high from the ground. Therefore, the ark was made three hundred cubits in length, fifty in width, and thirty in height; and because the Apostle says of the Church that it is one body and one spirit in Christ, rightly the ark, which bore the figure of this, was formed in the likeness of the human body, because Christ Himself, God, and our Lord willed to be incarnated for us and to wash us from sins and consecrate us through the sacraments of His humanity. Rightly, He commanded that the ark, in which He decreed to save the remnants of the human race while the wicked perished, be made in the manner of the human body, just as the temple which Solomon made for the Lord not only prefigured His Church, but also His flesh itself, which He took from the Virgin, as He Himself testified when He said to the Jews, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The evangelist said this, meaning the temple of His body (John 2:19). Thus also, the ark, which Noah made in the form of the human body, held our type, of whom the Apostle said, "Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood" (Ephesians 4:13); and of the Lord Himself, who deigned to gather us into the unity of faith through the mystery of His Incarnation and to cleanse us from sins by the grace of the Holy Spirit, which the dove bringing the olive branch to the ark symbolized, and to save us from the destruction of the perishing world.

But although all these things have been composed with such great skill, certain people raise questions as objections, and especially Apelles, who was indeed a disciple of Marcion, but the inventor of another heresy rather than of the one which he received from his master. He then, while he desires to represent that the writings of Moses contain in themselves nothing of divine wisdom and nothing of the work of the Holy Spirit, exaggerates sayings of this kind and says that it could in no way have come about that so small a space could have held so many kinds of animals and their foods, which would suffice through a whole year. For since "two by two" of the unclean animals — that is, two males and two females (for this is what the repeated word indicates) — but "seven by seven," which is seven pairs, of the clean, are said to have been led into the ark, how, he asks, could this space that is written of have come about, so as to be able to hold at least four elephants alone? And after he opposes it in this manner through the individual species, he adds over all things in these words: it is established, therefore, that the tale is a fiction; and if this is so, it is established that this writing is not from God. But to these things we will bring to the notice of our hearers the things which we have learned from prudent men and those acquainted with the Hebrew traditions and from the ancient teachers. Our predecessors said, then, that Moses, who, as Scripture testifies concerning him, "had been instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," set down the number of cubits in this place according to the geometric art in which the Egyptians are especially skilled. For among geometers, according to that reckoning which among them is called "power," from a solid and a square either one is reckoned as six cubits, if taken generally, or as three hundred, if it is reduced in detail. And if this reckoning is indeed observed, in the measure of this ark there will be found such great spaces both of length and of breadth as could truly hold the seeds of the whole world to be restored and the reviving seed-plots of all living creatures. Let these things, so far as pertains to the reckoning of the narrative, be said against those who strive to attack the writings of the Old Testament as though they contained certain impossible and irrational things.

After these things mention is made of the length and breadth of the ark and of the height, and certain numbers are set down in them, consecrated with mighty mysteries. But before we discuss the numbers, let us see what sort of thing it is that it speaks of length and breadth and height. The Apostle in a certain place, when he was speaking more sacredly of the mystery of the cross, says thus: "that you may know what is the length and breadth and depth." Now depth and height signify the same thing, only that height seems to measure the space from the lower parts to the upper, but depth to begin from the upper parts and descend to the lower. Consequently, then, the Spirit of God, both through Moses and through Paul, sets forth figures of mighty mysteries. For Paul, since he was preaching the mystery of Christ's descent, named depth, as of one coming from the upper parts to the lower; but Moses, because he designates the restoration of those who through Christ are called back from the destruction and perdition of the world — as it were from the death of the flood — from the lower parts to the things above and heavenly, in the measure of the ark does not mention depth, but height, as where one ascends from earthly and lowly things to heavenly and lofty ones. Numbers too are set down: three hundred cubits of length, fifty of breadth, thirty of height. Three hundred is three times a hundred, and the number one hundred is shown to be full in all things and perfect, and containing the mystery of the whole rational creation, as we read in the Gospels, where it says that "a certain man having a hundred sheep, when one of them had perished, leaving the ninety-nine in the mountains, went down to seek the one that had perished, and, when he had found it, carried it back on his shoulders, and placed it with those ninety-nine which had not perished." This hundred, then, being the number of the whole rational creation, since it does not subsist from itself, but descends from the Trinity and has received length of life — that is, the grace of immortality — from the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit, is therefore set down tripled, inasmuch as it is increased to perfection through the grace of the Trinity, and so that it may restore into three hundred the one who has fallen from the hundred through ignorance, by the acknowledgment of the Trinity. The breadth holds the number fifty, which number is consecrated to remission and pardon. For according to the law, in the fiftieth year there was remission — that is, that if anyone had sold away a possession, he should receive it back; if a free man had come into servitude, he should receive back his freedom; the debtor should receive pardon, the exile should return to his fatherland. The spiritual Noah, therefore, Christ, in His ark, in which He frees the human race from destruction — that is, in His Church — has placed this number fifty of remission in the breadth. For unless He had granted the remission of sins to those who believe, the breadth of the Church would not have been spread throughout the circle of the earth. But the number thirty of the height contains a mystery similar to the three hundred. For what a hundred does there, ten multiplied by three does here. But the sum of the whole construction is brought back to one, because "there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord," and "the faith of the Church is one, one baptism, one body and one spirit," and all things hasten to the one end of God's perfection. But you too, who hear these things, if you attend to the holy Scriptures in your leisure, will find very many deeds of great matters contained under the number thirty or fifty. At thirty years of age Joseph is brought out of prison and receives the sovereignty of all Egypt, that by divine foresight he might drive off the ruin of the impending famine. Jesus is related to be of thirty years when He came to the baptism and "saw the heavens divided and the Spirit of God coming upon Himself in the likeness of a dove"; where also the mystery of the Trinity first began to be disclosed; and many things similar to these you will find. But you will also find the fiftieth day as a feast in the consecration of the new fruits, and from the spoils of the Midianites a fiftieth is taken off as a first-portion for the Lord. And with three hundred you will find both Abraham conquering the Sodomites, and Gideon with three hundred lapping the water with the tongue overcomes. Indeed, the door, which is placed not in the front nor from above, but from the side, crosswise — since it is the time of divine anger (for "the day of the Lord is a day of wrath and fury," as it is written; for although some may seem to be saved, yet many, whom their own merits reprove, are destroyed and perish) — the door is set crosswise, so that that may be shown which is said through the prophet, that "if you walk perversely with me, I too will walk with you in perverse anger." After these things let us also see about that which it says separately, "the lower parts double-chambered" and "the upper parts triple-chambered," lest perhaps that be indicated through these things which the Apostle said, that "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things heavenly, earthly, and infernal," and in the ark there may be signified that the lower parts themselves are of all those things which the Apostle calls infernal, but the upper parts adjoining these are the earthly things themselves, and the triple-chambered upper parts, of which he speaks, are all together the heavenly things, but that in these the merits of those are distinguished who are able, according to the Apostle Paul, to ascend "up to the third heaven." And the many nests, because many of them are made in the ark, indicate that there are many dwellings with the Father. But concerning the animals and beasts and cattle and the other diverse living creatures, what other figure is to be kept by us than that which either Isaiah shows, when he says that in the kingdom of Christ the wolf with the lamb, the leopard with the kid, the lion and the ox go together to the pastures, and their offspring together feed on chaff, and moreover that a little child — such without doubt as the Savior spoke of: "unless you are converted and become like this child, you shall not enter into the kingdom of God" — will put his hand into the den of asps and be in no way harmed? Or even that figure which Peter teaches to be had even now in the Church, when he relates that he saw a vision, in which all the four-footed beasts and beasts of the earth and birds of heaven were contained within one linen of faith, bound at the beginnings of the four Gospels?

You shall make a window in the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above. A window is commanded to be made in the ark so that, after the rains ceased and the ark rested, Noah might release a bird through it to ascertain whether the waters had ceased, or whether the earth had dried or sprouted, so that he also, having opened it, might see the light of the sky; hence in Hebrew it is aptly translated as having the noon, because windows are usually illuminated more clearly by the midday sun; which also aptly accords with spiritual sacraments. For the window, which illuminated the inhabitants of the ark with the splendor of the midday sun only after the flood had passed, suggests that knowledge of heavenly mysteries which is more fully revealed to the baptized faithful. Moreover, the fact that the top of the ark is said to be finished in a cubit indicates that it had three hundred cubits of length and fifty cubits of width at the bottom; gradually narrowed at the corners, it was collected into the space of one cubit at the top, thus becoming shorter and narrower as it rose higher. And indeed, as far as the necessity of rains and the flood is concerned, no form could have been given to the ark more appropriate than that the downpour of rains should be dispersed from the narrow summit of the roof when, the floodgates of heaven having been opened, the rain fell for such a long time; but this form of the ark also mystically suits the state of the holy Church. For just as the ark was broader in the lower parts, where it is believed to have contained animals; it was narrower in the upper parts, where it contained men and birds until it reached the measure of one cubit at the top; thus the Church has more carnal than spiritual members, more who are inclined like quadrupeds by the whole gaze of their mind to desire earthly things than those who, like birds, seek heavenly things with the wings of virtues; and as the holier each person in it is, the fewer they are found to be, until they reach the Mediator between God and men, who appeared as a man among men, yet is above all, God blessed forever.

You shall place the door of the ark on the lower side. This door, through which men and all the animals to be saved in the ark entered, signifies the unity of faith, without which no one can enter the Church; for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God, which is aptly commanded to be placed on the side of the ark, because it clearly designates that door, which was opened in the side of the Crucified Lord Savior by the soldier's lance, from which immediately flowed blood and water: through these sacraments, each of the faithful is received into the communion of the holy Church as into the insides of the ark. Moreover, the door of the ark is commanded to be made not only on the side but also below, so that the humility of either the Lord himself by which he died for us or ours, without which we cannot be saved, is signified. Also, the door of the ark was made below and near the ground, so that men or animals to be saved could enter it, and having entered, immediately ascended to the higher places to their respective seats, because the Lord, appearing in the depths of this mortality, was wounded for our iniquities, so that through the sacraments of his wounds, we being redeemed might be led to the heavenly mansions of virtues in the present and to the heavenly rewards with an invisible ascension. This is also well expressed in Solomon's temple, the door by which it was ascended to the upper parts, concerning which it is thus written: "The entrance of the middle side was on the right side of the house;" which some interpret as stating that the temple had an entrance from the southern part, which is far from the truth. For if it wanted to be understood this way, Scripture could briefly say: "And it had an entrance to the South or to the South." But the temple itself actually had an entrance from the rising of the sun. What is said: "The entrance of the middle side was on the right part of the house," the right part of the house is called the southern part, in whose middle side was the door by which it was ascended to the upper parts, with the entrance beginning from the eastern part of the same side, that is, from the very corner, and gradually proceeding to the upper rooms through the interior of the middle wall; hence it is subsequently added: "And they ascended by winding stairs to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third." Therefore, because the Lord, when he said to the Jews, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19), was speaking of the temple of his body, the door in the right side of this temple, is it not evident that it is the very door which was opened in his right side after the passion, as we said above, through the opening of which we transition from the present life of the holy Church to the eternal rest of souls in the future life, in the example of those who entered the right side of the temple and ascended to the middle chamber by winding stairs. But even after the most blessed rest of souls, we may ascend to the reception of spiritual bodies, as if from the middle chamber to the third, from which we may rejoice with God in the perpetual immortality of both, that is, the soul and the body.

You shall make upper rooms and lower rooms in it. Lower rooms denote a triple roof. For "stege" in Greek means "roof"; hence ancient interpreters for this word used "tricamerata." Finally, in the Acts of the Apostles, where a young man, whom Paul the Apostle revived from death, is said to have fallen from the third roof or upper room, in Greek it is written that he fell from the "tristego." But upper rooms and lower rooms, as early translators said, were made two-chambered and three-chambered in the ark, such that in distinct seats they would house animals of various kinds. Beasts, indeed, as it is believable, in the lowest parts; clean animals in the higher parts; humans and birds in the highest. For it is certain that where man sat, there too were the raven and dove, and consequently other birds too, located near the window, which is believed to have been made in the highest parts of the ark. For through this window he sent out the aforementioned birds, to see how the land's face fared; in these roofs as well, various little chambers were made, as stated above, for the distinction of the same animals or birds, so that some might not harm others, the more violent not harming the gentler. It is not in vain that Scripture states upper rooms and lower rooms were made in the ark, or that it was made two-chambered and three-chambered, when it could have said in one word that it was arranged in five upper rooms or roofs; but it said it was two-chambered, to signify that in the Church the circumcised and the uncircumcised, Jews and Greeks, will be saved. And three-chambered to signify the triple yield of the evangelical seed, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, hundredfold; so that in the lowest resides marital chastity, above it widowhood, and above that virginity. Moreover, Origen says that in the lower parts the ark was made two-chambered, so that the lowest region would receive dung, the second would be assigned to storing feed; but in the higher parts three-chambered, so that in the first of these parts would be quarters for beasts, in the second stalls for gentler animals, in the highest the seat for humans.

(Verse 16.) Assembling, you shall make an ark, and you shall finish it with a cubit from above. As for the reason why it says, assembling, you shall make an ark, in Hebrew it has, 'you shall make the middle of the ark,' which Symmachus interpreted more clearly, saying 'transparent,' that is, making the ark clear, intending for a window to be understood.

Behold, I will bring the waters of a flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall perish, and I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, you and your sons, and the rest. The waters of the flood brought upon the earth killed all flesh that was found outside the ark, but Noah and all that were in the ark were saved. Washing the world with the water of baptism saves whomever it finds faithfully abiding in the unity of the holy Church; but those who receive baptism outside the Church from heretics or schismatics die unless they repent by returning to catholic unity. Likewise, when the time of the final judgment comes, whoever is found persevering in faith and action in the holy Church shall be saved eternally; those separated from the Church by faith, action, or both, perish.

Hippolytus, the Targumist expositor, said: The names of the wives of the sons of Noah are these: the name of the wife of Sem, Nahalath Mahnuk; and the name of the wife of Cham, Zedkat Nabu; and the name of the wife of Japheth, Arathka. These, moreover, are their names in the Syriac Targum. The name of the wife of Sem was Nahalath Mahnuk; the name of the wife of Cham, Zedkat Nabu; the name of the wife of Japheth, Arathka.

Therefore God gave intimation to Noah, and informed him of the coming of the flood, and of the destruction of the ruined (wicked).

And God Most High ordered him to descend from the holy mount, him and his sons, and the wives of his sons, and to build a ship of three storeys. The lower storey was for fierce, wild, and dangerous beasts. Between them there were stakes or wooden beams, to separate them from each other, and prevent them from having intercourse with each other. The middle storey was for birds, and their different genera. Then the upper storey was for Noah himself and his sons-for his own wife and his sons' wives.

Noah also made a door in the ship, on the east side. He also constructed tanks of water, and store-rooms of provisions.

When he had made an end, accordingly, of building the ship, Noah, with his sons, Sem, Chain, and Japheth, entered the cave of deposits.

And on their first approach, indeed, they happily found the bodies of the fathers, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kainan, Mahaliel, Jared, Mathusalach, and Lamech. Those eight bodies were in the place of deposits, viz., those of Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kainan, Mahaliel, Jared, Mathusalach, and Lamech.

Noah, moreover, took the body of Adam. And his sons took with them offerings. Sem carried gold, Chain myrrh, and Japheth frankincense. Then, leaving the cave of deposits, they transferred the offerings and the body of Adam to the holy mount.

And when they sat down by the body of Adam, over against paradise, they began to lament and weep for the loss of paradise.

Then, descending from the holy mount, and lifting up their eyes towards paradise, they renewed their weeping and wailing, (and) uttered an eternal farewell in these terms: Farewell! peace to thee, O paradise of God! Farewell, O habitation of religion and purity! Farewell, O seat of pleasure and delight!

Then they embraced the stones and trees of the holy mount, and wept, and said: Farewell, O habitation of the good! Farewell, O abode of holy bodies!

Then, after three days, Noah, with his sons and his sons' wives, came down from the holy mount to the base of the holy mount, to the ship's place. For the (ark) was under the projecting edge of the holy mount.

And Noah entered the ship, and deposited the body of Adam, and the offerings, in the middle of the ship, upon a bier of wood, which he had prepared for the reception of the body.

And God charged Noah, saying: Make for thyself rattles of boxwood (or cypress). Now r)m

Make also the hammer (bell) thereof of the same wood. And the length of the rattle shall be three whole cubits, and its breadth one and a half cubit.

And God enjoined him to strike the rattles three times every day, to wit, for the first time at early dawn, for the second time at mid-day, and for the third time at sunset.

And it happened that, as soon as Noah had struck the rattles, the sons of Cain and the sons of Vahim ran up straightway to him, and he warned and alarmed them by telling of the immediate approach of the flood, and of the destruction already hasting on and impending.

Thus, moreover, was the pity of God toward them displayed, that they might be converted and come to themselves again. But the sons of Cain did not comply with what Noah proclaimed to them. And Noah brought together pairs, male and female, of all birds of every kind; and thus also of all beasts, tame and wild alike, pair and pair.

From the beginning "the spirit of God moved over the waters," and over and again Scripture testifies to the fact that water is purifying. It was with water that God washed away the sin of the world in the time of Noah.

And therefore, since all earthly things perish in the flood, but the just alone remains forever, it is said to him: I will establish my covenant with thee; for he is the heir of divine grace, he is the heavenly possessor of the inheritance, the sharer in the most blessed goods.

When Noah was ordered to enter the ark and was entrusted with the safeguarding of the seed of the earth, he was given this command, which reads: "Come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons' wives." He separated them from their wives, so that with the help of chastity they might escape the ocean's depths and that worldwide destruction.

A further question asked by the curious concerns those tiny creatures, smaller even than mice and lizards, such as locusts, beetles, flies and even fleas. Were there not more of these in the ark than the number prescribed by God? Those who raise this difficulty must first be reminded that the words "that creep on the earth" imply that there was no need to preserve in the ark animals that live either in the water like fishes or on the water, as certain birds do. Second, the words "male and female" imply that there was no need to have in the ark such animals as are not born in the normal way but populate from putrid or inanimate matter. Or if they were in the ark, they could have been there as they are in our houses and not in any definite number. On the other hand, if the sacred mystery that was there being enacted demanded down to the last number of nonmarine animals the perfect accord of symbolic figure and historical fact, then God took care of this in his own way and did not leave it to Noah or his family.

On that same day elephants came from the east, apes and peacocks approached from the south, other animals gathered from the west, and still others hastened to come from the north. Lions came from the jungles, and wild beasts arrived from their lairs. Deer and wild asses came from their lands, and the mountain beasts gathered from their mountains.When those of that generation gathered [to see] this novel sight, it was not to repent but rather to amuse themselves. Then in their very presence the lions began to enter the ark, and the bulls, with no fear, hurried in right on their heels to seek shelter with the lions. The wolves and the lambs entered together, and the hawks and the sparrows together with the doves and the eagles.

Therefore, you shall take with you of all food that can be eaten, and gather it to yourself, and it shall be food both for you and for them. And the Lord has abundantly filled His Church with the nourishment of spiritual life in many ways, so that He might invite the multitudes of the faithful to the reception of heavenly rewards by the general precepts of His commandments, and call whomever is more perfect to the higher gifts of the same everlasting kingdom through the disciplines of stricter observance. But it is usually asked whether the ark, with the capacity described, could have carried all the animals said to have entered it along with their food? Origen tries to solve this question with the geometric cubit, asserting that it was not for nothing that Scripture mentioned that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, who loved geometry. He states that the geometric cubit is equivalent to the value of six of our cubits. If, therefore, we understand such large cubits, there is no question that the ark had such a capacity as to contain all these things. But it should be noted that although Moses had learned geometric cubits, the people for whom he wrote the book were ignorant of such arts, nor did he wish to deceive them by writing things that they would not understand in truth but that he alone, with the most skilled Egyptians, could comprehend. It must also be considered that Moses, when writing about the construction of the tabernacle, noted cubits of the same kind as those he used for the ark, not of a different mode. For neither could he place something different in the same work for the same readers or listeners. If, however, he was also following geometric cubits there, then the tabernacle was not made thirty cubits long, ten cubits high, and wide, as read, but by multiplying this number by one and a half, it had one hundred and eighty cubits in length and sixty in both height and width, thus being much longer and wider than Solomon's temple, which was only forty cubits in length and twenty cubits in width. And the boards of the tabernacle itself, which are said to be ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide, would have been sixty cubits long and nine cubits wide, larger than would generally be produced by wood or suited for such a building or easily carried by human hands. The coverings, which are said to have been thirty cubits long each and four cubits wide, would have been one hundred and eighty cubits long and twenty-four wide. But Josephus, writing about the construction of the same tabernacle, also prohibits understanding it in this way. He says, "The ark was made, five palms in length, three in width," while Moses in Exodus wrote that the length of the ark was two and a half cubits and the width a cubit and a half, which, according to Josephus's testimony, are understood not as geometric but as ordinary cubits. Thus, regarding Noah's ark, it should be observed that all that happened within it or in relation to it was full of divine miracles. For if everything were done in the usual manner of men, how could eight people daily provide food and drink and other necessities to such a multitude of birds, beasts, and reptiles? Especially when Scripture does not recount any command from God regarding bringing drink into the ark? How could the waste and urine of so many creatures not render the place intolerable with stench for the animals themselves or corrode the floor of the ark, no matter how well it was pitch-sealed? How could they, remaining in one place for a whole year, neither the birds lose their ability to fly, nor the quadrupeds their ability to walk? The Lord Himself, who preserved the ark with all it contained, keeping it incorrupt, and who guided it so that it did not sink into the sea, but placed it in a location in the mountains where there was an easy and prompt exit to the land for all the animals within it from the door it had, also provided how they might be fed and kept safe within the ark. Nor is it unreasonable to believe, as some assert, that Noah prepared for the animals about to enter the ark food that would suffice for their daily use, and, having refreshed each one, they, to signify a mystery—that in the Church all are fed with the food of life according to the capacity of their nature—remained quiet or even in slumber by divine command until the day of their exit.