## Chizkuni, Genesis

###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:2:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:2:1)

**בני האלהים** רבי שמעון בן יוחאי קרי להו בני דיינא ולייט למאן דקרי להו בני אלקים ולמה קרי אותם בני אלהים ר׳‎ יוחנן ור״‎ל אמרו שהרבו שנים בלא צער ובלא יסורין.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בני אלהים, according to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai,(in Bereshit Rabbah 26,5) the word אלהים here is to be understood as: “judges.” He was very angry at people who translated this expression as “sons of G-d.” The question remains why, the other Rabbis translated the word as they did? The answer given by both Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan is that these people lived untroubled lives of tremendous length, so that they could easily have been confused with children whom G-d Himself had sired.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:2:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:2:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:2:2)

**[כי טבת הנה** יפות]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:2:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:2:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:2:3)

**מכל אשר בחרו** חכמים היו בחכמה העליונים ובחרו להם נשים דומות להם כתולדותם להוליד מהן גבורים כמותם ולקחום בחזקה ולכך כעסו להקב״‎ה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מכל אשר בחרו, as they were extremely intelligent, they selected for themselves wives who were equally intelligent or almost so, so that their children would enjoy the genetic benefits of their superior intelligence and physical strength.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:3:1)

**לא ידון רוחי באדם.** פרש״‎י לא יתרעם ויריב רוחי עלי בשביל האדם. דוגמא מצינו באיוב שאמר עליו הקב״‎ה אל השטן אין כמוהו בארץ איש תם וגו'. ד״‎א לשון נדן ותיק כלומר לא יהא רוחי נתון בתיקו זה גוף האדם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
לא ידון רוחי באדם, “My spirit will not predominate within man;” according to Rashi, the meaning of this phrase is that G-d feels that He will not continue for much longer to entertain conflicting emotions concerning the future of mankind in such conditions; we find a similar construction as here in Job:2,3 where G-d is on record as telling Satan that nowhere on earth can there be found a man as righteous Job. An alternate exegesis of this phrase: the philological background is נדן ותיק, “returning one sword to its sheath,” quoted by Ibn Ezra, but not attributed to a source that he revealed. The “sheath,” would be man’s body. In other words, man would be reduced to being a body without Divine spirit.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:3:2)

**לעלם.** לזמן ארוך כמו וישב שם עד עולם ועבדו לעולם, כלומר הבריות החיות עכשיו לא יתקימו זמן ארוך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
לעולם, for an interminably long period. Compare use of the word לעולם, in Samuel I 1,22. [When Chanah made this vow concerning her son Samuel, she did not use the word as meaning: “forever,” as in: לעולם ועד. Ed.] In Exodus 21,6 where the Torah speaks of the servant who had his ear pierced continuing to serve the same master: לעולם, the meaning also could not possibly have been: “forever.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:3:3)

**בשגם הוא בשר.** בעבור שגם הוא בשר ואינו דבר קיים לעולם לפיכך יש לקצר ימיו ולא יחיו עוד כאשר חיו עד עכשיו שע״‎י כך הם משחיתים דרכם וגוזלים וחומסים שאינן יראין מן המיתה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בשגם הוא בשר, seeing that he is composed only of “flesh,” i.e. a combination of components that will not endure forever. Seeing that he was not meant to live forever anyways, he might as well have his normal lifespan shortened, as longevity did not inspire him to be loyal to his Creator. On the contrary, the illusion of living forever contributed to his feeling unaccountable to Me. (G-d).


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:3:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:3:4)

**והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה.** פרש״‎י אין מוקדם ומאוחר וכו׳‎ ואין להקשות הא אמר בפסחים (ו׳‎ ע״‎ב) דבחד עניינא מאי דמוקדם מוקדם ומאי דמאוחר מאוחר דע״‎כ תרי ענייני נינהו דהא קים לן משנולד יפת לא היה עד המבול רק מאה שנה ומשום כבודו של נח שלא יאמרו העולם היאך הוליד נח לבהלה אחר הנחמה הקדים הכתוב ״‎ויולד נח את שם״‎ ל״‎וינחם כי עשה את האדם״‎, קרוב לדוגמא זה פרש״‎י סוף פרשת לך לך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והיו ימיו מאה ועשרים שנה, “and his (average) life span shall be one hundred and twenty years.” On this Rashi comments that the Torah is not restricted to report events in their chronological order. When we learned in Pessachim 6, that when the subject is a single one, the rule of the Torah not being bound to report them in chronological order does not apply, so that here we would be faced with a contradiction, this is not so. We are dealing here with two separate subjects. Consider that from the birth of Yephet until the onset of the deluge only 100 years had elapsed, seeing the Torah testified that Noach, who was 600 years old at the outbreak of the deluge, had only married and become a father at the age of five hundred. The Torah was concerned with the moral image of Noach, and so that the world would not be able to say that Noach had sired a child knowing that it would perish after he knew already that G-d would destroy the human race, (Genesis 6,7) the Torah reported Noach’s having sired Shem already before it referred to G-d’s resolve to destroy the human race. G-d’s decision to destroy mankind (bar Noach and his family) had not been revealed to anyone including Noach until 6,13. Rashi offers a similar commentary on Genesis 11,32, where the death of Avraham’s father is reported at an age of 205 years, before it reported Avram’s moving to the land of Canaan, although Terach lived on after Avram’s leaving him for another 40 years. Had his death been reported in chronological order, some people would have faulted Avram for abandoning an aged father in Charan. As it is reported, the subject of Terach had already been concluded.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:4:1)

**הנפלים.** נפלאים בגובה חסר אל״‎ף דוגמא ונפלינו אני ועמך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
הנפלים, “of outstanding stature;” the absence of the letter א in this word which we would have expected to have been spelled הנפלאים, is not unique; we find it also in Exodus 33,16: ונפלינו אני ועמך, “and we, Your people will be outstanding;”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:4:2)

**היו בארץ בימים ההם.** הנזכרים למעלה, ויהי כי החל וגו׳‎ ויראו בני האלהים וגו׳‎ .

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
היו בארץ בימים ההם, “were prominent on earth at that time.” This is a reference to conditions discussed by the Torah previously, which had been introduced with the words: ויהי כי החל האדם in 6,1.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:4:3)

**וגם אחרי כן.** שכעס עליהם הקב״‎ה כדכתיב ״‎לא ידון רוחי באדם״‎ וגו', לא נכנעו עד אשר היו באים בני האלהים אל בנות האדם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וגם אחרי כן, “and also subsequently.” Even after G-d had expressed His anger at man’s conduct on earth, as described in: 6,3, Man had not leaned to submit to the supremacy of its Creator as testified to by verse two which described their disrespect for holy matrimony, i.e. the status of a wife as inalienably linked to her husband was completely ignored by the physically superior men wishing to possess women to whom they were attracted.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:4:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:4:4)

**אנשי השם.** א״‎ר אחא והא כתיב על אנשי המבול ״‎בני נבל גם בני בלי שם נכאו מן הארץ״‎, ואת אמרת אנשי שם? אלא שהשמו את העולם והושמו מן העולם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אנשי השם, “men of great reputation; Rabbi Acha, in Bereshit Rabbah 26,7, contrasting our verse with Job 30,8 in which these people are described as בני נבל גם בני בלי שם נכאו מן הארץ, “scoundrels, nobodies, stricken from the earth,” queries the way the Torah here refers to these wicked people as: “somebodies;” He therefore understands the word השם in our verse as meaning that השמו: “they desecrated the world and as a result were הושמו, eliminated from it. [From the root: שמם to desolate. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:5:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:5:1)

**כי רבה רעת האדם** אין להרהר ולומר הואיל והכל גלוי לפניו איך בראו לחטוא, הרי אין יראת שמים בידי שמים כדכתיב ועתה ישראל מה ה׳‎ אלקיך שואל מעמך וגו׳‎ וכתיב מי יתן והיה לבבם זה להם וגו׳‎ וכתיב ראה נתתי לפניך היום את החיים ואת הטוב את המות ואת הרע.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי רבה רעת האדם, “for man’s wickedness had become very great;” it is futile to ask that seeing that G-d has foreknowledge of all that man will do, creating him had been an exercise in futility to start with; why had G-d bothered? The answer is that everything is under the control of heaven except man’s decision to live in awe of the Creator or to defy Him. Seeing that G-d had decided to create a creature equipped with free will, He had simultaneously abrogated His right to interfere as long as man’s use of his freedom did not threaten to undo His universe. The reader is reminded of Deuteronomy 10,12, where Moses tells the people that G-d “asks” the people to revere Him; he did not say that G-d had “commanded” the people to revere Him. He also quoted G-d as expressing the wish that the people could maintain their moral high, as expressed after the revelation at Mount Sinai. In other words, He Himself had restricted His freedom in matters of religious belief of His creature. (Deuteronomy 5,26) “May they always be of such mind, to revere Me, etc.”A third verse spelling out the choice before all of us is found in Deut.30,14: “see I have given before you this day, life and goodness, or death and evil.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:6:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:6:1)

**וינחם ה'** על שלשה דברים הנחמה באה, בפשיעת הנודר ובקוצר יד הנודר או בהתחלף דעתו. השתים באדם כמו בקוצר יד הנודר או בהתחלף דעתו. והשלישית נאמר בכמה מקומות אצל הקב״‎ה והוא פשיעת הנידר. כגון כאן וכגון נחמתי כי המלכתי את שאול וכגון בכמה מקומות אצל הקב״‎ה וכן כתיב רגע אדבר על גוי לנתוש ולנתוץ ושב הגוי מרעתו ונחמתי על הרעה אשר חשבתי עליו ורגע אדבר על גוי לבנות ולנטוע ועשה הרע בעיני ונחמתי על הטובה. ומה שכתוב ובן אדם ויתנחם היינו לשאינם חוטאים כדכתיב לא הביט און ביעקב ואז אין לו להתנחם ולעשות רע.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וינחם ה, the expression: נחם, נחמה is used in three different contexts; 1) deliberate failure to fulfill a vow, such as when it could not be fulfilled as the person who had made it does not have the means to do so. 2) He has simply changed his mind. 3) It is used repeatedly in connection with G-d having second thoughts about something He had done. G-d’s having second thoughts works in two directions as we know from: רגע אדבר על גוי לנתוש ולנתוץ ושב הגוי מרעתו ונחמתי על הטובה,“at one moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be uprooted and pulled down and destroyed; but if that nation against which I had made the decree, turns back from its wickedness, I change My mind concerning the punishment I planned to bring on it. (Jeremiah 18,79) [I am sure all my readers are familiar with the story of Jonah and the whale, and how G-d changed His mind about the fate of Nineveh when He observed how they repented. Ed.] There is no need here to repeated how G-d “repented” the decree He had issued against the Jewish people after they had made the golden calf and had danced around it calling it a deity. G-d had “regretted” allowing Shaul to have been crowned king, and He ordered Samuel to anoint his successor. (Samuel I 15,11 and subsequent.)at one moment I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be uprooted and pulled down and destroyed; but if that nation against which I had made the decree, turns back from its wickedness, I change My mind concerning the punishment I planned to bring on it. (Jeremiah 18,79) [I am sure all my readers are familiar with the story of Jonah and the whale, and how G-d changed His mind about the fate of Nineveh when He observed how they repented. Ed.] There is no need here to repeated how G-d “repented” the decree He had issued against the Jewish people after they had made the golden calf and had danced around it calling it a deity. G-d had “regretted” allowing Shaul to have been crowned king, and He ordered Samuel to anoint his successor. (Samuel I 15,11 and subsequent.) As to the statement by Bileam in Numbers 23,21, that what distinguishes the Jewish G-d from other deities is that: ובן אדם כי יתנחם “neither is He like a human being who changes his mind,” there the word is used in the reflexive mode, i.e. the human being who initiates his own change of mind, whereas when changing G-d’s mind is the issue, this was always forced upon G-d from the outside. He does not allow Himself the luxury of changing His mind as an act of pique, completely unprovoked.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:6:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:6:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:6:2)

**ויתעצב אל לבו** שיעצו לבראותו. ד״‎א **ויתעצב אל לבו** אאדם קאי הקב״‎ה נתעצב בשביל לבו של אדם שהיה חושב מחשבות רעות כמו כי נעצב אל דוד שפי׳‎ בשביל דוד. ד״‎א **ויתעצב אל לבו** אין עציבה אלא אבילות כמו שנאמר כי נעצב המלך על בנו פי׳‎ נתאבל על עולמו. ואם תאמר וכי מתאבלים קודם שימות המת אלא אדם שאינו יודע רגעי הזמן אינו יכול להתאבל עד שימות המת אבל הקב״‎ה שהכל גלוי וידוע לפניו וחי לעולם מתאבל תחלה. ד״‎א **ויתעצב אל לבו** האדם היה [נעצב] אל לבו של הקב״‎ה כעצב נבזה ונמאס בעיניו של הקב״‎ה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויתעצב אל לבו, “He was saddened to have listened to the advice to create man;”A different exegesis: the words: אל לבו refer to the heart of man; G-d felt saddened on account of man’s heart, i.e. the constantly evil thoughts that he entertained. We find a similar construction in Samuel I 20,34 כי נעצב אל דוד כי הכלמו אביו, “he was saddened on account that his father had humiliated him.” (Yonathan about his father the King, humiliating his bosom fried David) Still another exegesis of our verse: Whenever the root עצב occurs it refers to mourning or something akin to it. Example: כי נעצב המלך על בנו, “for the king mourned over the los of his son.” (Samuel II 19,3, about the death of Avshalom) In our verse the Torah describes G-d as mourning the world He had created and which He now had to completely restructure. If you were to ask how it is possible to mourn people who had not died yet, this rule applies only to mortal human beings who cannot be sure of any event in the future until it materializes; G-d Who foresees developments clearly, can be saddened and in a state of mourning even before the actual event has taken place. Still another interpretation of our verse; the human race had become something only worthy of sadness and distaste.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:7:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:7:1)

**אמחה את האדם** נמחה לא נאמר כמו שנאמר ״‎נעשה אדם״‎, לפי שכשבראו אמרו המלאכים ״‎מה אנוש כי תזכרנו״‎ ולא הסכימו לבראותו, לכך לא נטל מהן עצה למחותו, אבל לאחר מיכן ששינה את הממונים נטל עצה מהן למחותו כדכתיב ״‎הבה נרדה ונבלה שם שפתם״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אמחה את האדם, “I shall wipe out the human race;” when G-d had created the human He had not prefaced this with the singular mode: אעשה, “I shall make,” but He had said: נעשה, “let us make,” as He had consulted with the angels about that project. As soon as He had created them the angels had belittled this creature, saying: מה אנוש כי תזכרנו, “what is so special about the human race that You, G-d, should devote so much time and effort to its creation?” (Psalms 8,5) This is why He did not consult them about wiping out the human race. A few hundred years later, when man had built the Tower, G-d once more consulted with the angels about what punishment to administer to these people who had developed such arrogance. (compare Genesis 11,7: הבה נרדה ובבלה שפתם, “let us descend and confuse their language.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:7:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:7:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:7:2)

**כי נחמתי כי עשיתם** מאחר כי רבה רעת האדם. אבל כשהם עושים רצונו של מקום לא איש אל ויכזב ובן אדם ויתנחם, וכן הוא אומר נחמתי כי המלכתי את שאול כי שב מאחרי, החזרה באה מאתם כמו שפירשתי למעלה. **נשלם סידרא דבראשית**

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי נחמתי כי עשיתי, this is how G-d referred to sinful man; but when man was loyal and G-d fearing, He boasted with their loyalty, lauding them for their steadfastness and refusal to regret having accepted the Torah; (compare Numbers 23,21, לא איש אל ויכזב ובן אדם כי יתנחם, “I am not disappointed in this people. It does not cause Me any regrets.” (loosely translated by this Editor) We find in that verse another allusion that change in attitude always first occurs in G-d’s creature, never in G-d, so that what appears as G-d changing course is really only His reaction to man’s perversity.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:9:1)

**אלה תולדת נח.** כל מקום שנאמר אלה פסל את הראשונים. הראשונים כל יצר מחשבות לבם רק רע כל היום והלכו לאבוד אבל נח איש צדיק תמים היה והעמיד דורות לעולם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אלה תולדות נח, “These are the descendants of Noach;” according to Bereshit Rabbah 30,3, whenever a paragraph commences with the word: אלה, this is equivalent to dissociating what occurs from then on with what had been discussed previously; Noach, was not a continuation of the history of mankind up until now, but represents a 180 degree turn from that history. Whereas the generations prior to him progressed toward their destruction, he represented a new beginning for mankind. He founded a new type of human being.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:9:2)

**תולדת נח.** לשון מקוראות וסבות כמו כי לא תדע מה ילד יום. וכן פרש״‎י גבי אלה תולדות יעקב יוסף וגו', כלומר אלה הקורות והסבות של נח כמו שמפרש והולך שהיה צדיק ודורו רשעים ובעונם נשחתו והוא נמלט.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
תולדות נח, the word תולדות, refers to happenings and their causes. For instance: Proverbs 27,1 כי לא תדע מה ילד היום, “for you do not know what the day will bring.” Rashi offers the same interpretation concerning the line: אלה תולדות יעקב, יוסף, “these are the descendants of Yaakov, Joseph.” (Genesis 37,2). The Torah now readies itself to record the history of mankind as if it had commenced with Noach, and it attributes events that will be described as the direct or indirect result of Noach’s influence on them. It sums up the difference by describing Noach as a righteous man, when compared with his ancestors. It attributes the demise of his ancestors as basically due to their wickedness, [even though a few individuals in each generation had not been wicked. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:9:3)

**איש צדיק תמים היה.** נותן טעם למה מצא חן יותר מכל בני דורו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
איש צדיק, תמים היה, “a righteous man, basically perfect.” This is the reason why Noach had found favour in the eyes of his Creator.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:9:4)

**תמים.** בר חטיא. אמר כל מי שנאמר בו תמים השלים שנותיו למדת חשבונו, ונח כמו כן מאותו זמן שנאמר בו תמים השלים וחי אחרי כן שמיטין ויובלות, ששנת המבול לא היתה מן המנין שהרי נשתנו בה סדרי בראשית.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
תמים, according to bar Chataya in Bereshit 30,8, the meaning of this word is that the people named all lived a number of years which divide into the number 7. Noach lived 350 years after being called תמים, i.e. 50 times seven, Avraham 175, i.e. 25 times seven, etc. [The commentators on Midrash Rabbah elaborate on that strange sounding definition of תמים. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:5
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:9:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:9:5)

**היה.** כל מי שנאמר בו **היה** ראה עולם חדש. נח איש צדיק תמים **היה** - אתמול וימח את כל היקום עכשיו ״‎ויהיו בני נח היוצאים מן התיבה״‎ וגו', ״‎יוסף **היה** רועה את אחיו״‎ - אתמול ״‎ענו בכבל רגליו״‎, עכשיו ״‎ויוסף הוא השליט״‎, ומשה **היה** רועה - אתמול ברח מפני פרעה, עכשיו משקע רבו במים, ״‎איש **היה** בארץ עוץ איוב שמו״‎ - אתמול ״‎ישפך לארץ מררתי״‎, עכשיו ״‎וישב ה׳‎ את כל אשר לאיוב למשנה״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
היה, anyone in the Holy Scriptures of whom it is said: היה, experienced a new world, i.e. radical changes in the world. In the case of Noach, he was a witness to the destruction of earth and its inhabitants during the year he spent in the ark, only to become a witness to its renewal after he emerged from the ark. Joseph at one time was a lowly second rate shepherd with his brothers, יוסף היה רועה את אחיו, and became the second most powerful man in Egypt, whose population he saved from starvation. Moses was a shepherd for his fatherinlaw, ומשה היה רועה, yesterday he had had to flee for his life, and subsequently he rose to lead his people into freedom and greatness. Job started out as a wealthy man, איש היה בארץ עוץ איוב שמו, was reduced to absolute misery and destitution, only to rise again to be even greater than originally. (Job 42,10)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:10:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:10:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:10:1)

**ויולד נח שלשה בנים** שנאן בשביל שבא להזכיר נח שהיה צדיק בדורותיו חזר והזכיר בניו אחריו שמהם עמד העולם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויולד נח שלשה בנים, “Noach fathered three sons;” the Torah repeated this, having told us this already in 5,32, as it wanted to tell us that Noach was righteous in the generations prior to the deluge and after the deluge.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:11:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:11:1)

**ותשחת הארץ לפני האלהים** לפני הגדולים שהיו בארץ, שהיו לוקחים את הנשים בחזקה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ותשחת הארץ לפני האלוהים, the words: לפני האלוקים at first glance appear unnecessary; however these words are providing the clue to the moral disintegration of mankind. It started at the top, because the בני האלוהים, high ranking individuals, mentioned in Genesis 2,6, had set an example of depravity; it did not take long for them to be copied by the people at large. Noach was the only one who “swam against the stream.” בארץ, they raped women against their will.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:11:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:11:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:11:2)

**ותמלא הארץ חמס.** איזהו חמס ואיזהו גזל? א״‎ר חמס שוה פרוטה גזל פחות משוה פרוטה, וכן היו אנשי דור המבול עושין א׳‎ מהן היה מוציא קופתו מלאה תורמוסין לשוק, זה בא ונוטל פחות משוה פרוטה וזה פחות משוה פרוטה עד שאינו יכול להוציא מהם בדין, אמר להם הקב״‎ה אתם עשיתם שלא כהוגן אף אני אעשה עמכם שלא כהוגן ושלא כשורה, הה״‎ד ״‎הלא נסע יתרם בם ימותו ולא בחכמה״‎ - בלא חכמת התורה. **חמס.** גילוי עריות׳‎ שנאמר ״‎חמסי ושארי״‎.**חמס.** עבודת כוכבים׳‎ שנאמר ״‎חמס וישובו להכעיסני״‎. **חמס.** ע״‎ש שפיכות דמים׳‎ שנאמר ״‎מחמס בני יהודה אשר שפכו דם נקי בארצם״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ותמלא הארץ חמס, there is a discussion between the sages as to the difference in meaning between the word: חמס (violence) and the word גזל (robbery) when used in the Holy Scriptures. According to Rabbi Chaninah, the difference is m erely in the amount m isappropriated by violent m eans. If the object one robs is worth more than a certain ancient copper coin, known as p’rutah, the term חמס is used, whereas if it is worth less than that, the Torah refers to it as גזל. The people of the generation of the deluge devised a nefarious scheme of avoiding to become guilty of having misappropriated at one time more than the worth of a prutah. When someone brought a basket full of fruit to market offering to sell it, he would be mobbed by people each of whom helped himself to less than the value of that coin. By using this subterfuge, the party helping himself to fruit without paying for it, escaped being cited before a judge, who did not entertain claims below that amount. How did G-d outwit these people? He would deprive them of the excess wealth they had accumulated by such means at the times they died. (This is how Ibn Ezra interprets Job 4,21 which he explains as G-d depriving such “robbers” of the excess money they had accumulated at the time they died, so that they would be punished by not having benefited by Torah knowledge (according to our author).[If I understand the author correctly, he means that when people use their Torah knowledge in order to escape their responsibilities, then instead of getting credit for their Torah studies, they will find that their abuse of Torah had been counterproductive; they will be worse off than if they had not studied Torah. Ed.] Another interpretation understands the word as indulging in sexual misconduct, basing itself on Jeremiah 51,35: חמסי ושארי על בבל, “let the violence done to me and my kindred be visited upon Babylon.”A third interpretation understands the word חמס as an alternate for idolatry, quoting Ezekiel 8,17: כי מלאו את הארץ חמס להכעיסני, “that they must fill the land with the abominations in order to anger Me;” (these have been described in the verses preceding this one)?Lastly, some commentators understand the word חמס as applying to shedding innocent blood, basing itself on Joel 4,19: מחמס בני יהודה אשר שפכו דם נקי בארצם, “from the חמס of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Yehudah who spilled innocent blood in their land.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:12:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:12:1)

**כי השחית כל בשר את דרכו** תשמישו כמו דרך גבר בעלמה וכבר נצטוו תוצא הארץ נפש חיה למינה בהמה ורמש וחיתו ארץ למינהו אבל לא לשאינו מינה לפיכך הנני משחיתם את הארץ מדה כנגד מדה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי השחית כל בשר את דרכו, “for all flesh had corrupted its behaviour on earth. This is a reference to sexual perversions as in Proverbs 30,19, ודרך גבר בעלמה, “and the way of a man with a virgin.” Mankind had already been commanded since the 6th day of creation: תוצא הארץ נפש חיה למינה. בהמה ורמש וחיתו ארץ למינה, “let the earth produce living creatures each according to its kind; cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts, each according to its kind. This made it clear that bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism and all other kinds of unnatural sexual behaviour is considered by the Lord as an abomination, and had been so since creation. “When I will now destroy man I am only applying the same yardstick man applied when indulging in unnatural sexual practices which do not result in populating My earth.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:12:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:12:2)

**כל בשר** אבל לא דגים לפי שלא נגזרה גזרה על הדגים שבים היינו דכתיב מכל אשר בחרבה מתו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
”כל בשר, “all flesh,” excluding the fish; seeing that fish had not become corrupted, they were spared; this is why the Torah emphasised that כל אשר בחרבה מתו, that “all the creatures whose habitat was the dry land had died.” (Genesis 8,22).


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:13:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:13:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:13:1)

**[ויאמר אלקים** זו מדת הדין]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:13:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:13:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:13:2)

**את הארץ** עם כל בריות הארץ, דוגמא ״‎כי לי כל הארץ״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
את הארץ, the word את, at the end of the verse, includes all the previously not spelled out creatures on earth. An example of such indirect references is: Exodus 19,5: כי לי כל הארץ, “for the entire earth is Mine,” where the word כל substitutes for: “all the creatures on.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:14:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:14:1)

**עשה לך תבת** פרש״‎י הרבה רוח וכו׳‎ עד להביא מבול אולי ישובו, הכל גלוי לפניו שלא היו עתידין לשוב אלא כנגד מדת הרחמים שהיתה מבקשת רחמים עליהם פרש״‎י כך. וגם כך תפרש גבי ויהי הגשם, גלוי היה לפניו שלא יחזרו אלא להשקיט מעליו מדת הרחמים שהיתה מליצה עליהם זכיות הוריד לפניה המים בנחת וראתה היא שלא חזרו בתשובה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
עשה לך תיבת, “make an ark for yourself etc;” Rashi comments on this by asking the rhetorical question that “seeing that G-d has unlimited space at His disposal, why did He choose such a compact little ark in which to coop up all the creatures He meant to save?” His answer is that if mankind would constantly see that Noach was totally preoccupied with the construction of this ark as a means to ride out the deluge, perhaps they would take this to heart and become penitents. (Based on Tanchuma) Our author finds this difficult, seeing that G-d had known His hopes would be disappointed, and that was hardly a reason to make life in the ark so uncomfortable for all the creatures in it. He therefore prefers to answer the question in a different manner. He claims that G-d wanted to show the attribute of Mercy that He had done all in His power to encourage people to stave off disaster when they saw how seriously Noach took G-d’s warning. In 7,12 Rashi himself mentions this attempt by G-d to stave off disaster by G-d initially allowing rain which was not accompanied by storms and subterranean sluices opening, to serve as an a additional warning. G-d did all this to convince the attribute of Mercy that further delay was quite useless.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:14:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:14:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:14:2)

**עצי גפר** גפרית יוצא ממנו ואינו כלה במים. וצוה לקחת עץ זה להראות להם במה הם ראויין לידון.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
עצי גופר, “gopher wood;” this is the wood the resin of which yields sulfur. It is not soluble in water, and G-d chose it to remind those who watched it. [Noach included according to this interpretation, as it had taken an act of mercy by G-d to save him and his family Ed.] being used that they deserved to be judged by sulfur. (The material used to destroy Sodom some 400 years later. Compare Genesis 19,24)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:14:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:14:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:14:3)

**וכפרת אתה מבית ומחוץ בכפר** רבותינו ז״‎ל אמרו ברותחים קילקלו ברותחים נידונו. וא״‎ת היאך יכול הזפת להתקיים הרי היה נימוח במים הרותחים אלא י״‎ל נס בתוך נס היה. וי״‎א שהמים שסביב לתיבה צוננים היו דאי לא תימא הכי היאך נמלטו סיחון ועוג אחיו למאן דאמר מבול ירד לארץ ישראל.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וכפרת אותו מבית ומחוץ בכופר, “you are to seal it from the inside as well as from the outside with pitch;” our sages (Sanhedrin 108) comment on this that seeing mankind had sinned with “boiling water,” they were punished by means of boiling water. [The expression is used in the Talmud to describe ejaculation of heated semen in sexually forbidden intercourse. Ed.] If you were to query that in our experience pitch does not withstand boiling water but dissolves in it, this was another miracle [to show that G-d can use even such material to help save the innocent. Ed.] A different exegesis: The water surrounding the immediate proximity remained cool, whereas the waters further away were bubbling hot. If this were not the correct interpretation, how could we explain that Gog, Sichon and his brothers had survived the deluge? (Compare Talmud Niddah 61, according to the opinion in the Talmud that the deluge had also inundated the land of Israel)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:16:1)

**צהר תעשה לתבה.** הוא החלון שפתח נח כששלח את העורב והיונה ובעוד שהיה סתום נתן שם אבן טובה להאיר להם בפנים ונמצאו דברי רבותינו מכוונים, כי יש אומרים חלון היה, וי״‎א אבן טובה, כי לפי הנראה ספק, ועדות הכתוב שם היה החלון. ולפי פשוטו **צהר תעשה לתבה** לשון יצהר פי׳‎ שמן תעשה לצורך התיבה להאיר בה. ואין לפרש חלון להאיר בה ולהכניס בה אורה שהרי לא שמשו המזלות להדיא כל ימי המבול.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
צהר תעשה לתיבה “you are to provide means of illumination for the ark.” According to most opinions this is a reference to the window that Noach used later on to dispatch the raven and the turtle dove. During the period that this “window” was kept closed he suspended in that area a jewel which sparkled and provided interior lighting. When we understand this in this manner, our sages, some of whom spoke only of the jewel and others only of the “window,” are both correct, except that neither of them gave us the full explanation. When the Torah told Noach to provide interior lighting it was because during most of days of the deluge illumination from the sky was totally absent, neither sun, nor moon or stars being visible. Noach had to use his ingenuity to provide for interior lighting.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:16:2)

**ואל אמה תכלנה מלמעלה.** אצוהר קאי תכלה החלון מלמעלה סמוך לגג אמה ולא יזיקו לו הגשמים שהכסוי מסך עליו. וצוהר וחלון משמשים לשון זכר ולשון נקבה כמו חלוני שקופים אטומים וכן הרבה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואל אמה תכלנה מלמעלה, this phrase describes more detail about the expression צהר. It instructs Noach to affix the lighting near the top end of the ark. The “lamp” was supposed to be fuelled by oil, as hinted at by the letters in the word צהר which are the same as יצהר, “pure oil.” Both the words חלון and צהר are used in Scripture in the masculine and feminine mode. Compare Kings I 6,4. Interestingly enough, the word חלון, window is used both in the masculine and feminine mode, presumably as a reminder that windows can be used both in order to look out or in order to look in, or to allow light to come in.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:16:3)

**ופתח התבה בצדה תשים.** בקרן זוית אחת ולא באמצע פני רחבה לפי שהוא קולט כל כובד המים ורוב רוח שולט בו. ד״‎א **בצדה** בשליש העליון של גובה התיבה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ופתח התיבה בצדה תשים “and you are to position the entrance to the ark sideways.” Contrary to what we might think the entrance was not to be in the middle of the broadside of the ark, but at the corner where it would be least exposed to the elements. An alternate interpretation of the word: בצדה; on the third level (from the bottom) of the ark.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:16:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:16:4)

**תחתים שנים ושלשים.** שלשים הם העליונים והם היו לאדם ולכל מאכל.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
תחתיים שניים, ושלישים, the third floor (deck) was intended for the human beings inhabiting the ark, as well as for the storage of the entire food supply.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:17:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:17:1)

**ואני הנני** פרש״‎י מוכן להסכים וכו'. כנגד מדת הרחמים שהיתה מלמדת עליו סנגוריא כך פרש״‎י.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואני הנני, Rashi interprets these two words as: “and I have agreed,” i.e. “against the pleas of the attribute of Mercy which acted as advocate for sinful mankind.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:18:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:18:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:18:1)

**והקמתי את בריתי אתך** שלא יכרת זרעך מפני המבול.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והקימותי את בריתי אתך, “I will maintain My covenant with you.” The reference is to the covenant that Noach’s descendants will not be wiped out during the deluge.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:19:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:19:1)

**ומכל החי** ר׳‎ יהודה אומר לא נכנס ראם זה עם נח לתיבה אבל גוריו נכנסו עמו. ר׳‎ נחמיה אומר לא הוא ולא גוריו אלא קשרו נח בתיבה והיה מתלם תלמיות כמין טפריא לסוסיתא הה״‎ד תתקשר רום בתלם עבותו וגו'.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ומכל החי, “and of all living creatures, etc.” according to Rabbi Yehudah, the fully grown animal known as reem did not enter the ark as it was too tall, whereas not fully developed specimens, did enter. (Compare Matnot kehunah on Bereshit Rabbah 31,13. According to Rabbi Nechemyah, the mature pair of reems was tied by Noach to the outside of the ark. He bases himself on a verse in Job 39,10, which hints at the length of the legs of this kind of animal.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:20:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:20:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:20:1)

**מהעוף למינהו ומן הבהמה למינה** כסדר יצירת בראשית שהעוף נברא בתחלה ואחריו הבהמה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מהעוף למינהו ומן הבהמה למינה “including the feathered birds according to their various species and according to the fourlegged beasts according to each specific species.” Seeing that the birds had been created on the fifth day of creation and the mammals on the sixth day, they are listed here in that order.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:21:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:21:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:21:1)

**מכל מאכל** לפי שיהא שם מכל האוכלים צריך לאסוף מכל המאכלים, שיש שאינו אוכל ממאכל זה ואחר אוכלו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מכל מאכל, “from every category of food;” seeing that the ark contained all the living creatures that consumed food, Noach had to store the kind of food that was eaten by all these various creatures. The reason was that some creatures refused to touch food that other creatures enjoyed eating.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 6:22:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 6:22:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/6:22:1)

**כן עשה** זה כינוס המאכל.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כן עשה, “so he did.” This is a reference to bringing all these various kinds of food inside the ark.