“For I have seen you as righteous before Me in this generation.” The reason He didn’t say this to him immediately when He commanded him to build the ark was because there was still doubt whether they might repent, and furthermore, Methuselah was still alive, so how could He say For I have seen you as righteous? And after God waited the seven days of mourning for Methuselah, as it is said For in seven days more (Genesis 7:4). What is the meaning of the word more? It teaches that this time period was equivalent to the 120 years, for just as He waited 120 years for them to perhaps repent, so too He waited these seven days of mourning for them to perhaps repent, because through mourning and eulogy the living take it to heart. And after they persisted in their rebellion, He said For I have seen you as righteous before Me. And the reason it doesn’t say “righteous and perfect” is because it was already said he was perfect in his generations (Genesis 6:9). This means that several generations passed over Noah and he was perfect in all of them, meaning he maintained one consistent level in his righteousness. Therefore it says For I have seen you as righteous before Me in this generation, for what need is there to mention that he was perfect also in previous generations, since his salvation depends on where he stands in his current generation, and what has passed has passed. And according to what was written above, the term “perfect” refers to abstaining from sexual immorality, while “righteous” means that he didn’t steal but rather gave righteously from his own possessions. Since their final judgment was sealed only because of theft, therefore He said For I have seen you as righteous. Thus you are not included in this sealed fate. And He mentioned righteous before Me because the generation of the flood would steal less than a perutah’s worth and would be justified before the judges, but nevertheless they were not innocent in heavenly judgment. But you are righteous even before Me because you didn’t take from others even less than a perutah’s worth.

Take for yourself seven pairs. Rashi explains that He commanded to bring seven of the clean animals in order to offer them as sacrifices. However, this reason alone is not sufficient, because not all clean animals are suitable for sacrifice, such as deer and wild rams, and not all clean birds are fit for sacrifice. So how did Rashi deduce from this that Noah learned Torah? Rather, the main reason is that because they are clean animals, people eat them frequently, therefore they need to multiply and reproduce more abundantly for the sake of Torah observers. As for what is written And he took of every clean animal, etc. (Genesis 8:20), which implies that he sacrificed from every clean species, even those that would not be suitable for sacrifice according to the Torah, the answer is that Noah did not yet know that the Holy One, Blessed be He, would permit him to eat animals. He thought to himself, “Surely the reason He commanded me to bring seven pairs of all these species was to offer all of them as sacrifices.” However, the Holy One, Blessed be He, knew that He would eventually permit all clean animals to him, therefore He commanded to take seven pairs because people hunt many of them. For one cannot say that He desired the sacrifice of all species, because if so, why didn’t He permit future generations to sacrifice from all clean species when they would be available to people, and why did He command specifically Noah? And regarding what is written And God smelled the pleasing aroma (Genesis 8:21), this refers to those species that were suitable for sacrifice, while the others were merely like cutting ordinary meat.

Forty days. [This corresponds to] their worship of idolatry, for one who acknowledges idolatry is considered as if he denies the entire Torah which was given over forty days. And [it also corresponds to] their sexual immorality, for they burdened their Creator to form the shape of illegitimate children over forty days. And [it corresponds to] theft, because the numerical value of the word gezel [theft] is forty.