Genesis 8

Gn 8.1Recordātus autem Deus Noë, cūnctōrumque animantium, et omnium iūmentōrum, quae erant cum eō in arcā, addūxit spīritum super terram, et imminūtae sunt aquae.

God, however, having remembered Noe and all the living things and all the beasts of burden which were with him in the ark, brought a wind over the earth, and the waters were lessened.

Note. Recordātus … Deus Noë: recordor takes the genitive of the person remembered. Noë cannot show the genitive, but cūnctōrum and omnium, joined to it, do. This verse is the turning point of the flood story.

Gn 8.2Et clausī sunt fontēs abyssī, et cataractae caelī: et prohibitae sunt pluviae dē caelō.

And the springs of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed: and the rains from the sky were held off.

Gn 8.3Reversaeque sunt aquae dē terrā euntēs et redeuntēs: et coepērunt minuī post centum quīnquāgintā diēs.

And the waters returned from the earth, going and coming back: and they began to be diminished after a hundred and fifty days.

Note. euntēs et redeuntēs: present participles of eō and redeō, 'going and returning', i.e. ebbing back and forth.

Gn 8.4Requiēvitque arca mēnse septimō, vīgēsimō septimō diē mēnsis, super montēs Armeniae.

And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, over the mountains of Armenia.

Note. montēs Armeniae: the Hebrew has 'the mountains of Ararat', a region north of Mesopotamia; Jerome gives the familiar name of the land.

Gn 8.5At vērō aquae ībant et dēcrēscēbant usque ad decimum mēnsem: decimō enim mēnse, prīmō diē mēnsis, appāruērunt cacūmina montium.

But the waters went on and kept decreasing up to the tenth month: for in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

Note. ībant et dēcrēscēbant: imperfects of a gradual process, 'kept going down and decreasing'.

Gn 8.6Cumque trānsīssent quadrāgintā diēs, aperiēns Noë fenestram arcae, quam fēcerat, dīmīsit corvum,

And when forty days had passed, Noe, opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent off a raven,

Gn 8.7quī ēgrediēbātur, et nōn revertēbātur, dōnec siccārentur aquae super terram.

which kept going out and was not coming back, until the waters were dried over the earth.

Note. quī ēgrediēbātur et nōn revertēbātur: 'which kept going out and not returning'. dōnec + subjunctive (siccārentur): 'until the waters should dry up'.

Gn 8.8Ēmīsit quoque columbam post eum, ut vidēret sī iam cessāssent aquae super faciem terrae.

He sent out also a dove after it, so that he might see whether the waters had now stopped over the face of the earth.

Note. ut vidēret sī …: 'to see whether'. In the Vulgate sī often introduces an indirect question ('whether') after verbs of seeing and asking.

Gn 8.9Quae cum nōn invēnisset ubi requiēsceret pēs eius, reversa est ad eum in arcam: aquae enim erant super ūniversam terram: extenditque manum, et apprehēnsam intulit in arcam.

When she had not found where her foot might rest, she returned to him into the ark: for the waters were over the whole earth: and he stretched out his hand, and brought her, having taken hold (of her), into the ark.

Note. Quae cum: a connecting relative, 'and when it'. ubi requiēsceret pēs eius: subjunctive in a relative clause of characteristic, 'a place where its foot might rest'. apprehēnsam intulit: 'having caught it he brought it in'; the participle does the work of a whole clause.

Gn 8.10Expectātīs autem ultrā septem diēbus aliīs, rūrsum dīmīsit columbam ex arcā.

Seven other days, moreover, having been waited further, again he sent off the dove out of the ark.

Note. Expectātīs … septem diēbus aliīs: ablative absolute, 'seven more days having been waited'. The Clementine text spells the verb expectō (classical exspectō). ultrā: 'beyond, more'.

Gn 8.11At illa vēnit ad eum ad vesperam, portāns rāmum olīvae virentibus foliīs in ōre suō: intellēxit ergō Noë quod cessāssent aquae super terram.

And she came to him toward evening, carrying a branch of olive with leaves being green in her mouth: Noe therefore understood that the waters had stopped over the earth.

Note. ad vesperam: 'toward evening'. virentibus foliīs: ablative of description with rāmum, 'a branch with green leaves'. The olive branch shows that trees are again above water; it later became a symbol of peace.

Gn 8.12Expectāvitque nihilōminus septem aliōs diēs: et ēmīsit columbam, quae nōn est reversa ultrā ad eum.

And he waited nonetheless seven other days: and he sent out the dove, who did not return further to him.

Gn 8.13Igitur sexcentēsimō prīmō annō, prīmō mēnse, prīmā diē mēnsis, imminūtae sunt aquae super terram: et aperiēns Noë tēctum arcae, aspexit, vīditque quod exsiccāta esset superficiēs terrae.

Therefore in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the waters were lessened over the earth: and Noe, opening the roof of the ark, looked, and saw that the surface of the earth had been dried out.

Note. sexcentēsimō prīmō annō: 'in the 601st year'. prīmā diē: diēs is often feminine when it means a fixed date. exsiccāta esset: the subjunctive in a quod clause after vīdit, as in 6:2.

Gn 8.14Mēnse secundō, septimō et vīgēsimō diē mēnsis ārefacta est terra.

In the second month, on the seventh and twentieth day of the month, the earth was made dry.

Gn 8.15Locūtus est autem Deus ad Noë, dīcēns:

God, moreover, spoke to Noe, saying:

Note. Locūtus est … dīcēns: the doubled verb of speaking, 'spoke, saying', is a Hebrew turn of phrase very common in the Vulgate.

Gn 8.16Ēgredere dē arcā, tū et uxor tua, fīliī tuī et uxōrēs fīliōrum tuōrum tēcum.

"Go out from the ark, you and your wife, your sons and the wives of your sons with you.

Note. Ēgredere: imperative of the deponent ēgredior, 'go out'.

Gn 8.17Cūncta animantia, quae sunt apud tē, ex omnī carne, tam in volātilibus quam in bēstiīs et ūniversīs rēptilibus, quae rēptant super terram, ēdūc tēcum, et ingrediminī super terram: crēscite et multiplicāminī super eam.

All the living things which are at your side, out of all flesh, as much among the flying things as among the wild beasts and all the creeping things which creep over the earth, lead out with you, and go in over the earth: grow and be multiplied over it."

Note. ēdūc: short imperative of ēdūcō. ingrediminī: here imperative plural of ingredior ('go out over the earth'). crēscite et multiplicāminī: 'increase and multiply', the blessing of creation (1:22, 1:28) given again; multiplicāminī is a passive imperative.

Gn 8.18Ēgressus est ergō Noë, et fīliī eius: uxor illīus, et uxōrēs fīliōrum eius cum eō.

Noe therefore went out, and his sons; his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.

Gn 8.19Sed et omnia animantia, iūmenta, et rēptilia quae rēptant super terram, secundum genus suum, ēgressa sunt dē arcā.

But also all the living things, the beasts of burden, and the creeping things which creep over the earth, according to their kind, went out from the ark.

Gn 8.20Aedificāvit autem Noë altāre Dominō: et tollēns dē cūnctīs pecoribus et volucribus mundīs, obtulit holocausta super altāre.

Noe, moreover, built an altar to the Lord: and taking from all the clean herds and birds, he offered whole burnt-offerings over the altar.

Note. holocausta: 'burnt offerings', a Greek word meaning 'wholly burned'. This is the first altar in the Bible.

Gn 8.21Odōrātusque est Dominus odōrem suāvitātis, et ait: Nēquāquam ultrā maledīcam terrae propter hominēs: sēnsus enim et cōgitātiō hūmānī cordis in malum prōna sunt ab adolēscentiā suā: nōn igitur ultrā percutiam omnem animam vīventem sīcut fēcī.

And the Lord smelled an odour of sweetness, and said: "By no means further will I curse the earth on account of men: for the sense and thinking of the human heart are leaning to evil from its youth: not therefore further will I strike every living soul just as I did.

Note. odōrem suāvitātis: 'a smell of sweetness', i.e. a pleasing aroma, a Hebraic genitive instead of an adjective. Nēquāquam ultrā maledīcam: 'I will by no means curse any more'. maledīcō takes the dative (terrae). in malum prōna: 'inclined to evil'. ab adulēscentiā suā: 'from its youth' (Clementine spelling adolēscentia).

Gn 8.22Cūnctīs diēbus terrae, sēmentis et messis, frīgus et aestus, aestās et hiems, nox et diēs nōn requiēscent.

For all the days of the earth, sowing and reaping, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day will not rest."

Note. Cūnctīs diēbus terrae: ablative of time, 'for all the days of the earth'. The list of pairs (seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day) promises that the order of nature will hold.