Homilies on Genesis 23 But it is asked what sort of shape we should understand the ark to have; which I think, he says, is pyramid-shaped, beginning from a length of 300 cubits, and from a width of 50, and being brought together to 30 cubits in height, so that the top becomes one cubit in length and width. Let the lower parts of it, which have been called lower decks, be of two stories, and the parts above the two stories, toward the top, be of three stories. And this Symmachus also clearly set forth, saying: “you shall make it with two-story and three-story sections.” Let it be understood that on each story there were compartments divided off for the purpose of separating the animals of different kinds, which he calls nests, but Symmachus calls cabins. And let the timbers be squared; first, so that much time would not be spent in splitting them; then, which is also more true, so that being made from whole timbers it might be more 24 secure; for it was about to approach mountains and to undergo no small storm, against which it would not have held up if it had not been constructed from whole timbers. And the nests both separated the animals and worked as a bond for the structure. And so that the water might have no way of seeping in, let it be smeared with pitch both outside and inside. And it was good that the length was greater than the width; for thus it was maneuverable; for such are the hulls when the proportion is preserved in the shape. And at the same time it was safe against so much water, being able neither to be overturned by the winds or the waves because of its shape, nor to be tilted or turned sideways; but the ark was in the manner of a well-founded house standing in water. And one could not devise a safer shape against such an impetus and force. And if someone should say that it was made square underneath, this too is not unlikely; since it was made not primarily for sailing, but for preservation; and besides, it would have been quickly swamped, if it had not been square. And it has been handed down, not implausibly, both the use of the two lower-deck stories, separated from those above, and of the three named individually; for since all the animals spent a year in the ark, it was altogether necessary for there to be provision both of 25 suitable food for all, sufficient for a year, and of a place for the excreted dung, which would be able not to bother the animals and especially the humans. They say, therefore, that the lower deck of the two-story section, the one toward the bottom, was set apart for dung; and the one above this for the collection of the food for the animals, so that the carnivorous animals had plenty of flesh, and other animals besides those brought in for preservation were brought into the ark for the sake of food; and those not of this sort, that each had plenty of its suitable food. So much for the account of the two-story lower decks . The three-story section after this was set apart for the animals according to the afore-mentioned nests. And it is likely that the space of the lowest of the three stories was allotted to the kind of serpents and wild beasts, and the upper spaces, in order and by reason, to the cattle and the rest of the tamer or gentler animals. And it was necessary for man, as ruler by nature of the irrational animals, which he himself had boarded , so also to occupy the highest space on the third 26 deck having the rest of the animals under his control . It is probable that the side door, which he mentioned, was on the first deck from the bottom, so that the animals, having entered from there, might go to their assigned compartments; for if it had been higher up, the animals would have both gone up to the ark with great difficulty and gone down to their own places. And the security of this door, when shut, required a more divine power, since no person from the outside was able any longer to seal it with pitch to prevent water from seeping in. Therefore “God shut” behind Noah and thus “the flood occurred.” and after the flood we have observed 27 that Noah no longer opened a door as in the passages above, but a “window,” so that he might send out the raven. But one might have supposed the observation to be forced, if the other versions also had not for a second time

Homiliae in Genesim 23 ζητεῖται δὲ ποταπὸν δεῖ νοῆσαι τὸ σχῆμα τῆς κιβω τοῦ· ὅπερ νομίζω, φησίν, ὅτι πυραμοειδές ἐστιν, ἀρχόμενον ἀπὸ μήκους τʹ πήχεων, ἀπὸ δὲ πλάτους νʹ καὶ ἐπὶ λʹ τοῦ ὕψους πήχεις ἐπι συναγόμενον, ὥστε τὴν κορυφὴν γενέσθαι μήκους καὶ πλάτους πῆχυν. Ἔστω δὲ τὰ μὲν κάτω αὐτῆς, ἅπερ ὠνόμασται κατάγαια, ὀροφῶν βʹ, τὰ δὲ ὑπὲρ τὰς δύο ὀροφὰς ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνωτέρω ὀροφῶν γʹ. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ὁ Σύμμαχος σαφῶς ἐξέθετο εἰπών· «κατὰ τὰ δίστεγα καὶ τρίστεγα ποιήσεις αὐτήν». Νοείσθω δὲ καθ' ἑκάστην ὀροφὴν ἀποδιαλαμβα νόμενα χωρία ὑπὲρ τοῦ χωρίζεσθαι τὰ ἀνομοιογενῆ ζῷα ἅπερ καλεῖ νοσσιάς, ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος καλιάς. Τετράγωνα δὲ ἔστω τὰ ξύλα· πρῶτον μὲν ἵνα μὴ πολὺς χρόνος καταναλίσκηται εἰς διαίρεσιν αὐτῶν· ἔπειτα, ὅπερ καὶ ἀληθέστερόν ἐστιν, ἵν' ἐξ ὁλοκλήρων ξύλων γινομένη ἀσφα 24 λεστέρα τυγχάνῃ· ἤμελλε γὰρ καὶ ὄρεσι προσπελάζειν καὶ ζάλην οὐ μικρὰν ὑφίστασθαι, πρὸς ἅπερ οὐκ ἀντεῖχεν εἰ μὴ ἐξ ὁλοκλήρων κατε σκεύαστο ξύλων. Αἱ δὲ νοσσιαὶ καὶ διεχώριζον τὰ ζῷα καὶ σύνδεσιν εἰργάζοντο τῷ κατασκευάσματι. Ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ μὴ ἔχειν παρείσδυσιν τὸ ὕδωρ ἀσφάλτῳ περιαληλίφθω ἔξωθέν τε καὶ ἔσωθεν· Εὖ δὲ καὶ τὸ εἶναι τὸ μῆκος τοῦ πλάτους μεῖζον· οὕτω γὰρ εὐκίνητον ἦν· τοι αῦτα γὰρ τὰ σκάφη τῆς ἀναλογίας φυλαττομένης τῷ σχήματι. Ἅμα δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοσοῦτον ὕδωρ ἐτύγχανεν ἀσφαλὲς οὔτε περιτραπῆναι διὰ τὸ σχῆμα δυνάμενον ἐξ ἀνέμων ἢ τῶν κυμάτων οὔτε κλινόμενον ἢ πλα γιαζόμενον· τρόπον δὲ οἰκίας τεθεμελιωμένης ἑστώσης ἐν ὕδατι τῆς κι βωτοῦ. Καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις ἀσφαλέστερον ἐπινοήσειε σχῆμα πρὸς τοσαύ την φοράν τε καὶ βίαν. Εἰ δὲ ὅτι τετράγωνος κάτωθεν γέγονέ τις λέγοι, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀπεικότως· ἐπείπερ οὐκ εἰς τὸ πλεῖν προηγου μένως, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ φυλάττειν ἐγένετο· ἄλλως τε καὶ κατεποντοῦτο ταχέως, εἰ μὴ τετράγωνον ἦν. Παραδέδοται δὲ οὐκ ἀπιθάνως ἥ τε χρεία τῶν δύο καταγαίων ὀροφῶν κεχωρισμένων παρὰ τὰς ἀνωτέρω καὶ τῶν τριῶν ἰδίᾳ ὠνομασμένων· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐνιαυτὸν πεποίηκε πάντα τὰ ζῷα ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ, πάντως ἔδει πρόνοιαν γενέσθαι τῆς τε ἐπιτη 25 δείου πᾶσι τροφῆς αὐτάρκους πρὸς ἐνιαυτὸν καὶ τῆς τῶν ἐκκρινομέ νων σκυβάλων χώρας δυναμένης μὴ ἐνοχλεῖν τοῖς ζῴοις καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Φασὶ τοίνυν ὅτι ἡ μὲν κατωτέρω καὶ πρὸς τῷ πυθμένι τοῦ διωρόφου στέγη εἰς σκύβαλα ἀπετέτακτο· ἡ δὲ ταύτης ἀνωτέρω εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν τῆς τροφῆς τῶν ζῴων, <ὥστε εὐπορεῖν τὰ μὲν σαρκοβόρα σαρκῶν, τὰ δὲ ἕτερα ζῷα παρὰ τὰ εἰς διατήρησιν εἰσαχθέντα τροφῆς ἕνεκεν εἰσαχθῆναι εἰς τὴν κιβωτόν· τὰ δὲ μὴ τοι αῦτα τῆς ἐπιτηδείου ἕκαστον εὐπορῆσαι τροφῆς. Ταῦτα μὲν εἰς τὸν περὶ τῶν καταγαίων διωρόφων λόγον>. Τὸ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα τριώροφον τοῖς ζῴοις ἀπετέτακτο κατὰ τὰς ὀνομασθείσας νοσσιάς. Καὶ εἰκός, ὅτι τῷ μὲν τῶν ὄφεων γένει καὶ θηρίων ἡ τοῦ κατωτάτου τριωρό φου χώρα ἀπενεμήθη, τοῖς δὲ κτήνεσι καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς τῶν τιθασω τέρων ἢ ἡμερωτέρων τάξει καὶ λόγῳ τὰ ἀνωτέρω. Ἐχρῆν δὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὥσπερ τῇ φύσει ἄρχοντα τῶν ἀλόγων, <ὧν ἐπιβέβηκεν αὐτός>, οὕτω καὶ χώρᾳ τῇ ἀνωτάτω τυγχάνειν περὶ τὴν τρίτην στέ 26 γην <ὑποχείρια ἔχοντα τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν ζῴων>. Πιθανὸν δὲ τὴν πλαγίαν θύραν, ἣν εἶπε, γεγονέναι περὶ τὴν κάτωθεν πρώτην στέγην, ἵνα ἐκεῖθεν εἰσελθόντα τὰ ζῷα πρὸς τὰς τεταγμένας χωροίη νεοττίας· εἰ γὰρ ἄνωθεν ἦν, μετὰ πολλῆς δυσκολίας ἀνῄει τε τὰ ζῷα πρὸς τὴν κιβωτὸν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους τόπους κατήρχετο. Θειοτέρας δὲ δυνάμεως ἔχρηζεν ἡ ἀσφάλεια τῆς κλειομένης ταύτης θύρας, οὐκέτι δυναμένου τινὸς ἔξωθεν ἀνθρώπου ἀσφαλτῶσαι αὐτὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ παρεισδῦναι ὕδωρ. ∆ιὸ «ἔκλεισεν ὁ θεὸς» ὄπισθεν τοῦ Νῶε καὶ οὕτως «ἐγένετο ὁ κατακλυσμός». μετὰ δὲ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν παρετηρήσαμεν 27 ὅτι οὐκέτι ὡς ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω θύραν ἀνέῳξεν ὁ Νῶε, ἀλλὰ «θυρίδα», ἵνα ἀποστείλῃ τὸν κόρακα. Βίαιον δέ τις τὴν παρατήρησιν ὑπελάμ βανεν, εἰ μὴ καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ ἐκδόσεις δεύτερον μὲν