Who Closed the Door of Noah's Ark
The biblical account in Genesis 7:16 states, "And the Lord shut him in." This verse directly attributes the closing of the ark's door to God himself. This divine action is understood by various commentators as a significant detail in the narrative of the Flood.
John Gill, a Baptist/Reformed commentator, interprets "the Lord shut him in" as meaning God "shut the door after him," with Noah being the last to enter. Gill suggests that Noah would have found it difficult to shut the door himself, "at least so clos[ely]" [2]. This emphasizes the divine intervention necessary to secure the ark. Matthew Henry, a Nonconformist/Puritan scholar, notes that the repetition of Noah's entrance into the ark, along with his family and the animals, highlights Noah's faith and obedience, and his favor with Heaven [1]. The divine act of closing the door underscores God's direct involvement in the preservation of Noah and his family.
The Jewish commentator Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 7:16 also focuses on the entry of the animals, stating that they "came in male and female of all flesh," as God had commanded Noah to bring them [3]. While not directly elaborating on the closing of the door, this interpretation reinforces the idea that the entire process, including the final sealing of the ark, was under divine command and supervision. The Midrash Rabbah, a collection of Rabbinic interpretations, discusses Noah opening a window of the ark after forty days, but does not specifically address the initial closing of the main door [4].
The act of God closing the door signifies the finality of the opportunity for entry and the commencement of the judgment. It also highlights God's protective care over those within the ark, sealing them safely inside before the deluge began [5].
Sources
- Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 7:13: Here is repeated what was related before of Noah's entrance into the ark, with his family and creatures that were marked for preservation. Now, I. It is thus repeated for the honour of Noah, whose faith and obedience herein shone so brightly, by which he obtained a good report, and who herein appeared so great a favourite of Heaven and so great a blessing to this earth. II. Notice is here taken of the beasts going in each after his kind, according to the phrase used in the history of the creation (Gen 1:21-25), to intimate that just as many kinds as were created ”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 7:14: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh,.... These pairs were not two males or two females, but one male and one female; so they were coupled for the propagation of their species, which was the end of their entering into the ark, and being preserved: as God had commanded him: Noah, who took care, as they entered, that there were so many of a sort as was enjoined, and these were male and female: and the Lord shut him in; or shut the door after him (l), he being the last that entered; and which he could not so well shut himself, at least so clos”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Kabbalistic/Philosophical)) “Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 7:16: AND THEY THAT CAME IN, CAME IN MALE AND FEMALE OF ALL FLESH. The intent of this is that those who came into the ark were male and female for so Noah brought them in. This is why Scripture says, as G-d hath commanded him , since it was He who commanded him to bring them into the ark. But the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra is that the verse, And Noah came in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark , 77 Verse 7. does not mean that they entered it but that they all came to Noah on the tenth day of the second month for his hou”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 33:5: “It was at the end of forty days, and Noah opened the window of the ark that he made” (Genesis 8:6). “It was at the end of forty days, and Noah opened [the window of the ark]” – this supports what Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said [earlier], that [the ark’s tzohar ] was a window. 32 This is his interpretation of tzohar (Genesis 6:15) in Bereshit Rabba 31:11. “He sent the raven, and it went back and forth, until the drying of the water from upon the earth” (Genesis 8:7). “He sent the raven” – that is what is written: “He sent darkness and made it dark” (Psalms 10”
- Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 7 (introduction): ENTRANCE INTO THE ARK. (Gen. 7:1-24) And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark--The ark was finished; and Noah now, in the spirit of implicit faith, which had influenced his whole conduct, waited for directions from God.”