Kommentar zu Bereschit 7:23

וימח AND HE BLOTTED OUT — The word וימח is a Kal form and not a Niphal, and it is of the same grammatical form as ויפן and ויבן Every verb whose last root letter is ה, such as בנה, מחה, קנה when י and ו are perfixed, has Chireq as its vowel beneath the yod.

AND HE BLOTTED OUT EVERY LIVING SUBSTANCE WHICH WAS UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. After having said, And all flesh perished,⁹⁷Verse 21. and having said, whatever was in the dry land, died,⁹⁸Verse 22. Scripture continues to say, And He blotted out, meaning that the bodies dissolved and became water, just as is in the verse, And he shall blot them out in the water of bitterness⁹⁹Numbers 5:23. — for the waters of the flood were hot, as our Rabbis have said.¹⁰⁰Sanhedrin 108b. But if so, the fish also would have died. Perhaps it was as the Rabbis have said in Bereshith Rabbah:¹⁰¹32:19. “Whatever was in the dry land died,⁹⁸Verse 22. but not the fish in the sea. And some authorities say that they too were destined to be destroyed, but they fled to the Mediterranean.”¹⁰²Literally, Okeanus (ocean), but usually meaning the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jastrow.) Either way the fish were saved.
Both of these opinions are plausible. For it is conceivable that the hot waters of the flood mingled with the seas, heating only their upper waters, while the fish descended to the depths of the ponds and lived there. Or, in accordance with the opinion of some authorities,¹⁰³Mentioned in the Midrash quoted above, that the fish too were destined to be destroyed, but they fled to the Mediterranean. it is possible that the fish in the waters of the countries near the Mediterranean¹⁰²Literally, Okeanus (ocean), but usually meaning the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jastrow.) fled there when they felt the heat of the water, and were thus saved. And even if all those outside the Mediterranean died, since the majority of fish are in the Mediterranean¹⁰²Literally, Okeanus (ocean), but usually meaning the Mediterranean Sea. (See Jastrow.) where the waters of the flood did not come down — as it is said, And the rain was upon the earth¹⁰⁴Verse 12. — the fish were thus saved. For none of the fish were brought into the ark to keep their seed alive, and at the time of the covenant it is said, I establish My covenant with you… and with every living creature that is with you, the fowl, and cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark,¹⁰⁵Genesis 9:9-10. but it does not mention the fish of the sea.

וימח את כל היקום, the structure of all the living beings was completely dissolved, but not that of the plants. “[trunks of trees might survive in recognisable form, whereas bodies would not be recognisable. Ed.]