Comentários de Citação sobre Gênesis 7:22

Still another meaning addresses G'd's practice of paying the reward or punishment in the Hereafter, the righteous receiving his share in that world and the wicked descending to Gehinom. In this case, G'd gave notice to the wicked that they would not be judged after death but that since they had tainted their spirit as much as their flesh their spirit would also undergo the afflictions normally reserved only for the flesh. The 120 years G'd speaks about is the period needed to allow the righteous of that generation such as Methuselah to live out their allotted lifespan in full. The Zohar on Genesis 7,22 explained: "all that had a soul of living spirit in its nostrils, of all that were on dry land died," as a reference to the righteous who died on dry land, before the onset of the deluge.

ר' עקיבא אומר מחוטמו – real life is from his nose (cessation of breath from the nostrils is the main sign of death – see Talmud Yoma 85a), as it is written (Genesis 7:22): “All in whose nostrils was the merest breath of life.”

מפקחין עליו – we dig the heap of stones/ruins and search after him. But if they checked until his nostrils whether from above to below or from below to above, and they did not find in him a breath, it is clear that he is dead and they no longer have to dig him out any further, as it is written (Genesis 7:22): “All in whose nostrils was the merest breath of life.”