(Gen. 8:16:) GO FORTH FROM THE ARK. This text is related (to Ps. 142:8 [7]): BRING MY SOUL OUT OF PRISON. <The verse> is speaking about Noah when he was in the ark. Noah said to the Holy One: BRING MY SOUL OUT OF PRISON; for he had been imprisoned there. R. Levi said: The whole twelve months that Noah was in the ark, neither he nor his children tasted a bit of sleep because they were responsible for feeding the cattle and the wild aniamls. R. Abba bar Kahana said: He brought branches for the elephants and glass for the ostriches into the ark to feed the cattle and the wild animals. Now some of them ate in the second hour of the night, and some of them ate in the third hour of the day. Hence you yourself know that Noah did not taste a bit of sleep. R. Johanan said in the name of R. Eleazer b. R. Jose the Galilean: One time, when Noah was late infeeding the lion, the lion bit him, and he went away limping. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 7:23): AND NOAH ONLY [SURVIVED]
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