Verse 5
5. It is to the Flood that our apostle appeals as an instance of a great interposition. A suitable instance; for its mundane reality is attested by a world-wide spread of traditions among mankind. Whether the deluge was literally world-wide or not, it was a true instance of a mundane catastrophe, justifying the possibility of a still greater catastrophe from the hand of Him to whom this globe is a speck.
Willingly… ignorant Men do not know the truth because they wish not to know it.
Heavens… earth The same antithesis as in Genesis 1:1, where the heavens precede the earth.
Were of old The celestial long preceded the terrestrial.
Out of… in Rather, through.
The water The isles and continents project up out of the water, and stretch their long extensions through the water. The one phrase describes the upward rise of the lands from water, the other, the horizontal projection of lands through it.
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