What is the significance of the words, "Behold I am (prepared) to bring the Flood... (va'Ani Hineni Mevi Es ha'Mabul)"?
Rashi: HaSh-m was saying that He was ready to concede 1 to the angels, who had queried the creation of Adam at its inception (saying, "Mah Enosh Ki Sizkerenu?" (Tehilim 8:5)). 2
Seforno: "You construct the Ark," HaSh-m was telling Noach, "and the moment you finish, I will bring the Flood, as I said I would."
Why was the generation of the Flood punished specifically with water?
Maharal (Chidushei Agados Vol. 2 p. 131, to Kidushin 13a): Immorality is the epitome of deviating or straying far from the correct path. In parallel, during Creation, HaSh-m distanced the water of the oceans far from the inhabited areas of the earth.
Maharal (ibid.): Immorality is a material, corporeal sin, and water is corporeal, without specific form (Tzurah). 1 Man is characterized by a higher level, intelligence (Sechel), and his habitation is supposed to be on dry land. If he ruins this higher level that he has been endowed with, he reverts to the domain of water.
Maharal (Chidushei Agados Vol. 2 p. 107, to Gitin 56b): HaSh-m generally punishes the wicked through water. HaSh-m created man with form (Tzurah), and a property of water is that it melts and dissolves any form. (Fire, by contrast, destroys the base material, making form irrelevant.) 2
"Tzurah" in the writings of the Maharal means purpose-specific form, and the actualization of that purpose. "Chomer" means raw-material or potential. To illustrate these terms, the iron from which a knife is made is its Chomer, and the sharp edge is its Tzurah. Also refer to 2:23:1.1:1*.
See Maharal, Gevuros Hashem (Ch. 14, p. 70, DH uvi'Bereishis).
What is the root of the word "Mabul"?
Rashi #1: 'she'Balah (root Beis-Lamed-Hei) Es ha'Kol' - it wore everything out (i.e. destroyed).
Rashi #2: 'she'Bilbel Es ha'Kol' - it caused everything to become mixed-up.
Rashi #3 and Targum Onkelus: 'she'Hovil 1 Es ha'Kol' - it carried everything from the high ground to low ground. 2
Gur Aryeh: If only one explanation was correct, the Flood should have been called Balah, Bilbal or Yuval. The name Mabul implies all three. Mizrachi, however, disagrees with Gur Aryeh regarding the etymology of the word. See Be'er ba'Sadeh.
This hints at the fact that the Flood would carry all the remains of the people who died in the Flood and deposit them in Bavel (according to others, it was the water of the Flood that ended up in Bavel) - which was lower than Eretz Yisrael and other lands.
