I, even I. Figure of speech Epizeuxis. App-6.
a flood. Hebrew. mabbul. Limited to this account of the Deluge, and Psalms 29:10, which therefore refers to it. The Babylonian tablets of the Epic of Gilgames are the traditional accounts of primitive truths, corrupted in transmission. The inspired account here corrects the imaginary accretions which had gathered round it.
all flesh. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of part), put here for every kind of being.
breath. Hebrew. ruach = spirit. See App-9.
life. Hebrew. chaiyim, plural for all kinds and manifestations.
die. cease to breathe, expire.