As we shall see in the detailed study of the text of 3:20, the preposition διά in the phrase “through water” can be taken both causally and locally, with the emphasis on the former meaning. This is required by the parallel with the water of baptism in 3:20. Baptism is there described as “a pledge made to God of a right attitude”. There is nothing in the text to suggest that the author, by presenting Noah as entering the ark and being saved “through water”, is prefiguring Christian baptism as a “passing