who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
God is so patient that he waited for 120 years before sending the Flood in Noah’s day (Genesis 6:3). Today He also waits, so patiently that some people conclude that He will never judge (cf. 2 Peter 3:3-4). Relatively few will escape God’s coming judgment, just as only eight escaped His former judgment. The rest will die.