διʼ ὦν. I am inclined (in spite of the fact that the word is rather remote in position) to think that οὐρανοί is the antecedent of ὧν. “There were heavens … by means of which the old world was deluged.” The other alternative, that the two “waters” are the antecedent, also yields a fairly good sense. Mayor with one good cursive MS. reads διʼ ὂν and refers it to λόγος. De Zwaan (1909) agrees.

ὁ τότε κόσμος, cf. ἀρχαιὸς κόσμος 2 Peter 2:5. The human beings who perished at the Flood are primarily meant.

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Old Testament