"Indeed, when the water overflowed," upon its keepers by the command of its Lord, it used to emerge in a measured amount, but it overflowed on the day Allah drowned the people of Noah. "We carried you," meaning: Noah and those with him who were of his offspring, "in the ship," meaning: the ark.
﴿إِنَّا لما طَغى المَاء﴾ عَلَى خُزَّانه بِأَمْرِ رَبِّهِ كَانَ يَخْرُجُ بِقَدَرٍ، فَطَغَى يَوْمَ غرَّق الله قوم نوح ﴿حَمَلْنَاكُمْ﴾ يَعْنِي: نُوحًا وَمَنْ مَعَهُ الَّذِينَ من ذرّيتهم ﴿فِي الْجَارِيَة﴾ يَعْنِي: السَّفِينَة