Genesis 7:1-24
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Summary
The earth is destroyed by the Flood.
Details and Comments
- The people and animals enter the ark; it is shut by God.
- The Flood comes and the waters cover the earth.
- All land creatures (except for those on the ark) die.
The Use of Repetition
It should be obvious that several things mentioned here have already been stated in previous chapters - such as Noah's righteousness, and the need to take the animals on the ark. Even within this chapter, some events or details are mentioned more than once (sometimes with additional facts added). In some places, the repetition is part of the beauty of the linguistic structure itself, something that many people today tend to overlook (especially those who are more "analytical" than "artistic").
Scripture
Genesis 7:1-24 - Entering the ark; the Flood waters come
- Note the use of repetition of various concepts (also ch. 6) - used to help remember things!
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Gen 7:1 Yahweh said to Noah, "Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.
Gen 7:2 You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. Gen 7:3 Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. Gen 7:4 In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. Every living thing that I have made, I will destroy from the surface of the ground." |
It is because of Noah's righteousness that God would spare his entire family. Some of the others may have had a degree of righteousness (and some, like Ham, had definite wicked tendencies - see Genesis 9:22); but only Noah had such a godly lifestyle that it took God's notice.
The 120 years of "grace" (Genesis 6:3) were now over - and it seems that nobody had repented of their sins! Now it's time for judgment. The instructions about the animals is repeated, but now Noah is told to take additional "clean" animals. (It is uncertain whether the text refers to seven individual animals, or seven pairs of animals. If it refers to seven individual animals, the seventh would have been the one used for the sacrifice mentioned in Genesis 8:20.) |
| Gen 7:5 Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.
Gen 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. |
Another emphasis on Noah's willingness to obey God.
The information given about Noah's age (here and later in the account) can be compared with the other dates given - and the numbers correlate perfectly. However, one must define a month as 30 days, and a year as 360 days. We do not know if the actual length of a year changed at the time of the Flood (becoming longer by about 5 1/4 days); but these definitions of month and day are found several places in Scripture, including several significant prophetic passages. |
| Gen 7:7 Noah went into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, because of the waters of the flood.
Gen 7:8 Clean animals, animals that are not clean, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground Gen 7:9 went by pairs to Noah into the ship, male and female, as God commanded Noah. |
Noah did as commanded. |
| Gen 7:10 It happened after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came on the earth.
Gen 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky's windows were opened. Gen 7:12 The rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. |
The Flood begins. Factors that caused it include:
Today, we can look at geology and get ideas of what else happened! |
| Gen 7:13 In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship;
Gen 7:14 they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. Gen 7:15 They went to Noah into the ship, by pairs of all flesh with the breath of life in them. Gen 7:16 Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and Yahweh shut him in. |
Another example of repetition. It probably took the entire week for everything to get situated on the ark. On the same day things were completed, God shut the door and the flood began. God closed them in; the text does not say how, whether by natural or supernatural means. It could be that a "providential" method was used, such as a strong wind or a sudden shift of the earth's surface (as the ground began to break up). Also, we do not know the design of the door - which could make the "how" obvious. |
| Gen 7:17 The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth.
Gen 7:18 The waters prevailed, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. Gen 7:19 The waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. Gen 7:20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. |
Rising waters - 40 days.
Above the mountains - They were probably not as high as many mountains are today. (Today's mountains were caused by the types of tectonic activity that occurred during the Flood - earthquakes, volcanoes, upheavals of the earth's crust, movement caused by water, etc.) 15 cubits - half the height of the ark. |
| Gen 7:21 All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
Gen 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died. Gen 7:23 Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship. |
What God had warned them would happen did happen. |
| Gen 7:24 The waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days. | Prevailing waters. The word "prevail" also occurs in v. 18-20. There is a beauty in the linguistic structure of the account, as though things are reaching a climax: They prevailed (v. 18)... they prevailed exceedingly (v. 19)... they prevailed until everything died (v. 20+)... they prevailed (v. 24)... and then subsided (8:1+)... |
Scripture Passages
(Only books that have relevance to this study have active links. The others are in italics.)
Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • 1 Samuel • 2 Samuel • 1 Kings • 2 Kings • 1 Chronicles • 2 Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther • Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel • Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi Matthew • Mark • Luke • John • Acts • Romans • 1 Corinthians • 2 Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians • 1 Timothy • 2 Timothy • Titus • Philemon • Hebrews • James • 1 Peter • 2 Peter • 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Jude • Revelation |
—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——
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The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.
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Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.
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