20 | Genesis 7:3
you sev en pairs of ev ery kind of clean an i mal , a male and its mate , and one pair of ev ery kind of un clean an i mal , a male and its mate , 3 and also sev en pairs of ev ery kind of bird , male and fe male , to keep their var i ous kinds alive through out the earth . 4 Sev en days from now I will send rain on the earth for for ty days and for ty nights , and I will wipe from the face of the earth ev ery liv ing crea ture I have made .”
5
And Noah did all that the Lord com mand ed him .
6
Noah was six hun dred years old when the flood wa ters came on the earth . 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons ’ wives en tered the ark to es cape the wa ters of the flood . 8 Pairs of clean and un clean an i mals , of birds and of all crea tures that move along the ground , 9 male and fe male , came to Noah and en tered the ark , as God had com mand ed Noah . 10 And af ter the sev en days the flood wa ters came on the earth .
11
In the six hun dredth year of No ah ’ s life , on the sev en teenth day of the sec ond month — on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth , and the flood gates of the heav ens were opened . 12 And rain fell on the earth for ty days and for ty nights .
13
On that very day Noah and his sons , Shem , Ham and Ja pheth , to geth er with his wife and the wives of his three sons , en tered the ark . 14 They had with them ev ery wild an i mal ac cord ing to its kind , all live stock ac cord ing to their kinds , ev ery crea ture that moves along the ground ac cord ing to its kind and ev ery bird ac cord ing to its kind , ev ery thing with wings . 15 Pairs of all crea tures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and en tered the ark . 16 The an i mals go ing in were male and fe male of ev ery liv ing thing , as God had com mand ed Noah . Then the Lord shut him in .
17
For for ty days the flood kept com ing on the earth , and as the wa ters in creased they lift ed the ark high above the earth . 18 The wa ters rose and in creased great ly on the earth , and the ark float ed on the sur face of the wa ter . 19 They rose great ly on the earth , and all the high moun tains un der the en tire heav ens were cov ered . 20 The wa ters rose and cov ered the moun tains to a depth of more than fif teen cu bits . a , b 21 Ev ery liv ing thing that moved on land per ished — birds , live stock , wild an i mals , all the crea tures that swarm over the earth , and all man kind . 22 Ev ery thing on dry land that had the breath of life in its nos trils died . 23 Ev ery liv ing thing on the face of the earth was wiped out ; peo ple and an i mals and the crea tures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth . Only Noah was left , and those with him in the ark .
24
The wa ters flood ed the earth for a hun dred and fif ty days .
a
20 That is , about 23 feet or about 6.8 meters b
20 Or rose more than fifteen cubits , and the mountains were covered one pair of each species rather than seven . Genesis 6:19 – 20 may speak of a single pair as the minimum number of animals needed to continue the species after the flood , whereas 7:2 – 3 includes additional clean animals to ensure that proper sacrifice can be made after the flood . clean animal The clean and unclean distinction for sacrifice is made explicit only with the law , long after Noah ( Ex 20 ; Lev 11 ; Dt 14 ). However , there may have been an earlier awareness of animals that were appropriate and inappropriate for sacrifice . Alternatively , a later editor may have added this detail to remove potential contradictions with the law . 7:4 Seven days from now Presumably the time needed for the animals and humans to board the ark . Sevenday periods are noted elsewhere in the story ( Ge 7:10 ; 8:10,12 ). See the infographic “ Inside Noah ’ s Ark ” on p . 19 . 7:11 seventeenth day Throughout chs . 6 – 8 , the narrative offers multiple numbers relating to how much time has passed — it is often difficult to tell how these figures relate . This may suggest that Genesis was originally composed of multiple sources . Alternatively , there may be two systems of recording time in the narrative , one that linearly presents the days and what developed during various time spans and the other designating exact dates . springs of the great deep This description presumes an ancient Near Eastern cosmology ( worldview ). This worldview included a domed firmament ( or vault ) above the visible sky that held back waters that were above the firmament and below the earth . The waters below were called the great deep . It was believed that the waters came to earth ( when it rained ) through gaps in the firmament — the windows and doors of heaven ( compare 1:6 and note ). See the infographic “ Ancient Hebrew Conception of the Universe ” on p . 5 .
7:12 forty days and forty nights This may be an idiom for a long period of time and not a description of a precise length of time ( compare Ex 24:18 ; 1Ki 19:8 ). 7:16 the Lord shut him in Yahweh ’ s role in saving Noah , his family , and the animals comes into full view here . The narrator reminds the audience that the salvation of these few people is an act of divine grace . 7:19 all the high mountains under the entire heavens This description and Ge 7:20 – 23 may support the idea that this narrative presents a global flood — and perhaps even demand it . In addition , the NT uses the flood account as an analogy for the future judgment of all of humanity ( 2Pe 3:6 – 7 ). On the other hand , extra-Biblical evidence for a global flood is inconclusive . Arguments for both a local and global flood can be supported Biblically ( see note on Ge 6:17 ; note on 7:21 ). 7:21 Every living thing that moved on land perished In Biblical usage , phrases that appear on the surface to be universal do not always speak of exhaustive , universal participation — particularly with respect to peoples and lands on the other side of the globe from the ancient Near East ( e . g ., 8:6 – 7 ; 41:57 ; 2Sa 15:23 ; 1Ch 14:17 ; 2Ch 9:28 ). Specifically with regard to the flood , Yahweh himself speaks of destroying all life , yet that is clearly not the case : Noah , his family and the animals with him live ( Ge 6:17 ; 8:21 ). In addition , if all the water on all the earth had evaporated after the flood , as 8:13 – 14 seems to imply , everything would have died . Given this literary context , it is possible that the flood , while spoken about in global terms , was limited to a vast area near Noah ( compare 6:4 and note ; note on 7:19 ). Nonetheless , this is only an argument based on common literary practice ; it is unclear how the narrator actually understood the scope of the flood .