Gen 7:21–24: all flesh died; "only Noah was left"
Says וַיִּגְוַע כָּל־בָּשָׂר, "and all flesh expired" (BDB "expire, perish, die"): birds, beasts, wild animals, הַשֶּׁרֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵץ, "the swarming thing that swarms," וְכֹל הָאָדָם, "and all mankind." 7:22: כֹּל אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁמַת־רוּחַ חַיִּים בְּאַפָּיו, "all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life" (BDB "breath"; xref.Gen.7.22.Gen.2.7.heb), מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בֶּחָרָבָה מֵתוּ, "of all that was on the dry ground, died" (BDB "dry ground"). 7:23: וַיִּמָּחוּ מִן־הָאָרֶץ, "and they were wiped out from the earth" (BDB for the Niphal "be blotted out"), וַיִשָּׁאֶר אַךְ־נֹחַ, "and only Noah was left" (BDB "be left over"), וַאֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה, "and those with him in the ark." 7:24: the waters prevailed 150 days.
Implies 7:23 tells done what 7:4 announced, with the same verb twice, first active with its object, then in the Niphal (note.language.Gen.6.5-Gen.6.7.regret-nhm).
Says 1 Pet 3:20: "only eight souls, were saved through water"; 2 Pet 3:6: "the world of that time perished in the flood."
Uncertain How far the flood reached, as in the Gen 6 note (note.language.Gen.6.17-Gen.6.18.flood-and-covenant-first). (1) The whole earth: ground, "all flesh," "all the high mountains under all the heavens," "all mankind"; objection, "all" and "the earth" can name a land and its people. (2) A region: ground, that narrower use; objection, the chapter repeats its widest terms. The NT use does not settle it. No lean is taken here.
Claims
- Saysוַיִּגְוַע (BDB "expire, perish, die"); the swarming thing; all mankind; נִשְׁמַת־רוּחַ חַיִּים in the nostrils (BDB "breath"); בֶּחָרָבָה (BDB "dry ground"); וַיִּמָּחוּ Niphal (BDB "be blotted out"); וַיִשָּׁאֶר (BDB "be left over"); 150 days.
- Implies7:23 tells done what 7:4 announced, with the same verb, active and then Niphal.
- Says1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:6 speak of the flood and the eight saved.
- UncertainWhole earth or a region, as in the Gen 6 note; grounds and objections; the NT use does not settle it; no lean.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 7:21–24 (WLC/OSHB; morph HC/Vqw3ms (H1478), HNcfsc (H5397), HRd/Ncfsa (H2724), HC/Vqw3ms, HC/VNw3mp (H4229), HC/VNw3ms (H7604), HC/Acbsc)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H1478, p. 157, entry c.bd.aa; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n180
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H5397, p. 675, entry n.fx.ab; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n698
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H2724, p. 351, entry h.fi.ad; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n374
- BDB CC BY 4.0 s.v. H7604, p. 983, entry v.ak.aa; BDB 1906 page image, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, leaf n1006
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 7:21–24. LXX read on the Swete page image, vol. 1 (1901), p. 12 (leaf n43).
- BSB public domain Gen 7:21–24; 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:6
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-11
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