Notes · Gen 7:1–24

The Flood

24 approved team notes on Gen 7:1–24.

Gen 7:1

cross-referenceGen 7:1–24; Matt 24:38–39; Luke 17:26–27; 1 Pet 3:20–21; 2 Pet 2:5; 2 Pet 3:5–7; Heb 11:7

SaysMatt 24:38–39 has the entry and flood clauses; the SBLGNT apparatus units at ὡς, ἡμέραις, γαμίζοντες, and καὶ are given with their editions, and the Textus Receptus agrees with the Byzantine Textform.
SaysLuke 17:27 has ἐγαμίζοντο and πάντας in Westcott and Hort, Tregelles, and NA28, against ἐξεγαμίζοντο and ἅπαντας in the Byzantine Textform and Textus Receptus, which also has τοῦ Νῶε at 17:26.
Says1 Pet 3:20 ἀπεξεδέχετο and ὀλίγοι stand against the Textus Receptus ἅπαξ ἐξεδέχετο and ὀλίγαι, and 3:21 καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀντίτυπον νῦν against the Byzantine and Textus Receptus orders with ἡμᾶς (Textus Receptus ᾧ for ὃ); Abbott-Smith takes ἀντίτυπος as the reality the type copies.
Says2 Pet 3:6 has ὕδατι κατακλυσθείς with the διʼ ὧν / διʼ ὃν unit; 3:7 has αὐτῷ / αὐτοῦ; 2 Pet 2:5 and Heb 11:7 have no unit.
Saysκατακλυσμός and κιβωτός agree in form with Swete 7:7 and 7:17.
UncertainForm agreement is not a claim about which text a writer used.

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exegeticalGen 7:1–24

Genesis 7 in the New Testament

SaysMatthew 24:38–39, Luke 17:26–27, 1 Peter 3:20–21, 2 Peter 2:5, 2 Peter 3:5–7 and Hebrews 11:7 state the New Testament’s own use of Noah and the flood. 1 Peter 3:21 frames the water as symbolizing baptism.
ImpliesThose texts read Noah as a real person who entered the ark and was preserved.
Uncertain1 Peter 3:21 is reported as the text frames it; no sacramental lean. The NT use is not a verdict on extent or chronology. No application is drawn.

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exegeticalGen 7:1–24

Overview of Genesis 7

SaysGenesis 7 moves from the command to enter, through the sevens and the pairs, the date in 7:11, the shutting of the ark, the prevailing of the waters and the death of all flesh, to the remnant in the ark. Swete has the twenty-seventh day at 7:11 where the Hebrew has the seventeenth.
ImpliesNoah is a real person, as the New Testament treats him.
UncertainThe sevens and the pairs, the day in 7:11, the forty and the hundred and fifty days, the fifteen cubits, and the flood’s reach are open. No lean is taken.

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exegeticalGen 7:1–24

Persons and history in Genesis 7

SaysMatthew 24:38–39, Luke 17:26–27, 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:5, 2 Peter 3:6 and Hebrews 11:7 treat Noah as a man of the past who entered the ark and was preserved in the flood.
ImpliesNoah is a real person, consistent with those texts and with the Genesis 2 and 6 notes. No lean is taken between historical narrative and history told with literary features.
UncertainA purely non-historical reading is presented by its grounds and stands outside that core. No lean is taken between historical narrative and history told with literary features.

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exegeticalGen 7:1–5

The command to enter, and Noah’s obedience (Genesis 7:1–5)

SaysThe Lord tells Noah to enter with his house, having seen him righteous in this generation, singular, beside 6:9. Noah did all that the Lord commanded, the formula of 6:22. Hebrews 11:7 speaks of the ark built to save his family.
ImpliesThe reason for the command is the righteousness God has seen. The obedience of 7:5 answers 7:1–4.
UncertainWhether this generation means Noah’s contemporaries or the span of his life is open. No lean is taken.

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historicalGen 7:1–24

The storm in Babylonian flood stories

SaysGen 7:4: rain in seven days for forty days and forty nights; 7:16: the Lord shut Noah in; 7:19: all the high mountains were covered; 7:21–23: all outside the ark died.
UncertainHow the Babylonian storm accounts (Gilgamesh XI, the Atra-khasis recension, Berossus, the Sumerian text in King) relate to Gen 7, given shared and differing features, is open; no dependence claimed, no lean, and background does not fix the meaning.

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historicalGen 7:1–24

The flood itself in early Jewish and Christian reading

SaysGen 7:13, 16: Noah entered on that very day and the Lord shut him in; 7:20: fifteen cubits upward the waters prevailed, and the mountains were covered; 7:23: only Noah and those with him remained.
UncertainWhether 7:19 describes a global or a regional flood is open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 7:1–10

LXX Gen 7:1–10: sevens and pairs, and the entry into the ark

SaysSwete’s Genesis 7 numbering matches the English and the MT; 7:1 and 7:5 have Κύριος ὁ θεός for יְהוָה, and 7:9 ὁ θεός for אֱלֹהִים.
SaysAt 7:2 ἑπτὰ ἑπτὰ ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ stands for שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ and δύο δύο for שְׁנַיִם; καθαρός renders the Hebrew adjective for clean.
SaysAt 7:3 Swete has τῶν καθαρῶν with the birds and a clause on unclean birds, δύο δύο, neither of which the Hebrew has.
ImpliesThe doubled numeral is distributive in both languages.
UncertainWhether seven individuals or seven pairs are meant is not settled; one reading counts the numeral alone, the other takes ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ as marking pairs; no lean.
SaysAt 7:4 Swete has τεσσεράκοντα νύκτας and ἐξαλείψω πᾶν τὸ ἀνάστεμα for וּמָחִיתִי אֶת־כָּל־הַיְקוּם; a lemma-less apparatus line gives πᾶσαν τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἥν for the Cotton and Bodleian Genesis.
SaysSwete records a twelve-letter erasure after κατακλυσμοῦ at 7:7 and, at 7:8, wording over an erasure ascribed, with a query, to the first corrector, both in Alexandrinus.

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languageGen 7:1–5

Gen 7:1–5: "come into the ark"; righteous "in this generation"

Saysבֹּא־אַתָּה וְכָל־בֵּיתְךָ אֶל־הַתֵּבָה (BDB "household, family"); צַדִּיק (BDB "just, righteous") "before me in this generation," singular, beside "in his generations" in 6:9; Swete δίκαιον … ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ; the formula of 6:22 in 7:5.
SaysMatt 24:38; Heb 11:7 speak of Noah as a man of the past who entered the ark.

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VariantGen 7:1–24

Gen 7: minor variants

SaysGreek pluses at 7:3, 8, 16, 17; "male and female" at 7:2; no "great" at 7:11; "the Lord God" at 7:1, 5, 16.
Saysוַיִּמַח parsed as Qal with the object marker, BSB passive, Swete active; וַיִשָּׁאֶר without the doubling dot, the form kept from the Leningrad Codex.
UncertainWhether the Greek differences reflect other Hebrew or the translator; no lean.

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Gen 7:2

exegeticalGen 7:2–16

Sevens, pairs, and the entry (Genesis 7:2–16)

SaysClean animals are taken seven seven, the unclean two, male and female; the BSB has seven pairs, its footnote by sevens. In 7:8–9 they come two two, as in 6:19–20. The clean and unclean distinction is named before Leviticus 11.
ImpliesThe doubled numeral is distributive, by sevens, as two two is two by two; the grammar does not give the size of each group.
UncertainSeven animals or seven pairs, and how the sevens stand beside the pairs of 6:19–20, 7:9 and 7:15, are open. No lean is taken.

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historicalGen 7:2–9

Clean animals by sevens in early reading

SaysGen 7:2–3: clean animals and birds by sevens (שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה), the unclean two, male and female; 7:8–9: clean and unclean come two by two; the distinction is named without explanation.
UncertainWhether the sevens are seven animals or seven pairs, and how they relate to “two by two” in 7:9, are open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 7:2–3

Gen 7:2–3: "seven seven"; clean and not clean

Saysשִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה "a man and his wife" of clean beasts, שְׁנַיִם of the not clean; the same for birds in 7:3; BSB "seven pairs," footnote "by sevens"; Swete ἑπτὰ ἑπτὰ; clean and not clean stated before Lev 11:47.
ImpliesThe doubled numeral is distributive ("by sevens"), as "two two" in 7:9, 15; the grammar does not give the size of each group.
UncertainSeven animals or seven pairs, with grounds and objections; the sevens beside the pairs of 6:19–20, 7:9, 15, a fuller command or two accounts; no lean.

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Gen 7:4

languageGen 7:4

Gen 7:4: "I am sending rain"; "all that exists"

Saysכִּי לְיָמִים עוֹד שִׁבְעָה; מַמְטִיר Hiphil participle (BDB "send rain, rain"); forty days and nights; וּמָחִיתִי (BDB "wipe, wipe out"), the verb of 6:7; יְקוּם (BDB "substance, existence"), only here, 7:23, Deut 11:6; Swete ἐπάγω ὑετὸν, ἐξαλείψω πᾶν τὸ ἀνάστεμα.

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Gen 7:6

languageGen 7:6–10

Gen 7:6–10: the flood, waters; the entry

SaysNoah 600 years old; וְהַמַּבּוּל הָיָה מַיִם (BDB "flood in time of Noah"), outside Genesis only Ps 29:10; the entry "from before the waters"; שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם בָּאוּ, male and female, as God commanded; the seven days of 7:4; Swete δύο δύο εἰσῆλθον.
SaysMatt 24:38–39; Luke 17:27 speak of the day Noah entered the ark.

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Gen 7:11

exegeticalGen 7:11–24

The date and the days of the flood (Genesis 7:11–24)

SaysNoah is 600 when the flood comes. The Masoretic Text dates the breaking of the deep to the seventeenth day of the second month, as does the Samaritan text; Swete has the twenty-seventh. Rain forty days; the waters prevail 150 days. 8:4 and 8:14 are noted as later dates in the Masoretic Text.
ImpliesThe deep and the windows of the heavens share wording with Genesis 1:2 and 8:2.
UncertainWhich day in 7:11 is original, and how the forty and the 150 days and the later dates fit, are open. No lean is taken.

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historicalGen 7:11; Gen 7:24

The flood’s date in early reading

SaysGen 7:11 dates the flood to the 600th year of Noah, the seventeenth day of the second month; 7:24: the waters prevailed 150 days.
UncertainWhether the seventeenth or the twenty-seventh day is original, from which season the months are counted, and what reckoning lies behind the 150 days are open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning.

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languageGen 7:11–12

Gen 7:11–12: "the great deep" and "the windows of the heavens"

SaysThe date, second month, seventeenth day (Swete the twenty-seventh); נִבְקְעוּ Niphal (BDB "be cleft, rent open"), springs, תְּהוֹם רַבָּה (BDB "deep, sea, abyss"); וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם (BDB "lattice, window, sluice"); the rain (BDB "rain, shower"); Swete without "great."
ImpliesThe deep is the noun of Gen 1:2; 8:2 closes the same springs and windows; "windows of the heavens" again in Mal 3:10, "in the heavens" in 2 Kgs 7:2, 19.
UncertainHow the forty and 150 days and the dates of 8:4, 14 fit; no lean.

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languageGen 7:11–24

LXX Gen 7:11–24: the date, the deep, and the rising waters

SaysAt 7:11 Swete prints ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι, the twenty-seventh, where the MT has the seventeenth day; the apparatus records an erasure after τῷ in Alexandrinus and ἑνὶ καὶ in the Bodleian Genesis.
Says7:11 has αἱ πηγαὶ τῆς ἀβύσσου for מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה, without רַבָּה, and οἱ καταράκται τοῦ οὐρανοῦ for וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם.
Impliesἄβυσσος recalls Swete 1:2, and both phrases return at Swete 8:2.
Says7:12 and 7:17 have forty days and forty nights, where MT 7:17 has forty days only; 7:16 has ἔκλεισεν … τὴν κιβωτὸν ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ for וַיִּסְגֹּר יְהוָה בַּעֲדוֹ.
Impliesὑψώθη renders וַתָּרָם at 7:17 and גָּבְרוּ, וַיִּגְבְּרוּ at 7:20 and 7:24, which 7:18–19 render ἐπεκράτει.
Says7:20 has δέκα πέντε πήχεις ἐπάνω for חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה אַמָּה מִלְמַעְלָה; 7:23 has πᾶν τὸ ἀνάστεμα for הַיְקוּם.
UncertainNo lean is taken on whether the seventeenth or the twenty-seventh day is original.

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VariantGen 7:11

Gen 7:11: the seventeenth or the twenty-seventh day

SaysMT second month, seventeenth day; Swete τοῦ δευτέρου μηνός, ἑβδόμῃ καὶ εἰκάδι, the twenty-seventh; no other day in Swete's notes; an erasure in Alexandrinus and one manuscript's other readings at the verse.
SaysThe Samaritan text (von Gall p. 11) has the MT's date, the seventeenth day of the second month, year 600; no other number in von Gall's notes.
SaysMT 8:4, seventh month, seventeenth day; 8:14, second month, twenty-seventh day.
UncertainThe seventeenth or the twenty-seventh: grounds and objections; no lean.

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Gen 7:13

languageGen 7:13–16

Gen 7:13–16: "on that very day"; "the Lord shut behind him"

Saysבְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה (BDB "bone, substance, self"), also Gen 17:23, 26; Exod 12:17, 41, 51; the three wives; "after its kind"; two by two of all flesh; וַיִּסְגֹּר יְהוָה בַּעֲדוֹ (BDB "shut, close"); Swete ἔκλεισεν … τὴν κιβωτὸν ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ.
Saysיְהוָה in 7:1, 5, 16 and אֱלֹהִים in 7:9, 16; 7:13–16 retells 7:7–9 with a date.
UncertainA resumption, or two accounts set together; grounds and objections; no lean.

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Gen 7:17

exegeticalGen 7:17–24

The waters prevail, and all flesh dies (Genesis 7:17–24)

SaysThe waters prevail and cover all the high mountains under all the heavens. Fifteen cubits upward the waters prevailed, and the mountains were covered. All flesh on the dry ground dies; only Noah and those with him remain. The waters prevail 150 days.
ImpliesThe verb is one of strength: the waters prevail; their rising is told by other verbs in 7:17.
UncertainWhat the fifteen cubits measure, and whether the flood is of the whole earth or of a region, are open. The NT use does not settle extent. No lean. No dependence on Babylonian storm accounts is claimed.

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languageGen 7:17–20

Gen 7:17–20: the waters prevailed; "fifteen cubits upward"

Saysוַיְהִי הַמַּבּוּל אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם; increased, lifted, rose; וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (BDB "be strong, mighty," "prevail"); מְאֹד מְאֹד; וַיְכֻסּוּ Pual (BDB "be covered"); fifteen cubits מִלְמַעְלָה; Swete δέκα πέντε πήχεις ἐπάνω; the BSB conversion is not the Hebrew.
ImpliesThe verb is one of strength: the waters "prevail" in 7:18, 19, 20, 24; the rising is told by other verbs in 7:17.
UncertainThe fifteen cubits over the mountains, or a depth tied to the ark; grounds and objections; neither settles the extent; no lean.

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Gen 7:21

languageGen 7:21–24

Gen 7:21–24: all flesh died; "only Noah was left"

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.

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