Genesis 7 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Genesis 7

7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals,¹ the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs² of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. 4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing³ that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.

17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits⁴ deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

Footnotes

[1] 7:2 Or seven of each kind of clean animal
[2] 7:3 Or seven of each kind
[3] 7:4 Hebrew all existence; also verse 23
[4] 7:20 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

Commentary

v1: "Come" (not "Go"), for the Lord God is already in the ark. Noah is called into the place of safety, Romans 9.30; 1 Corinthains 1.9. Noah is also described as righteous, Rom 5.1; 10.4; Heb 11.7.

v2-3: The concept of clean and unclean animals; a distinction clearly recognised by Noah; other people made no such distinction. Like other commandments, the underlying principles are found in Genesis, as they always existed in God. Only later are they written down in the Ten Commandments, and other regulations, becoming part of God's covenant with Israel.

Here two Noah has seven pairs of clean animals which he can sacrifice or eat.

v4: Rain for forty days and nights, a period of testing, as in Matthew 4:2.

v5: As in Gen 6.22, Noah is obedient; Romans 6:26; 1 Peter 1:22.

v6-10: Noah is in the ark for seven days before the rains came; here is his final preparation as the animals arrive. An enourmous operation, as the animals are brought into the ark.

v11-12: The water came from rain, and the "springs of the great deep" and the "floodgates of heaven;" indicating some large expanse of water, much more than the clouds we see.

The writer is clear about the timing; see v24; Gen 8.3-5; Noah spends one year and ten days in the ark.

v13-15: Summarising events to date. Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth become the origins for all tribes and nations. Three men become 70 tribes in Gen 10;.

v16: And the Lord God shut them in, for they are safe "in Christ." They are separated (2 Cor 6.17; 1 Pet 2.9) and sealed (2 Cor 1.22; Eph 1.13; 4.30).

v17-20: The rising waters cover the mountains; we often have the image of groups of men and animals seeking the higher ground and drowning as the waters overflow them.

v21-24: Outside the ark is only death; every living thing, all the creatures, all mankind. Judgment falls on those who reject. Whilst we may not be clear who is truly saved, God knows those that are His.