Section 9 of 1046:9–22Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 6:9–22

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 6:9–22

God Warns Noah and Commands the Ark

Violence, then a plan to preserve life

The generations of Noah begin here. Noah walks with God. The earth is ruined by corruption and filled with violence. God tells Noah that the end of all flesh has come, then commands an ark with set dimensions, a door, and three levels.

Judgment is not the only action. God promises a covenant, preserves Noah's household and living creatures, and provides food. Noah does everything God commands. The next chapter will move from construction to entry; this unit stops at obedient preparation.

How this should shape us

When a world is marked by violence, the faithful response this passage shows is not fascination with the disaster but obedient work that preserves life under God's command.

Teach it back

Explain why Genesis 6:9–22 places Noah's character, the earth's violence, the ark instructions, the covenant promise, preservation of living creatures, and Noah's obedience in one movement. Name one clear conclusion and one construction or historical question that remains uncertain.

Explain the section in your own words

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Is Noah called righteous only by comparison with his generation?

Best judgment: Noah is presented as genuinely righteous and integrated in his walk, specifically within a corrupt generation. The comparison sharpens rather than cancels the description, and it still does not imply sinlessness.

How certain? strong

Does 'all flesh' mean that animals corrupted their moral way?

Best judgment: The language includes the whole living world in the condition and coming destruction, but human violence is the explicit moral cause. The text does not give enough information to assign animals the same moral guilt as humans.

How certain? probable

What exactly are gopher wood and the tsohar?

Best judgment: The material and upper feature remain uncertain. The text securely gives waterproofing, dimensions, side door, and three levels, so those clear details should not be mixed with speculative reconstruction.

How certain? uncertain

What physical scope does the flood announcement claim?

Best judgment: The received story presents comprehensive destruction of land-dwelling, breathing life under heaven. The text does not give enough information in this unit to settle a modern global-versus-regional geological reconstruction with certainty.

How certain? probable

How does source composition relate to the received passage?

Best judgment: A Priestly layer is a strong historical reconstruction, while the received unit is also coherent and must be interpreted in the form readers actually have. Source reconstruction explains possible formation; it does not replace final-form meaning.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.

Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 6:9–22

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Toledot, righteous and blameless, walked with God, corruption-destruction wordplay, violence, ark terms, dimensions, flood, covenant, creature categories, preservation, food, and obedience.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 6:9–22

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Noah's character terms, corruption and violence, all flesh, end of all flesh, repeated shahat, gopher wood, pitch, dimensions, tsohar construction, flood, covenant, preservation, food, and concluding obedience.

NET Bible, Genesis 6:9–22 translator notes 31–66

Genesis

Supports: Final-form movement from Noah's character and corruption through ark, covenant, preservation, obedience, flood, and post-flood renewal.

Genesis commentary, section Genesis 6:9–9:17, especially the opening ark and covenant instructions

Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood — Study Guide

Supports: Received-narrative repetitions, differing animal numbers, chronology, and the influential two-source reconstruction.

Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood study guide, sections 'The Problem with the Flood Narrative' and 'Two Flood Stories'

The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Supports: Ancient Mesopotamian flood parallels, pitch terminology, shared creation-flood-recreation pattern, and Genesis's distinctive focus on violence rather than overpopulation.

The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context, sections 'Noah and Utnapishtim,' 'Noah and Atrahasis,' and 'Why a Flood?'

Precursors to the Flood Narrative (Gen 6:5–9:17)

Supports: Modern source-critical reconstruction of P and non-P flood traditions, their proposed Mesopotamian precursors, and the received narrative as conflation; full restricted argument not assumed.

The Formation of Genesis 1–11, chapter 6, pp. 141–177; official Oxford abstract and chapter outline

Sintflut and Sinai: Genesis 6–8’s allusion to Exodus 24–40

Supports: Current review of flood source divisions, final-form coherence proposal, the crescendo from Genesis 6:5–8 to 6:9–13, ark and tabernacle construction parallels, and the repeated obedience formula.

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (2026), sections 2.1–2.3, 4.1–4.2, and 5; DOI 10.1177/03090892251367447

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.

Exact location: Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 6:9–22

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Toledot, righteous and blameless, walked with God, corruption-destruction wordplay, violence, ark terms, dimensions, flood, covenant, creature categories, preservation, food, and obedience.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 6:9–22

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Noah's character terms, corruption and violence, all flesh, end of all flesh, repeated shahat, gopher wood, pitch, dimensions, tsohar construction, flood, covenant, preservation, food, and concluding obedience.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 6:9–22 translator notes 31–66

Open NET Genesis 6 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form movement from Noah's character and corruption through ark, covenant, preservation, obedience, flood, and post-flood renewal.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, section Genesis 6:9–9:17, especially the opening ark and covenant instructions

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood — Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026

Supports: Received-narrative repetitions, differing animal numbers, chronology, and the influential two-source reconstruction.

Exact location: Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood study guide, sections 'The Problem with the Flood Narrative' and 'Two Flood Stories'

Open source ↗

modern scholarly open ancient near eastern study

The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Shalom E. Holtz

TheTorah.com, 2014; updated 2026

Supports: Ancient Mesopotamian flood parallels, pitch terminology, shared creation-flood-recreation pattern, and Genesis's distinctive focus on violence rather than overpopulation.

Exact location: The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context, sections 'Noah and Utnapishtim,' 'Noah and Atrahasis,' and 'Why a Flood?'

Open source ↗

modern scholarly compositional and comparative chapter

Precursors to the Flood Narrative (Gen 6:5–9:17)

David M. Carr

Oxford University Press, The Formation of Genesis 1–11: Biblical and Other Precursors, 2020

Supports: Modern source-critical reconstruction of P and non-P flood traditions, their proposed Mesopotamian precursors, and the received narrative as conflation; full restricted argument not assumed.

Exact location: The Formation of Genesis 1–11, chapter 6, pp. 141–177; official Oxford abstract and chapter outline

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open final form and intertextual study

Sintflut and Sinai: Genesis 6–8’s allusion to Exodus 24–40

Zara Zhang

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 50.3, 2026

Supports: Current review of flood source divisions, final-form coherence proposal, the crescendo from Genesis 6:5–8 to 6:9–13, ark and tabernacle construction parallels, and the repeated obedience formula.

Exact location: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (2026), sections 2.1–2.3, 4.1–4.2, and 5; DOI 10.1177/03090892251367447

Open source ↗

Genesis 6:9–22, King James Version

Violence, then a plan to preserve life

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Is Noah called righteous only by comparison with his generation?

Does 'all flesh' mean that animals corrupted their moral way?

What exactly are gopher wood and the tsohar?

What physical scope does the flood announcement claim?

How does source composition relate to the received passage?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood — Study Guide

The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Precursors to the Flood Narrative (Gen 6:5–9:17)

Sintflut and Sinai: Genesis 6–8’s allusion to Exodus 24–40