Section 10 of 1047:1–24Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 7:1–24

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

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 7:1–24

The Flood Covers the Earth

Entry, water, and what is wiped away

God calls Noah's household and representatives of living creatures into the ark. They enter as commanded. The LORD shuts Noah in. Then the announced waters come: the great deep bursts, the heavens open, rain falls forty days, and the waters prevail.

The repetitions are not padding. They slow the story so judgment and preservation are both seen. Breathing land life outside is wiped away. Those inside remain. The unit ends with 150 days of dominating water, not with a children's adventure.

What the numbers do not settle

Clean and unclean animal numbers, forty days of rain, and 150 days of prevailing water belong to the received story. They do not by themselves settle modern geology, or prove that every member of Noah's household was righteous, or make one compositional reconstruction the only meaning of the chapter.

How this should shape us

Take entrenched violence seriously enough to protect life. Respond to real warning with concrete care for people and creatures, and keep confidence proportional to what the text actually narrates.

Teach it back

Explain how Genesis 7:1–24 moves from the command to enter the ark to the waters prevailing for 150 days. Include what the extra clean animals contribute, why forty and 150 days should be distinguished without being carelessly added, and one modern question the passage does not settle by itself.

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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

Does 'seven, seven' mean seven animals or seven pairs?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

How do the two-of-each and extra-clean-animal instructions relate?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

How do forty days and 150 days relate?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

What physical scope does the flood language claim?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

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 7:1–24

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Righteousness, clean and unclean terms, repeated numerals, wipe-away language, deep and floodgates, entry formulas, prevail language, breath of life, dry land, survival, and 150 days.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 7:1–24

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Prominent 'you,' seven or seven pairs, male-and-mate wording, seven days, forty days, paired entry, deep and heaven imagery, prevail language, fifteen cubits, breath of life, survival, and 150 days.

NET Bible, Genesis 7:1–24 translator notes 1–39

Genesis

Supports: Final-form movement through ark entry, flood judgment, preservation, de-creation, and covenantal hope.

Genesis commentary, section Genesis 6:9–9:17, especially Genesis 7 entry, flood, death, and preservation

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

Supports: Animal-number, water-source, entry, chronology, vocabulary, and divine-name doublets; influential Priestly and non-Priestly reconstruction; de-creation pattern.

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: Mesopotamian vessel, flood, mountain, bird, and sacrifice parallels and Genesis's distinctive violence, blessing, and covenant theology.

The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context, sections 'Noah and Utnapishtim,' 'Noah and Atrahasis,' and 'The Relationship Between the Human and the Divine'

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

Supports: Modern reconstruction of P and non-P flood traditions and proposed Mesopotamian precursors, used only at the documented level.

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 source divisions, competing harmonizations, final-form numerical pattern, and proposed flood-Sinai coherence.

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 50.3 (2026), especially section 2.2 and Table 1 on animal, entry, water, destruction, and chronology doublets

Source Criticism: Putting Source Criticism in its Place: The Flood Story as a Test Case

Supports: Critique of standard flood source division and a final-form proposal concerning animal numbers, chronology, and editorial consistency; full restricted argument not assumed.

Biblical Interpretation and Method, chapter 1, pp. 2–14; official Oxford abstract and section outline

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 7:1–24

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: Righteousness, clean and unclean terms, repeated numerals, wipe-away language, deep and floodgates, entry formulas, prevail language, breath of life, dry land, survival, and 150 days.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 7:1–24

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Prominent 'you,' seven or seven pairs, male-and-mate wording, seven days, forty days, paired entry, deep and heaven imagery, prevail language, fifteen cubits, breath of life, survival, and 150 days.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 7:1–24 translator notes 1–39

Open NET Genesis 7 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form movement through ark entry, flood judgment, preservation, de-creation, and covenantal hope.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, section Genesis 6:9–9:17, especially Genesis 7 entry, flood, death, and preservation

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: Animal-number, water-source, entry, chronology, vocabulary, and divine-name doublets; influential Priestly and non-Priestly reconstruction; de-creation pattern.

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: Mesopotamian vessel, flood, mountain, bird, and sacrifice parallels and Genesis's distinctive violence, blessing, and covenant theology.

Exact location: The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context, sections 'Noah and Utnapishtim,' 'Noah and Atrahasis,' and 'The Relationship Between the Human and the Divine'

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 reconstruction of P and non-P flood traditions and proposed Mesopotamian precursors, used only at the documented level.

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 source divisions, competing harmonizations, final-form numerical pattern, and proposed flood-Sinai coherence.

Exact location: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 50.3 (2026), especially section 2.2 and Table 1 on animal, entry, water, destruction, and chronology doublets

Open source ↗

modern scholarly source critical and final form chapter

Source Criticism: Putting Source Criticism in its Place: The Flood Story as a Test Case

David J. A. Clines

Oxford University Press, Biblical Interpretation and Method: Essays in Honour of John Barton, 2013

Supports: Critique of standard flood source division and a final-form proposal concerning animal numbers, chronology, and editorial consistency; full restricted argument not assumed.

Exact location: Biblical Interpretation and Method, chapter 1, pp. 2–14; official Oxford abstract and section outline

Open source ↗

Genesis 7:1–24, King James Version

Entry, water, and what is wiped away

What the numbers do not settle

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Does 'seven, seven' mean seven animals or seven pairs?

How do the two-of-each and extra-clean-animal instructions relate?

How do forty days and 150 days relate?

What physical scope does the flood language claim?

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

Source Criticism: Putting Source Criticism in its Place: The Flood Story as a Test Case