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The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 7

The flood and those within the ark

General context

Noah is told to bring his household into the ark and take the creatures needed to preserve life. The warning gives seven days before forty days and nights of rain, and Noah follows the commands. His family and the animals enter, and the Lord shuts him in. Waters from the deep and from heaven increase, lift the ark and cover all the high hills. The account describes the death of creatures and people on dry land outside the ark, while Noah and those with him remain alive. The chapter closes with the waters prevailing for 150 days.

Cited passages: Genesis 7:1, Genesis 7:2, Genesis 7:3, Genesis 7:4, Genesis 7:5, Genesis 7:7, Genesis 7:9, Genesis 7:10, Genesis 7:11, Genesis 7:12, Genesis 7:13, Genesis 7:14, Genesis 7:15, Genesis 7:16, Genesis 7:17, Genesis 7:18, Genesis 7:19, Genesis 7:20, Genesis 7:21, Genesis 7:22, Genesis 7:23, Genesis 7:24

Genesis 7 (KJV)

1And 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.

2Of 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.

3Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

4For 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.

5And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him.

6And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

7And 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.

8Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

9There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

10And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

11In 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.

12And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13In 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;

14They, 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.

15And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

16And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

17And 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.

18And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

20Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

21And 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:

22All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

23And 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.

24And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The flood is placed in Noah's six-hundredth year, with its onset dated to the seventeenth day of the second month. Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives enter the ark. The instructions distinguish clean beasts and birds taken by sevens from unclean beasts taken by twos; the entry is also described as male and female pairs. Forty days and nights describe the rain, while 150 days describe the waters prevailing. These are the account's own time markers, without a modern calendar date or a named location for the ark's departure.

Cited passages: Genesis 7:1, Genesis 7:2, Genesis 7:3, Genesis 7:6, Genesis 7:7, Genesis 7:9, Genesis 7:11, Genesis 7:12, Genesis 7:13, Genesis 7:15, Genesis 7:16, Genesis 7:24

Literary context

Commands, obedience and entry recur before the description of rising water. The repeated lists of people and creatures emphasize who goes inside, and the Lord's closing of the ark marks the boundary before the flood's increase. Water is described with mounting intensity: it increases, lifts the ark, prevails greatly and covers the hills. The account then sets the death outside against those remaining alive within the ark. Its final time notice leaves the waters still prevailing, so survival has been narrated before any return to dry ground.

Cited passages: Genesis 7:1, Genesis 7:2, Genesis 7:3, Genesis 7:5, Genesis 7:7, Genesis 7:8, Genesis 7:9, Genesis 7:13, Genesis 7:14, Genesis 7:15, Genesis 7:16, Genesis 7:17, Genesis 7:18, Genesis 7:19, Genesis 7:20, Genesis 7:21, Genesis 7:22, Genesis 7:23, Genesis 7:24

Key moments

  1. The household is called inside (Genesis 7:1). The Lord tells Noah to enter the ark with his household, describing him as righteous in his generation.
  2. The Lord closes the ark (Genesis 7:16). After the creatures enter as commanded, the Lord shuts Noah in.
  3. The ark is lifted (Genesis 7:17). The increasing waters bear up the ark above the earth.
  4. Those within remain alive (Genesis 7:23). The account sets the destruction outside against Noah and those remaining with him in the ark.

For reflection

How do the repeated accounts of entry and the rising waters shape the distinction between loss and preservation here?

People in this chapter

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