Genesis 7 (NET)

1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation.1 2 You must take with you seven2 of every kind of clean animal,3 the male and its mate,4 two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 3 and also seven5 of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female,6 to preserve their offspring7 on the face of the earth. 4 For in seven days8 I will cause it to rain9 on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”

5 And Noah did all10 that the Lord commanded him.

6 Noah11 was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed12 the earth. 7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because13 of the floodwaters. 8 Pairs14 of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah,15 just as God had commanded him.16 10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.17

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 deep18 burst open and the floodgates of the heavens19 were opened. 12 And the rain fell20 on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.21 14 They entered,22 along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings.23 15 Pairs24 of all creatures25 that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 16 Those that entered were male and female,26 just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.

17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 18 The waters completely overwhelmed27 the earth, and the ark floated28 on the surface of the waters. 19 The waters completely inundated29 the earth so that even30 all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20 The waters rose more than twenty feet31 above the mountains.32 21 And all living things33 that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life34 in its nostrils died. 23 So the Lord35 destroyed36 every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky.37 They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.38 24 The waters prevailed over39 the earth for 150 days.

17:1tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment. 27:2tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV). 37:2sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643. 47:2tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans. 57:3tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV). 67:3tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah). 77:3tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.” 87:4tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.” 97:4tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future. 107:5tn Heb “according to all.” 117:6tn Heb “Now Noah was.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate nominative after implied “to be” verb) provides background information. The age of Noah receives prominence. 127:6tn Heb “and the flood was water upon.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial/temporal in relation to the preceding clause. The verb הָיָה (hayah) here carries the nuance “to come” (BDB 225 s.v. הָיָה). In this context the phrase “come upon” means “to engulf.” 137:7tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark. 147:8tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.” 157:9tn The Hebrew text of vv. 8-9a reads, “From the clean animal[s] and from the animal[s] which are not clean and from the bird[s] and everything that creeps on the ground, two two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female.” 167:9tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons. 177:10tn Heb “came upon.” 187:11tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).sn The watery deep. The same Hebrew term used to describe the watery deep in Gen 1:2 (תְּהוֹם, tihom) appears here. The text seems to picture here subterranean waters coming from under the earth and contributing to the rapid rise of water. The significance seems to be, among other things, that in this judgment God was returning the world to its earlier condition of being enveloped with water – a judgment involving the reversal of creation. On Gen 7:11 see G. F. Hasel, “The Fountains of the Great Deep,” Origins 1 (1974): 67-72; idem, “The Biblical View of the Extent of the Flood,” Origins 2 (1975): 77-95. 197:11sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46. 207:12tn Heb “was.” 217:13tn Heb “On that very day Noah entered, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark.” 227:14tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. 237:14tn Heb “every bird, every wing.” 247:15tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.” 257:15tn Heb “flesh.” 267:16tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.” 277:18tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it. 287:18tn Heb “went.” 297:19tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters. 307:19tn Heb “and.” 317:20tn Heb “rose fifteen cubits.” Since a cubit is considered by most authorities to be about eighteen inches, this would make the depth 22.5 feet. This figure might give the modern reader a false impression of exactness, however, so in the translation the phrase “fifteen cubits” has been rendered “more than twenty feet.” 327:20tn Heb “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward and they covered the mountains.” Obviously, a flood of twenty feet did not cover the mountains; the statement must mean the flood rose about twenty feet above the highest mountain. 337:21tn Heb “flesh.” 347:22tn Heb “everything which [has] the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils from all which is in the dry land.” 357:23tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 367:23tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”). 377:23tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.” 387:23tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69. 397:24sn The Hebrew verb translated “prevailed over” suggests that the waters were stronger than the earth. The earth and everything in it were no match for the return of the chaotic deep.