Genesis 7 Study Notes

7:1 Following the ark’s completion, the Lord gave Noah the order to begin the complex process of boarding the craft. Because of Noah’s righteous walk with God he and his household would be saved. The concept of sparing many because of the righteousness of a few occurs elsewhere in the Bible (18:24-32).

7:2-3 While one male and one female of every species of air and land animal were to be taken aboard the ark, all the clean animals—both those of the land and among the birds of the sky—were to have seven pairs of males and females onboard. The concept of clean animals is explained elsewhere in the Torah (Lv 11:1-46); essentially, these were animals that were fit for human consumption and could be offered as sacrifices to God. On the meaning of throughout the earth, see note at 6:17.

7:4 The advance warning God gave Noah here about the onset of rain was necessary, for it almost certainly would have taken seven days to finish boarding the ark. Loading, securing, and tending to the dietary needs of all the wild animals onboard the three-level barge-like structure was a complicated and dangerous task.

Here rain was the mechanism for the deadly act of judgment that would wipe off from the face of the earth . . . every living thing. Elsewhere in the OT God caused burning sulfur (19:24) and hailstones (Ex 9:18,23) to “rain” from the sky as a mechanism of judgment against sinners. The rains would continue unabated for forty days and forty nights. The number forty played a significant role throughout the OT: Isaac and Esau were forty when they married (25:20; 26:34), Moses was on Mount Sinai forty days and nights receiving the law from God (Ex 24:18; 34:28; Dt 9:11,18,25), Israel spent forty years in the wilderness following their disobedience (Nm 32:13), the Philistines oppressed Israel for forty years (Jdg 13:1), and several judges and kings ruled over Israel for forty years (Othniel, Jdg 3:11; Deborah, Jdg 5:31; Gideon, Jdg 8:28; Eli, 1Sm 4:8; David, 2Sm 5:4; Solomon, 1Kg 11:42; Joash, 2Kg 12:1; Saul, Ac 13:21).

7:5 This is parallel to 6:22.

7:6-10 Noah’s age at the onset of the flood—six hundred years old—will be used to indicate the duration of the flood (8:13). No other human after Noah will be said to live to this age. On the scope of the flood, see note at 6:17.

Seven days later, exactly when God said it would occur, the floodwaters began.

7:11 Water came from two different sources—one below and one above. Exactly what is meant by all the sources of the vast watery depths is unknown; the phrase appears to refer to a massive outflow of pressurized water from underground sources that burst out of the ground with devastating effect. No known phenomenon in nature today corresponds to this description.

7:12 Exactly as God had indicated (v. 4), the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. God’s word to Noah is once again shown to be trustworthy.

7:13-15 The same day Noah completed the task of loading the ark; that is, the seventh day (v. 10) after God’s command was given, Noah and his family entered the ark.

7:16 Shut him in—The author gave no details to explain how God performed the supernatural act of shutting Noah in. This divine act highlights the truth found elsewhere in the Bible: “Salvation belongs to the Lord” (Jnh 2:9).

7:17-20 More than twenty feet is literally fifteen cubits, which is about 22½ feet. For more on the scope of Noah’s flood, see note at 6:17.

7:21 Through the use of expanded restatement the author brings the detailed account of the flood’s destruction to a climax.

7:22 For dramatic effect a second expanded expression of the flood’s destructive effects immediately follows the one in the previous verse.

7:23 The overpowering presentation of death is contrasted with Noah’s preservation.

7:24 Though the text does not explicitly say so, the total of 150 days seems to include the forty days of rain (see note at v. 12). The Hebrew word translated as surged emphasizes the power of the waters.