Genesis 1-11: A Bible Commentary by Charles R. Sabo Chapter 7
Genesis Chapter 7
Introduction
The preparation for the great deluge began within Genesis 6:22, when Noah obeyed the Lord’s commands within Genesis 6:14-21. Knowing that Satan was going to make his attempt at corrupting the godly DNA of all living creatures, the Lord prepared twelve centuries before this, when he began to have the pure genetic bloodline intermarry closely to their kin (Gen. 5:15). There were thousands of women to choose from, but from this point, each descendent, down to Noah’s three sons, had intermarried within close kin only. Mahalaleel married Dinah, who was the daughter of Barakiel, the daughter of his father Cainan’s brother (not named) (Book of Jub. 4:15).
35Then Noah took the three daughters of Eliakim, son of Methuselah, for wives for his sons, as the Lord had commanded Noah. (Bk. of Jash. 5:35)
As we read through chapter 7, the preparation is completed, the family and all creatures will have entered the ark; the Lord will have shut the door of the huge boat (ark) and brought the waters, which had been reserved from the beginning for this historic day of judgment. The entire ecosystem of the Creation will have been destroyed, which included all of the corrupted DNA that invaded everything with the breath of life as well.
Genesis 7:1 And the Lord said unto Noah, “Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” This verse continues what was being declared in the previous verse (6:22). The reason, why the chapter begins here, is that the time of preparation was over, therefore it was time to enter the ark. The time taken for preparation was five years, which began when Noah was 595 years old, then was finished when he was 600 years old. (Gen. 7:6)
In his five hundred and ninety-fifth year Noah commenced to make the ark, and he made the ark in five years, as the Lord had commanded. (Book of Jash. 5:34)
Because the only righteous left alive were of the house of Noah, God preplanned that it would only be Noah and all of his house (family of 8) that He would command into the ark. All other believers had died before the great flood.
And all the sons of men who knew the Lord, died in that year before the Lord brought evil upon them; for the Lord willed them to die, so as not to behold the evil that God would bring upon their brothers and relatives, as he had so declared to do. (Bk. of Jash. 5:21)
Genesis 6:22 indicates that Noah had obeyed and trusted in the word of the Lord, which would have made Him righteous in the eyes of God. It wasn’t Noah’s good works that saved him, but his actions had shown his tremendous faith in the word of the Lord.
17 Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, You have faith, and I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (Jm. 2:17-18)
Genesis 7:2 Of every clean beast you shall take to you by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. There is some ambiguity, as well as a potential contradiction within this verse. Let’s investigate this.
If there was only two, a male and his female from the unclean beasts, then the same has to be said of the clean beasts, but the number seven was used for the clean beasts. If one is consistent in interpretation, it would be seven of the certain clean beast, divided by male and female, which gives three couples and one left without a mate. The unclean beasts were taken two divided by male and female, leaving a single couple; this would have to be false, since it is to be understood that the “seven” clean beasts were seven couples. This verse indicates that there were two couples of the unclean beasts, just like there were seven couples of clean beasts. The Book of Jasher confirms this. “Two and two came to Noah into the ark, but from the clean animals, and clean fowls, he brought seven couples, as God had commanded him.” (Bk. of Jash. 6:9)
The Hebrew adjective/dual noun used is “??nayim,” for the noun/adjective “two,” which is also defined as “in combination with other numbers.” The basis of the number two, pertains to the male; the female was understood to be part of the male in combination. If the combination, concerning one male and his female, is one couple, then there were two of each couple. Therefore, there were two couples of each unclean beast that went upon the ark, as well as seven couples of clean beasts. I remember stories indicating “two by two came the animals upon the ark,” which also can mean “two by two” (equal 4) of each unclean beasts.
Genesis 7:3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. Notice here all fowls of the air were to be brought by seven couples consisting of the male and the female for that male; there were no laws in place yet to determine clean fowl, from unclean fowl, since those laws did not come until the Laws of Moses (Lev. 11:13-23). Keeping that in mind, this commandment was for every kind of fowl of the air.
The second clause of this verse was a reason for both verses 7:2 and 3. The reason that Noah was to gather seven couples of clean beasts, two couples of unclean beasts, and seven couples of every kind of fowl of the air, was to keep the uncorrupted seed alive upon the face of all the earth. From what we learned from Genesis 6:11-12, “the Earth was being corrupted, because all flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth.” The gathering of the uncorrupted flesh of the Earth was to keep the uncorrupted seed of all flesh of the Earth alive.
Genesis 7:4 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. From what Moses had indicated here, Noah and his family had seven days to bring the living creatures into the ark. Once the seven days had expired, the Lord was to cause it to rain upon the Earth forty days and forty nights.
Noah may have been amazed at what he was hearing; “Rain? What is this you call Rain?” Never had it ever rained upon the Earth (Gen. 2:5-6). Can you imagine Methuselah and Noah’s one hundred and twenty year evangelism? It seemed like nonsense to the wicked of the Earth, who had no concept of the power of the weather, and never heard of rain, nor the power of water. The wicked most likely laughed at them, when Methuselah and Noah were warning them the whole one hundred and twenty years.
The second clause is a very precise statement made by the Lord God. Except for what was on the ark, “every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.” If it was not in the ark, it was to die! All animals, all fowls, all fish, all vegetation, all beasts, all insects, all giants, and all of mankind, was to die at this point in history. This was not placed upon only a specific location on the Earth, but every living substance from off of the entire face of the Earth.
Genesis 7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. As in Genesis 6:22, Moses repeated here that Noah had again obeyed the commands from the Lord and did all that He had commanded him. Noah was obedient to the Lord and trusted in Him totally. That is righteousness.
Genesis 7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. At this point in time, the Creation was 1,656 years of age. The flood waters were coming. Noah lived six hundred years in the pre-flood world, while he had been preaching to the wicked for one hundred and twenty of those years. Japheth was one hundred years old, while his brother, Shem, was around ninety-eight, and Ham around ninety-five years old. They had lived in the biosphere of the Creation, very mildly afflicted from the sun, as well as an atmosphere with literally twice the oxygen levels of the current post-flood Earth.
Genesis 7:7 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. The next four verses convey a seven day time period (Gen. 7:4, 10), which God had given Noah and his sons to bring all of the living creatures onto the ark. Strangely, Moses stated verse 7 before verse 8, when common sense tells us that Moses and his sons were the last to enter the ark, after they had secured the living creatures. We must put aside common sense here, and read the text. Verse 7:9 states that the animals came unto Noah into the ark. Therefore, Noah and his family were in the ark and leading the creatures to where they would stay, as God drew the creatures into the ark behind them.
The last clause is a bit redundant, or misleading. At this point, the rain had not started, nor did any of the flood waters come as of yet. Noah and his family did not rush onto the ark, because of the waters of the flood, if he had seven days to attend to his passengers. The translators have inserted the English conjunction “because” and preposition “of” for the inflected Hebrew noun “pān?m.” The Hebrew noun “pān?m” is defined as: “face, presence, surface,” while as a preposition, it means: “in front of, before, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of.” In the context of this verse, it is more fitting to use “before.” Noah and his family went into the ark, “before” the waters of the flood.
Genesis 7:8-9 8Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of everything that creeps upon the Earth, 9There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. Verses 8 and 9 need to be read and interpreted together. The four categories of creatures stated are clean beasts, unclean beasts, fowls (birds), and the creeping things (insects, reptiles, and amphibians). Verse 8 could be summarized to say: “of all the living creatures.” Of all the living creatures, there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
The translators have correctly translated the repeated Hebrew adjective/noun “??nayim ??nayim” as “two and two.” The expression “two and two” implies that the creatures were all coming aboard one couple behind another. One group of “two” was a couple consisting of the male and the female. The creatures came into the ark two and two, after Noah and his family had already entered the ark, just as verse 7:7 had indicated.
Genesis 7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. This verse explains the expiration of the seven days of management, which Noah and his family had to accomplish, as they assisted all of the living creatures to their locations within the large boat. Once the seven days had expired, the waters came. The detailed explanation of the closing of the large drawbridge door of the ark, and the manner in which the waters were released, follows within verses 11-20.
Genesis 7:11 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. The disclosure of Noah’s age here helps us know the exact age of the Creation, when the flood waters came (1,656 years); meanwhile, many will make the assumption that Noah had spent one hundred and twenty years evangelizing and building the ark. That assumption comes from a lack of disclosure within the writings by Moses. Without the extra-biblical books, certain ambiguity causes people to make wrong assumptions. Moses was vague, because he had already read the extra-biblical books, and trusted that these books would be used to fill in the blanks of ambiguity. The time taken for preparation was five years, which began when Noah was five hundred and ninety-five years old, then was finished when he was six hundred years old. (Gen. 7:6)
In his five hundred and ninety-fifth year Noah commenced to make the ark, and he made the ark in five years, as the Lord had commanded. (Book of Jash. 5:34)
The timekeeping became a little more precise here in verse 7:11, so that the elapse of time could be known between the time that the waters began and ended (Gen. 7:12, 24). The elapse of time, which Noah and his family had spent on the ark, can be utilized with this first disclosure of days as well (Gen. 8:13-14). The timekeeping pertains to Noah’s age, along with the biblical month, and day of that month; after Noah’s six hundredth birthday, then the second month of the calendar year followed, on that seventeenth day of that second month, the waters began to come. This was not the pagan Julian calendar, nor the secular Gregorian calendar, that currently reigns over the modern Earth. This was the twelve-thirty day month, biblical calendar used by the Hebrews (360 day years). This second month is known as the month of Iyar, which has been indicated to be the seventeenth day of Iyar that the flood waters began.
The 360 day calendar year had been used precisely, but through events, it is believed that the Earth’s revolutions around the sun had been changed. Knowing that the 360 day revolution had changed to 365.25 days, the Jewish people had to change their calendar to its complex system of today. Because of this, the Hebrew calendar is a comparatively imprecise system, in terms of reflecting the duration of a solar year. In comparison with the timing of the astronomical seasons, it is off by 1 day every 216 years.
On that same day, the waters came from two different locations; there were underground water tables that had been released, while causing a massive rush of water worldwide. The landscape of the entire planet had changed; all plant life and living creatures had been buried with a mass movement of earth, consisting of sand, gravel, and soils. This massive rush of earth buried alive everything that was upon the Earth. It would be correct to contemplate, that there were more deaths due to being buried alive, rather than having drowned from the water. The many fossils, found within the soils at various depths, can be attributed to the massive burial that had occurred. The atheistic worldview has been lied to and deceived into thinking that the Earth is billions of years old, based on incorrect assumptions, when analyzing the fossils of these creatures and plants (all the fountains of the great deep broken up).
The windows of heaven that opened up, were not of God’s heaven, otherwise called the third heaven. Referring back to Genesis 1:7-8, on the second day of creation, God created the Earth’s atmosphere (firmament), and He called it heaven; this should be referred to as the first heaven, while the stars, moons, and planets, were created on day four, and should be referred to as the second heaven (Gen. 1:14-18).
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (Gen. 1:7)
The waters, above the Earth’s atmosphere (firmament), were supernaturally being stored above the Earth. If this were clouds, then Moses would have used the Hebrew noun “ānān” instead of the Hebrew noun “mayim” for waters. As stated in verse 1:6, the firmament (Earth’s atmosphere) divided the waters in equal quantity (in the midst) between the waters on the face of the deep formless void (under the firmament), and the waters up above the Earth’s atmosphere (above the firmament). God had obviously had a plan for the huge quantity of waters above the Earth’s atmosphere (firmament), as well as those fountains of the deep.
The waters that were above the firmament (Earth’s atmosphere) had been supernaturally held (God’s windows), reserved for this time. This was an equal quantity above the Earth (Gen. 1:6), compared to what was already on the Earth. This water has remained upon the planet ever since, within the Earth’s precipitation cycles. Precipitation had been created on this day. God brought rain for the first time, by opening His supernatural windows, thus allowing the waters to release into the Earth’s atmosphere; this brought tremendous thunderhead clouds around the Earth for the very first time.
How frightening it may have seemed, as many people might have come running to the ark for help. Methuselah and Noah had been preaching to these people for one hundred and twenty years (Gen. 6:3); then the people became believers, once the judgment had come; unfortunately, they were five years too late (the windows of heaven were opened).
Genesis 7:12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The tremendous quantity of water (above the Earth’s atmosphere) had converted into clouds, once it had come in contact with the atmosphere. These tremendous thunderhead clouds, took forty days and forty nights (960 hours) to unload and fall upon the entire Earth. I highly doubt that this rain was the reason for the many deaths upon the Earth, because the massive populations of living were suddenly buried alive, including the masses of sea creatures. It may have been the birds, who may have eventually drowned, because they had no place to rest from flying, or may have even starved to death as there was no food.
Genesis 7:13 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; Verses 7:13-16 are a recollection of what had transpired over the seven days of entering into the ark (Gen. 7:1-5). In Genesis 7:4 and 7:10, Moses disclosed that the Lord gave them seven days to accomplish this; with this in mind, the selfsame day was on day seven, which Noah and his family (4 couples) were secured within the ark.
Genesis 7:14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. The pronoun “they” refers back to Noah and his family. This is a continuation from verse 7:13, which is a recollection of what transpired in the events of Genesis 7:1-5.
The most important disclosure here is the word used as “kind.” This English noun “kind” is translated from the Hebrew noun “m?n,” which is defined as: “kind, sometimes a species (usually of animals).” A lion is one of the species/kind called “cat.” Sorry, there were no other members of the cat species in the ark. The evolution of the cat has transpired over the last 4,400 years into many versions of the cat species (kind). There were two couples of the wolf/dog species (kind). That was it! The living creatures that came upon the ark were young versions (pups) of their kind, which then they grew to adulthood while on the ark. The behemoth (brontosaurus [Job 40:14-17]) was only a pup, then became a little bigger in that year on the ark. They ate less food and consumed less water, as the younger versions, until they were more mature. They were healthy couples, who had been blessed by the Lord to multiply within their new ecosystems. It is a good thing to have the Creator of the universe involved, as He made sure everything lived and prospered.
Genesis 7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. The pronoun “they” refers back to multiple nouns within the previous verse (beast, thing, fowl, bird). This recollection of what occurred within Genesis 7:1-5, was summed up first in verse 7:8-9, which confirms here that every kind (species) were those who had the breath of life. Except for the clean beasts (7 couples), every kind came into the ark unto Noah two and two. Two and two equals four, which is four divided by 2 couples, which equals two and two.
If a person wants to imply that this expression “two and two” should reflect the clean species also, then two by two would imply the manner that all species came into the ark. One couple (two) followed by the next couple (two), thus two by two.
Genesis 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in. The pronoun “they” refers back to the nouns of verse 7:14 (beast, thing, fowl, bird). The pronoun “him” reflects back to Noah in the previous verse. Genesis 7:2-3 and 9 all state that the creatures came unto the ark male and female. This verse reiterates that point.
The Lord had commanded Noah to bring the creatures into the ark, while the Lord actually sent the animals into the ark unto Noah (Gen. 7:1-3). Genesis 7:7 indicates that Noah and his family went into the ark first, then verse 7:8 indicates that the creatures were sent into the ark unto Noah. Genesis 7:15 confirms that the creature went into the ark unto Noah. Noah and his family’s duties were to lead the creatures to their dwelling place within the ark, after the creatures came unto them (as God had commanded him).
Noah’s responsibilities did not include shutting the big drawbridge type door, once everyone and everything had entered into the ark. This statement reveals that the door was shut, supernaturally, by the Lord God of heaven and Earth (and the Lord shut him in). It would make sense that Moses would imply that the Lord shut them in, but the inflected Hebrew verb “sā?ar” was modified into the third person, masculine singular. It is correct to say “him,” rather than “they” in this case, which reflects back to the noun, Noah from verse 7:15.
Genesis 7:17 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. We can conclude that once the Lord shut the ark, as indicated in the previous verse, that the flood waters came. Here, Moses divulged that the flood (mab?l) was forty days upon the Earth. Common sense tells us that this pertains to the increase of waters, since we know already from Genesis 7:9 that it rained forty days and nights, while Genesis 7:24 indicates that the waters prevailed for one hundred and fifty days. So all of the waters that increased was during that first forty days, when it bare up the ark. The ark was water proofed, and blessed in its stability by the Lord. It may have taken such great faith, by Noah and his family, in order to endure these very unusual circumstances. The ark was lifted up above the Earth and floated upon the great deluge (flood) as the waters increased.
Genesis 7:18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. This verse confirms that the flood waters prevailed over the land, while it increased greatly upon the Earth. The ark floated upon the face (top) of the waters. If you have a problem with these verses not indicating “all the Earth,” please refer to Genesis 7:19.
Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. The waters prevailed exceedingly upon the Earth, but not exceedingly over the high hills. The statement concerning the high hills does not depend upon the first sentence. It stands alone to say: “and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.”
The purpose of this verse was to indicate that every place that had dry land was covered, including all the high hills. This was not one location upon the Earth, but every high hill under the whole heaven. The heaven being spoken of here pertains to the first heaven, which would be the Earth’s atmosphere. This was not as cynical critics want to impose that the Flood of Noah was only the one location that Noah was living in, but the all the land that had high hills, that were under the entirety of the Earth’s atmosphere (first heaven).
It is safe to conclude that there were not any one (or two) mile-high mountains upon the Earth at this time. That would be an enormous amount of water, which would never be eliminated within the natural precipitation cycling process. Whatever water evaporates, eventually falls back to the ground in rainfall. The Hebrew noun “har” was translated as “hills” correctly, while it can be defined as: “hill, mountain.” Please refer to Genesis 7:20 for further explanation.
Genesis 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. This verse needs to be interpreted contextually. If verse 7:19 implies that the high hills were covered, then this verse must also be translated “hills,” being that Moses used the same Hebrew noun “har.” The intent was not to imply that the waters prevailed upward fifteen cubits above the hills, but prevailed fifteen cubits upward above the dry land, which covered the hills. Fifteen cubits can be converted to twenty-two and one half (22 ?) feet (1 cubit=18 in.). The high hills (Gen. 7:19) were covered, just as it says here in this verse.
With the waters having only prevailed twenty-two and one half feet above the dry land, while the all high hills were covered, then the high hills were no higher than the twenty-two and one half feet high above the lower levels of dry land. Non-believers have a hard time with this, since they do not believe in the power of God (see Gen. 8:4).
If the giants would have the height to survive this fifteen cubit depth of water, so how is it that they died? Without concluding that the force of the waters tripped them up to be buried, we can find an explanation within the Book of Jubilees.
6 And against the angels whom He had sent upon the Earth, He was exceedingly wroth, and He gave commandment to root them out of all their dominion, and He bade us to bind them in the depths of the Earth, and behold they are bound in the midst of them, and are (kept) separate. 7 And against their sons went forth a command from before His face that they should be smitten with the sword, and be removed from under heaven. (Bk. of Jub. 5:6-7)
Genesis 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth, and every man: With every piece of dry land covered by the waters, then there was no place for refuge. As disclosed within my commentary of Genesis 7:11-12, the landscape of the entire planet had changed; all plant life and living creatures had been buried with a mass movement of earth, consisting of sand, gravel, and soils. This massive rush of earth buried alive everything that was upon the Earth. It would be correct to contemplate, that there were more deaths due to being buried alive, rather than having drowned from the water. The many fossils, found within the soils at various depths, can be attributed to the massive burial that had occurred.
It may have been the birds, who may have eventually drowned, because they had no place to rest from flying, or may have even starved to death as there was no food.
Genesis 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. The important word in this verse is the word “all.” Though the massive movement of earth may have killed many sea creatures, it did not kill all of them. This verse implies that all who breathed with nostrils, which had dwelled on dry land, had died. The breath of life is all living creatures with nostrils that allowed for them to breathe.
Genesis 7:23 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. The second clause of Genesis 7:4 was a precise statement made by the Lord God. Except for what was on the ark, “every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.” If it was not in the ark, it was to die! All animals, all fowls, all vegetation, all beasts, all insects, all giants, and all of mankind, was to die at this point in history. This was not placed upon only a specific location on the Earth, but every living substance which was upon the face of the ground. The force of the waters, moved the sand, soils, and gravel, which buried alive nearly all living substances (except flying creatures). The flying creatures would have no place to rest, nor food to survive, thus had drowned. No plants survived, but the Lord most likely provided the seeds for the regrowth, once the land was to be dry again.
It was only Noah, his wife, his three sons, their wives, and all of the living creatures in the ark that did survive.
Genesis 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. The verb “prevailed” is translated from the Hebrew verb “gā?ar,” which is defined as: “to prevail, have strength, be strong, be powerful, be mighty.” The waters remained strong upon the Earth for one hundred and fifty days (five months). Genesis 8:1-3 explains what was meant by the statement here in Genesis 7:24. It can be concluded that the waters waves and currents may have been strong even after the rains stopped, meanwhile the winds may have kept the waves rolling.