When God’s appointed time for judgment arrived, He brought the flood upon the corrupt world, yet He preserved Noah and all within the ark by His sovereign power and faithful word.
God Brings the Flood in Judgment and Preserves Noah in the Ark
When God’s appointed time for judgment arrived, He brought the flood upon the corrupt world, yet He preserved Noah and all within the ark by His sovereign power and faithful word.
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When God’s appointed time for judgment arrived, He brought the flood upon the corrupt world, yet He preserved Noah and all within the ark by His sovereign power and faithful word.
Genesis 7 demonstrates that divine judgment is certain, comprehensive, and perfectly timed, while divine preservation is equally certain for those sheltered within God’s appointed means of rescue. The chapter underscores that Noah’s righteousness is real, yet his preservation remains grounded in God’s prior grace and covenant purpose. The repeated emphasis on Noah doing all that God commanded reinforces the nature of obedient faith.
The flood itself is described in de-creation terms. The bursting forth of the deep and opening of the heavens indicate a reversal of the ordered world established in Genesis 1. The waters that had once been bounded now overwhelm the earth because humanity has filled that ordered world with violence and corruption. Yet the ark floats above judgment, not because of human ingenuity, but because God preserves it.
The statement that the Lord shut him in is especially significant, revealing that final security rests not in Noah’s hand but in God’s sovereign action. The chapter therefore teaches both the terrifying breadth of divine wrath and the absolute reliability of God’s salvation. Outside the ark there is universal death; inside the ark there is preserved life. Genesis 7 thus deepens the biblical pattern of judgment and refuge, destruction and remnant, wrath and salvation through divinely appointed means.
Genesis 7 continues the flood narrative by moving from divine warning and ark preparation into the actual outpouring of judgment. What Genesis 6 announced, Genesis 7 executes. The chapter stands within the primeval history of Genesis 1–11 and demonstrates that God’s judgment against corruption is not merely threatened but historically enacted. At the same time, the chapter also highlights the precision of divine faithfulness in preserving Noah, his household, and the living creatures God appointed for survival.
The flood account is not presented as mythic chaos overcoming creation, but as the sovereign Creator using the waters of judgment to unmake the corrupt world and preserve a remnant through His ordained means. Genesis 7 therefore intensifies themes of holiness, wrath, obedience, covenant preservation, and salvation through divine enclosure.
The Lord commands Noah and his household to enter the ark, declares Noah righteous before Him in that generation, and gives instructions concerning clean and unclean animals and the coming seven-day period before the rain begins.
Noah, his family, and the animals enter the ark as commanded, and the final days of waiting pass.
In Noah’s six hundredth year the flood begins, the fountains of the great deep burst forth, the windows of the heavens are opened, creatures enter the ark by kinds, and the Lord shuts Noah in.
The waters prevail, lifting the ark and covering even the highest mountains.
All flesh outside the ark perishes, including humanity, animals, creeping things, and birds; only Noah and those with him in the ark remain alive.
The waters prevail upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
- 7:1-5: The Lord commands Noah and his household to enter the ark, declares Noah righteous before Him in that generation, and gives instructions concerning clean and unclean animals and the coming seven-day period before the rain begins.
- 7:6-10: Noah, his family, and the animals enter the ark as commanded, and the final days of waiting pass.
- 7:11-16: In Noah’s six hundredth year the flood begins, the fountains of the great deep burst forth, the windows of the heavens are opened, creatures enter the ark by kinds, and the Lord shuts Noah in.
- 7:17-20: The waters prevail, lifting the ark and covering even the highest mountains.
- 7:21-23: All flesh outside the ark perishes, including humanity, animals, creeping things, and birds · only Noah and those with him in the ark remain alive.
- 7:24: The waters prevail upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Sense ark
Definition ark
Why it matters The ark is the God-ordained means by which life is preserved through judgment, making it a central symbol of salvation through divine provision.
Pastoral Entry
צַדִּיק (tsaddiq) is an adjective meaning righteous, just, or in the right. It can modify a person directly or function as a noun-like description, “the righteous.” The standard and scope come from the passage. Genesis 6:9 describes Noah as righteous and blameless in his generation, while Deuteronomy 25:1 speaks of the party a court declares to be in the right. A person may therefore be called righteous with reference to a life oriented toward God, a pattern of faithful conduct, or a particular dispute. None of those uses makes the person sinless, omniscient, or immune from correction.
The word’s judicial uses protect both truth and people. Exodus 23:7 forbids killing the innocent or just through a false accusation. Deuteronomy 25:1 requires judges to distinguish the righteous party from the wicked party. Such language can be case-specific: being right regarding one charge is not a declaration that every action in a person’s life is right. This distinction matters in churches, families, and institutions. A respected reputation must not erase evidence, and an accusation must not become a verdict before fair examination. Biblical righteousness does not oppose due process; it requires judgments that correspond to truth.
Wisdom and prophecy broaden the portrait without dissolving it. Psalm 1 speaks of the path of the righteous, Proverbs 29:7 shows the righteous attending to the cause of the poor, and Habakkuk 2:4 contrasts proud crookedness with the righteous person who lives by faith. Isaiah 53:11 presents the righteous Servant who justifies many and bears their iniquities, while Zechariah 9:9 announces a righteous and victorious King who comes humbly. These messianic passages warrant canonical movement toward Christ, but the adjective alone does not contain a complete doctrine of justification. Tsaddiq names a person or party as right according to the relation in view. Faithful teaching must ask who is described, by what standard, in what matter, and with what fruit.
Sense righteous
Definition righteous
Why it matters Noah is identified as righteous before God in his generation, highlighting his distinct moral posture within a corrupt world.
Pastoral Entry
בּוֹא (bo) is the Hebrew verb of coming and entering — and at its theological center it is the verb of entering YHWH's presence. 'Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise' (bo'u lish'arav betodah, Ps 100:4) — the simplest summary of Israelite worship is a bo: come in, enter, arrive before YHWH. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 2,592 occurrences and pairs constantly with יָצָא (yatsa, H3318, to go out) as a fundamental directional pair for movement and life.
Psalm 100:4 gives bo its worship-entrance use: 'Enter (bo'u) his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!' The psalm is a call to all the earth to bo before YHWH: know that YHWH is God (v. 3), come into his presence (v. 2), enter his gates with thanksgiving (v. 4). The bo of worship is not a casual arrival — it is a deliberate, grateful, praise-filled entrance into YHWH's space.
Psalm 24:7-10 gives bo its royal-enthronement use: 'Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in (yavo)! Who is this King of glory? YHWH, strong and mighty, YHWH, mighty in battle!' The gates are commanded to open for YHWH's bo. The ark's return to Jerusalem after battle (the probable original setting) becomes a liturgy of YHWH's triumphal bo into his city. The question 'who is this King of glory?' (v. 8, 10) — and the answer 'YHWH of hosts, he is the King of glory!' — makes the bo of YHWH into his city the climax of the psalm.
Exodus 20:24 gives bo its covenant-promise form: 'in every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come (abo) to you and bless you.' YHWH is not only the one who receives the bo of his people — he himself bo's to his people. The divine bo to bless is YHWH's covenantal commitment: wherever his people gather in his name, he comes.
Isaiah 60:1 gives bo its eschatological advent: 'Arise, shine, for your light has come (ba), and the glory of YHWH has risen upon you.' The bo of light and glory is YHWH's eschatological arrival at the end of the long night: 'for behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but YHWH will rise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you' (v. 2). The bo of glory signals the new age.
Deuteronomy 6:10 gives bo its land-entrance form: 'And when YHWH your God brings you (hibiacha, Hiphil) into the land...' The land-entrance is a divine Hiphil bo: YHWH brings his people in. Their entrance into the inheritance is not their achievement — it is YHWH's Hiphil, his causing them to come in.
For the preacher, בּוֹא (bo) gives the congregation the posture of worship: come in. Not wander in, not drift in, but deliberately enter YHWH's presence with thanksgiving. And the God who says 'enter my gates' is himself the God who says 'I will come to you and bless you.' These selected worship texts place two movements alongside each other: worshipers enter, and YHWH comes to bless.
Sense come, enter
Definition come, enter
Why it matters The repeated entering language emphasizes response to divine invitation and obedience in taking refuge within God’s appointed means of safety.
Sense flood
Definition flood
Why it matters The flood is the instrument of divine judgment that uncreates the corrupt world while sparing the remnant in the ark.
Sense rain
Definition rain
Why it matters The forty days of rain signal the execution of God’s announced judgment through the heavens as part of the de-creation event.
Sense fountains of the great deep
Definition fountains of the great deep
Why it matters This phrase underscores the reversal of creation order as the deep once bounded by God now bursts forth in judgment.
Sense windows of the heavens
Definition windows of the heavens
Why it matters The heavens themselves are opened in judgment, reinforcing the cosmic scale of the flood as divine de-creation.
Pastoral Entry
H5462 means to shut, close, confine, enclose, or deliver someone over. In Gen. 2. 21, God closes flesh over the place from which He forms the woman. In 2Kgs. 4. 4, a widow shuts the door with her sons while the provided oil fills borrowed vessels. In Deut. 23. 15, Israel must not deliver an escaped slave back to the master from whom refuge was sought. H5462 opens teaching on protective privacy, bodily wholeness, confinement, access and authority, surrendered populations, and refuge from exploitation.
It does not prove that infertility is punishment, authorize secretive ministry control, or permit returning a vulnerable person to an abuser. Context decides who closes, who is confined, and whether the action protects or harms.
Sense shut, enclose
Definition shut, enclose
Why it matters The Lord shutting Noah in highlights divine initiative and security, showing that preservation depends finally on God’s act, not man’s.
Sense prevail, become mighty
Definition prevail, become mighty
Why it matters The repeated language of waters prevailing emphasizes the overwhelming, irresistible force of the judgment.
Sense all flesh
Definition all flesh
Why it matters The phrase underscores the comprehensive extent of judgment on life outside the ark.
Sense blot out, wipe away
Definition blot out, wipe away
Why it matters The language of blotting out conveys the judicial thoroughness of God’s response to a world saturated with corruption.
Pastoral Entry
H7604 describes someone or something remaining after others depart or are removed, and in causative settings it can describe deliberately leaving, preserving, reserving, or sparing a remainder. The verb can name an ordinary person still present, survivors after violence, what a ruler fails to remove, or people God reserves; survival itself does not determine innocence or favor.
In 1Sam. 16. 11, jesse explains that the youngest son still remains with the sheep until Samuel insists that David be brought. In 1Kgs. 19. 18, god corrects Elijahs isolation by declaring that seven thousand in Israel have been reserved from Baal worship. H7604 opens teaching on remaining people and consequences after crisis, including divine preservation, overlooked faithfulness, ordinary absence, and the devastation of violent removal.
It corrects triumphal claims that survivors must be morally superior, as well as despairing claims that visible isolation proves no faithful witness remains. H7604 can be quiet or severe: David is still with the sheep when Samuel asks about the remaining son, God reserves thousands who have not bowed to Baal, and Baashas house-cleansing leaves no survivor from Jeroboams line.
For H7604, responsible teaching keeps lexical meaning, passage context, canonical synthesis, and present application distinguishable. The verb does not explain every survival, guarantee safety for faithful people, or permit communities to spiritualize the trauma of those left after violence and loss.
Sense remain, be left
Definition remain, be left
Why it matters The remnant language stresses that preservation is selective and gracious, not universal.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
| v.1 | H935בּוֹאQal · Imperative · ImperativeH7200רָאָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.10 | H1961הָיָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.11 | H1234בָּקַעNiphal · Perfect · IndicativeH6605פָּתַחNiphal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.13 | H935בּוֹאQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.16 | H935בּוֹאQal · Perfect · IndicativeH6680צָוָהPiel · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.19 | H1396גָּבַרQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.2 | H3947לָקַחQal · Imperfect · Indicative/jussive |
| v.20 | H1396גָּבַרQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.22 | H4191מוּתQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.4 | H4305מָטַרHiphil · ParticipleH6213עָשָׂהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.6 | H1961הָיָהQal · Perfect · Indicative |
| v.8 | H7430רָמַשׂQal · Participle |
| v.9 | H935בּוֹאQal · Perfect · IndicativeH6680צָוָהPiel · Perfect · Indicative |
Aspect in Hebrew is grammatical form, not tense. Perfect = completed action; Imperfect = incomplete/ongoing. Stem modifies action type (Qal=simple, Niphal=passive, Piel=intensive).
Morphology: OSHB WLC (Open Scriptures, CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible TEHMC (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0)
Theological Focus
- Judgment
- Divine Wrath
- Obedient Faith
- Preservation
- Covenant Faithfulness
- Creation Reversal
- Remnant Theology
- Salvation Through Refuge
- Theology Proper
- Soteriology Preparation
- Covenant Theology
- Providence
- Hamartiology
- Biblical Theology
Theme Weights
Covenant Significance
Genesis 7 advances the covenantal framework introduced in Genesis 6 by showing the actual preservation of Noah under God’s covenant purpose. The chapter demonstrates that God’s covenant word is effective in history. Noah is not merely promised preservation, but actually carried through judgment according to divine commitment. The ark becomes the covenantal vessel of survival, and Noah’s household is preserved as the seedbed of post-flood humanity.
This chapter therefore confirms that God’s covenant purposes remain secure even when judgment falls universally around them.
Canonical Connections
Genesis 7 advances the covenantal framework introduced in Genesis 6 by showing the actual preservation of Noah under God’s covenant purpose. The chapter demonstrates that God’s covenant word is effective in history. Noah is not merely promised preservation, but actually carried through judgment according to divine commitment. The ark becomes the covenantal vessel of survival, and Noah’s household is preserved as the seedbed of post-flood humanity.
This chapter therefore confirms that God’s covenant purposes remain secure even when judgment falls universally around them.
Genesis 6:13-22
Psalm 32:6
Isaiah 26:20-21
Nahum 1:7-8
Habakkuk 3:8-13
Genesis 6:5-22
Genesis 8:1-19
Exodus 14:21-31
2 Peter 3:5-7
Cross References
Canon-Wide Connections
Cross-reference data: OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
Primary Emphasis
Genesis 7 contributes to Christology by sharpening the typology of salvation through a God-appointed refuge. Just as all outside the ark perish and all within it are preserved, so Christ is later revealed as the only true refuge from divine judgment. The ark is not itself the savior, but it is the ordained means of rescue, pointing forward to the exclusivity and sufficiency of Christ.
The Lord shutting Noah in also foreshadows the security of salvation being grounded in God’s action, not man’s. Noah’s preservation through waters of judgment further prepares the canonical pattern of salvation through judgment that finds its climactic fulfillment in Christ’s saving work.
Chapter Contribution
Genesis 7 demonstrates that divine judgment is certain, comprehensive, and perfectly timed, while divine preservation is equally certain for those sheltered within God’s appointed means of rescue. The chapter underscores that Noah’s righteousness is real, yet his preservation remains grounded in God’s prior grace and covenant purpose. The repeated emphasis on Noah doing all that God commanded reinforces the nature of obedient faith.
The flood itself is described in de-creation terms. The bursting forth of the deep and opening of the heavens indicate a reversal of the ordered world established in Genesis 1. The waters that had once been bounded now overwhelm the earth because humanity has filled that ordered world with violence and corruption. Yet the ark floats above judgment, not because of human ingenuity, but because God preserves it.
The statement that the Lord shut him in is especially significant, revealing that final security rests not in Noah’s hand but in God’s sovereign action. The chapter therefore teaches both the terrifying breadth of divine wrath and the absolute reliability of God’s salvation. Outside the ark there is universal death; inside the ark there is preserved life. Genesis 7 thus deepens the biblical pattern of judgment and refuge, destruction and remnant, wrath and salvation through divinely appointed means.
God controls both judgment and salvation according to His will.
God’s actions unfold precisely according to His appointed time.
Only those within God’s appointed means are preserved.
God’s judgment comes exactly as He has declared.
True faith responds to God’s word with complete obedience.
God maintains order even in the midst of judgment.
God fully preserves those whom He has called into His provision.
God recognizes and preserves those who live in alignment with Him.
God Himself secures those who are within His provision.
God distinguishes between the righteous and the rest of humanity.
Sin results in widespread and devastating judgment.
God’s judgment is comprehensive and affects all outside His provision.
6 Imperatives
- Enter the ark
- Bring household into refuge
- Preserve clean and unclean creatures as commanded
- Respond before the seven-day warning period ends
- Genesis 7 warns that when God’s patience gives way to judgment, His wrath is total, inescapable outside His appointed refuge, and devastating to all who remain in rebellion.
- Treating the flood primarily as a children’s story rather than a terrifying act of holy judgment against a corrupt world.
- Assuming Noah’s preservation was earned in a meritorious sense instead of recognizing that obedience functions within the prior framework of divine favor and covenant purpose.
- Reducing the ark to a symbol of human effort when the text stresses divine command, divine timing, and the Lord Himself shutting Noah in.
- Ignoring the de-creation imagery and thus missing how the flood functions as an undoing of the ordered world because of sin.
- Reading the destruction language lightly and failing to reckon with the comprehensiveness of judgment outside the ark.
- Missing the pastoral force of the chapter, namely that judgment delayed is not judgment canceled.
- Do you mistake God’s patience for indifference, or do you live with sober awareness that His judgment arrives at the appointed time?
- What does Noah’s careful obedience teach you about responding to God’s word even when the world around you continues as though nothing is wrong?
- Are you taking refuge in God’s appointed salvation, or are you assuming that ordinary life will continue without interruption?
- How does the image of the Lord shutting Noah in deepen your understanding of the security of those whom God preserves?
- In what ways does this chapter confront casual, domesticated views of God’s holiness and wrath?
- Preach Genesis 7 with its full weight, showing that divine judgment is real, historical, and morally grounded in human wickedness.
- Use the chapter to call people away from complacency and toward urgent refuge in God’s appointed means of salvation.
- Teach that true faith obeys comprehensively, even before the visible evidence of judgment appears.
- Show believers that their security rests finally in God’s preserving action, not merely in their own grip.
- Use the flood imagery to confront false assurance rooted in cultural normalcy, prosperity, or outward stability.
- Point clearly to Christ as the only ark of safety from the coming judgment of God.
- Help the church feel both the terror of being outside God’s refuge and the comfort of being enclosed by His faithful hand.
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
6
Very high
- Enter the ark
- Bring household into refuge
- Preserve clean and unclean creatures as commanded
- Respond before the seven-day warning period ends
C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–91) — public domain
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
Genesis 7 advances the covenantal framework introduced in Genesis 6 by showing the actual preservation of Noah under God’s covenant purpose. The chapter demonstrates that God’s covenant word is effective in history. Noah is not merely promised preservation, but actually carried through judgment according to divine commitment. The ark becomes the covenantal vessel of survival, and Noah’s household is preserved as the seedbed of post-flood humanity.
This chapter therefore confirms that God’s covenant purposes remain secure even when judgment falls universally around them.
Genesis 7 shows that judgment is not an abstract doctrine but a reality that falls in history when God’s appointed time arrives. The flood destroys all outside the ark, while those inside are preserved by God’s provision and power. This chapter therefore prepares the heart to understand the exclusivity of salvation. There is no safety outside God’s appointed refuge.
In the fullness of Scripture, that refuge is Christ. Just as Noah entered the ark by faith and was shut in by the Lord, sinners are saved from coming wrath only by union with Jesus Christ, who bears judgment and secures the safety of all who belong to Him.
Focus Points
- Judgment
- Divine Wrath
- Obedient Faith
- Preservation
- Covenant Faithfulness
- Creation Reversal
- Remnant Theology
- Salvation Through Refuge
- Theology Proper
- Soteriology Preparation
- Covenant Theology
- Providence
- Hamartiology
- Biblical Theology
Cross References
Passages
Chapter opening: Genesis 7:1-10
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz. , seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): “ Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth; ” and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9.
There follows next the account of the bursting forth of the flood, the date being given with still greater minuteness; and the entrance of the men and animals into the ark is again described as being fully accomplished (Gen 7:10-16). - The fact that in the command to enter the ark a distinction is now made between clean and unclean animals, seven of the former being ordered to be taken, - i.
e. , three pair and a single one, probably a male for sacrifice-is no more a proof of different authorship, or of the fusion of two accounts, than the interchange of the names Jehovah and Elohim . For the distinction between clean and unclean animals did not originate with Moses, but was confirmed by him as a long established custom, in harmony with the law.
It reached back to the very earliest times, and arose from a certain innate feeling of the human mind, when undisturbed by unnatural and ungodly influences, which detects types of sin and corruption in many animals, and instinctively recoils from them (see my biblische Archäeologie ii. p. 20). That the variations in the names of God furnish no criterion by which to detect different documents, is evident enough from the fact, that in Gen 7:1 it is Jehovah who commands Noah to enter the ark, and in Gen 7:4 Noah does as Elohim had commanded, whilst in Gen 7:16, in two successive clauses, Elohim alternates with Jehovah -the animals entering the ark at the command of Elohim , and Jehovah shutting Noah in.
With regard to the entrance of the animals into the ark, it is worthy of notice, that in Gen 7:9 and Gen 7:15 it is stated that “ they came two and two ,” and in Gen 7:16 that “ the coming ones came male and female of all flesh . ” In this expression “they came” it is clearly intimated, that the animals collected about Noah and were taken into the ark, without his having to exert himself to collect them, and that they did so in consequence of an instinct produced by God, like that which frequently leads animals to scent and try to flee from dangers, of which man has no presentiment.
The time when the flood commenced is said to have been the 600th year of Noah’s life, on the 17th day of the second month (Gen 7:11). The months must be reckoned, not according to the Mosaic ecclesiastical year, which commenced in the spring, but according to the natural of civil year, which commenced in the autumn at the beginning of sowing time, or the autumnal equinox; so that the flood would be pouring upon the earth in October and November.
“ The same day were all the fountains of the great deep (תּהום the unfathomable ocean) broken up, and the sluices (windows, lattices) of heaven opened, and there was (happened, came) pouring rain (גּשׁם in distinction from טטר) upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights . ” Thus the flood was produced by the bursting forth of fountains hidden within the earth, which drove seas and rivers above their banks, and by rain which continued incessantly for 40 days and 40 nights.
Gen 7:13-16 “ In the self-same day had Noah... entered into the ark: ” בּא, pluperfect “ had come ,” not came , which would require יבא. The idea is not that Noah, with his family and all the animals, entered the ark on the very day on which the rain began, but that on that day he had entered, had completed the entering, which occupied the seven days between the giving of the command (Gen 7:4) and the commencement of the flood (Gen 7:10).
Gen 7:17-24 contain a description of the flood: how the water increased more and more, till it was 15 cubits above all the lofty mountains of the earth, and how, on the one hand, it raised the ark above the earth and above the mountains, and, on the other, destroyed every living being upon the dry land, from man to cattle, creeping things, and birds. “The description is simple and majestic; the almighty judgment of God, and the love manifest in the midst of the wrath, hold the historian fast.
The tautologies depict the fearful monotony of the immeasurable expanse of water: omnia pontus erant et deerant litera ponto . ” The words of Gen 7:17, “ and the flood was (came) upon the earth for forty days ,” relate to the 40 days’ rain combined with the bursting forth of the foundations beneath the earth. By these the water was eventually raised to the height given, at which it remained 150 days (Gen 7:24).
But if the water covered “ all the high hills under the whole heaven ,” this clearly indicates the universality of the flood. The statement, indeed, that it rose 15 cubits above the mountains, is probably founded upon the fact, that the ark drew 15 feet of water, and that when the waters subsided, it rested upon the top of Ararat, from which the conclusion would very naturally be drawn as to the greatest height attained.
Now as Ararat, according to the measurement of Perrot , is only 16,254 feet high, whereas the loftiest peaks of the Himalaya and Cordilleras are as much as 26,843, the submersion of these mountains has been thought impossible, and the statement in Gen 7:19 has been regarded as a rhetorical expression, like Deu 2:25 and Deu 4:19, which is not of universal application. But even if those peaks, which are higher than Ararat, were not covered by water, we cannot therefore pronounce the flood merely partial in its extent, but must regard it as universal, as extending over every part of the world, since the few peaks uncovered would not only sink into vanishing points in comparison with the surface covered, but would form an exception not worth mentioning, for the simple reason that no living beings could exist upon these mountains, covered with perpetual snow and ice; so that everything that lived upon the dry land, in whose nostrils there was a breath of life , would inevitably die, and, with the exception of those shut up in the ark, neither man nor beast would be able to rescue itself, and escape destruction.
A flood which rose 15 cubits above the top of Ararat could not remain partial, if it only continued a few days, to say nothing of the fact that the water was rising for 40 days, and remained at the highest elevation for 150 days. To speak of such a flood as partial is absurd, even if it broke out at only one spot, it would spread over the earth from one end to the other, and reach everywhere to the same elevation.
However impossible, therefore, scientific men may declare it to be for them to conceive of a universal flood of such a height and duration in accordance with the known laws of nature, this inability on their part does not justify any one in questioning the possibility of such an event being produced by the omnipotence of God. It has been justly remarked, too, that the proportion of such a quantity of water to the entire mass of the earth, in relation to which the mountains are but like the scratches of a needle on a globe, is no greater than that of a profuse perspiration to the body of a man.
And to this must be added, that, apart from the legend of a flood, which is found in nearly every nation, the earth presents unquestionable traces of submersion in the fossil remains of animals and plants, which are found upon the Cordilleras and Himalaya even beyond the limit of perpetual snow. In Gen 7:23, instead of ויּמּח ( imperf. Niphal ) read ויּמח ( imperf.
Kal ): “ and He ( Jehovah ) destroyed every existing thing, ” as He had said in Gen 7:4.
Gen 7:13-16 “ In the self-same day had Noah... entered into the ark: ” בּא, pluperfect “ had come ,” not came , which would require יבא. The idea is not that Noah, with his family and all the animals, entered the ark on the very day on which the rain began, but that on that day he had entered, had completed the entering, which occupied the seven days between the giving of the command (Gen 7:4) and the commencement of the flood (Gen 7:10).
Gen 7:17-24 contain a description of the flood: how the water increased more and more, till it was 15 cubits above all the lofty mountains of the earth, and how, on the one hand, it raised the ark above the earth and above the mountains, and, on the other, destroyed every living being upon the dry land, from man to cattle, creeping things, and birds. “The description is simple and majestic; the almighty judgment of God, and the love manifest in the midst of the wrath, hold the historian fast.
The tautologies depict the fearful monotony of the immeasurable expanse of water: omnia pontus erant et deerant litera ponto . ” The words of Gen 7:17, “ and the flood was (came) upon the earth for forty days ,” relate to the 40 days’ rain combined with the bursting forth of the foundations beneath the earth. By these the water was eventually raised to the height given, at which it remained 150 days (Gen 7:24).
But if the water covered “ all the high hills under the whole heaven ,” this clearly indicates the universality of the flood. The statement, indeed, that it rose 15 cubits above the mountains, is probably founded upon the fact, that the ark drew 15 feet of water, and that when the waters subsided, it rested upon the top of Ararat, from which the conclusion would very naturally be drawn as to the greatest height attained.
Now as Ararat, according to the measurement of Perrot , is only 16,254 feet high, whereas the loftiest peaks of the Himalaya and Cordilleras are as much as 26,843, the submersion of these mountains has been thought impossible, and the statement in Gen 7:19 has been regarded as a rhetorical expression, like Deu 2:25 and Deu 4:19, which is not of universal application. But even if those peaks, which are higher than Ararat, were not covered by water, we cannot therefore pronounce the flood merely partial in its extent, but must regard it as universal, as extending over every part of the world, since the few peaks uncovered would not only sink into vanishing points in comparison with the surface covered, but would form an exception not worth mentioning, for the simple reason that no living beings could exist upon these mountains, covered with perpetual snow and ice; so that everything that lived upon the dry land, in whose nostrils there was a breath of life , would inevitably die, and, with the exception of those shut up in the ark, neither man nor beast would be able to rescue itself, and escape destruction.
A flood which rose 15 cubits above the top of Ararat could not remain partial, if it only continued a few days, to say nothing of the fact that the water was rising for 40 days, and remained at the highest elevation for 150 days. To speak of such a flood as partial is absurd, even if it broke out at only one spot, it would spread over the earth from one end to the other, and reach everywhere to the same elevation.
However impossible, therefore, scientific men may declare it to be for them to conceive of a universal flood of such a height and duration in accordance with the known laws of nature, this inability on their part does not justify any one in questioning the possibility of such an event being produced by the omnipotence of God. It has been justly remarked, too, that the proportion of such a quantity of water to the entire mass of the earth, in relation to which the mountains are but like the scratches of a needle on a globe, is no greater than that of a profuse perspiration to the body of a man.
And to this must be added, that, apart from the legend of a flood, which is found in nearly every nation, the earth presents unquestionable traces of submersion in the fossil remains of animals and plants, which are found upon the Cordilleras and Himalaya even beyond the limit of perpetual snow. In Gen 7:23, instead of ויּמּח ( imperf. Niphal ) read ויּמח ( imperf.
Kal ): “ and He ( Jehovah ) destroyed every existing thing, ” as He had said in Gen 7:4.
Gen 7:13-16 “ In the self-same day had Noah... entered into the ark: ” בּא, pluperfect “ had come ,” not came , which would require יבא. The idea is not that Noah, with his family and all the animals, entered the ark on the very day on which the rain began, but that on that day he had entered, had completed the entering, which occupied the seven days between the giving of the command (Gen 7:4) and the commencement of the flood (Gen 7:10).
Gen 7:17-24 contain a description of the flood: how the water increased more and more, till it was 15 cubits above all the lofty mountains of the earth, and how, on the one hand, it raised the ark above the earth and above the mountains, and, on the other, destroyed every living being upon the dry land, from man to cattle, creeping things, and birds. “The description is simple and majestic; the almighty judgment of God, and the love manifest in the midst of the wrath, hold the historian fast.
The tautologies depict the fearful monotony of the immeasurable expanse of water: omnia pontus erant et deerant litera ponto . ” The words of Gen 7:17, “ and the flood was (came) upon the earth for forty days ,” relate to the 40 days’ rain combined with the bursting forth of the foundations beneath the earth. By these the water was eventually raised to the height given, at which it remained 150 days (Gen 7:24).
But if the water covered “ all the high hills under the whole heaven ,” this clearly indicates the universality of the flood. The statement, indeed, that it rose 15 cubits above the mountains, is probably founded upon the fact, that the ark drew 15 feet of water, and that when the waters subsided, it rested upon the top of Ararat, from which the conclusion would very naturally be drawn as to the greatest height attained.
Now as Ararat, according to the measurement of Perrot , is only 16,254 feet high, whereas the loftiest peaks of the Himalaya and Cordilleras are as much as 26,843, the submersion of these mountains has been thought impossible, and the statement in Gen 7:19 has been regarded as a rhetorical expression, like Deu 2:25 and Deu 4:19, which is not of universal application. But even if those peaks, which are higher than Ararat, were not covered by water, we cannot therefore pronounce the flood merely partial in its extent, but must regard it as universal, as extending over every part of the world, since the few peaks uncovered would not only sink into vanishing points in comparison with the surface covered, but would form an exception not worth mentioning, for the simple reason that no living beings could exist upon these mountains, covered with perpetual snow and ice; so that everything that lived upon the dry land, in whose nostrils there was a breath of life , would inevitably die, and, with the exception of those shut up in the ark, neither man nor beast would be able to rescue itself, and escape destruction.
A flood which rose 15 cubits above the top of Ararat could not remain partial, if it only continued a few days, to say nothing of the fact that the water was rising for 40 days, and remained at the highest elevation for 150 days. To speak of such a flood as partial is absurd, even if it broke out at only one spot, it would spread over the earth from one end to the other, and reach everywhere to the same elevation.
However impossible, therefore, scientific men may declare it to be for them to conceive of a universal flood of such a height and duration in accordance with the known laws of nature, this inability on their part does not justify any one in questioning the possibility of such an event being produced by the omnipotence of God. It has been justly remarked, too, that the proportion of such a quantity of water to the entire mass of the earth, in relation to which the mountains are but like the scratches of a needle on a globe, is no greater than that of a profuse perspiration to the body of a man.
And to this must be added, that, apart from the legend of a flood, which is found in nearly every nation, the earth presents unquestionable traces of submersion in the fossil remains of animals and plants, which are found upon the Cordilleras and Himalaya even beyond the limit of perpetual snow. In Gen 7:23, instead of ויּמּח ( imperf. Niphal ) read ויּמח ( imperf.
Kal ): “ and He ( Jehovah ) destroyed every existing thing, ” as He had said in Gen 7:4.
Gen 7:13-16 “ In the self-same day had Noah... entered into the ark: ” בּא, pluperfect “ had come ,” not came , which would require יבא. The idea is not that Noah, with his family and all the animals, entered the ark on the very day on which the rain began, but that on that day he had entered, had completed the entering, which occupied the seven days between the giving of the command (Gen 7:4) and the commencement of the flood (Gen 7:10).
Gen 7:17-24 contain a description of the flood: how the water increased more and more, till it was 15 cubits above all the lofty mountains of the earth, and how, on the one hand, it raised the ark above the earth and above the mountains, and, on the other, destroyed every living being upon the dry land, from man to cattle, creeping things, and birds. “The description is simple and majestic; the almighty judgment of God, and the love manifest in the midst of the wrath, hold the historian fast.
The tautologies depict the fearful monotony of the immeasurable expanse of water: omnia pontus erant et deerant litera ponto . ” The words of Gen 7:17, “ and the flood was (came) upon the earth for forty days ,” relate to the 40 days’ rain combined with the bursting forth of the foundations beneath the earth. By these the water was eventually raised to the height given, at which it remained 150 days (Gen 7:24).
But if the water covered “ all the high hills under the whole heaven ,” this clearly indicates the universality of the flood. The statement, indeed, that it rose 15 cubits above the mountains, is probably founded upon the fact, that the ark drew 15 feet of water, and that when the waters subsided, it rested upon the top of Ararat, from which the conclusion would very naturally be drawn as to the greatest height attained.
Now as Ararat, according to the measurement of Perrot , is only 16,254 feet high, whereas the loftiest peaks of the Himalaya and Cordilleras are as much as 26,843, the submersion of these mountains has been thought impossible, and the statement in Gen 7:19 has been regarded as a rhetorical expression, like Deu 2:25 and Deu 4:19, which is not of universal application. But even if those peaks, which are higher than Ararat, were not covered by water, we cannot therefore pronounce the flood merely partial in its extent, but must regard it as universal, as extending over every part of the world, since the few peaks uncovered would not only sink into vanishing points in comparison with the surface covered, but would form an exception not worth mentioning, for the simple reason that no living beings could exist upon these mountains, covered with perpetual snow and ice; so that everything that lived upon the dry land, in whose nostrils there was a breath of life , would inevitably die, and, with the exception of those shut up in the ark, neither man nor beast would be able to rescue itself, and escape destruction.
A flood which rose 15 cubits above the top of Ararat could not remain partial, if it only continued a few days, to say nothing of the fact that the water was rising for 40 days, and remained at the highest elevation for 150 days. To speak of such a flood as partial is absurd, even if it broke out at only one spot, it would spread over the earth from one end to the other, and reach everywhere to the same elevation.
However impossible, therefore, scientific men may declare it to be for them to conceive of a universal flood of such a height and duration in accordance with the known laws of nature, this inability on their part does not justify any one in questioning the possibility of such an event being produced by the omnipotence of God. It has been justly remarked, too, that the proportion of such a quantity of water to the entire mass of the earth, in relation to which the mountains are but like the scratches of a needle on a globe, is no greater than that of a profuse perspiration to the body of a man.
And to this must be added, that, apart from the legend of a flood, which is found in nearly every nation, the earth presents unquestionable traces of submersion in the fossil remains of animals and plants, which are found upon the Cordilleras and Himalaya even beyond the limit of perpetual snow. In Gen 7:23, instead of ויּמּח ( imperf. Niphal ) read ויּמח ( imperf.
Kal ): “ and He ( Jehovah ) destroyed every existing thing, ” as He had said in Gen 7:4.