Genesis 7:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

NIV: And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.

NASB: Now it came about after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

CSB: Seven days later the floodwaters came on the earth.

NLT: After seven days, the waters of the flood came and covered the earth.

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

NKJV: And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.

Finally, the flood begins. It comes at exactly the time God said it would in verse 4. God's destruction of life on the earth, and the salvation of life from that destruction, has begun.

Here, as in prior verses, the flood is said to come on "the earth," using the Hebrew term 'erets. This term is often used in a local or regional sense. The Bible uses a different Hebrew word, tebel, when specifically referring to the entire planet. This, along with a few other aspects of the language used, leads some Bible scholars to interpret this as a local flood. In other words, an event covering the regions inhabited by mankind, but not necessarily the entire planet. Since the intent is the destruction of sinful man (Genesis 6:5), this ultimately makes little difference as far as the story of the flood itself is concerned. God judges mankind with the flood, and only Noah and his family survive (Genesis 6:18).

It's interesting to notice that God continues to operate within the seven-day cycle He established when He created the earth. Noah will adhere to a seven-day cycle when sending out the birds to look for dry land in chapter 8. Israel, too, will conform to God's seven-day cycle when the nation is established later in the book of Genesis.

Genesis 7:1–10 confirms that Noah fulfilled all that he was commanded in chapter 6. In addition to the two pairs of all animals, Noah is also told to bring seven (total) pairs of ''clean'' animals, most likely for sacrificial purposes. God gives Noah a last-minute warning of the coming flood. As the preparations are completed, the great catastrophe occurs, just as God said it would. The next passage describes the colossal event.

Genesis 7 tells the story of the actual flood itself. God again commends Noah for his righteousness. The animals of every kind come to the ark. God shuts Noah and his family and the animals in, and it begins to rain. Water pours from above and bursts forth from below with incredible intensity. This outpouring of water lasts for 40 days, and covers the surface of the earth for another 110 days. The ark floats, rises, moves across the surface of the water. Outside of it, every land-dwelling, air-breathing thing dies. God wipes it all out, including every human being other than Noah and his family.

In chapter 6, God saw the wickedness and violence of humanity and resolved to wipe it all out. He revealed that plan to Noah, and He commanded Noah to build the ark. In chapter 7, the ark is finished, the animals arrive, the door is shut, and the rain begins on a specific date in the history of the world. All life aboard the ark is saved; all land-dwelling, air-breathing life outside of it is ended. The waters burst from below the earth and pour from above with great intensity for 40 days and then covered the earth for another 110. In the following chapter, the ark will come to rest, and the remade earth will begin to dry out.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.