Genesis 6:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”

NIV: You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.'

NASB: As for you, take for yourself some of every food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.'

CSB: Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them."

NLT: And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.'

KJV: And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

NKJV: And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

God's last instruction to Noah in this extended passage has to do with the practical matter of food. In addition to building the ark and planning for all the animals that will come to the ark to be saved, Noah must consider what food will be necessary for the journey. He and his family will need to acquire and store every kind of food that the animals, birds, and insects will need to eat, and they will need to stockpile enough of it to last for the duration of the trip.

As with other parts of the story, specific details are not given. We don't know what specific kinds of foods were to be brought. All we know is that God's covenant promise to save Noah and his family would require Noah to accept certain responsibilities. Among these are the need to build, plan, store, schedule, and do all the work necessary to be prepared when the floodwaters came.

Genesis 6:9-22 begins another new section in Genesis called the ''generations of Noah.'' Because of humanity's power and wickedness, the earth had become filled with violence and sinfulness. By contrast, Noah was a righteous, blameless man who walked with God. God chooses to declare to Noah His plan to end all land-dwelling life on earth, but also to save Noah and his family and two of every animal. Noah obeys God's command to build the ark that would preserve the human race from total destruction in the flood.

God sees. In the first chapter of Genesis, God saw that all He had made was good. Now, many generations after sin entered the world, God sees that all man has made is wickedness and evil. Human beings have used their power for violence and destruction. God declares His plan to wipe out all land-dwelling life on the face of the earth. He will however, preserve humanity and animal life for a new beginning through the one righteous man, Noah, and a huge life-giving structure called an ark.

The previous chapter traced the generations from Adam through his son Seth and all of the way to Noah. This chapter reveals that Noah will be the man through whom God will preserve humanity for a new beginning after wiping out all life on the face of the earth. God tells Noah to build an enormous structure, an ark, and prepare to welcome representatives of all of the animals on earth. Noah does exactly that, setting the stage for the cataclysmic judgment of God to come in chapter 7.

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.

Accessed 5/5/2024 11:28:06 AM