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36 | Genesis 7:6

6 Noah was six hun dred years old when the flood wa ters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives en tered the ark to es cape the wa ters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and un clean an i mals, of birds and of all crea tures that move along the ground, 9 male and fe male, came to Noah and en tered the ark, as God had com manded Noah. 10 And af ter the seven days the flood wa ters came on the earth.

11 In the six hun dredth year of No ah’ s life, on the sev en teenth day of the sec ond month— ​on that day all the springs of the great deep c burst forth, and the flood gates of the heavens d were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. e

13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Ja pheth, to gether with his wife and the wives of his three sons, en tered the ark. 14 They had with them ev ery wild an i mal ac cord ing to its kind, all live stock ac cord ing to their kinds, ev ery crea ture that moves along the ground ac cord ing to its kind and ev ery bird ac cord ing to its kind, ev ery thing with wings. 15 Pairs of all crea tures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and en tered the ark. f 16 The an i mals go ing in were male and fe male of ev ery liv ing thing, as God had com manded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

17 For forty days g the flood kept com ing on the earth, and as the wa ters in creased they lifted the ark high above the earth. 18 The wa ters rose and in creased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the sur face of the wa ter. 19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high moun tains un der the en tire heav ens were cov ered. h 20 The wa ters rose and cov ered the moun tains to a depth of more than fif teen cu bits. a, b 21 Every living thing that moved on land per ished— birds, live stock, wild an i mals, all the crea tures that swarm over the earth, and all man kind. i 22 Ev ery thing on dry land that had the breath of life j in its nos trils died. 23 Ev ery liv ing thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; peo ple and an i mals and the crea tures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. k Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. l

7:11 c Eze 26:19 d Ge 8:2

7:12 e ver 4 7:15 f Ge 6:19 7:17 g ver 4 7:19 h Ps 104:6 7:21 i Ge 6:7, ​13 7:22 j Ge 1:30

7:23 k Mt 24:39; Lk 17:27; 1Pe 3:20; 2Pe 2:5 l Heb 11:7 a 20 That is, about 23 feet or about 6.8 meters b 20 Or rose more than fifteen cubits, and the mountains were covered over Israel( David, 2 Sam 5:4; Solomon, 1 Kgs 11:42; cf. Judg 3:11; 5:31; 8:28; 1 Sam 4:18; 2 Kgs 12:1), and forty days characterizes important events like the reception of the law( Deut 9:11) and the temptation of Jesus( Matt 4:2). 7:11 In the six hundredth year. The numbers identify when key events occur. The general chronology continues a theme already mentioned in 1:1— ​2:4( see Introduction: Structure, 3; see also note on 2:4) that the same God who created and worked in each generation( including Noah’ s) continues to work today for creative and redemptive purposes. 7:16 the Lord shut him in. The security of Noah and his family within the Lord’ s provision contrasts with the danger faced by those outside. 7:19 all the high mountains... were covered. If this includes Mount Ararat( in the Urartian mountain range in eastern Turkey), then the waters need to rise above 16,854 feet( 5,137 meters). A natural reading suggests a global flood, and some find this in 2 Pet 2:5; 3:6. The reference may also imply a regional flood( nevertheless possessing tremendous severity) with impact affecting the whole human race, who may have remained in one area( Gen 11:1 – 9). In 41:57,“ all the world” refers to the eastern Mediterranean lands, so in chs. 6 – 8 the flood may have covered only the part of the earth where people lived. 7:23 Every living thing. Foreshadows the coming judgment of the cosmos by fire in 2 Pet 3:6 – 7.

CHRONOLOGY OF NOAH’ S TIME IN THE ARK

Dates are in the form of month, day, and Noah’ s year, as given in the text. Hence, 2 / 10 / 600 means the tenth day of the second month in Noah’ s 600th year. Months are calculated at 30 days each. Dates in parentheses are extrapolations from dates explicitly given in the text.

REFERENCE EVENT DATE

7:7,9,13 Noah, family, and animals enter ark( 2 / 10 / 600)

Waters prevail: 150-day period

7:10 – 11 Flood begins 2 / 17 / 600 7:12 40 days of rain( 3 / 27 / 600)

Earth dries: 70-day period

8:13 Noah opens the ark 1 / 1 / 601 8:14 – 19 Earth dried out; Noah leaves ark 2 / 27 / 601

Total time in ark: 370 days