Genesis 7:20

Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

1. The flood covered the mountains.
2. This reference to 15 cubits seems a bit vague, leaving me to wonder if the water level rose another 15 cubits after it had already covered the high hills, or if it rose 15 cubits above the highest mountain, or something else. It appears this has been the subject of much discussion.

Genesis 7:19

And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

1. The flood waters rose until all the high hills upon the face of the earth were covered. (To address particular issues with this story, some people have speculated that the flood was not a global event, but was restricted to a relatively small area compared to the whole earth. The language used here - "all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven" - seems to me to rule out that possibility.)

Genesis 7:18

And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

1. Even after forth days and nights the water level rose significantly.
2. The ark went floating away.

Genesis 7:17

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

1. It took a while before the water rose high enough to lift up the ark - at least 40 days, perhaps more.
2. So, Noah and his family and all the animals sat in the ark in their backyard, so to speak, for perhaps a month and a half before beginning to float away.
3. Waiting for a month and a half must have given Noah and his family plenty of opportunity to question whether the flood really would be severe enough to drown everything and require the use of an ark to be saved.

Genesis 7:16

And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

1. When everyone was in the ark the LORD shut the door. (It may be that they LORD applied pitch around the outside of the door, as well, to ensure it was water tight.)

Genesis 7:15

And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

1. All the animals went in to Noah in the ark.
2. Living animals have something called the breath of life.

Genesis 7:14

They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

1. This appears to be a retelling of the same story, an ancient technique, found in both the Bible and Book of Mormon, and probably other ancient texts with which I am unfamiliar, usually done to make a different point. So, as I move along, I'll be looking to learn something different.

Genesis 7:13

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

1. The people who entered the ark were Noah, his wife, their sons - Shem, Ham, Japheth, and each of their wives.

Genesis 7:12

And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

1. It rained for 40 consecutive days and nights after the flood began.

Genesis 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

1. Noah was in the 600th year of his life when the flood began.


2. The flood began on the 17th day of the second month.


3. The flood was caused by a combination of rain and subterranean water being concentrated on the surface of the earth.

Genesis 7:10

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

1. The flood began seven days after Noah, his family, and the animals entered the ark.
2. I suppose that living in the ark for seven days prior to the start of the flood gave everyone a chance to get used to their new surroundings and routines. It also gave them the opportunity to develop some last doubts, but apparently no one jumped ship.

Genesis 7:9

There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

1. Per God's commandment, there was at least one female and one male of each species of animal on the ark.


2. The LORD (previously, the LORD God) is also known as God.


3. The wording here and in the previous few verses makes it sound like Noah went into the ark first, and then the animals came into the ark to him. I can imagine Noah standing inside the doorway, greeting them with a smile and directing them to their quarters inside the ark. Other members of the family might have been stationed at various places in the ark to assist the animals in finding their places. Whether it really happened this way or not, I don't have a clue, but it sounds just as reasonable as Noah going out and trapping 2 or 7 of every species and hauling them back to the ark on leashes or in cages.

Genesis 7:8

Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

1. Clean and unclean beasts, birds, and all creeping things entered the ark also. (I'm not certain why the author continues to emphasize the different categories of animals that entered the ark. It could be for symbolic purposes, such as to show that all people and animals, regardless of class or category, will be preserved through death that was brought on by Adam and Eve. However, nothing about that is mentioned.)

Genesis 7:7

And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

1. Noah and his family entered the ark to escape the flood.

Genesis 7:6

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

1. Noah celebrated his 600th birthday aboard the ark during the flood (I don't know if they had any sort of birthday celebration then, but Noah and the other early patriarchs obviously kept track of how old they were.)
2. The flood happened.

Genesis 7:5

And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

1. Noah did everything the LORD commanded him to do.
2. Noah apparently trusted the LORD completely.
3. Prophets of the Lord, as a rule, comply with all the Lord's directions.

Genesis 7:4

For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

1. The LORD gave Noah a seven day warning of the flood. Prior to this, Noah may not have know precisely when the flood would occur.
2. The flood was to destroy every living thing from the face of the earth.
3. The LORD knew when the flood would begin and how long the rain would last.
4. The LORD has control over the weather.
5. One of the roles of a prophet appears to be to receive advance notice of what the LORD plans to do that will impact the earth's inhabitants.

Genesis 7:3

Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

1. The LORD also directed Noah to bring seven of each species of birds into the ark (it's not clear whether this applied to all birds or excluded those that cannot or tend not to fly).



2. It's not completely clear to me, but either the LORD referred to the role birds play in spreading plant seeds around the earth, or the expression "keep seed alive" refers either to preventing the bird species from becoming extinct or to providing food for man following the flood. The expression "upon all the face of the earth" leads me to favor the first possibility.

Genesis 7:2

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

1. Correction, Noah was to collect seven of each clean beast, and two of those that were unclean.
2. The classification of animals into two categories - clean and unclean, existed as early as Noah.
3. The proportion of clean males to clean females for each species is not specified, but I suspect there were only one or two males and the rest females.
4. God has probably given dietary advice from the beginning.

Genesis 7:1

And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

1. The LORD directed Noah to go into the ark with all his family.
2. The LORD knows who is righteous and who is not.
3. Besides filling the role of creator, the LORD is apparently also a judge of our behavior.
4. There are benefits to being righteous.
5. Righteousness is apparently closely connected to, if not that same as, obeying all God's commandments.
6. Prophets of God are righteous.

Genesis 6:22

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

1. Noah followed God's instructions in every respect.
2. It is a remarkable thing that Noah, unlike the Noah in Bill Cosby's terribly funny monologue, followed God's challenging instructions to the letter without complaint. He was obviously a man who had great faith that God would enable him to do all these things, because he can't have had much experience at building arks or zoos.

Genesis 6:21

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.

1. God commanded Noah to collect food for his family and for all the animals that would be aboard the ark.
2. It's a good idea to have a store of food set aside for emergencies.

Genesis 6:20

Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

1. Included in the animals Noah was to bring into the ark were birds of all kinds, cattle of all kinds, and everything that creeps on the earth.
2. Part of Noah's job was to preserve the animal species during the flood.

Genesis 6:19

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

1. The term "flesh" appears to exclude animals that live in the water.
2. God commanded Noah to bring a male and a female of each species into the ark to preserve them.
3. Noah appears to have created the world's first floating zoo.

Genesis 6:18

But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

1. God established a covenant with Noah.
2. Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives would all go into the ark.
3. God made covenants with people named in the Bible (covenant: an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return - WordNet dictionary, from hyperdictionary.com)
4. Noah's sons were married.
5. Noah was married.

Genesis 6:17

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

1. God told Noah he was going to flood the earth and destroy all things that live on the earth.
2. God has the power to create and destroy life on the earth.

Genesis 6:16

A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

1. God continued giving Noah specifications for the ark.
2. The ark had a window a cubit wide.
3. There was a door in the side of the ark.
4. The ark had 3 stories or decks.