Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 7

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 7 Noah's family and various beasts and fowls enter the ark—The flood comes and water covers the whole earth—All other life that breathes is destroyed.
1 And the LORD said unto ^aNoah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 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. 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.		4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to ^arain 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. 5 And Noah ^adid according unto all that the LORD commanded him. 6 And Noah was ^asix hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.		4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
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. 8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the ^aflood were upon the earth.		4^a Moses 3:4-5; Abr. 5:4-5 ^b TG Jesus Christ—Jehovah 5^a TG Nature, Earth ^b TG Spirit Creation ^c TG Creation ^d TG Man, Physical Creation of ^e Moses 3:5
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 ^afountains of the great deep ^bbroken up, and the ^cwindows of heaven were opened. 12 And the ^arain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
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; 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. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 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.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and ^ait was lift up above the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the ^awaters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and ^ball the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail^a; and the mountains were covered. The Mountains Were Covered Often the discussion does continue as to the flooding and covering of the whole of the earth by water. The Bible clearly teaches it and the Book of Mormon does confirm it when it speaks of the receding of the water from off the face of the western hemisphere and after it had that it became a choice land above all other lands chosen of the Lord (Ether 13:2) Therefore not only was lands in the eastern hemisphere flooded were at the ark did find it rest, but all the earth was flooded. And all which breathed air, which dwelt upon the face of the land, were destroyed except Noah and his family. And this is consistant with the fact that Adam did dwell upon this land and did teach his children in the last of his days at Adam-ondi Ahman.	20^aFifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail This means that above the highest mountain, the waters were 15 cubits or nearly 30 feet above such highest height. The whole earth was covered and no living thing that breathed which relied upon try land did remain living except that which was in the ark with Noah. Some attempt to speculate that Noah's flood was a local afair. This is not what the scriptural word of the Lord states. Thus any such attempt of man to make it otherwise is not scripturally based.
21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and ^aevery man: 22 All in whose nostrils was the ^abreath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
23 And every living substance was ^adestroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and ^bNoah only remained ^calive, and they that were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.