In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”
Parallel Translations
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In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will destroy every living thing that I have made from the surface of the ground.”
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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.
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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 blot out from off the face of the earth.'
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Genesis 7:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 6:13 God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth.
- Genesis 7:12 It rained on the earth forty days and forty nights.
- Genesis 7:17 The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth.
- Genesis 6:7 Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.”
- Genesis 6:17 I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.
- Psalms 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.
- Genesis 8:12 He waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.
- Job 22:16 who were snatched away before their time, whose foundation was poured out as a stream,
- Job 28:25 He establishes the force of the wind. Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
- Job 37:11-12 Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning. It is turned around by his guidance, that they may do whatever he commands them on the surface of the habitable world,
- Amos 4:7 “I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. One place was rained on, and the piece where it didn’t rain withered.
- Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
- Genesis 7:10 After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth.
- Genesis 7:21-23 All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ship.
- Genesis 2:5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground,
- Genesis 6:3 Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”
- Genesis 8:10 He waited yet another seven days; and again he sent the dove out of the ship.
- Genesis 29:27-28 Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me for seven more years.” Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife.
- Exodus 32:32-33 Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.” Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot him out of my book.
- Job 36:27-32 For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor, which the skies pour down and which drop on man abundantly. Yes, can any understand the spreading of the clouds, and the thunderings of his pavilion? Behold, he spreads his light around him. He covers the bottom of the sea. For by these he judges the people. He gives food in abundance. He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
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Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will…
Gen 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.
Ver. 4. For yet seven days, &c.] God could have destroyed them by water, or otherwise, in a far shorter space: But, of his free grace, he gives them yet seven days further, and then rains upon the earth forty days, as, not willing that any should "eternally perish, but that all should come to repentance". {2Pe 3:9} The Hebrew doctors are very injurious to Noah, because we read not that he prayed for the old world, but only took care of himself, and his own family, censuring him therefore of self-love and hard-heartedness. So they judge very uncharitably of those that perished in the flood; sending them all to hell, and wresting some scriptures thereunto; as, that in this present verse, God saith, he will destroy them, or blot them out; that is, say they, {a} out of the land of the world to come, the land of the living. I deny not, but many of their "spirits are in prison"; so saith St Peter. {1Pe 3:19} But withal, in the next chapter, the same apostle tells us, that "for this cause the gospel was preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit". {1Pe 4:6} Compare these words with those in 1Pe 3:18-20, and it will appear, the apostle speaks of these antediluvians. All were not saved that were in the ark, nor all damned, we may well think, that were out of it. Could they see their "foundation overflown with a flood," as the phrase is, {Job 22:16} and "not lay for themselves a good foundation" by "laying hold on eternal life"? {1Ti 6:19} St Ambrose conceiveth, that Noah was seven days in the Ark, before the flood came; that as God was six days in creating the world, and rested the seventh; so these perishing persons, admonished by the number of the days of the creation, might "remember their creator," {Ecc 12:1} and make their peace. Nunquam sero, si serio .
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{a} R. Menachem, in loc.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Yet seven days, or, after seven days, the Hebrew…
Yet seven days, or, after seven days, the Hebrew Lamed being put for after, as it is Exo 16:1; Psa 19:3; Jer 41:4. Or, within seven days, which time God allowed to the world as a further space of repentance, whereof therefore it is probable Noah gave them notice; and it is not unlikely that many of them who slighted the threatening when it was at one hundred and twenty years distance, now hearing a second threatening, and considering the nearness of their danger, might be more affected and brought to true repentance; who though destroyed in their bodies by the flood for their former and long impenitency, which God would not so far pardon, yet might be saved in their spirits. See 1Pe 4:6. And as some preserved in the ark were damned, so others drowned in the deluge might be eternally saved.
And every living substance, all that hath in it the breath of life, as was said Gen 6:17.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For yet seven days,.... Or one week more, after…
For yet seven days,.... Or one week more, after the above orders were given, which, the Jews say, were for the mourning at Methuselah's death; others, that they were an additional space to the one hundred and twenty given to the old world for repentance; in which time some might truly repent, finding that the destruction of the world was very near, and who might be saved from everlasting damnation, though not from perishing in the flood: but it rather was a space of time proper for Noah to have, to settle himself and family, and all the creatures in the ark, and dispose of everything there, in the best manner, for their sustenance and safety:
and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights: this was not an ordinary but an extraordinary rain, in which the power and providence of God were eminently concerned, both with respect to the continuance of it, and the quantity of water that fell:
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and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth: not every substance that has a vegetative life, as plants, herbs, and trees, which were not destroyed, see Gen 8:11 but every substance that has animal life, as fowls, cattle, creeping things, and men.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Yet seven days and I will cause it to…
Yet seven days and I will cause it to rain - It shall be seven days yet before I do it, After the 120 years were expired, God grants them a reprieve of seven days longer, both to shew how slow he is to anger, and to give them some farther space for repentance. But all in vain; these seven days were trifled away after all the rest, they continued secure until the day that the flood came. While Noah told them of the judgment at a distance, they were tempted to put off their repentance: but now he is ordered to tell them that it is at the door; that they have but one week more to turn them in, to see if that will now at last awaken them to consider the things that belong to their peace. But it is common for those that have been careless for their souls during the years of their health, when they have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the seven days of their sickness, when they see it approaching, their hearts being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. For yet seven days] God spoke these…
Verse 4. For yet seven days] God spoke these words probably on the seventh or Sabbath day, and the days of the ensuing week were employed in entering the ark, in embarking the mighty troop, for whose reception ample provision had been already made.
Forty days] This period became afterwards sacred, and was considered a proper space for humiliation. Moses fasted forty days, De 9:9; De 9:11; so did Elijah, 1Kg 19:8; so did our Lord, Mt 4:2. Forty days' respite were given to the Ninevites that they might repent, Jon 3:4; and thrice forty (one hundred and twenty) years were given to the old world for the same gracious purpose, Ge 6:3. The forty days of Lent, in commemoration of our Lord's fasting, have a reference to the same thing; as each of these seems to be deduced from this primitive judgment.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 7:4. Yet seven days — Or after seven…
Gen 7:4. Yet seven days — Or after seven days, which time the long- suffering of God (1Pe 3:20) granted to the world, as a further space for repentance, of which, therefore, it is probable, Noah gave them notice. And it is not unlikely that many of them, who slighted the threatening when it was at the distance of one hundred and twenty years, now hearing another threatening, and considering the nearness of their danger, might be more affected, and brought to repentance. And although destroyed, as to their bodies, by the flood, for their former and long-continued impenitence, yet might be saved in their spirits, 1Pe 4:6. And as it is likely that some, who were preserved from the waters by the ark, nevertheless, at last, perished in hell; so some that were drowned in the deluge might be eternally saved into heaven. With respect, however, to the generality, this reprieve was certainly in vain: see Luk 17:26, and 2Pe 2:5. These seven days were trifled away after all the rest, and they continued secure until the day that the flood came. While Noah told them of the judgment at a distance, they were tempted to put off their repentance: but now he is ordered to tell them that it is at the door; that they have but one week more to turn them in, to see if that will now at last awaken them to consider the things that belong to their peace. But it is common for those that have been careless for their souls during the years of their health, when they have looked upon death at a distance, to be as careless during the days, the seven days of their sickness, when they see it approaching, their hearts being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Reader, art thou the man?
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain For yet seven days--A week for a world to…
For yet seven days--A week for a world to repent! What a solemn pause! Did they laugh and ridicule his folly still? He whose eyes saw and whose heart felt the full amount of human iniquity and perverseness has told us of their reckless disregard (Luk 17:27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Yet seven days — One full week yet…
4. Yet seven days — One full week yet remained for gathering all into the ark.
Seven… forty… forty — We naturally note here the occurrence of these significant numbers. Comp. also Gen_8:4; Gen_8:10; Gen_8:12 (notes); and Moses forty days on the mount; Israel forty years in the desert; the spies forty days in searching Canaan. But in these historical narratives there is no reason to question the literal significance of the numbers. Their prominence in history made them specially significant in prophecy.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. seven days] Note the period of seven days,…
4. seven days] Note the period of seven days, the same interval as occurs again, in the J narrative, in Gen_8:10; Gen_8:12.
forty days and forty nights] The duration of the Flood is here announced. Cf. Gen_7:12 and Gen_8:6. In the Babylonian version the rain lasts for six days.
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every living thing] or rather, “every existing thing.” A peculiar word in the Heb. occurring only here and Deu_11:6. (LXX ἀνάστεμα, Lat. substantiam.) It is, therefore, different from the expression “living thing,” which is used by P in Gen_6:19, Gen_8:1; Gen_8:17; Gen_8:21.
destroy] Heb. blot out, so also Gen_7:23 (J): see note on Gen_6:7.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Forty days.—Henceforward forty became the sacred number of…
(4) Forty days.—Henceforward forty became the sacred number of trial and patience, and, besides the obvious places in the Old Testament, it was the duration both of our Lord’s fast in the wilderness and of His sojourn on earth after the Resurrection.
Every living substance.—The word “living” is found neither in the Hebrew nor in the ancient versions, and limits the sense unnecessarily. The word is rare, being found only thrice, namely, here, in Gen_7:23, and in Deu_11:6. It means whatever stands erect. Thus God “destroys”—Heb., blots out (see on Gen_6:7)—not man and beast only, but the whole existent state of things—“from the face of the earth”—Heb., the adâmâh, the cultivated and inhabited ground. This section is much more limited in the extent which it gives to the flood, not including reptiles, or rather, small animals, among those saved in the ark, and confining the overflow of the waters to the inhabited region.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 4, 5. For yet seven days. Literally, for…
Vers. 4, 5. For yet seven days. Literally, for today"s yet seven after seven days; thus giving Noah time to complete his preparations, and the world one more opportunity to repent, which Peele thinks many may have done, though their bodies were drowned for their former impenitency. And I will cause it to rain literally, I causing it, the participle indicating the certainty of the future action (cf. Gen_6:17; Pro_25:22; cf. Ewald"s "Hebrews Synt.," upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The importance assigned in subsequent Scripture to the number forty, probably from the circumstance here recorded, is too obvious to be overlooked. Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness. (Num_14:33) The scouts remained forty days in Canaan. (Num_13:26) Moses was forty days in the mount. (Exo_24:18) Elijah fasted forty days and forty nights in the wilderness of Beersheba. (1Ki_19:8) A respite of forty days was given to the Ninevites. (Jon_3:4) Christ fasted forty days before the temptation, (Mat_4:2) and sojourned forty, days on earth after his resurrection. (Act_1:3) It thus appears to have been regarded as symbolical of a period of trial, ending in victory to the good and in ruin to the evil. And every living substanceyekum; literally, standing thing, omne quod subsistit, i.e. "whatever is capable by a principle of life of maintaining an erect posture" (Bush); ajnasthma (LXX; cf. Deu_11:6; Job_22:20) that I have made will I destroy literally, blot out (cf. Gen_6:7) from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according to all that the Lord (Jehovah, the God of salvation, who now interposed for the patriarch"s safety; in Gen_6:22, where God is exhibited in his relations to all flesh, it is Elohim) had commanded him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For yet seven days, and I will cause it…
Gen_7:4
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.
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The Divine threat of destruction
I. VERY SOON TO BE EXECUTED.
II. VERY MERCIFUL IN ITS COMMENCEMENT.
III. VERY TERRIBLE IN ITS DESTRUCTION. And every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
1. The destruction was determined.
2. The destruction was universal.
3. The destruction was piteous.
IV. VERY SIGNIFICANT IN ITS INDICATION. The Fatherhood of God is not incompatible with the punishment of sinners. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Divine threatenings
1. That they will surely be executed.
2. At the time announced.
3. In the manner predicted.
4. With the result indicated. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 forty days and forty nights
forty days and forty nights
This was a full forty days. It was not a total of eighty days. AT: "forty days and nights"
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living
This refers to physical life.
translationWords
life
Yahweh
command
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 7:4 The number forty is often associated with affliction,…
7:4 The number forty is often associated with affliction, trial, or punishment (see Exod 16:35; Judg 13:1; 1 Kgs 19:8; Ezek 4:6; Jon 3:4; Matt 4:2; Acts 1:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.