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Genesis

About this book

The Flood

Chapter 7

1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark,⁠ you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation.⁠ 2 You must take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,⁠ 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the entire earth.⁠ 4 For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”⁠ 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because of the floodwaters. 8 Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground,⁠ 9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.⁠ 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on⁠ that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.⁠ 12 And the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.⁠ 14 They entered, along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 16 Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.⁠ 17 The flood engulfed the earth for 40 days.⁠ As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 18 The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.⁠ 19 The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.⁠ 20 The waters rose more than 20 feet above the mountains. 21 And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.⁠ 24 The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.

Texts in conversation

Compare Atrahasis and Genesis 7:10

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Atrahasis and Genesis depict a 7-day period before the flood begins, but this detail in Genesis is more complex. Genesis also presents overlapping timelines that are difficult to harmonize, which may be due to how its sources were edited together.

Passages

Atrahasis

Ancient Near East, Babylonian
The gods wept with her for the country. She was sated with grief, she longed for beer (in vain). Where she sat weeping, (there the great gods) sat too, But, like sheep, could only fill their windpipes (with bleating). Thirsty as they were, their lips Discharged only the rime of famine. For seven days and seven nights The torrent, storm and flood came on. He put down Provided food The gods smelt the fragrance, Gathered like flies over the offering. When they had eaten the offering, Nintu got up and blamed them all, Whatever came over Anu who makes the decisions? Did Ellil (dare to) come for the smoke offering? (Those two) who did not deliberate, but sent the Flood Gathered the people to catastrophe- You agreed the destruction. (Now) their bright faces are dark (forever). Then she went up to the big flies 42 Which Anu had made, and (declared) before the gods His grief is mine! My destiny goes with his! He must deliver me from evil, and appease me! Let me go out in the morning Let these flies be the lapis lazuli of my necklace
1800–1701 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Atrahasis

Genesis 7:10

Hebrew Bible
8 Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

"... Genesis 7:13 begins with an emphatic time reference. 7:13 seems to refer to 7:11, either to the date 17/2/600 or the bursting of the deep and the opening of heaven. In the process it isolates 7:12 as a summary statement of what is about to happen, a kind of flash forward, rather like 7:6. As historical critics have noted, this repetition causes plot problems. Firstly, 7:13-16 seems to suggest that everyone, humans, and animals entered on the very day the rain started, which is cutting it fine! 7:7 might confirm this. Atrahasis and Gilgamesh have everyone well settled before the weather changes and it is only the hero who enters at the last moment. No wonder the rabbis thought this entry miraculous or a sign of lack of faith. In 7:4 Noah was given 7 days to accomplish this task, so why the late entry? And how is the final-form reader to reconcile 7:7 where Noah appears to enter earlier? Some readers declare the passage a redactional contradiction requiring the two plots to be read separately. Some accept the incongruence as part of the enigmatic strangeness of the text, while others attempt to harmonize. For instance, the verses could be read as a pluperfect 'by this very day Noah had entered' or, at least, viewed as a flashback to 7:7-9. The doubly emphatic 'this very same day' has been read as a theological, rather than temporal, concept. McEvenue suggests it 'pertains to a commemorative feast' thus contrasting the tēbâ festal salvation with this day of judgement ..."
Elizabeth Ann Harper, “It's All in the Name: Reading the Flood Narrative through the Lens of Genesis 5:29 (Noah's Naming)” (PhD diss., Durham University, 2013), 155.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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