X-Dreamers
Bible chapter guide
Genesis 7
Noah, his family and the animals go into the ark, and the LORD shuts the door. The fountains of the deep burst open, rain falls for forty days and nights, and the waters rise over the highest mountains for a hundred and fifty days.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
God tells Noah to go in with his household and adds a detail not given before: clean animals and birds are to go in by sevens, the others by pairs. Seven days later, on the seventeenth day of the second month of Noah's six hundredth year, the fountains of the great deep burst open and the windows of the sky are opened. That same day Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their three wives go in with the animals, and the LORD shuts him in. It rains for forty days and nights, the ark is lifted off the ground and floats, the water stands fifteen cubits above the mountains, and everything that breathed on dry land dies; the waters prevail for a hundred and fifty days.
What the lab shows, and where to look
Three moments in the Noah's Ark lab belong to this chapter: the animals going in, the door shut, and the flood with the ark afloat in the rain. Open The door in the side first. Genesis says where the door was and that the LORD shut it; the lab's door on the middle deck, its size and the ramp up to it are guesses. Then look at Fresh water and Family quarters, two things a year aboard needed that Genesis never describes: the jars and cisterns on the lower deck and the family's corner at the stern of the upper deck are marked as reconstruction. Pens and cages shows one way the animals might have been housed; which animals the lab shows is illustration.
- The door in the side · Noah's Ark
- Fresh water · Noah's Ark
- Family quarters · Noah's Ark
- Pens and cages · Noah's Ark
Questions people ask
Did Noah take two of every animal, or seven?
Both, for different animals. Genesis 6 speaks of pairs, male and female; Genesis 7:2–3 adds that clean animals and birds went in by sevens. The Hebrew says 'seven seven': KJV reads 'by sevens' and the Chinese Union Version seven males and seven females, which makes fourteen, though some commentators read seven of each kind. The extra clean animals made Noah's offering after the flood possible without ending any kind.
How long was Noah in the ark?
About a year. The rain fell for forty days and the waters prevailed for a hundred and fifty (7:12, 24), but the whole stay is dated by Noah's age: in on the seventeenth of the second month of his six hundredth year, out after the earth was dry on the twenty-seventh of the second month of his six hundred and first (8:14). That is a year and ten days: about 370 days if every month had 30 days, about 364 on a lunar calendar.
How many people were on the ark?
Eight: Noah, his wife, his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their three wives (7:13). Only the men are named; the wives are not named anywhere in Genesis. Peter later counts the same eight (1 Peter 3:20).
See it in the Labs
- Noah's ArkNoah's ArkOpen
- Noah's ArkThe door in the side · Noah's ArkOpen
- Noah's ArkFresh water · Noah's ArkOpen
- Noah's ArkFamily quarters · Noah's ArkOpen
People in this chapter
Places
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Textually stated
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came.
Stated directly in the text.
- Textually stated
The LORD shut Noah in.
Stated directly in the text.
- Textually stated
The LORD shut the door behind Noah.
Stated directly in the text.
- Textually stated
It rained forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed 150 days.
Stated directly in the text.
- Textually stated
Eight people lived aboard.
Stated directly in the text.
- Textually stated
Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their three wives entered the ark.
Stated directly in the text.