Genesis 7:2

The Great Flood

1 Then the ^aLord said to Noah, ^b“Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that ^cyou are righteous before Me in this generation.

2 You shall take with you seven each of every ^aclean animal, a male and his female; ^btwo each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female;

3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep¹ the species alive on the face of all the earth.

4 For after ^aseven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth ^bforty days and forty nights, and I will¹ destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”

5 ^aAnd Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.

6 Noah was ^asix hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

7 ^aSo Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.

8 Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,

9 two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

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

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on ^athat day all ^bthe fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the ^cwindows of heaven were opened.

12 ^aAnd the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—

14 ^athey and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every ^bsort.

15 And they ^awent into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in ^aas God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

17 ^aNow the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

18 The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, ^aand the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.

20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.

21 ^aAnd all flesh died that moved on¹ the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.

22 All in ^awhose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.

23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only ^aNoah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

24 ^aAnd the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Genesis 7:2 Mean?

Genesis 7:2

The clean and unclean laws are specifically mentioned early in God's Word, in the account of the Noachian Flood, when Noah was commanded to take "seven each of every clean animal" (Genesis 7:2). When he and his family were back on dry land, Noah "took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar" (Genesis 8:20). This suggests that these laws were known and practiced before the Flood'even from the earliest days of mankind (compare Genesis 4:4, Abel's acceptable offering). Since there were no Jews or Israelites then-not even any Hebrews-these laws are obviously for all humankind.

John O. Reid
Did God Change the Law of Clean and Unclean Meats?

Genesis 7:1-3

Since the law of clean and unclean was in force in Noah's time, and possibly in Abel's lifetime (Genesis 4:4), it was not made obsolete with the passing of the Old Covenant. This is a vital principle to remember regarding the Old and New Covenants: What did not originate with the Old Covenant did not die with it.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Clean and Unclean Meats

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Genesis 7:2:

Genesis 7:2
Genesis 8:20
Ephesians 3:2
Hebrews 11:4-7

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Genesis 7:3 >>

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The Great Flood

What Does Genesis 7:2 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

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