And Jehovah said to Noah, Go into the ark, thou and all thy house; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
Genesis 7 opens with God speaking to one man while the rest of the world stands under sentence. Two phrases carry the weight of the verse: "you and all your household," and "I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation."
The previous chapter speaks of God as Creator. Here the name is Jehovah — the LORD. One writer says the whole tone changes with it.
It is no longer the faithful Creator merely, but special relationship, and ends of a higher and more intimate nature. So we have a quite new call to the patriarch as one who had found grace in the eyes of Jehovah and was righteous before Him.
The instructions that follow point the same way. The clean animals come by sevens, the unclean by twos — a difference no mere rescue operation would need.
"Come into the ark," He says, "for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." "Righteous" — is this about creation as such? It is not; it is about moral relationship... God is not just providing for the survival of the creature. He is providing, with marked completeness, for sacrifice.
Genesis says Noah found grace before it says God saw him righteous. The order matters.
But "Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah," that is, divine favour rested on him; righteous in himself, no doubt, but all through grace of course... In the next chapter God says of Noah, "You I have seen righteous before me in this generation." But the earth was completely filled with violence.
One writer marks the difference between Noah and a believer today.
Only of Noah could God say, "You I have seen righteous before Me in this generation" (Gen. 7:1). Righteousness for men was not fully accomplished until the death and resurrection of Christ. Noah became an heir of that righteousness. The believer of today is not an heir of righteousness, for he has it.
The ESV reads "Go into the ark," while older translations read "Come." Commentators differ over how much the verb carries. One finds real beauty in "Come":
God does not say, Go into the ark, but Come into the ark: He was "in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:19), and when He invites them to Christ, He invites them to Himself. The traveller under threat of the storm comes to make the divine Ark his refuge and home. He discovers that Another is there to welcome him.
Another writer holds that the verb is not decisive:
A good deal is sometimes made of the word "Come"... The verb may be either, as best suits the context. Where no emphasis of this kind is called for, either word may be used correctly, as here.
This verse is where a pattern in God's dealings first surfaces.
The first verse of Genesis 7 gives us the first instance of how God links a man's house with himself in His dealings with men on earth. Here "you and all your household" occurs for the first time. Salvation from judgment poured out on earth is before us here, but in Acts 16:31 the same principle holds good in regard to eternal salvation.
Did the rest of the family qualify on their own? One writer answers from what happened later.
Someone may object that all the members of the household were probably "righteous" before God too. But the later history of one of them — Ham (Gen. 9:22-25) — forbids the thought. So the statement loses none of its force: God delivered Noah's family from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head. True, it was not salvation itself; but it was a picture of it (1 Peter 3:20-21).
Verse 1 calls Noah in. Verse 16 completes it: God shuts the door with His own hand.
Jehovah Himself had invited him in. We read in Genesis 7:1, "Come, you and all your household, into the ark." And when he had taken his place there, we read, "the LORD shut him in." Here was full and perfect security for all within. Jehovah kept the door... The Lord secured the door with His own almighty hand. He left Noah the window. From it Noah could look upward to the place where all the judgment had come from, and see that no judgment remained for him.
- Grace first. Noah found grace before God called him righteous. His righteous walk flowed from that favour, not the other way round.
- Grace names. God is named Jehovah here, not simply Creator. That marks a relationship, not just the saving of a species — and the animals taken for sacrifice confirm it.
- Grace invites. One writer hears a call to come, with God Himself already inside the refuge to welcome Noah. Another holds that the verb settles nothing.
- Grace widens. "You and all your household" appears for the first time here. Ham's later history shows God spared the house through the faith of its head.
- Grace secures. God invited Noah in, then shut him in. He left only a window facing up — the hand that sent the flood held the door.
Of all clean beasts thou shalt take to thee by sevens, a male and its female; but of the beasts that are not clean two, a male and its female.
Noah's last instructions before the flood single out one difference: the clean animals come aboard in sevens, the unclean only in pairs. That raises two questions — why God wants more of one kind, and how Noah knew which was which before any law listed them.
Two names for God run through the flood story. One writer ties the difference in numbers to the difference in names.
As to the "two of every sort" in chapter 7, and the "seven clean" in verses 2 and 3: the first were male and female, to keep them alive. When they were clean beasts, he took fourteen. I have no doubt the "clean" animals were the ones people usually offered in sacrifice. Who would offer a ravenous wild beast in sacrifice to God, but sheep or oxen? This difference between provision for the race and provision for sacrifice is tied to the different use of the two names: God (Elohim) and the LORD (Jehovah).
The way God speaks here shows more than concern for survival.
Is this only about keeping the creatures alive? No. It is the language of One who has special relationships with Noah and with his family… God is providing not merely for the creature to continue, but with marked completeness for sacrifice. So we see His perfect care to maintain His rights and His place as the One who governed morally.
The ESV reads "seven pairs" here, while older translations read "by sevens," and commentators differ on the count. Read as seven animals, six make three breeding pairs. The one left over has another purpose, seen when Noah steps out onto dry ground.
And now we discover why the clean animals were taken into the ark in sevens and the unclean only in twos… But why the odd one in the seven? Because they were to be offered as a burnt offering at the very start of the renewed earth. The Lord knew the flood had made no change in human nature. Even in Noah and his family it was the same after the flood as before… so from the very start the new world could only continue on the basis of sacrifice.
The command in the ark and the altar after it belong together, and the whole standing of the world after the flood rests on what happened there.
So we find Jehovah directing Noah to take to him of all clean animals by sevens, but of those not clean two, a male and its female, to enter the ark. And on this Noah acted when after the deluge he built an altar as his first recorded act, and offered up burnt offerings of every clean beast and of all clean birds. For the tenure of the post-flood earth hung on sacrifice.
The word "clean" later covers what may be eaten. Here it cannot mean that yet.
The first time we read of clean and unclean animals is when Noah went into the ark… We are not told how Noah told them apart. But it shows that in early days there was a distinction between clean and unclean. Those called 'clean' were doubtless clean for sacrifice, and not for food. Nothing is said of man eating animal food till after the flood, and then God gave "every moving thing" for food.
Scripture never says where Noah got his list, and commentators differ. One writer argues from the moral teaching in the later law:
Noah knew well before the flood which creatures made an acceptable sacrifice (Gen. 7:2), though how he learned it was never recorded. But in the law we read God's own definition of clean beasts and clean birds, and we find moral teaching tied to the subject (Lev. 11). We must conclude that no man could have discovered by natural intuition which creatures God would count clean and which He would not.
Darby does not settle the question.
It may have been instinct in man in a way at first, and that God put His positive sanction on it when He gave the law.
Some readers set this verse against the earlier order to bring in two of every sort, as if two accounts had been stitched together. On the other reading, the sevens are counted in pairs.
The LORD (Jehovah) is stating His thoughts about Noah and giving His directions about His relationship with man and the earth. So He tells Noah to take clean beasts by sevens, still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as God (Elohim) had commanded. The text itself ties the two names together in a way that would make separating them difficult… You would have to be very hard pressed for a difficulty, or for a discovery, to find a contradiction here.
- Name. The order for sevens comes from the LORD, not just from God the Creator. It speaks of relationship, not only of keeping species alive.
- Purpose. The extra clean beasts are for sacrifice, beyond the pairs needed to keep every kind alive.
- Seventh. On one reading, the odd animal in each seven has no mate. It goes on the altar when the ark opens.
- Foundation. Human nature came out of the flood unchanged, so the renewed earth could only stand on sacrifice.
- Knowledge. The clean and unclean line was known before any written law. Writers differ on whether God taught him or whether it began as instinct that God later confirmed.
Also of the fowl of the heavens by sevens, male and female; to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth.
Genesis 7 opens with the LORD calling Noah into the ark and sorting the animals into two groups: pairs of most kinds, sevens of the clean. Verse 3 puts the birds in the larger group, and gives the reason: to keep their offspring alive across the whole earth.
Commentators read the extra animals as provision for sacrifice, not just a surplus for breeding. The writers quoted here use an older translation, which says "by sevens" where the ESV says "seven pairs."
As to the "two of every sort" in chapter 7, and "seven clean" in verses 2, 3, the first were male and female, to keep them alive; when they were clean beasts, he took fourteen. I have no doubt the "clean" were the ones people usually gave for sacrifices. Who would offer a ravenous wild beast in sacrifice to God, but sheep or oxen?
Commentators differ on the count. Others read seven animals, with one left over after three pairs, and find that odd one's purpose on the far side of the flood.
And now we discover why Noah took the clean animals into the ark in sevens and the unclean only in twos… But why the odd one in the seven? Because Noah was to offer them up as a burnt offering at the very start of the renewed earth. The Lord knew that the flood had made no change in human nature… and so from the very start the new world could only continue on the basis of sacrifice.
The instructions in chapter 6 and those here use different names for God. Writers treat that change as the key to the different numbers. The older translation says "Jehovah" where the ESV says "the LORD."
The first mention is this: "Two of every sort shall come to you, Noah, to keep them alive." That is God's (Elohim's) care of His creatures, to preserve every kind alive on the earth. But when we read of His taking "of every clean beast by sevens, his male and his female," it is God as Jehovah who speaks. And why? Because He is now arranging, as in relationship with man, for sacrifices — types of Christ.
The birds of the air, named in this verse, are read along the same line — not merely creatures preserved, but a supply held ready for God.
It is God providing not for the perpetuation of the creature merely, but with marked completeness for sacrifice. As a result we have this perfect care over the maintenance of His rights and place as One who governed morally. "And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded."
Some readers set the "two of every sort" of chapter 6 against the sevens here and see a clash. One writer answers that the text itself ties the two accounts together.
Jehovah states His thoughts about Noah, and gives His directions about His relationship with man and the earth. So He tells Noah to take clean beasts by sevens — still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as Elohim had commanded. That ties the two names together in the text itself, in a way that would make separating them difficult… The birds of the air, which went in by sevens, plainly mean clean ones too, as Genesis 8:20 shows.
Nothing here explains what makes a creature clean. The verse takes it for granted that Noah already knows.
As a general principle, the difference between clean and unclean was known in early days. So we find Jehovah directing Noah to take all clean animals by sevens. But of those not clean he was to take two, a male and its female, into the ark. Noah acted on this. After the flood, his first recorded act was to build an altar and offer up burnt offerings of every clean beast and of all clean birds. For the tenure of the post-flood earth hung on sacrifice.
The reason given in verse 3 looks past the ark to the whole earth. One writer explains why the larger number mattered.
Had there been only "two of every sort," offering some in sacrifice would have put an end to those particular kinds of creatures. So the "sevens" left plenty of room both for sacrifices and "to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth."
Another writer looks further ahead, to what the rescued animals point toward.
The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, as well as the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.
- Preserved. Every kind enters in pairs. After the judgment the earth still has its living creatures. The waters carry creation through; they do not sweep it away.
- Doubled. The clean beasts and birds go in by sevens. That is more than survival needs, because sacrifice is in view as well as breeding.
- Offered. The extra clean animals meet the altar Noah builds when he steps out. The renewed world begins on the ground of sacrifice.
- Named. God the Creator commands the pairs. The LORD commands the sevens, speaking as One in relationship with man. The two names explain the two numbers; they do not contradict each other.
- Widened. The purpose reaches "the face of all the earth." The sevens leave room for sacrifice and for survival. Commentators see in the rescued animals a hint that creation itself will share in salvation.
For in yet seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living being which I have made will I destroy from the ground.
God has already told Noah to go into the ark. Now He starts a clock. One week of waiting, then rain for forty days and nights, then everything He made wiped off the ground. Why the extra week? What does forty mean? And why is rain named here for the first time in the Bible?
Earlier God had told Noah in general terms that judgment was coming. This verse fixes the timing down to the day.
God warned Noah about things not yet seen, both on the ground of a special relationship and on the ground of His nature. Genesis 7:4 then follows that general warning with precise details. Just as it was predicted, so it happened, right on time, as Scripture plainly states. No history could be more exact, or more full of detail in so few words.
The world had already had one hundred and twenty years of warning. This last week was extra.
At last the one hundred and twenty promised years ran out, and then God gave a guilty world seven extra days of grace... He did not promise these seven days, but He gave them. How like God. There is no promise of seven days of grace to you. Come to Jesus today.
Those seven days also gave one last piece of evidence: the animals streaming into the ark. One writer suggests the delay worked the other way on people's minds.
Men saw the huge number of animals coming to the ark. Then they saw Noah's whole family go into this finished, giant vessel. By then, at least, they ought to have realized that this project did not come out of Noah's imagination... But God gave men another week to change their minds. Perhaps, as those few days passed, people grew more confident each day that nothing was going to happen, instead of getting seriously worried.
Until this verse, Scripture never mentions water falling from the sky. Genesis 2 describes another way the ground got its water.
Genesis 2:6 shows that a mist rose from the earth itself and kept the plant life alive, with no water coming down from above. There were waters "above the firmament" (Genesis 1:7), but they had not yet come down as showers on the earth. Not until Genesis 7:4 do we read of rain. Some think that the watering of the earth by mist and not rain persisted until the time of the flood. It may have been so.
Forty days and nights is not a random number. One writer traces the same span through Scripture, and shows where the 120 years came from.
The flood came down for forty days, and that number shows a period of testing. God tested Israel forty days while He gave the law, and forty years in all in the wilderness. The Lord was tempted forty days. Spies searched Canaan for forty days. Jonah's warning call to Nineveh was forty days... But God's patience sometimes lengthens the time of testing. In that case forty is multiplied again by three, the divine number, bringing us to 120. That is the time through which the long-suffering of God waited while Noah preached. Notice that this testing, while it destroys all else, lifts the ark up on its surface (Gen. 7:18).
The threat covers every living thing, and it fell exactly as God said. But it never fell without notice.
God never destroys without warning. So He gave a hundred and twenty years' notice of the coming ruin. Through those years men had the ministry of "Noah, a preacher of righteousness." In that scornful age the result was nothing: no one was saved but Noah and his household... Seven days after the hand of God shut the door of the ark, the blow fell, and the rain kept falling for forty days and forty nights without a break.
One writer asks how that generation could be caught out after so much warning.
"They did not know." Had they not had plenty of testimony? Plenty. For a hundred and twenty years Noah, the "preacher of righteousness," pointed to the coming storm, which Enoch had predicted too. They had plenty of testimony, but they paid no attention to it. How dull their ears were! People were taken by surprise in Noah's day, and so will they be when He Himself returns to judge the earth as Son of Man.
- Warned — God gave notice first. One hundred and twenty years of Noah's preaching, then a date for what was coming.
- Given — the seven days were an extra mercy, not part of the original promise; God added time no one had asked for.
- Wasted — the extra week may have hardened rather than softened. As nothing happened day by day, people grew more confident, not more concerned.
- Tested — forty is the span of testing all through Scripture. The same waters that destroyed everything else lifted the ark.
- Repeated — Jesus tied this scene to His own return. The verdict on that generation: they did not know until the flood came.