Bible Strands
Genesis 6:18
But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Noah immediately after announcing the flood that will destroy all flesh. He speaks at the precise moment of transition from judgment to preservation, just before detailing the gathering of animals.
The words — The verb וַ/הֲקִמֹתִ֥י (ha.ki.mo.Ti) literally means "I will establish," paired with אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֖י (et- be.ri.T/i), "My covenant." These terms anchor the promise of physical survival to a binding divine commitment.
The thread — The command to enter the ark with designated family members is fulfilled in Genesis 7:7 and 7:13. Hebrews 11:7 later references this event as the basis for Noah's godly fear and obedience.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment and preservation operate simultaneously. It requires immediate obedience to a specific command to enter the vessel with named relatives, securing survival through the coming flood.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
- Genesis 7:7 And Noah and his wife, with his sons and their wives, entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
- Genesis 7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife, and the three wives of his sons—
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Isaiah 26:20 Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.
- Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- Genesis 9:9 “Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you,
- 1 Peter 3:20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.
- 2 Peter 2:5 if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
- Genesis 17:4 “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.