Bible Strands
Genesis 7:21
And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative voice records the climax of the flood judgment after forty days of continuous rain. This moment follows the waters rising fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, marking the point where terrestrial life ceases.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּגְוַע (va.yigva') translates literally as "it died" or "perished," indicating complete biological cessation. The phrase כָּל־בָּשָׂר (kol-basar) means "all flesh," which the text immediately specifies by listing birds, livestock, creeping creatures, and humanity.
The thread — This comprehensive death of terrestrial flesh fulfills the prior divine declaration in Genesis 6:13 and the announced judgment in Genesis 6:17. The event directly parallels the criterion stated in Genesis 7:22, where every creature on dry land possessing the breath of life in its nostrils meets the same fate.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge the absolute scope of the judgment, leaving no terrestrial category unaccounted for. It demands recognition that the stated outcome matches the stated warning without exception.
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
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
Cross-references
- Genesis 6:13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.
- Genesis 6:17 And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish.
- Genesis 7:4 For seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.”
- Genesis 6:6 And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
- Job 22:15 Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?
- Isaiah 24:6 Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
- Isaiah 24:19 The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.
- Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Jeremiah 12:3 But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.