Bible Strands
Genesis 7:23
And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the completion of the flood judgment, stating that all terrestrial life perished while Noah and his household survived in the ark. This account follows the death of every land creature with the breath of life and precedes the continued covering of the earth by water for 150 days.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּמַח (va.yi.mach) literally means "he wiped out" or "blotted out," denoting total eradication rather than temporary removal. It directly governs כָּל־הַיְקוּם (kol-ha.yaqum), "all existence," which specifies the comprehensive scope of the destruction across the earth's surface.
The thread — The pattern of universal judgment paired with selective preservation recurs in 2 Peter 2:5, which explicitly links the flood's destruction of the ungodly with the preservation of Noah. The same structural contrast between widespread disobedience and faithful survival is referenced in 1 Peter 3:20 and Hebrews 11:7.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that survival depended entirely on being within the ark, not on human merit or circumstance. It establishes that divine judgment operates with absolute finality outside the appointed means of deliverance.
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 every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Cross-references
- 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;
- 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.
- 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.
- Luke 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Matthew 24:37 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- 2 Peter 3:6 through which the world of that time perished in the flood.
- 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.
- Job 22:15 Will you stay on the ancient path that wicked men have trod?
- Isaiah 24:1 Behold, the LORD lays waste the earth and leaves it in ruins. He will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants—
- Malachi 3:17 “They will be Mine,” says the LORD of Hosts, “on the day when I prepare My treasured possession. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.