Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks this to Noah immediately after the ark boarding instructions in Genesis 7:3. He establishes a seven-day countdown before initiating the flood.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לְיָמִים עוֹד שִׁבְעָה (le-yamim od shiv'ah) literally reads "to days yet seven." The verb מַמְטִיר (mam-tir) carries the active sense "I am about to bring rain."
The thread — This declaration precedes the rainfall recorded in Genesis 7:12 and the sustained waters in Genesis 7:17. It follows the initial judgment announcement in Genesis 6:13 without repeating the temporal details.
Why it lands — The text presents a fixed timeline between divine command and execution. It requires the reader to recognize that preparation ends when the countdown concludes.
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
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
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 7:12 And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
- Genesis 7:17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.
- Genesis 6:7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”
- 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.
- Psalms 69:28 May they be blotted out of the Book of Life and not listed with the righteous.
- Genesis 8:12 And Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove again, but this time she did not return to him.
- Job 22:16 They were snatched away before their time, and their foundations were swept away by a flood.
- Job 28:25 When God fixed the weight of the wind and measured out the waters,
- Job 37:11 He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them.