Passage

Genesis 7.19-20

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. 18. And the waters prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. 20. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 22. all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died. (Genesis 7:17-22, ASV)

WEB

17. The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. 18. The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters.

19. The waters rose very high on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. 20. The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.

All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22. All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. (Genesis 7:17-22, WEB)

KJV

17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 18. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

19. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

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: 22. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. ^{the breath: Heb. the breath of the spirit of life} (Genesis 7:17-22, KJV)

YLT

17. And the deluge is forty days on the earth, and the waters multiply, and lift up the ark, and it is raised up from off the earth; 18. and the waters are mighty, and multiply exceedingly upon the earth; and the ark goeth on the face of the waters.

19. And the waters have been very very mighty on the earth, and covered are all the high mountains which [are] under the whole heavens; 20. fifteen cubits upwards have the waters become mighty, and the mountains are covered;

and expire doth all flesh that is moving on the earth, among fowl, and among cattle, and among beasts, and among all the teeming things which are teeming on the earth, and all mankind; 22. all in whose nostrils [is] breath of a living spirit, of all that [is] in the dry land, have died. (Genesis 7:17-22, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Genesis
Audience: Israel, and every later reader of the Torah
Location: the whole earth as the narrator surveys it
Time period: the Flood year, as the waters rose

Theological reading

And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. The verb prevailed (gavar, to be strong, to overpower) is repeated through 7:18-24, and here it is intensified: exceedingly.

Fifteen cubits is about 22 feet, half the ark's height of thirty cubits (6:15). Many interpreters have read the figure as the depth needed for a loaded vessel of that height to float clear of the summits, though the text does not say so.

The scope of the language is debated among Christians who hold the account to be historical. Those who read a global Flood take all the high mountains ... under the whole heaven at full extent. Those who read a regional Flood note that similar universal phrasing is used elsewhere for a limited area, as when all countries came into Egypt to buy grain (Genesis 41:57). Both positions are set out on Genesis Flood and Global Flood Evidence. On either reading the narrator's point is that no high place offered refuge; safety was found only in the ark.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Flood Genocide Objection, via Genesis 7.19

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.