Genesis 7:21
in Genesis 7And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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:
KJV
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:
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This verse in Genesis 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Besides, now that the human race was reduced to one single family, it was necessary that the beasts should be proportionally diminished, otherwise by their numbers they would have acquired the ascendancy and overmastered the few that were to repeople the world. Thus goodness was mingled with severity; the Lord exercises judgment in wisdom and in wrath remembers mercy.
This site's exposition
every living thing that moved upon the earth
on Genesis 7:21-24
The dying is stated and never described. The single line of hope is that those in the ark remained. Jesus took these days as the picture of His own coming, that people ate and drank and married until the day Noah entered the ark, at Matthew 24:38 and 39. The water stands over the earth for 150 days.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Herein his holiness and justice were greatly magnified: by this it appears that he hates sin, and is highly displeased with sinners, when even the inferior creatures, because they are the servants of man, and part of his possession, and because they have been abused to be the servants of sin, are destroyed with him.
quarantine:duplicate (2026-07-29) — dup:2 scholars / 2 anchors
Herein his holiness and justice were greatly magnified: by this it appears that he hates sin, and is highly displeased with sinners, when even the inferior creatures, because they are the servants of man, and part of his possession, and because they have been abused to be the servants of sin, are destroyed with him.
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth,.... That had animal life in them, of which motion was a sign: both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth; excepting those that were in the ark.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Besides, now that the human race was reduced to one single family, it was necessary that the beasts should be proportionally diminished, otherwise by their numbers they would have acquired the ascendancy and overmastered the few that were to repeople the world. Thus goodness was mingled with severity; the Lord exercises judgment in wisdom and in wrath remembers mercy.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּגְוַ֞ע | vaiyigva' | and it died | H1478 → | 24 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בָּשָׂ֣ר׀ | basar | flesh | H1320 → | 270 times |
| הָרֹמֵ֣שׂ | haromes | which crept | H7430 → | 17 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֗רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בָּע֤וֹף | baof | among the bird[s] | H5775 → | 71 times |
| וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ | uvabehemah | and among the livestock | H929 → | 190 times |
| וּבַ֣חַיָּ֔ה | uvachaiyah | and among the animal[s] | H2416 → | 498 times |
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and among every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ | hasheretz | <the> swarming thing | H8318 → | |
| הַשֹּׁרֵ֣ץ | hashoretz | which swarms | H8317 → | 14 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְכֹ֖ל | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָדָֽם׃ | haadam | <the> human | H120 → | 551 times |
וַיִּגְוַ֞עand it died
vaiyigva'H1478 →24 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בָּשָׂ֣ר׀flesh
basarH1320 →270 times
הָרֹמֵ֣שׂwhich crept
haromesH7430 →17 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֗רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
בָּע֤וֹףamong the bird[s]
baofH5775 →71 times
וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙and among the livestock
uvabehemahH929 →190 times
וּבַ֣חַיָּ֔הand among the animal[s]
uvachaiyahH2416 →498 times
וּבְכָל־and among every
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ<the> swarming thing
hasheretzH8318 →
הַשֹּׁרֵ֣ץwhich swarms
hashoretzH8317 →14 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְכֹ֖לand every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הָאָדָֽם׃<the> human
haadamH120 →551 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 8:20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
it leads to
- Genesis 3:17–19
And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because…
- Genesis 5:29
And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
- Romans 8:22
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
- Jeremiah 12:4
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said,…
- Genesis 3:17–19
Through
Genesis 6:17And 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.
it leads to
- 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.”
- 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 7:21–23
And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.
- Genesis 7:4
Through
Genesis 6:13Then 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.
it leads to
- Hosea 4:1–2
Hear the word of the LORD, O children of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the people of the land: “There is no truth, no loving devotion, and no knowledge of God…
- Hosea 4:1–2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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About Genesis

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
