Genesis 8:3
in Genesis 8The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.
KJV
And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
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This verse in Genesis 8
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe waters returned from off the earth continually - Hebrew. they were going and returning; a gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more.
This site's exposition
The springs of the deep
on Genesis 8:2-3
The springs of the deep are shut, and the floodgates of the heavens with them, the same two openings that burst at 7:11. The Hebrew of verse 3 has the waters going and returning, a withdrawal by stages. It takes 150 days for them to go down.
This site's exposition
The waters receded steadily
The 150 days match the span the waters prevailed at 7:24, so the flood turns at its height. Counted from 7:11, five months of thirty days bring the ark to rest in verse 4. John Wesley credits the sun's heat and caverns under the ground.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The springs of the abyss and the floodgates of heaven were open forty days and forty nights and "the ark was afloat for one hundred fifty days."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The waters returned from off the earth continually - Hebrew. they were going and returning; a gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more.
And the waters returned from off the earth continually,....
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּ | vaiyashuvu | and they turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| הַמַּ֛יִם | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מֵעַ֥ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֖רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הָל֣וֹךְ | halokh | going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וָשׁ֑וֹב | vashov | and turning back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וַיַּחְסְר֣וּ | vaiyachseru | and they decreased | H2637 → | 23 times |
| הַמַּ֔יִם | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מִקְצֵ֕ה | miktzeh | from [the] end of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים | chamishim | fifty | H2572 → | 163 times |
| וּמְאַ֖ת | umeat | and one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| יֽוֹם׃ | yom | day[s] | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּand they turned back
vaiyashuvuH7725 →1056 times
הַמַּ֛יִםthe waters
hamayimH4325 →581 times
מֵעַ֥לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֖רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
הָל֣וֹךְgoing
halokhH1980 →1546 times
וָשׁ֑וֹבand turning back
vashovH7725 →1056 times
וַיַּחְסְר֣וּand they decreased
vaiyachseruH2637 →23 times
הַמַּ֔יִםthe waters
hamayimH4325 →581 times
מִקְצֵ֕הfrom [the] end of
miktzehH7097 →97 times
חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםfifty
chamishimH2572 →163 times
וּמְאַ֖תand one hundred
umeatH3967 →581 times
יֽוֹם׃day[s]
yomH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
6 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
Genesis 7:11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
it leads to
- Genesis 8:2
The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
- Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of…
- Proverbs 8:28–29
when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,
- Amos 9:5–6
The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
- 2 Kings 7:19
And the officer had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” So Elisha had replied, “You will see it with your…
- Genesis 8:2
Through
Genesis 7:24And the waters prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.
it leads to
- Genesis 8:3–4
The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.
- Genesis 8:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies15
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 6.11.2-6.12.1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.