Genesis 7:24
in Genesis 7And the waters prevailed upon the earth for 150 days.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
KJV
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 7
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days - The breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, and the raining forty days and nights, had raised the waters fifteen cubits above the highest mountains; after which forty days it appears to have continued at this height for one hundred and fifty days more. “So,” says Dr. Lightfoot, “these two sums are to be reckoned distinct, and not the forty days included in the one hundred and fifty; so that when the one hundred and fifty days were ended, there were six months and ten days of the flood past.” For an improvement of this awful judgment, see the conclusion of the following chapter, Gen 8:22 (note).
This site's exposition
every living thing that moved upon the earth
on Genesis 7:21-24
The dying is stated and never described, and the single line of hope is that those in the ark remained. Jesus took these days as the picture of His own coming. People ate and drank and married until the day Noah entered the ark, at Matthew 24:38 and 39.
This site's exposition
the waters prevailed upon the earth
From the seventeenth day of the second month at 7:11 to the seventeenth day of the seventh month at 8:4 is five months. Lightfoot, cited by Adam Clarke, counted the forty days of rain apart from the 150. Read by these dates, the forty fall inside it.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
We read in the story of holy Noah how he miraculously escaped the flood which destroyed the impious by being preserved with his household in the ark.
And the waters held sway over the earth for one hundred and fifty days. And this number pertains to the same mystery as the number fifteen because seventy is derived from seven, and eighty from eight; combining both numbers, the waters held sway over the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Noah Invited into the Ark. 1 And the L ORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:90%@v1-3
And the waters prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Noah Invited into the Ark. 1 And the L ORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
an hundred and fifty days--a period of five months. Though long before that every living creature must have been drowned, such a lengthened continuance of the flood was designed to manifest God's stern displeasure at sin and sinners.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּגְבְּר֥וּ | vaiyigberu | and they increased | H1396 → | 25 times |
| הַמַּ֖יִם | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| חֲמִשִּׁ֥ים | chamishim | fifty | H2572 → | 163 times |
| וּמְאַ֖ת | umeat | and one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| יֽוֹם׃ | yom | day[s] | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וַיִּגְבְּר֥וּand they increased
vaiyigberuH1396 →25 times
הַמַּ֖יִםthe waters
hamayimH4325 →581 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 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.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies9
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, On the Tabernacle 2.7.69; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.