Genesis 8:2
in Genesis 8The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
KJV
The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
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This verse in Genesis 8
Commentary
7 notes on this verse(Chapter 8, Verse 2) And the water subsided, and the fountains of the deep were revealed, and the floodgates of heaven were opened. The interpreters have translated the phrase 'fountains of the deep were revealed' as 'the closed and sealed fountains were opened'. And regarding the following phrase: 'the water subsided from the earth', it is written that 'the waters returned from the earth, going and coming' (Ecclesiastes 1:7). Note, according to Ecclesiastes, that all waters and torrents return to the hidden veins of the abyss.
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
See how God did everything out of his esteem for the human being. As in the case of the destruction of human beings in the flood he destroyed also along with them the whole range of brute beasts, so in this case too, when he intends to show his characteristic love for the good man out of his regard for him, he extends his goodness to the animal kingdom as well, the wild beasts, the birds and the reptiles. "God was mindful of Noah," the text says, "and of all the wild beasts, all the cattle and all the reptiles that were with him in the ark. God sent a wind upon the earth, and the water subsided." Being mindful of Noah, the text says, and of those with him in the ark, he directed the flood of water to halt so that little by little he might show his characteristic love and now give the good man a breath of fresh air, free him from the turmoil of his thoughts and restore him to a state of tranquility by granting him the enjoyment of daylight and a breath of fresh air. "God sent a wind upon the earth, and the water subsided. The torrents of the depths and the sluice gates of heaven were shut off."
The Medieval Church1 voice
And the fountains of the deep were closed, and the windows of heaven, and the rains from heaven were restrained, and the waters returned from the earth, going and coming, and they began to decrease after one hundred and fifty days.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
His sacrifice of praise which he offered to God upon his enlargement, ver. 20. God's acceptance of his sacrifice; and the promise he made thereupon not to drown the world again, ver. 21, 22. And thus at length mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
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His sacrifice of praise which he offered to God upon his enlargement, ver. 20. God's acceptance of his sacrifice; and the promise he made thereupon not to drown the world again, ver. 21, 22. And thus at length mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
The fountains also of the deep, and the windows of heaven, were stopped,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The remembrance of Noah was because he was a perfectly righteous man, and He had made a covenant with him to save him. The word “Noah” here includes his children that were there with him. Scripture did not mention them specifically, though, for they were saved by his merit.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּסָּֽכְרוּ֙ | vaiyisakheru | and they were shut up | H5534 → | |
| מַעְיְנֹ֣ת | ma'yenot | [the] springs of | H4599 → | |
| תְּה֔וֹם | tehom | [the] deep | H8415 → | 36 times |
| וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֖ת | vaarubot | and [the] floodgates of | H699 → | |
| הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וַיִּכָּלֵ֥א | vaiyikale' | and it was restrained | H3607 → | |
| הַגֶּ֖שֶׁם | hageshem | the rain | H1653 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃ | hashamayim | the heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
וַיִּסָּֽכְרוּ֙and they were shut up
vaiyisakheruH5534 →
מַעְיְנֹ֣ת[the] springs of
ma'yenotH4599 →
תְּה֔וֹם[the] deep
tehomH8415 →36 times
וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֖תand [the] floodgates of
vaarubotH699 →
הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםthe heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 times
וַיִּכָּלֵ֥אand it was restrained
vaiyikale'H3607 →
הַגֶּ֖שֶׁםthe rain
hageshemH1653 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃the heavens
hashamayimH8064 →421 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
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
- Proverbs 8:28–29
when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,
- 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…
- 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—
- Jeremiah 5:22
Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves…
- Jeremiah 51:16
When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from…
- Proverbs 8:28–29
Through
Job 38:37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
it leads to
- Psalms 147:4
He determines the number of the stars; He calls them each by name.
- Genesis 9:15
I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
- Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Psalms 147:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 26.10; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.