Genesis 7:21

21 All flesh died that moved on the eretz, including birds, cattle, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the eretz, and every man.

Genesis 7:21 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 7:21

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. This general destruction of the creatures, as it was for the sins of men, whose they were, and by whom they were abused, and is expressive of God's hatred of sin, and of his holiness and justice in the punishment of it; so, on the other hand, it is a display both of the wisdom of God, in causing a decrease of the creatures, in proportion to the decrease of men, who now would not need so many; and of the goodness of God to those that were spared, that so the beasts of the field, especially the wilder sort, might not multiply against them, and prevail over them, see ( Exodus 23:29 )

and every man:
except those in the ark; and the number of them is supposed to be as great, if not greater, than of the present inhabitants of the earth, by those who are skilful in the calculation of the increase of men. It is thought it may be easily allowed, that their number amounted to eleven billion; and some have made their number to be eighty billion ^F16. The Apostle Peter calls them, the world of the ungodly, ( 2 Peter 2:5 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Scheuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 55.

Genesis 7:21 In-Context

19 The waters prevailed exceedingly on the eretz. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered.

20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.

21 All flesh died that moved on the eretz, including birds, cattle, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the eretz, 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.

23 Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the eretz. Only Noach was left, and those who were with him in the teivah.