Genesis 7:21

21 Da ging alles Fleisch unter, das auf Erden kriecht, an Vögeln, an Vieh, an Tieren und an allem, was sich regt auf Erden, und alle Menschen.

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 Und das Gewässer nahm überhand und wuchs so sehr auf Erden, daß alle hohen Berge unter dem ganzen Himmel bedeckt wurden.

20 Fünfzehn Ellen hoch ging das Gewässer über die Berge, die bedeckt wurden.

21 Da ging alles Fleisch unter, das auf Erden kriecht, an Vögeln, an Vieh, an Tieren und an allem, was sich regt auf Erden, und alle Menschen.

22 Alles, was einen lebendigen Odem hatte auf dem Trockenen, das starb. {~}

23 Also ward vertilgt alles, was auf dem Erdboden war, vom Menschen an bis auf das Vieh und das Gewürm und auf die Vögel unter dem Himmel; das ward alles von der Erde vertilgt. Allein Noah blieb übrig und was mit ihm in dem Kasten war.