Genesis 7:23

23 Every living thing on the earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped out. Everything was destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark were left.

Genesis 7:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 7:23

And every living substance was destroyed which was upon
the face of the ground
Not everything, particularly trees; for after the flood was abated there was an olive tree, a leaf of which was brought to Noah by the dove, ( Genesis 8:11 ) but all animals,

both men and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the
heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth;
this is repeated, partly for explanation of the preceding clause, and partly for confirmation of this general destruction, which might seem almost incredible; there never was such a destruction of creatures before, or since, nor never will be till the general conflagration; and is a proof of the sovereignty of God, his almighty power, the purity and holiness of his nature, and the strictness and severity of his justice, and shows what a fearful thing it is to fail into his hands:

and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in
the ark;
besides those, of the millions of mankind that were upon the earth, not one was left, the flood came and destroyed them all, ( Luke 17:27 ) the fable some Jewish writers relate of Og being found alive, and which they gather from ( Deuteronomy 3:11 ) by sitting upon a piece of wood of one of the ladders of the ark, to whom Noah reached out food every day, and so he remained alive F17, deserves no regard; though perhaps from hence arose the Grecian fable of the flood of Ogyges, which seems to be the same with this of Noah.


FOOTNOTES:

F17 Pirke Eliezer, c. 23. fol. 23. 1, 2.

Genesis 7:23 In-Context

21 Every living thing that moved on the earth died. The birds, the livestock and the wild animals died. All of the creatures that fill the earth also died. And so did every human being.
22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in it died.
23 Every living thing on the earth was wiped out. People and animals were destroyed. The creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped out. Everything was destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark were left.
24 The waters flooded the earth for 150 days.
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