Devine Scripture

Genesis 7:21

What does Genesis 7:21 mean?

A plain-English look at Genesis 7:21 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Genesis 7:21 means

This verse explicitly states the full extent of the destruction: "all flesh died that moved upon the earth." This encompasses every bird, cattle, wild beast, creeping thing, and every person. It reiterates the universal devastation of terrestrial life, fulfilling God's earlier pronouncement of judgment. The exhaustive list emphasizes that no living thing that breathed on dry land, apart from those in the ark, survived, underscoring the severity and comprehensive nature of God's wrath against a sinful world.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And destruction came on every living thing moving on the earth, birds and cattle and beasts and everything which went on the earth, and every man.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and expire doth all flesh that is moving on the earth, among fowl, and among cattle, and among beasts, and among all the teeming things which are teeming on the earth, and all mankind;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: and all men.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And all flesh that moved on the earth expired, fowl as well as cattle, and beasts, and all crawling things which crawl on the earth, and all mankind:

Context

This verse delivers the devastating consequence of the flood's magnitude, explicitly stating that all terrestrial life perished. It naturally follows the description of the waters covering the highest mountains, revealing the direct impact of that inundation. This serves as an overarching statement before specifically defining what kind of life was destroyed, preparing for the detail that follows.

v.20Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

v.21This passage

v.22all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Zephaniah 1:3

    I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the face of the ground, saith Jehovah.

  • Hosea 4:3

    Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

  • Genesis 6:6

    And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

  • 2 Peter 2:5

    and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

  • Luke 17:27

    They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

  • Romans 8:20

    For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope

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