Read Genesis 6:13-8:14 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Gen 6:13-8:14 {s} Righteous preserved through the judgment of the wicked
Chiastic structure
1a.1) Gen 6:13-17, Elohiym said to Noah: I will destroy the earth/ make an ark;
1a.2) Gen 6:18a, But I will establish My covenant with you;
1b) Gen 6:18b-21, Make preparations to go into the ark + your family + living things to keep alive;
1c) Gen 6:22a, Thus Noah did;
central axis) Gen 6:22b, According to all that Elohiym commanded him;
2c) Gen 6:22c, So he did;
2b) Gen 7:1-3, Come into the ark + your family + clean, unclean living things to keep alive;
2a.1) Gen 7:4-24, Elohiym destroyed all living things from the earth;
1a) Gen 7:4, After seven more days the flood + I will destroy all living things from the earth;
1b) Gen 7:5-9, Noah in 600th year entered the ark + 2×2 two with him, because of the flood;
central axis) Gen 7:10, And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth;
2b) Gen 7:11-17a, In Noah’s 600th year the flood came/ Noah entered the ark + 2×2 with him;
2a) Gen 7:17b-24, The floodwaters prevailed/ Elohiym destroyed all living things;
1a) Gen 7:17b-20, The waters increased + prevailed on the earth until the mountains were covered;
1b) Gen 7:21-22, All flesh died that moved on the earth + every man;
1c) Gen 7:23a, So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground;
central axis) Gen 7:23b, Both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air;
2c) Gen 7:23c, They were destroyed from the earth;
2b) Gen 7:23d, Only Noah + those who were with him in the ark remained alive;
2a) Gen 7:24, And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days;
2a.2) Gen 8:1-14, Elohiym remembered Noah + all with him in the ark;
1a) Gen 8:1a, Elohiym remembered Noah + every living thing with him in the ark;
1b) Gen 8:1b, Elohiym made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided;
central axis) Gen 8:2, The fountains of the deep + the windows of heaven were also stopped/ the rain from heaven was restrained;
2b) Gen 8:3-5, The waters receded continually from the earth until the 10th month when the tops of the mountains were seen;
2a) Gen 8:6-14 {s} So that in the 601st year, the earth was dried;
1a) Gen 8:6-7, After 40 days, Noah sent out a raven until the waters had dried up from the earth;
1b) Gen 8:8a, He also sent out from himself a dove;
1c) Gen 8:8b, To see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground;
1d) Gen 8:9a, But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot;
1e) Gen 8:9b, She returned into the ark to him/ he drew her into the ark to himself;
central axis) Gen 8:10, He waited yet another 7 days + again sent the dove out from the ark;
2e) Gen 8:11a, Then the dove came to him in the evening;
2d) Gen 8:11b, And behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth;
2c) Gen 8:11c, And Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth;
2b) Gen 8:12, He waited yet another 7 days + sent out the dove/ she did not return to him;
2a) Gen 8:13-14 {s} In the 601st year, the waters were dried up from the earth.
All of this text is a single weak paragraph – only one facet of a strong theme – according to God’s paragraph divisions. What the structure shines a spotlight on, through the central axis, is that Noah did all that God commanded him, and he lived – unlike Adam, who did not do as God commanded him, and he died. Obedience is not an option!
Please also note, that God established His covenant with Noah, and in the execution of that covenant, He remembered Noah and did not forget him. He not only preserved him through the judgment, but cared for him afterward as well. If you are walking in covenant with God today, He will not forget you but remember you! ♥
For further study on site
genesis 6:9-7:24, the teaching tool of comparison and contrast
genesis 7 and 8, was noah saved by his righteous works?
genesis 8:1-14, rest follows atonement
For further study off site
Noah, the second Adam and a type of Messiah
Answers about the Flood
Buried Alive: The Startling Untold Story About Neanderthal Man – Jack Cuozzo
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