Genesis 7:22-24

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 7:22 tc The MT reads נִשְׁמַת רוּחַ חַיִּים (nishmat ruakh khayyim, “breath of the breath/spirit of life”), but the LXX and Vulgate imply only נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat khayyim). Either the LXX translator omitted translation of both words because of their similarity in meaning, or the omission in LXX shows that the inclusion of רוּחַ in the MT is the addition of an explanatory gloss.
2. Genesis 7:23 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. Genesis 7:23 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
4. Genesis 7:23 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
5. Genesis 7:23 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (shaʾar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root šʾr,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.
6. Genesis 7:24 sn The Hebrew verb translated “prevailed over” suggests that the waters were stronger than the earth. The earth and everything in it were no match for the return of the chaotic deep.