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Genesis 7:10

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

Seven days later, the floodwaters came upon the earth.

EOB Footnote:

The MT includes the phrase “of the flood” after “seven days,” specifying “after seven days of the flood, the waters came upon the earth.” The LXX reads simply “after the seven days,” without this additional phrase. The MT’s addition clarifies which seven days are meant, though the context makes this reasonably clear in both traditions.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

WEB (World English Bible):

After the seven days, the floodwaters came on the earth.

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

And it came to pass after the seven days that the water of the flood came upon the earth.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

And it came to pass after the seven days that the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

And it happened, after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came on the earth.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

And after the seven days, the waters came over all the earth.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

Genesis 7:10

The Seven Days of Waiting

The notation that the flood came “after seven days” carries profound theological weight that extends far beyond mere chronological detail. This seven-day period represents a final interval of divine patience, a last opportunity for repentance before judgment falls. The Fathers understood this waiting period as emblematic of God’s long-suffering nature, His reluctance to bring destruction even when judgment has been decreed.

Typological Significance for Christ and Baptism

Saint John Chrysostom and other Patristic commentators saw in the flood waters a prefiguration of baptism, and the seven days of waiting point toward the fullness of time before Christ’s coming. Just as Noah waited seven days before the waters of judgment and salvation came, so humanity waited through the ages for the waters of baptism that would bring both death to sin and new life in Christ. The Apostle Peter makes this connection explicit when he writes that baptism corresponds to the flood as a means of salvation (1 Peter 3:20-21).

The number seven itself carries creation significance. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Here, before the world is unmade and remade through water, another seven-day period occurs, suggesting a new creation emerging from the flood. This typology finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s resurrection, which occurred on the eighth day, the day beyond the seven, inaugurating the new creation.

Liturgical Connections

The Orthodox Church reads the flood narrative during the Great Blessing of Waters at Theophany, where the connection between the flood waters and baptismal waters is liturgically celebrated. The hymns of this feast speak of Christ sanctifying the waters, transforming what was once an instrument of judgment into a means of regeneration. The seven days of waiting before the flood thus become, in the Church’s liturgical imagination, a period of preparation analogous to the catechumenate, the time of preparation before one enters the baptismal waters.

Spiritual Application

For the Orthodox faithful, this verse invites reflection on the periods of waiting that precede divine action in our lives. Great Lent, with its extended preparation before Pascha, mirrors this pattern of patient waiting before transformation. The spiritual life itself involves such periods of apparent delay, during which God’s mercy extends opportunity for deeper repentance and preparation. Noah’s faithful waiting during these seven days models the patient endurance (hypomone) that characterizes authentic Christian spirituality.

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