Genesis 7 · Verse 20

Genesis 7:20

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

Genesis 7:20, King James Version

Genesis 7:20 in other translations

BSB	The waters rose and covered the mountaintops to a depth of fifteen cubits.
WEB	The waters rose fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered.
ASV	Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
YLT	fifteen cubits upwards have the waters become mighty, and the mountains are covered;
DARBY	Fifteen cubits upward the waters prevailed; and the mountains were covered.
BBE	The waters went fifteen cubits higher, till all the mountains were covered.
Webster	Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail: and the mountains were covered.

What does Genesis 7:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

20. Fifteen cubits upward ... and the mountains were covered--twenty-two and a half feet above the summits of the highest hills. The language is not consistent with the theory of a partial deluge.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 20 Fifteen cubits upward - Should any person object to the universality of the deluge because he may imagine there is not water sufficient to drown the whole globe in the manner here related, he may find a most satisfactory answer to all the objections he can raise on this ground in Mr. Ray's Physico-theological Discourses, 2d edit., 8vo., 1693.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 7:17-20

The flood was increasing forty days. The waters rose so high, that the tops of the highest mountains were overflowed more than twenty feet. There is no place on earth so high as to set men out of the reach of God's judgments. God's hand will find out all his enemies, Psa 21:8. When the flood thus increased, Noah's ark was lifted up, and the waters which broke down every thing else, bore up the ark. That which to…

Read the full comment on Genesis 7:17-20 →

Genesis 7:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

חֲמֵ֨שׁcha.Meshfif-H2568

עֶשְׂרֵ֤ה'es.RehteenH6240

אַמָּה֙'a.Mahcubit[s]H520

מִלְמַ֔עְלָהmil.Ma'.lahfrom to above <towards>H4605

גָּבְר֖וּga.ve.Ruthey increasedH1396

הַמָּ֑יִםha.Ma.yimthe watersH4325

וַיְכֻסּ֖וּvay.khu.Suand they were coveredH3680

הֶהָרִֽים\׃he.ha.Rimthe mountainsH2022

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 7:20

Jeremiah 3:23
Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
Psalms 104:6
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

and the mountains.
Ps 104:6; Jer 3:23

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Genesis 7:19
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
Genesis 7:20
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Genesis 7:21
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:

Read all of Genesis 7

Genesis 7:20 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Quince codos en alto prevalecieron las aguas; y fueron cubiertos los montes.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Les eaux se renforcèrent de 15 coudées par-dessus, et les montagnes furent couvertes.
German Elberfelder 1871	Fünfzehn Ellen darüber nahmen die Wasser überhand, und die Berge wurden bedeckt.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Quindecim cubitis altior fuit aqua super montes, quos operuerat.