The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Genesis8:1–5

The Ark Rests on Ararat

Generated by AI. It can be wrong, and it has no authority. Every note here is fallible commentary — never the Word itself. Public-domain sources are quoted and named; machine synthesis is marked and meant to be checked. Weigh all of it against Scripture. “They received the word with all readiness… and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Acts 17:11
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Genesis 8:1–5 — The Ark Rests on Ararat. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1“But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that w…”+

1But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’eṯ- ’ĕ·lō·hîm way·yiz·kōr nō·aḥ wə·’êṯ kāl- ha·ḥay·yāh wə·’eṯ- kāl- hab·bə·hê·māh ’ă·šer ’it·tōw bat·tê·ḇāh ’ĕ·lō·hîm rū·aḥ way·ya·‘ă·ḇêr ‘al- hā·’ā·reṣ ham·mā·yim way·yā·šōk·kū

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-remembered God Noah, and-every living-thing and-every beast that [was] with-him in-the-ark; and-caused-God a-wind to-pass-over over the-earth, and-grew-still the-waters.

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר BSB's plain remembered flattens way·yiz·kōr (H2142, zāḵar) — a root that means not merely to recall a fact but to act on what is held in mind; God's remembering is the hinge on which the whole narrative turns from judgment to deliverance, not a correction of forgetting.
  • ר֙וּחַ֙ a wind renders rū·aḥ (H7307), the same word as Spirit/breath that hovered over the waters in Genesis 1:2. English must pick one sense; the Hebrew holds wind, breath, and Spirit in one noun, and the ancient versions split over which is meant here.
  • וַיָּשֹׁ֖כּוּ BSB's began to subside smooths the rare verb way·yā·šōk·kū (H7918, šāḵaḵ, only five occurrences) — literally grew still / assuaged / abated. It is the verb used for royal wrath cooling (Esther 2:1; 7:10): the raging element does not just lower, it calms.
  • וַיַּעֲבֵ֨ר sent ... over compresses the Hiphil way·ya·‘ă·ḇêr (H5674, ‘āḇar, cause to pass/cross over) — God actively makes the wind cross the face of the earth, an echo of the divider-wind of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21) rather than a mere weather event.
Word by word20 · parsed+
אֶת־’eṯ-ButH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

The direct-object marker ’eṯ (H853) carries no meaning of its own; BSB's But is supplied to mark the turn in the narrative, not translated from this word.

אֱלֹהִים֙’ĕ·lō·hîmGodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural

’ĕ·lō·hîm (H430) — the universal divine name, God in relation to all His creatures, not the covenant name YHWH. Ellicott notes the older source-critics expected Jehovah here; the choice of Elohim suits a scene of cosmic, creation-wide mercy reaching beyond Israel to every breathing thing.

וַיִּזְכֹּ֤רway·yiz·kōrrememberedH2142
√ zâkar — properly, to mark (so as to be recognized), iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiz·kōr (H2142, Qal consecutive imperfect) — the theological pivot of the unit. Hebrew zāḵar joins memory to action: when God "remembers" He intervenes. The same construction frames His remembering of Abraham and Lot (Genesis 19:29) and of Rachel (Genesis 30:22), and of Hannah (1 Samuel 1:19) — each time, a deliverance follows immediately. The waters had risen for 150 days; this verb is where they turn.

נֹ֔חַnō·aḥNoahH5146
√ Nôach — Noach, the patriarch of the floodNounpropermasculine singular

nō·aḥ (H5146) — Noah, named first as the object of the remembrance, the one righteous man on whose account the beasts are spared. His name (from the root for rest, H5117) anticipates verse 4, where the ark rests (wat·tā·naḥ).

וְאֵ֤תwə·’êṯH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
כָּל־kāl-and allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הַֽחַיָּה֙ha·ḥay·yāhthe animalsH2416
√ chay — aliveArticleNounfeminine singular

ha·ḥay·yāh (H2416) — the wild living creatures. That God remembers every beast, not only Noah, is, in the words of the Geneva annotators, an assurance to His children: if He minds the brute creation, how much more His people.

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-andH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
כָּל־kāl-H3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הַבְּהֵמָ֔הhab·bə·hê·māhlivestockH929
√ bᵉhêmâh — properly, a dumb beastArticleNounfeminine singular
אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerthatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
אִתּ֖וֹ’it·tōwwere with himH854
√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionthird person masculine singular
בַּתֵּבָ֑הbat·tê·ḇāhin the arkH8392
√ têbâh — a boxPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

bat·tê·ḇāh (H8392, tēḇāh, "a box/chest") — the same rare word used for the basket of bulrushes in which the infant Moses is drawn from the water (Exodus 2:3). Hebrew has two distinct flood-vessels in mind across Scripture, and this is not the usual word for "ship."

אֱלֹהִ֥ים’ĕ·lō·hîmAnd GodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural
ר֙וּחַ֙rū·aḥsent a windH7307
√ rûwach — windNouncommon singular

rū·aḥ (H7307) — wind/breath/Spirit. The Pulpit Commentary records the dispute: Theodoret, Ambrose, and the LXX read pneuma (the Spirit, as in Genesis 1:2); others read a mere current of air. The synthesis prefers the deliberate echo of creation: the new world begins as the old did, with God's wind moving over the deep.

וַיַּעֲבֵ֨רway·ya·‘ă·ḇêr. . .H5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
עַל־‘al-overH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
הָאָ֔רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe earthH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
הַמָּֽיִם׃ham·mā·yimand the watersH4325
√ mayim — waterArticleNounmasculine plural
וַיָּשֹׁ֖כּוּway·yā·šōk·kūbegan to subsideH7918
√ shâkak — to weave (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yā·šōk·kū (H7918) — a rare verb (five OT occurrences) meaning to grow still, abate, assuage. Ellicott observes the waters' "strength" in Genesis 7:24 was their violent currents; what subsides here is not first the level but the fury of the waters.

The Voices✦ public domain+
It might seem as if, in the wild rush of the waters from beneath and from above, the little handful in the ark were forgotten. Had the Judge of all the earth, while executing ‘terrible things in righteousness,’ leisure to think of them who were ‘afar off upon the sea’? Was it a blind wrath that had been let loose? No; in all the severity there was tender regard for those worthy of it. Judgment was discriminating. The sunshine of love broke through even the rain-clouds of the flood.
God's "remembering" was a manifestation of Himself, an effective restraint of the force of the raging element. He caused a wind to blow over the earth, so that the waters sank, and shut up the fountains of the deep, and the sluices of heaven, so that the rain from heaven was restrained.
and it was, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call it, "a wind of mercies", or a merciful wind; or a wind of comforts, as Jarchi; for so it was to Noah and his family, and to all the creatures, since it served to dry up the waters of the flood, and caused them to subside.
Gill relays the Aramaic Targum reading "a wind of mercies" — a Jewish reception of the verse, not the Hebrew text itself.
"Not that there is oblivion or forgetfulness with God, but then God is said to remember when he showeth by the effects that he hath taken care of man" (Willet).
2“The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were c…”+

2The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ma‘·yə·nōṯ tə·hō·wm wa·’ă·rub·bōṯ haš·šā·mā·yim way·yis·sā·ḵə·rū hag·ge·šem min- haš·šā·mā·yim way·yik·kā·lê

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-were-shut the-springs-of [the]-deep and-the-floodgates-of the-heavens; and-was-restrained the-rain from the-heavens.

Where the English smooths the original

  • תְּה֔וֹם BSB's the deep renders tə·hō·wm (H8415), the same primeval abyss of Genesis 1:2 over which the Spirit hovered. English loses the deliberate un-creation: the waters that God divided at the beginning here burst their bounds and are now re-sealed.
  • וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֖ת floodgates is interpretive for ’ă·rub·bōṯ (H699), literally lattices / windows — the same rare word (nine occurrences) used in Malachi 3:10 for the "windows of heaven" God opens to pour out blessing. KJV's "windows" is closer to the Hebrew picture than "floodgates."
  • וַיִּסָּֽכְרוּ֙ were closed flattens the Niphal way·yis·sā·ḵə·rū (H5534, sāḵar, to stop up / dam) — a passive: the springs were stopped, by God's unspoken hand. The agent is suppressed in the Hebrew to keep all eyes on the sovereign remembering of verse 1.
  • וַיִּכָּלֵ֥א was restrained renders the Niphal way·yik·kā·lê (H3607, kālā’, to hold back, shut in, prohibit) — the rain is not said to "stop" but to be held back, as a thing under restraint; the same verb-idea governs a prisoner or a withheld gift.
Word by word9 · parsed+
מַעְיְנֹ֣תma‘·yə·nōṯThe springsH4599
√ maʻyân — a fountain (also collectively), figuratively, a source (of satisfaction)Nounmasculine plural construct

ma‘·yə·nōṯ (H4599) — the springs/fountains. These are the subterranean source named in Genesis 7:11; Maclaren and others take them as "probably the sea." Their stopping is the structural mirror of their breaking open at the flood's onset.

תְּה֔וֹםtə·hō·wmof the deepH8415
√ tᵉhôwm — an abyss (as a surging mass of water), especially the deep (the main sea or the subterranean watersupply)Nouncommon singular

tə·hō·wm (H8415) — the great deep, the surging subterranean water-mass; in Genesis 1:2 the unformed abyss. Its sealing signals the reversal of chaos.

וַֽאֲרֻבֹּ֖תwa·’ă·rub·bōṯand the floodgatesH699
√ ʼărubbâh — a latticeConjunctive wawNounfeminine plural construct

’ă·rub·bōṯ (H699) — "lattices/windows" of heaven, a rare word. The Pulpit Commentary derives the cognate verb from the idea of enclosing; the LXX reads epekalyphthēsan, "were covered over."

הַשָּׁמָ֑יִםhaš·šā·mā·yimof the heavensH8064
√ shâmayim — the sky (as aloftArticleNounmasculine plural
וַיִּסָּֽכְרוּ֙way·yis·sā·ḵə·rūwere closedH5534
√ çâkar — to shut upConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yis·sā·ḵə·rū (H5534) — were stopped/dammed. The Pulpit Commentary glosses it as a byform of sāḡar, "to surround, enclose"; literally were shut up.

הַגֶּ֖שֶׁםhag·ge·šemand the rainH1653
√ geshem — a showerArticleNounmasculine singular
מִן־min-fromH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition
הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃haš·šā·mā·yimthe skyH8064
√ shâmayim — the sky (as aloftArticleNounmasculine plural
וַיִּכָּלֵ֥אway·yik·kā·lêwas restrainedH3607
√ kâlâʼ — to restrict, by act (hold back or in) or word (prohibit)Conjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yik·kā·lê (H3607, kālā’) — was restrained. The Pulpit Commentary lines it up with Greek kleiō, kōlyō and Latin celo, occulo: the rain is shut in, held back, not merely ceased.

The Voices✦ public domain+
literally, were shut up ; ἐπεκαλύφθησαν ( LXX .).
On וַיִּסָּכְרוּ (H5534), the verb behind "were closed"; the Pulpit Commentary derives it from סָכַר/סָגַר, "to surround, to enclose."
Jarchi observes, that it is not said that "all" the fountains of the deep, as when they were broken up, Genesis 7:11 because some of them were left open for the use and benefit of the world; besides, some must be left for the return of the waters:
Gill cites the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi (Jarchi); the observation is rabbinic inference, not stated in the Hebrew text.
"The fountains of the deep and the windows of the skies were shut." The incessant and violent showers had continued for six weeks. It is probable the weather remained turbid and moist for some time longer. In the sixth month, however, the rain probably ceased altogether.
3“The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days t…”+

3The waters receded steadily from the earth, and after 150 days the waters had gone down.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ham·ma·yim way·yā·šu·ḇū hā·lō·wḵ wā·šō·wḇ mê·‘al hā·’ā·reṣ miq·ṣêh ū·mə·’aṯ ḥă·miš·šîm yō·wm ham·ma·yim way·yaḥ·sə·rū

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-returned the-waters from-upon the-earth, going and-returning; and-decreased the-waters at-the-end-of a-hundred and-fifty day[s].

Where the English smooths the original

  • הָל֣וֹךְ BSB's steadily dissolves a vivid Hebrew idiom: the two infinitive absolutes hā·lō·wḵ wā·šō·wḇ (H1980 + H7725), literally going and returning. The construction paints a slow ebb-and-return motion, like a receding tide; Gesenius reads it "more and more," the Pulpit Commentary as the undulation of waves drawing back.
  • וַיַּחְסְר֣וּ had gone down renders way·yaḥ·sə·rū (H2637, ḥāsēr, to lack, fail, be diminished) — the waters do not merely lower, they are made to fail, to come up short of what they were. The LXX ēlattonouto and the Vulgate imminutae sunt agree: they were diminished, cut down.
  • וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּ receded compresses way·yā·šu·ḇū (H7725, šūḇ, to turn back / return) — the same verb of repentance and return throughout the prophets. The waters "turn back" to their place, an orderly reversal, not a chaotic drain.
Word by word12 · parsed+
הַמַּ֛יִםham·ma·yimThe watersH4325
√ mayim — waterArticleNounmasculine plural
וַיָּשֻׁ֧בוּway·yā·šu·ḇūrecededH7725
√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yā·šu·ḇū (H7725, šūḇ) — turned back/returned. Keil notes the verb means here "flowed off"; the same root underlies the call to "return" to God.

הָל֣וֹךְhā·lō·wḵsteadilyH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalInfinitive absolute

hā·lō·wḵ (H1980, infinitive absolute of hālaḵ) paired with wā·šō·wḇ — the doubled infinitive expresses continuous, intensifying action. Keil: "the inf. absol. wᵉšōḇ hālōḵ expresses continuation." The Pulpit Commentary wonders whether it captures "the undulatory motion of the waves in an ebbing tide."

וָשׁ֑וֹבwā·šō·wḇ. . .H7725
√ shûwb — to turn back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively (not necessarily with the idea of return to the starting point)Conjunctive wawVerbQalInfinitive absolute
מֵעַ֥לmê·‘alfromH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition-m
הָאָ֖רֶץhā·’ā·reṣthe earthH776
√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular
מִקְצֵ֕הmiq·ṣêhand afterH7097
√ qâtseh — an extremityPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
וּמְאַ֖תū·mə·’aṯ150H3967
√ mêʼâh — a hundredConjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular construct

ū·mə·’aṯ (H3967, "a hundred") with ḥă·miš·šîm (H2572, "fifty") — the 150 days reckoned from the flood's commencement (Genesis 7:24). Keil takes 30 days to a month, making exactly five months to the ark's resting.

חֲמִשִּׁ֥יםḥă·miš·šîm. . .H2572
√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural
יֽוֹם׃yō·wmdaysH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Nounmasculine singular
הַמַּ֔יִםham·ma·yimthe watersH4325
√ mayim — waterArticleNounmasculine plural
וַיַּחְסְר֣וּway·yaḥ·sə·rūhad gone downH2637
√ châçêr — to lackConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

way·yaḥ·sə·rū (H2637, ḥāsēr) — were diminished/made to fail. Barnes lists this among the unit's distinctive verbs: "want, fail, be abated."

The Voices✦ public domain+
May it not be an attempt to represent the undulatory motion of the waves in an ebbing tide, in which the water seems first to advance, but only to retire with greater vehemence, reversing the movement of a flowing tide, in which it first retires and then advances - in the one case returning to go, in the other going to return?
This backward motion of the waters also seems to indicate that a vast wave from the sea had swept over the land, in addition to the forty days of rain. Were abated. —Heb., decreased. Those in the ark would notice the changing current, and would know, by their being aground, that the flood was diminishing.
The waters returned from off the earth continually — Hebrews they were going and returning; a gradual departure. The heat of the sun exhaled much, and perhaps the subterraneous caverns soaked in more.
4“On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to res…”+

4On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·šiḇ·‘āh- ‘ā·śār yō·wm la·ḥō·ḏeš haš·šə·ḇî·‘î ba·ḥō·ḏeš hat·tê·ḇāh wat·tā·naḥ ‘al hā·rê ’ă·rā·rāṭ

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-rested the-ark in-the-month the-seventh, on-seventeen day to-the-month, upon the-mountains-of Ararat.

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַתָּ֤נַח BSB's came to rest renders wat·tā·naḥ (H5117, nūaḥ, to rest, settle) — the verb from which Noah's own name (nōaḥ, H5146) is built. The man named "rest" rides the vessel that finds rest; the wordplay is invisible in English. The Pulpit Commentary stresses the ark did not merely stop floating but grounded and settled.
  • הָרֵ֥י the mountains is plural hā·rê (H2022, construct) — the ark rested on one of the mountains; Hebrew uses the plural for an indefinite member of a range. Poole and the Pulpit Commentary both note this enallage of number, against the popular notion of a single named peak.
  • אֲרָרָֽט׃ Ararat transliterates ’ă·rā·rāṭ (H780) — a rare proper noun (four OT occurrences). Crucially it names a region (later Assyrian Urartu / Armenia), not a single mountain; the same name is rendered "Armenia" in 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38. The modern singular "Mount Ararat" is later tradition, not the text.
  • בְּשִׁבְעָה־ On the seventeenth ... of the seventh month unpacks the compressed Hebrew date bə·šiḇ·‘āh-‘ā·śār ... haš·šə·ḇî·‘î. The sevenfold patterning (seventeenth day, seventh month) is, as Maclaren notes, the recurrence of the "sacred numbers," not incidental chronology.
Word by word11 · parsed+
בְּשִׁבְעָה־bə·šiḇ·‘āh-On the seventeenthH7651
√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Preposition-bNumbermasculine singular
עָשָׂ֥ר‘ā·śār. . .H6240
√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumbermasculine singular
י֖וֹםyō·wmdayH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)Nounmasculine singular
לַחֹ֑דֶשׁla·ḥō·ḏešH2320
√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular
הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔יhaš·šə·ḇî·‘îof the seventhH7637
√ shᵉbîyʻîy — seventhArticleNumberordinal masculine singular
בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁba·ḥō·ḏešmonthH2320
√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular
הַתֵּבָה֙hat·tê·ḇāhthe arkH8392
√ têbâh — a boxArticleNounfeminine singular

hat·tê·ḇāh (H8392) — the ark, the box-vessel; see note on 8:1. Its grounding marks the exact midpoint of the deliverance.

וַתָּ֤נַחwat·tā·naḥcame to restH5117
√ nûwach — to rest, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular

wat·tā·naḥ (H5117, nūaḥ) — rested. The root meaning of "rest" is the same root behind Noah's name and behind the Sabbath rest; the third feminine singular agrees with the feminine noun tēḇāh (ark).

עַ֖ל‘alonH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
הָרֵ֥יhā·rêthe mountainsH2022
√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)Nounmasculine plural construct

hā·rê (H2022, masculine plural construct) — "mountains of." The plural-for-singular is a recognized Hebrew idiom (Poole cites Judges 12:7); the ark rests on a single height within the range.

אֲרָרָֽט׃’ă·rā·rāṭof AraratH780
√ ʼĂrâraṭ — Ararat (or rather Armenia)Nounproperfeminine singular

’ă·rā·rāṭ (H780) — Ararat, a kingdom/region named in Jeremiah 51:27 (beside Minni and Ashkenaz) and equated with Armenia in 2 Kings 19:37 and Isaiah 37:38. Barnes, Cambridge, and the Pulpit Commentary all insist it is a country, not a peak; the rare word recurs in only four verses, making the verbal link to those passages exact.

The Voices✦ public domain+
God has times and places of rest for his people after their tossing; and many times he provides for their seasonable and comfortable settlement, without their own contrivance, and quite beyond their own foresight.
Ararat is not a mountain, but a district mentioned in Isaiah 37:38 ; Jeremiah 51:27 . It is the country which appears in the Assyrian inscriptions as “Urartu.” It lies between the river Araxes and Lake Van. It comprises a large portion of Armenia.
the Speaker’s Commentary notices the following remarkable coincidences:—“On the 17th day of Abib the ark rested on Mount Ararat; on the 17th day of Abib the Israelites passed over the Red Sea; on the 17th day of Abib, Christ, our Lord, rose again from the dead.”
Ellicott relays a calendrical harmonization from the Speaker's Commentary; the dating of the resurrection to "17 Abib" is a homiletical synchronism, not a claim of the Genesis text.
the ark rested upon one of the mountains of Ararat; by a frequent enallage of the number, as Judges 12:7 Matthew 21:5 . And by Ararat is here commonly and rightly understood Armenia
5“And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on…”+

5And the waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ham·ma·yim hā·yū hā·lō·wḵ wə·ḥā·sō·wr ‘aḏ hā·‘ă·śî·rî ha·ḥō·ḏeš bə·’e·ḥāḏ la·ḥō·ḏeš bā·‘ă·śî·rî rā·šê he·hā·rîm nir·’ū

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-the-waters were going and-decreasing until the-month the-tenth; in-the-tenth [month], on-the-first to-the-month, became-visible the-tops-of the-mountains.

Where the English smooths the original

  • הָל֣וֹךְ BSB's continued to recede again renders the doubled infinitive idiom hā·lō·wḵ wə·ḥā·sō·wr (H1980 + H2637), literally going and lacking/decreasing — the same "going and ___" frame as verse 3, marking a steady, drawn-out diminution rather than a sudden drop.
  • נִרְא֖וּ became visible renders the Niphal nir·’ū (H7200, rā’āh, to be seen / appear). Tayler Lewis (via the Pulpit Commentary) reads it as "became distinctly visible" — the peaks may have already projected, but only now emerged clearly from the receding mist and water.
  • רָאשֵׁ֥י the tops renders rā·šê (H7218, rō’š, "head") in construct — literally the heads of the mountains. The Hebrew personifies the peaks as lifting their "heads" above the flood, a touch of imagery the neutral "tops" loses.
Word by word13 · parsed+
וְהַמַּ֗יִםwə·ham·ma·yimAnd the watersH4325
√ mayim — waterConjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine plural
הָיוּ֙hā·yū. . .H1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person common plural
הָל֣וֹךְhā·lō·wḵcontinuedH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalInfinitive absolute

hā·lō·wḵ (H1980) joined to wə·ḥā·sō·wr (H2637) — "going and decreasing," the second of the unit's two "going-and-___" infinitive pairs, binding 8:3 and 8:5 into a single slow movement of withdrawal.

וְחָס֔וֹרwə·ḥā·sō·wrto recedeH2637
√ châçêr — to lackConjunctive wawVerbQalInfinitive absolute
עַ֖ד‘aḏuntilH5704
√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition
הָֽעֲשִׂירִ֑יhā·‘ă·śî·rîthe tenthH6224
√ ʻăsîyrîy — tenthArticleNumberordinal masculine singular

hā·‘ă·śî·rî (H6224) — the tenth month. Cambridge and Keil reckon 73 days between the ark's grounding (8:4) and this sighting of the surrounding peaks — the slowness itself is the point.

הַחֹ֣דֶשׁha·ḥō·ḏešmonthH2320
√ chôdesh — the new moonArticleNounmasculine singular
בְּאֶחָ֣דbə·’e·ḥāḏ[and] on the firstH259
√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iPreposition-bNumbermasculine singular
לַחֹ֔דֶשׁla·ḥō·ḏešdayH2320
√ chôdesh — the new moonPreposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular
בָּֽעֲשִׂירִי֙bā·‘ă·śî·rîof the tenth monthH6224
√ ʻăsîyrîy — tenthPreposition-b, ArticleNumberordinal masculine singular
רָאשֵׁ֥יrā·šêthe topsH7218
√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct

rā·šê (H7218, rō’š) — "heads/tops" of the mountains. The waters had stood fifteen cubits above the highest hills (Genesis 7:20); their reappearance is the first visible promise that the earth will be habitable again.

הֶֽהָרִֽים׃he·hā·rîmof the mountainsH2022
√ har — a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)ArticleNounmasculine plural
נִרְא֖וּnir·’ūbecame visibleH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbNifalPerfectthird person common plural

nir·’ū (H7200, Niphal of rā’āh) — were seen / appeared. The Pulpit Commentary, following Tayler Lewis, presses "became distinctly visible," distinguishing emergence from mere projection above the water.

The Voices✦ public domain+
The decrease of the waters was for wise reasons exceedingly slow and gradual—the period of their return being nearly twice as long as that of their rise.
were the tops of the mountains seen . "Became distinctly visible" (Tayler Lewis, who thinks they may have previously projected above the waters).
Reckoning 30 days for a month, we thus have an interval of 73 days between the grounding of the ark upon the mountains of Ararat and the visibility of the other mountains. tops of the mountains ] This detail in the narrative suggests that Ararat was thought to be a lonely peak towering above all the neighbouring mountains.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

Grand Commentary — the unit, read wholesynthesis · verify+

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The hinge-word: "God remembered" — Genesis 8:1

The whole flood narrative pivots on one Hebrew verb, way·yiz·kōr (H2142, "remembered"), and every PD voice in this unit insists the same thing: it is not a correction of divine forgetfulness but the moment mercy resumes its work. Joseph Benson calls it plainly "an expression after the manner of men; for not any of his creatures, much less any of his people, are forgotten of God." The Pulpit Commentary, quoting Willet, makes the grammar theological: "God is said to remember when he showeth by the effects that he hath taken care of man." That is the synthesis's reading too — in Hebrew, to remember is to act. Maclaren dramatizes the human side: "It might seem as if, in the wild rush of the waters from beneath and from above, the little handful in the ark were forgotten" — and answers, "in all the severity there was tender regard." Keil & Delitzsch press the same point into a definition: God's remembering "was a manifestation of Himself, an effective restraint of the force of the raging element."

ii. A wind over the deep — creation begun again — Genesis 8:1–2

The instrument of deliverance is a rū·aḥ (H7307) caused to pass over (H5674) the earth — the same noun as the Spirit/wind of Genesis 1:2 and the same divider-wind of Exodus 14:21. The Pulpit Commentary records the ancient split: "Not the Holy Ghost, as in Genesis 1:2 (Theodoret, Ambrose, LXX. — πνεῦμα), nor the heat of the sun (Rupertus); but a current of air." The synthesis under-claims nothing the lexeme will not bear, but notes the deliberate verbal echo: the new world begins as the old did, with God's wind moving over the waters, the tᵉhôm (H8415, "deep") of 8:2 being the very abyss of 1:2. John Gill preserves the Targum's tender gloss — "a wind of mercies" — a reading from Jewish reception, marked as such. As the wind moves, the floodgates (’ărubbōṯ, H699, the rare "windows of heaven") that were opened in 7:11 are shut (8:2); the un-creation is being un-done.

iii. Going and returning — the majestic slowness of God — Genesis 8:3, 5

Twice the Hebrew frames the waters' retreat with paired infinitive absolutes — hālōḵ wāšōḇ, "going and returning" (8:3), and hālōḵ wᵉḥāsōr, "going and decreasing" (8:5). Benson renders it literally: "they were going and returning; a gradual departure." The Pulpit Commentary hears in it "the undulatory motion of the waves in an ebbing tide." Jamieson, Fausset & Brown draw the lesson from the chronology itself: "The decrease of the waters was for wise reasons exceedingly slow and gradual—the period of their return being nearly twice as long as that of their rise." Matthew Henry turns this into pastoral counsel: "As the earth was not drowned in a day, so it was not dried in a day. God usually works deliverance for his people gradually." The synthesis sees in the doubled idiom a literary signature of patience: the same God who remembered in an instant works out the rescue across two hundred days.

iv. The ark rests on the mountains of Ararat — Genesis 8:4–5

The ark restedwat·tā·naḥ (H5117), the root behind Noah's own name (nōaḥ) — "on the mountains of Ararat." Three things the PD voices establish, and the synthesis records. First, the date is sevenfold and exact: Ellicott relays the Speaker's Commentary's striking (if homiletical) synchronism, "On the 17th day of Abib the ark rested... the Israelites passed over the Red Sea... Christ, our Lord, rose again from the dead." Second, "mountains" is plural-for-singular: Matthew Poole notes "the ark rested upon one of the mountains of Ararat; by a frequent enallage of the number." Third, Ararat is a region, not a peak: the Cambridge Bible is decisive — "Ararat is not a mountain, but a district... which appears in the Assyrian inscriptions as 'Urartu.'" Because the proper noun ’ărārāṭ (H780) occurs in only four verses, its links to 2 Kings 19:37, Isaiah 37:38, and Jeremiah 51:27 are genuinely verbal, not merely thematic.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under Sola Scriptura — and offered as the tool's own fallible reading, to be tested — Genesis 8:1–5 is a deliberate reversal of the seven days of creation. The same wind (rū·aḥ) that hovered over the deep (tᵉhōm) in Genesis 1:2 passes again over the waters; the windows of heaven that were opened are shut; the dry land that was gathered on day three reappears as the mountain-heads lift up; and a single righteous family, with the breath of every kind of creature, waits on God to speak them out into a remade world. The narrative's center of gravity is not the catastrophe but the verb "remembered": Scripture is showing that God's judgments are never blind, that He keeps covenant with the few He has marked, and that He un-makes chaos as patiently and deliberately as He first ordered it. The ark named after "rest" (nūaḥ) finding rest (wat·tā·naḥ) on the heights is the text's own promise, in miniature, that there is a place of safety above the highest wave for all who, fearing God's warning, take refuge where He has shut them in. This is a synthesis, not a creed; weigh it against the Word.

God did not forget Noah in the flood; "remembered" is simply the Hebrew name for the moment His mercy goes back to work. (a synthesis line, not Scripture)

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripturecross-refs · verify+

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

"God remembered" — the recurring deliverance-verb structural / thematic — confirmed

The Qal of zāḵar (H2142) governing God as subject recurs at the threshold of every great rescue: He "remembered Abraham" and so saved Lot (Genesis 19:29); He "remembered Rachel" and opened her womb (Genesis 30:22). Jamieson, Fausset & Brown list the same pattern: "God is said to remember his people, when after some delays or suspensions of his favour he returns and shows kindness to them." The shared lexeme is common (223 verses), so the basis is thematic, not a quotation — but the structural pattern is unmistakable.

Genesis 19:29 · Genesis 30:22 · 1 Samuel 1:19

basis: shared lexeme H2142 zâkar (in 223 vv) — common word, so the link is a recurring narrative pattern (God remembers → He delivers), not a verbal quotation

Assuaged / abated — the rare verb šāḵaḵ for cooling wrath verbal / quotation — confirmed

The waters "grew still" — way·yā·šōk·kū, from šāḵaḵ (H7918), a verb found in only five OT verses. Twice it describes a king's wrath abating (Esther 2:1; 7:10), and Esther 2:1 also shares the very verb "remembered" (zāḵar) with Genesis 8:1 — a rare dual verbal echo. Ellicott ties it to the violence, not just the level, of the water: the "strength" of the flood "has reference to the violent currents." Because šāḵaḵ is rare, this is a genuine verbal link.

Esther 2:1 · Esther 7:10 · Numbers 17:5 · Jeremiah 5:26

basis: shared rare lexeme H7918 šâkak (in only 5 vv); Esther 2:1 additionally shares H2142 zâkar — a low-frequency double verbal echo, not coincidence

The windows of heaven — opened in judgment, opened in blessing verbal / quotation — confirmed

The "floodgates of the heavens" use ’ărubbāh (H699), the rare "lattice/window" word (nine verses). The same windows of heaven God shuts here (8:2) are the windows He threatens to open in blessing in Malachi 3:10 ("if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing"), both times paired with šāmayim (heavens). The Verifier flags the pair as verbal on the strength of the rare ’ărubbāh; the synthesis notes the irony the text seems to invite — the same aperture pours judgment or grace at God's word.

Malachi 3:10 · Genesis 7:11 · 2 Kings 7:2

basis: shared rare lexeme H699 ʼărubbâh (in 9 vv) + H8064 shâmayim; the low frequency of ʼărubbâh makes the "windows of heaven" phrasing a genuine verbal link, not a motif coincidence

Ararat — a named region, not a single peak verbal / quotation — confirmed

The proper noun ’ărārāṭ (H780) occurs in only four verses of the OT. Outside Genesis it names a kingdom (Jeremiah 51:27, beside Minni) and the land to which Sennacherib's murderers fled (2 Kings 19:37; Isaiah 37:38, both rendered "Armenia"). Barnes draws on exactly these references — "It is mentioned in 2 Kings 19:37, and Isaiah 37:38... and in Jeremiah 51:27 as a kingdom." Because the word is so rare, every shared occurrence is a verbal, geographically anchored link.

Jeremiah 51:27 · 2 Kings 19:37 · Isaiah 37:38

basis: shared rare proper noun H780 ʼĂrâraṭ (in only 4 vv); the same place-name across all four verses is a verbal/lexical link, fixing Ararat as the region later called Urartu/Armenia

The breaking-up and shutting of the deep — Genesis 7:11 mirrored structural / thematic — confirmed

This unit is the structural mirror of the flood's onset. The "springs of the deep" and "floodgates of the heavens" that burst open in Genesis 7:11 are here stopped and shut (8:2). The shared lexemes — Nôaḥ (H5146), ’ărubbāh (H699), šāmayim (H8064) — bind the two scenes; the rare ’ărubbāh makes the verbal correspondence exact. The chiastic shape (open → flood → remembered → shut → recede) is the narrative's own argument that the catastrophe is bounded and reversible by the same hand that began it.

Genesis 7:11 · Genesis 8:13

basis: shared lexemes H5146 Nôach, H699 ʼărubbâh (9 vv), H8064 shâmayim; the rare ʼărubbâh underwrites the verbal pairing, but the overall onset↔abatement correspondence is structural/chiastic

Christ in the Unittypology · verify+

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The ark as a type of salvation through water — baptism's pattern ancient/widely-held

The New Testament reads Noah's ark figurally: "a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us" (1 Peter 3:20–21). The waters that grew still and receded in Genesis 8 are, for Peter, the pattern of the believer passing safely through the judgment-flood in the ark of Christ. This is a cross-Testament link (Greek↔Hebrew): it shares no Strong's lexeme with Genesis 8 and rests entirely on apostolic figural reading, so it is tiered typological, never verbal. The reading is ancient and widely held.

1 Peter 3:20 · 1 Peter 3:21

The dove, the olive, and rest — Noah as a figure of Christ ancient/widely-held

Matthew Henry, commenting on this very passage, makes the ark a type of Christ: "The dove is an emblem of a gracious soul, that, finding no solid peace of satisfaction in this deluged, defiling world, returns to Christ as to its ark, as to its Noah, its rest... so Christ will save, and help, and welcome those that flee to him for rest." The ark that rested (wat·tā·naḥ, from the root of Noah's name) prefigures the rest Christ gives ("Come unto me... and I will give you rest," Matthew 11:28). This typology — Noah/ark/rest pointing to Christ — is a long-standing figural reading; the synthesis presents it as widely held within the PD commentators themselves, not as a verbal claim of the Hebrew text.

Matthew 11:28 · Genesis 8:4

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

This unit is text-rich and source-controlled, but several honesty notes apply. (1) The flood chronology is genuinely disputed among the PD voices: Gill (following Rashi/Jarchi), Lightfoot, and Ussher reckon the months differently (Tisri vs. Marchesvan vs. Cisleu as the start), and the Geneva Bible's "part of September and part of October" for the seventh month conflicts with the Speaker's-Commentary "Abib" scheme that Ellicott and the Pulpit Commentary prefer; the synthesis reports the math without adjudicating which civil-calendar anchor is correct. (2) The identity of Ararat is settled as a region by Barnes, Cambridge, Poole, and the Pulpit Commentary, but which mountain within it is the landing-place is unresolved (modern Ararat vs. the Gordyaean/Carduchian range of the Targums and Calvin); the rare-noun verbal links to 2 Kings 19:37, Isaiah 37:38, and Jeremiah 51:27 are secure even where the peak is not. (3) The Ellicott voice on 8:4 relays a homiletical synchronism (ark-rest / Red Sea / resurrection all on "17 Abib") drawn from the Speaker's Commentary — a devotional harmonization, flagged as such, not a chronological claim of the Genesis text. (4) rū·aḥ (H7307) in 8:1 is deliberately left ambiguous between "wind" and "Spirit"; the ancient versions divide, and the synthesis prefers the creation-echo without overruling the parse. (5) The two Christ readings are cross-Testament and share no Strong's lexeme with the Hebrew — both are tiered typological by rule, and are presented as ancient/widely-held figural readings (1 Peter explicitly; the dove/rest typology from Henry), to be tested, not asserted as the plain sense.

= human, public-domain source, quoted and named. = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)