Genesis 7:10

Summary

Genesis 7:10 marks the transition from the seven-day wait to the onset of the flood: it states that "it was" at the completion of seven days, and that the flood waters "were" upon the earth. The verse uses two forms of the same Hebrew root for "to be" to frame both the passing of time and the presence of the waters.

Key words

• va-yehi ("and it was", H1961) — narrative vav + qal verb, the standard formula opening a new narrative beat ("and it came to pass").
• shiv'at ("seven of", H7651) — cardinal number in construct state, linking to the following noun.
• ha-yamim ("the days", H3117G) — masculine plural noun with definite article, forming with shiv'at the phrase "the seven of the days."
• mei ("waters of", H4325G) — construct plural of "water," opening the construct chain mei ha-mabbul ("waters of the flood").
• hayu ("they were", H1961) — same root as va-yehi, but perfect 3rd person plural, describing the completed state of the waters "upon the earth."

What the text says

The verse divides into two clauses joined by va ("and," H9001). The first clause uses va-yehi ("and it was," H1961) followed by the construct phrase le-shiv'at ha-yamim, literally "to/at the seven of the days" — a cardinal number in construct with a definite plural noun, a construction that marks the completion of a fixed period rather than a single day. The second clause repeats the same verbal root hayah in the form hayu ("they were," H1961), now in perfect plural, agreeing with the construct chain mei ha-mabbul ("waters of the flood," H4325G + H3999). The repetition of the root hayah in both clauses (va-yehi... hayu) creates a grammatical echo: the passage of the seven days "was," and correspondingly the flood waters "were" upon the earth (al ha-aretz, H5921A + H0776G). The Hebrew verb hayah here denotes existence or a state of being ("were"), not motion or arrival — the text states that the waters existed upon the earth, without a verb of coming, falling, or rising.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint uses ἐγένετο ("came to be") in both clauses, mirroring the Hebrew's double use of hayah, but adds the preposition μετά ("after") before "the seven days," making the temporal sense explicit where the Hebrew le- is less specific. The Vulgate inserts an explicit temporal clause, "Cumque transissent septem dies" ("and when seven days had passed"), and replaces the static verb "were" with the dynamic "inundaverunt" ("flooded/overflowed"), a verb of motion not present in the Hebrew hayu. The RV1909 renders "al séptimo día" ("on the seventh day"), an ordinal singular, diverging from the Hebrew's cardinal plural "seven days."