Easter Season · Year B
A Third Reading Easter Vigil
March 28, 2027
Overview & Insights
“And the waters prevailed on the earth… but God remembered Noah.” (Genesis 7:24-8:1)
This passage explains why God had to judge the inhabited earth with a deluge (6:9–8:22). It has two distinct sections: a description of the rapid increase in population, when the sons of God married daughters of men (vv. 1–4), and God’s response to human violence (vv. 5–8).
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Commentary
Commentary on Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18; 8:6-18; 9:8-13 Working Preacher
Working Preacher's own Vigil of Easter commentary on the Flood reading, by Old Testament scholar Patricia Tull, reading the covenant after the waters recede.
Genesis 7 Commentary: God Destroys the World with a Flood Enduring Word · David Guzik
David Guzik's verse-by-verse evangelical commentary walking through Noah entering the ark and the rising floodwaters.
Genesis 7 Commentary Precept Austin
A deep collection of cross-referenced notes and quotations from many expositors on the Flood narrative.
Genesis 7:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Aggregates classic commentators (Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, and others) on the opening of the Flood account.
Background & Word Study
Genesis Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's book introduction giving the structure and themes that frame the Flood and the covenant with Noah.
Book of Genesis Summary (Part 1) BibleProject
An animated overview of Genesis 1 to 11, placing the Flood within the primeval history and its arc from creation to covenant.
Genesis 7:1 Interlinear BibleHub
Word-by-word Hebrew with parsing and Strong's numbers for close study of the Flood text.
Genesis 7 Sefaria
The Hebrew text with Jewish commentary layers for the original-language reading of the Flood.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
Why is the flood read at the Vigil?
Through the waters that judge the earth God saves Noah and every kind of living thing in the ark, a sign the church reads alongside the saving waters of baptism.
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