What Does Genesis 7:19 Mean?
And the waters grew mightier and mightier upon the earth, and all the high mountains that were under all the heavens were covered.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.THE KEY
The Hebrew says the waters became mighty before the heights were covered, making the flood a prevailing force as much as rising water.
THE MEANING
The verse says the flood’s reach is total: the high hills beneath the whole heaven are covered. Its present image is of overwhelm strong enough to overtake even what seems highest or most protected.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that being high or secure places you beyond reach; here, even the high hills are covered.
THE ROOT
גָּבְרוּ
gavru
GROWS FROM
גבר
To grow strong, become mighty, or prevail.
“grew mightier and mightier” in this verse is gavru. גָּבְרוּ comes from גבר, the word family of growing strong and prevailing, so the waters are presented as a force gaining mastery over the land. The related גִּבּוֹר (gibbôr, mighty one) and גְּבוּרָה (gevurah, might) carry the same consonants, keeping the Hebrew strength-sense audible in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
gibbôr: Mighty one; warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
It shares the consonants ג־ב־ר and shows the strength carried by the verb describing the waters.
gevurah: Might; strength.
גְּבוּרָה
It belongs to the same consonantal root and makes clear that the waters’ prevailing is a display of force.
THE PATTERN
Overwhelming waters erase ordinary boundaries, reaching what seemed high, stable, or out of reach.
You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stand upon the mountains.The waters surrounded me up to my living soul; the deep closed in around me, and reeds wrapped about my head.I sink in the mire of waters, where there is no footing. I come into the depths of waters, and the flood sweeps over me.THE THREAD
For his faithful love grows mighty over us, and the truth of the LORD endures for the ages. Praise the LORD!The same root גבר describes the waters here as growing mighty and prevailing. Psalm 117:2 uses it for God’s faithful love as it grows mighty over us, letting the same Hebrew verb express two very different kinds of overwhelming reach.
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