What Does Genesis 7:20 Mean in the King James?
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The waters do not merely reach the mountains; they cover them so completely that height itself ceases to be refuge.
THE MEANING
The waters rise fifteen cubits above the mountains, and the mountains vanish beneath them. You are shown a covering so complete that no summit remains above the flood.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that every crisis leaves some high ground untouched is undone here: even the mountains lie beneath the waters.
THE ROOT
גָּבְרוּ
gāveru
GROWS FROM
גבר
גָּבַר (gābar): to be strong, prevail, or overcome.
“prevailed” in this verse is gāveru. The verb grows from גבר (gābar, to be strong or prevail), the same consonantal seed found in גִּבּוֹר (gibbôr, a mighty one) and גְּבוּרָה (gevurah, strength). The waters carry the language of might: their height is not a neutral measurement but a force overcoming the land.
ALSO GROWS
gibbôr: A mighty one
גִּבּוֹר
This branch shares the root גבר and shows the strength carried by the verse’s word for the waters prevailing.
gevurah: Strength or might
גְּבוּרָה
This branch shares the same root and makes the waters’ overcoming force audible beneath the English word “prevailed.”
וַיְכֻסּוּ
vaykhussu
GROWS FROM
כסה
כָּסָה (kasah): to cover or conceal beneath a layer.
The form וַיְכֻסּוּ (vaykhussu, they were covered) comes from כָּסָה (kasah, to cover). Its family includes מְכַסֶּה (mekhasseh, covering) and מִכְסֶה (mikhseh, a covering); the mountains are not simply touched by the waters but overlaid and hidden beneath them.
ALSO GROWS
mekhasseh: Covering
מְכַסֶּה
This form shares the root consonants כ־ס־ה and carries the image of a layer placed over what lies beneath.
mikhseh: A covering
מִכְסֶה
This noun shares the root consonants כ־ס־ה and echoes the verse’s image of the mountains concealed beneath the waters.
THE PATTERN
When waters prevail beyond their bounds, even the highest ground can disappear beneath them.
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:THE THREAD
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.The Hebrew verb for “coveredst,” תְּכַסֵּהוּ (tekhassehu, you cover it), shares the root כָּסָה (kasah, to cover) with the mountains being covered here. Psalm 104 pictures that same covering as a garment, while Genesis measures how far above the peaks it reaches.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us