flood

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “flood” in English is translated in the German Luther Bible as Sintflut and the influential Dutch Bibles Statenvertaling and Nieuwe Vertaling as zondvloed. Both terms originally mean “great / permanent flood” but have folk-etymologically been reinterpreted as “sin flood” (“sin” in Dutch is zonde and in German Sünde).

Today these terms are used in either language figuratively as well (“a lot of water” or “a lot”). (Source: Jost Zetzsche)

See also Translation commentary on Genesis 6:17.

complete verse (Genesis 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 7:10:

  • Kankanaey: “When seven days had passed, the flood truly arrived.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “On the seventh day the rain came.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “And (after) seven days had-passed, (it) flooded upon the earth/world.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Seven days later, it started to rain and a flood began to cover the earth.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 7:10

This verse recalls the words of verse 4 and marks the beginning of the flood. Verse 10 is not the conclusion of the report but rather a transition to a more detailed expansion of the narrative.

After seven days: see comments on verse 4.

The waters of the flood came upon the earth: this last part of verse 10 is parallel to the last part of Gen 7.6. However, the context here is somewhat different, in that verse 6 focuses on the date of the flood in relation to the years of Noah’s life, whereas in this verse we have a report of the actual beginning of the flood. So in many languages a different and more descriptive translation will be required here. Two examples from actual translations are “Seven days passed, then the big water that drowns everything began to run and rise up” and “When seven days had finished, the big tide appeared and began to cover the earth.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .