The springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
Parallel translations
- WEB The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained.
- KJV The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
- NKJV The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
- NASB Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;
- NLT The underground waters stopped flowing, and the torrential rains from the sky were stopped.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped. The sources of judgment are restrained.
Overview
The same forces unleashed in judgment are now shut off at God's command, showing his complete control over the flood. The reversal begins the restoration of order to the world. God's restraining of the waters demonstrates that he both sends and ends judgment according to his merciful purpose.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 7:11In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Matt 8:26–27“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm.
- Prov 8:28when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,
- Job 37:11–13He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them.
- Matt 8:9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell one to go, and he goes; and another to come, and he comes. I tell my servant to do something, and he does it.”
- Jonah 2:3For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the current swirled about me; all Your breakers and waves swept over me.
- Job 38:37Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 8:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.