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It is part of the Genesis Flood narrative. For a look at Genesis 7 in terms of the Documentary Hypothesis, see Bill Pringle's site.
1 And Yahweh said to Noah, Go in -- you and all your household -- to the ark, because you I have seen righteous before me in this generation. 2 Of all clean animals take for yourself seven by seven, a male and its female, and from animals that are not clean two, a male and its female. 3 Also of birds of the sky seven by seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the face of all the earth, 4 because in seven more days I will rain upon the earth for forty days and forty nights, and wipe out all that lives which I made from upon the face of the earth. 5 And Noah did exactly as Yahweh commanded. 6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge was water on the earth. 7 And Noah came, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, to the ark, away from the waters of the deluge. 8 Of clean animals, and from animals which are not clean, and of birds, and all that crawls on the ground, 9 two by two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. 10 Seven days passed, and the waters of the deluge were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the springs of the great tehom were broken up, and the windows of the sky were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On that very day, Noah came in, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, Noah's sons, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, to the ark. 14 They, and every sort of wild animal, and every sort of livestock, and every kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth, and every kind of flying thing, every bird, every wing, 15 came to Noah, to the ark, two by two, of all flesh in which was the breath of life. 16 And they came in male and female of all flesh. They came in as God commanded him. And Yahweh shut him in.
17 And the deluge was forty days on the earth. And the waters multiplied, and bore up the ark, and lifted high above the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed exceedingly, and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went along the surface of the water. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly much upon the earth, and covered all the high mountains beneath the sky. 20 And fifteen cubits upward the waters prevailed and covered the mountains. 21 And all flesh perished: things that crawl upon the earth: among birds, and among livestock, and among wild animals, and among all swarming things that swarm upon the earth, and all humankind. 22 And all that had the breath of life in its nostrils, of all that was on dry land, died. 23 Then was destroyed everything that lived which was on the face of the ground: from man, to beast, to crawling thing, to bird of the sky. And they were destroyed from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark survived. 24 And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.
(7:1) Yahweh. The Septuagint adds God. Instead of Yahweh, Kittel tells us that two Masoretic manuscripts, plus the Samaritan Pentateuch and Peshitta, read God.
you and all your household. Dillmann sees here a sign of J's distinctive vocabulary. Compare different terms to express the idea of "you and your family" (6:18; 7:7, 13; 8:16, 18).
(7:2) Throughout this chapter, the term "clean" refers not to cleanliness in the sense of freedom from dirt, but to ritual cleanliness. Some animals (tahar "clean") were allowed for eating in Jewish law, and others were not allowed. Note that this appearance of the terms "clean" and "not clean" come well before the Mosaic legislation which would distinguish between the two. And yet the text here (J) assumes that Noah knows the difference. On the other hand, note how P, in 9:3, speaks of all animals as permissible for food. According to Dillmann, this reflects a difference between P and J's view of humankind's early history.
(7:2) seven by seven. In Hebrew, literally seven seven. There has been some discussion about whether this means that Noah was to take a total of seven animals of each clean kind, or a total of fourteen: seven male and seven female. Dillmann argues that because the author says only "two" instead of "two two", "seven seven" means seven "pairs", while "two" only a single pair. He also points to verse 9, where the animals enter the ark "two by two", to support the idea that the animals must have entered in even numbers.
(7:2) two. Hebrew shanim. In the Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Peshitta, one reads shanim shanim, literally "two two."
(7:3) a male and its female. Hebrew ish we-ishto, a phrase which would usually mean, "a man and his wife."
(7:3) male and female. Hebrew zakar u-neqeba, different wording from that used for the animals.
(7:3) Also of birds of the sky seven by seven, male and female. Kittel suggests that perhaps these words are a later addition to the text. Note that while the animals are divided into clean and unclean, birds are not. Dillmann is of the opinion that this verse must refer only to clean birds (compare verse 20, where a distinction is made between clean and unclean birds). The Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Peshitta all read "clean birds of the sky" here, and the Septuagint even adds a bit about how Noah took unclean birds by twos.
(7:5) According to Dillmann, "And X did just as ..." is language found only in P.
(7:6) the deluge was water on the earth. See here.
(7:6) Indications of time with numbers like this are one hint that a text comes from P. According to Dillmann, the contents of verse 6 were originally before verse 11 in the P source.
(7:8) and of birds. Kittel thinks these words might be a later addition.
(7:8) and all that crawls. Kittel thinks we should follow the Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Peshitta in reading and from all that crawls.
(7:9) male and female. Hebrew zakar u-neqevah.
(7:9) God. According to Kittel, one Masoretic manuscript, the Samaritan Pentateuch, some Septuagint manuscripts, the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, and the Vulgate all support the reading Yahweh.
(7:11) In the six hundredth year. Literally, In the year of six hundred year[s].
(7:11) seventeenth. The Septuagint reads twenty-seventh.
(7:11) great. The Septuagint omits this word.
(7:11) tehom. In the creation narrative, the tehom was the waters which existed prior to the creation, and which were restrained by God to allow the land to be liveable. In keeping with other language in the Flood narrative, the acts of creation are now reversed. And while previously the great tehom restrained beneath the earth has only been flowing out a little via springs, now the springs are broken up and the whole primeval mass comes rushing to reclaim the land for chaos (see Dillmann).
(7:11) windows of the sky. The cosmology of Genesis is very different from the modern scientific view. In Genesis 1, the sky is a solid vault which holds back a great ocean of water above, keeping the earth from being inundated. By opening its windows, God floods the earth.
(7:12) Verses 4 and 12, ascribed to J by both Dillmann and Richard Elliot Friedman, describe the flood as caused by simply rain, while it is P that has the language about sky-windows and tehom. This is appropriate, as P is the source of the Genesis 1 creation story. The P account of the flood shows the unraveling of the P creation story through its language; the Flood is a simpler affair in J.
(7:13) three wives. In contrast to the Kenite Lamech, Noah and his sons are monogamous.
(7:13) with them. Kittel says that we should read with the Septuagint and the "editio Urmiensis" of the Septuagint, with him.
(7:14) They. The Septuagint omits this word.
(7:14) every bird, every wing. This odd repetitious wording is omitted in the Septuagint. Here I have translated oph as "flying thing", tsippor as "bird" and kanaf and "wing." According to Dillmann, the term oph includes insects and birds, while tsippor refers to birds specifically and kanaf perhaps to insects.
(7:14) categories of animals. The three categories of animals here are haya, behemah, and romes. All three are somewhat tricky. Each of these three can sometimes be used of living earth creatures in general. But when used of specific categories of animal, behemah would seem to refer to four-legged domestic animals, haya to wild animals, and romes to small animals that swarm or crawl low to the ground.
(7:16) And Yahweh shut him in. The use of "God" previously in the verse indicates the P source, while "Yahweh" is characteristic of J. The words "And Yahweh shut them" in were originally in front of verse 12 in the J source, according to Dillmann.
(7:17) forty days. Kittel thinks that we should perhaps delete these words. The Septuagint has forty days and forty nights.
(7:18) prevailed. According to Dillmann, this is language characteristic of P. Notice how 7:18 repeats the second sentence of 7:17.
(7:20) fifteen cubits. This is half the height of the ark. If we picture the ark as half under and half above the water, prevailing fifteen cubits allows the ark to just barely sail over, or be caught upon, the highest mountains (Dillmann).
(7:23) Then was destroyed. Hebrew wayyimmah, as in the Masoretic Text according to Kittel. Dillmann says that we should read vayyimah ("And he destroyed") instead.
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