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FLOOD

(Heb. mabbûl; Gk. kataklysmós)

The event narrated in Gen. 6:5–9:19, in which God destroys creation, but saves Noah and his family along with animals of every species to populate a new creation.

Terminology

Except for Ps. 29:10, Heb. mabbûl occurs only in Genesis, related to the Flood. In Ps. 29:10 mabbûl may be water above the firmament, stored in jars (cf. Gen. 1:7; 7:11). In the Hebrew of Sirach (Sir. 44:17) and the Aramaic Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen ar 12:10) mabbûl refers to the Genesis Flood. The LXX always reads Gk. kataklysmós for mabbûl. In Sir. 40:10; 44:17-18; 4 Macc. 15:31 kataklysmós refers to the Genesis Flood. But in the LXX of Ps. 32(31):6; Nah. 1:8; Sir. 21:13; 4 Macc. 15:32 the term is generic. All four NT uses of kataklysmós (Matt. 24:38-39; Luke 17:27; 2 Pet. 2:5) refer to the Genesis Flood.

Biblical Narrative

When the Lord observes pervasive human wickedness, he regrets having made humanity and decides to destroy all living things. Noah, however, finds favor with the Lord. Noah is righteous, blameless, and walks with God, but the earth had become ruined, filled with lawlessness. God tells Noah of his decision to bring the Flood. God instructs Noah to build an ark and promises a covenant that, in the ark, Noah and his family will survive, along with two of every animal. Noah does as God commands (Gen. 6:5-22).

Then the Lord tells Noah to enter the ark, bringing his family and the animals, including seven pairs of clean animals. After seven days will come 40 days of rain that will destroy everything on earth. Again, Noah does as the Lord commands. They enter the ark and the Lord shuts them in. The rising water lifts the ark and covers the mountains. Every creature dies, leaving only those with Noah in the ark. The waters swell for 150 days (Gen. 7:1-24).

God remembers Noah and sends a wind. The waters begin to subside. After 150 days the ark rests among the mountains of Ararat, and mountains reappear. Noah releases a raven and a dove. The raven soars, but the dove, unable to rest, returns. After two more tries the dove does not return. At God’s command, Noah, his family, and the animals leave the ark (Gen. 8:1-19).

Noah builds an altar and sacrifices some clean animals. When the Lord smells the pleasing odor, he decides never again to curse the ground or to destroy all creation, even though humanity remains inclined toward evil (Gen. 8:20-22).

God blesses Noah and his sons, and announces a new order for creation. Humans can now use animals for food, a mitigation of previous curses. God, however, demands from humans an accounting for all life. As God used Noah to preserve human and animal life for a new creation, God now uses Noah and his descendants to protect and preserve life in the new creation. Hereafter humans are responsible for limiting and punishing lawlessness and bloodshed. God then resumes the blessing formula with which he began (Gen. 9:1-7).

God then encodes his decision never again to destroy creation in a covenant with Noah and future generations, with animals, and with the earth itself. God designates the rainbow as a reminder of his eternal covenant with creation (Gen. 9:8-19).

Literary Character

Understanding the Flood story requires appreciation of the account’s composite nature and its structural unity. Scholars recognize two sources within the narrative, designated Yahwist (J) and Priestly (P). Many narrative aspects are repeated with differing details. Segments attributed to J have YHWH (“Lord” or “Yahweh”) as the divine name and anthropomorphic depictions of God. Other segments, attributed to P, have ʾĕlōhîm (“God”) for the deity and exhibit concern for precise dates. Differences include the numbers of animals (two of each in P [Gen. 6:19-20; 7:15-16], and seven pairs of clean animals and one pair of others in J [7:2-3]), the cause of the destruction (rainfall in J [7:12]; the fountains of the deep burst and the floodgates open in P [7:11]), and the length of the Flood (40 days in J [7:4, 12], over a year in P [7:11, 24; 8:3, 5, 13-14]). Scholars also recognize the unity and skillful structure of the narrative. This structure is maintained in an extended palistrophe, a literary feature in which details at the story’s beginning mirror details at the end and details in the first half have corresponding details in the second half. For example, the narrative opens and closes with the names of Noah’s three sons (Gen. 6:10; 9:18-19); God’s covenant to preserve Noah, his family, and some animals, and God’s covenant never again to destroy all life (6:18-20; 9:8-17); the mountains are covered and the mountains reappear (7:20; 8:4-5); and the waters swell for 150 days, then recede for 150 days (7:21-24; 8:3). The center, structurally and theologically, is when God remembers Noah (Gen. 8:1).

Significance

God is the story’s protagonist. Noah never speaks. At the beginning, God’s heart grieves because the human heart’s inclination toward evil has spoiled what was a “very good” creation (Gen. 1:31). God proceeds to destroy creation, but saves righteous Noah, his family, and some animals for a renewed creation. At the end, human hearts are still inclined toward evil, but the Lord’s heart decides never again to curse the ground, or destroy creation. The age prior to Noah was characterized by pervasive sin. God responded with curses upon the ground (Gen. 3:17; 4:11) and the destructive Flood. In the renewed creation, God elects a new response, characterized by blessing and covenant. God assigns to humans accountability for all life, animal and human. As images of God with God’s authority, Noah and his descendants are to preserve life, keeping bloodshed and vengeance in check, so that lawlessness will never again spoil creation. This new order begins to be played out in the following story, where Noah at last speaks. Noah, not God, curses Ham and Ham’s descendant Canaan for their sin. Noah blesses Shem and Japheth for their righteous behavior (Gen. 9:20-27).

Other Flood Traditions

While flood traditions exist among many civilizations, three from ancient Mesopotamia are of special interest. Components in Atraḫasis, Gilgamesh Tablet XI, and Ziusudra have parallels in the biblical accounts (ANET, 42-44, 93-97, 104-6). However, the similarities do not suggest direct literary dependence. The manifold differences, especially in depictions of deities and their motives and in interpretations of events, are especially significant.

Scientific Issues

Scientific evidence does not support a universal flood corresponding to the biblical account. Marine fossils commonly found in mountainous areas resulted from geological uplifts. Some claim that wood recovered on modern Mt. Ararat in Turkey is from the ark. But carbon 14 studies date the wood as only 1600 years old. Nevertheless, the absence of scientific or historical evidence, measured by modern human standards, does not detract from the biblical story’s abiding theological significance as a compelling story about God and God’s relationship with humanity.

Bibliography. W. Brueggemann, Genesis. Interpretation (Atlanta, 1982); A. Dundes, ed., The Flood Myth (Berkeley, 1988); G. J. Wenham, Genesis 1–15. WBC 1 (Waco, 1987); C. Westermann, Genesis 1–11 (Minneapolis, 1984).

Joseph E. Jensen

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

FLOOD

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)