Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 6-9/0

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Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 6-9

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Creation and Re-creation Post Flood

Tanakh Lab1 demonstrates that Bereshit 6, 7, 8, and 9 are the chapters in Tanakh that have most in common with Bereshit 1. The two stories parallel each other, with the recreation of the world after the flood mirroring the original creation, perhaps to highlight how, after destruction, Hashem gave man a fresh start, returning the world to its innocent beginnings. The various differences in the two accounts, however, demonstrate that the second creation was not totally identical to the first, with adaptations made for the new reality post-sin.

Tools

  • See the Tanakh Lab to compare the two sets of chapters and view their linguistic parallels.

Articles

    • See Undoing and Redoing Creation for an analysis of the flood as a story of undoing and redoing creation, highlighting how God gave the world a second chance. The new world, though, is not created in exactly the same manner as the first, and Hashem's view of and relationship to man changes. The miraculous nature of the original construction is replaced by a much more natural development, Hashem is more distant, and He no longer evaluates each act of creation as "good", instead noting that the nature of man "is evil from his youth"..
    • See The First World and the Second by R. Yonatan Grossman for an exploration of the ways in which man’s essential mission changed after the flood.2 Beforehand, man was given dominion over all other creatures, and was meant to act as their king. As such, he was not allowed to eat meat, for a king does not eat his subjects. Afterwards, however, man lost this status. Though he is still at the top of the hierarchy of created beings, he is considered one of them, a part of nature rather than a ruler over it.
    • R. Zvi Grumet’s article The Ideal and the Real explores the notion that Tanakh often presents Hashem’s ideal blueprint, followed by a description of the reality as it played out within this world. This idea can be adapted to the description of the recreation of the world after the Flood.3
    • See R. Zeev Weitman's Creation Anew who questions whether the recreation of the world after the flood was any better than the original, focusing on the story of Noach's drunkenness and its parallels to the story of Gan Eden.

Noach and Avraham

Both Avraham and Noach are referred to as being "תמים" (faultless) and "walking before/with God", leading the reader to compare the two.

Sources

  • Tanchuma Noach 5 compares the two figures, noting that Avraham surpassed Noach in status, for while Noach walked with God, in need of His support, Avraham walked before Him.

Tools

Using the concordance helps one find points of contact between Avraham and Noach:

  • The concordance demonstrates that only a few individuals in Tanakh are described by the narrator as being "תמים", highlighting the comparison between Avraham and Noach.4
  • By clicking on the word ברית in the Mikraot Gedolot on Bereshit 6:18, we see in the concordance that Noach is the first person with whom Hashem establishes a covenant (and that this word appears eight times in his story).  The next person with whom Hashem establishes a covenant is Avraham.  
  • By clicking on the word מזבח in the Mikraot Gedolot on Bereshit 8:20, we see in the concordance that Noach is the first person to build an altar to Hashem (although he is not the first person to bring sacrifices), indicating that he developed the idea that sacrifices should be brought in a consecrated place.  The next person who continues this practice is Avraham.

These similarities reflect the ways in which Noach begins a tradition that finds fuller expression in the lives of the Avot. 

Articles

  • While the concordance highlighted two important similarities between Noach and Avraham, see The Spiritual Legacy of Noah and Avraham, by R. Michael Rosensweig, for a discussion of the differences between their aspirations and accomplishments

“These Are The Generations”

Tools

  • Makbilot Bamikra points out the many times that the phrase “אלה תולדות”  appears in Sefer Bereshit (see, for example, Bereshit 10:1, 11:1, and 11:27).

Articles

  • See this article by R. Menachem Leibtag for an exploration of the significance of genealogical lists in Sefer Bereshit.

Noach and Yonah

Both the story of the Flood in Bereshit 6-8 and the Book of Yonah revolve around Hashem's decision to destroy a group of degenerate people, guilty of violence (חמס). In one, the world is actually obliterated, while in the other repentance averts the decree. The stories contain several points of contact, inviting the reader to compare the two episodes.

Tools

  • Tanakh Lab – Use the Tanakh Lab to compare the two stories. Some of the common linguistic words / phrases include: "חָמָס", " וַיִּנָּחֶם הָאֱלֹהִים", "אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם" and "וַיַּרְא הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת" (and the role of a "יונה").  However, one must evaluate how unique and significant such phrases are to determine if one story is really alluding to the other.

Articles

Noach and Korach

Tools

  • Concordance and Tanakh Lab – If one highlights the words "אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם" in Bereshit 6:4 and chooses the concordance feature from the drop-down menu,6 one can see that the phrase occurs in only two stories: in the introduction to the Flood, and in the story of the rebellion of Korach. The uniqueness of the parallel might lead one to compare the two incidents. [It should be noted, however, that there are not a significant number of other unique linguistic parallels between the stories, as seen by a comparison of the two in the Tanakh Lab.]

Primary Sources

  • Bereshit Rabbah 26:7 compares the destructive qualities of rebellion and dispute by the member's of Korach's coalition to the generation of the flood, pointing to the linguistic parallel of "אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם" noted above.

Articles