Difference between revisions of "Chronology of the Flood/2/en"
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| − | <point><b>"וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם" and "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם"</b> – These commentators disagree in how they | + | <point><b>"וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם" and "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם"</b> – These commentators disagree in how they understand these terms and when they think the water began to recede:<fn>The various opinions relate to a number of other issues in the text, including the landing of the ark, chronology of the verses, and the shifting pace of water reduction, which will be discussed in the bullets below.</fn><br/> |
<ul> | <ul> | ||
| − | <li><b>Water first decreased after 150 days</b> - The author of the Qumran Scroll, Yefet the Karaite, Ramban, and Seforno all understand the phrase "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם" to mean that the water did not begin to decrease until the end of the 150 days. Seforno suggests that even though the rain stopped after 40 days, the underground sources of water were still open,<fn>Chapter 7:17 speaks of the flood lasting for 40 days, but it is only in 8:2 that the text mentions the closing of the heavenly windows and subterranean sources of water.  This leads Seforno (and Ramban) to sugest that there were two stages.  However, the continuation of 8:2 reads, "וַיִּכָּלֵא הַגֶּשֶׁם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם" which leads others to suggest that the two events happened simultaneously. </fn> causing continued water pressure during this entire period.<fn>His words are slightly ambiguous, and can be interpreted to mean either that the subterranean waters caused an increase in the water throughout this period or that they simply caused a continuous pressure, preventing the water from standing still or decreasing.</fn> Ramban, in contrast, seems to maintain that though the waters did not continue to increase after the fortieth day, due to the great humidity<fn>This was caused by the fact that the heavenly windows and subterranean water sources were still open.</fn> they retained their height throughout this period.</li> | + | <li><b>Water first decreased after 150 days</b> - The author of the Qumran Scroll, Yefet the Karaite, Ibn Ezra,<fn>Ibn Ezra does not refer to this phrase explicitly but also agrees that the waters first abated at the end of 150 days.</fn> Ramban, and Seforno all understand the phrase "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם" to mean that the water did not begin to decrease until the end of the 150 days.<fn></fn> Seforno suggests that even though the rain stopped after 40 days, the underground sources of water were still open,<fn>Chapter 7:17 speaks of the flood lasting for 40 days, but it is only in 8:2 that the text mentions the closing of the heavenly windows and subterranean sources of water.  This leads Seforno (and Ramban) to sugest that there were two stages.  However, the continuation of 8:2 reads, "וַיִּכָּלֵא הַגֶּשֶׁם מִן הַשָּׁמָיִם" which leads others to suggest that the two events happened simultaneously. </fn> causing continued water pressure during this entire period.<fn>His words are slightly ambiguous, and can be interpreted to mean either that the subterranean waters caused an increase in the water throughout this period or that they simply caused a continuous pressure, preventing the water from standing still or decreasing.</fn> Ramban, in contrast, seems to maintain that though the waters did not continue to increase after the fortieth day, due to the great humidity<fn>This was caused by the fact that the heavenly windows and subterranean water sources were still open.</fn> they retained their height throughout this period.</li> |
<li><b>Water decreased after the forty days of rain</b> – Most of the other commentators in this approach<fn>See R"Y Bekhor Shor, Akeidat Yitzchak, Abarbanel,, Shadal, R. D"Z Hoffmann, and U. Cassuto.</fn> assume that the water started to recede right after the rain stopped. The phrase " וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם" simply means that the waters were is a state of strength (relative to normal water heights), not that they were increasing or even standing still.  Similarly, R"Y Bekhor Shor, R. Hoffmann and U. Cassuto explain the verse "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם"   to mean not that the water first began to rcede at this point but that the decrease was only noticeable to Noach when the ark landed.<fn>Until then, when the ark was still moving and Noach could only see water and sky he had no way of knowing if the water level was increasing, staying the same or decreasing.</fn></li> | <li><b>Water decreased after the forty days of rain</b> – Most of the other commentators in this approach<fn>See R"Y Bekhor Shor, Akeidat Yitzchak, Abarbanel,, Shadal, R. D"Z Hoffmann, and U. Cassuto.</fn> assume that the water started to recede right after the rain stopped. The phrase " וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם" simply means that the waters were is a state of strength (relative to normal water heights), not that they were increasing or even standing still.  Similarly, R"Y Bekhor Shor, R. Hoffmann and U. Cassuto explain the verse "וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם"   to mean not that the water first began to rcede at this point but that the decrease was only noticeable to Noach when the ark landed.<fn>Until then, when the ark was still moving and Noach could only see water and sky he had no way of knowing if the water level was increasing, staying the same or decreasing.</fn></li> | ||
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>How did the ark land so soon?</b> These commentators differ in how they understand how the ark managed to land right after the 150 days of strong waters, if the mountain tops had been covered  by fifteen cubits of water throughout that period:<fn><p>Since the ark was only 30 cubits high, this would mean that half of it was submerged in water!</p></fn><br/> | <point><b>How did the ark land so soon?</b> These commentators differ in how they understand how the ark managed to land right after the 150 days of strong waters, if the mountain tops had been covered  by fifteen cubits of water throughout that period:<fn><p>Since the ark was only 30 cubits high, this would mean that half of it was submerged in water!</p></fn><br/> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
| − | <li><b>Receded over 110 days</b> – According to those who say that the water started to decrease already after the 40 days of rain, this is not an issue,<fn>There was a full 110 days for the water to recede enough for the ark to land.</fn> and is, in fact, one of the factors that motivate them to explain the verses as they do.</li> | + | <li><b>Receded over 110 days</b> – According to those who say that the water started to decrease already after the 40 days of rain, this is not an issue,<fn>There was a full 110 days for the water to recede enough for the ark to land. According to Lekach Tov and R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, the water decreased at an even pace (of 1 cubit every 12 days) over the 180 days until the mountain tops were seen on 10/1. As such, in the 110 days before the ark landed, the water decreased nine cubits, allowing the ark to rest while partially submerged in the remaining 6 cubits of water.</fn> and is, in fact, one of the factors that motivate them to explain the verses as they do.<fn>undefined</fn></li> |
</ul> | </ul> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
<li><b>Receded over 2 days</b> – According to the Qumran Scroll, which asserts that the water maintained its strength throughout, but that the 150 days ended on the fourteenth of the seventh month, there was a period of two days in which the water lessened, allowing the ark to land.</li> | <li><b>Receded over 2 days</b> – According to the Qumran Scroll, which asserts that the water maintained its strength throughout, but that the 150 days ended on the fourteenth of the seventh month, there was a period of two days in which the water lessened, allowing the ark to land.</li> | ||
| − | <li><b>Miraculous intervention</b> – Ramban, in contrast, is forced to assert that Hashem sent a miraculous wind which decreased the waters substantially | + | <li><b>Miraculous intervention</b> – Ramban, in contrast, is forced to assert that Hashem sent a miraculous wind which decreased the waters substantially on the 150th day itself.<fn>Ramban compares this to Yam Suf where it says: "וַיּוֹלֶךְ י"י אֶת הַיָּם בְּרוּחַ קָדִים עַזָּה כׇּל הַלַּיְלָה וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת הַיָּם לֶחָרָבָה וַיִּבָּקְעוּ הַמָּיִם".</fn>  </li> |
| + | </ul></point> | ||
| + | <point><b>Chronology</b><ul> | ||
| + | <li><b>Chronological</b> –Those who maintain that the waters maintained their strength throughout the 150 days, read the verses chronologically, with Chapter 7 describing the rising  flood and Chapter 8 detailing the decreasing waters at the end of the 150 days.<fn>Ramban might have been motivated to read the verses in this manner due to his general tendency to posit that the Torah is written in chronological order.</fn></li> | ||
| + | <li><b>Achronological</b> – The other commentators, though, assume that verses 8:2-4 (the sending of the wind and closing of the heavenly windows) occurred in the midst of the 150 days that are mentioned in the preceding chapter and that there is an element of achronology in the verses.  Akeidat Yitzchak and Shadal explain that the Torah purposely separated the images of destruction and salvation, having Chapter 7 detail the world's collapse, before moving into its rebuilding in Chapter 8.</li> | ||
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
<point><b>Shifting water levels</b> – A simple reading of the verses suggests that the waters decreased at an extremely varied pace: | <point><b>Shifting water levels</b> – A simple reading of the verses suggests that the waters decreased at an extremely varied pace: | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
| − | <li>If one posits that the water first decreased after the 150 days, then it went down 15 cubits in the 2 1/2 months from 7/17 until 10/1 compared to thousands of cubits in the 3 months from then until the land dried on 1/1.  Ramban explains that there is no reason to think that the water needed to decrease at a steady pace. According to him, Hashem's intervention on the first day led to a vast decrease in the water, <fn>In his comments to 8:4, he suggests that the water fell by about 9 cubits on the first day, and assumes that the ark was submerged in 6 cubits when it rested on the mountain.  In his comments to 8:5, however, he offers a variation of the approach and asserts that since Mt. Ararat was one of the shorter mountain, the reduction in water level need not be limited to fifteen cubits and was much more than that.  He suggests that many of the taller mountain tops would have already been revealed, and had Noach been in their vicinity, he might have landed earlier.  It was only the shorter mountains in the region of Ararat that were first uncovered on the first of the tenth month.</fn> minimizing the difference in the rate of reduction slightly.<fn>As the water needed to decrease the height of an entire mountain in the period from 10/1 to 1/1, while it needed to decrease just the difference in height between the taller and shorter mountains in the period between 7/17 and 10/, there would still seem to have been a vast increase in pace at the end.</fn></li> | + | <li>If one posits that the water first decreased after the 150 days, then it went down only 15 cubits in the 2 1/2 months from 7/17 until 10/1 compared to thousands of cubits in the 3 months from then until the land dried on 1/1.  Ramban explains that there is no reason to think that the water needed to decrease at a steady pace. According to him, Hashem's intervention on the first day led to a vast decrease in the water, <fn>In his comments to 8:4, he suggests that the water fell by about 9 cubits on the first day, and assumes that the ark was submerged in 6 cubits when it rested on the mountain.  In his comments to 8:5, however, he offers a variation of the approach and asserts that since Mt. Ararat was one of the shorter mountain, the reduction in water level need not be limited to fifteen cubits and was much more than that.  He suggests that many of the taller mountain tops would have already been revealed, and had Noach been in their vicinity, he might have landed earlier.  It was only the shorter mountains in the region of Ararat that were first uncovered on the first of the tenth month.</fn> minimizing the difference in the rate of reduction slightly.<fn>As the water needed to decrease the height of an entire mountain in the period from 10/1 to 1/1, while it needed to decrease just the difference in height between the taller and shorter mountains in the period between 7/17 and 10/1, there would still seem to have been a vast increase in pace at the end.</fn></li> |
| − | <li>Those who posit that the water began to recede after the rain stopped would seem to have an even bigger problem, since according to them, the water receded only 15 cubits in over 180 days!<fn>There was 110 days until the ark rested on the 17th of the seventh month and then another 73 days until the mountain tops were revealed on the first of the tenth month.</fn>   Shadal minimizes the problem by asserting that by the time the ark landed on 7/17, more than 15 cubits of water had already receded, since Mt. Ararat was not the tallest, but rather one of the shorter mountains.<fn>In other areas, the tops of the tallest mountains would have already been revealed.  It was the shorter mountain tops that were | + | <li>Those who posit that the water began to recede after the rain stopped would seem to have an even bigger problem, since according to them, the water receded only 15 cubits in over 180 days!<fn>There was 110 days until the ark rested on the 17th of the seventh month and then another 73 days until the mountain tops were revealed on the first of the tenth month.  See note above that R"Y Bekhor Shor assumes that for these 180 days there was a steady rate of reduction, 1 cubit every 12 days.  The next 90 days (until the land dried on the first of the first month), though would have to see a reduction of at least 100 cubits per day, if a mountain's height of water still needed to be lowered!</fn>   Shadal minimizes the problem by asserting that by the time the ark landed on 7/17, more than 15 cubits of water had already receded, since Mt. Ararat was not the tallest, but rather one of the shorter mountains.<fn>In other areas, the tops of the tallest mountains would have already been revealed.  It was only the shorter mountain tops that were first revealed on 10/1. See Ramban in the note above who explains similarly.</fn>  There would, nonetheless, still seem to be a significant increase in the rate of water reduction in the last 3 months, assuming that even the shorter mountains were a few thousand cubits high.</li> |
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
| − | <point><b> | + | <point><b>"וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם... וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת הָעֹרֵב"</b><ul> |
| − | <li> | + | <li>Most of these commentators count the 40 days (when the raven was sent)  from the preceding date mentioned, the first of the tenth month, when the mountain tops were visible.  They explain, that despite the fact that land was visible, the dove could not find a resting place either because it preferred the valleys or the air was too moist.<fn>According to this opinion, there is still about a month between the landing of the dove and the drying of the land and opening of the ark's cover on the first of the first month. Perhaps the dove's departure indicated the drying of treetops, but not the ground.</fn></li> |
| − | <li> | + | <li>The Rid, in contrast, counts the forty days from the landing of the ark on the seventeenth of the seventh month. He assumes that the first dove was sent ten days after the raven,and the final dove twenty-one days later, on the first of the tenth month. It was only then, when the mountaintops were finally revealed that the dove could nest.</li> |
</ul></point> | </ul></point> | ||
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</opinion> | </opinion> | ||
<opinion name="">Varied Dating | <opinion name="">Varied Dating | ||
Version as of 12:51, 21 June 2015
Fatal 38: Unescaped '<' not allowed in attributes values
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