Literary Devices – Bereshit 6-9/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 6–9

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Chiastic Structure

One of the most prominent literary conventions in Tanakh is the use of chiastic structure (a-b-c-b-a). Chiastic structure serves to delineate a narrative unit and to highlight the turning-point within the narrative. Often too, it serves to highlight reversals in a plot.  In this case it traces the destruction of the world through flood, and then the waning of the flood and decision never to destroy the world again:

A) Decision to bring the flood / covenant with Noach: קֵץ כָּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי... וַאֲנִי הִנְנִי מֵבִיא אֶת הַמַּבּוּל מַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ לְשַׁחֵת... וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתָּךְ

B) Entering the Ark (Noach, family, animals): בֹּא אַתָּה וְכָל בֵּיתְךָ אֶל הַתֵּבָה... מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה תִּקַּח... וַיָּבֹא נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי בָנָיו אִתּוֹ... מִןהַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה... גַּם מֵעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם... וּמִן הָעוֹף וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר רֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאֲדָמָה

C) Flood Strengthens (70-40-150): יְהִי לְשִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים... בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ... נִבְקְעוּ כָּל מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם נִפְתָּחוּ... וַיְהִי הַמַּבּוּל אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם עַל הָאָרֶץ וַיִּרְבּוּ הַמַּיִם... וַיְכֻסּוּ כָּל הֶהָרִים... וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם

D) Turning Point: God's Providence: וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱ-לֹהִים אֶת נֹחַ וְאֵת כָּל הַחַיָּה וְאֶת כָּל הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה 

C') Flood Abates (150-40-7): וַיִּסָּכְרוּ מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמָיִם... וַיַּחְסְרוּ הַמַּיִם מִקְצֵה חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם... וְהַמַּיִם הָיוּ הָלוֹךְ וְחָסוֹר... נִרְאוּ רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים. וַיְהִי מִקֵּץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם... וַיָּחֶל עוֹד שִׁבְעַת יָמִים... וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה וְעֶשְׂרִים יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ יָבְשָׁה הָאָרֶץ

B') Leaving the Ark (Noach, family, animals): צֵא מִן הַתֵּבָה אַתָּה וְאִשְׁתְּךָ וּבָנֶיךָ וּנְשֵׁי בָנֶיךָ אִתָּךְ. כָּל הַחַיָּה... בָּעוֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבְכָל הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ... וַיֵּצֵא נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי בָנָיו אִתּוֹ. כָּל הַחַיָּה כָּל הָרֶמֶשׂ וְכָל הָעוֹף כֹּל רוֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ... וַיִּקַּח מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהֹרָה וּמִכֹּל הָעוֹף הַטָּהוֹר

A') Covenant with Noach / Decision not to bring another flood: וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם וְלֹא יִכָּרֵת כָּל בָּשָׂר עוֹד מִמֵּי הַמַּבּוּל וְלֹא יִהְיֶה עוֹד מַבּוּל לְשַׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ

Wordplay (לשון נופל על לשון)

Sin and Punishment

In Parashat Noach, the language with which Hashem promises destruction plays on and parallels the language with which humanity’s sins are described.  In this case, the purpose of the wordplay is to underscore man’s unwitting responsibility for his own fate: 

• Sin – וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס. (בראשית ו':י"א)
• Punishment –  קֵץ כׇּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי כִּי מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס מִפְּנֵיהֶם וְהִנְנִי מַשְׁחִיתָם אֶת הָאָרֶץ. (בראשית ו':י"ג)

Spilling Blood 

Another example of wordplay is found in Bereshit 9:6 which employs a string of similar sounds and punning, playing with  the similar words for “man” (אָדָם) and “blood” (דַּם) and arranging all in a short chiasm:

• שֹׁפֵךְ דַּם הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם דָּמוֹ יִשָּׁפֵךְ

Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the three most frequent words in Bereshit 9:1-7 (the blessings of Noach) are אָדָם, דַּם, and יָד, further illustrating the emphasis on similar sounds in this section.

Triple "ויאמר"

In many verses, one finds that the word "וַיֹּאמֶר" is mentioned twice despite there not being an an intervening response or explicit change in speaker in between. This might indicate resistance or opposition of some sort on the part of the other participants in the conversation. [For further discussion of the phenomenon and many other examples, see Redundancy.]

• The first example of this convention is found in Bereshit 9:8-17, where Hashem promises Noach not to send another flood in verse 8. This is followed by another statement in verse 12, introduced by a second "וַיֹּאמֶר", that the rainbow will be the sign of the covenant, and then by a third "וַיֹּאמֶר" statement in verse 17 where the sign is confirmed.
• Robert Alter¹ explains: “Here, God flatly states His promise never to destroy the world again. The flood-battered Noah evidently needs further reassurance, so God goes on ... to offer the rainbow as an outward token of His covenant.”

Keywords Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the three words that appear with greatest frequency in the story of the flood (Bereshit 6:5-9:29) are: אֶרֶץ, תֵּבָה, and מַיִם, and when looking at relative frequency compared to the rest of Tanakh, also מבול. Given the plot of the story, this is somewhat expected.

תֵּבָה This word appears a full 26 times in the narrative, with the only other appearances of the word in all of Tanakh being in the story of baby Moshe in the Nile.

אֶרֶץ and  מַיִם Together, these two words appear close to 70 times in the unit. Interestingly, the pair also appear a very significant number of times in the Creation narrative of Bereshit 1-2:3 (over 30 times).²

מַבּוּל

¹ See his commentary to Sefer Bereshit.

² See the Tanakh Lab that the chapter most linguistically similar to the Flood narrative is Bereshit 1. For discussion of the parallels see Undoing and Redoing Creation and for other articles, see Biblical Parallels Index – Bereshit 6-9.