The Flood Story and Biblical Criticism/0/en

The Flood Story and Biblical Criticism

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Overview

At first glance, the story of the Flood appears to contain several doublings and inner contradictions.   Source criticism attempts to address these by positing that the Torah's Flood narrative is the composite work of a later editor who conflated supposed earlier and contradictory versions of the story without reconciling their inconsistencies.  The Flood story is then pointed to as one of the strongest corroborations of the Documentary Hypothesis in general.

This article examines some of the flagrant flaws inherent in the source critical approach to the Flood narrative.  Building on traditional exegesis, it then attempts to show that an understanding of Biblical literary style and structure helps dissolve most of the perceived difficulties, leaving a coherent, consistent, and flowing narrative.

Introduction

The account of the Flood and its aftermath in Bereshit 6–9 abounds with apparent doublings and contradictions, with almost every key element in Chapters 6–7 seemingly related twice. Additionally, there also appear to be internal contradictions regarding the number of animals to be brought into Noah's ark and the nature and length of the Flood. Let us examine these various issues in greater detail:

Apparent Doublings:

• Noach's descendants – Each of 5:32 and 6:10 list Noach's offspring.
• Corruption and verdict – Both in 6:1-8 and then again in 6:9-13 the Torah describes: the corruption of mankind, Hashem's decision to destroy the world, and Noach's righteousness.
• Command to enter the ark – In 6:17-22 we read of Hashem's promise to save Noach and the animals, His command to gather them into the ark, and a general description of Noach's compliance.  7:1-5 appears to repeat all of these same elements.
• Noach's fulfillment – Each of 7:6-9 and 7:10-16 furnish a more detailed account of Noach's fulfillment of the Divine instructions.  Both also mention Noach's age at the beginning of the Flood, the start of the Flood, and the entry of Noach, his family, and the animals into the ark.  Each then concludes with a statement that Noach did as commanded. Within the second section of 7:10-16, there is ostensibly further redundancy, as verses 15 and 16 both speak of the animals coming in pairs.
• Floodwaters:
• Forty days of rain – Both 7:12 and 7:17 speak of a forty day period of rain.
• Waters rising – Both 7:18-20 and 7:24 speak of the waters rising.
• Ark rising – Both 7:17 and 7:18 mention the ark being lifted by the floodwaters.
• Death – The death of all living things is repeatedly discussed in all of 7:21, 22, and 23.

Seeming Contradictions:

• Two vs. seven – 6:19-21 speaks of two animals from each species entering the ark, without differentiating between pure and impure species.  7:2-3, in contrast, recounts Hashem's command to take seven pairs of each pure animal,¹ but only one pair of each impure animal.  7:8-9 similarly distinguishes between pure and impure animals, but mentions only their coming to the ark as pairs.  Finally, 7:15-16 speaks only of pairs and also makes no reference to purity status.
• Entry into the ark – 7:7 and 10 appear to suggest that Noach entered the ark seven days before the Flood started, while 7:13 implies that he did so on the very day that the rain began.
• Water source – 7:11 speaks of the opening of the floodgates both from the depths and the heavens, while 7:12 mentions only rain.
• 40 or 150 days – Two verses (7:12 and 7:17) speak of a forty day period of rain, while two other verses (7:24 and 8:3) describe a 150 day period of rising waters.
• Raven or dove – While 8:7 speaks of Noach sending out a raven to check the status of the floodwaters, 8:8-12 speak of his sending a dove.

¹ Though Noach is told to take seven pairs of birds, their purity status is not mentioned in the text.