Genesis 6:5-8

Introduction to the story of the Flood from J: Jehovah sees the sinfulness of man and resolves to annihilate the race.

Genesis 6:5 to Genesis 9:17. The Flood. (J and P.)

Here follows the Hebrew narrative of the Flood. The Flood is the one great event in the history of the world, which in the Hebrew narrative emerges out of the obscurity between the creation of man and the period of the patriarchs. It marks the close of the first era of the human race. According to the story in Genesis, it was a judgement for the depravity of mankind.

It marks also the beginning of a new era in the history of mankind. This has its origin in the mercy of God, who, in recognition of the righteousness of Noah, preserves him and his family in the general overthrow. This is a symbol of salvation. The new age opens with the renewal of promises to man, and with a covenant entailing new obligations on man's part, in return for the assurance of Divine protection.

On the relation of the Genesis narrative to the Babylonian and other accounts of the Flood, see Special Note on the chapter comments for Genesis 8.

The present narrative is woven together out of the two distinct Israelite traditions, J and P: see Introduction. This compositeness of structure in the Flood narrative is quite unmistakable 1 [12]. It accounts for the (a) repetitions, (b) discrepancies, (c) intermittent use of special words and phrases, inexplicable on the assumption of a continuous homogeneous narrative. Under the head of (a) "repetitions," notice the duplicated account of the growing corruption of mankind in Genesis 6:5-8 (J), and in Genesis 6:9-12 (P); of the entrance of Noah and his family into the ark Genesis 7:7 (J) and Genesis 7:13 (P); of the rising of the waters of the Flood Genesis 7:17 (J) and Genesis 7:18-19 (P); of the end of all living creatures Genesis 7:21 (P) and Genesis 7:22-23 (J); and of God's promise to Noah in Genesis 8:15-19 (P) and Genesis 8:20-22 (J).

[12] See Appendix C (book comments).

Under the head of (b) "discrepancies," notice that, in P, Noah takes one pair of every kind of animal into the ark (Genesis 6:19-20, and Genesis 7:15-16), while, in J, Noah is commanded to take seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean animal into the ark (Genesis 7:2-3); again, in P, the Flood is brought about through the outburst of the waters from the great deep both from beneath the earth and from above the firmament (Genesis 7:11; Genesis 8:2); while, in J, it is produced by the rain (Genesis 7:12; Genesis 8:2). According to P, the Flood was in progress for 150 days (Genesis 7:24; Genesis 8:3), while according to J the rain lasted for 40 days (Genesis 7:12); in J the waters were subsiding for 14 or 21 days (Genesis 8:10; Genesis 8:12), and in P the earth was dry after a year and 10 days (Genesis 8:14).

Under the head of (c), the following are examples of distinctive phraseology:

P J "God" (Elohim), Genesis 6:9; Genesis 6:11-13; Genesis 6:22; Genesis 7:16 a, Genesis 8:1; Genesis 8:15. "the Lord" (Jehovah), Genesis 7:1; Genesis 7:5; Genesis 7:16 b, Genesis 8:20-21. "male and female" (zâkâr un"ḳêbâh), Genesis 6:19; Genesis 7:16. "the male and his female" (ish v'ishto), Genesis 7:2. "destroy" (shâḥath), Genesis 6:13; Genesis 6:17. "destroy" (mâḥâh), Genesis 6:7; Genesis 7:4; Genesis 7:23. "all flesh," Genesis 6:12-13; Genesis 6:17; Genesis 7:21. "every living thing," Genesis 7:4; Genesis 7:23. "breath (ruaḥ) of life," Genesis 7:15. "breath of (nishmath) the spirit of (ruaḥ) life," Genesis 7:22. "die" (gâv-â), Genesis 7:21. "die" (mûth), Genesis 7:22. "waters prevailed" (gâbâr), Genesis 7:18-19; Genesis 7:24. "waters increased" (râbâh), Genesis 7:17 b. "waters abated" (ḥâsêr), Genesis 8:3 b, Genesis 8:5. "waters abated" (qâlal), Genesis 8:8. Also characteristic of P is the minute description of the ark and its dimensions (Genesis 6:14-16), the varieties of animals (Genesis 6:20), the Flood's depth (Genesis 7:20), and the members of Noah's family (Genesis 7:13; Genesis 8:15; Genesis 8:18); while, in J, Divine action is described in anthropomorphic terms (e.g. Genesis 6:6; Genesis 7:16; Genesis 8:21), and vivid details of narrative are introduced (Genesis 8:6-12).

Roughly speaking the portions derived from P consist of Genesis 6:9-22; Genesis 7:6; Genesis 7:11; Genesis 7:13-16 a, Genesis 7:18; Genesis 7:24; Genesis 8:1-2 a, Genesis 8:3; Genesis 8:13 a, Genesis 8:14; Genesis 9:1-17: the remainder of the narrative is derived from the J tradition, with here and there a few alterations for the purpose of harmonizing the two sources of narrative. The process of harmonizing was not difficult: for both narratives agreed in their main outlines, and differed only in the treatment of details.