Flood (κατακλυσμός, which is used in the LXX [Note: XX Septuagint.] for מַבּוּל)
In exhibiting faith as the principle which has all through history ruled the lives of the saints, the writer of Heb. (11:7) instances the faith of Noah, who, warned of things not yet seen, i.e. of the coming flood, prepared an ark for the saving of his house. 1 Pet. (3:20) alludes to the ark in which eight souls were saved through water. 2 Pet. (2:5) illustrates the retributive justice of God by the fact that He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, and (3:6, 7) contrasts with the world which was overflowed with water the heavens and the earth which are stored up for fire. The writers of these Epistles, being apostles and evangelists, not men of science, had no thought of verifying historical documents or investigating natural phenomena, their sole desire being to awaken or strengthen the faith, to purify and ennoble the lives, of their readers. Like the writers and compilers of the deluge stories in Gen. (6-9:17), they doubtless believed-as most Christians did until a comparatively recent period-in a universal flood which destroyed all men and animals except those preserved in the ark. In the light of science and criticism, the Gen. narratives of the deluge are now regarded as a part of the folk-lore of Babylonian or Accadian peoples, from whom it was borrowed by the Canaanites.
Literature.-The discussion of the problems connected with the story of the flood-whether, e.g., it is a highly coloured legend based on actual occurrences or a Nature-myth which has assumed the form of a history-is relevant to the interpretation of the narrative in Genesis, but would cast little or no light upon the literature of Apostolic Christianity. it is therefore enough to refer to F. H. Woods’ art. [Note: rt. article.] ‘Flood’ in HDB [Note: DB Hastings’ Dict. of the Bible (5 vols.).] and ‘Deluge’ in ERE [Note: RE EncyclopAEdia of Religion and Ethics.], and T. K. Cheyne’s artt. [Note: rtt. articles.] ‘Deluge’ in the EBi [Note: Bi EncyclopAEdia Biblica.] and KBr 11; R. Andree, Die Flutsagen, Brunswick, 1891; C. J. Ball, Light from the East, London, 1899; Elwood Worcester, Genesis in the Light of Modern Knowledge, New York, 1901.
James Strahan.