Genesis: 1a 1b 1c 1d 2a 2b 2c 2d 3 4a 4b 4c/5 6a 6b 7 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25a 25b 26a 26b 27 28a 28b 29 30a 30b 31a 31b/32a 32b 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44a 44b 45 46 47a 47b 48 49 50
7:1 VA YOMER YHVH LE NO'ACH BO ATAH VE CHOL BEIT'CHA EL HA TEVAH KI OT'CHA RA'IYTI TSADIK LEPHANAI BA DOR HA ZEH
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה לְנֹחַ בֹּא אַתָּה וְכָל בֵּיתְךָ אֶל הַתֵּבָה כִּי אֹתְךָ רָאִיתִי צַדִּיק לְפָנַי בַּדּוֹר הַזֶּה
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH said to No'ach, "Come, you and all your family, into the ark; for I have seen that you alone in all this generation are righteous before me...
YHVH, not Elohim, now takes over. This is a different version, probably added many centuries after the Elohim version. Even the style and tone of voice is very different.
BO (בא) - "Come" implies that YHVH is in the ark himself. Otherwise he would have said LECH – "go".
BA DOR HA ZEH (בדור הזה): In this generation. In the Elohim version it was a repenting of having made Humankind at all, not just this generation.
7:2 MI KOL HA BEHEMAH HA TEHORAH TIKACH LECHA SHIV'AH SHIV'AH ISH VE ISHTO U MIN HA BEHEMAH ASHER LO TEHORAH HI SHENAYIM ISH VE ISHTO
7:2 MI KOL HA BEHEMAH HA TEHORAH TIKACH LECHA SHIV'AH SHIV'AH ISH VE ISHTO U MIN HA BEHEMAH ASHER LO TEHORAH HI SHENAYIM ISH VE ISHTO
מִכֹּל הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה תִּקַּח לְךָ שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּמִן הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא טְהֹרָה הִוא שְׁנַיִם אִישׁ וְאִשְׁתּוֹ
KJ: And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
BN: "Of every clean beast you shall take seven and seven, each with his mate; and of the beasts that are not clean two and two, each with his mate...
Very different amounts, and a distinction between clean and unclean animals - the fact of seven for clean animals is of course no coincidence; and indeed, recounting the Utnapishtim version in the previous chapter, we predicted that a YHVH version would focus likewise on the number 7.
But what is intriguing is this: since Mosheh had not yet received the Law from YHVH on Mount Sinai, how did No'ach know which animals were clean and which unclean – the concept of cleanliness (TEHORAH) inferring tabu rather than dirt? Actually Mosheh probably didn't know either; the laws of Kashrut are most likely Levitical and Deuteronomic - which is to say 1000 BCE at the earliest, and probably much later. The relevant verses are found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Genesis 8:20 has No'ach choosing from these animals for his sacrifice, so perhaps the pre-Torah Kashrut was about those fit for sacrificing, i.e. those that were tabu for mythological rather than hygienic or propitiatory reasons.
The question also takes us back to the story of Kayin and Havel (Cain and Abel), who likewise made sacrifices. But by what standards?
The use of ISH VE ISHTO = "man and wife" (though it would be better translated "man and woman") for the animals, is unusual. It would have been much more logical to say ZACHAR U NEKEVAH = "male and female", as indeed it does for the unclean animals, and for the birds in the next verse. Formal marriage is one of the many activities that clearly differentiates human beings from other creatures.
7:3 GAM ME OPH HA SHAMAYIM SHIV'AH SHIV'AH ZACHAR U NEKEVAH LECHAYOT ZERA AL PENEY CHOL HA ARETS
7:3 GAM ME OPH HA SHAMAYIM SHIV'AH SHIV'AH ZACHAR U NEKEVAH LECHAYOT ZERA AL PENEY CHOL HA ARETS
גַּם מֵעוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם שִׁבְעָה שִׁבְעָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה לְחַיּוֹת זֶרַע עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ
KJ: Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
BN: "Of the fowl of the air also, seven and seven, male and female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the Earth."
ZACHAR U NEKEVAH: See the previous note.
SHIV'AH SHIV'AH: The text does not state "two of every unclean bird", but presumably it is inferred by GAM = also at the opening of the verse.
ZACHAR U NEKEVAH: See the previous note.
SHIV'AH SHIV'AH: The text does not state "two of every unclean bird", but presumably it is inferred by GAM = also at the opening of the verse.
In the previous version, we noted that the only OPHIM (fowls) taken were those that lack the capacity to fly; but here those are included as well - presumably, at this stage, the deity had no plans to end the flood and let the waters sink back, and therefore the high altitude nests were no longer to be available. Fish and other sea-creatures, on the other hand, would not have been aware that circumstances had changed.
7:4 KI LE YAMIM OD SHIV'AH ANOCHI MAMTIR AL HA ARETS ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH U MACHIYTI ET KOL HA YEKUM ASHER ASIYTI ME AL PENEY HA ADAMAH
7:4 KI LE YAMIM OD SHIV'AH ANOCHI MAMTIR AL HA ARETS ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH U MACHIYTI ET KOL HA YEKUM ASHER ASIYTI ME AL PENEY HA ADAMAH
כִּי לְיָמִים עוֹד שִׁבְעָה אָנֹכִי מַמְטִיר עַל הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה וּמָחִיתִי אֶת כָּל הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה
KJ: For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
BN: "For seven days from now I will cause it to rain upon the Earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made I will blot out from off the face of the Earth."
MAMTIR (ממטיר): which makes him quite explicitly the rain-god - cf Creation.
HA YEKUM (היקום): from the root KUM (קום) = "to establish" or "get up" in Yehudit, but in Sumerian and Aramaic it has the sense of "to live", whence it is thought to mean "all living things" and provides further evidence that enables us to date the Yehudit text to the time of the exile! The only other occasion when the word is used in anything like this way is in Deuteronomy 11:6, where it probably means "possessions", again enabling us to date that.
In the previous version we were given a reason for the Flood, but this version still has not, which is most unlike the YHVH texts. The comment on No'ach's "righteousness" in verse 1 explains why he is being saved, but not why the rest of Humankind is not.
Once again, land and air creatures are represented in the ark, but not sea-creatures, presumably because they are not going to be affected by the flood; but if they are not going to be affected by the flood, how does YHVH intend to use the flood to "blot out... every living substance"? Or does ME AL PENEY HA ADAMAH only imply land-based or land-dependent creatures, and that sea-creatures were exempt?
7:5 VA YA'AS NO'ACH KE CHOL ASHER TSIVAHU YHVH
7:5 VA YA'AS NO'ACH KE CHOL ASHER TSIVAHU YHVH
וַיַּעַשׂ נֹחַ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּהוּ יְהוָה
KJ: And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
BN: And No'ach did everything that YHVH instructed him.
Thus fulfilling his part of the covenant, which, like most ancient god-covenants, amounted to his agreement to be a servant and do exactly as he was told, as a reward for which his lord and master would allow him the privilege of continued existence; though, as we will see later, at Sedom and Amorah (Sodom and Gomorrah) the deity is less fastidious even than Humankind about keeping up his side of any agreements he might make.
But if he did everything that YHVH commanded, and everything that Elohim commanded in the previous version, he is already in trouble with one of them, or even both, because their instructions were different.
7:6 VE NO'ACH BEN SHESH ME'OT SHANAH VE HA MABUL HAYAH MAYIM AL HA ARETS
But if he did everything that YHVH commanded, and everything that Elohim commanded in the previous version, he is already in trouble with one of them, or even both, because their instructions were different.
7:6 VE NO'ACH BEN SHESH ME'OT SHANAH VE HA MABUL HAYAH MAYIM AL HA ARETS
וְנֹחַ בֶּן שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה וְהַמַּבּוּל הָיָה מַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ
KJ: And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
BN: And No'ach was 600 years old, and the flood was water over the Earth.
Was this entire myth a primitive attempt to explain the melting of the glaciers at the end of the ice age? Or are these the waters of birth, breaking at the parturition of the world? It could of course be both.
I have translated the words literally, where most translators add words and rearrange the sentence, to impose on it the order they presume it was meant to have. But that is looking at the world through a later lens; I am presuming it was meant literally, and that it was simply a literary device to explain what a MABUL was to a desert people who would never have experienced more than the filling of a wadi from the winter rains, and in many cases, not even that.
7:7 VA YAVO NO'ACH U VANAV VE ISHTO U NESHEY VANAV ITO EL HA TEVAH MI PENEY MEY HA MABUL
7:7 VA YAVO NO'ACH U VANAV VE ISHTO U NESHEY VANAV ITO EL HA TEVAH MI PENEY MEY HA MABUL
וַיָּבֹא נֹחַ וּבָנָיו וְאִשְׁתּוֹ וּנְשֵׁי בָנָיו אִתּוֹ אֶל הַתֵּבָה מִפְּנֵי מֵי הַמַּבּוּל
KJ: And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
BN: And No'ach, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, went into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
Whereas poor Utnapishtim had to travel the flood alone. And of course we have to ask whether No'ach's sons, and their wives, were of an approved standard of "righteousness" too; and if not, why were they included? Nepotism, divinely approved, indeed divinely carried out. And self-defeating - how is No'ach going to restart the world at the level of "righteousness" that YHVH and/or Elohim require, if the future generations are going to be sired by men and women of less-than-perfectly-righteous behaviour. The paradox is purely theological of course, so I leave it to the theologians to explain.
It does, nonetheless, resolve one of the abiding problems of the Adam and Chavah tale - which is: where did Kayin (Cain), and Shet (Seth), find wives, if Adam and Chavah were the only humans yet created? Here the first man in the world, No'ach, comes fully equipped with his personal Chavah (never named, alas), and three sons who already have wives, so no threat of incest either in the recreation of the human world.
MI PENEY or MIPNEY: "In the face of the waters of the flood", or "because of the waters of the flood". Both readings would be correct.
7:8 MIN HA BEHEMAH HA TEHORAH U MIN HA BEHEMAH ASHER EYNENAH TEHORAH U MIN HA OPH VE CHOL ASHER ROMES AL HA ADAMAH
7:8 MIN HA BEHEMAH HA TEHORAH U MIN HA BEHEMAH ASHER EYNENAH TEHORAH U MIN HA OPH VE CHOL ASHER ROMES AL HA ADAMAH
מִן הַבְּהֵמָה הַטְּהוֹרָה וּמִן הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנָּה טְהֹרָה וּמִן הָעוֹף וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר רֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאֲדָמָה
KJ: Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
BN: Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of fowl, and of every species of reptile that crawls on the Earth...
Note that a change of version is coming again...
7:9 SHENAYIM SHENAYIM BA'U EL NO'ACH EL HA TEVAH ZACHAR U NEKEVAH KA ASHER TSIVAH ELOHIM ET NO'ACH
שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם בָּאוּ אֶל נֹחַ אֶל הַתֵּבָה זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֱלֹהִים אֶת נֹחַ
KJ: There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
BN: They went in two by two to No'ach into the ark, male and female as Elohim commanded No'ach.
Two by two, as Elohim commanded, but not seven and seven, as YHVH instructed.
BA'U: They came (באו) of their own accord, rather than No'ach needing to round them up, as noted previously.
7:10 VA YEHI LE SHIV'AT HA YAMIM U MEY HA MABUL HAYU AL HA ARETS
7:10 VA YEHI LE SHIV'AT HA YAMIM U MEY HA MABUL HAYU AL HA ARETS
וַיְהִי לְשִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים וּמֵי הַמַּבּוּל הָיוּ עַל הָאָרֶץ
KJ: And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
BN: And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the Earth.
But the 7 days that were stated in verse 7 were from the YHVH version, so we must have switched again. Or maybe the Redactor is trying to merge and meld and syncretise the two as one; impossible I'm afraid.
LE SHIV'AT HA YAMIM (לשבעת הימים): In fact the Midrashim say that the animals entered the ark on the very day that Metu-Shalach died, and that the collecting of the animals was done by angels, after No'ach declared the task too difficult. Metu-Shalach died precisely one week before the Flood, and the god (but which god?) declared this mourning time a period of grace, during which Humankind might still repent: all of which sounds like a late exegesis to explain the custom of Shiv'a. Much more likely he waited a week because, in the ancient world (as to some degree in the Temple - think Menorah to understand this), each of the seven planetary deities had a day to themselves, but no rights on each others' days. So if the Saturn-Jupiter of the septity wanted to destroy Creation, he could only announce it on his day, and either do it at once or had to wait a week to carry it out. The argument between Enki and En-Lil in the Babylonian version reflects this conflict (see my notes at the start of the previous chapter: here).
7:11 BI SHNAT SHESH ME'OT SHANAH LE CHAYEY NO'ACH BA CHODESH HA SHENI BE SHIV'AH ASAR YOM LA CHODESH BA YOM HA ZEH NIVKE'U KOL MA'YENOT TEHOM RABAH VA ARUBOT HA SHAMAYIM NIPHTACHU
7:11 BI SHNAT SHESH ME'OT SHANAH LE CHAYEY NO'ACH BA CHODESH HA SHENI BE SHIV'AH ASAR YOM LA CHODESH BA YOM HA ZEH NIVKE'U KOL MA'YENOT TEHOM RABAH VA ARUBOT HA SHAMAYIM NIPHTACHU
בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה לְחַיֵּי נֹחַ בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בְּשִׁבְעָה עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה נִבְקְעוּ כָּל מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם נִפְתָּחוּ
KJ: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
BN: In the 600th year of No'ach's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Such exactitude! Given that there were no historical archives in which to find this, there must be a reason for it, some king's birthday or the inauguration of a temple or a festival, some mythological point behind the mathematics. The 17th of the month is 2 days after the full moon, which symmetries with the 2nd month and allows the male and female parts of time to go hand-in-hand like the animals. But which month was it, Nisan or Tishrey – i.e. from which New Year calendar are we working, the spring for Nisan or the autumn for Tishrey. This is significant because, if Tishrey, then the Flood began in November, which is the time of the rainy season in Babylonia; but if Nisan then May, when the Tigris and Euphrates flood plains inundate; did the waters come down or rise up? The answer lies in my next note but one.
The suggestion here is rain (see verse 12), so the waters came down, so this may also explain (or at least be one of several reasons) why, later on, the Jewish New Year got moved from Passover to Rosh HaShana.
But why 17, other than my abstruse speculation about time? It is a number that only occurs on one other occasion anywhere in the Tanach; the date on which the ark would come to rest on Mount Ararat would be the 17th day of the 7th month, which is Tishrey in the Babylonian calendar, and the 17th of Tishrey is the second day of Sukot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Which possibly pins it down, but still doesn't explain why.
NIKVE'U KOL MA'YENOT TEHOM (נבקעו כל מעינות תהום): i.e., where YHVH Elohim had separated the upper and lower waters at Creation by means of a dam or firmament (HA RAKIY'A), now he breaks the dividing wall and lets the two sets of elemental waters rejoin. The dam thus resembles the Pleiades of Greek myth. The Pleiades were identified with rain because their rising and setting marked the limits of the sailing season on the Mediterranean. One of them appears to have died out in the second millennium BCE. But the link to the firmament and the mention of Tehom (see Genesis 1) - the latter invisible in most translations - both take us back to Bavel (Babylon), again enabling us to date the piece, and also to confirm that this was indeed a Creation myth.
ARUBOT: (וארבת) windows, not TSOHAR as earlier in the passage; the same term is used in 2 Kings 7:2 and 7:19 as well as in Malachi 3:10. Helping to confirm the translation of TSOHAR as a skylight and not a window, as above.
7:12 VA YEHI HA GESHEM AL HA ARETS ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH
7:12 VA YEHI HA GESHEM AL HA ARETS ARBA'IM YOM VE ARBA'IM LAILAH
וַיְהִי הַגֶּשֶׁם עַל הָאָרֶץ אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם וְאַרְבָּעִים לָיְלָה
KJ: And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
BN: And it rained on the Earth for forty days and forty nights.
GESHEM (גשם): The rain was on the Earth, or the Flood caused by the rain was on the Earth? Or earth - lower case? We seem to be getting a confused picture. And why suddenly the use of GESHEM for rain where MABUL and MAMTIR were used before? But it confirms our reading of verse 11.
ARBA'IM YOM: Forty days of rain before they even go into the ark? Or after the seven days of gathering in the passengers? I only ask because we have been told the answer earlier, and yet, now, look at the next verse...
7:13 BE ETSEM HA YOM HA ZEH BA NO'ACH VE SHEM VE CHAM VA YEPHET BENEY NO'ACH VE ESHET NO'ACH U SHELOSHET NESHEY VANAV ITAM EL HA TEVAH
ARBA'IM YOM: Forty days of rain before they even go into the ark? Or after the seven days of gathering in the passengers? I only ask because we have been told the answer earlier, and yet, now, look at the next verse...
7:13 BE ETSEM HA YOM HA ZEH BA NO'ACH VE SHEM VE CHAM VA YEPHET BENEY NO'ACH VE ESHET NO'ACH U SHELOSHET NESHEY VANAV ITAM EL HA TEVAH
בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה בָּא נֹחַ וְשֵׁם וְחָם וָיֶפֶת בְּנֵי נֹחַ וְאֵשֶׁת נֹחַ וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת נְשֵׁי בָנָיו אִתָּם אֶל הַתֵּבָה
KJ: In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
BN: On that very day No'ach and Shem and Cham and Yaphet, the sons of No'ach, and No'ach's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ark.
And which "very day", given that a time-period of seven, and another of 40, have been given. Does this mean "the 17th of the 2nd month?" This appears to mean "on the forty-seventh day".
7:14 HEMA VE CHOL HA CHAYAH LE MIYNAH VE CHOL HA BEHEMAH LE MIYNAH VE CHOL HA REMES HA ROMES AL HA ARETS LE MIYNEHU VE CHOL HA OPH LE MIYNEHU KOL TSIPUR KOL KANAPH
7:14 HEMA VE CHOL HA CHAYAH LE MIYNAH VE CHOL HA BEHEMAH LE MIYNAH VE CHOL HA REMES HA ROMES AL HA ARETS LE MIYNEHU VE CHOL HA OPH LE MIYNEHU KOL TSIPUR KOL KANAPH
הֵמָּה וְכָל הַחַיָּה לְמִינָהּ וְכָל הַבְּהֵמָה לְמִינָהּ וְכָל הָרֶמֶשׂ הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ לְמִינֵהוּ וְכָל הָעוֹף לְמִינֵהוּ כֹּל צִפּוֹר כָּל כָּנָף
KJ: They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
BN: They and every animal after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every species of reptile that crawls on the earth, and every bird of every sort.
More crowded than a commuter train in the rush-hour! And which of No'ach's sons gets the unfortunate job of cleaning out the stables?
Again the language is quite specifically the language of Genesis 1.
But why the birds? The ducks and ostriches and emus and any other birds that don't like to fly more than they have to, yes, understandable; but why the eagles and swallows, why the doves and ravens for that matter, which can fly around, and use the ark to rest when they need...
I ask, even though I have already answered the question, because the intention of the deity is now in question. In Genesis 6:7 YHVH was very clear:
7:15 VA YAVO'U EL NO'ACH EL HA TEVAH SHENAYIM SHENAYIM MI KOL HA BASAR ASHER BO RU'ACH CHAYIM
7:19 VE HA MAYIM GAVRU ME'OD ME'OD AL HA ARETS VA YECHUSU KOL HE HARIM HA GEVOHIM ASHER TACHAT KOL HA SHEMAYIM
Again the language is quite specifically the language of Genesis 1.
But why the birds? The ducks and ostriches and emus and any other birds that don't like to fly more than they have to, yes, understandable; but why the eagles and swallows, why the doves and ravens for that matter, which can fly around, and use the ark to rest when they need...
I ask, even though I have already answered the question, because the intention of the deity is now in question. In Genesis 6:7 YHVH was very clear:
"I will blot out human beings whom I have created from the face of the Earth; both human beings, and beasts, and creeping things, and the fowl of the air; for I regret that I made them."But immediately afterwards, long before he also regretted his tantrum and posited a rainbow by way of expiation, he decides to save enough of every species, so that a second draft can be made of his great Creation. And no sea-creatures are taken into the ark, because they can survive in a Flood, which in fact they may not even notice - so blotting out every creature is already hyperbole. Which takes us back to the original question: if the intention is to Flood, abate, restart, then why is there is any need to take birds into the ark, other than those which can't fly?
7:15 VA YAVO'U EL NO'ACH EL HA TEVAH SHENAYIM SHENAYIM MI KOL HA BASAR ASHER BO RU'ACH CHAYIM
וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל נֹחַ אֶל הַתֵּבָה שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם מִכָּל הַבָּשָׂר אֲשֶׁר בּוֹ רוּחַ חַיִּים
KJ: And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
BN: And they came to No'ach, to the ark, two by two of every creature in which life breathed.
Again, verse 9 has already had them enter.
7:16 VE HA BA'IM ZACHAR U NEKEVAH MI KOL BASAR BA'U KA ASHER TSIVAH OTO ELOHIM ... and this time it changes version in mid-sentence ... VA YISGOR YHVH BA'ADO
וְהַבָּאִים זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה מִכָּל בָּשָׂר בָּאוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֹתוֹ אֱלֹהִים וַיִּסְגֹּר יְהוָה בַּעֲדוֹ
KJ: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
BN: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as Elohim instructed him; and YHVH shut him in.
Not explainable, except as bad editing.
end of second fragment; for the next fragment, and not helped by this mixing of gods in verse 16, we are not told whether YHVH or Elohim is acting.
7:17 VA YEHI HA MABUL ARBA'IM YOM AL HA ARETS VA YIRBU HA MAYIM VA YIS'U ET HA TEVAH VA TARAM ME AL HA ARETS
end of second fragment; for the next fragment, and not helped by this mixing of gods in verse 16, we are not told whether YHVH or Elohim is acting.
7:17 VA YEHI HA MABUL ARBA'IM YOM AL HA ARETS VA YIRBU HA MAYIM VA YIS'U ET HA TEVAH VA TARAM ME AL HA ARETS
וַיְהִי הַמַּבּוּל אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם עַל הָאָרֶץ וַיִּרְבּוּ הַמַּיִם וַיִּשְׂאוּ אֶת הַתֵּבָה וַתָּרָם מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ
KJ: And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
BN: And there was a flood upon the Earth for forty days; and the waters rose, and carried the ark, and it was lifted above the Earth.
Calculating the length of the Flood is rendered difficult by the method of description; is this 40 days the same as the 40 days in verse 12, or another 40 days after it? It certainly appears to be a second block of 40 days. So we have either reached day 47 or 87.
7:18 VA YIGBERU HA MAYIM VA YIRBU ME'OD AL HA ARETS VA TELECH HA TEVAH AL PENEY HA MAYIM
וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם וַיִּרְבּוּ מְאֹד עַל הָאָרֶץ וַתֵּלֶךְ הַתֵּבָה עַל פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם
KJ: And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
BN: And the water grew deeper, increasing vastly over the Earth; and the ark rode on the face of the waters.
Greek and Roman myths of the sun anthropomorphise it into the tales of Phaeton and Helios and others; but long before these the Egyptian myths already embodied the same idea, in particular with the Ship of Ra. In later Norse mythology, Freyr travelled across the sky in a ship named the Skiobloanir; but in truth every known human culture has its version; click here for more detailed background. What we can say for certain is that the answerto the unstated question: "in which direction did the ark now go?", is - westwards. Which means that, in order for it to come to rest on Mount Ararat, it must have started... over the Gobi desert probably.
7:19 VE HA MAYIM GAVRU ME'OD ME'OD AL HA ARETS VA YECHUSU KOL HE HARIM HA GEVOHIM ASHER TACHAT KOL HA SHEMAYIM
וְהַמַּיִם גָּבְרוּ מְאֹד מְאֹד עַל הָאָרֶץ וַיְכֻסּוּ כָּל הֶהָרִים הַגְּבֹהִים אֲשֶׁר תַּחַת כָּל הַשָּׁמָיִם
KJ: And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
BN: And the water went on deepening and deepening upon the Earth; until and even the highest mountains, beneath the entire sky, were submerged.
The terror of global warming!
7:20 CHAMESH ESREH AMAH MI LEMA'LAH GAVRU HA MAYIM VA YECHUSU HE HARIM
The terror of global warming!
7:20 CHAMESH ESREH AMAH MI LEMA'LAH GAVRU HA MAYIM VA YECHUSU HE HARIM
חֲמֵשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה אַמָּה מִלְמַעְלָה גָּבְרוּ הַמָּיִם וַיְכֻסּוּ הֶהָרִים
KJ: Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
BN: Fifteen cubits upward from the summits of the mountains the waters rose; and the mountains were covered.
Which really isn't that high, if the King James translation is correct (which it is). If a cubit is the length of an arm, which is about two and a little bit feet even in the most prehensile, then the entire flood is only 35 feet above ground level; not enough to cover a two-storey building let alone a mountain. So does it mean, thirty foot higher than the mountains? MI LEMA'LAH can mean "upwards", but it could also mean "up from", hence my preferred translation (though it is probably incorrect).
7:21 VA YIGVA KOL BASAR HA ROMES AL HA ARETS BA OPH U VA BEHEMAH U VA CHAYAH U VE CHOL HA SHERETS HA SHORETS AL HA ARETS VE CHOL HA ADAM
וַיִּגְוַע כָּל בָּשָׂר הָרֹמֵשׂ עַל הָאָרֶץ בָּעוֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָה וּבַחַיָּה וּבְכָל הַשֶּׁרֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל הָאָרֶץ וְכֹל הָאָדָם
KJ: And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
BN: And all flesh perished that crept upon the Earth: the fowl, and the cattle, and every living creature, and every species of swarming insect that swarms on the Earth, and every human.
U VE CHOL HA SHARETS HA SHORETS (ובכל-השרץ השרץ): once again paralleling the style of REMES HA ROMES (רמש הרמש - every species of insect) in the Creation story and elsewhere.
OPH in this case can only refer to land-hugging fowl, such as turkey and chicken, and not to birds of the air; similarly the sea and river creatures are unaffected, and presumably microbes, bacteria and algae are perfectly happy. This question matters because the almighty god, merciful and compassionate, appears to be in the business of extinguishing species here, and in a rather arbitrary manner that has nothing to do with the corruption of any creatures on the Earth, except Humankind, who usually does merit this treatment; but for domesticated pussy cats, and cute roe-deer in the woods, and for nice little bunny rabbits, and cuddly Labradors, this cannot have anything to do with morality in any sense, and really cannot be ascribed to sin either, but does leave the deity in the awkward and embarrassingly hypocritical position of indiscriminacy in the way he is dealing with the problem of corrupt Humankind, and quite possibly guilty of a crime against non-humanity.
Either that, or it leaves the people who thought up this most implausible myth to explain what is obviously a natural event, an "act of god" only in the sense that insurance companies, rather than religious instititutions, use the term: of god as a verb and not of God as a noun; in the awkward and embarrassingly hypocritical position of having invented a deity with whom there is no point making a covenant, since he either doesn't listen (noun) or can't listen (verb), the inference of which is that there is no point praying to him either because arbitrary forces of nature do what they do and don't actually have any control over their own enormity of power... questions which lead directly to that other Babylonian literary masterpiece borrowed by the Beney Yisra-El, and belonging to precisely the same era, the Book of Iyov (Job).
7:22 KOL ASHER NISHMAT RU'ACH CHAYIM BE APAV MI KOL ASHER BE CHARAVAH METU
7:22 KOL ASHER NISHMAT RU'ACH CHAYIM BE APAV MI KOL ASHER BE CHARAVAH METU
כֹּל אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁמַת רוּחַ חַיִּים בְּאַפָּיו מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בֶּחָרָבָה מֵתוּ
KJ: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
BN: Every creature in whose nostrils breathed the spirit of life, whatsoever was on dry land died.
Global warming, then, as an "act of god". And confirmation that only land creatures were affected. Should we then read ARETS in all the above verses as "earth" rather than "Earth"? I think we should.
7:23 VA YIMACH ET KOL HA YEKUM ASHER AL PENEY HA ADAMAH ME ADAM AD BEHEMAH AD REMES VE AD OPH HA SHAMAYIM VA YIMACHU MIN HA ARETS VA YISHA'ER ACH NO'ACH VA ASHER ITO BA TEVAH
וַיִּמַח אֶת כָּל הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר עַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה מֵאָדָם עַד בְּהֵמָה עַד רֶמֶשׂ וְעַד עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם וַיִּמָּחוּ מִן הָאָרֶץ וַיִשָּׁאֶר אַךְ נֹחַ וַאֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה
KJ: And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
BN: And he blotted out every living creature that was on the face of the Earth, both human, and cattle, and reptile, and the birds of the heavens too were blotted out from the Earth; and No'ach alone was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
VE AD OPH HA SHAMAYIM: But no, the birds of the air were apparently wiped out too, presumably when the flood rose high enough that their nests were taken away, and no trees remained to alight upon. But still the water-creatures were safe, the little fishes, the otters... and the alligators and crocodiles and terrapins... and of course Tiamat is perfectly safe, down there in the deeps with Moby-Dick.
Or is it perhaps the case that, in this matter too, the YHVH and Elohim versions do not concur, that one sends a Flood to destroy the creatures who move on the ground - a natural flood, given mythological explanation - while the other sends a Flood to destroy the Earth - a metaphysical act, and therefore belonging to a later period of human history?
7:24 VA YIGBERU HA MAYIM AL HA ARETS CHAMISHIM U ME'AT YOM
KJ: And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
BN: And the waters continued rising on the Earth for a hundred and fifty days.
Either this second fragment has been Elohim all the while, or at some point between verses 17 and 24 we must have slipped back again into the Elohim version; though exactly where on this occasion is not clear. Usually we can distinguish by the god-name used; or by the number of days it rained: 40 days and nights in the YHVH version, 150 days in the Elohim; or by the number of animals: two by two in the Elohim version; seven by seven if clean and two by two if unclean in the YHVH... but none of that has been given for several verses. 150 here makes it Elohim (click here for one attempt to fathom this, click here and then scroll down to "space in the ark" for a rather different attempt).
7:24 VA YIGBERU HA MAYIM AL HA ARETS CHAMISHIM U ME'AT YOM
וַיִּגְבְּרוּ הַמַּיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ חֲמִשִּׁים וּמְאַת יוֹם
KJ: And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
BN: And the waters continued rising on the Earth for a hundred and fifty days.
Either this second fragment has been Elohim all the while, or at some point between verses 17 and 24 we must have slipped back again into the Elohim version; though exactly where on this occasion is not clear. Usually we can distinguish by the god-name used; or by the number of days it rained: 40 days and nights in the YHVH version, 150 days in the Elohim; or by the number of animals: two by two in the Elohim version; seven by seven if clean and two by two if unclean in the YHVH... but none of that has been given for several verses. 150 here makes it Elohim (click here for one attempt to fathom this, click here and then scroll down to "space in the ark" for a rather different attempt).
VA YIMACHU: "Blotted out". Extinguishing species really does mean extinguishing species. This is Elohim the Creator we are talking about, the "spirit of life" himself, sustainer of the universe... and here, the one who blots it out. Vishnu and Shiva combined: a version of God v the Devil. Dualism, not the traditional Monism of later Judaism.
Chapter 7 ends here
One interesting (is interesting the most appropriate word in the circumstances? Read it and decide for yourself) Midrash here notes that No'ach forbade sexual intercourse on the ark, arguing that while the world was being destroyed it would be blasphemy to take measures for its replenishment. But the dog and the cock-raven disobeyed, as, more significantly, did Cham, who lay with his wife in order that the child forced on her by the evil angel Shem-Hazai should not be illegitimate. Though his action was considered a good one, Elohim had to punish him for breaking No'ach's strict commandment, and looked for something light. Failing to find one for a long time, he eventually settled on making Cham's skin black. Hmm!
Chapter 7 ends here
One interesting (is interesting the most appropriate word in the circumstances? Read it and decide for yourself) Midrash here notes that No'ach forbade sexual intercourse on the ark, arguing that while the world was being destroyed it would be blasphemy to take measures for its replenishment. But the dog and the cock-raven disobeyed, as, more significantly, did Cham, who lay with his wife in order that the child forced on her by the evil angel Shem-Hazai should not be illegitimate. Though his action was considered a good one, Elohim had to punish him for breaking No'ach's strict commandment, and looked for something light. Failing to find one for a long time, he eventually settled on making Cham's skin black. Hmm!
Copyright © 2020 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press
No comments:
Post a Comment