Separating The Two Flood Accounts
Most people may not realize it, but the Biblical Flood Account
actually consists of two interwoven flood narratives.
JEDP Theory
It seems most modern Bible views concerning the books of Moses pre-suppose the JEDP theory. This documentary theory claims to identify 4 underlying sources or documents in the books of Moses. These presumed documents are called J (for Jahweh) and E (for Elohim) which are names of God; D (for Deuteronimic) and P (for Priestly). Each of these documents are claimed to have their own characteristics and theology, and which surprisingly, often contradict that of the other documents.
…
http://home.c2i.net/lrivertz/JEDP.html
The JEDP theory first came about when it was noticed that at some points in the text of the books of Moses, God was sometimes referred to with the Divine Name, while at other times he was referred to with the title God (Elohim). As the theory developed, the D(euteronimic) and P(riestly) strands were added to the theory.
An interesting aspect about the restoration of the Divine Name to the OT, (as in the NWT), is that such a translation serves to highlight the locations in the text where the original writers used the Divine Name as opposed to the title God. Although the distinction can be observed in translations that use “LORD” instead, I feel that it is much easier seen in translations such as the NWT.
So with all that being said, let’s take a look at the text.
Step One:
I’ve highlighted the text where God and Jehovah are used.
There
is no need at this point to read every word of the text, just observe the
groupings where God
and Jehovah
are used.
Gen
6:1 Now it came about that when men
started to grow in numbers on the surface of the ground and daughters were born
to them, 2 then the sons of the [true] God began to notice the
daughters of men, that they were
good-looking; and they went taking
wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose. 3
After that Jehovah
said: "My spirit shall not act toward
man indefinitely in that he is also flesh.
Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty years."
4 The Neph'i·lim proved to be in the earth in
those days, and also after that, when the sons of the [true] God continued to have relations with the daughters of men and
they bore sons to them, they were the
mighty ones who were of old, the men of
fame.
5 Consequently Jehovah saw that the badness of man was
abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was
only bad all the time. 6 And Jehovah felt regrets
that he had made men in the earth, and
he felt hurt at his heart. 7 So Jehovah said:
"I am going to wipe men whom I have created off the surface of the
ground, from man to domestic
animal, to moving animal and to flying
creature of the heavens, because I do
regret that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.
9 This is the history of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his
contemporaries. Noah walked with
the [true] God. 10 In time Noah became father to three
sons, Shem, Ham and Ja'pheth. 11 And the earth came to be ruined in the sight
of the [true] God and the earth became filled with violence. 12
So God saw
the earth and, look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the earth.
13 After that God said to Noah: "The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is full of violence as a
result of them; and here I am bringing
them to ruin together with the earth.
14 Make for yourself an ark out
of wood of a resinous tree. You will
make compartments in the ark, and you
must cover it inside and outside with tar.
15 And this is how you will make
it: three hundred cubits the length of
the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height. 16
You will make a tso'har [roof; or, window] for the ark, and you will
complete it to the extent of a cubit upward,
and the entrance of the ark you will put in its side; you will make it with a lower [story], a second
[story] and a third [story].
17 "And as for me, here I am bringing the deluge of waters upon
the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force of life is active from
under the heavens. Everything that is
in the earth will expire. 18 And I do establish my covenant with
you; and you must go into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your
sons' wives with you. 19
And of every living creature of every sort of flesh, two of each, you will bring into the ark to preserve them alive with you. Male and female they will be. 20
Of the flying creatures according to their kinds and of the domestic
animals according to their kinds, of
all moving animals of the ground according to their kinds, two of each will go in there to you to
preserve them alive. 21 And as for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for
them."
22 And Noah proceeded to do according to all
that God had
commanded him. He did just so.
Gen
7:1 After that Jehovah said to
Noah: "Go, you and all your household, into the ark, because you are the one I have seen to be righteous before me
among this generation. 2 Of every clean beast you must take to
yourself by sevens, the sire and its
mate; and of every beast that is not
clean just two, the sire and its
mate; 3 also of the flying creatures of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to preserve offspring alive on the surface of the entire
earth. 4 For in just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights; and I will
wipe every existing thing that I have made off the surface of the
ground." 5 And Noah proceeded to do according to all
that Jehovah
had commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the
deluge of waters occurred on the earth.
7
So Noah went in, and his sons
and his wife and his sons' wives with
him, into the ark ahead of the waters
of the deluge. 8 Of every clean beast and of every beast that
is not clean and of the flying creatures and everything that moves on the
ground, 9 they went in by twos to Noah inside the
ark, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 And seven days later
it turned out that the waters of the deluge came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's
life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast
watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were
opened. 12 And the downpour upon the earth went on for forty days and forty
nights. 13 On this very day Noah went in,
and Shem and Ham and Ja'pheth,
Noah's sons, and the wife of Noah
and the three wives of his sons with him,
into the ark; 14 they and every wild beast according to its
kind, and every domestic animal
according to its kind, and every moving
animal that moves on the earth according to its kind, and every flying creature according to its kind, every bird,
every winged creature. 15 And they kept going to Noah inside the
ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh in which the force of
life was active. 16 And those going in, male and female of every sort of flesh, went in,
just as God
had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the door
behind him.
17 And the deluge went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing and began carrying the ark and it was floating high above the earth. 18 And the waters became overwhelming and kept increasing greatly upon the earth, but the ark kept going on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall mountains that were under the whole heavens came to be covered. 20 Up to fifteen cubits the waters overwhelmed them and the mountains became covered.
21 So all flesh that was moving upon the earth
expired, among the flying creatures and
among the domestic animals and among the wild beasts and among all the swarms
that were swarming upon the earth, and
all mankind. 22 Everything in which the breath of the force
of life was active in its nostrils,
namely, all that were on the dry
ground, died. 23 Thus he wiped out
every existing thing that was on the surface of the ground, from man to beast, to moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, and they were wiped off the earth; and only Noah and those who were with him in
the ark kept on surviving. 24 And the waters continued overwhelming the
earth a hundred and fifty days.
Gen
8:1 After that God remembered Noah and
every wild beast and every domestic animal that was with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2
And the springs of the watery deep and the floodgates of the heavens
became stopped up, and so the downpour
from the heavens was restrained. 3 And the waters began receding from off the
earth, progressively receding; and at the end of a hundred and fifty days
the waters were lacking. 4 And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of
Ar'a·rat. 5 And the waters kept on progressively lessening until the tenth
month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 So it occurred that at the end of forty days
Noah proceeded to open the window of the ark that he had made. 7
After that he sent out a raven,
and it continued flying outdoors,
going and returning, until the
waters dried off the earth.
8 Later he sent out from him a dove to see
whether the waters had abated from the surface of the ground. 9
And the dove did not find any resting-place for the sole of its
foot, and so it returned to him into
the ark because the waters were yet upon the surface of the whole earth. At that he put his hand out and took it and
brought it to himself inside the ark.
10 And he went on waiting still
another seven days, and once again he
sent out the dove from the ark. 11 Later on the dove came to him about the time
of evening and, look! there was an olive leaf freshly plucked in
its bill, and so Noah got to know that
the waters had abated from the earth.
12 And he went on waiting still
another seven days. Then he sent out
the dove, but it did not come back
again to him anymore.
13 Now in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained
from off the earth; and Noah proceeded to
remove the covering of the ark and to look,
and here the surface of the ground had drained dry. 14
And in the second month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, the
earth had dried off.
15 God now spoke to Noah,
saying: 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your
sons' wives with you. 17
Every living creature that is with you of every sort of flesh, among the flying creatures and among the
beasts and among all the moving animals that move upon the earth, bring out with you, as they must swarm in the earth and be
fruitful and become many upon the earth."
18 At that Noah went out, and also his sons and his wife and his
sons' wives with him. 19
Every living creature, every
moving animal and every flying creature,
everything that moves on the earth,
according to their families they went out of the ark. 20
And Noah began to build an altar to Jehovah and to take some of all the clean
beasts and of all the clean flying creatures and to offer burnt offerings upon
the altar. 21 And Jehovah
began to smell a restful odor, and so Jehovah said in his
heart: "Never again shall I call
down evil upon the ground on man's account,
because the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up; and never again shall I deal every living
thing a blow just as I have done.
22 For all the days the earth
continues, seed sowing and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter,
and day and night, will never
cease."
Gen
9:1 And God went on to bless Noah and his sons and to
say to them: "Be fruitful and
become many and fill the earth. 2 And a fear of YOU and a terror of YOU will continue
upon every living creature of the earth and upon every flying creature of the
heavens, upon everything that goes moving
on the ground, and upon all the fishes
of the sea. Into YOUR hand they are now
given. 3 Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4
Only flesh with its soul-its blood-YOU must not eat. 5
And, besides that, YOUR blood of YOUR souls shall I ask back. From the hand of every living creature shall
I ask it back; and from the hand of
man, from the hand of each one who is
his brother, shall I ask back the soul
of man. 6 Anyone shedding man's blood,
by man will his own blood be shed,
for in God's
image he made man. 7 And as for YOU men, be fruitful and become many, make the earth swarm with YOU and become
many in it."
8 And God went on to say to Noah and to his sons with
him: 9 "And as for me,
here I am establishing my covenant with YOU men and with YOUR offspring
after YOU, 10 and with every living soul that is with YOU, among fowls, among beasts and among all living creatures of the earth with YOU, from all those going out of the ark to every
living creature of the earth. 11 Yes,
I do establish my covenant with YOU:
No more will all flesh be cut off by waters of a deluge, and no more will there occur a deluge to
bring the earth to ruin."
12 And God added:
"This is the sign of the covenant that I am giving between me and
YOU and every living soul that is with YOU,
for the generations to time indefinite.
13 My rainbow I do give in the
cloud, and it must serve as a sign of
the covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall occur that when
I bring a cloud over the earth, then
the rainbow will certainly appear in the cloud. 15 And I shall certainly
remember my covenant which is between me and YOU and every living soul among
all flesh; and no more will the waters
become a deluge to bring all flesh to ruin.
16 And the rainbow must occur in
the cloud, and I shall certainly see it
to remember the covenant to time indefinite between God and every living soul among all flesh that
is upon the earth."
17 And God repeated to Noah: "This is the sign of the covenant that I do establish
between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."
Step Two:
The
next step is to highlight the text surrounding “Jehovah” and “God” with the
appropriate colors. Attention to the
context must be considered when highlighting each section. Sections where it is not immediately
apparent whether it belongs to the J strand or the E strand should be left
un-highlighted.
Notice
that there are some relatively large sections (paragraphs) along with some
fragmented sections (sentences) of each strand. One interesting point is Gen 7:16. This is the only verse were “Jehovah” and “God” both appear. Not to bad considering we’re looking at
almost four complete chapters.
Up
to now, this has been pretty straightforward.
To go any further would require a detailed examination of the text
itself. Several interesting anomalies
will become apparent in the next step.
.
Gen 6:1 Now it came about
that when men started to grow in numbers on the surface of the ground and
daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of the [true] God
began to notice the daughters of men,
that they were good-looking; and
they went taking wives for themselves,
namely, all whom they chose. 3 After that Jehovah
said: "My spirit shall not act
toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh. Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty
years."
4 The Neph'i·lim
proved to be in the earth in those days, and also after that, when
the sons of the [true] God continued to have
relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of
old, the men of fame.
5 Consequently Jehovah saw that the
badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts
of his heart was only bad all the time.
6 And Jehovah felt regrets that he had made
men in the earth, and he felt hurt at
his heart. 7 So Jehovah
said: "I am going to wipe men whom
I have created off the surface of the ground,
from man to domestic animal, to
moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, because I do regret that I have made them." 8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.
9 This is the history
of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his
contemporaries. Noah walked with
the [true] God. 10
In time Noah became father to three sons, Shem, Ham and Ja'pheth. 11
And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the [true] God and the earth became filled with violence. 12
So God saw the earth and,
look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the
earth.
13 After that God
said to Noah: "The end of all
flesh has come before me, because the
earth is full of violence as a result of them;
and here I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth. 14
Make for yourself an ark out of wood of a resinous tree. You will make compartments in the ark, and you must cover it inside and outside
with tar. 15 And this is how you will make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height. 16
You will make a tso'har [roof; or,
window] for the ark, and you will complete it to the extent of a cubit
upward, and the entrance of the ark you
will put in its side; you will make it
with a lower [story], a second
[story] and a third [story].
17 "And as for me, here I am bringing the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force of life is active from under the heavens. Everything that is in the earth will expire. 18 And I do establish my covenant with you; and you must go into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living creature of every sort of flesh, two of each, you will bring into the ark to preserve them alive with you. Male and female they will be. 20 Of the flying creatures according to their kinds and of the domestic animals according to their kinds, of all moving animals of the ground according to their kinds, two of each will go in there to you to preserve them alive. 21 And as for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for them."
22 And Noah proceeded
to do according to all that God had commanded him. He did just so.
Gen 7:1 After
that Jehovah said to Noah:
"Go, you and all your
household, into the ark, because you are the one I have seen to be
righteous before me among this generation. 2 Of every clean beast
you must take to yourself by sevens,
the sire and its mate; and of
every beast that is not clean just two,
the sire and its mate; 3 also of the flying creatures of the heavens
by sevens, male and female, to preserve offspring alive on the surface
of the entire earth. 4 For in just seven days more I am making it
rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe every existing thing that I have made off the
surface of the ground." 5 And Noah
proceeded to do according to all that Jehovah had
commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the
deluge of waters occurred on the earth.
7
So Noah went in, and his sons
and his wife and his sons' wives with
him, into the ark ahead of the waters
of the deluge. 8 Of every clean beast and of every beast that
is not clean and of the flying creatures and everything that moves on the
ground, 9 they went in by twos to Noah inside the ark, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah.
10 And seven days later it
turned out that the waters of the deluge came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's
life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast
watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were
opened. 12 And the downpour upon the earth went on for forty days and forty
nights. 13 On this very day Noah went in,
and Shem and Ham and Ja'pheth, Noah's
sons, and the wife of Noah and the
three wives of his sons with him, into
the ark; 14 they and every wild beast according to its kind, and every domestic animal according to its
kind, and every moving animal that
moves on the earth according to its kind,
and every flying creature according to its kind, every bird,
every winged creature. 15 And they kept going to Noah inside the
ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh in which the force of
life was active. 16 And those going
in, male and female of every sort of
flesh, went in, just as God had commanded
him. After
that Jehovah shut the door behind him.
17 And the deluge went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing and began carrying the ark and it was floating high above the earth. 18 And the waters became overwhelming and kept increasing greatly upon the earth, but the ark kept going on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall mountains that were under the whole heavens came to be covered. 20 Up to fifteen cubits the waters overwhelmed them and the mountains became covered.
21 So all flesh that was moving upon the earth expired, among the flying creatures and among the domestic animals and among the wild beasts and among all the swarms that were swarming upon the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything in which the breath of the force of life was active in its nostrils, namely, all that were on the dry ground, died. 23 Thus he wiped out every existing thing that was on the surface of the ground, from man to beast, to moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, and they were wiped off the earth; and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark kept on surviving. 24 And the waters continued overwhelming the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Gen 8:1 After that God remembered Noah and every wild beast and every domestic animal that
was with him in the ark, and God
caused a wind to pass over the earth,
and the waters began to subside.
2 And the springs of the watery
deep and the floodgates of the heavens became stopped up, and so the downpour from the heavens was restrained. 3
And the waters began receding from off the earth, progressively receding; and at the end of a hundred and fifty days
the waters were lacking. 4 And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of
Ar'a·rat. 5 And the waters kept on progressively lessening until the tenth
month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 So it occurred that at the end of forty days
Noah proceeded to open the window of the ark that he had made. 7
After that he sent out a raven,
and it continued flying outdoors,
going and returning, until the
waters dried off the earth.
8 Later he sent out from him a dove to see whether the waters had abated from the surface of the ground. 9 And the dove did not find any resting-place for the sole of its foot, and so it returned to him into the ark because the waters were yet upon the surface of the whole earth. At that he put his hand out and took it and brought it to himself inside the ark. 10 And he went on waiting still another seven days, and once again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 Later on the dove came to him about the time of evening and, look! there was an olive leaf freshly plucked in its bill, and so Noah got to know that the waters had abated from the earth. 12 And he went on waiting still another seven days. Then he sent out the dove, but it did not come back again to him anymore.
13 Now in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained from
off the earth; and Noah proceeded to
remove the covering of the ark and to look,
and here the surface of the ground had drained dry. 14
And in the second month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, the
earth had dried off.
15 God now spoke to Noah, saying:
16 "Go out of the
ark, you and your wife and your sons
and your sons' wives with you. 17
Every living creature that is with you of every sort of flesh, among the flying creatures and among the
beasts and among all the moving animals that move upon the earth, bring out with you, as they must swarm in the earth and be
fruitful and become many upon the earth."
18 At that Noah went out, and also his sons and his wife and his
sons' wives with him. 19
Every living creature, every
moving animal and every flying creature,
everything that moves on the earth,
according to their families they went out of the ark. 20 And Noah began to build an altar to Jehovah and to take some of all the clean beasts and of all the
clean flying creatures and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar. 21
And Jehovah began to smell a restful odor, and so Jehovah said in his heart: "Never again shall I call down evil
upon the ground on man's account,
because the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth
up; and never again shall I deal every
living thing a blow just as I have done. 22 For all the days the
earth continues, seed sowing and
harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, will never cease."
Gen 9:1 And God
went on to bless Noah and his sons and to say to them: "Be fruitful and become many and fill
the earth. 2 And a fear of YOU and a terror of YOU will
continue upon every living creature of the earth and upon every flying creature
of the heavens, upon everything that
goes moving on the ground, and upon all
the fishes of the sea. Into YOUR hand
they are now given. 3 Every moving animal that is alive may serve
as food for YOU. As in the case of
green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4
Only flesh with its soul-its blood-YOU must not eat. 5
And, besides that, YOUR blood of YOUR souls shall I ask
back. From the hand of every living
creature shall I ask it back; and from
the hand of man, from the hand of each
one who is his brother, shall I ask
back the soul of man. 6 Anyone shedding
man's blood, by man will his own blood
be shed, for in God's image he made man.
7 And as for YOU men, be fruitful and become many, make the earth swarm with YOU and become
many in it."
8 And God
went on to say to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "And as for
me, here I am establishing my covenant
with YOU men and with YOUR offspring after YOU, 10 and with every living
soul that is with YOU, among
fowls, among beasts and among all
living creatures of the earth with YOU,
from all those going out of the ark to every living creature of the
earth. 11 Yes, I do establish my
covenant with YOU: No more will all
flesh be cut off by waters of a deluge,
and no more will there occur a deluge to bring the earth to ruin."
12 And God
added: "This is the sign of the
covenant that I am giving between me and YOU and every living soul that is with
YOU, for the generations to time
indefinite. 13 My rainbow I do give in the cloud, and it must serve as a sign of the covenant
between me and the earth. 14 And it shall occur that when I bring a cloud
over the earth, then the rainbow will
certainly appear in the cloud. 15 And I shall certainly remember my covenant
which is between me and YOU and every living soul among all flesh; and no more will the waters become a deluge
to bring all flesh to ruin. 16 And the rainbow must occur in the
cloud, and I shall certainly see it to
remember the covenant to time indefinite between God
and every living soul among all flesh that is upon the earth."
17 And God
repeated to Noah: "This is the
sign of the covenant that I do establish between me and all flesh that is upon
the earth."
Step Three:
In
this step I try to figure out what strand the un-highlighted sections belong
to.
The
sections that are completely surrounded by one strand and have the same context
as the surrounding strand are rather straightforward. They will most likely belong to that surrounding strand.
The
presence of certain “key phrases” within a particular strand is another way to
determine which strand the un-highlighted section belongs to. If an un-highlighted section contains the
same “key phrases” peculiar to a certain strand, then that section likely
belongs to that strand.
Once
the decisions were made, the sections were highlighted to the strand color (Red/Yellow), and
then they were given a dark background color (Red/Yellow) to indicate where the
highlighting was made.
The
following notes show how the decisions were made in choosing which strand an
un-highlighted section belonged:
Gen
6:17-21 highlighted (Red) to E strand (surrounded by E strand, context seemed to fit
surrounding E strand verses).
Contains
key phrases (Two each animals, Son’s wives)
Gen
7:2-4 highlighted (Yellow) to J strand (surrounded by J strand, context seemed to
fit surrounding J strand verses).
Contains key phrases (Seven each clean animals, to rain in seven days for forty days and nights).
Gen
7:6-7 highlighted (Red)
to E strand (seemed to fit E strand verses Gen 7:8-9 that follow).
Contains
key phrases (Noah’s 600th year, Son’s wives)
Gen
7:10 highlighted (Yellow) to J strand (seemed to fit J strand verses in Gen 7:1-5,
esp. the rain in seven days)
Contains
key phrases (Rain in seven days).
Gen
7:11 highlighted (Red)
to E strand (seemed to fit E strand verses Gen 7:6-7, esp. Noah’s 600th
year)
Contains
key phrases (Noah’s 600th year, springs of vast watery deep).
Gen
7:12 highlighted (Yellow) to J strand (Gen 7:10 and Gen 7:12 together complete the
thought in Gen 7:4 esp., “rain in seven days for forty days”)
Contains
key phrases (forty days).
Gen
7:13-15 highlighted (Red) to E strand (almost identical to E strand in Gen 7:7-9)
Gen
7:17-23 highlighted (Yellow) to J strand (follows J strand in Gen 7:16b, also seems to
fit with Jehovah’s desire to kill all living creatures in Gen 6:5-7)
Gen
7:24 highlighted (Red)
to E strand (seems to fit with Gen 8:3, 150 days, which goes with Gen 7:11-12, vast
watery deep)
Contains
key phrases (150 days).
Gen
8:2-5 highlighted (Red)
to E strand (seems to fit with previous E strand along with 150 days and watery
deep in Gen 7:11-12)
Contains
key phrases (150 days, vast watery deep).
Gen 8:6-12 highlighted (Yellow) to J strand (forty days fits J strand in Gen 7:2-4) Contains key phrases (forty days).
Gen
8:13-14 highlighted (Red) to E strand (seemed to fit E strand verses Gen 7:11-12,
esp. Noah’s 600th year)
Contains
key phrases (Noah’s 600th year).
Gen
8:18-19 highlighted (Red) to E strand (seemed to fit previous context of E strand
where Noah is told to go out of the ark, son’s wives are also an E strand
theme)
Contains
key phrases (Son’s wives).
Gen
8:22 highlighted (Yellow) to J strand (context seems to fit previous
J strand Gen 8:20-21, esp. not curse the ground with continue sowing)
Gen
9:2-5 highlighted (Red)
to E strand (surrounded by E strand, context seemed to fit surrounding E strand
verses)
.
Gen 6:1 Now it came about
that when men started to grow in numbers on the surface of the ground and
daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of the [true] God
began to notice the daughters of men,
that they were good-looking; and
they went taking wives for themselves,
namely, all whom they chose. 3 After that Jehovah
said: "My spirit shall not act
toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh. Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty
years."
4 The Neph'i·lim
proved to be in the earth in those days,
and also after that, when the
sons of the [true] God continued to have
relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of
old, the men of fame.
5 Consequently Jehovah saw that the
badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts
of his heart was only bad all the time.
6 And Jehovah felt regrets that he had made
men in the earth, and he felt hurt at
his heart. 7 So Jehovah
said: "I am going to wipe men whom
I have created off the surface of the ground,
from man to domestic animal, to
moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, because I do regret that I have made them." 8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.
9 This is the history
of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his
contemporaries. Noah walked with
the [true] God. 10
In time Noah became father to three sons, Shem, Ham and Ja'pheth. 11
And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the [true] God and the earth became filled with violence. 12
So God saw the earth and,
look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the
earth.
13 After that God
said to Noah: "The end of all
flesh has come before me, because the
earth is full of violence as a result of them;
and here I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth. 14
Make for yourself an ark out of wood of a resinous tree. You will make compartments in the ark, and you must cover it inside and outside
with tar. 15 And this is how you will make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height. 16
You will make a tso'har [roof; or,
window] for the ark, and you will complete it to the extent of a
cubit upward, and the entrance of the
ark you will put in its side; you will
make it with a lower [story], a second
[story] and a third [story].
17 "And as for me, here I am bringing the deluge of waters upon
the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in which the force of life is active from
under the heavens. Everything that is
in the earth will expire. 18 And I do establish my covenant with
you; and you must go into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your
sons' wives with you. 19
And of every living creature of every sort of flesh, two of each, you will bring into the ark to preserve them alive with you. Male and female they will be. 20
Of the flying creatures according to their kinds and of the domestic
animals according to their kinds, of
all moving animals of the ground according to their kinds, two of each will go in there to you to
preserve them alive. 21 And as for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for
them."
22 And Noah proceeded
to do according to all that God had commanded him. He did just so.
Gen 7:1 After
that Jehovah said to Noah:
"Go, you and all your
household, into the ark, because you are the one I have seen to be
righteous before me among this generation.
2 Of every clean beast you must take to
yourself by sevens, the sire and its
mate; and of every beast that is not
clean just two, the sire and its
mate; 3 also of the flying creatures of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to preserve offspring alive on the surface of the entire earth. 4
For in just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth forty
days and forty nights; and I will wipe
every existing thing that I have made off the surface of the ground." 5 And Noah proceeded to do according to all
that Jehovah had commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the
deluge of waters occurred on the earth.
7 So Noah went in, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him, into the ark ahead of the waters of the deluge. 8 Of
every clean beast and of every beast that is not clean and of the flying
creatures and everything that moves on the ground, 9 they went in by twos to
Noah inside the ark, male and
female, just as God had commanded Noah. 10 And seven days later it turned out that the waters of the deluge
came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's
life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast
watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were
opened. 12 And the
downpour upon the earth went on for forty days and forty nights. 13 On this very
day Noah went in, and Shem and Ham and
Ja'pheth, Noah's sons, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of
his sons with him, into the ark; 14
they and every wild beast according to its kind, and every domestic animal according to its
kind, and every moving animal that
moves on the earth according to its kind,
and every flying creature according to its kind, every bird,
every winged creature. 15 And they kept going to Noah inside the
ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh in which the force of
life was active. 16 And those going in, male and female of every sort of flesh, went in,
just as God had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the door behind him.
17 And the deluge went on for
forty days upon the earth, and the
waters kept increasing and began carrying the ark and it was floating high
above the earth. 18 And the waters became overwhelming and kept
increasing greatly upon the earth, but
the ark kept going on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters
overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall mountains that were under
the whole heavens came to be covered.
20 Up to fifteen cubits the
waters overwhelmed them and the mountains became covered.
21 So all flesh that was moving
upon the earth expired, among the
flying creatures and among the domestic animals and among the wild beasts and
among all the swarms that were swarming upon the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything in which
the breath of the force of life was active in its nostrils, namely,
all that were on the dry ground,
died. 23 Thus he wiped out every existing thing that
was on the surface of the ground, from
man to beast, to moving animal and to
flying creature of the heavens, and
they were wiped off the earth; and only
Noah and those who were with him in the ark kept on surviving. 24 And the waters
continued overwhelming the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Gen 8:1 After that God remembered Noah and every wild beast and every domestic animal that
was with him in the ark, and God
caused a wind to pass over the earth,
and the waters began to subside.
2 And the springs of the watery deep and the
floodgates of the heavens became stopped up,
and so the downpour from the heavens was restrained. 3
And the waters began receding from off the earth, progressively receding; and at the end of a hundred and fifty days
the waters were lacking. 4 And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of
Ar'a·rat. 5 And the waters kept on progressively lessening until the tenth
month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 So it occurred that at the end of forty days
Noah proceeded to open the window of the ark that he had made. 7
After that he sent out a raven,
and it continued flying outdoors,
going and returning, until the
waters dried off the earth.
8 Later he sent out from him a
dove to see whether the waters had abated from the surface of the ground. 9 And
the dove did not find any resting-place for the sole of its foot, and so it returned to him into the ark
because the waters were yet upon the surface of the whole earth. At that he put his hand out and took it and
brought it to himself inside the ark.
10 And he went on waiting still
another seven days, and once again he
sent out the dove from the ark. 11 Later on the dove came to him about the time
of evening and, look! there was an olive leaf freshly plucked in
its bill, and so Noah got to know that
the waters had abated from the earth.
12 And he went on waiting still
another seven days. Then he sent out
the dove, but it did not come back
again to him anymore.
13 Now in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained from off the earth; and Noah proceeded to remove the covering of the ark and to look, and here the surface of the ground had drained dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried off.
15 God now spoke to Noah, saying:
16 "Go out of the
ark, you and your wife and your sons
and your sons' wives with you. 17
Every living creature that is with you of every sort of flesh, among the flying creatures and among the
beasts and among all the moving animals that move upon the earth, bring out with you, as they must swarm in the earth and be
fruitful and become many upon the earth."
18 At that Noah went out, and also his sons and his wife and his
sons' wives with him. 19
Every living creature, every
moving animal and every flying creature,
everything that moves on the earth,
according to their families they went out of the ark. 20 And Noah began to build an altar to Jehovah and to take some of all the clean beasts and of all the
clean flying creatures and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar. 21
And Jehovah began to smell a restful odor, and so Jehovah said in his heart: "Never again shall I call down evil
upon the ground on man's account,
because the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth
up; and never again shall I deal every
living thing a blow just as I have done. 22 For all the days the earth continues, seed sowing and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter,
and day and night, will never
cease."
Gen 9:1 And God
went on to bless Noah and his sons and to say to them: "Be fruitful and become many and fill
the earth. 2
And a fear of YOU and a terror of YOU will continue upon every living
creature of the earth and upon every flying creature of the heavens, upon everything that goes moving on the
ground, and upon all the fishes of the
sea. Into YOUR hand they are now
given. 3 Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4
Only flesh with its soul-its blood-YOU must not eat. 5
And, besides that, YOUR blood of YOUR souls shall I ask back. From the hand of every living creature shall
I ask it back; and from the hand of
man, from the hand of each one who is
his brother, shall I ask back the soul
of man. 6 Anyone shedding man's blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God's image he made
man. 7
And as for YOU men, be fruitful
and become many, make the earth swarm
with YOU and become many in it."
8 And God
went on to say to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "And as for
me, here I am establishing my covenant
with YOU men and with YOUR offspring after YOU, 10 and with every living soul
that is with YOU, among fowls, among beasts and among all living creatures
of the earth with YOU, from all those
going out of the ark to every living creature of the earth. 11
Yes, I do establish my covenant
with YOU: No more will all flesh be cut
off by waters of a deluge, and no more
will there occur a deluge to bring the earth to ruin."
12 And God
added: "This is the sign of the
covenant that I am giving between me and YOU and every living soul that is with
YOU, for the generations to time
indefinite. 13 My rainbow I do give in the cloud, and it must serve as a sign of the covenant
between me and the earth. 14 And it shall occur that when I bring a cloud
over the earth, then the rainbow will
certainly appear in the cloud. 15 And I shall certainly remember my covenant
which is between me and YOU and every living soul among all flesh; and no more will the waters become a deluge
to bring all flesh to ruin. 16 And the rainbow must occur in the
cloud, and I shall certainly see it to
remember the covenant to time indefinite between God
and every living soul among all flesh that is upon the earth."
17 And God
repeated to Noah: "This is the
sign of the covenant that I do establish between me and all flesh that is upon
the earth."
Step Four:
In the next part, the background highlighting has been
removed to present an easy to read text showing how the two strands are
interwoven.
.
Gen 6:1 Now it came about that
when men started to grow in numbers on the surface of the ground and daughters
were born to them, 2 then the sons of the [true] God began to notice the
daughters of men, that they were
good-looking; and they went taking
wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose. 3 After that Jehovah said: "My spirit shall not act toward man
indefinitely in that he is also flesh.
Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty years."
4 The Neph'i·lim
proved to be in the earth in those days,
and also after that, when the
sons of the [true] God continued to have relations with
the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame.
5 Consequently Jehovah
saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of
the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time. 6 And Jehovah felt
regrets that he had made men in the earth,
and he felt hurt at his heart.
7 So Jehovah said: "I am going to wipe men whom I have
created off the surface of the ground,
from man to domestic animal, to
moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, because I do regret that I have made them." 8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.
9 This is the history
of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his
contemporaries. Noah walked with the [true] God. 10 In time Noah became father to three
sons, Shem, Ham and Ja'pheth. 11 And the earth came to be ruined in the sight
of the [true] God and the earth became filled with
violence. 12 So God saw the earth and,
look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the
earth.
13 After that God said to Noah: "The end of all flesh has come before
me, because the earth is full of
violence as a result of them; and here
I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth. 14 Make for yourself an
ark out of wood of a resinous tree. You
will make compartments in the ark, and
you must cover it inside and outside with tar.
15 And this is how you will make
it: three hundred cubits the length of
the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height. 16
You will make a tso'har [roof; or,
window] for the ark, and you will complete it to the extent of a
cubit upward, and the entrance of the
ark you will put in its side; you will
make it with a lower [story], a second
[story] and a third [story].
17
"And as for me, here I am
bringing the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in
which the force of life is active from under the heavens. Everything that is in the earth will
expire. 18 And I do establish my covenant with you; and you must go into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your
sons' wives with you. 19 And
of every living creature of every sort of flesh, two of each, you will
bring into the ark to preserve them alive with you. Male and female they will be.
20 Of the flying creatures
according to their kinds and of the domestic animals according to their
kinds, of all moving animals of the
ground according to their kinds, two of
each will go in there to you to preserve them alive. 21 And as for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is
eaten; and you must gather it to
yourself, and it must serve as food for
you and for them."
22 And Noah proceeded
to do according to all that God had commanded him.
He did just so.
Gen 7:1 After
that Jehovah said to Noah:
"Go, you and all your
household, into the ark, because you are the one I have seen to be
righteous before me among this generation.
2 Of every clean beast you must
take to yourself by sevens, the sire
and its mate; and of every beast that
is not clean just two, the sire and its
mate; 3 also of the flying creatures of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to preserve offspring alive on the surface of the entire
earth. 4 For in just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights; and I will
wipe every existing thing that I have made off the surface of the ground." 5 And Noah proceeded to do according to all
that Jehovah had commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years
old when the deluge of waters occurred on the earth. 7 So Noah went in, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him, into the ark ahead of the waters of the deluge. 8 Of
every clean beast and of every beast that is not clean and of the flying
creatures and everything that moves on the ground, 9 they went in by twos to
Noah inside the ark, male and
female, just as God had
commanded Noah. 10 And seven days later it turned out that the
waters of the deluge came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of
Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast
watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were
opened. 12 And the downpour upon the earth went on for forty days and forty
nights. 13 On this very day Noah went in, and Shem and Ham and Ja'pheth, Noah's sons, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with
him, into the ark; 14
they and every wild beast according to its kind, and every domestic animal according to its
kind, and every moving animal that
moves on the earth according to its kind,
and every flying creature according to its kind, every bird,
every winged creature. 15 And they kept going to Noah inside the
ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh in which the force of
life was active. 16 And those going in, male and female of every sort of flesh, went in,
just as God had commanded him. After that Jehovah shut the
door behind him.
17
And the deluge went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing and began
carrying the ark and it was floating high above the earth. 18
And the waters became overwhelming and kept increasing greatly upon the
earth, but the ark kept going on the
surface of the waters. 19 And the waters overwhelmed the earth so
greatly that all the tall mountains that were under the whole heavens came to
be covered. 20 Up to fifteen cubits the waters overwhelmed
them and the mountains became covered.
21
So all flesh that was moving upon the earth expired, among the flying creatures and among the
domestic animals and among the wild beasts and among all the swarms that were
swarming upon the earth, and all
mankind. 22 Everything in which the breath of the force of life was active in
its nostrils, namely, all that were on the dry ground, died.
23 Thus he wiped out every
existing thing that was on the surface of the ground, from man to beast, to
moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, and they were wiped off the earth; and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark kept on
surviving. 24 And the waters
continued overwhelming the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Gen 8:1 After that God
remembered Noah and every wild beast and every domestic animal that was with
him in the ark, and God caused a wind to pass
over the earth, and the waters began to
subside. 2 And the springs of the watery deep and the floodgates of the
heavens became stopped up, and so the
downpour from the heavens was restrained.
3 And the waters began receding
from off the earth, progressively receding; and at the end of a hundred and fifty days
the waters were lacking. 4 And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of
Ar'a·rat. 5 And the waters kept on progressively lessening until the tenth
month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 So it occurred that at the end
of forty days Noah proceeded to open the window of the ark that he had
made. 7 After that he sent out a raven,
and it continued flying outdoors,
going and returning, until the
waters dried off the earth.
8
Later he sent out from him a dove to see whether the waters had abated
from the surface of the ground. 9 And the dove did not find any resting-place
for the sole of its foot, and so it
returned to him into the ark because the waters were yet upon the surface of
the whole earth. At that he put his
hand out and took it and brought it to himself inside the ark. 10
And he went on waiting still another seven days, and once again he sent out the dove from the
ark. 11 Later on the dove came to him about the time of evening and, look!
there was an olive leaf freshly plucked in its bill, and so Noah got to know that the waters had
abated from the earth. 12 And he went on waiting still another seven
days. Then he sent out the dove, but it did not come back again to him
anymore.
13 Now in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained from off the earth; and Noah proceeded to remove the covering of the ark and to look, and here the surface of the ground had drained dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried off.
15 God now spoke to Noah,
saying: 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your
sons' wives with you. 17
Every living creature that is with you of every sort of flesh, among the flying creatures and among the
beasts and among all the moving animals that move upon the earth, bring out with you, as they must swarm in the earth and be
fruitful and become many upon the earth."
18 At that Noah went out, and also his sons and his wife and his
sons' wives with him. 19
Every living creature, every
moving animal and every flying creature,
everything that moves on the earth,
according to their families they went out of the ark. 20 And Noah began to build an altar to Jehovah
and to take some of all the clean beasts and of all the clean flying creatures
and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar.
21 And Jehovah began to
smell a restful odor, and so Jehovah
said in his heart: "Never again
shall I call down evil upon the ground on man's account, because the inclination of the heart of man
is bad from his youth up; and never
again shall I deal every living thing a blow just as I have done. 22
For all the days the earth continues,
seed sowing and harvest, and
cold and heat, and summer and
winter, and day and night, will never cease."
Gen 9:1 And God went on to bless Noah
and his sons and to say to them:
"Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth. 2
And a fear of YOU and a terror of YOU will continue upon every living
creature of the earth and upon every flying creature of the heavens, upon everything that goes moving on the
ground, and upon all the fishes of the
sea. Into YOUR hand they are now given. 3
Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4
Only flesh with its soul-its blood-YOU must not eat. 5
And, besides that, YOUR blood of YOUR souls shall I ask
back. From the hand of every living
creature shall I ask it back; and from
the hand of man, from the hand of each
one who is his brother, shall I ask
back the soul of man. 6 Anyone shedding man's blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God's image he made man.
7 And as for YOU men, be fruitful and become many, make the earth swarm with YOU and become
many in it."
8 And God went
on to say to Noah and to his sons with him:
9 "And as for me, here I am establishing my covenant with YOU
men and with YOUR offspring after YOU,
10 and with every living soul
that is with YOU, among fowls, among beasts and among all living creatures
of the earth with YOU, from all those
going out of the ark to every living creature of the earth. 11
Yes, I do establish my covenant
with YOU: No more will all flesh be cut
off by waters of a deluge, and no more
will there occur a deluge to bring the earth to ruin."
12 And God added: "This is the sign of the covenant that
I am giving between me and YOU and every living soul that is with YOU, for the generations to time indefinite. 13 My
rainbow I do give in the cloud, and it
must serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14
And it shall occur that when I bring a cloud over the earth, then the rainbow will certainly appear in
the cloud. 15 And I shall certainly remember my covenant which is between me
and YOU and every living soul among all flesh;
and no more will the waters become a deluge to bring all flesh to
ruin. 16 And the rainbow must occur in the cloud, and I shall certainly see it to remember the
covenant to time indefinite between God and every living soul among all
flesh that is upon the earth."
17 And God
repeated to Noah: "This is the
sign of the covenant that I do establish between me and all flesh that is upon
the earth."
Step Five:
The final step is to separate the two strands and write a short summary of each.
E Strand Summary (P Strand):
(I believe that scholars actually consider this part of the P Strand. For the sake of simplicity I will continue to call it the E Strand)
Angels are attracted to earthly women. They had relations with the women and produced mighty ones (Nephilim?). All the earth became ruined, except Noah and his sons.
God instructs Noah to build an ark. A flood is going to kill all living creatures. Noah is to take his family and two each of all the animals aboard the ark. God will make a covenant with Noah.
Noah builds the ark.
In Noah’s 600th year the flood begins. Noah and family along with 2 each of the animals board the ark. (This is basically repeated again below, only with more detail)
In Noah’s 600th year second month, 17th day, the watery deep and floodgates of heaven open, lasting for forty days and forty nights. This is when Noah, family and animals went into the ark.
Waters continued for 150 days.
God remembered Noah and the animals and began to end the flood. After 150 days the waters were lacking. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat in the 7th month, 17th day. In the 10th month, the tops of mountains began to appear.
In Noah’s 601st year the waters had drained off of the earth. In the 2nd month, 27th day the earth was dry.
God told Noah and animals to exit the ark. Noah, family and the animals left the Ark.
God blessed Noah and his sons and gave them dominion over the animals. Man may now eat animals and plants except blood. They should multiply and fill the earth.
God establishes a covenant with man and animals to no longer cause a flood. God gives the rainbow as sign of the covenant.
E Strand
Gen 6:1 Now it came about that
when men started to grow in numbers on the surface of the ground and daughters
were born to them, 2 then the sons of the [true] God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely,
all whom they chose. 4 The Neph'i·lim proved to be in the earth in
those days, and also after that, when the sons of the [true] God continued to have relations with the daughters of men
and they bore sons to them, they were the
mighty ones who were of old, the men of
fame.
9 This is the history of
Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He proved himself faultless among his
contemporaries. Noah walked with
the [true] God.
10 In time Noah became father to
three sons, Shem, Ham and Ja'pheth. 11 And the earth came to
be ruined in the sight of the [true] God and the earth became filled with
violence. 12 So God saw the earth and,
look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the
earth.
13 After that God said to
Noah: "The end of all flesh has
come before me, because the earth is
full of violence as a result of them;
and here I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth. 14
Make for yourself an ark out of wood of a resinous tree. You will make compartments in the ark, and you must cover it inside and outside
with tar. 15 And this is how you will make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height. 16
You will make a tso'har [roof; or,
window] for the ark, and you will complete it to the extent of a
cubit upward, and the entrance of the
ark you will put in its side; you will
make it with a lower [story], a second
[story] and a third [story].
17
"And as for me, here I am
bringing the deluge of waters upon the earth to bring to ruin all flesh in
which the force of life is active from under the heavens. Everything that is in the earth will expire. 18
And I do establish my covenant with you; and you must go into the ark,
you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living creature of every sort
of flesh, two of each, you will bring into the ark to preserve them
alive with you. Male and female they
will be. 20 Of the flying creatures according to their kinds and of the
domestic animals according to their kinds,
of all moving animals of the ground according to their kinds, two of each will go in there to you to
preserve them alive. 21 And as for you, take for yourself every sort of food that is eaten; and you must gather it to yourself, and it must serve as food for you and for
them."
22 And Noah proceeded to do
according to all that God had commanded him. He did just so.
Gen7:6 And Noah was six hundred
years old when the deluge of waters occurred on the earth. 7 So
Noah went in, and his sons and his wife
and his sons' wives with him, into the ark ahead of the waters of the
deluge. 8 Of every clean beast and of every beast that is not clean and of
the flying creatures and everything that moves on the ground, 9
they went in by twos to Noah inside the ark, male and female, just as God
had commanded Noah
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
13 On this very day Noah went
in, and Shem and Ham and Ja'pheth, Noah's sons, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with
him, into the ark;
14 they and every wild beast
according to its kind, and every
domestic animal according to its kind,
and every moving animal that moves on the earth according to its
kind, and every flying creature according
to its kind, every bird, every winged creature. 15
And they kept going to Noah inside the ark, two by two, of every sort
of flesh in which the force of life was active. 16 And those going
in, male and female of every sort of
flesh, went in, just as God had commanded him.
24
And the waters continued overwhelming the earth a hundred and fifty
days.
Gen 8:1 After that God
remembered Noah and every wild beast and every domestic animal that was with
him in the ark, and God caused a
wind to pass over the earth, and the
waters began to subside. 2 And the springs of the watery deep and the
floodgates of the heavens became stopped up,
and so the downpour from the heavens was restrained. 3
And the waters began receding from off the earth, progressively receding; and at the end of a hundred and fifty days
the waters were lacking. 4 And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of
Ar'a·rat. 5 And the waters kept on progressively lessening until the tenth
month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
13 Now in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained from off the earth; and Noah proceeded to remove the covering of the ark and to look, and here the surface of the ground had drained dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried off.
15 God now spoke to
Noah, saying: 16 "Go out of the
ark, you and your wife and your sons
and your sons' wives with you. 17
Every living creature that is with you of every sort of flesh, among the flying creatures and among the
beasts and among all the moving animals that move upon the earth, bring out with you, as they must swarm in the earth and be
fruitful and become many upon the earth."
18 At that Noah went out, and also his sons and his wife and his
sons' wives with him. 19
Every living creature, every
moving animal and every flying creature,
everything that moves on the earth,
according to their families they went out of the ark.
Gen 9:1 And God went on
to bless Noah and his sons and to say to them:
"Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth. 2
And a fear of YOU and a terror of YOU will continue upon every living
creature of the earth and upon every flying creature of the heavens, upon everything that goes moving on the
ground, and upon all the fishes of the
sea. Into YOUR hand they are now
given. 3 Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4
Only flesh with its soul-its blood-YOU must not eat. 5
And, besides that, YOUR blood of YOUR souls shall I ask
back. From the hand of every living
creature shall I ask it back; and from
the hand of man, from the hand of each
one who is his brother, shall I ask
back the soul of man. 6 Anyone shedding man's blood, by man will his own blood be shed, for in God's image he made man. 7
And as for YOU men, be fruitful
and become many, make the earth swarm
with YOU and become many in it."
8 And God went on to say
to Noah and to his sons with him:
9 "And as for me, here I am establishing my covenant with YOU
men and with YOUR offspring after YOU,
10 and with every living soul
that is with YOU, among fowls, among beasts and among all living creatures
of the earth with YOU, from all those
going out of the ark to every living creature of the earth. 11
Yes, I do establish my covenant
with YOU: No more will all flesh be cut
off by waters of a deluge, and no more
will there occur a deluge to bring the earth to ruin."
12 And God added: "This is the sign of the covenant that
I am giving between me and YOU and every living soul that is with YOU, for the generations to time indefinite. 13
My rainbow I do give in the cloud,
and it must serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the
earth. 14 And it shall occur that when I bring a cloud over the earth, then the rainbow will certainly appear in
the cloud. 15 And I shall certainly remember my covenant which is between me
and YOU and every living soul among all flesh;
and no more will the waters become a deluge to bring all flesh to
ruin. 16 And the rainbow must occur in the cloud, and I shall certainly see it to remember the
covenant to time indefinite between God and every living soul among all
flesh that is upon the earth."
17 And God repeated to
Noah: "This is the sign of the
covenant that I do establish between me and all flesh that is upon the
earth."
Step Six:
J Strand Summary:
Jehovah decided that man will not live indefinitely. He decides to set a limit of 120 years.
Jehovah saw the badness of man, feels regret and decides to wipe all living creatures off the face of earth. But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.
Jehovah tells Noah to take his family and 7 each clean and 2 each unclean beasts into the ark. It is to rain 40 days and 40 nights
Jehovah shuts them in the Ark. It rains for 40 days and 40 nights 15 cubits above the tallest mountain. Every creature is killed except those on the Ark with Noah and family.
After 40 days Noah sent out a raven. Later Noah sends a Dove, it comes back. Noah waits seven days and sends the Dove again; it comes back with an olive leaf. Noah waits another seven days and sends the Dove, this time it doesn’t return.
Noah builds an altar and presents a burnt offering to Jehovah. Jehovah decides that he will never again call down evil on the ground on man’s account. The seasons will never cease.
J Strand
Gen 6:3 After that Jehovah
said: "My spirit shall not act
toward man indefinitely in that he is also flesh. Accordingly his days shall amount to a hundred and twenty
years."
5 Consequently Jehovah
saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of
the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time. 6 And Jehovah felt
regrets that he had made men in the earth,
and he felt hurt at his heart.
7 So Jehovah said: "I am going to wipe men whom I have
created off the surface of the ground,
from man to domestic animal, to
moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, because I do regret that I have made them." 8
But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah.
. Gen 6:10 And seven days later it turned out that the
waters of the deluge came upon the earth.
Gen 7:1 After that Jehovah
said to Noah: "Go, you and all your household, into the ark, because you are the one I have seen to be righteous before me
among this generation. 2 Of every clean beast you must take to
yourself by sevens, the sire and its
mate; and of every beast that is not
clean just two, the sire and its mate; 3
also of the flying creatures of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to preserve offspring alive on the surface of the entire
earth. 4 For in just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights; and I will
wipe every existing thing that I have made off the surface of the
ground." 5 And Noah proceeded to do according to all
that Jehovah had commanded him.
10 And seven days later it
turned out that the waters of the deluge came upon the earth.
12 And the downpour
upon the earth went on for forty days and forty nights.
Gen 7:16b After that Jehovah shut the door behind him.
17
And the deluge went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing and began carrying
the ark and it was floating high above the earth. 18 And the waters became
overwhelming and kept increasing greatly upon the earth, but the ark kept going on the surface of the
waters. 19 And the waters overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall
mountains that were under the whole heavens came to be covered. 20
Up to fifteen cubits the waters overwhelmed them and the mountains
became covered.
21
So all flesh that was moving upon the earth expired, among the flying creatures and among the
domestic animals and among the wild beasts and among all the swarms that were
swarming upon the earth, and all
mankind. 22 Everything in which the breath of the force of life was active in
its nostrils, namely, all that were on the dry ground, died.
23 Thus he wiped out every
existing thing that was on the surface of the ground, from man to beast, to
moving animal and to flying creature of the heavens, and they were wiped off the earth; and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark kept on
surviving.
Gen 8:6 So it occurred that at
the end of forty days Noah proceeded to open the window of the ark that he had
made. 7 After that he sent out a raven,
and it continued flying outdoors,
going and returning, until the
waters dried off the earth.
8
Later he sent out from him a dove to see whether the waters had abated
from the surface of the ground. 9 And the dove did not find any resting-place
for the sole of its foot, and so it
returned to him into the ark because the waters were yet upon the surface of
the whole earth. At that he put his
hand out and took it and brought it to himself inside the ark. 10
And he went on waiting still another seven days, and once again he sent out the dove from the
ark. 11 Later on the dove came to him about the time of evening and, look!
there was an olive leaf freshly plucked in its bill, and so Noah got to know that the waters had
abated from the earth. 12 And he went on waiting still another seven
days. Then he sent out the dove, but it did not come back again to him
anymore.
Gen 8:20 And Noah began to build an altar to Jehovah and to take some of all the clean beasts and of all the clean flying creatures and to offer burnt offerings upon the altar. 21 And Jehovah began to smell a restful odor, and so Jehovah said in his heart: "Never again shall I call down evil upon the ground on man's account, because the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up; and never again shall I deal every living thing a blow just as I have done. 22 For all the days the earth continues, seed sowing and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, will never cease."