Bible Study: Genesis

Lesson 6: Genesis 6- 9: The Flood

The Flood, Part 2

1. Verses 6:9-22

a. Noah and his contemporaries (9-12)

i. Noah is described in three ways. He is righteous, he is blameless and he walks with God. These appear to be escalating standards of holiness.

-- Righteous indicates innocent or upright and is frequently used of persons and of God. The righteous man does what is right and avoids what is wrong (Ez. 18:5-9).

-- Blameless is less frequently used. It is most frequently used of sacrificial animals that are without blemish (Lev. 1:3). The blameless abstain from iniquity (2 Sam. 22:24) and walk in the law of the Lord (Ps. 119:1).

-- Walked with God was used elsewhere only of Enoch. Others walked before God, but only Noah and Enoch walked with God.

ii. Noah had three sons as did Adam and Terah. The three men stand at decisive turning points in redemptive history.

iii. Noah's contemporaries by contrast are described as corrupt and full of violence. Corrupt or ruined occurs five times in verses 11-13. Rather than being filled with obedient vice-regents, the earth is filled with violence. Violence is defined as "cold-blooded and unscrupulous infringement of the personal rights of others, motivated by greed and hate and often making use of physical violence and brutality" (TDOT, Wenham, 171). Matthews (359) notes that throughout the Pentateuch the sin of the inhabitants is said to pollute the land and prevent God's dwelling in it (Lev. 18:25-28). From this perspective then the flood is necessary in order to advance the redemptive purposes of God, namely to dwell among his people.

iv. In verse 12, the phrase "and God saw" naturally echoes the creation account. This "heightens our sense of tragedy that has overtaken the world since its creation. Then, God was pleasantly surprised by his creation: here he is shocked by its corruption. Left to itself the world had ruined itself." (Wenham, 171) b. God's instructions (13-22)

i. The instructions are to the point and may be outlined as follows:

v. 14 General Make ark of gopher wood Specific Make it with reeds, seal it with pitch v. 15 Make it 300 cubits long, 50 broad, 30 high v. 16 Make a roof and complete it Put a door in the side, and make decks

ii. Cubits equal about 18 inches giving dimensions of 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet deep. Gopher is a transliteration; the precise identity is unknown. "Make rooms in it" at verse 14 in the NIV may instead refer to another building material (as it is between wood and pitch) reeds (this requires repointing the word). The 'roof' had been taken to mean window, but on the basis of Semitic cognates, "roof" seems likely. 'within 18 inches of the top" is obscure and could either mean that there would be a gap of 18 inches between the roof and the walls, or that the roof overhangs the walls by 18 inches.

iii. The ark and the tabernacle are the only structures described in the Pentateuch. Some have suggested that its three decks means that each deck would be the height of the tabernacle. This is not a certain connection but it would not be surprising. The connection would imply the life giving quality of the tabernacle and considering the role of the ark in recreation, would also suggest the recreative aspects of redemption.

iv. The means by which God will judge the earth are now made plain. God will judge every creature that has the breath of life in it; the breath of life which God himself had granted. Thus, God establishes the right as the giver of life to take life. This undergirds the rational of capital punishment mentioned later.

v. The word covenant appears here for the first time at verse 18. That God will confirm his covenant suggests that there is already a covenant in existence with Noah. Noah's finding grace with God should be taken as a statement of divine election. God established his covenant with Noah prior to Noah's obedience. In support of this view, the Genesis account does not give a prior act of righteousness by the hero as do other Mesopotamian flood accounts (Matthews, 356). This covenant has a federal character in that it is made with one individual, but for the sake of others. vi. The animals appear to come to Noah spontaneously as indicated by "will come to you" and the purpose of their coming is expressed twice "keep them alive/to be kept alive."

2. verses 7:1-5

a. Here the earlier instructions that two of every kind of animal be brought to the ark are expanded for reasons that will only become apparent near the end of the narrative. The clean animals will be necessary for sacrifice and the birds will be used to reconnoiter the earth.

b. In addition, the general warning of a coming flood is now further specified as well. The flood will arrive in seven days and will last for forty days and forty nights which may just stand for a long period of time.

c. Once again, Noah's complete obedience is noted to close the scene.

3. verses 7:6-16

a. This section falls into two panels that follow the same pattern, the second panel adding detail or becoming more precise (Wenham, 177):

6a chronological note 11a 6b flood comes 11b-12 7 Noah and family enter 13 8 animals enter ... 14 9a ... in pairs 15-16a 9b as God commanded 16b

b. The precise dating in chapters 7 and 8 has led to much speculation. Since nothing is conclusive, I will refrain from pursuing that avenue of discussion.

c. "On this very day" highlights the importance of the day and is elsewhere used only of the day of Abraham's circumcision (Gen. 17:23), the exodus (Ex. 12:41) and Moses' death (Deut. 32:48).

d. The section tells of the complete obedience by Noah and the animals to God's commands. The "fullness of description, epic style, and repeated emphasis on the date "give this scene weight and solemnity" (Wenham, 177) e. The boundaries established by God over the pre-creation chaos are here removed so that the watery chaos is allowed to return. What is depicted is the undoing of the ordering of the second day. Note the use of the 'great deep.' The deep echoes 1:2 and great occurred at 6:5 in defining the depth of man's sinfulness (Matthews, 376) It is as if the author is saying that man's moral corruption returned the earth to its primeval chaos.

4. verses 7:17-24

a. "Both the historical flood and its narrative representation peak in this frame .... The key words "rose" and "all/every" capture the total devastation inflicted by the flood. The narrative covering 40 awesome days comes to a complete standstill to depict the eerie, now silent devastation, with only the tiny ark riding its waves" (Waltke, 139-140).

b. "The brief description in v. 12 is protracted in vv. 17-20 by means of structural overlay and numerous repetitions so as to give the literary effect of increasingly rising waters .... 'Waters' (5x), 'increased' (2x), 'rose' (3x), and 'greatly' (3x) dominate the short span of forty-seven Hebrew words to underscore the sense of the escalating waters" (Matthews, 379).

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