The Sumerian Flood Narrative

[TLK Valentine]

Well, the idea is not that God saves a handful and those in New Orleans and other low areas are too sinful.

No, the idea was that God killed everything except two (or was it seven?) of each species.

 

[freezerman2000]

I agree. Many seem to be misguided by assuming science theory is more "literal" than really it is.

I wasn't talking about Science..I was talking about people taking Genesis as a literal account.
The Bible is not a Science book,so why do some people try to treat it as such?

 

[TLK Valentine]

The odds of the story being one of strictly local impact are small.

The story was global; the event was local.

The lesson to be learned would be to avoid that area.

And what lesson was learned from the story as told -- aside from where rainbows come from, that is...

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Originally Posted by SkyWriting

The odds of the story being one of strictly local impact are small.
​

The story was global; the event was local.

And what lesson was learned from the story as told -- aside from where rainbows come from, that is...

Interesting perspective!
I am coming to view it that way also.

I found this flood commentary fairly insightful concerning it:

The Genesis Flood: Why the Bible Says It Must be Local

Conclusion:

This paper has shown that the Bible declares the Genesis flood to be local in extent, though universal in its judgment of humans (with the exception of Noah and his family).
The evidence presented here is purely biblical, although a strong case could also be given for extra-biblical reasons. A global interpretation of the Genesis flood requires that certain non-flood-related verses of the Bible contradict each other. In addition, a global interpretation of the Genesis flood would require the Genesis text to contradict itself.

The lack of global references in the book of Genesis through chapter 11 (with the exception of Genesis 1), reveals that all the early events of Genesis occurred in a small geographic area.
In addition, an examination of the original Hebrew text of the Genesis flood passage demonstrates that the global wording of our English translations misrepresents the original intent of the account.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Interesting perspective!
I am coming to view it that way also.

I found this flood commentary fairly insightful concerning it:

The Genesis Flood: Why the Bible Says It Must be Local

Conclusion:

This paper has shown that the Bible declares the Genesis flood to be local in extent, though universal in its judgment of humans (with the exception of Noah and his family).
The evidence presented here is purely biblical, although a strong case could also be given for extra-biblical reasons. A global interpretation of the Genesis flood requires that certain non-flood-related verses of the Bible contradict each other. In addition, a global interpretation of the Genesis flood would require the Genesis text to contradict itself.

The lack of global references in the book of Genesis through chapter 11 (with the exception of Genesis 1), reveals that all the early events of Genesis occurred in a small geographic area.
In addition, an examination of the original Hebrew text of the Genesis flood passage demonstrates that the global wording of our English translations misrepresents the original intent of the account.

Interesting, but there's something else to consider -- dinosaurs.

One of the main reasons for the judgement of humans (according to the Bible) was cross-breeding with the "Sons of God" and giving birth to giants.

Now, where did these "giants" come from?

Any palenontologist will tell you that many fossil sites are initially discovered by accident. So what would happen if some ancient Hebrew was farming or digging a well and came across what looked like a 4-foot long femur?

It would raise two questions:
1: What did this gigantic bone belong to?
2: Why don't we see these creatures today?

The Genesis flood conveniently answers both of these questions by matter-of-factly staing that "there were giants then, just as there are today." (Gen 6:4)

(Giants today? Saywhut?)

Of course, if God's purpose for the flood was to eliminate this problem, then we have no choice but to conclude, both from this verse and subsequent Bible stories, then His mission was a bust.

OTOH, you don't see any dinosaurs around, do you? The Hebrews might not have known what was leaving behind the occasional 4-foot femur, but they knew it wasn't around anymore. And they had a story which explained that.

I'm not saying that this is why the flood story was written -- more likely the "giants" verse was a later addition... having lifted the details of the flood narrative form earlier sources, the Hebrews could add in the why of it to suit their purposes.

 

[LittleLambofJesus]

Originally Posted by TLK Valentine

The story was global; the event was local.
And what lesson was learned from the story as told -- aside from where rainbows come from, that is...
​

Originally Posted by LittleLambofJesus

Interesting perspective!
​

I am coming to view it that way also.

I found this flood commentary fairly insightful concerning it:

The Genesis Flood: Why the Bible Says It Must be Local

Conclusion:

This paper has shown that the Bible declares the Genesis flood to be local in extent, though universal in its judgment of humans (with the exception of Noah and his family).
​

Interesting, but there's something else to consider -- dinosaurs.

One of the main reasons for the judgement of humans (according to the Bible) was cross-breeding with the "Sons of God" and giving birth to giants.

Now, where did these "giants" come from?

I'm not saying that this is why the flood story was written -- more likely the "giants" verse was a later addition... having lifted the details of the flood narrative form earlier sources, the Hebrews could add in the why of it to suit their purposes.

I keyed in "giants" in a concordance and it appears the KJperV uses 2 different Hebrew words for it:

Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

KJV Search Results for "giants"
"giants"
occurs 13 times in 11 verses in the KJV.

Gen 6:4
There were giants H5303 in the earth H776 in those days; H3117 and also after H310 that,

5303 nphiyl from 5307; properly, a feller, i.e. a bully or tyrant:--giant.

(That also was accounted H2803 a land H776 of giants: H7497 giants H7497 dwelt H3427 therein in old time;

7497 rapha' from 7495 in the sense of invigorating; a giant:--giant, Rapha, Rephaim(-s). See also 1051.



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[LittleLambofJesus]

Originally Posted by TLK Valentine

Right, because God actually didn't kill every living thing except for two ...of every animal, reducing the genetic loci to nearly nil...
​

The odds of the story being one of strictly local impact are small.
The lesson to be learned would be to avoid that area.

What area is that?



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