I've been reading Parshat Noach, and I've been wondering about some things that either strike me as odd or impossible. For example, how did G-d cover the entire world with water if we know there isn't enough water on the earth to flood it with? If G-d killed every single living thing on the earth (except for those on the ark with Noach) how did the animals repopulate the earth without getting genetic deformities through incest, same question for how Noach and his family repopulated the earth without genetic deformities through incest. Also, I've heard some theories that the flood was only local, that it was a metaphor, etc. Is there any truth to this? The local claim seems unlikely, given the language used in the text not reflecting a "local flood". Is there any truth to the metaphor theory? This question has probably been asked around a billion times on here before, but I'll put mine out here as well. If you have any answers or recommendations on a book to read about the topic, please comment! Thank you for your time!
-
2Does this answer your question? How to reconcile Biblical Flood story vs science and history?. There are some rationalist approaches that insist empricism must not be violated, but the majority accepted opinions in the traditional world answer these questions supernaturally. – Rabbi Kaii Dec 01 '23 at 10:42
-
1You're asking a lot of questions. It would be preferable if you split up your questions and ask them separately. Regarding the amount of water, pshat the Torah it says that the water rained down, and later the waters dried up. – Harel13 Dec 01 '23 at 10:42
-
Almost every ancient civilisation has a story of a flood. Vast areas of the world have been flooded in marine transgressions from time to time. In addition to which various cataclysmic events have led to continent wide flooding (e.g. the Chicxulub impact event). It is probably difficult to know the exact timeframe of Noah's flood. – The GRAPKE Dec 01 '23 at 10:44
-
Several points to consider are: 1 What the “world” means? The land of Israel is considered “the world” in certain contexts. Northern Turkey (Ararat) is associated with the flood. 2 Geologically, that connects to the Black Sea Deluge which occurred between 7600-5600 BCE. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_hypothesis – Yaacov Deane Dec 01 '23 at 14:25
-
Here is a link to a PDF of the actual study. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mehmet-Sakinc/publication/222471228_An_Abrupt_Drowning_of_the_Black_Sea_Shelf/links/5d31e1b2a6fdcc370a4e26fa/An-Abrupt-Drowning-of-the-Black-Sea-Shelf.pdf?origin=publication_detail&_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uRG93bmxvYWQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ – Yaacov Deane Dec 01 '23 at 14:38
-
Regarding your comment about metaphor, all of Sefer Bereshit are paradigms for the structure of the universe. It is not limited to that view. There is historical narrative also and much more. – Yaacov Deane Dec 01 '23 at 14:48
1 Answers
Did you ever read the story story The Immortals by Jorge Luis Borges. Water is the Torah the fact that it had to rise and flood and boil represents an excess and perversion therefore that's why they had no charity they no longer cared at all because they had become they had reached the aspect of in their minds of immortality so when in the story that immortals one of theirs rolled off the crag where they lay there in the Sun they would just bask there in the sun entirely unresponsive in a trance let's say kind of like major US cities right now to illustrate.
Is it a metaphor yes. But it's not only that. If it's the entire face of the earth that's the entire face specifically, it didn't say down under right? Entire face is whatever it means for the purposes of the Torah.
- 2,079
- 9
- 22