Tag: flood

Clean

Posted on by jovial_cynic

You shall take with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female
Genesis 7:2 (NASB)

We meet a new word in Genesis 7: “Tahor.”

I. pure, clean
1. clean (ceremonially – of animals)
2. pure (physically)
3. pure, clean (morally, ethically)
H2889: טָהוֹר (ṭâôr)

We translate it as “clean” along with its opposite: “unclean.” This may seem like it is related to filth, unworthiness, but that is not the meaning.

When used with gold, it is always translated as “pure,” and it evokes an image of unblemished, refined, wholly dedicated, the best.

This is how it is meant to be understood.

Something impure contains blemishes. These things must be purified. Gold is purified by fire, and is also made clean by water.

By the Numbers

Posted on by jovial_cynic

You shall take with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female
Genesis 7:2 (NASB)

Also of the birds of the sky, seven pairs, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
Genesis 7:3 (NASB)

For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
Genesis 7:4 (NASB)

By the time we get to Genesis 7, we should start noticing some patterns involving numbers. We’re going to start looking at Hebrew numerology, because we’ve finally gotten to the part of the story where the numbers themselves carry the narrative.

Some of the numbers are repeated almost absurdly. It can’t be ignored: seven, two, and forty.

But there is a hint of threes being repeated, too. Back in Genesis 1, we learned about three types of animals. And we read in Genesis 6 that Noah had three sons.

These numbers all have meanings.

Then Noah and his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.
Genesis 7:7 (NASB)

They all went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
Genesis 7:9 (NASB)

Now it came about after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
Genesis 7:10 (NASB)

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Genesis 7:11 (NASB)

The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
Genesis 7:12 (NASB)

Here the three types of animals are listed again, in conjunction with the three sons again: the animals, the livestock, and the crawling things: threes.

And then twos again in the pairs.

On this very same day Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark
Genesis 7:13 (NASB)

They and every animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kind, and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, all sorts of birds.
Genesis 7:14 (NASB)

So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
Genesis 7:15 (NASB)

And the chapter closes out with forty again, and then another mention of the three kinds of animals.

(I keep the birds off the list for a reason, and it’s because of how Genesis 1-3 keep them separate. They are different. They represent something different.)

Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
Genesis 7:17 (NASB)

So all creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.
Genesis 7:21 (NASB)

There’s a lot of study on numerology — far too much to explain in detail, but here are some basics:

2 = separations, agreements
3 = community
7 = perfection
10 = completeness, fullness
40 = testing, trials

And some might see some larger numbers as being combinations of these underlying numbers. For example, 430 is written 30 and 400 in Hebrew, and it can be read this way: 3×10 and 40×10. Or perhaps “the fullness of community and the fullness of testing.”

Just something to consider.

A Flood of Grief

Posted on by jovial_cynic
This is a topic that is a bit sensitive for some folks. It requires a tremendous amount of gentleness. I think it also requires some age and wisdom to fully grasp it.

This is about the grief and suffering of the dying.

We have a vocabulary about death. We say things like “at least it was a quick death,” or “at least they died in their sleep.”

In the sadness of loss, we acknowledge the mercy found in certain kinds of death. This sort of death is… better. Better than suffering.

For the one experiencing the loss of a loved one, these phrases don’t lessen the pain, but it is helpful to know that the words are true, isn’t it? It’s good to know that loved ones who die this way did not experience prolongued agony and pain before they passed.

But it doesn’t lift the grief. It is still sorrowful.

But what about those who do suffer in agony?

I won’t describe any of it, because there are those who know already know people who have died this way, and they don’t want to be reminded. We have witnessed it. We have grieved it. And we have prayed for it to be over. We have prayed for an end of the suffering. For mercy.

And when the end comes, we are left with the most troubling and turmoil-filled spirit. We prayed for the end, but then we grieved the loss. We are relieved that their suffering stopped, but we didn’t want to lose them.

This is sorrow.

In Genesis 6, prior to the flood, the text mentions the “wickedness of man.”

We’ve been taught to read this as written in the English. Humanity is completely wicked, so the Flood waters are a judgement to wipe out the earth in God’s wrath.

But that is not the whole picture.

The word here for “the wickedness” is the noun-form of the word ra’. We translate it as “wickedness” or “evil,” but the word carries the connotation of suffering. So when we read “…and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time,” we are being told something important.

Can you see it?

III. evil, misery, distress, injury
1. evil, misery, distress
2. evil, injury, wrong
3. evil (ethical)
H7451: רַע (raʿ)

The text is not describing a humanity in defiance or disobedience to a holy God who must respond in wrath. That’s not the story. It is describing a humanity that is suffering. They are in misery. And they are dying. The curse of sin (death) has laid hold of all of them.

And when the text says “the Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled,” we see it clearly.

This form of “regretted” is compassionate mercy.

1. (Niphal)
1. to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2. to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to comfort oneself, ease oneself
H5162: נָחַם (nāḥam)

And this form of “grieved” is precisely that feeling of troubling and turmoil-filled sorrow. It is the ending that you wish didn’t have to happen, but you understood that it would be worse if it didn’t.

5. (Hithpael) to feel grieved, be vexed
H6087: עָצַב (ʿāṣaḇ)

This is what our God is showing us with this story.

This stems from Adam and Eve’s eating from the tree of the knowledge of Good & Evil. This evil is the source of the suffering of humanity.

The narrative isn’t pointing to a God who is punishing us for doing the wrong thing. It is about a God grieving our suffering from it.

But God does not leave us in our suffering.

In Noah (whose name means “comfort“), we see God pointing to restoration. We see God making a new covenant and promising that this Flood will not happen again. Perhaps it’s because He will one day end all of our suffering.

God’s Sorrow

Posted on by jovial_cynic

So the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe out mankind whom I have created from the face of the land; mankind, and animals as well, and crawling things, and the birds of the sky. For I am sorry that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:6-7 (NASB)

Twice in Genesis 6, the text says God was “sorry” He made humanity. The KJV renders this word as “repented.” Both work and are contained in this word “nawkham.”

But something no translation does is point out that this word also carries an implication of “comforting.”

I. to be sorry, console oneself, repent, regret, comfort, be comforted
I. (Niphal)
1. to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2. to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to comfort oneself, ease oneself
H5162: נָחַם (nāḥam)

It strikes me when a word is use twice in rapid succession in the text, as though the author is drawing our attention to it. This isn’t a grammatical requirement; the text doesn’t have to say “sorry” twice… but it does.

And it’s this idea of “comfort” that seems to ring.

The other time we heard this word “comfort” was in the previous chapter, when we are told about Noah’s birth. Noah’s name is related to “comfort.”

And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will give us comfort from our work and from the hard labor of our hands caused by the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
Genesis 5:29 (NASB)

And what do we see? Comfort from what? From the work and hard labor from the ground God cursed.

If we jump back to Genesis 6, where God said he was sorry he “made them,” we have another fascinating connection to Noah.

While “awsah” does mean “make,” it also means… “to work.”

As in… “to work the man.”

I. (Qal)
1. to do, work, make, produce
2. to do
3. to work
4. to deal (with)
5. to act, act with effect, effect
H6213: עָשָׂה (ʿāśâ)

Consider this tie of Genesis 5 and 6 together:

Humanity cried out for COMFORT from their WORKS. God is “sorry” or “repents” TWICE, meeting their cry for COMFORT. He was grieved because their WORK led to their misery.

When God cursed the ground in Genesis 3, humanity had to toil and work, and this work became a great suffering and misery to humanity. They cried out once… and God responded twice: “nawkham, nawkham.”

Perhaps limiting their lives to 120 years shortens the suffering.

End of Days

Posted on by jovial_cynic
The Hebrew in Genesis 6:13 says something wild. Look at these two translations: the Youngs Literal Translation (YLT) and the NIV:

The first thing you may notice is that one says “all flesh” and the other says “all people.”

And God said to Noah, `An end of all flesh hath come before Me, for the earth hath been full of violence from their presence; and lo, I am destroying them with the earth.
Genesis 6:13 (YLT)

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
Genessi 6:13 (NIV)

But look at this word “end.” This word, when it isn’t connected to a specific time (like “end of 40 years,” or “end of his reign“) has a much more… eternal meaning.

I. end
1. end, at the end of (of time)
2. end (of space)
H7093: קֵץ (qēṣ)

There are two places in the Torah where this word is not connected to a specific time. Here, and back in Genesis 4 when Cain and Abel offer an offering to God.

This is an eternal image. This is not only our past. It is our present and future.

This passage can be read: “the end of all flesh is before me because the earth is filled with violence through the works of the flesh. I will destroy all flesh with the earth.”

If you read my Ish/Isha (flesh/spirit) post about Genesis 2-3, you’ll see a connection here.

If the Flood is a symbol of death & picture of baptism, where the flesh dies and is raised again by the Spirit of God, the destruction of the flesh is not disaster. It is what we long for: Not the death of wicked people, but the death of our sinful selves… so we can live.

Fire and Smoke

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So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.
Genesis 6:14-16 (NIV)

Everything we know about the construction of the Ark is in Genesis 6:14-16.

Later, God gives very precise measurements for other construction projects.

In Exodus 40, Moses completes construction of the Tabernacle, and God’s glory falls in smoke and fire.

In 2 Chronicles 7, Solomon completes construction of the Temple, and God’s glory falls in smoke and fire.

In Genesis 6, Noah completes construction of the Ark, and I bet there was smoke and fire aboard.

Let there be Light.

Pitch and Atonement

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
Genesis 6:14 (KJV)

I don’t normally quote the KJV, but it’s one of the few translations that follow the Hebrew’s weird phrasing of “pitch it… with pitch.” You might think that is odd, but the Hebrew language has some meaning buried in it that is extremely important.

This word “pitch” is used firstly as a verb and then as a noun here, and while that doesn’t seem to make much difference, look closely at the Hebrew meanings of these words.

to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch
H3722: כָּפַר (kāp̄ar)

price of a life, ransom, bribe
H3724: כֹּפֶר (kōp̄er)

These are theological words.

The imagery we see is God’s destructive flood that covers the earth, but the boat, inside and out, is going to be covered with PITCH.

With atonement.
With reconciliation.
With the price of a life.
With a ransom.

Everything we hold dear in our faith lives inside Genesis.