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 | In verses 7 and 13, J and P each describes Noah and family entering the ark. |
| In verses 10 and 11, J and P both describe the start of the rains. |
| In verses 17 and 18, J describes the increase of the waters and floating of the ark twice. |
| In verses 21, 22 and 23, J and P describe the drowning of the people and animals. |
There are some conflicts in the stories which the redactor apparently decided to let stand:
| In Genesis 7:19-20 and Genesis 7:15 "P" lists two of every species. But in Genesis 7:2-3 "J" specifies 7 pairs of clean animals and birds and 1 pair of unclean animals. | ||||
| In Genesis 7:4, "J"
describes the flood as being created by rain. In Genesis 7:11. "P"
describes how it is formed rather from two sources:
|
One or more verses from J are followed by one or more verses from P. If you read only the J verses, then you will get a coherent story. If you read just the P verses, you will see a consistent but slightly different story:
| Verses by J | Verses by P and by R |
| 1
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou
and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this
generation. 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. 4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. 5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. |
|
| 6 (R) And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. | |
| 7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. | |
| 8 (P) Of clean beasts, and of beasts that
are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. |
|
| 10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. | |
| 11 (P) In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. | |
| 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. | |
| 13 (P) In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem,
and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons
with them, into the ark; 14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: |
|
| 16 (Cont'd) and the LORD shut him in. 17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. 18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. |
|
| 21 (P) And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: | |
| 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath
of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. |
|
| 24 (P) And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. |
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CHAPTER 8
Again, we see frequent alterations between J and P.
| Verses 1 and 2 contains duplicate descriptions of the ending of the rain. |
| Verses 13 and 14 give two dates when the ground was dry; the dates conflict. |
| Verses 21-22 and Genesis 9, verses 9-17 each mention that God will not engage again in mass genocide and extermination of (almost) all living animals - at least through the use of a flood. |
| Verses by J | Verses by P and by R |
| 1 (P) And God remembered Noah,
and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark:
and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; 2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, |
|
| 2 (Cont'd) and
the rain from heaven was restrained; 3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: |
|
| 3 (P) (Cont'd) and after the end of the
hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen. |
|
| 6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: | |
| 7 (P) And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. | |
| 8 Also he sent forth a dove from him,
to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; 9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark. 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. 12 And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more. |
|
| 13 (P) And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: | |
| 13 (Cont'd)...and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry. | |
|
14 (P) And in the second month, on the seven and
twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried. 15 And God spake unto Noah, saying, 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. 17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. 18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. |
|
| 20 And Noah builded an altar unto the
LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings
on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. |
CHAPTER 9
1 (P) And God blessed Noah and his sons, and
said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of
the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon
all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the
green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye
not eat.
5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of
every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother
will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the
image of God made he man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the
earth, and multiply therein.
8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed
after you;
10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the
cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to
every beast of the earth.
11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be
cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to
destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between
me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a
covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that
the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15 And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy
all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I
may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh
that is upon the earth.
17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I
have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
18 (J) And the sons of Noah, that went
forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth
overspread.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered
within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and
told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their
shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces
were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done
unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto
his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his
servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem;
and Canaan shall be his servant.
28 (R) And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he
died.
CHAPTER 10
1 (R) Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham,
and Japheth: (P) and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and
Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every
one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and
Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
8 (J) And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a
mighty one in the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as
Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city
Rehoboth, and Calah,
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and
Caphtorim.
15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward
were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to
Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even
unto Lasha.
20 (P) These are the sons of Ham, after their
families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
21 (J) Unto Shem also, the father of all
the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22 (P) The children of Shem; Elam, and
Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
24 (J) And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah
begat Eber.
25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in
his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazar-maveth, and Jerah,
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount
of the east.
31 (P) These are the sons of Shem, after
their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations,
in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
Related essays on this web site
| Comparison of the Babylonian and Hebrew flood stories |
| Who wrote the 5 books of Moses? |
| A possible source for the flood stories |
Copyright 1998 to 2001 incl. by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance.
Latest update: 2001-DEC-25
Author: B.A. Robinson, J, P, & R
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