As we read the Genesis Flood records, we need to keep in mind that, although the critics want to say the Jews copied other ancient ANE records, there is sufficient evidence to prove they did no such thing. An example put forth by the critics is that the Gilgamesh Epic (ancient Sumerian literature, cir. BC 2100) concerns a time long before the time Moses wrote the Book of Genesis (cir. mid to late 15th century BC), and the Gilgamesh Epic has several parallels to the Genesis account. For example, it, too, records a flood, wherein everyone died except those aboard a boat, and in both accounts, there is a main hero. There are several other parallels, which are recorded in the same order, point by point. What can be said about this?
Did the Jews really copy ancient records like the Gilgamesh Epic? In the 2001 Torah Commentary, rabbinic scholar, Roberth Wexler wrote,
“The most likely assumption we can make is that both Genesis and Gilgamesh drew their material from a common tradition about the flood that existed in Mesopotamia.”
Interestingly, the Bible refers to what might be considered ancient family records, which Moses most likely drew from in order to compile the Book of Genesis. There are twelve records mentioned,[1] and they usually begin with “These are the generations of…” (Genesis 2:4; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9; 37:2), but Genesis 5:1 begins with, “This is the book of the generations of …” However, the first record has no introductory statement, unless it is: “In the beginning, God…” It extends from Genesis 1:1 to 2:3. Thus, we have reasonable evidence, even within the Bible, that makes Rabbi Wexler’s point conceivable, perhaps probable. That is, the Gilgamesh Epic, may be older than the Torah, but both records arose out of yet earlier sources, and it seems that the Jewish sources were preserved with more integrity (cp. Romans 1:18-23, 25, 28).
The aftermath of the Genesis Flood, as I mentioned in my previous study, was probably just as violent as the cause of the flood in the first place. In the beginning, God could cause dry land to appear in a moment, because he is not limited by time or space. Nothing has to be gradual for him. He is able to create things as they are in their mature form. On the other hand, once mankind was created, unless the Lord performs a miracle (in our eyes), gradual is the modes operandi for things to occur. Therefore, the miracle that occurs in Genesis, chapter eight, usually goes unnoticed. At the very beginning of the quest to raise dry land above the surface of the waters, the Lord acts to stop the fountains of the great deep from continuing to gush forth, and he stops the rainfall (Genesis 8:1-2), and he causes the ark to come to rest on a mountain (Genesis 8:4), while the waters are removed. The rest of the events, which take place to bring the land above the waters, occur according to natural phenomena.
After forty days, or about the tenth day of the eleventh month (cp. Genesis 8:5), Noah opened the window that he had made in the ark, and he released a raven, hoping it would find dry land. It kept flying back and forth to rest on the ark, until dry land appeared. Sometime later, Noah released a dove from the ark in an effort to understand the nearness of dry ground, but the ground of the earth was still covered with water, so the dove returned to the ark, and Noah took it into the arc once more (Genesis 8:6-9).
At the end of seven days, Noah repeated his effort by sending out the dove once more. This time, however, the dove returned with an olive leaf in its beak, so Noah understood that the waters were no longer covering the surface of the ground (Genesis 8:10-11). However, Noah waited another seven days before sending out the dove again (Genesis 8:12), but this time the dove didn’t return, so Noah understood that repeated efforts wouldn’t be fruitful.
Therefore, on the first day of the first month in Noah’s 601st year, or nearly one year after he entered the ark (Genesis 7:1, 4, 11; cp. 8:13), Noah opened the door of the ark, because he knew the water had receded off the earth long enough for the earth’s surface to be dry. Fifty-seven days later, it was dry enough to leave the ark (cp. Genesis 8:14).
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[1] Actually, one could say there are eleven, because the tenth and the eleventh records (Genesis 36:1 & 36:9) both represent Esau. The first mentions only his sons and daughters, while the second mentions also his sons’ sons.
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