The Climax of the Flood Narrative
Enclosed in the ark for months and aware of the total annihilation that has occurred, Noah and his
family only know silence. God has not spoken since the instruction to enter the ark. This section is
the turning point: "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts." The theological importance of "But
God remembered" is emphasized: God cares for individuals.
Genesis 8:1-5
1) But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the
ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. 2) Also the fountains
of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; 3)
and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water
decreased. 4) In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the
mountains of Ararat. 5) The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month,
on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.
References:
Cassuto U, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Jerusalem: Magnes (1961).
Shea W, "The Structure of the Genesis Flood Narrative and Its Implications", Origins
6 (1979): 8-29.
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