(Fact or fiction?)
Traditional Christian theology has long taught that the Genesis flood was a world wide catastrophe that destroyed all life form on this planet with the exception of the eight people in Noah’s family.
However, is that theology scripturally sound, or does scripture itself actually teach us a completely different theology? Let us review all of the facts and evidence and finally put this question to rest once and for all time.
The first thing we must examine is how deep did the flood water get according to scripture itself:
Genesis 7:20 (KJV):
“Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.”
The first thing we must notice is that it specifically says Fifteen Cubits upward did the waters prevail. That is specifying an exact total measurement, not a measurement above the mountains!
Now we need to see what the actual original Hebrew word used for mountains is in Genesis 7:20: The Hebrew word translated as “mountains” in 7:20 is (harim).
Gesenius’s Lexicon Entry: (har)
(har) A mountain, a hill, a mountainous ridge or tract.
1. A mountain, high hill, as Mount Sinai, Mount Carmel. 2. A mountain range, a mountainous region, hill country (e.g., har Ephraim = the hill country of Ephraim). 3. Elevated ground, rising terrain, or natural ridges rising above the surrounding land.
As we can see the word (harim) which (har) is the root of, can mean, and is used in scripture to define anywhere from high mountain peaks to any low lying hills or elevated ground. Therefore we must use the word in context to determine the actual meaning.
When we consider that the waters only rose fifteen cubits (22 – 25 feet), then it would be preposterous to think the waters covered the mountain peaks. Therefore the logical definition to use in that context would be that the waters rose Fifteen Cubits and covered the low hills.
Now we must also consider that the word (Eretz) is consistently used in the flood narrative to describe it as the whole world. However, the Hebrew word (Eretz)
Strong’s #776 (’ereṣ)
Transliteration: ’ereṣ—Phonetic Spelling: eh’-rets
Strong’s Definition:
From an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land): — common, country, earth, field, ground, land, x nations, way, + wilderness, world.
In the King James Version, Strong’s notes that ‘ereṣ is translated as:
land (1,543 times)—earth (712 times)—country (140 times)—ground (98 times)—world (4 times).
Out of more than 2,500 occurrences in the Hebrew Old Testament, the translators rendered it as “land,” “country,” or “ground” the vast majority of the time. Rendering it as a localized “land” or “region” is its primary, most frequent biblical usage, rather than the entire global planet.
One of the more troubling verses of this account as presented in the English translation of the bible is found in Genesis 7:19.
Genesis 7:19 (KJV):
“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.”
Now let us find the actual Hebrew that the original author used.
1. “Under” — (tachath) — Strong’s #8478
Definition: Under, beneath, instead of, or in the place of.
Lexical Use: Used to indicate spatial positioning beneath something else (e.g., beneath the sky or firmament).
2. “Whole / All” — (kol) — Strong’s #3605
Definition: All, the whole, every, any, each.
Lexical Use: In Hebrew idiom, kol (“all/whole”) is frequently used comprehensively relative to the context of the speaker, rather than as an absolute mathematical totality across the entire physical planet.
3. “Heaven / Sky” — (shamayim) — Strong’s #8064
Definition: Heaven, heavens, sky, visible vault of the sky where clouds gather and birds fly.
Lexical Use: Refers to the visible atmosphere and the dome of the sky visible from the surface of the earth.
Putting the Phrase Together
Hebrew Text: tachath kol-ha-shamayim
Literal Translation: “Under all the sky / under the whole visible heaven.”
In biblical Hebrew, tachath kol-ha-shamayim is a phenomenological idiom—meaning it describes things from the visual perspective of an observer standing on the ground looking up at the horizon.
It defines the boundary of what is visible to the human eye within that specific geographic horizon, not what exists on the opposite side of a spherical planet. When combined with eretz (the local land/region) and harim (local hills/elevated ground), the phrase describes an inundation that covered every local hill visible beneath the sky within Noah’s horizon.
We have now shown textually that the original author of Genesis never envisioned a global flood, and he never in anyway suggested it. In fact he gave us the evidence to show that it did not happen. Was it a major localized flood that destroyed everything within that entire area? Absolutely! It obviously destroyed everything within that area that was not loaded onto the Ark.
But wait! There is even more evidence that completely confirms the revision of the English Translation that shows a regional or localized flood.
Now we come to the patriarch ‘Abraham.‘ according to the earliest dating to the flood, Abraham was born at least 350 years ‘AFTER’ Noah’s flood, and other versions even much later. However, when Yahavah is making a covenant with Abraham these are the promises:
Genesis 15:18–21 (KJV)
18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,
20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,
21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
So, Yahavah is promising to give Abraham’s seed the land of all these different nations hundreds of years ‘AFTER’ the flood. Now let us single out one of these particular nations that his seed will inherit the land of. The Kenites!
Strong’s #7014 (Qayin)
7014 Qayin, kah’-yin; the same as 7013 (in the sense of fixity); Kajin, the name of the first child, and of an Oriental tribe:—Cain, Kenite(-s).
Strong’s #7017: (Qeyniy) — (Qiyniy)
7017. Qeyniy, kay-nee orי Quiniy, (1 Chron. 2:55), kee-nee’; patronymic from 7014; a Kenite or member of the tribe of Kajin:—Kenite.
So, here according to the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary the nation of the Kenites are the descendents of the first child Cain, which would have them surviving Noah’s Flood. My Strong’s Concordance is from 2000, and more modern versions have altered their definition to attempt to conceal the fact that Kenites are referring to the first child Cain’s descendants, however, it was an exercise in futility because we also have even another conformation.
Genesis 6:4 (KJV)
4. “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
The Hebrew word that giants are translated from is Nephilim. These Nephilim are a pollution directly from the Sons of God mating with the daughters of men. Then comes the flood that supposedly wiped out all life with the exception of Noah and his family.
Then in a book written approximately 1000 years ‘AFTER’ the flood we find this.
Numbers 13:33:
“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we seemed in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”
Once again we find in the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance that the word giants in the above passage is translated from the Hebrew Nephilim! AND these sons of Anak (giants) come from the giants. These had to be the descendents of the Nephilim that the sons of God took the daughters of men prior to the flood. Had the flood been worldwide, none of the Nephilim would have survived. However, If Yahavah was eliminating a specific corrupted people by destroying that area that they lived in, then anyone who had migrated out of, or did not originally live in that area would have not been affected.
Now for the Grand Finale!
Had Yahavah destroyed every human being on earth with the exception of eight people (Noah’s family), then Noah would be the same as the second Adam. Everyone on earth would have derived from him and his descendants.
This would mean that all of the different races of human beings would have had to evolve from Noah within approximately the last 4300 to 4500 years. This would be a complete biological impossibility, and especially for Christians who do not believe in evolution!
The idea that man could alter into four completely different races with different skin color, different bone structure, and different muscle development, and completely different genetic traits in a period of less than 5,000 years would even be absurd to evolutionists!
But how could a regional flood fit the vast expanse of what Noah’s Ark encountered?
Scripture actually defines the flood as being produced by two distinct separate anomalies, operating in conjunction with each other. The steady downpour of Rain (windows of the sky) which would actually have been the least of the two contributing factors, and a major subterranean release of water (fountains of the great deep) as is seen in Genesis 7:11.
In the Tarim basin in China, we find a place that would accommodate such a massive flood and fit all of the Noah flood principles. Physical analysis of major closed drainage depressions such as the Tarim basin, reveals severe tectonic fracturing and basement faulting, consistent with massive fluid release from beneath the earth’s crust.
The Tarim basin is so large that filled with 22 to 25 feet of water all of the local hills would be covered, and the high mountain ranges surrounding it would be of such a distance as to be invisible on the horizon. This would for all practical purposes appear as if the whole earth was flooded from anywhere even close to the center of the basin.
In Closing!
So am I saying that there was not a worldwide flood catastrophe? Absolutely Not! And I think we can read about it within scripture. Even from the legitimate original Hebrew.
Genesis 1:2 (KJV)
2. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
However, the idea that Noah’s flood was that catastrophic world wide flood is not even in the realm of possibility. Nor did the original Hebrew story of Noah’s flood state it.
Man has invariably chased after the other nations fairytales and in translation tried everything within their power to cover up the truth and create Noah’s worldwide flood into the original story.
As science and facts emerge they simply bow their heads and double down on insanity! I call it insanity because they are not even defending scripture! They are defending their divergence from scripture, while considering themselves holy and righteous.
THE END!