The Genesis Flood Narrative & Biblical Exegesis

Eli Kittim

The Biblical Flood: Universal or Local?

Proponents of flood geology hold to a literal
reading of Genesis 6–9 and view its
passages as historically accurate; they use
the Bible's internal chronology to place the
Genesis flood and the story of Noah's Ark
within the last five thousand years.
Scientific analysis has refuted the key
tenets of flood geology. Flood geology
contradicts the scientific consensus in
geology, stratigraphy, geophysics, physics,
paleontology, biology, anthropology, and
archaeology. Modern geology, its sub-
disciplines and other scientific disciplines
utilize the scientific method. In contrast,
flood geology does not adhere to the
scientific method, making it a
pseudoscience. — Wikipedia

According to Bible scholarship, Noah is not a historical figure. And we also know that the legendary flood story of the Bible was inspired by an earlier epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, namely, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Moreover, if we zero in on the mythical details of Noah's Ark, the story has all the earmarks of a legendary narrative.

The Bible is an ancient eastern text that uses hyperbolic language, parables, and paradox as forms of poetic literary expression, akin to what we today would call theology. In the absence of satellites or global networks of communication, any catastrophic events in the ancient world that were similar to our modern-day natural disasters——such as the 2004 tsunami that killed 228 thousand people off the coast of Indonesia, or Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive hurricanes in US history——would have been blown out of proportion and seen as global phenomena. This would explain the sundry flood myths and stories that have come down to us from ancient times. And, according to Wikipedia:

no confirmable physical proof of the Ark
has ever been found. No scientific evidence
has been found that Noah's Ark existed as
it is described in the Bible. More
significantly, there is also no evidence of a
global flood, and most scientists agree that
such a ship and natural disaster would both
be impossible. Some researchers believe
that a real (though localized) flood event in
the Middle East could potentially have
inspired the oral and later written
narratives; a Persian Gulf flood, or a Black
Sea deluge 7500 years ago has been
proposed as such a historical candidate.

Bible Exegesis: Literal versus Allegorical Interpretation

My primary task, here, is not to weigh in on the findings of science as to whether or not a historical flood took place but rather to offer an exegetical interpretation that is consistent with the Biblical data. Taking the Bible literally——as a standard method of interpretation——can lead to some unrealistic and outrageous conclusions. For example, in Mark 9.50 (ESV), Jesus says:

Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its
saltiness, how will you make it salty again?
Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace
with one another.

Question: is Jesus literally commanding his disciples to carry salt with them at all times? In other words, is Jesus talking about "salt" (Gk. ἅλας) per se in a literal sense——the mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride——or is he employing the term "salt" as a metaphor to mean that his disciples should preserve their righteousness in this life of decay?

Obviously, Jesus is using the term salt as a metaphor for preserving godliness in the midst of a perishing world. This proof-text shows that there are many instances in the Bible where a literal rendering is completely unwarranted.