Considering the Documentary Hypothesis

Particularly in the Flood narrative in Genesis, discrepancies and conflicting material have led to the well-acknowledged suspicion that the author had used multiple sources when the stories were written. Considering the Documentary Hypothesis, the narrative can be seen as a revised combination of two previously independent stories. One originating from a “Priestly” source has been - relatively- cohesively intertwined with another sourced from “Jahwist” record. Both stories, though different in their order of events and attention to specific detail, are similarly found to parallel pre-dated texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh. Not only are the sources different, but in the relation to the ancient Mesopotamian poem it is also suggested that they are inspired works.

The P source narrative is primarily concerned with precise measurement and the timing of accounts. The process of Noah constructing the ark can only be found in P, and terms such as “cubit” are used unlike in J. Not found in J either, P contains words such as year, month, and day when dating parts of the story. It is also easily identified that the P source story mirrors the P sourced material in the creation narrative (Gen 1:1-2:4). With the coming of the flood also came “an undoing of creation” (Coogan p.60): “All the fountains of great Deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened” (Gen 7:11). The veil of the firmament, meant to separate “the waters above from the waters below” (Gen 1:7), was lifted and remained unclosed until Noah’s 150th day in the ark (Gen 8:3). When the Flood waters subsided Noah sent out a raven to search for dry land and he and his family did not leave the ark until the raven had failed to return (Coogan p.60). Once again on land, it was the responsibility of this family to “be fruitful and multiply” as similarly said in the creation narrative (1:28, 9:1). Now, for the first time, mankind is permitted to consume animals, but are forbid from killing and eating the blood of another man (Coogan p.60). The P source portion of the narrative ends with emphasizing the covenant God makes with Noah and all of mankind to never again flood Earth. God’s promise is eternalized through placing “the bow in the clouds” (Gen 9:12-13).

The J source narrative differs from that of the P source mainly in numbers. When Noah was instructed to build the ark, he was commanded to bring with him a total of 9 pairs of animals, where in P he is only told to bring 1. Here, J also makes the distinction between animals that are clean and unclean, telling Noah to bring 7 pairs of the clean kind, and 2 of the unclean kind (Gen 7:2-3). Noah and his family boarded the ark 7 days before the flood rains came, which lasted for only 40 days and 40 nights, which is significantly shorter than stated in the P source story (Gen 7:12). When the rain had stopped, Noah sent a series of three doves, and only left the ark after the third did not return (Gen 8:9-12). Once returned to land, attention is placed heavily upon the ritualistic sacrifice performed by Noah. The extra pairs of the clean animals that Noah brought with him were to be used as offerings, and an altar was built immediately. And once the animals were sacrificed “Yahweh smelled the pleasant smell, and Yahweh said to his heart, “I shall not again curse the ground on man’s account, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from their youth, and I shall not again strike all the living as I have done” (Gen 8:21).

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Though the stories are very clearly different, they still seamlessly go together because the general events that take place are the same. The reason behind the flood in both stories is that God is disappointed with how corrupt humankind has become and wants to rid Earth of violence. And Noah is chosen to build the ark because God only finds righteousness within him. Both narratives also similarly account for the coming and going of the flood, the cleaning of sin from the Earth, and the revived relationship between man and God.

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