God Announces the Flood That Will Swallow All Flesh

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 6:17 View source
Curated by Maggid·Edited by Arthur Sabintsev·

The Flood is named. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 6:17) renders it: "I, behold, I bring a flood of waters upon the earth to swallow up all flesh which hath in it the spirit of life from under the heavens: whatever is upon the earth shall be swept away."

The verb "swallow" is deliberate. The earth swallowed Abel's blood and did not answer for it. Now the waters will swallow everything the earth was supposed to protect. The Flood is cosmic reversal. Water returns to its pre-creation abundance, undoing day two and day three in a single stroke. The Targumist wants us to feel the scale: this is not a weather event. It is un-creation.

Themes

FloodNoahDivine JusticeCreationDeath

Biblical References

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Midrash AggadahThe Wind of Mercies That Dried the FloodTargum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 8:1) turns the tide of the story with a phrase the Hebrew does not quite say. And the Lord in His Word remembered Noah, and tMidrash AggadahThe Mountaintops Appear in the Month of TammuzTargum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 8:5) tracks the waters like a patient sailor counting days. The Aramaic says that the waters went and diminished until the teMidrash AggadahNever Again Will a Flood Destroy the EarthTargum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 9:11) delivers the promise every frightened heart has clung to since Noah stepped off the ark. I will establish my covenant wPhiloThe Nagging Injustice Behind the Great FloodThat feeling, that nagging sense of injustice, it's not new. Not by a long shot. In fact, it’s a question that echoes all the way back to the very beginning, toPhiloPhilo Reads the Flood as Allegory of the Number FifteenThe Torah tells us, in (Genesis 7:19), about the flood: “And the water overflowed fifteen cubits above all the highest mountains.” Simple enough The first readiPhiloWas the Breath That Ended the Flood Wind or SpiritThe familiar story is this: Noah, the ark, the animals, and the rain that just wouldn't stop. But what about that crucial moment when the waters finally receded