Studies of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in the Fertile Crescent suggesting abandonment and resettlement at the time of the Great Flood of Noah’s time (3023 B.C.)
© 2026 Arthur Bud Chrysler
Miriam Tadmor, Senior curator of Chalcolithic and Canaanite Periods, Israel Museum, wrote, “The emergence of the Bronze Age civilization heralds a decisive departure from the earlier Chalcolithic culture. Reasons for these far-reaching and as yet unexplained changes have been sought in climatic fluctuations and in population influx from the north. Settlement patterns changed: villages in the semiarid northern Negev and in the Golan, abandoned at the end of the Chalcolithic period, were not resettled” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, p. 88).
“Arad in the northern Negev is the best-preserved model of a third-millennium town that was not resettled. An area of some 10 hectares (25 acres) was encircled by walls and fortified bastions. Within its confines were residential quarters, a network of streets and open squares, palaces, and temples. The water supply was controlled, with a centrally located reservoir. Satellite rural settlements were in the immediate vicinity. Ancient Arad controlled the routes leading to the copper mines and to the miners’ villages in Sinai, over 300 kilometers (190 miles) to the south, thus safeguarding the steady flow of copper.
By the time of the Sixth Dynasty, Egyptian influence was virtually nonexistent, and Egyptian royal names are absent even in the copper mines of Sinai. The collapse of the urban order is synchronous with the fall of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and with the collapse of the Akkadian empire in Mesopotamia. The reason for such widespread destruction must have been manifold and complex. Ethnic movements from the north have been singled out as a decisive factor, but climatic and internal changes have also been emphasized. …There is a striking contrast between the somewhat utilitarian material culture of the Early Bronze Age and the richly artistic achievements of the preceding Chalcolithic period” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, pp. 89-90).
The Holy Land – “The processes responsible for the collapse of Chalcolithic societies in Palestine are still very poorly understood and this should be an important direction for future research. The story of growth, stability and dissolution is not the same for every geographic region, or even every drainage system in Palestine. The settlement hierarchies observed in the Chalcolithic broke down all over the country and by EB I these societies had returned to being small autonomous village sites. This is seen in the north where tell sites such as Beth Shan XVIII-XVI (Engberg and Shipton 1934), Tell esh-Shuneh North Niveau II (de Contenson 1961), and Megiddo strata VII-V (Fitzgerald 1935) continues into the EB I and in the south a similar process occurs at Tel Arad IV (Amiran 1978) and at Tel Halif (Site 101; Seger et al. 1990). (Thomas E. Levy, The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, 1995, p. 241).
Megiddo – “Referring to the principal forms on the chart, it is quite clear that Stages VI and VII make a very close unit; yet VI is distinguished by the scratched graffiti. Stages IV and V also appear as a unit in many respects, but in IV there are signs of a revolution which, once started, continued unchecked to the upper limits of the Early Bronze Period” (Robert M. Engberg and Geoffrey M. Shipton, Notes on the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Pottery of Megiddo, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 10, Chicago,1934, pp. 42-43).
“A general survey of the forms of Stratum XX demonstrates clearly that a number of the vessels and sherds are entirely new to the normal Chalcolithic ensemble as known in Stages VII – IV at Megiddo and are closely comparable to Neolithic vessels from analogous sites. However, on account of the admixture in the stratum of Chalcolithic forms we are left no alternative but to consider it as an early phase of the Chalcolithic period, perhaps antedating 3300 B.C.
It has been shown that Stratum XIX can be equated with confidence to Stages V and part of IV. An end date of about 3000 B.C. for Stratum XIX is indicated by the presence of 1st dynasty Egyptian parallels in XVIII. Stage V has proved perhaps the best datable horizon for the Chalcolithic period in Palestine, for in it were discovered a number of Early Dynastic cylinder seal impressions which cannot be dated later than 3000 B.C. How much earlier they should be dated is questionable” (Geoffrey M. Shipton, Notes on the Megiddo Pottery of Strata VI – XX, 1939, p. 47).
Arad – “Essentially all the Chalcolithic vessels were made with a single group of materials, a group not at all found in the EB pottery. This observation would appear to lend support to an occupational gap between strata V and IV” (Ruth Amiran, Early Arad – The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City – I First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966, 1978, p. 117).
IV – Latter part of EB I (ca. 3200–3000 B.C.) The Flood began ca. 3023 B.C.
“The overall quantity of small objects is not large, undoubtedly because of the sporadic nature of the Chalcolithic settlement here, and because the excavations have not reached the Chalcolithic levels in all areas. Even so, the quantity found is certainly instructive as to the character of the material culture, and of the cultural and chronological ascription of this settlement(s) to the cultural milieu of Ghassul-Beersheba. …Though we accept the current view that these two large assemblages represent a single culture, we should note that the Chalcolithic material from Arad can shed light on some differences and variations between the two. The similarity with the Beersheba material is found not only in the types and forms but also in the ‘feel’ of the ware. J. Glass describes the results of his petrographical-technographical analyses and emphasizes the similarity in raw materials used in the clay at Arad and at the Beersheba sites. Thus, the typological analysis, the general ‘feel’ of the ware and the petrographical analyses all emphasize that the pottery of stratum V is not only quite similar to that of the Beersheba sites, but differs in most of its characteristics from that of stratum IV. These differences represent an important criterion in distinguishing period and stratum, and on more than one occasion this has facilitated the ascription of problematic sherds. Moreover, the fact that Arad and the Beersheba sites display the use of the same temper, and especially the fact that, in subsequent periods at Arad, this same temper is not at all met with, lead to the conclusion that the Chalcolithic period in this region had its own specific ceramic tradition, differing from that of subsequent periods” (Ruth Amiran, Early Arad – The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City – I First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966, 1978, p. 6).
“The Stratigraphical and Chronological Relationship between Strata V and IV: Distinguishing these two strata, as far as their meagre architectural remains are concerned, was difficult. In neither are there definable building remains; and in both, natural features are fully utilized, as can be seen in dwellings situated within natural crevices and caves. In stratum V, however, there is a peculiar phenomenon – the digging of pits into the loess earth. This is a significant criterion for making the distinction between the remains of the two strata. Though the areas in which these strata came to light are quite limited, in several instances there were true stratigraphical situations, and they are of prime importance: e.g., in area K, a Chalcolithic pit (locus 1200) was found beneath wall 647 (in locus 1182b) of stratum IV. Our principal means for distinguishing between the loci of these two strata is, of course, the pottery. The pottery assemblage of stratum V, typical of the Beersheba culture, differs radically from that of stratum IV, not only in the type-corpus but also in ceramic traditions. The logical conclusion to be derived from this is that some cultural break occurred between strata V and IV. Furthermore, taking into account our suggested dating of stratum IV to the latter part of the EBI, we are forced to conclude that there was an actual chronological gap between the two strata” (Ruth Amiran, Early Arad – The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City – I First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966, 1978, p. 116).
The Near East and Anatolia – “The most spectacular technological advances may be seen in the field of metallurgy. In a cave, south of Engedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea, a hoard of not less than 630 copper objects was found, some years ago. They were wrapped in matting and obviously deposited there for safekeeping at a time of danger, then never recovered. Besides numerous mace-heads of the type already known from Abu Matar, there are many tools such as hammers and chisels for carpentry, flat ‘axes’ for digging and hoeing, plus a fine decorated crown. More important are a number of sceptre-heads, richly ornamented with grooves, ribs and diagonal fluting. The finest is a sceptre-head ending in two heads of ibex; lower down appears a ram’s head with twisted horns, flanked on either side by two more ibex or antelope’s heads. This object shows superb observation and excellent craftsmanship. The entire hoard is now thought to be a temple treasure. This would explain its richness and the ceremonial objects. This theory has been confirmed by the actual discovery, in 1962, of the temple from which the treasure was removed, The temple, occupying the terrace north of the spring of Engedi, consists of a large courtyard, surrounded by a main building on its north side, a smaller building on the east, a gatehouse in the south side, facing the spring, and a second gate in the east wall, north of the smaller building leading to a second spring. …The building shows some similarity to the Late Chalcolithic shrine at Megiddo (XIX), which is probably about a century later in date. The Engedi sanctuary can be dated with its treasure to the 33rd century B.C. and must have been the main temple of the district.
The date of its abandonment would seem to coincide with that of numerous other sites and with the violent destruction of Ghassul and the end of its culture. …It is not yet known what caused the catastrophe, but it was probably related to the establishment of new elements in the lower Jordan Valley and the Judaean uplands. (James Mellaart, The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages in the Near East and Anatolia, 1966, pp. 34-37).
“Beyond the Euphrates lie the domains of a new culture. Characterized by red and grey burnished wares, it was called the Uruk-Gawra culture after its two most celebrated sites in the south and north of Mesopotamia respectively. Syria and Lebanon showed their usual distinct local peculiarities, though archaeologists agree that the newer fashion was somehow linked to new developments farther east.
Wheel-made pottery appears towards the end of this period, but it still slipped and burnished and often decorated.
The following stage of development, dated to ca. 3200-3000 B.C. (phase IV) shows long houses, grouped together in enclosures instead of freestanding. Metal was common. From this building level come the first cylinder-seal impressions of a type known in Mesopotamia as Jemdet Nasr, where they start before 3100 B.C.
…It is not known who was responsible for the destruction of Ghassul and the abandonment of so many Ghassulian settlements. The new elements, either the people of the Jordan Valley or the people who introduced the painted wares of phase C at Jericho and in the hill zone around Jerusalem, would have been in a position to endanger Ghassul and the rich shrine at Engedi.
Apart from this, there is little evidence for warfare and raids, though the absence of defensive walls does not necessarily mean peaceful conditions” (James Mellaart, The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages in the Near East and Anatolia, 1966, pp. 43-46).
Horvat Beter (Beersheba) – “Remains of ancient settlements similar to Horvat Beter are found along the wadi near Beersheba. They are situated on sloping loess hills, close to the banks of the wadi. Archaeological evidence shows that all these settlements were occupied in the Chalcolithic period only, and were abandoned at the end of the Ghassulian phase. There are therefore no tell-formations and none of these sites is known by the term tell. In later periods other sites in this region were inhabited, and there successive occupation strata formed real tells; the most important of these is Tell es-Sab’. Probably the biblical Beersheba” (Moshe Dothan, Excavations at Horvat Beter (Beersheba). Reprinted from 'ATIQOT (Journal of the Israel Dept. of Antiquities) Vol. II, 1959, p. 1).
The collapse of Chalcolithic societies – “If the origins of the population and culture are shrouded in obscurity, so too does the end of the period present great difficulties. The survey of settlement sites noted that most of the sites were abandoned, with no evidence of violent struggle. Most were not resettled in the following period or in any succeeding period. This is especially true of the sites of the south and of the Golan. The impression is created of a sudden end to the period as a result of a catastrophe of some sort, either natural or inflicted by man, which forced the inhabitants to abandon their settlements and move on elsewhere” (Rivka Gonen, The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Edited by Amnon Ben-Tor - The Chalcolithic Period, 1992, p. 79).
“Where did the refugees of the famine, wars, and perhaps the concomitant epidemics disappear to? …Ruth Amiran has suggested that they did not disappear but rather merged with the bearers of the new culture, introducing some of the characteristics of their culture. These were not necessarily the special, attractive features, the artistic and technical achievements, but rather a few details of the pottery industry, such as the continued tradition of hole-mouth jars, the decoration of small bowls with red paint, and especially the continued, short-lived use of a variant churn form. Can such details, which appear to be marginal in the assemblage of Chalcolithic culture, be taken as proof of continuity into the following period? If so, what is it in these details that allowed them to survive in preference to other elements, which would appear to be of greater significance? And where did all the know-how, sophistication, and originality of the Chalcolithic people in so many realms of creativity go? Those who followed them seem to have started from scratch, with the exception of some basic ceramic forms. All that had been attained during the Chalcolithic period disappeared, never to return, and the following generations never reached similar achievements, not even after hundreds and thousands of years.”
“The Chalcolithic period thus remains a mysterious period from beginning to end. If no significant breakthrough in the appreciation of its true essence are forthcoming, we will be left only to contemplate its creations, admire them, and wonder who their creators were, how they lived, in what manner they interpreted the world around them, and why they finally disappeared from the stage of human history” (Rivka Gonen, The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Edited by Amnon Ben-Tor - The Chalcolithic Period, 1992, p. 80).
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “The Fertile Crescent includes a roughly crescent-shaped area of relatively fertile land which probably had a more moderate, agriculturally productive climate in the past than today, especially in Mesopotamia and the Nile valley. Situated between the Arabian Desert to the south and the mountains of the Armenian Highland to the north, it extends from Babylonia and adjacent Elam (the southwestern province of Persia, also called Susiana) up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Assyria. From the Zagros Mountains east of Assyria, it continues westward over Syria to the Mediterranean and extends southward to southern Palestine. The Nile valley of Egypt is often included as a further extension, especially since the short interruption in Sinai is no greater than similar desert breaks that disturb its continuity in Mesopotamia and Syria.
Throughout the region, irrigation is necessary for the best agricultural results and, indeed, is often essential to any farming at all. Radiocarbon dating has shown that incipient agriculture and village agglomerations in the Fertile Crescent there must be dated back to about 8000 bce, if not earlier, and that the use of irrigation followed rapidly. The ancient countries of the Fertile Crescent, such as Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, and Phoenicia, are regarded as some of the world’s earliest complex societies” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
“Wet subphase II-b was probably during the Early Bronze II age, 4900 to 4650 B.P. (Table 3.3), whereas Wet Subphase II-a could have happened sometime in Chalcolithic about 6500 to 6000 B.P. The latter dates are near enough to the time of the epic flood described in Gilgamesh (Gardner and Maier, 1984), first assembled and pressed in cuneiform characters on twelve tablets around 5200 B.P. …The possible date of the Gilgamesh-Utnapishtim flood may correspond with the beginning of Wet Subphase II-a but that story itself could have been handed down from similar but older events through oral traditions (Gardner and Maier, 1984).
Absence of evidence within sediments means that these floods, no matter how enormous, were not high enough to have raised ocean level sufficiently to submerge the sills that separate the Dead Sea depression from the ocean so that the flow could pass through the Jezreel or Arava Valleys to the Dead Sea graben. Both stories appear to be overstatements by populations who lived on broad lowlands or reflections of experiences of still more ancient peoples who may have lived during Late Pleistocene times of rapidly rising sea levels caused by melting of glaciers. Confirmation of the absence of a world-encircling flood during the Late Holocene is provided by the studies of sediments in other lakes of the earth” (David Neev and K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho – Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background, 1995, pp.119-120).
“The physical and demographic cultural break between Early Bronze III and Intermediate Bronze ages must be viewed in relation to broader conditions of the latter part of Early Bronze III in the whole of ancient Canaan. Evidence of a pattern of widespread destruction and abandonment is present at many Early Bronze III sites. From an archaeological point of view, this age witnessed one of the most sweeping disruptions in its history (Wright, 1961, p. 86; Kenyon, 1979, p. 134; Rast, 1987, pp. 194-95). This crisis at the close of the Early Bronze age was not limited to this country and adjacent regions but occurred as far away as the coasts of Syria and Lebanon (Gophna, 1992). Transitions from First to Second Kingdoms in Egypt and from Sumerian to Akkadian rules in Mesopotamia are parallel examples. Perhaps a common causative factor such as physical disturbances induced social restlessness. Other authors consider that a cultural-demographic-economic process in Canaan could have been the only cause for the almost total cessation of maritime trade with Egypt during the end of the Old Kingdom (Esse, 1989). (David Neev and K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho – Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background, 1995, pp.145-146).
Late Bronze to Early Iron – 3500-3200 B.P. = 1200-1500 B.C. – The Exodus
Middle Bronze to Late Bronze – 3900-3500 B.P. = 1500-1900 B.C. – Abraham
Intermediate Bronze – 4350-3900 B.P. = 1900-2350 B.C. – “Eupolemus, in his On the Jews, says Babylon the city was first founded by those who had escaped the Flood. They were the giants who built the tower recorded in history. But when the tower was ruined by the act of God, the giants dispersed over the whole earth. In the tenth generation, he [Eupolemus] says, in a Babylonian city of Camarina, which some call Urie, and which is in translation the city of the Chaldaeans, Abraham was born, who surpassed all men in nobility and wisdom, who also discovered the Chaldaean art, and who on account of his piety was well-pleasing to God.” (Fragment one).
Early Bronze – 5300-4350 B.P. = 2350-3300 B.C. – The Flood Chalcolithic to Earliest Bronze – 6500-5300 B.P. = 3300-4500 B.C. – Cave of the Treasure
Old Testament Evidence for a Regional Flood
Psalm 104 speaks of creation, not of Noah's flood.
Psalm 104:1-9 - Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
According to Psalm 104:9, the flood of Noah’s time could not have covered the earth.
“THE WHOLE EARTH”
Genesis 8:9 – But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth (ארץ): then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
earth. Strong’s 776; erets; to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land).
אֶרֶץ erets. Gesenius – (1) the earth, opp. to heaven. Gen. 1:1; 2:1, 4. Synecdoche for the inhabitants of the earth, Gen. 9:19; 11:1; 19:31. (2) earth, land, continent, opp. to sea, Gen. 1:28. (3) a land, country, Ex. 3:8; 13:5; Gen.21:32; Ru. 1:7. Any one’s land is that which is subject to any one, as “the land of Sidon,” Neh. 9:22; or which is consecrated (Jer. 2:7; 16;18); also that in which any one dwells, Deu. 19:2, 10; 28:12; or was born, “his native land,” Gen. 24:4; 30:25; Nu. 10:9; Isa. 8:9; …Also used of the inhabitants of a región, Isa. 26:18; specially of the wicked, Isa. 11:4. (4) land, piece of land, Gen. 23:15; Ex. 23:10. Used of the land belonging to a town, Josh. 8:1. (Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, Translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, 1904, p. LXXXI).
Genesis 11:1 – And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
“The king whose minister Joseph was did not reign over all Egypt; his power did not extend very far south of Memphis, and when the sacred text speaks of the whole land, it must be understood as meaning only the Delta and part of the neighboring territory. Formulas of that kind are often employed in speaking of oriental sovereigns, even Apepi himself, of whom a papyrus says that the whole earth paid him tribute” (Edouard Naville, Through Bible Lands, 1878, pp. 433-434).
Genesis 41:57 – And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
I Kings 10:24 – And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
Daniel 4:1 – Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
Daniel 4:22 – It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
“THE WHOLE HEAVEN”
Genesis 6:17 – And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth (אֶרֶץ), to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth (אֶרֶץ) shall die.
Genesis 7:19-20 – And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Deuteronomy 2:24-25 – Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.
Matthew Poole's Commentary:
under the whole heaven; which is a synecdoche and an hyperbole, but is explained by the following words, which restrain the sentence to those nations that heard of them.
Exodus 23:27 – I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Deuteronomy 11:25 – There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
the land. ארץ erets
Genesis 8:1 – And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth (ארץ): then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth (ארץ) dried.
*Hebrews 11:7 – By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
he condemned the world – kosmos; His faith was exhibited in building the ark on the mere strength of God’s declaration, while as yet there were no signs of the flood. By his faith thus manifested he announced the condemnation of the world to destruction. World is to be taken as in II Peter 2:5. It is not used in Hebrews in the ethical sense so common in John and Paul – the world is alien from God. The meaning of the statement is not that Noah condemned the conduct of his contemporaries by the contrast presented by his own faith, after the analogy of Matt. 12:41; Rom. 2:27 (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV, 1946, p. 517).
kosmos – Follows a line of development from the physical to the ethical sense; meaning (a) ornament, arrangement, order (I Peter 3:3); (b) the sum-total of the material universe considered as a system (Matt. 13:35; John 17:5; Acts 17:24; Philip. 2:15). (c) That universe as the abode of man (John 16:21; I John 3:17). (d) The sum-total of humanity in the world; the human race (John 1:29; 4:42). (e) In the ethical sense, the sum-total of human life in the ordered world, considered apart from, alienated from, and hostile to God, and of the earthly things which seduce from God (John 7:7; 15:18; 17:9, 14; I Cor. 1:20, 21; II Cor. 7:10; Jas. 4:4).This word is characteristic of John, and pre-eminently in this last, ethical sense… (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. II, 1946, p. 45).
kosmos – order, i.e. regular disposition and arrangement; hence, ornament, decoration… Thus, kosmos denotes the order of the world, the ordered universe, the ordered entirety of God’s creation, but considered separated from God. Then, the abode of humanity, or that order of things in which humanity moves or of which man is the center; then, mankind as it manifests itself in and through such an order; then, that order of things which , in consequence of and since the Fall, is alienated from God, as manifested in and through the human race. (Ethelbert W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, 1908, pp. 900-901).
Hebrews 11:36-40 – And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Of whom the world was not worthy – kosmos; By the word (kosmos) is not meant the corrupt world, as in John and Paul (see on ver. 7), but the world considered as an economy which was unworthy of these, because ruled by sense and not by faith. Their plane of life was higher (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV, 1946, p. 534).
economy - noun – (3) the arrangement or mode of operation of something: organization (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary).
(see Jude below).
II Peter 2:4-6 – For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
*5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
*(see note on Hebrews 11:7 above).
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
(compare Jude below).
II Peter 3:1-7 – This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
the world that then was – kosmos; Lit. the then world. The word for world is literally order, and denotes the perfect system of the material universe (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. I, 1946, p. 705).
“The Scriptures are taken up with the histories and the destinies of three worlds:
‘The world that then was,’ II Peter 3:5, 6, i.e. before the flood.
‘The heavens and the earth which now are,’ II Peter 3:7; and
‘The new heavens and the new earth,’ II Peter 3:13…” (Ethelbert W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, 1908, pp. 900-901).
Jude 3-8 – Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
II Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
“Arad in the northern Negev is the best-preserved model of a third-millennium town that was not resettled. An area of some 10 hectares (25 acres) was encircled by walls and fortified bastions. Within its confines were residential quarters, a network of streets and open squares, palaces, and temples. The water supply was controlled, with a centrally located reservoir. Satellite rural settlements were in the immediate vicinity. Ancient Arad controlled the routes leading to the copper mines and to the miners’ villages in Sinai, over 300 kilometers (190 miles) to the south, thus safeguarding the steady flow of copper.
By the time of the Sixth Dynasty, Egyptian influence was virtually nonexistent, and Egyptian royal names are absent even in the copper mines of Sinai. The collapse of the urban order is synchronous with the fall of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and with the collapse of the Akkadian empire in Mesopotamia. The reason for such widespread destruction must have been manifold and complex. Ethnic movements from the north have been singled out as a decisive factor, but climatic and internal changes have also been emphasized. …There is a striking contrast between the somewhat utilitarian material culture of the Early Bronze Age and the richly artistic achievements of the preceding Chalcolithic period” (Miriam Tadmor, Treasures of the Holy Land, Canaanite Period, Bronze Age, 1986, pp. 89-90).
The Holy Land – “The processes responsible for the collapse of Chalcolithic societies in Palestine are still very poorly understood and this should be an important direction for future research. The story of growth, stability and dissolution is not the same for every geographic region, or even every drainage system in Palestine. The settlement hierarchies observed in the Chalcolithic broke down all over the country and by EB I these societies had returned to being small autonomous village sites. This is seen in the north where tell sites such as Beth Shan XVIII-XVI (Engberg and Shipton 1934), Tell esh-Shuneh North Niveau II (de Contenson 1961), and Megiddo strata VII-V (Fitzgerald 1935) continues into the EB I and in the south a similar process occurs at Tel Arad IV (Amiran 1978) and at Tel Halif (Site 101; Seger et al. 1990). (Thomas E. Levy, The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, 1995, p. 241).
Megiddo – “Referring to the principal forms on the chart, it is quite clear that Stages VI and VII make a very close unit; yet VI is distinguished by the scratched graffiti. Stages IV and V also appear as a unit in many respects, but in IV there are signs of a revolution which, once started, continued unchecked to the upper limits of the Early Bronze Period” (Robert M. Engberg and Geoffrey M. Shipton, Notes on the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Pottery of Megiddo, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 10, Chicago,1934, pp. 42-43).
“A general survey of the forms of Stratum XX demonstrates clearly that a number of the vessels and sherds are entirely new to the normal Chalcolithic ensemble as known in Stages VII – IV at Megiddo and are closely comparable to Neolithic vessels from analogous sites. However, on account of the admixture in the stratum of Chalcolithic forms we are left no alternative but to consider it as an early phase of the Chalcolithic period, perhaps antedating 3300 B.C.
It has been shown that Stratum XIX can be equated with confidence to Stages V and part of IV. An end date of about 3000 B.C. for Stratum XIX is indicated by the presence of 1st dynasty Egyptian parallels in XVIII. Stage V has proved perhaps the best datable horizon for the Chalcolithic period in Palestine, for in it were discovered a number of Early Dynastic cylinder seal impressions which cannot be dated later than 3000 B.C. How much earlier they should be dated is questionable” (Geoffrey M. Shipton, Notes on the Megiddo Pottery of Strata VI – XX, 1939, p. 47).
Arad – “Essentially all the Chalcolithic vessels were made with a single group of materials, a group not at all found in the EB pottery. This observation would appear to lend support to an occupational gap between strata V and IV” (Ruth Amiran, Early Arad – The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City – I First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966, 1978, p. 117).
- CHRONOLOGY OF THE STRATA AT ARAD
IV – Latter part of EB I (ca. 3200–3000 B.C.) The Flood began ca. 3023 B.C.
“The overall quantity of small objects is not large, undoubtedly because of the sporadic nature of the Chalcolithic settlement here, and because the excavations have not reached the Chalcolithic levels in all areas. Even so, the quantity found is certainly instructive as to the character of the material culture, and of the cultural and chronological ascription of this settlement(s) to the cultural milieu of Ghassul-Beersheba. …Though we accept the current view that these two large assemblages represent a single culture, we should note that the Chalcolithic material from Arad can shed light on some differences and variations between the two. The similarity with the Beersheba material is found not only in the types and forms but also in the ‘feel’ of the ware. J. Glass describes the results of his petrographical-technographical analyses and emphasizes the similarity in raw materials used in the clay at Arad and at the Beersheba sites. Thus, the typological analysis, the general ‘feel’ of the ware and the petrographical analyses all emphasize that the pottery of stratum V is not only quite similar to that of the Beersheba sites, but differs in most of its characteristics from that of stratum IV. These differences represent an important criterion in distinguishing period and stratum, and on more than one occasion this has facilitated the ascription of problematic sherds. Moreover, the fact that Arad and the Beersheba sites display the use of the same temper, and especially the fact that, in subsequent periods at Arad, this same temper is not at all met with, lead to the conclusion that the Chalcolithic period in this region had its own specific ceramic tradition, differing from that of subsequent periods” (Ruth Amiran, Early Arad – The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City – I First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966, 1978, p. 6).
“The Stratigraphical and Chronological Relationship between Strata V and IV: Distinguishing these two strata, as far as their meagre architectural remains are concerned, was difficult. In neither are there definable building remains; and in both, natural features are fully utilized, as can be seen in dwellings situated within natural crevices and caves. In stratum V, however, there is a peculiar phenomenon – the digging of pits into the loess earth. This is a significant criterion for making the distinction between the remains of the two strata. Though the areas in which these strata came to light are quite limited, in several instances there were true stratigraphical situations, and they are of prime importance: e.g., in area K, a Chalcolithic pit (locus 1200) was found beneath wall 647 (in locus 1182b) of stratum IV. Our principal means for distinguishing between the loci of these two strata is, of course, the pottery. The pottery assemblage of stratum V, typical of the Beersheba culture, differs radically from that of stratum IV, not only in the type-corpus but also in ceramic traditions. The logical conclusion to be derived from this is that some cultural break occurred between strata V and IV. Furthermore, taking into account our suggested dating of stratum IV to the latter part of the EBI, we are forced to conclude that there was an actual chronological gap between the two strata” (Ruth Amiran, Early Arad – The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City – I First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966, 1978, p. 116).
The Near East and Anatolia – “The most spectacular technological advances may be seen in the field of metallurgy. In a cave, south of Engedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea, a hoard of not less than 630 copper objects was found, some years ago. They were wrapped in matting and obviously deposited there for safekeeping at a time of danger, then never recovered. Besides numerous mace-heads of the type already known from Abu Matar, there are many tools such as hammers and chisels for carpentry, flat ‘axes’ for digging and hoeing, plus a fine decorated crown. More important are a number of sceptre-heads, richly ornamented with grooves, ribs and diagonal fluting. The finest is a sceptre-head ending in two heads of ibex; lower down appears a ram’s head with twisted horns, flanked on either side by two more ibex or antelope’s heads. This object shows superb observation and excellent craftsmanship. The entire hoard is now thought to be a temple treasure. This would explain its richness and the ceremonial objects. This theory has been confirmed by the actual discovery, in 1962, of the temple from which the treasure was removed, The temple, occupying the terrace north of the spring of Engedi, consists of a large courtyard, surrounded by a main building on its north side, a smaller building on the east, a gatehouse in the south side, facing the spring, and a second gate in the east wall, north of the smaller building leading to a second spring. …The building shows some similarity to the Late Chalcolithic shrine at Megiddo (XIX), which is probably about a century later in date. The Engedi sanctuary can be dated with its treasure to the 33rd century B.C. and must have been the main temple of the district.
The date of its abandonment would seem to coincide with that of numerous other sites and with the violent destruction of Ghassul and the end of its culture. …It is not yet known what caused the catastrophe, but it was probably related to the establishment of new elements in the lower Jordan Valley and the Judaean uplands. (James Mellaart, The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages in the Near East and Anatolia, 1966, pp. 34-37).
“Beyond the Euphrates lie the domains of a new culture. Characterized by red and grey burnished wares, it was called the Uruk-Gawra culture after its two most celebrated sites in the south and north of Mesopotamia respectively. Syria and Lebanon showed their usual distinct local peculiarities, though archaeologists agree that the newer fashion was somehow linked to new developments farther east.
Wheel-made pottery appears towards the end of this period, but it still slipped and burnished and often decorated.
The following stage of development, dated to ca. 3200-3000 B.C. (phase IV) shows long houses, grouped together in enclosures instead of freestanding. Metal was common. From this building level come the first cylinder-seal impressions of a type known in Mesopotamia as Jemdet Nasr, where they start before 3100 B.C.
…It is not known who was responsible for the destruction of Ghassul and the abandonment of so many Ghassulian settlements. The new elements, either the people of the Jordan Valley or the people who introduced the painted wares of phase C at Jericho and in the hill zone around Jerusalem, would have been in a position to endanger Ghassul and the rich shrine at Engedi.
Apart from this, there is little evidence for warfare and raids, though the absence of defensive walls does not necessarily mean peaceful conditions” (James Mellaart, The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages in the Near East and Anatolia, 1966, pp. 43-46).
Horvat Beter (Beersheba) – “Remains of ancient settlements similar to Horvat Beter are found along the wadi near Beersheba. They are situated on sloping loess hills, close to the banks of the wadi. Archaeological evidence shows that all these settlements were occupied in the Chalcolithic period only, and were abandoned at the end of the Ghassulian phase. There are therefore no tell-formations and none of these sites is known by the term tell. In later periods other sites in this region were inhabited, and there successive occupation strata formed real tells; the most important of these is Tell es-Sab’. Probably the biblical Beersheba” (Moshe Dothan, Excavations at Horvat Beter (Beersheba). Reprinted from 'ATIQOT (Journal of the Israel Dept. of Antiquities) Vol. II, 1959, p. 1).
The collapse of Chalcolithic societies – “If the origins of the population and culture are shrouded in obscurity, so too does the end of the period present great difficulties. The survey of settlement sites noted that most of the sites were abandoned, with no evidence of violent struggle. Most were not resettled in the following period or in any succeeding period. This is especially true of the sites of the south and of the Golan. The impression is created of a sudden end to the period as a result of a catastrophe of some sort, either natural or inflicted by man, which forced the inhabitants to abandon their settlements and move on elsewhere” (Rivka Gonen, The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Edited by Amnon Ben-Tor - The Chalcolithic Period, 1992, p. 79).
“Where did the refugees of the famine, wars, and perhaps the concomitant epidemics disappear to? …Ruth Amiran has suggested that they did not disappear but rather merged with the bearers of the new culture, introducing some of the characteristics of their culture. These were not necessarily the special, attractive features, the artistic and technical achievements, but rather a few details of the pottery industry, such as the continued tradition of hole-mouth jars, the decoration of small bowls with red paint, and especially the continued, short-lived use of a variant churn form. Can such details, which appear to be marginal in the assemblage of Chalcolithic culture, be taken as proof of continuity into the following period? If so, what is it in these details that allowed them to survive in preference to other elements, which would appear to be of greater significance? And where did all the know-how, sophistication, and originality of the Chalcolithic people in so many realms of creativity go? Those who followed them seem to have started from scratch, with the exception of some basic ceramic forms. All that had been attained during the Chalcolithic period disappeared, never to return, and the following generations never reached similar achievements, not even after hundreds and thousands of years.”
“The Chalcolithic period thus remains a mysterious period from beginning to end. If no significant breakthrough in the appreciation of its true essence are forthcoming, we will be left only to contemplate its creations, admire them, and wonder who their creators were, how they lived, in what manner they interpreted the world around them, and why they finally disappeared from the stage of human history” (Rivka Gonen, The Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Edited by Amnon Ben-Tor - The Chalcolithic Period, 1992, p. 80).
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “The Fertile Crescent includes a roughly crescent-shaped area of relatively fertile land which probably had a more moderate, agriculturally productive climate in the past than today, especially in Mesopotamia and the Nile valley. Situated between the Arabian Desert to the south and the mountains of the Armenian Highland to the north, it extends from Babylonia and adjacent Elam (the southwestern province of Persia, also called Susiana) up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Assyria. From the Zagros Mountains east of Assyria, it continues westward over Syria to the Mediterranean and extends southward to southern Palestine. The Nile valley of Egypt is often included as a further extension, especially since the short interruption in Sinai is no greater than similar desert breaks that disturb its continuity in Mesopotamia and Syria.
Throughout the region, irrigation is necessary for the best agricultural results and, indeed, is often essential to any farming at all. Radiocarbon dating has shown that incipient agriculture and village agglomerations in the Fertile Crescent there must be dated back to about 8000 bce, if not earlier, and that the use of irrigation followed rapidly. The ancient countries of the Fertile Crescent, such as Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, and Phoenicia, are regarded as some of the world’s earliest complex societies” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
“Wet subphase II-b was probably during the Early Bronze II age, 4900 to 4650 B.P. (Table 3.3), whereas Wet Subphase II-a could have happened sometime in Chalcolithic about 6500 to 6000 B.P. The latter dates are near enough to the time of the epic flood described in Gilgamesh (Gardner and Maier, 1984), first assembled and pressed in cuneiform characters on twelve tablets around 5200 B.P. …The possible date of the Gilgamesh-Utnapishtim flood may correspond with the beginning of Wet Subphase II-a but that story itself could have been handed down from similar but older events through oral traditions (Gardner and Maier, 1984).
Absence of evidence within sediments means that these floods, no matter how enormous, were not high enough to have raised ocean level sufficiently to submerge the sills that separate the Dead Sea depression from the ocean so that the flow could pass through the Jezreel or Arava Valleys to the Dead Sea graben. Both stories appear to be overstatements by populations who lived on broad lowlands or reflections of experiences of still more ancient peoples who may have lived during Late Pleistocene times of rapidly rising sea levels caused by melting of glaciers. Confirmation of the absence of a world-encircling flood during the Late Holocene is provided by the studies of sediments in other lakes of the earth” (David Neev and K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho – Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background, 1995, pp.119-120).
“The physical and demographic cultural break between Early Bronze III and Intermediate Bronze ages must be viewed in relation to broader conditions of the latter part of Early Bronze III in the whole of ancient Canaan. Evidence of a pattern of widespread destruction and abandonment is present at many Early Bronze III sites. From an archaeological point of view, this age witnessed one of the most sweeping disruptions in its history (Wright, 1961, p. 86; Kenyon, 1979, p. 134; Rast, 1987, pp. 194-95). This crisis at the close of the Early Bronze age was not limited to this country and adjacent regions but occurred as far away as the coasts of Syria and Lebanon (Gophna, 1992). Transitions from First to Second Kingdoms in Egypt and from Sumerian to Akkadian rules in Mesopotamia are parallel examples. Perhaps a common causative factor such as physical disturbances induced social restlessness. Other authors consider that a cultural-demographic-economic process in Canaan could have been the only cause for the almost total cessation of maritime trade with Egypt during the end of the Old Kingdom (Esse, 1989). (David Neev and K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho – Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background, 1995, pp.145-146).
Late Bronze to Early Iron – 3500-3200 B.P. = 1200-1500 B.C. – The Exodus
Middle Bronze to Late Bronze – 3900-3500 B.P. = 1500-1900 B.C. – Abraham
Intermediate Bronze – 4350-3900 B.P. = 1900-2350 B.C. – “Eupolemus, in his On the Jews, says Babylon the city was first founded by those who had escaped the Flood. They were the giants who built the tower recorded in history. But when the tower was ruined by the act of God, the giants dispersed over the whole earth. In the tenth generation, he [Eupolemus] says, in a Babylonian city of Camarina, which some call Urie, and which is in translation the city of the Chaldaeans, Abraham was born, who surpassed all men in nobility and wisdom, who also discovered the Chaldaean art, and who on account of his piety was well-pleasing to God.” (Fragment one).
Early Bronze – 5300-4350 B.P. = 2350-3300 B.C. – The Flood Chalcolithic to Earliest Bronze – 6500-5300 B.P. = 3300-4500 B.C. – Cave of the Treasure
Old Testament Evidence for a Regional Flood
Psalm 104 speaks of creation, not of Noah's flood.
Psalm 104:1-9 - Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.
According to Psalm 104:9, the flood of Noah’s time could not have covered the earth.
“THE WHOLE EARTH”
Genesis 8:9 – But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth (ארץ): then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
earth. Strong’s 776; erets; to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land).
אֶרֶץ erets. Gesenius – (1) the earth, opp. to heaven. Gen. 1:1; 2:1, 4. Synecdoche for the inhabitants of the earth, Gen. 9:19; 11:1; 19:31. (2) earth, land, continent, opp. to sea, Gen. 1:28. (3) a land, country, Ex. 3:8; 13:5; Gen.21:32; Ru. 1:7. Any one’s land is that which is subject to any one, as “the land of Sidon,” Neh. 9:22; or which is consecrated (Jer. 2:7; 16;18); also that in which any one dwells, Deu. 19:2, 10; 28:12; or was born, “his native land,” Gen. 24:4; 30:25; Nu. 10:9; Isa. 8:9; …Also used of the inhabitants of a región, Isa. 26:18; specially of the wicked, Isa. 11:4. (4) land, piece of land, Gen. 23:15; Ex. 23:10. Used of the land belonging to a town, Josh. 8:1. (Gesenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, Translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, 1904, p. LXXXI).
- Synecdoche is when the word for a part of something is used to refer to the whole thing, or less commonly, the word for a whole is used to refer to a part.
Genesis 11:1 – And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
“The king whose minister Joseph was did not reign over all Egypt; his power did not extend very far south of Memphis, and when the sacred text speaks of the whole land, it must be understood as meaning only the Delta and part of the neighboring territory. Formulas of that kind are often employed in speaking of oriental sovereigns, even Apepi himself, of whom a papyrus says that the whole earth paid him tribute” (Edouard Naville, Through Bible Lands, 1878, pp. 433-434).
Genesis 41:57 – And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all lands.
I Kings 10:24 – And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.
Daniel 4:1 – Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
Daniel 4:22 – It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
“THE WHOLE HEAVEN”
Genesis 6:17 – And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth (אֶרֶץ), to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth (אֶרֶץ) shall die.
Genesis 7:19-20 – And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Deuteronomy 2:24-25 – Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.
Matthew Poole's Commentary:
under the whole heaven; which is a synecdoche and an hyperbole, but is explained by the following words, which restrain the sentence to those nations that heard of them.
Exodus 23:27 – I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
Deuteronomy 11:25 – There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
the land. ארץ erets
Genesis 8:1 – And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
2 The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7 And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth (ארץ): then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
- Noah’s dove was unable to reach land, so the ark must have rested in the water some distance from the visible peaks (v. 5). The word “earth” (erets,) here in verse 9, is not a reference to the whole earth because Noah had already seen the “tops of the mountains,” which were no longer covered with water. A better translation of ארץ erets, in this verse, would be “the whole land,” as in Deuteronomy 11:25.
11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
- Point to consider: The “olive leaf pluckt off” was from a thriving olive tree.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth (ארץ) dried.
- A better translation of ארץ (erets,) in this verse, might be “the land.”
*Hebrews 11:7 – By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
he condemned the world – kosmos; His faith was exhibited in building the ark on the mere strength of God’s declaration, while as yet there were no signs of the flood. By his faith thus manifested he announced the condemnation of the world to destruction. World is to be taken as in II Peter 2:5. It is not used in Hebrews in the ethical sense so common in John and Paul – the world is alien from God. The meaning of the statement is not that Noah condemned the conduct of his contemporaries by the contrast presented by his own faith, after the analogy of Matt. 12:41; Rom. 2:27 (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV, 1946, p. 517).
kosmos – Follows a line of development from the physical to the ethical sense; meaning (a) ornament, arrangement, order (I Peter 3:3); (b) the sum-total of the material universe considered as a system (Matt. 13:35; John 17:5; Acts 17:24; Philip. 2:15). (c) That universe as the abode of man (John 16:21; I John 3:17). (d) The sum-total of humanity in the world; the human race (John 1:29; 4:42). (e) In the ethical sense, the sum-total of human life in the ordered world, considered apart from, alienated from, and hostile to God, and of the earthly things which seduce from God (John 7:7; 15:18; 17:9, 14; I Cor. 1:20, 21; II Cor. 7:10; Jas. 4:4).This word is characteristic of John, and pre-eminently in this last, ethical sense… (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. II, 1946, p. 45).
kosmos – order, i.e. regular disposition and arrangement; hence, ornament, decoration… Thus, kosmos denotes the order of the world, the ordered universe, the ordered entirety of God’s creation, but considered separated from God. Then, the abode of humanity, or that order of things in which humanity moves or of which man is the center; then, mankind as it manifests itself in and through such an order; then, that order of things which , in consequence of and since the Fall, is alienated from God, as manifested in and through the human race. (Ethelbert W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, 1908, pp. 900-901).
Hebrews 11:36-40 – And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Of whom the world was not worthy – kosmos; By the word (kosmos) is not meant the corrupt world, as in John and Paul (see on ver. 7), but the world considered as an economy which was unworthy of these, because ruled by sense and not by faith. Their plane of life was higher (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. IV, 1946, p. 534).
economy - noun – (3) the arrangement or mode of operation of something: organization (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary).
- This (the economy) is what was destroyed by Noah’s Flood, not the physical planet earth.
(see Jude below).
II Peter 2:4-6 – For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
*5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
*(see note on Hebrews 11:7 above).
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
(compare Jude below).
II Peter 3:1-7 – This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
the world that then was – kosmos; Lit. the then world. The word for world is literally order, and denotes the perfect system of the material universe (Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Vol. I, 1946, p. 705).
“The Scriptures are taken up with the histories and the destinies of three worlds:
‘The world that then was,’ II Peter 3:5, 6, i.e. before the flood.
‘The heavens and the earth which now are,’ II Peter 3:7; and
‘The new heavens and the new earth,’ II Peter 3:13…” (Ethelbert W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, 1908, pp. 900-901).
Jude 3-8 – Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
- The parallel verses to Jude 3-8 are found in II Peter 2:4-6. However, the mention of Noah is absent from Jude’s account. I Peter 3:18-20 may shed some light on the reason for this omission:
II Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
