Genesis 9:11

Hebrew Bible

9 “Look. I now confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature of the earth. 11 I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth. 12 And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 13 I will place my bow35 in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth.

1 Enoch 55:2

Pseudepigrapha

1 And after that the Head of Days repented and said: 'In vain have I destroyed all who dwell on the earth.' 2 And He sware by His great name: 'Henceforth I will not do so to all who dwell on the earth, and I will set a sign in the heaven: and this shall be a pledge of good faith between Me and them for ever, so long as heaven is above the earth. And this is in accordance with My command.'

 Notes and References

"... in line with Genesis, 1 Enoch underlines the bloodshed on earth before describing the divine judgment that came in the form of the flood (see also 1 Enoch 9:1, drawing on Genesis 6:11), but at the same time, it changes the story in two ways: first, the flood is mainly a response to angelic transgression, which affects the earth and humankind; second, it is not God who observes this evil, but – interpreting Genesis 4:10–11 in a specific way – the earth itself “cries up to heaven.” ... Hence, on the one hand, a story about God’s response to the propagation of human wickedness has clearly been transformed into a story of divine deliverance and the justification of the righteous; God’s final judgment is their hope. On the other hand, the tensions within the story clearly mean that the story can be applied over and over again in diverse settings. Other passages in 1 Enoch that refer to the Flood Narrative confirm this pattern. They are found in the second part, the first-century BCE “Book of the Parables” (1 Enoch 37–71), and in the second-century BCE “Dream Visions” (1 Enoch 83–90). One passage presents an interpolation describing the obliteration of all who dwell on earth by opening the chambers of the male waters above heaven and the female waters beneath the earth (1 Enoch 54:1–55:2). The cosmological distinction in gender most likely refers to the sons of God (in heaven) and the daughters of men (on earth) in Genesis 6:1–4. A remarkable feature in this passage is the divine response to this destruction. The “Head of Days” repents, saying: “In vain have I destroyed all who dwell on earth” (1 Enoch 55:1). This verse changes the image of God in the Flood Narrative by combining Genesis 8:20–21 and 9:11 with the divine pain and regret in response to the propagation of human violence in Genesis 6:6 ..."

van Bekkum, Koert "Violence in the Flood Narrative: Text and Reception" in Ruiten, J. van, and K. van Bekkum (eds.) Violence in the Hebrew Bible: Between Text and Reception (p. 67–96) Brill, 2020

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