Texts in Conversation
Genesis 7 describes water covering every mountain under heaven, similar to the description of Sargon's conquest of all the land under heaven in the Sargon Geography. This type of hyperbole may emphasize the importance of events rather than geography.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
The Sargon Geography 31–32
Ancient Near East, Assyrian
31 Sargon, king of the world, conquered all the land under heaven; 32 he marked out its borders and measured its perimeter.
Date: 800–600 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Genesis 7:19
Hebrew Bible
17 The flood engulfed the earth for 40 days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 18 The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19 The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 20 The waters rose more than 20 feet above the mountains. 21 And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The geographical extent of the flood is described in a variety of ways: “all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered” (Genesis 7:19) “covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits” (Gen 7:20) “there was water over all the surface of the earth” (Genesis 8:9) Several factors, however, make these statements less specific than we might imagine. In keeping with the use of hyperbole, the rhetoric of universalism can be attested in numerous places in the Bible (for a few examples see Genesis 41:57; Exodus 9:6 [compare Exodus 9:19]; Deuteronomy 2:25). Examples in ancient literature that use universalistic language rhetorically are not difficult to find. A text known as Sargon’s Geography states, “Sargon, King of the Universe, conquered the totality of the land under heaven” ..."
Tremper Longman III and John H. Walton, The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology, and the Deluge Debate (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2018), 48.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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