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Isaiah 24 recalls Genesis 7 by describing the deep waters opening, similar to the story of Noah’s flood. Isaiah uses the flood story to describe a new act of global judgment, which creates tension with the promise in Genesis 9 that the earth would never again be destroyed by water.
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Genesis 7:11
Hebrew Bible
10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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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:
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Isaiah 24:18
Hebrew Bible
17 Terror, pit, and snare are ready to overtake you, inhabitants of the earth! 18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs out of the pit will be trapped by the snare. For the floodgates of the heavens are opened up and the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth is broken in pieces, the earth is ripped to shreds, the earth shakes violently. 20 The earth will stagger around like a drunk; it will sway back and forth like a hut in a windstorm. Its sin will weigh it down, and it will fall and never get up again.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... A likely allusion to the Noahide flood can be found in Isaiah 24:18b, which echoes Genesis 7:11b ... The intertextual relationship between Isaiah 24:18bα and Genesis 7:11bβ is patent. In addition, it might be argued that Isaiah 24:18b is a rewritten form of Genesis 7:11b. Both hemistiches have to do with what is found under the earth and suggest violent movement. Furthermore, the Isaianic author seems to have shortened the source material from Genesis for poetic reasons. If this is correct, then Isaiah 24:18b is an inverted citation of Genesis 7:11b according to Seidel’s law, and what is being depicted in the Isaiah Apocalypse may be the waters above the earth and possibly also the waters below the earth being let loose to inundate the earth in a worldwide judgment analogous to the Noahide flood ..."
Cho, Paul K. K.
Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible
(p. 174) Cambridge University Press, 2018
* 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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