Bereishit Ch. 7

Today’s chapter of the Flood story highlights the repetitions and contradictions that biblical critics have long discussed. We explore three main approaches: the academic “source text” theory, the harmonizing view that sees no real contradiction, and a literary-theological approach (following R. Mordechai Breuer) that views the dual accounts as two complementary perspectives. In one, God is transcendent, working through the order of nature; in the other, God is immanent and personal, saving Noah out of relationship. The Torah interweaves both to offer a fuller vision of God’s role in the world.