Genesis flood narrative

The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is a Hebrew flood myth.^[1] It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre-creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microcosm of Noah's Ark.^[2]

The Book of Genesis was probably composed around the 5th century BCE;^[3] although some scholars believe that primeval history (chapters 1–11), including the flood narrative, may have been composed and added as late as the 3rd century BCE.^[4] It draws on two sources, called the Priestly source and the non-Priestly or Yahwist,^[5] and although many of its details are contradictory,^[6] the story forms a unified whole.^[7]

A global flood as described in this myth is inconsistent with the physical findings of geology, archeology, paleontology, and the global distribution of species.^[8][9][10] A branch of creationism known as flood geology is a pseudoscientific attempt to argue that such a global flood actually occurred.^[11] Some Christians have preferred to interpret the narrative as describing a local flood instead of a global event.^[12] Still others prefer to interpret the narrative as allegorical rather than historical.^[13]