Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 4/23/06, Yigal Levin wrote, quoting Dave Washburn:

> > But if that's the case, why mention [the seasons in Gen 8:21-22] at all?
> > It seems extraneous.  The only reason I can see for bringing it up is
> > because these people didn't really know what they were and God was
> > telling them to be prepared for seasonal changes.
>
> Because the Flood itself was an interuption of the natural seasons. The rain
> began on the 17th of the second month (Iyyar - April-May), a time of year at
> which any rain would have been unusual. To Noah and co., the world had been
> turned on its head. God promissed them that this would never happen again.

I think both of these are misinterpretations of the verses.  The rain
began on the
17th of the 2nd month, and this could very well be a sign that the calendar 
used
here is autumnal-based.  This is further supported by Noah's wine-sacrifice on
the first day of the new year.  Rather, the verses specifically say,
"l) )wsyp" and
"(d kl-ymy h)rc ... l) y$btw", indicating not that now a new seasonal order 
was
in place, but that the regular season order will not stop again.  "l)
y$btw" - "will
not cease", referring to the rest of the days with the flood in mind,
reflects that
the flood was a cessation of the previous regular seasonal order.

Yitzhak Sapir
http://toldot.blogspot.com