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Development of Species After the Flood

When the flood only one couple of every animal was introduced into the Ark. When they came out one year later mankind descends from the three children of Noah.

The question is: how did all races of animals surge? Dozens and dozens of races and varieties in every specimen of the animal kingdom, ‘humans’ included?

Answer:

These are good questions. According to the accepted tradition, the answer appears to be that over the years new variations of the species evolved (micro-evolution), which explains how there are different variations of men and animals.

According to modern science, these variations would take a very long time however, and certainly more than just a few thousand years.

It is possible that the world just after the flood was still very different from the world we know, and the different conditions allowed these variations to take place (much) faster than they do today.

Another possibility, which is perhaps more scientifically compatible yet less traditional, is that the flood was limited to a specific area of the world (the Mesopotamia area). This is the position of most academic research on the flood, and it also explains why far eastern cultures (such as China) have no record of a great flood, whereas many other cultures do.

Certainly, the Torah implies that the flood covered the entire world. Still, the idea of some areas that were not included is raised by the Gemara in the name of Rav Yochanan (Zevachim 113b) concerning the Land of Israel (see also Bereishis Rabba 33:6). Although the Torah states that all men perished, another Midrash teaches famously that Og king of Bashan survived the flood (Niddah 61a).

It could perhaps be suggested that the reference of the Torah to the entire world might refer to the entire “known world” (Mesopotamia). For interesting research on the subject see “Noah’s Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries about the Event that Changed History.”

Note that this approach is not raised (to my knowledge) by traditional commentaries, and it raises many related questions.

Best wishes.

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1 Comment

  1. Torah states that when the flood even the highest summit in the world was covered by water and even overpassed by 15 elbows. Mount Everest is in Nepal, not that far away from China, yet not in Mesopotamia. Flood covered the whole planet, unless a wall of almost 9 kms tall had been containing the water surrounding the partially flooded part. Torah is right since it is the word of the Almighty.

    There was probably no China until after the flood.

    And it is totally false this thing about the evolution
    since every specimen in the animal kingdom has its own genoma that just does not change ; or has there surged any new animal in the last more than 4100 years ? same goes for mineral and vegetal kingdoms.

    Torah says that since from Shem descended the semitic-camitic branch, from Cham the orientals and the africans and from Japhet greek civilization, this implies that the Almighty made changes in the genomas giving place to all the dozens of races of human beings,he did the same with the rest of animal kingdom members.

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