Literary Structure of the Flood Story | Genesis 6-9

Different types of literature demand different structures. We write novels differently than blog posts, and short stories differently from e-mail messages. The literary culture of the Bible was no different, except that the literary forms come from an ancient culture and do not match our contemporary expectations. The Biblical story of Noah and the flood is written in a carefully crafted design that ancient readers would have recognized immediately, but that most modern readers completely miss.

The story of the flood uses a chiastic structure. The term “chiastic” comes from the Greek letter Chi, which looks like our English letter X. When you look at a written letter X, you can see that the main point of the letter is in the middle, where the two diagonal lines cross. Similarly, in a narrative or poem written in chiastic structure, the most important point is right in the middle.

You can see this laid out graphically in the chart below. The central point of the story is “God remembered Noah.” Supporting points are arranged before and after the central point in a matching fashion. Leading to that central point, we see God’s promise to Noah, Noah entering the ark, the beginning of the flood, and the triumph of the waters. After that central point, the story is about the receding waters, the drying of the earth, leaving the ark, and God’s renewed covenant with Noah and his descendants. You can easily see those matching points on the chart, where A¹ matches A² and B¹ matches B², and so on.

The flood story of Noah is the longest clearly chiastic structure in the Bible, although some suggest other long examples with less assurance. This literary structure encompasses chapters 6 through 9. The chiastic structures of the Bible were probably designed to make them memorable in a culture of oral literary transmission. It also encouraged readers and listeners to make comparisons between the matching points. What are the similarities between these points and what are the implications of the differences? This provided food for personal meditation and group discussion.

The chiastic structure of the flood story isn’t just a literary curiosity; it helps you interpret the meaning of the story for your own life. The central point of Noah’s story is also the central point of your story. God remembers you. This doesn’t mean that God had forgotten you but now he remembers. Rather, it is a description of the faithfulness of God in human terms. God is about to work on your behalf because of his promises to you.

The Chiastic Structure of the Flood Story

A1. Noah; Shem, Ham, Japheth (6:9-10)

      B1. I will bring floodwaters to destroy all life (6:17)

             C1. I will establish my covenant with you (6:18)

                   D1. Food in the ark (6:21)

                         E1. Go into the ark (7:1)

                                F1. Waited 7 days, the floodwaters came (7:10)

                                      G1. The LORD shut Noah in (7:16)

                                             H1. 40 days flood (7:17)

                                                   I1. Waters increased 150 days (7:24)

                                                          X. GOD REMEMBERED NOAH (8:1)

                                                   I2. Waters receded 150 days (8:3)

                                             H2. After 40 days (8:6)

                                      G2. Noah opened a window (8:6)

                                F2. Waited 7 days, but dove did not return (8:12)

                          E2. Come out of the ark (8:16)

                   D2. All animals will be food (9:3)

             C2. I now establish my covenant with you (9:8-10)

      B2. I will never again destroy all life by a flood (9:11)

A2. Shem, Ham, Japheth; Noah (9:18-20)