21 Then all flesh that was swarming on the Earth expired: the birds, the animals, the beasts, and all the creepers that were creeping on the Earth, and all the humans.
וַיִּגְוַ֞ע כָּל־בָּשָׂ֣ר ׀ הָרֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ בָּע֤וֹף וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבַ֣חַיָּ֔ה וּבְכָל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ הַשֹּׁרֵ֣ץ עַל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְכֹ֖ל הָאָדָֽם׃
In the crescendo of vv. 17–20, the waters rose until they reached a height of 15 cubits above the tallest mountains anywhere on earth. Abraham ibn Ezra insists (in my Commentators’ Bible translation):
We, of course, believe in the words of our God, and ignore the blather of those who talk about a high mountain in the kingdom of Greece.
Apparently in his day there were those who suggested that Mount Olympus was not covered by the waters of the Flood. As we know, of course, it was not Zeus who was the rival of the Israelite God — if anything, he was no more than an avatar of YHWH. It is the primordial Ocean god, whose name ים Yamm ‘Sea’ is all over the Bible, who has been released temporarily to resume control over the sublunar world. Purpose: so that all life can perish.
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