Primordial Chaos Returns (Gen 7:18)

The Flood

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¹⁸ The waters manned up וַיִּגְבְּר֥וּ הַמַּ֛יִם

Forgive the colloquialism. As you know, what we’re reading here is the Bible, and that means the Hebrew text, not whatever English translation you may have found in your hotel room. Furthermore, I’m trying to make sure we focus anew on as much of the wording as we can to be able to think about it freshly. So it’s important to point out that this water is acting like a Man (with a capital M).

If you are wondering whether this verb’s root, גבר g‑b‑r, is also the root of the noun גבור gibbor ‘hero’, which we looked at back in 6:4, you are right on the money. It’s found in all the ancient Semitic languages (in Ugaritic, so far, just in a proper name) and, says TDOT: