Contact: Jeffrey Goodman Ph.D., 520-885-5874, jg@thecometsofgod.com; www.thecometsofgod.com
TUCSON, Ariz., March 22, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The idea that Noah's Flood was caused by a tsunami will come as a surprise to many Christians who have grown up believing that the Flood was caused by 40 days and nights of rain. Dr. Jeffrey Goodman, an archeologist and a geologist who has spent years researching the Bible's stories of catastrophe says something else caused the Flood. In his book "THE COMETS OF GOD" Goodman focuses on two phrases in Genesis 7:11 which say, "the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."
The traditional translation of the original Hebrew of Genesis 7:11 seems to tell of a flood caused by fountains under the deep breaking up and gushing water that suddenly raised the sea level, and windows of heaven opening to release 40 days of rain which inundates the Earth and covers the high hills and mountains. However, oil exploration, deep drilling and seismic studies have shown there aren't any "fountains" or "springs" under the sea to cause the sea to suddenly rise. Further, based on extensive telescopic study of the heavens, astronomers know there are no watery windows or floodgates in heaven that could inundate the Earth, not even metaphorically.
Dr. Goodman says when the phrases in Genesis 7:11 are properly translated they tell how a comet impact caused a mega-tsunami, which in turn caused the Flood! He explains that the Hebrew word translated as "fountains" or "springs" can also be translated as "sources." Amazingly, astronomers now know that icy comets are the "sources of the great deep," since the chemical signature of the oceans' water is the same as that of "Main Belt" comets. Comets can be "broken up" and impact the oceans causing mega-tsunamis, with waves high enough to temporarily cover mountains.
Goodman also explains that the Hebrew word translated as "windows" or "floodgates" can also mean "to lurk or lie in wait," and the word translated as "opened" can also mean "loosed." Astronomers know that the solar system is surrounded by a great "storehouse" of comets (the Oort Cloud), out of which comets "are loosed" to come into the inner solar system and go on to strike the earth. A verse in the Book of Job actually speaks of the place where comets wait before being released or loosed upon our solar system. Job 38:22 NIV asks, "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow (comets) or seen the storehouses of the hail (comets can be surrounded by a huge cloud of basketball sized hailstones) which I reserve for times of trouble...?"
A new translation of Genesis 7:11 would now read:
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the sources (#4599 in Strong's Concordance) of the great primeval ocean (comets) broken up, and those that lie in wait (#699 in Strong's Concordance) in heaven (comets) were loosed (#6605 in Strong's Concordance).
Genesis 7:11 -- Goodman's retranslation
A test of any translation is how well it fits with the facts. It is important to recognize that this new translation of Genesis 7:11 which calls for a "major cometary-related inundation event" was made years before the discovery of the Burckle Impact Crater at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, which provides physical evidence for such an event around the time of Noah. In addition, support for this retranslation comes from the Sumerians and the Babylonians (regional neighbors to the Bible's Noah) who each have their own accounts of the Flood which say the flood covered the mountains on the first day, and describe events that are cometary in nature.
A more detailed explanation of this new translation of Genesis 7:11, and information about the Burckle Impact Crater is posted at www.newscientificevidenceforgod.com. Added information is available at www.thecometsofgod.com.
