The Biblical Story of Water

Water has a duality in the Bible.  Uncontrolled it represents chaos.  Channeled, it enables life.  It also forms the foundation of the Biblical map, with sharp contrasts between regions with and without water.  As a result, water is a key driver in how the biblical, and human, story unfolds.

The Sea

The first element of nature introduced in Genesis 1, water, in the form of the sea.   The ancient world saw the sea as a symbol of chaos, uncontrolled a sign of death.  Its introduction with “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters,” (Genesis v.2) reflects the pre-creation state of chaos. 

 

Rivers

Rivers form the foundation of the Old Testament Map.  The Tigris and Euphrates in the east formed Mesopotamia, where the Assyrian and Babylonian arose.  The Nile channels much of the rainfall of Northeast Africa channeled into the world’s longest river spreading out into a fertile delta upon which the Egyptian Empire was built. 

Rain

Rain in the Near East is seasonal, coming off the Mediterranean in the winter, feeding the northwest of the Holy Land with rain.  As clouds go over the inland mountain range, they drop their rain, leaving an arid region to the east of the mountains.  This landscape presented an ecology of sharp contrasts for the biblical story to unfold.