Podcast / Episode 4 companion

The Flood, Yahwist Strand Alone

Genesis 6–9 (the Yahwist strand) · World English Bible (public domain)

Episode 4 reads the flood as one interleaved story. This companion reads one of the two stories on its own, straight through. On screen the whole flood is shown; the verses of the other story are struck through and are not read. The division follows Richard Elliott Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? It is a reconstruction and not a manuscript.

The notes for the full reading are with Episode 4.

How to read these notes

Every statement of fact in the commentary was recorded next to the sentence that makes it, together with what it rests on. A claim whose source has not yet been located says so plainly. The notes follow the episode in the order it is heard.

  • fact: checkable outside this series; a source is named.
  • measured: a count or figure worked out from the Bible text itself.
  • judgement: the narrator’s own opinion, stated as one; no source is owed.

“Text check” says where to look in the Bible text. “Checked” says how and when the claim was confirmed. Where scholars disagree, the note says CONTESTED and which way the field leans.

5 claims

Where the division comes from

  1. factThe division of Genesis 6-9 into a Yahwist (J) and a Priestly (P) story follows Friedman's parallel presentation.

    Source: Richard Elliott Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible?: the parallel text in the chapter "The Story of Noah—Twice", and the source table in the Appendix.

    Note: This is the source of the division only. The words read and shown are the World English Bible, not Friedman's translation.

  2. factFour verses are split between the two stories: Genesis 7:16, 8:2, 8:3 and 8:13.

    Source: Friedman's Appendix table, which writes them as 16a/16b, 2a/2b, 3a/3b and 13a/13b.

    Note: Each is divided in the World English Bible at a sentence or clause boundary. A verse that breaks in half is a place where the verse numbering (laid over the text centuries later) and the stitching of the two stories disagree.

  3. judgementGenesis 9:18-19 is shown as part of the Yahwist story.

    Note: This is our call and not Friedman's. His table begins the drunkenness at 9:20; these two verses introduce Ham as the father of Canaan, which is the setup the Yahwist story needs and the Priestly genealogy in chapter 10 does not. Flagged here rather than hidden.

  4. measuredThe verses read in this video: Genesis 6:5-8, Genesis 7:1-5, Genesis 7:7, Genesis 7:10, Genesis 7:12, Genesis 7:17-20, Genesis 7:22-23, Genesis 8:6, Genesis 8:8-12, Genesis 8:20-22, Genesis 9:18-27.

    Note: Plus the Yahwist halves of the four split verses: 7:16b, 8:2b, 8:3a, 8:13b.

  5. judgementTreat this as a probable shape, and the last word on it belongs to people who have spent careers on the question.

    Note: The narrator's own framing of how much weight the reconstruction can bear.

Notes generated 2026-10-24.