Allen wrote,
<< The Oceans basins are the fountains of the great deep. These basins were
broken up by asteroid impacts, initiating sinking of the dense oceanic crust
into the Athenesphere. >>
Only by taking the "fountains of the great deep" out of their historical and
biblical context could they be considered "ocean basins." Biblical scholars
with the requisite training in languages and ancient Near Eastern studies
universally agree that the fountains are TERRESTRIAL fountains drawing their
water from the SUBTERRANEAN ocean which the Bible and other ancient Near
Eastern literature understood to be beneath the earth (Pss 24:2; 136:6).
Gordon Wenham, Genesis 1-15, p. 181 "All the springs…suggesting water gushing
forth uncontrollably from wells and springs which draw from a great
subterrranean ocean ("the great deep")…"
Bruce Waltke, Genesis, p. 139 "The earth is being returned to its precreation
chaos by the release of the previously bounded waters above and by the
upsurge of the subterrannean waters (See 1:2, 6-9, 8:2)."
Gerhard Hasel, "The Fountains of the Great Deep," Origins 1(2):67-72 (1974).
In Psalm 74:15 one reads "Thou didst break open (baqac) springs and
torrents." According to the context this seems to mean that God split open
the earth so that waters could come forth which could feed the springs of
rivers. In Exodus 14:16 Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and
divided (baqac) it. The idea is a splitting apart of the waters. According to
Judges 15:19 God "split open" (baqac) the hollow place and water came from
it. In Isaiah 48:21 it is stated that He "cleft" (baqac) the rock and waters
gushed out. In these verses the same verb appears as in Genesis 7:11 and has
consistently the meaning of bursting forth, dividing, cleaving, splitting
open. On the basis of these and other passages , it appears safe to suggest
that in Genesis 7:11 the meaning of "burst forth" refers to a breaking open
of the crust of the earth to let subterranean waters pour out in unusual
quantity. Accordingly the whole clause "all the fountains of the great deep
burst forth" may be taken to refer to the fountains, which in normal times
furnished sufficient water for the needs of men and animals and the
irrigation of the fields. At the beginning of the flood these fountains burst
open and poured out such terrific quantities of water which together with the
water raining down from the heavens brought about the flood which destroyed
all life on earth.
I also have dealt with these fountains in my paper, "The Geographical Meaning
of "Earth" and "Seas" in Genesis 1:10," Westminster Theological Journal 59
(1997) 231-55. To cite just a small part of that discussion,
Prov 3:20, another verse that pairs water from above (in the form of dew)
with water from below, parallels Gen 7:11's reference to the water from
below grammatically for it uses the same verb ( baqa' ) to speak of splitting
open the springs as was used in Gen 7:11. In addition, the springs in Prov
3:20 are called tehomot which parallels the description of springs in Gen
7:11 where they are called "springs of the great tehom." The springs of Prov
3:20 are thus identified with the springs of Gen 7:11. Since the springs
mentioned in Prov 3:20 are in a context of agricultural blessing (paired with
"dew"), they must be earthly fresh-water springs. Prov 3:20 thus shows us
that the springs of Gen 7:11 are also earthly fresh-water springs and
reciprocally Gen 7:11 shows us that the fresh-water springs (tehomot) of Prov
3:20 were fed by the great tehom (sea) of Gen 7:11. The grammar, the
historical context, and the fact that the pairing of water from above with
water from below regularly refers the water from below to the sea beneath the
earth, makes this interpretation sure. Scott, therefore, correctly comments
on Prov 3:20:
An echo of Gen vii 11 where the water which submerged the world in the days
of Noah is said to have surged up like a tide from the subterranean ocean and
fallen from sluices in the sky.
Others could be cited, but all of the above are evangelical scholars, and
Hasel was a seventh day adventist who believed in a global flood.
Paul
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