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As 1st Samuel 30:16 shows sometimes "the whole earth" or "all the earth" can refer to a country or land
area. The word translated land or earth in 1st Samuel 30:16 is the main one of the two words used in
Genesis when talking about the extent of Noah's flood. Either Hebrew word "erets" or "adamah" can refer
to a country, land, etc. (The Flood and Joshua's Long Day).

Regarding the Hebrew word "adamah," which is also translated "earth" in these same pas-
sages concerning Noah's flood, we find an interesting scenario. In Strong's Concordance (#127)
we find "adamah (ad-aw-maw'); from 119; soil (from its general redness): KJV translates this --
country, earth, ground, husband [-man] (-ry), land." Also, this word relates to Strong's #120 --
ADAM.

Why did Moses use this word, which is translated "land" in most verses of the Bible, in-
stead of the Hebrew word "erets"? Is it possible Moses used it to qualify the word "erets"?

Notice Genesis 7:4: "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the land [erets]
forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the
face of the land [adamah' -- ADAM'S LAND].

Looking at Genesis 6:20, where "adamah" is used by itself, we read: "Of fowls after their
kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the land [adamah' -- ADAM'S LAND]
after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive."

I think it's very likely that the useage of Strong's #127 "adamah," interspersed with
Strong's #776 "erets," qualifies the word "erets." Taking it a step further, then, the land affected
by the Flood must have been "Adam's" land -- opposed to some other tribe's or nation's land! We
should not assume Noah's flood was of global proportions when we see verses such as Genesis
7:10, 12, where it states: "the rain was upon the earth" (erets) -- especially when the term
"ADAMAH" is also used in these passages.

The real "clincher" to the correct understanding of the word "erets" is found in Genesis
1:9-10: "Then God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and
let the DRY LAND appear': and it was so. And God CALLED THE DRY LAND ERETS, and the
gathering together of the waters He called SEAS. And God saw that it was good." Here YEHO-
VAH God Himself defines the word "erets" as meaning "dry land" -- not the entire planet! There-
fore, throughout the Genesis account of the Flood, we should follow YEHOVAH's example and
translate the word "erets" into the English word "land."

Defilement of the Land

Even without comparing the way ERETS is used in other verses, there is internal evidence
within the Flood account itself that indicates the Flood was local or regional in nature. The Bible
is very specific about the extent of the defilement of man's sin and about YEHOVAH's response.
The defilement is always LIMITED to the sinners, their progeny for several generations, birds and
mammals which are part of their livelihood, their material possessions and their agricultural land.
NOWHERE in the Bible do we see YEHOVAH meting out judgment beyond these limits. There-
fore, we can expect that if mankind had never visited Antarctica, YEHOVAH would not have

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