Catastrophe

 
The Oxford American Dictionary gives the following definition and synonyms for catastrophe.

catastrophe
noun
an event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering; a disaster

calamity, cataclysm, ruin, ruination

Catastrophe is a very Biblical word— the Greek words katastrophe (καταστροφη – G2692 – 18 times) is sometimes translated as ruin, or destruction or overthrow.  The related verb katastrepho (καταστρεφω – G2690 – 40 times) is means to destroy or to overthrow.  Together, these words occur 58 times in the Greek Septuagint Old Testament (41 times in the books that that are in the Hebrew Bible).   Katastrophe and katastrepho each occur twice in the New Testament.

The first occurance of the verb katastrepho in the Septuagint is in Genesis 13 where it describes Sodom and Gomorrah prior to its destruction.  The mention of the "garden of the LORD" is interesting; it hints at an antediluvian world— before the catastrophe described a few chapters earlier in Genesis.

Gen 13:10 KJV – And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed (καταστρεψαι – katastrepsai / ‏שחת – shachet) Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Both katastrepho and katastrophe are used again in Genesis 19 to describe the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Gen 19:21 Douay-Rheims – And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy (καταστρεψαι – katastrepsai / ‏הפכי – hafki) the city for which thou hast spoken.

Gen 19:25 Douay-Rheims – And he destroyed (και κατεστρεψεν – kai katestrepsen / ‏ויהפך – vayahafokh) these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.

Gen 19:29 NIV – So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe (της καταστροφης – tes katastrophes / ‏ההפכה – hahafekhah) that overthrew (εν τω καταστρεψαι – en to katastrepsai / ‏בהפך – bahafokh) the cities where Lot had lived.

The results of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are described, in a passing comparision, in Deuteronomy 29.

Gen 29:22 NRSV – The next generation, your children who rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who comes from a distant country, will see the devastation of that land and the afflictions with which the LORD has afflicted it-- 23 all its soil burned out by sulfur and salt, nothing planted, nothing sprouting, unable to support any vegetation, like the destruction (ωσπερ κατεστραφη – osper katestraphe / ‏כמהפכת – k'mahpekhat) of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD destroyed (κατεστρεψεν – katestrepsen / ‏הפך – hafakh) in his fierce anger-- 24 they and indeed all the nations will wonder, "Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused this great display of anger?"

There are several other interesting examples of these words in the Septuagint Greek Old Testament. The language in Job 9:5-6 is especially startling.  Where would such imagery come from if there wasn't some historical reality behind it.  Similar language also occurs in Job 28:9.

Job 9:5 NIV – He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them (καταστρεφων – katastrephon / ‏הפכם – hafakham) in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

Job 28:9 KJV – He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth (κατεστρεψεν – katestrepsen / ‏הפך – hafakh) the mountains by the roots. 

The language of destruction continues in Job 12.

Job 12:13 NIV – To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. 14 What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released. 15 If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

Job 12:15 Brenton Septuagint – If he should withhold the water, he will dry the earth: and if he should let it loose, he overthrows (καταστρεψας – katastrepsas / ‏ויהפכו – vayahafkhu) and destroys it. 

Why would an ancient author describe destruction by water unless there were some historical examples that make it plausible.  Following is an image from the Wikipedia article on the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and tsunami that illustrates destruction by water.

The Bible has many texts that describe destruction of the mountains and landscape.

Deuteronomy 4:11 KJV – And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

Judges 5:5 HCSB – The mountains melted (‏הרים נזלו – harim nazlu – H5140 – flowed) before the LORD, even Sinai before the LORD, the God of Israel.

Job 14:18 NKJV – But as a mountain falls and crumbles away, And as a rock is moved from its place; 19 As water wears away stones, And as torrents wash away the soil of the earth; So You destroy the hope of man.

Psalms 18:7 NKJV – Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry....  11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies. 12 From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.... 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

Psalms 42:7 ESV – Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.

Psalms 46:2 ESV – Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.... 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord , how he has brought desolations on the earth.

Psalms 60:2 RSV – Thou hast made the land to quake, thou hast rent it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.

Psalms 97:5 NKJV – The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD,  At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

Psalms 104:31 NIV – May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— 32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

Amos 9:5 RSV – The Lord, GOD of hosts, he who touches the earth and it melts, and all who dwell in it mourn, and all of it rises like the Nile, and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt; 6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens, and founds his vault upon the earth; who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out upon the surface of the earth--the LORD is his name.

Nahum 1:5 KJV – The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.

Habakkuk 3:6 NIV – He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.

The Bible predicts that there will be catastrophes in the futures.

2 Peter 3:10 NKJV – But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.... 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

The writers of the Bible certainly knew something about the physical violence of the earth.  The following images from wikimedia illustrate a reality that is consistent with the Bible descriptions.  In the first image we can see the mountains on the ocean floor (the lighter colors in the oceans).

The following image illustrates the geology of the ocean floors.  The colors are designed to show the relative age of the rocks; red is younger progressing through yellow, green and blue as they get older. This map shows that new sea floor is being created in all the major oceans.  The implications of this are very difficult to explain.  I think this map is excellent evidence that we humans, dispite our "progress", still can not explain the nature of our world.  I talked about this topic more generally in a recent post— Biblical Epistemology (BE).  I will rely on my statements in the the BE post when it comes to the actual ages of the various parts of the sea floor; I don't accept the numbers that are claimed in the studies associated with this map (as I said in the BE post, we are ignorant), but I think it is credible that new rocks are being produced along the mid-ocean ridges and that the rocks closet to the ridges are the youngest. 

The following map shows the mid-ocean ridges which are "oceanic spreading centers", which is where the the seafloor is spreading.  Imagine a shirt or some other garment that a tailor is altering.  If the tailor lets out one seam and takes in another seam on the opposite side by the same amount, then the size of the garment hasn't changed.  What happens if the tailor lets out several seams on different sides of the garment?  That is the essence of the challenge for explaining the mid-ocean ridges.  What are the physical consequences of spreading zones on all sides of the earth?  How do we explain that?

Job 42:3 NIV – You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 

Psalm 46:2 NASB – Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea