Was earth’s unusual “division” in Peleg’s lifetime a linguistic event or a geological event?

by John D. Morris, Ph.D., and James J. Scofield Johnson, Th.D.

Presented to the Creation Research Society, in Lancaster, South Carolina, July 10, 2009.

Abstract

Is the “division” of languages, noted in both Genesis 10:5 and Genesis 10:32, the same as the “division” of the earth, noted in Genesis 10:25, for which Peleg was named? If the “division” Peleg was named for was a linguistic event, namely the miracle of languages that God injected at the Tower of Babel, Peleg‘s genealogical position provides us with a chronological context clue about when Babel occurred. However, if the “division” Peleg was named for was a geologic event (such as a geographic barriers-produced “division” of the earth‘s continental land-masses, due to rising water levels following the post-Flood Ice Age), the geologic “division” interpretation would sharpen the focus of creation science‘s understanding of post-Flood geologic history, with serious ramifications for interpreting the geologic record from a young-earth perspective.

Philological analysis supports the conclusion that Peleg was named for something that occurred after the worldwide Flood, of a geological nature, that had global geographical significance. Lastly, alternative explanations of what that could have been (geologically speaking) are identified and analyzed, from a young-earth creationist perspective.

Keywords

Peleg, Ice Age, divided, philology, continental drift, canalization, catastrophic river systems

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