Q: Was the flood global or local? Mike is on the fence. The Hebrew word "earth" often means dry ground/land, not planet — even in Genesis where "everyone throughout the earth" comes to Egypt during the famine, it clearly doesn't mean globally. The theology (God judging sin, picture of Christ) is unaffected by scope.

The word "earth" in the OT frequently means land/region, not the planet. Genesis itself uses it non-globally (e.g., famine passage). A local flood could still kill all humans if humanity hadn't spread globally yet. The theology of the flood — divine judgment for sin, salvation through the ark — remains intact regardless of geographic scope.