The message of the flood story also seems to be that when humans destroy the moral basis of society, when they are violent or cruel or unkind, they endanger the very existence of that society.

而洪水所表达的信息是,当人类毁掉了社会的道德根基，当人类变得暴力，残忍，这都会危及到人类社会的存在。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选

What better way to drive home the point that inhumanity and violence undermine the very foundations of society than to describe a situation in which a cosmic catastrophe results from human corruption and violence.

我们应该铭记在心的一点是,任何非人道的行为都会侵蚀人类社会存在的根基,而不是简单的描述一个人类因其堕落和血腥,招致的一场大灾难的场景。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选

You may think you've gotten away with something, but every act of social exploitation, every act of moral corruption, pollutes the sanctuary more and more until such time as God is driven out entirely and human society is devoured by its own viciousness and death-dealing.

犯了罪的人也许认为自己侥幸逃过一劫，然而他对所作的每一个行为，每一次的道德堕落，都会越来越玷污圣所,知道有一天上帝完全弃圣所而去,人类社会充斥着我们自身的邪恶和毁灭行为。

耶鲁公开课 - 旧约导论课程节选