Genesis 6-9: Noah and the Flood
Genesis 6-8
Here we come to another part of the bible that has merited much discussion. Was there really a flood that wiped out early civilization? There seems to be reason to suspect that a flood occurred as there are many deluge stories from many different cultures.
Is it true? Scientists have found evidence that points to there being a history of water in places thousands of miles from any oceans. Can this be proof of a flood, or did early man also see this as well and try to explain it? This answer may forever remain unknown.
The deluge account that we find in the Bible is that of Noah and his family. It is the clearest example that we have of a doublet. In this case we have a Priestly source and a YHWH source, much as we did in the creation tales of the first and second chapters.
I have typed the whole of the flood story starting with Chapter 6, verse 5. It can be found by clicking HERE. You can clearly see two stories cut and pasted together and represented as one story.
As for the analysis, let's take a look:
Genesis 6 starts off right where Genesis four left off. Remove the first part of the book of generations in chapter five, and you still have a continuous tale with only the insertion of Lamech begetting Noah.
Verse 1 of chapter 6 says that men began to multiply and that daughters were born to them. Sexist, or something more sinister? Verse 2 makes it clear that we have a male author putting the men on a pedestal when he says that sons of God were attracted to the daughters of men. Hmmmm... I seem to recall hearing that God only had one son... guess that is wrong.
Verse 3 is confusing as well. God says that his spirit will not strive with man for that he is also flesh and his days shall be 120 years. Did God mean that mankind would only last 120 years? Even if we say that men would live no longer than 120 years each, it would prove false for Methusaleh was the king of longevity living 969 years! Is this what the author thought? No matter how you look at this verse it is confusing. Webster's defines Strive as, to work hard, or to contend with. Did the author picture a struggle between God and man?
Verse 4 also confuses. "There were giants in the Earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." Wow! Giants! Dinosaurs? Or is this a hint at what it really is...a copy of pagan mythologies? The Roman myths, among many others, had giants. Was this a way to incorporate foerign ideas? Only speculation may answer. And what is meant "in those days; and also after that..." After what?
What are men of renown? Famous men? Honored men? Gloried men? These are synonyms of renown. Were there honorable men alive? If so the whole idea behind the flood makes no sense, as we shall see.
Genesis is the beginning of our flood account. God saw that men were evil, and that their every thought was only evil... though some were honorable. How do evil men also get the title, "of renown"? This seems to me to be a contradiction in terms. Were the children of this time also evil, thinking only evil thoughts?
Verse 6, God regrets creating man, and putting him on the earth, as if an omnipotent, omniscient being would create something that it would later find to be sufficient reason to repent over. Is this not also a contradiction? Why would God do something like this? It was only 8 generations by one account since creation, and only 10 by the other! God created such a mistake?
Well, for whatever reason God had, the story tells us that God brought about a flood, and decided to choose one man and his family to continue the human race. A perfect man. Noah. Why Noah is deemed perfect is unknown to us and proves suspect a little bit later.
God told Noah to build an ark and gave Noah instructions on how to do so. The instructions included the following dimensions: 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits in width, and 30 cubits the height. The exact length of a cubit has been debated. Some say that the length is 18 inches, while others say 20 inches. Here are the respective dimensions in modern terms then: (18) 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. (20) 500 feet long, 83-1/3 feet wide, and 50 feet high.
Now, I am not sure, but I think that this would be nowhere near enough room to house as many animals as we are told were brought. There are 2 versions of how many animals were brought, one saying 2 of each animal and the other saying 7 pair of clean animals and 1 pair of unclean animals. The distinction being that a clean animal is suitable for sacrifice.
Assuming there is enough room for the animals, there is then the problem of food. Not just for the animals but also for Noah and his family. Are we to assume that they went vegetarian while they were sailing? And what of the animals that are carnivores? Were extra animals brought for lions, tigers, and the like to consume?
Well, for whatever reason God thought that the animals were evil as well, for he decided to kill all of them with the humans. Why some animals were spared and others were killed is unknown to us, but there is no mention of God destroying anything that lived in the water. Surely God did not drown the fish. I guess animals like Killer Whales and Sharks are not considered evil....or at least not as evil as say cows.
Assuming that all of these things can be reconciled, we now have the conflicts of details within this story. How long was this flood? Traditional beliefs have it being 40 days and 40 nights. While this is told in 7:17 and 8:6, a different length of time is alluded to in 7:11 and 8:13. 7:11 says the flood began in Noah's 600th year, in the second month on the 17th day the flood began. And in 8:13 it says that it was in the 601st year, the first month, on the first of the month the water had dried up. My math may not be great but this seems more like 317 or 318 days by a 365 day calendar. If it is by a calendar of lesser days, it would obviously be less, but to make the flood only 40 days, the calendar would have to have something like 87 days.
What of the number of animals? 1 pair of each, or 7 pair of clean animals, and 1 pair of unclean? There are two accounts.
Did Noah send out a dove or a raven?
Conclusion
The contradictions in this story are so many that we could spend the greater part of the day looking at them. I feel Friedman's seperation that I have linked above explains why there are so many. What will remain unanswered is why the redactor cut and pasted these two stories together when the contradictions are so glaringly obvious.
My belief is that the author presented this as lore and myth and not as an actual history of what happened. That such a man as Noah existed is completely unknowable. I believe that he probably did not, but if he did he was probably more like some tribal hero than the father of the human race.
That a deluge occurred is likely. That it wiped out all of civilization and all animals is highly unlikely. Especially since it says in chapter 7, verse 20 "Fifteen cubits did the water prevail; and the mountains were covered." I could be wrong, but I bet that the mountains in the times of the author were probably taller than 22 to 30 feet tall.
Genesis 9
At the end of chapter 8, God told Noah that he would no longer destroy every living thing. God said that as long as the earth remained there would be seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night... forever.
The beginning of Chapter 9 is the continuation of God's talking to Noah. God tells Noah and his sons to replenish the earth. God tells Noah and the others that all animals would from that day hate and fear men, but men would have dominance over all animals, and all animals would be a source of food for men.
Verse 4 seems to be some kind of admonishment against eating raw meat, or living meat. Verse 5 and 6 are God forbidding murder, and says that anyone who does spill another's blood will have his blood spilled. Why? Because man is created in God's image. Does this mean that Man is to be revered as God is to be revered?
God says that as a symbol of this covenant he has made with man and beast, that whenever a cloud is in the sky, so shall God's bow. I think the symbolism that the author was after was the rainbow after a storm. Nice.
Verse 18 lists Noah's children and also tells us that Ham had begotten Canaan.
Verse 20 tells that Noah became a farmer after the flood and grew grapes for wine. It goes on to say that he drank of the wine and became drunk and was naked in his tent.
Now Ham saw that his father was naked and went to tell his brothers. The two other brothers, Shem and Japtheth, walked backwards into Noah's tent and covered the nakedness of their father, so they would not see that their father was uncovered.
Noah somehow knew what had occurred when he awoke, and was upset with Ham for seeing him naked. So as a result, Noah cursed Ham's son and said that he would be the servant to servants. Noah said that Canaan would be servant to Shem and Japtheth.
The chapter concludes with saying that Noah lived for 950 years and then died.
Conclusion
Well, the flood has ended and God's most perfect man leads his children and all of the animals to replenish the earth. God makes all of the animals afraid of man, and also says that every moving thing is suitable for food.
God sets a rainbow in the sky as a token for man to know that their covenant shall never be broken. Then man starts about his life.
Noah becomes a farmer and grows grapes for wine. He later drinks of the winet. Becoming drunk he is naked and is exposed to the sight of his youngest son. Upon waking Noah is quite upset and does not curse the person he feels did him wrong, but curses his offspring to an existance of servancy. Then Noah dies 350 years later.
Is Noah so perfect that he gets drunk and naked?
Is cursing someone to live their life a specific way not what we consider sorcery or spellcasting?
Is punishing the son for the "crimes" of the father a "perfect" thing to do?
Maybe our perceptions of what perfection is differs today from what it was at the time of the writing of this story. Maybe the author considered Noah to be perfect before the flood and as a result of the stress due to living couped up in a small boat with every imaginable animal made him become less perfect.
I think the story of Noah is single-handedly sufficient proof that these stories are meant to be taken allegorically. I think that these tales were recorded as lore. A recording of famous myth stories.
In any case, the author realized that 3 couples fathering the race made more sense than just one couple, for that is what the author records. Chapter 10 continues the book of generations.
PREV - Gen. 1-5: Creation to
Lamech
NEXT - Gen. 10-13: Babylon & On