016. V. The Story Of The Great Flood

§ V. THE STORY OF THE GREAT FLOOD Genesis 6:1 to Genesis 8:22, Genesis 9:8-11

1.Union between divine and human beings. Now it came to pass when men had begun to be many on the face of the ground, and daughters had been born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took to themselves as wives whomsoever they chose.

2.Jehovah’s disapproval. Then said Jehovah, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, inasmuch as he is only flesh; therefore his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.

3.Origin of giants. The Nephilim [giants] were on the earth in those days, for when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, they bore children to them. These were the heroes who were famous in olden time.

4. Penalty for man’s guilt. When Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every purpose in the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, it was a source of regret that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Therefore Jehovah said, I will destroy from the face of the ground man whom I have created, for I regret that I have made mankind.

5.Directions to make the ark. But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah. Therefore he said to Noah, Make thyself an ark of cypress wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and thou shalt smear it within and without with pitch. And this is the plan according to which thou shalt make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make for the ark, and a cubit in height shalt thou make it; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in its side. With lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

I.Literary Form of the Flood Story. The oldest Hebrew account of the flood is not altogether complete, because the final compiler of Genesis has closely blended it with the late priestly version, which he made the basis of the composite narrative. The dimensions of the ark were probably the same in both versions. To illustrate how two originally complete and variant accounts of the same event have frequently been combined in the Old Testament, and how the two independent stories can be recovered, they have been printed here in parallel columns. The composite narrative of the flood is prefaced by what was originally an independent tradition regarding the origin of the race of the Nephilim or giants. According to Numbers 13:33 they still survived in the days of the settlement of Canaan, indicating that this earlier tradition knew nothing of the flood. In its present form the story is incomplete. It has been joined to the story of the flood because it suggested one of the reasons for Jehovah’s disfavor and the signal judgment which followed.

II.Origin of the Story Regarding the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men. This tale has been called an example of “unassimilated mythology.” The Hebrew prophet has simply reduced to its briefest possible form the popular tradition regarding the origin of the giants, who were believed to have lived in Palestine in ancient times. As. the result of a natural psychological tendency, most early peoples believed that the older races conquered by their ancestors were of gigantic stature. Herodotus states that the Egyptians were the only race that did not hold this belief. Recent excavations in Palestine have shown, however, that the early cave-dwellers, who preceded the Semitic immigrants, actually averaged only a little over five feet in height.

III.Ancient Parallels. The closest parallels to the story of the unions between divine and human beings come from the Persian and Greek mythology. Persian tradition states that Ahriman and his fallen angels entered into similar relations with the daughters of men. In Greek mythology the Titans are the result of such unions. In his familiar dialogues Plato says: “Do you not know that the heroes are demigods? All of them spring either from the love of a god for a mortal woman or of a mortal man for a goddess.” On the basis of the ancient Hebrew narrative, later Christian thought developed the elaborate doctrine of the fall of the Satan, which Milton has idealized in his immortal cantos.

IV.The Oldest Babylonian Story of the Flood(cf. St. O. T. I. p. 373-8). The biblical versions imply that the scene of the story of the flood was in the East. The method of constructing the ark was also characteristically Babylonian. The Assyrian inscriptions prove convincingly that the common Semitic tradition of the flood is of Babylonian origin. The oldest and best preserved version is found in the eleventh tablet of the great epic which begins with the account of creation. Recently discovered fragments of an older version prove that the story was current in Babylonia at least as early as 2000 B.C. A few extracts will suffice to illustrate the close parallels to the biblical version. The Babylonian Noah first narrates how the great gods determined to destroy by a flood the ancient city of Shurippak, beside the Euphrates. But, Ea, the lord of wisdom, to save his faithful worshipper, warned him:

Man of Shurippak, son of Ubara-tutu, Construct a house, build a ship;

Leave goods, look after [thy] life, Forsake possessions, and save [thy] life!

Cause all kinds of living things to go up into the ship. The ship which thou shalt build,—

Let its form be long; And its breadth shall equal its length. On the great deep launch it.

I understood and said to Ea my lord:

“Behold, my lord, what thou hast commanded I have reverently received and will carry out.”

Then follows Ea’s directions in response to the question, What answer shall I give to the city, the people, and the elders ? The next day Parnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, began his work. On the fifth day I laid the frame of the ship.

According to the plan, its sides were one hundred and twenty cubits high. The border of its roof was likewise one hundred and twenty cubits in breadth;

I traced out its form, I marked it off, I built six decks on it, Thus I divided it into seven stories, Its interior I divided into nine compartments.

Plugs [to keep out] the water I drove in from within.

I provided a rudder-pole and supplied what was necessary;

Six sars of pitch I poured over the outside, Three sars of bitumen I poured over the inside.

He then goes on to recount in detail the supply of provisions—oil, wine, oxen, and lambs—which he took on board, and to tell of the great feast with which he celebrated the completion of his work.

After taking on all his possessions of gold and silver and living creatures, he adds:

I brought on board my family and household, Cattle of the field, beasts of the field, the craftsmen, All of them I brought on board.

Shamash had appointed a time [saying], “When the lord of darkness at evening shall send down a destructive rain, Then enter into the ship and close the door.” When the appointed time came, he entered the ship and closed the door and entrusted the ship to his captain. The description of the tempest that follows is especially striking: When the first light of dawn shone forth, There rose from the horizon a dark cloud, within which Adad thundered, Nabu and Marduk marched at the front, The heralds passed over mountains and land;

Nergal tore out the ship’s mast, Ninib advanced, following up the attack, The spirits of earth, raised torches, With their sheen they lighted up the world.

Adad’s tempest reached to heaven, And all light was changed to darkness.

Even the gods are terrified and “cowered like dogs at the edge of the heavens,” The gods, bowed down, sat there weeping Close pressed together were their lips. For six days and nights Wind, flood and storm overwhelmed the land. But when the seventh day arrived there was an abatement of the storm, the flood and the tempest, Which (like a host) had contended; The sea became calm, the tempestuous wind was still, the flood ceased.

Then I looked for the race of mortals, but every voice was hushed, And all mankind had been turned to clay. As soon as the light of day appeared, I prayed.

I opened a hole so as to let the light fall upon my cheeks, I bowed down and sat there weeping, Tears flowed down my cheeks.

I looked in all directions, toward the border of the sea;

After twenty-four hours an island rose up, The ship approached the mountain Nisir, The mountain Nisir caught the ship and held it fast. So also during the five succeeding days, it held fast the ship. When the seventh day arrived, I sent forth a dove and let it loose, The dove went forth, but came back;

Because it found no resting-place, it returned:

Then I sent forth a swallow, but it came back;

Because it found no resting-place, it returned.

Then I sent forth a raven and let it loose. The raven went forth and saw that the waters had decreased; It fed, it waded, it croaked, but did not return.

Then I sent forth everything in all directions, and offered a sacrifice, I made an offering of incense on the highest peak of the mountain.

Seven and seven bowls I placed there, And over them, I poured out calamus, cedar wood and fragrant herbs. The gods inhaled the odor, The gods inhaled the sweet odor, The gods gathered like flies above the sacrifice. The god Bel, who had been especially active in causing the flood, was enraged to find that any man had escaped destruction. Ea, however, placated him by urging that it was wrong to destroy all mankind, righteous and evil alike.

Then Bel took his counsel, And went on board the ship, Seized my hand and led me up, Led up my wife also and had her kneel beside me, Touched our shoulders, stepped between us and blessed us: “Formerly Parnapishtim was human; But now Parnapishtim and his wife shall be gods like us, And Parnapishtim shall dwell in the distance, at the confluence of the streams.”

Then they took me and made me dwell in the distance, at the confluences of the streams.

V.Similarity Between the Oldest Babylonian and theOldestHebrew Accounts. The parallels between this version of the Babylonian story recorded in the tablets from the great Assyrian library, founded in the middle of the eighth century B.C., and the later Judean prophetic account, current in Judea during the same century, are exceedingly close. In each a special revelation is given to the hero of the story. Animals, as well as people, are taken into the ark; the flood is caused by an extraordinary downpour of rain; seven is the favorite number; all living things on the earth are destroyed; birds are sent out three times before it is found that the waters have subsided. After disembarking, the hero of the flood offers a sacrifice, the sweet savor of which wins divine favor and the assurance that mankind will never again be destroyed by a great flood. These analogies are too many, and too striking, to be explained as mere coincidences.

VI.The Later Babylonian Version. The Chaldean priest Berossus, quoted by Eusebius, has preserved a later version of the same Babylonian story. Xisuthros, the hero,, was the last of the ten ancient Babylonian kings. To him Kronos appeared in a dream and informed him that at a certain date men would be destroyed by a flood. He commanded him to bring all the sacred writings and bury them at the city of Sippar, and then to build a ship and go aboard it with all his possessions and nearest friends. He was also to provide food and drink, and take with him all kinds of quadrupeds and birds. If he was asked where he was going, he was to say, To petition the gods to bless mankind.

Accordingly he obeyed, and built a ship fifteen stadia long and two in width, brought all aboard as commanded, including his wife, children, nearest friends, and the pilot. When the flood began to recede, he sent out a bird, but this found no place to rest, and so returned to the ship. After some days he sent forth another bird. This returned, but with mud on its feet. When he sent forth the third it returned not. Then he knew that land had emerged, and, taking off the cover of the ship, he found that it had stranded on a mountain of Armenia.

After he had disembarked with his wife, daughter, and pilot, he kissed the earth, built an altar, made an offering to the gods, and then disappeared. When he did not return, the others set out to find him, calling his name. They never saw him again, but a voice from heaven commanded them to fear the gods, since it was because of his reverence for the gods that Xisuthros had been taken to dwell with them. The same honor was also granted to his wife, daughter and the pilot.

VII.Similarity and Contrast Between the Later Babylonian and Hebrew Versions. This later version illustrates the variations that the tradition had undergone as the result of transmission during three or four centuries among a literary people like the Babylonians. It is also noteworthy that the later biblical version is most closely parallel to this later Babylonian story. In both the hero was the tenth in his line and was famous for his piety; the destruction was universal; and the ark was stranded on a mountain in Armenia, which is identified in the later biblical version with Mount Ararat. These striking analogies suggest, as do the stories of the creation, that the Jewish priests in Babylonia were influenced by the version of the tradition which they then found current in the land of the exile. The variations between the Babylonian and biblical versions of the story are equally instructive, for they definitely illustrate the influence of transmission among the Hebrews and the nature of the work of Israel’s inspired prophets and priests. Instead of many rival deities, one God rules supreme over mankind and the universe. No traces remain of the grotesque heathen elements in the Babylonian versions, such as the deception of mankind, the conflicts between the gods, and their fright at the extent of the flood. The only possible exception is the statement that Jehovah smelled the sweet savor of the sacrifice. Even here the biblical version is far removed from the gross picture of the gods gathered like flies above the sacrifice. The biblical versions alone give a just cause for the great judgment, and reveal a benign rather than a capricious purpose behind even the seeming calamities of human history. In the hands of Israel’s teachers the ancient story has received a universal and ethical interpretation.

VIII.Historyofthe Common Semitic Flood Story. In the light of these different versions the history of the tradition may be tentatively traced. It may have originally been suggested simply by the annual floods and fogs which inundate the Tigris-Euphrates valley. More probably, as the earliest Babylonian story indicates, it was based on the memory of a great local inundation, caused perhaps by a hurricane sweeping up from the Persian Gulf at the time of the spring floods, inundating not only the city of Surippak, but the entire Euphrates valley. Possibly it may have been due to a sinking of the land. Apparently, the only survivors were a few who escaped in a ship which was driven by the winds until it grounded on the low hills north of Babylonia. The mythological elements would naturally be added later, and in time the tradition would grow until it became, as in the later biblical versions, a universal destruction. In this connection it is suggestive that the latest biblical version, the priestly, represents the flood as lasting a full year instead of sixty-eight days (as in the earlier), and as covering the tops of the highest mountains, that is rising to a depth of fully five miles above the ordinary level of the sea.

IX.Transmission of the Babylonian Story to the Hebrews. The channels through which the Babylonian tradition could find its way to Palestine were many. Possibly it was brought from Mesopotamia by the Aramean ancestors of the Hebrews. It may have been received through the Canaanites, who were in possession of many Babylonian traditions when the Hebrews entered the land. The close analogies between the Judean prophetic version and the one current at the same time in Assyria suggest that the conquering armies of the great empire brought it, together with the many other religious ideas and institutions, which gained acceptance in Judah during the reign of Ahaz and especially that of Manasseh. If so, this would explain why the flood story was not found in the early, but only in the later, Judean prophetic narratives.

X.Flood Stories Among Other Peoples. Flood stories in variant forms are found among most primitive peoples (cf. Hastings’ D. B., article, Flood). The only races who do not have them are those living in Africa and central and eastern Asia. The resemblances between these different stories seem to be due to similar local causes and psychological tendencies, rather than to descent from a common tradition. Often the original basis of the story was a great inundation or the subsidence of large areas of land. Sometimes it was suggested by the recurring floods of springtime. Among island and coastland peoples, the tradition was based on the fact that their ancestors came on boats over the great sea. The discovery of geological evidence that the sea had once covered elevated areas also fostered the growth of the tradition.

XI.Meaning of the Story Concerning the Sons of God. In the light of its many parallels the meaning of the biblical narrative is clear. The opening story takes us back to the misty past to which was traced all that was extraordinary. It reflects the primitive belief that the gods had bodily forms and passions, and that the demi-gods, descended from them, entered into marital relations with humankind. In the popular thought of the prophet’s day, the giants, who figured in their ancient traditions, were believed to be the offspring of such unions. The effect of myths like these was not wholesome. In Greek mythology the example of the gods was often far from moral. The text is obscure, but it was apparently to correct this immoral implication that the prophet introduced the ancient story. Since man has shown his frailty by thus going astray, God’s life-giving spirit will not always remain in him to keep him alive. Rather the length of his life shall be limited to one hundred and twenty years.

XII.Interpretation of the Oldest Biblical Story. When Jehovah found that the ideals and aims of mankind were base, he realized with sorrow that his hopes and benign provisions for the development and happiness of humanity were being ruined by human sin. Hence, nothing remained but to destroy the evil, and begin again with the noblest type of man. Noah, who by his character and acts had won Jehovah’s favor, was selected for the new beginning.

Accordingly he was instructed to make a box-like boat, about four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five feet broad, and forty feet high. Like the Babylonian houses and barges, it was to be made water-tight by means of bitumen. It was apparently to be lighted by an aperture about eighteen inches in height, running along under the projecting roof. Being smaller than the Babylonian ship, it had only three instead of seven stories. When the ark was completed, Noah was instructed to enter it with his household, and a pair of each of the species of animals and birds regarded by the later Hebrew law as unclean. Of the clean animals and birds seven were to be taken, that ample provision might thus be made for the needs of sacrifice. In the parallel priestly version two of each species suffice, for the later priests taught that sacrifice began with Moses.

After Noah had complied with the divine command, the rain poured down for forty days until all living things on the land were destroyed. Noah, and those with him, alone survived to perpetuate the original work of creation. When, at the end of the forty (in the late priestly version, one hundred and fifty) days the rain ceased and the waters began to subside, Noah sent forth a raven, which because of its predatory habits, did not return. The statement that he waited seven days before sending out the dove a second time implies that the compiler, in combining the two versions, has left out the fact that Noah also waited seven days before he first sent out the dove. The Babylonian order—a dove, a swallow, and then a raven—is the more natural, as well as the older; but nothing could surpass the picturesqueness of the Hebrew prophetic narrative, especially the picture of the dove returning to the anxious waiters at eventide with the freshly plucked olive leaf in her bill. The selection of Noah to inaugurate a new era did not prove a mistake. His first act, on emerging from the ark, was to express his thanksgiving and adoration by sacrifice. A huge holocaust, consisting of victims of every species of clean beast and bird, was offered. As the placating savor of this offering, that symbolized gratitude and devotion, rose to heaven, Jehovah’s promise was given that he would never again be. led by man’s evil propensities to visit universal judgment upon the earth.

XIII.Aim and Teachings. The late priestly story of the flood culminates in the new covenant, sealed by the rainbow, in accordance with which God promised never again to destroy mankind by a flood. He also renewed man’s commission to rule over all living things, and permitted him to eat animal as well as vegetable food, provided only he abstained from eating the blood. The prophetic version likewise closes with a promise of Jehovah’s mercy and care, but its primary aim is spiritual and ethical, not legal. It emphasizes, as do the preceding stories, the terrible and inevitable consequences of human sin and the greatness of God’s goodness.

Among the more important truths illustrated by the ancient story in its prophetic form are: (1) Man’s freedom and responsibility. Even though it was his supreme desire, Jehovah could not make men virtuous. (2) The ultimate aim of creation is the moral and spiritual evolution of man. (3) Evil men and evil acts thwart the divine purpose. (4) In the divine economy of the universe, men or nations, or generations, that thus thwart God’s purpose, have no permanent title to life. (5) Righteousness delivereth a man or a nation. (6) The worship and devotion of mankind are pleasing to God. (7) God is eager to surround men with all that is conducive to their highest development and happiness.