Noah's Ark Flood Narrative

Genesis Flood Text Aspects

• P & J source material• The Babylonian Gilgamesh Flood resemblance of Bible account.• Comparison to Creation Story• God saves through Noah • Saves through Abraham, Moses, • God saves through Jesus

Epic of Gilgamesh

Similarities with Genesis Story / 20 major points in common. The texts are obviously linked in some way or other.

Also differences in the narratives.We have to read the Bible with the thought of

knowing the Israelites knew of the Babylonian flood story

Almost all Religions and cultures have an ancient flood story

P & J source Material

The Flood 6:9-9:17Two parallel narratives edited into one storyP source: 6:9-22; 7:6,11,13-16a,17a,18-21,24;

8:1,2a,3b-5,7,13a,14-19; 9:1-17J source: 7:1-5,7-10,12,16b,17b,22-23; 8:2b-3a,6,8-

12,13b,20-22

Comparing P & J• J source God’s name Yahweh• Flood caused by the perversity of heart• seven pairs of clean animals and 2 pairs of

unclean animals.• Flood last 40 days and 40 nights• P source God’s name is called Elohim• Cause of flood much more generic • All of creation is considered is good

distinctions between clean and unclean will be given only at Mt Sinai. Two of every…

• Flood last one year

Comparing P & J• According to most exegetes, the account of

the flood is the product of redactional work that combined two parallel, complete narratives of the same event.

• Campbell and Obrien, “Sources of the Pentateuch” summarizes

“The message is ‘polyphonic.’ Like a cantata sung by two or more voices. A reading that would attempt to eliminate the different voices in order to defend the unity of the composition would not only risk abolishing certain facts in the text but also leaving an important part of the message out.”

Noah and Abraham Parallels

• Then God said to Noah (8:15) The Lord said to Abram (12:1)• Come out from the ark (8:16) Leave your country (12:1)• So Noah came out (8:18) So Abram left (12:4)• Then Noah built an altar to the Lord (8:20) So Abram built an altar there to the Lord (12:7)• Then God blessed Noah (9:1) “And I [God] will bless you” (12:2)• “Be fruitful and increase” (9:1) “I will make you into a great nation” (12:2)• “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants” (9:9) -“To your

offspring, I will give this land” (12:7)his land”

Flood & Ark Allusions

• God sent a wind to dry up the land for the Ark (Genesis 8:1)• God sent a wind to dry up the Red Sea for Israel to cross during

the Exodus (Exodus 14:21)

Wood of Ark prefigures the wood of the Cross

• Noah built the ark to save the human race from the deluge

• Christ established the church, the only means of salvation and restoring spiritual order.

• Noah’s ark and the ark of the covenant were two different kinds of wood containers, both used to save God’s people (see Gn 6:14ff; see Sm 4:3)

• The wood of the Ark prefigures the wood of the cross used for our salvation