RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Noah
sity of Pennsylvania has communicated what he
regards as a new version of the Babylonian deluge
story (Babylonian Expedition of the University of
Pennsylvania, series D., vol. v., fasc.
5. A New 1 : The Earliest Version of the Baby- Tablet. Ionian Deluge Story and the Temple Library of Nippur, Philadelphia, 1910). The text is on a tablet of unbaked clay, is 2| inches long and 2f inches wide, is by Dr. Hilprecht dated between 2137 and 2005 B.C., and was found in what he calls " Tablet Hill " at Nippur. The writing on one side is entirely lost, on the other there are remains of fourteen lines, no one of which, however, is complete. Provisional restoration and, upon that basis, translation of the text is furnished by the discoverer as given below, also by Prof. Fritz Hommel of Munich. As thus made out, the fragment is in closer accord with the Biblical account (Gen. vi-viii.) than anything thus far known from Babylonian sources. The question of date, and of the restoration and translations proposed are not settled, there being a disposition among Assyriologists to regard the conclusions reached as at least subject to revision.
Hilprecht's translation is as follows:
1 thee,
2 fthe confines of heaven and earth] I will loosen,
3 [a deluge I will make, and] it shall sweep away all men
together;
4 [but seek thou lifje before the deluge cometh forth;
5 [for over all living beings], as many as there are, I will
bring overthrow, destruction, annihilation.
6 . . . . build a great ship and
7 . . . . total height shall be its structure.
8 ... it shall be a houseboat carrying what has been saved
of life.
9 . . .with a strong deck cover (it).
10 . . .[The ship] which thou shalt make,
11 .... [into it brijng the beast of the field, the bird of the
heavens,
12 ... .[and the creeping things, two of everything] instead
of a number,
13 .... and the family . . .
14 ...and(?)...
Hommel's rendering is as follows:
2 [The springs of the deep] will I open,
3 [A flood will I send], which will affect all mankind at once.
4 [But seek thou deliverance], before the flood breaks forth,
5 [for over all living beings], however many they are, will
I bring annihilation, destruction, and ruin.
6 [Take wood and pitch] and build a large shipl
7 [ . . . cubits] be its complete height.
S . . a houseboat shall it be, containing those who preserve their life. 9 . . . . with a strong roofing cover it.
10 [. . . .the ship] which thou makest, '
11 [take into it. . .] the animals of the field, the birds of
the air
12 [and the reptiles, two of each] instead of their (whole)
number,
13 .... and the family of the . .
G. W. G.]
The Jehovistic passage, ix. 18-27, reports that Noah planted a vineyard (ix. 20) after the flood; wine is a product of the ground as changed by the waters. Overcome by indulgence in this unknown beverage, he is derided by his son Ham; the other sons show filial piety. This difference in the behavior of his sons determines the curse and the blessing that Noah pronounces: what Ham has done to his father Ham's younger son Canaan will do to him. The blessing bestowed on Shem takes
the form of thanks to Yahweh, Shem's god, for the gift of such a son. The use of this divine name signifies that the descendants of Shem will stand in a peculiarly intimate rela- 6. The tion to Yahweh. After the words " God Narrative shall enlarge Japheth," a correspondin Relation ing distinction for Shem should be exto History, pected and God is best taken as the subject of the following verb, giving the reading: " God shall dwell in the tents of Shem " — Japheth's blessing gives him the wide earth for his domain, but if he wish to see how God comes to man, he must look toward Shem. This distinction presupposes a separation of races, and Gen. xi. explains how this came to pass. History fulfilled the words of the patriarch: Canaan was rooted out by Israel ; the Persians, Macedonians, and Romans of Japheth's race conquered the Phenicians of Canaan's progeny and the Egyptians, while the Semitic races either shared the same fate or, like the Africans of to-day, groan under the yoke of slavery. Another view regards these verses as containing a personification of the races of a later time, as a vaticinium ex eventu; in this case, however, it would be difficult to understand why the hatred of the Israelites against Canaanites should find an expression in a recital of Ham's misbehavior. According to the Masoretic text, the flood occurred in the year of the world 1656. This chronology is disputed. Where the Bible counts 4000 years from the creation to the time of Christ, Assyriologists and Egyptologists believe they can show that, about the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C., a developed civilization existed in Egypt and Babylonia. In the Biblical narrative, but 365 years intervene between the deluge and Abraham's migration to Canaan, a period insufficient to explain the growth of complicated conditions. It is therefore asserted that this period must be extended. But difficulties intervene. The genealogies and figures are definitely ordered. May not some arbitrary system have been employed? Since 2666 years are said to have elapsed from the creation to the Exodus and this figure is two-thirds of 4000, the number 1656 has been regarded as originating in a system wherein 4000 years are supposed to elapse before the coming of the Messiah. In this connection it may be noted that in Matt, i., a like number of names are given for each of the three periods into which the genealogy is divided. It has also been conjectured that the long lives of the patriarchs signify epochs of antediluvian history, designated by their chief representatives. See Time, Biblical Reckoning of.
Ezek. xiv. 14 names Daniel and Job with Noah as just men in the midst of a perverse generation. The New Testament alludes to Noah and the flood (Matt. xxiv. 37 sqq.; I Peter iii. 20; II Peter ii. 5, iii. 6; Heb. xi. 7). Noah appears here as an " heir of the righteousness which is by faith " who saves his family from destruction and is therefore a " preacher of righteousness." (W VoLCKf.)
Bibliography: Above all should be consulted the latest commentaries on Genesis; much of the literature under the articles Assyria; Babylonia; Creation, Babylonian Accounts; and Nimrod contain discussions pertinent to part of the text. The recent extended 4iscus-
Noaillea Nolasco