Part 4 (2/2)

Rare is the man who can look back over his life and not confess, at least to himself, that the things which have made him most a man are the very things from which he tried with all his soul to escape.

If we would attain happiness, We must first attain helpfulness.

But stay! no age was e'er degenerate Unless men held it at too cheap a rate, For in our likeness still we shape our fate.

--_Lowell_.

I.

THE TWO BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS OF THE FLOOD.

Careful readers of Genesis 6-9 have long recognized certain difficulties in interpreting the narrative as it now stands. Thus, for example, in 6:20 Noah is commanded to take into the ark two of every kind of beast and bird; but in 7:2, 3 he is commanded to take in seven of all the clean beasts and birds. According to 7:4, 12 the flood came as the result of a forty days' rain; but according to 7:11 it was because the fountains of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. Again, according to 7:17, the flood continued on the earth forty days; while according to 7:24 its duration was a hundred and fifty days.

These fundamental variations and the presence of duplicate versions of the same incidents point, some writers think, to two originally distinct accounts of the flood which have been closely woven together by the final editor of the book of Genesis. When these two accounts are disentangled, they are each practically complete and apparently represent variant versions of the same flood story.

(See _Hist. Bible_, I, 53-56, for these two parallel accounts.) The one, known as the prophetic version, was written, these writers believe, about 650 B.C. It has the flowing, vivid, picturesque, literary style and the point of view of the prophetic teacher. In this account the number seven prevails. Seven of each clean beast and bird are taken into the ark to provide food for Noah and his family. Seven days the waters rose, and at intervals of seven days he sent out a raven and a dove. The flood from its beginning to the time when Noah disembarked continued sixty-eight days. At the end, when he had determined by sending out birds that the waters had subsided, he went forth from the ark and reared an altar and offered sacrifice to Jehovah of every clean beast and bird.

The other and more detailed account is apparently the sequel of the late priestly narratives found in Genesis 1 and 5. The style is that of a legal writer--formal, exact and repet.i.tious. In this account only two of each kind of beast and bird are taken into the ark. The flood lasts for over a year and is universal, covering even the tops of the highest mountains. No animals are sacrificed, for according to the priestly writer this custom was first inst.i.tuted by Moses. When the flood subsides, however, a covenant is concluded and is sealed by the rainbow in accordance with which man's commission to rule over all other living things is renewed and divine permission is given to each to eat of the flesh of animals, provided only that men carefully abstain from eating the blood. This later account is dated by this group of modern Biblical scholars about 400 B.C.

II.

THE CORRESPONDING BABYLONIAN FLOOD STORIES.

Closely parallel to these two variant Biblical accounts of the flood are the two Babylonian versions, which have fortunately been almost wholly recovered. The older Babylonian account is found in the eleventh tablet of the Gilgamesh epic, which comes from the library of a.s.shurbanipal. This great conqueror lived contemporaneously with Mana.s.seh during whose reign a.s.syrian influence was paramount in the kingdom of Judah. In his quest for healing and immortality Gilgamesh reached the abode of the Babylonian hero of the flood. In response to Gilgamesh's question as to how he, a mortal, attained immortality the Babylonian Noah recounts the story of the flood. It was brought about by the Babylonian G.o.ds in order to destroy the city of Shurippak, situated on the banks of the Euphrates. The G.o.d Ea gave the warning to his wors.h.i.+pper, the hero of the flood, and commanded him:

Construct a house, build a s.h.i.+p, Leave goods, look after life, Forsake possessions, and save life, Cause all kinds of living things to go up into the s.h.i.+p.

The s.h.i.+p which thou shalt build,-- Exact shall be its dimensions: 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.”

A detailed account then follows of the building of the ark. Its dimensions were one hundred and twenty cubits in each direction.

It was built in six stories, each of which was divided into nine parts. Plentiful provisions were next carried on board and a great feast was held to commemorate the completion of the ark. After carrying on board his treasures of silver and gold he adds:

All the living creatures of all kinds I loaded on it.

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.

In the evening at the command of the G.o.d Shamash the rains began to descend. Then the Babylonian Noah entered the s.h.i.+p and closed the door and entrusted the great house with its contents to the captain. The description of the tempest that follows is exceedingly vivid and picturesque.

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 pa.s.sed over mountains and land; Nergal tore out the s.h.i.+p'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.

So great was the havoc wrought by the storm that The G.o.ds bowed down, sat there weeping, Close pressed together were their lips.

For six days and nights the storm raged, but on the seventh day it subsided and the flood began to abate. Of the race of mortals, however, every voice was hushed. At last the s.h.i.+p approached the mountain Nisir which lay on the northern horizon, as viewed from the Tigris-Euphrates valley. Here the s.h.i.+p grounded. Then,

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