Flood Myth

The Biblical Account

This preeminent narrative is found in Genesis 6:5–9, 19. Here, the myth begins with the Lord observing the great wickedness of humankind, noting “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil all the time” (6:5). He, consequently, repents of having created humanity and determines to wipe it from “the face of the earth” (6:7), along with all the animals. Noah, however, finds grace

“in the eyes of the Lord” (6:8). He is, therefore, commanded to build an ark to meticulous standards. On the ship's completion, Noah and his family—his wife, three sons, and their wives—enter the ark, along with representatives of “all flesh” (6:19). In turn, a great flood LXX covers the earth, rising “fifteen cubits” above the mountains (7:20) and destroying “all which had the faintest breath of life in its nostrils” (7:22). Eventually, the waters begin to recede, and the ark comes to rest “on the mountains of Ararat” (8:4). After waiting 40 days, Noah releases a raven—to serve as a type of primordial barometer. He then, in turn, sends out a pair of doves, the second one returning with “the fresh leaf of an olive tree in its mouth” (8:11). Cognizant of the fact that the earth is drying, Noah waits another 7 days before sending out a final dove, which, because the earth is dry, does not return. Eventually, the righteous shipwright leaves the ark, together with his family and the surviving animals. He then builds “an altar to the Lord,” sacrificing from the clean animals (8:20). God, pleased by the odor of the offering, establishes a covenant with Noah, urging the patriarch and his three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—to repopulate the earth: “Be fruitful and be great and fill the earth” (9:1). In turn, God promises never again to destroy “all flesh” (9:11) with a flood, and as a sign of this promise, he places his bow in the clouds.

In one sense, the narrative functions—like many biblical myths—as an etiological story. In this case, the presence of a rainbow in the sky after a thundershower is explained by God's promise to Noah. The “bow”—a natural phenomenon observable by everyone—is, consequently, a reminder to God of the covenant he had created with Noah (known to scholars as “the Noachide covenant”). Biblical myths, like this one, frequently use narrative to account for the inexplicable features of the world in which the writers lived. For example, the account of the Tower of Babel explains the origin of the various language and ethnic groups. Likewise, in the flood myth, God also grants humankind the right to eat meat, the dispensation to slaughter animals being a channeling of the violent impulses that initially caused such displeasure in Him.

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