I have talked ad nauseam about function in ancient writings and the difference between literal and fiction on the one hand, and concrete and abstract on the other. I thought I would apply this approach to the story of Noah.
There are those who take the Genesis account of the flood as a literal and concrete record of actual historical events and argue that the entire planet was in fact completely covered in water and no land animals survived other than those on Noah’s big boat. No consideration is given that the story was written thousands of years ago in a different time, a different language, a different culture, and a different literary tradition. And herein lies the problem with the assumptions of the so-called biblical literalists.
Let’s consider the question of the nature of the flood. How we see the world is limited by our current understanding of the world. As science advances, our progenitors will look back at our time and laugh at our text books that, to us, are cutting edge. Just consider the medical advice given in the 1950’s to smoke cigarettes or from the 1920’s to use cocaine. We were putting lead in our paint for heaven’s sake up until just a few years ago. The first step, then, is to ponder how the author of the flood story understood the world. What was their world view?
Noah’s World View
They certainly did not understand what a planet was, and the text never uses a word that can be translated as planet. We see ‘earth’ and we assume ‘planet earth.’ Earth would be better translated as land or region. I would suggest that, from the perspective of Noah when the flood occurred, all the lands were covered in water and everybody in his known universe died. If you feel that God can do whatever he wants, even violate the laws of physics, and use his magical powers to cover the planet, and have all life proliferate into millions of species within a few short generations, then you have to ask yourself, why has he suddenly stopped it? Why would he create the earth in 6 days, flood the entire planet, and then hide all the evidence and replace it with evidence that shows an ancient earth that never experienced a global flood? For that matter, what was the point of Noah building the arc? Why not just have everything disappear?
When you understand their world view, that they perceived their world to be flat with a sphere over top called a firmament, and that they were floating on a celestial ocean, you can understand why they felt that the water came from above and below. The earth is not filled with water like a water balloon so we should consider what may have happened based on our current understanding of the word. Noah could have been in a region prone for earthquakes and hurricanes. Imagine if the storm caused massive flooding, and at the same time an earthquake struck far in the ocean far enough away that they would not have felt the shaking, but they certainly would have been devastated by the resulting tsunami. They were held up in their boat and they would not have been a witness to how it transpired. By the time they came out to take a look, they could have been washed out to sea and there was no land in sight. Never having been out in the ocean, they would not have considered it possible for there to not be land somewhere in site but because their world view is flat. They would not have considered the curvature of the earth. This is just one of many hypothesis of how the event could have transpired, but the important point is that the story has a function, the flood has a function, the two of every kind of animal has a function.
God speaks through his servants and according to the understanding of his servants. God has never revealed new scientific knowledge through his prophets. I have no doubt that the story of the flood is not a story that was passed on from generation, but rather was revealed to Moses in a way that he and his people would have understood. It used his cosmology because if Moses was given our cosmology, it would have been of no benefit.
What are the functions of each image in the story?
There are countless attempts to interpret what the story means, but unless we can interview Moses, we are left with a lot of postulations; but there are some pretty compelling postulations.
Matthew Henry, for example, reads into the Noah story as a parable of us in relation to the atonement. The animals serve the function of all gods’ creation brought into order and all are invited to receive the protection of the atonement from the storms of life. Some conform for a time (i.e. the lions), living as hypocrites, but once out of view, they return to their natural and carnal state ‘the ravenous creatures were made mild and manageable; yet, when this occasion was over, they were of the same kind as before; for the ark did not alter their natures; Hypocrites in the church, who outwardly conform to the laws of the ark, are yet unchanged; and will appear, one time or other, what kind they are after”.
http://nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html
The flood story is ancient, predating the biblical narrative by at least 1000 years. The Sumerians wrote about the flood story in 1700 BC for example. So what we need to do is look past the history and identify the symbols. The Noah story is taking real events and real people and applying them symbolically. We need to understand what the symbols represent in order to understand the message. Just as Einstein is a function of someone who is extremely intelligent, we need to see what the various symbols in the flood story represent. The biblical stories are meant to teach gospel principles, not to recount history using concrete references. Remember, the opposite of literal is fiction, the opposite of symbolic is literal. Let’s examine some of the symbols
Some Symbols To Consider
The Ark – The ark is described as being made of gopher wood, fortified with pitch, 3 hundred cubits, breadth of 50 cubits, height of 30 cubits. Again, the literal ark and the abstract description are not in conflict. The word boat does not figure in the original text, rather it is the word tebah, meaning chest, box, case, or hull or body. That is, it is a word meaning container designed to store sacred items. In a sense, it symbolises the temple, but for the story it is our body. There is no such wood as gopher wood. Some translate it as sulphur, related to the burning bush of Moses. There are two trees in the bible – the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. Where the olive tree is associated with the tree of life, Gopher wood is representative of the tree of knowledge. The pitch is to seal the ship so that no water can get in. It protects the inner vessel from the tempests of Satan.
The measurements use numbers, but remember that Hebrew letters are used as numbers. 300 is fire, 50 is fish, and 30 is staff. The number 50, the Hebrew letter ‘nun’ shows up a few times in the old testament:
Numbers 4:1-3 only men between age 30 and 50 allowed to serve to maintain the tabernacle
Deuteronomy 22:28 penalty of 50 shekels for premarital sex
2 Samuel 24 King David paid 50 shekels of silver to purchase the threshing floor, which became the location of the temple
2 Chronicles 4:1
Esther 5:14, 7:9 Haman’s gallows was 50 cubits high
Leviticus 25 Every 50th year, on the Day of Atonement, a Jubilee was declared with the sound of a trumpet, symbolizing deliverance.
My point is that the ark and its measurements are symbolic of the atonement and saving us from sin. Using the flood as a metaphor, just as we use the name Einstein as a metaphor.
Noah –Just as Adam and Eve are types representing all mankind, so is Noah. The world around is wicked but Noah, which is a combination of the symbol for ‘fish’ and ‘life’, is carried away from this wickedness. I am reminded of the story of Jonah being saved by a great fish, and Jesus miraculously feeding with loaves and fishes. He refers to his disciples as fishers of men, or saviors of man. Noah represents the salvation of our eternal life being carried away in a sacred relic, protected from the wickedness of the world. Noah is our very soul. The ark is the body, Noah is our soul, our seed of faith, that leads us through tempests and storms.
Noah’s Age – His lifespan of 950 years has spiritual meaning such as the stages of spiritual development. Review my blog on ‘ages of old testament people’. We can only speculate on the meaning of the numbers, but be assured that they are functional numbers, not an actual age.
Animals – seven pairs of clean animals, but just two of unclean animals, seven pairs for birds. The animals represent the source of life. Clean animals are symbolically rendered with the number 7 which is a holy number. Again, the story is not describing the actual number of animals on the boat, rather the number is teaching gospel principles.
Rain – 40 days and 40 nights is a symbolic number representing a complete temporal or physical experience. This is the physical transformation we go through to become a true disciple. The symbols of fire and water are built into the sacred vessel that purifies us
There are numerous examples in the bible of the number 40 such as:
- Story of Noah, it rains for forty days and nights
- Noses in wilderness for forty days and nights
- Moses on mount Sinai for forty days and nights
- Moses was forty years old when he killed he Egyptian
- Moses encounters god at the burning bush forty days later
- Prophet Elijah lays on his side for forty days
- Goliath taunts the Israelites for forty days
- Jesus in the wilderness for forty days
- After his resurrection Jesus appears to his disciples for forty days.
There are numerous other images. The flood prevailed for 150 days and was 15 cubits deep, Noah dispatched a raven and a dove. The dove returned with an olive leave. A rainbow appears in the sky to symbolize Gods covenant. The Ark rests on a mount. When on dry ground, Noah plants grapes to make wine and promptly gets drunk. I do not have the time to go into all the various symbols, but hopefully I got you thinking of the bigger picture.
The story teaches me that God will always save us from the sorrows of this world, and will bring the holy spirit of promise (the dove) to guide us back to him. The building of the ark is a spiritual construction of our own lives. And as we shield ourselves from the storms of this world, we will find rest on the mountain of the Lords house, just as Noah’s ark rested on a mount.