Reading Notes: Noah and the Ark (Part A)

For this week I decided to walk the Biblical path and take a look into the story of Noah and the Ark. This story appears to be written from the Jewish point of view but I have grown familiar of it from the Catholic point of view as I attended Catholic schools growing up. I decided to take note of some interesting pieces of information that I found that may have differed from other depictions of the story of Noah. 

Azazel, one of the leaders of the fallen angels, refuses to bow to the Adam, the first man God created. Found on wikipedia.

Plot

• While reading in order, the time jumps back and forth between the present and the past occasionally
• Begins with an introduction to Noah and his parents but goes straight into how Noah was to prepare for the flood and then details the events of the flood
• After the events of the flood are discussed, the author then goes on to explain what prompted the flood and why God felt it was necessary
• A lot of time was spent explaining lineage, which I felt was unnecessary for the most part
• The author talks of the story of the Tower of Babel and explains how God had to spread out the people of the earth and change their languages after the flood
• There was more detail regarding the fall of the angels and their role in bringing about the flood in this rendition of the story of Noah and the Ark
• Quite a bit of time after discussing the events of the flood, the author informs us that the depravity of mankind stems from the corruption from the fallen angels that were living among them
• The angels couldn't resist the beauty of human women and fell for them, bringing into the existence beings they called giants or nephilim
• The giants appeared to have killed many people, and the blood of their victims cried out to God for justice and therefore God considered bringing about the flood

Scenery/Symbolism

• The type of wood needed to build the ark was specified as Gopher wood
• The exact dimensions of the ark were specified as well as the exact height of the flood waters
• The exact number of days that the flood was to persist was specified (40 days and 40 nights)
• The dove that Noah sends out in search of land brings back an Olive leaf
• Once Noah was born, everything had somewhat returned to the way things were when God created Adam
• meaning that man once again had dominion over God's creation because of Noah

Bibliography

Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) found in the Noah Unit