The Babylonian Interpretation Of The Biblical Flood Myth

In Biblical times, a man named Noah is warned by “the creator” about a flood that will kill all mankind. God viewed him as the only righteous and faithful prophet worthy of being saved from the flood. He is capable of and chosen to build an ark to preserve animal life; housing two of every animal, and to protect his family from the flood that would restore purity to earth without the sins of humanity.

The film opens with the story of how it all began. The first man to ever exist on Earth, Adam, fathered three sons, Abel, Cain and Seth. Cain killed Abel and began to loot the Earth for all of its resources, while Seth remained loyal to God. Generations later, Noah, a descendant of Seth, watches as an army of men descended from Cain kill his

We discussed how the lack of detail has led to different interpretations in various religions, primarily comparing it to the Babylonian version of the bible. While there are similarities between the film and the information we shared in class, noticeable changes were made to the story indicating differences between the two. The first scene shows the idea that God used the big bang and evolution theories were “in the beginning, there was nothing.”. The bible states God created everything in six days and “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”. The adopted daughter and daughter in law, King Tubal-Cain, fantasy-like fallen angels in stone and twin granddaughters are used as ideas of the director and aren’t represented within the bible. As with the verse in Genesis, Noah’s three sons boarded the ark with their wives, whereas in the film, Noah had to search for wives to bring on-board before the flood. The film shows Japheth, Noah’s oldest son releasing the raven from the ark versus Noah releasing the raven in the bible. Noah did release a dove, and it returned with an olive leaf as it did in the

This story plays the role of a keystone for many believers as its one of the best known stories of the bible. They live through the presence of God and by the means of the bible. As we discussed in class, the story is based on a memory, rather than a myth of a flood that was caused by corruption on earth that caused God to destroy humanity. As observed in the film, even the most righteous can sometimes lose their way. There was a scene where Noah misconceived God’s message. He thought God intended for no human to survive. Ila, Shem’s wife was thought to be barren due to an injury she had as a child, which is why he let her get aboard the ark. When he learned that she was healed and is pregnant, he swore to kill the baby if it was a female because his family shouldn’t have any births so humankind would die out. Contradictory, God requires humanity. Noah can’t bring himself to kill them. At the end of the movie he tells his family “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth”. The story of Noah is a lesson of discipline in teaching people that consequences will prevail. If humankind becomes corrupt, God can and will destroy humans. With this in mind, it fosters the idea of another flood as well as Judgment Day that has been one of the leading phenomena within the last five years. Judgment Day is said to be the end of the world, where God will restore humankind to its perfect state. God will judge people