What was the real Noah like?
Noah releases a dove from the ark
The release of the Hollywood film “Noah,” with its interpretation of biblical events, which is very far from the original, means the creation in modern mass culture of a distorted image of the Old Testament patriarch[1], whom the Orthodox Church reveres as a saint. Therefore, I would like to remind you of what the real Noah was like, what is known about him from the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition. And it must be said that a lot is known, and he was certainly an outstanding figure.
Chapters six through nine of Genesis are devoted to the life of Noah. His name appears in many other places in the Bible. Thus, in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord mentions Noah among the three greatest righteous people of ancient times, along with Job and Daniel (Ezek. 14:13–14, 20). In the book of the prophet Isaiah, God mentions His covenant with Noah as an example of an unchangeable promise (Isaiah 54:8–9).
In the Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, the forefather is praised: “Noah turned out to be perfect, righteous; in times of anger he was a propitiation; therefore he became a remnant on the earth when the flood came” (Sir.44:16-17). In the third book of Ezra he is called the one from whom “all the righteous came” (3 Ezra 3:11). And in the book of Tobit, Noah is mentioned among the ancient saints who should be imitated (Tob. 4:12).
Noah is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament. The Lord Jesus Christ refers to his story as very real and uses it to explain what will happen before the end of our world (Matthew 24:37-39). The Apostle Paul cites Noah as an example of a true believer (Heb. 11:7). In turn, the Apostle Peter mentions the events associated with Noah and the flood as proof that God does not leave the sinner without reward and does not leave the righteous without help and salvation (2 Peter 2:5,9).
According to St. Augustine, in the story of Noah, “no one should think that all this was written for the purpose of deception; or that in the story one must look only for historical truth, without any allegorical meanings; or, on the contrary, that all this did not really happen, but that these were just verbal images”[2].
So, let's look at what and why happened in the time of Noah and what spiritual significance it has.
Noah belonged to the tenth generation after Adam, but people at that time lived much longer than now - many hundreds of years, so Noah's father, Lamech, according to the Bible, was a younger contemporary of the very first man. During the time of Noah, there were many who found the forefather Adam still alive: in addition to Lamech, these were Methuselah, Jared, Maleleel, Cainan, Enosh, and probably others whose names were not preserved in the Book of Genesis. So Noah heard about the tragedy of the Fall, which occurred at the beginning of the world, from those who personally knew its eyewitnesses and participants.
Already at the birth of Noah, special hopes were placed on him: “Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and begat a son, and called his name Noah, saying: he will comfort us in our work and in the labor of our hands in cultivating the land which the Lord has cursed” ( Gen. 5:28–29). The name Noah itself means “comfort.” The Holy Fathers explain these words as a prophecy of Lamech: as Chrysostom says, “he foresaw the future, and, seeing that the wickedness of people was increasing, by the name of his son he predicted disasters that would befall the entire human race, so that people, having come to their senses even through fear, would refrain from sin and turned to virtue"[3]. The Monk Ephraim the Syrian interprets Lamech’s words about Noah this way: “He will give us peace with his sacrifice, with which he will appease God from our deeds and from the sorrow of our hands.”[4] Noah “really appeared as a gracious comforter, as the preserver of the human race and restorer of it in its best form”[5].
According to the testimony of St. John, thanks to such a prophecy, “this child, growing little by little, served as a lesson for everyone who saw him... this man, who lived before the eyes of everyone, reminded everyone of the wrath of God”[6].
From the Bible, all that is known about the first five hundred years of Noah’s life is that during this period he married and had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth (Gen. 5:32). Saint Cyril of Alexandria writes that Noah “attracted general attention, was very famous and famous” [7].
During the life of Noah, “the wickedness of men was great on earth, and every thought of the thoughts of their hearts was evil continually” (Gen. 6:5), “for they sinned not only at times, but constantly and at every hour, not by day.” , never ceasing to fulfill his evil thoughts at night.”[8]. However, the Old Testament patriarch differed from his contemporaries: “But Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8). Why? Because “Noah was a righteous man and blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9).
Saint John Chrysostom notes the main personality trait of Noah - unprecedented firmness and determination on the path of virtue: “how devoted this righteous man was to virtue, when among so many people, with great strength striving for wickedness, he alone walked the opposite path, preferring virtue - and there was no unanimity , not such a great multitude of evil people stopped him on the path of good... Imagine the extraordinary wisdom of the righteous man, when, among such unanimity of evil people, he could avoid infection and not suffer any harm from them, but retained firmness of spirit and avoided sinful unanimity with them "[9].
A truly unbending will was required in order to be alone against the whole world, especially if you consider that “for his determination to strive in virtue in spite of everyone, Noah endured great reproach and ridicule, since all the wicked usually always mock those who decide to withdraw from wickedness and cling to virtues"[10].
The holy forefather was not indifferent to the plight of his contemporaries: “during all this time he preached to all people and urged them to give up wickedness” [11], but no one responded or came to their senses, and in response to his preaching he received new ridicule.
And “Noah walked with God” (Gen. 6:9), that is, he conformed all his actions, aspirations and thoughts to His will, remembering that God sees and knows everything. So Noah “was able to neglect and rise above such a great multitude of those who mocked him, attacked, reviled, and dishonored him... He constantly looked at the never-slumbering Eye of God and directed the gaze of his soul towards it; therefore, I no longer cared about all these reproaches, as if they had never happened.”[12]
When Noah was five hundred years old, he received a revelation from God: “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with their evildoings; and behold, I will destroy them from the earth. Make yourself an ark... And behold, I will bring a flood of water on the earth... everything that is on the earth will lose life. But I will establish My covenant with you, and you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives will come into the ark with you” (Genesis 6:13–14, 17–18). The Lord also commanded Noah to bring into the ark pairs of all animals, birds and reptiles (and seven clean species of livestock and birds), and stock up on food for himself and for them. “And Noah did everything: as [the Lord] God commanded him, so he did” (Gen. 6:22).
It took Noah a hundred years to build the ark. “Noah’s work became known throughout the entire universe, and his words were transmitted everywhere that such and such a man was building a ship of extraordinary size and talking about a flood that would cover the whole earth. Many came from afar to look at this ship in progress and listen to the sermon to Noah. The Man of God, urging them to repentance, preached to them about the approaching flood vengeance on sinners. That is why he was called by the holy Apostle Peter a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5)”[13].
If Noah’s contemporaries had repented and corrected their lives, they could have averted punishment from themselves, just as the Ninevites did when they believed Jonah’s three-day sermon. However, “the people did not repent, despite the fact that Noah, by his holiness, served as a model for his contemporaries, and with his righteousness he preached to them about the flood for a whole hundred years, they even laughed at Noah, who informed them that all generations of the living would come to him to seek salvation in the ark creatures, and they said: “How will the beasts and birds come, scattered throughout all the countries?”[14]
Noah lets the animals into the ark in pairs
And so, when Noah was six hundred years old, God said to him: “You and all your family go into the ark, for I have seen you righteous before Me in this generation... and take every clean beast... also from the birds of the air... to preserve a tribe for all the earth, for in seven days I will cause rain to fall on the earth for forty days and forty nights; And I will destroy everything that exists that I have made from the face of the earth” (Genesis 7:1–4).
“And Noah, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, went into the ark...” (Gen. 7:7). According to St. John Chrysostom, members of Noah’s family “although they were far inferior to the righteous in virtue, they were also alien to the excessive wickedness of their corrupt contemporaries.”[15] They were among the saved because they believed Noah’s preaching and obeyed him, unlike Lot’s sons-in-law, who did not believe the same preaching of their relative and died along with all of Sodom: “And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were taking for himself his daughters, and said: Arise, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city. But it seemed to his sons-in-law that he was joking” (Gen. 19:14). In addition, according to Chrysostom, the salvation of family members was a reward from God to Noah for his righteousness.
“On that very day, elephants began to come from the east, monkeys and peacocks from the south, other animals gathered from the west, others hurried to come from the north. The lions left their oak groves, fierce animals came out of their lairs, the animals that lived on the mountains gathered from there. Noah’s contemporaries flocked to such a new spectacle, not for repentance, but to enjoy seeing how before their eyes lions entered the ark, oxen rushed after them without fear, seeking refuge with them, wolves and sheep, hawks and doves entered together.” [16].
St. Filaret of Moscow indicates that “the longitude of the ark was more than 500, the latitude was more than 80 and the height was more than 50 feet”[17], that is, the ark was approximately 152 meters in length, 25 meters in width and 15 meters in height - this size was quite sufficient to accommodate animals, birds and reptiles. “Experts of nature find that all the genera of animals that were supposed to be in Noah’s ark extend only to three hundred or a little more. Of these, no more than six are larger than a horse; few are equal to him”[18].
After Noah, along with his family and animals, entered the ark, by the mercy of God, the time of the flood was postponed for another week: “God gave people a hundred years to repent while the ark was being built, but they did not come to their senses. He gathered animals that had never been seen before, but the people did not want to repent... Even after Noah and all the animals entered the ark, God delayed for another seven days, leaving the door of the ark open... but Noah's contemporaries... were not convinced to abandon their wicked deeds "[19].
The Lord Jesus Christ testifies that Noah’s contemporaries carelessly continued their lives, with ordinary everyday activities: “In the days before the flood they ate, they drank, they married and were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not think until the flood came and He did not destroy them all” (Matthew 24:37–38).
And so “after seven days the waters of the flood came to the earth... all the sources of the great deep opened up... and rain poured on the earth for forty days and forty nights... the water increased and greatly multiplied on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. And the water on the earth increased exceedingly, so that all the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered... And every creature that was on the surface of the earth lost its life; from man to cattle, and creeping things, and birds of the air - everything was destroyed from the earth, only Noah remained and what was with him in the ark. And the waters increased on the earth for an hundred and fifty days” (Genesis 7:10–12, 18–19, 23–24).
Saint John Chrysostom draws attention to the fact that the water rose gradually for forty days before everyone died, and asks: “Why is this so? Couldn't God, if He wanted, bring all the rain in one day? What am I saying - in one day? In an instant. But He does this with intention... Out of His great goodness, He wanted at least some of them to come to their senses and avoid ultimate destruction, seeing before their eyes both the death of their neighbors and the disaster threatening them.”[20]. Saint Philaret also speaks about this: “The forty days of the beginning flood were the last gift of God’s patience for some sinners, who, even at the sight of their well-deserved execution, could feel their guilt and cry out to God’s mercy.”[21]
And this happened - many people of the former world, having seen with their own eyes how Noah’s prediction was coming true, remembered his preaching and only now, in the last days of their lives, they repented to God and humbly accepted death from the flood as a well-deserved punishment for their sins. Thanks to this, albeit belated, conversion, Noah’s contemporaries found themselves among those dead ancients to whose souls the preaching of Christ was addressed when He descended with His human soul into hell after death on the cross, as the Apostle Peter testifies to this: “Christ... was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, by which He went down and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient to God’s long-suffering that awaited them, in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved from the water” ( 1 Peter 3:18–20).
Thus, the global flood was not only an act of punishment for sins, but to a greater extent a saving action of God, since the people who lived then brought themselves to such hardness of heart that only the contemplation of the destruction of the whole world and the awareness of their imminent death could awaken their hearts and through repentance will save you from eternal death. Those of them who sincerely repented in those forty days and nights and turned to God subsequently found themselves among the souls of Old Testament believers saved by Christ from hell.
This was a blessing even for those who did not want to repent - with this last resort it was possible “to tear away from sin incorrigible sinners, who every day inflict new wounds on themselves and make their ulcers incurable”[22].
The flood also had a beneficial meaning for subsequent humanity - “it was necessary to destroy them and destroy their entire race, like unusable leaven, so that they would not become teachers of wickedness for subsequent generations”[23]. The flood interrupted both the tribe of Cain and all other clans that deviated into evil. God made righteous Noah the founder of a new humanity. And if even despite the fact that everyone now living has as their ancestor a great righteous man, so many have turned to sin, then what would be the spread of evil on earth if the majority of humanity were the descendants of those clans rooted in vice?
However, not only people died in the flood, but also all creatures living on land. Saint Ambrose of Milan writes: “What have the foolish creatures done wrong? They were created for man's sake; and after the destruction of man, for whose sake they were created, they should also be destroyed: after all, the one who would use them would no longer exist.”[24] And Chrysostom explains it this way: “Just as during the pious life of man and creation participates in human well-being, according to the word of Paul (see: Rom. 8:21), so now, when man must suffer punishment for his many sins and undergo the final destruction, and with it livestock, creeping things, and birds are subject to the flood that is about to cover the entire universe”[25], since they share the fate with the one who is their head. And just as many animals shared death with many sinful people, so few animals shared salvation in the ark with a few righteous people. In addition, if, with the death of almost all of humanity, God had preserved all animals without exception, then this would have led subsequent generations of people to the conviction that animals are more important and superior to humans, and the pagan deification of animals, which arose in some nations, would have received even greater and greater significance. fastest spread.
Saint John Chrysostom draws attention to the fact that the ark did not have constantly open windows and, moreover, God Himself confined it from the outside. This was done out of mercy towards Noah, in order to save him from the painful and terrifying vision of the destruction of the world.
“The beginning of the flood must be assumed to be in the last half of autumn”[26], and it lasted a year. And “a year of this life, it seems to me, is worth a whole life: Noah had to endure so much sorrow there, being in such cramped conditions... Imprisoned in the ark as if in a prison, he rushed back and forth, could not see the sky there, nor fix his eyes to any other place - in a word, he did not see anything that could give him some consolation... Noah lived for a whole year in this extraordinary and strange prison, not being able to breathe fresh air... how could this righteous man, as well as his sons and wives, can they endure being together with livestock, animals and birds? How could he bear the stench? ...I am surprised that he has not yet fallen under the burden of despondency, thinking about the destruction of the human race, and about his own loneliness, and about the difficult life in the ark. But the reason for all that was good for him was his faith in God, for which he endured and endured everything complacently.”[27]
Therefore, it is not surprising that the Apostle Paul praises Noah precisely for his faith: “By faith Noah, having received a revelation of things not yet seen, fearfully prepared an ark for the salvation of his house; by it he condemned (the whole) world, and became heir of the righteousness of faith” (Heb. 11:7). “It is not that Noah himself condemned his contemporaries; no, the Lord condemned them by comparing them with Noah, because they, having everything the same as the righteous man, did not follow the same path of virtue with him,”[28] explains St. John Chrysostom.
Here is what the Scripture says about what happened next: “The waters began to subside at the end of one hundred and fifty days. And the ark stopped in the seventh month... on the mountains of Ararat. The water continually decreased until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared. After forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out a raven, [to see if the water had subsided from the earth,] which flew out and flew back and forth" (Genesis 8:3-8). A week later, Noah “released a dove from the ark. The dove returned to him in the evening, and behold, a fresh olive leaf was in his mouth, and Noah knew that the water had fallen from the earth” (Gen. 8:10-11). Even later, “the water on the earth dried up; and Noah opened the roof of the ark and looked, and behold, the surface of the earth was dry... And God said to Noah: Come out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you; Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you, of all flesh, birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that moves on the earth: let them scatter throughout the earth, and let them be fruitful and multiply in the earth” (Genesis 8:13, 15 –17).
Saint Philaret draws attention to the perfect obedience of the righteous man to God: “Despite the fact that after the opening of the ark for about two months, Noah saw the state of the drying up earth, he did not dare to come out of it until a command from God”[29]. And the Monk John of Damascus notes: “When Noah was commanded to enter the ark... God separated husbands from wives so that they, maintaining chastity, would escape the abyss... after the end of the flood He says: come out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and wives your sons with you, because marriage is again permitted for the propagation of the human race.”[30]
Noah leaves the ark with his family and releases the animals.
Noah fulfilled the command of God, but also did what the Lord did not order him, and which was dictated by the movement of his soul: “immediately upon leaving the ark, he shows his gratitude and offers thanks to his Lord, both for the past and and for the future”[31] - “And Noah built an altar to the Lord; and he took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar” (Gen. 8:20). Here, for the first time in human history, we see the creation of a place of special worship of God. If Abel and Cain had already made sacrifices to God, then Noah built a special altar to the Lord. However, Saint Philaret says that in reality Noah was not the first to build an altar, since, knowing the humility of the righteous, “one cannot think that Noah would dare to introduce anything new in the rituals of sacrifice adopted from pious ancestors”[32].
“And the Lord smelled a sweet aroma, and the Lord [God] said in His heart: I will no longer curse the earth for man’s sake... and I will no longer smite every living thing” (Gen. 8:21). These words mean that God “accepted the sacrifices. After all, God does not have an organ of smell, since the Deity is incorporeal. True, what is lifted up is fat and smoke from burning bodies, and there is nothing more fetid than this. But so that you know that God looks at the sacrifices made and accepts or rejects them, Scripture calls this smoke a pleasant aroma.”[33] So “the Lord did not smell the smell of animal meat or burning wood, but He looked and saw the purity of heart in the one who offered Him a sacrifice out of everything and for everything”[34].
Seeing the piety of the patriarch, “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth; Let all the beasts of the earth fear and tremble at you, and all the birds of the air, everything that moves on the earth, and all the fish of the sea: they have been given into your hands; everything that moves and lives will be food for you... only flesh... with its blood, do not eat; I will require your blood... from every beast, I will also require the soul of a man from the hand of a man, from the hand of his brother; Whoever sheds the blood of man, his blood will be shed by the hand of man: for man is created in the image of God... And God said to Noah and his sons with him: Behold, I have established my covenant with you and with your descendants after you... that all flesh shall no longer be destroyed. waters of the flood, and there will be no more flood to destroy the earth... I set my rainbow in the cloud, that it might be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth” (Genesis 9:1–6, 8–9, 11, 13).
First of all, it is clear here, as Chrysostom notes, that “Noah again receives the blessing that Adam received before the crime. Just as he, immediately after his creation, heard: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28), so this one now: “Be fruitful and multiply on the earth,” because just as Adam was the beginning and the root of all who lived before the flood, so this righteous man becomes, as it were, leaven, the beginning and root of all after the flood.”[35]
God then gives permission for people to eat animals, birds and fish. Blessed Theodoret explains the reasons for this as follows: “foreseeing that those who have fallen into extreme madness will deify everything, God, in order to stop wickedness, allows the use of animals for food, because to worship what is used for food is a matter of extreme little sense.”[36]
After this, God establishes a ban on eating meat with the blood of animals, which is subsequently repeated in the Law of Moses (Deut. 12:23) and in the regulations of the Apostolic Council (Acts 15:29). This is explained by the fact that the soul of animals is in the blood. With the promise “I will require your blood... from every beast,” God “predicts the resurrection... meaning that he will gather the bodies devoured by beasts and resurrect them”[37]. Then God prohibits murder, warning of severe punishment for it, “says that every murderer must be put to death”[38].
After this, “God says: “I establish my covenant,” that is, I conclude an agreement. Just as in human affairs, when someone promises something, he concludes an agreement and thereby provides the proper confirmation, so the good Lord speaks here.”[39] God raises his relationship with people to such a height. He does not simply prescribe and command as an omnipotent Lord, He enters into an agreement in which He voluntarily undertakes to never again destroy the human race through a flood.
It is no coincidence that the rainbow was chosen as a sign of this covenant - since the global flood began with rain, then the rainbow appearing through rain becomes a sign that no rain will be the beginning of the destruction of humanity. Saint Philaret admits that “the rainbow could have existed before the flood, just as water and washing existed before baptism”[40], but after the flood it was chosen by God as a sign of His covenant with Noah.
It further says: “the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth... and from them the whole earth was peopled” (Gen. 9:18–19). The truth of this is confirmed by the universality of the legend of the flood. The most ancient legends of different nations tell of a righteous man who was able to survive the global flood in a specially constructed ark or ship. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh calls him Utnapishtim, the ancient Greek writers called him Deucalion, and the Indian text Shatapatha Brahmana calls him Manu. Legends about the global flood are found everywhere - in China, in Australia, in Oceania, among the indigenous peoples of South, Central and North America, in Africa[41]. All these peoples trace themselves to the descendants of the few survivors of the Flood. Traditions recorded in ancient times show significant similarities in major details with the story of the Bible, and traditions recorded more recently show more differences, which is not surprising, since retellers have introduced many interpretations and conjectures into the story over the past millennia. Nevertheless, the memory of the Flood is a truly universal phenomenon.
It is appropriate now to talk about the allegorical meaning of the events associated with the sweat and salvation of Noah, which was indicated by the holy fathers.
According to Blessed Augustine, everything “that is said about the structure of this ark means that it relates to the Church”[42]. And in Noah himself, as well as in his sons, the image of the Church was revealed. They were saved from the flood on the tree of salvation... foreshadowing that on the tree [of the cross] the life of all nations would be established.”[43] Saint Cyril of Alexandria also speaks about this, pointing out that Christ is “the truest Noah, who in the prototype of this ancient and glorious ark built the Church. Those who enter it avoid the destruction that threatens the world... So Christ saves us by faith and, as if into an ark, brings us into the Church, staying in which we will be delivered from the fear of death and will escape condemnation along with the world.”[44].
Saint Bede the Venerable offers a detailed interpretation: “The ark means the universal Church, the waters of the flood - baptism[45], the clean and unclean animals [in the ark] - the spiritual and physical people staying in the Church, and the planed and tarred logs of the ark - teachers strengthened by grace faith. The raven flying out of the ark and not returning signifies those who become apostates after baptism; an olive branch brought into the ark by a dove - those who were baptized outside the Church, that is, heretics, but who nevertheless have the fat of love and are therefore worthy to be reunited with the universal Church. The dove, which flew out of the ark and did not return, is a symbol of those [saints] who renounced bodily bonds and rushed to the light of the heavenly homeland, never to return to the labors of earthly wanderings.”[46]
Noah makes wine. Ham's sin. Mosaic
The last episode of the patriarch's life, described in the Book of Genesis, concerns the period when he began to organize the life of his family in the new world. At that time, his son Ham already had his first child, Canaan:
“Noah began to cultivate the land and planted a vineyard; and he drank wine and became drunk, and lay naked in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and went out and told his two brothers. Shem and Japheth took the robe and, putting it on their shoulders, went backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned back, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, and said: Cursed is Canaan; He will be a servant of servants to his brothers. Then he said: Blessed is the Lord God of Shem; Canaan will be his slave; May God spread Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; Canaan will be his slave. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years” (Gen. 9:20–28).
St. John Chrysostom calls Noah’s drunkenness a sin, although an excusable one in view of the fact that “the righteous sinned not through intemperance, but through ignorance... through ignorance of the measure of drinking wine... since at that time they did not yet know the use of this fruit”[47].
The same saint writes: “Notice here, beloved, that the beginning of sin lies not in nature, but in the disposition of the soul and in free will. Now, after all, all the sons of Noah were of the same nature and brothers among themselves, had one father, were born from the same mother, were raised with the same care, and, despite this, they showed unequal dispositions - one turned away to evil, and others showed their father due respect"[48].
Ham's act "revealed in him pride, consoled by the fall of another, a lack of modesty and disrespect for his parent"[49]. “Disregarding respect for the parent, he strives to make others witnesses of this spectacle and, having made the old man into a kind of theatrical stage, he convinces his brothers to laugh too”[50]. He, “having left the house, subjected his father to ridicule and reproach as much as he could, and wanted to make his brothers accomplices of his vile act; and then, as he should have, if he had already decided to announce to his brothers, to call them into the house and there to tell them about his father’s nakedness, he went out and announced his nakedness in such a way that if there were many other people there, he would do them too would be witnesses of the father’s shame”[51].
But the event that contributed to the fall of Ham served to the glory of Shem and Japheth: “Do you see the modesty of these sons? He divulged it, but they don’t even want to see it, but they walk with their faces turned back so that, coming closer, they can cover their father’s nakedness. Look also how, despite their great modesty, they were still meek. They do not reproach or strike their brother, but, having heard his story, they are only concerned about one thing, how to quickly correct what happened and do what was required for the honor of the parent.”[52]
Having learned about what happened, Noah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, pronounces one curse and two blessings. The Holy Fathers examined the question of why, if Ham sinned, then it was not he himself who was cursed, but his eldest son Canaan?
The Monk Ephraim writes that by “younger son” cannot mean Ham, who was the middle son of Noah, but his grandson is meant, since “this young Canaan laughed at the nakedness of the old man; The boor went out with a laughing face and, in the midst of the haystack, announced it to his brothers. Therefore, one can think that although Canaan is not cursed with all justice, as he did this in childhood, it is not against justice, because he was not cursed for another. Moreover, Noah knew that if Canaan had not become worthy of a curse in his old age, then in his adolescence he would not have committed a deed worthy of a curse... Therefore, Canaan is cursed as the one who laughed, and Ham is only deprived of blessing because he laughed with the one who laughed.”[53] . Saint Philaret also writes about this: “Canaan... was the first to see the nakedness of his grandfather and told his father about it”[54]. And Chrysostom says that “the son of Ham, who was cursed, suffered punishment for his own sins”[55].
In addition, the holy fathers explained that by placing a curse not on Ham, but on his firstborn Canaan, Noah frees all the other sons of Ham from inheriting the curse, and also avoids placing a curse on the one who, among others who left the ark, was honored to receive God’s blessing. According to Blessed Theodoret, there is also justice in this, that “since Ham himself, being a son, sinned against his father, he accepts the punishment by cursing his son.”[56] “The boor is punished in that son or in that tribe to whom he leaves his sins as an inheritance”[57].
The punishment was to subject the descendants of Canaan to the descendants of Shem and Japheth. As Saint Philaret says, “this was fulfilled on the Canaanites, who were partly destroyed by the Israelites, the descendants of Shem, and partly conquered from Joshua to Solomon.”[58] Blessed Augustine draws attention to the fact that “in Scripture we do not meet a slave before the righteous Noah punished the sin of his son with this name. Thus, it is not nature, but sin that deserves this name.”[59]
Further, in the words “blessed is the Lord God of Shem,” Noah proclaims that it is “in the tribe of Shem that true knowledge of God and worship of God will be preserved”[60]; “God himself dwelt in the tent of Abraham, a descendant of Shem.”[61]
Finally, Noah utters a blessing to his youngest son: “May God extend Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem.” And this prophecy was also fulfilled: “the descendants of Japheth occupied Europe, Asia Minor and the entire north, which then was a nest and nursery of nations... the tents of Shem mean the Church, preserved in the descendants of Shem, and, finally, taking under its roof and taking part in its heritage and pagans, descendants of Japheth"[62].
“And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years” (Gen. 9:28). The Lord allowed Noah to live for a long time after the flood in order to preserve longer the living example of a righteous man for the first generations of renewed humanity. Indicating that all people descended from his three sons born before the flood (Gen. 9:18-19), Scripture reports that Noah himself after the flood did not give birth to any more children, spending his life in abstinence.
“All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died” (Gen. 9:29), and subsequently became one of the Old Testament righteous whose souls Christ saved from hell, descending there between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection from the dead.
As St. John says, “This righteous man can teach our entire race and guide us to virtue. In fact, when he, living [before the flood] among such a multitude of evil people, and not being able to find a single person similar to him in morals, reached such high virtue, then how will we be justified, who, having no such obstacles, don’t we care about good deeds?”[63]
Film adaptations
One of the first attempts to transfer ancient biblical legends to the screens was the film “The Bible”. The film was released in 1966 and consisted of several parts. The film tells the viewer the story of Adam and Eve, the biography of Abraham and the construction of the ark. The role of Noah was played by actor John Huston.
John Huston as Noah
The cartoon "Noah's Ark" shows the legend through the eyes of the animals that got on the ship. The animals have their own point of view on who should remain in the ark and in what numbers. The proximity of predators and herbivores creates no less problems. Noah, whose voice was given by Joe Caraly, had to deal with all the problems.
Noah in the cartoon "Noah's Ark"
The most ambitious film dedicated to the life of the righteous man was released in 2014. “Noah” deviates from the original plot, so the film caused discontent among radical believers. The actors involved in the filming of the blockbuster had to temporarily move to Iceland, where work on the flood scenes took place.
Russell Crowe as Noah
Noah (Russell Crowe) and his sons are busy building the ark, which should become salvation for believers. The righteous man is helped in this difficult task by his wife (Jennifer Connelly) and daughter-in-law (Emma Watson). Noah's grandfather, Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins), also appears in the film. The main antagonist, Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone), is trying to take over the structure. Unexpectedly, Noah's son Ham (Logan Lerman) provides assistance in capturing the ship.
Construction time
If we turn to the primary source - the Bible - many questions will arise regarding the date of construction of the magnificent vessel. In the text of the main book of Christians there is no clear mention of when Noah began construction work. But from chapter 6 of Genesis we can understand that the Lord commanded Noah to build an ark when the latter was 500 years old.
There are 2 versions of the birth of Noah:
- according to Masoretic texts, this is the year 1056 from the Creation of the world;
- The Translation of the Seventy Interpreters (alternatively the Septuagint) indicates the year 1663 from the creation of the world.
Based on the fact that Noah was 600 years old at the time of completion of the construction of the floating craft, and also taking into account the difference between the Old Russian chronology and the modern one of 5508 years, we can distinguish 2 possible dates for the completion of the work:
- 1156 from the Creation of the world, or 4352 BC;
- 1763 from the Creation of the world, or 3745 BC.
Accordingly, 5763-6370 years have passed since the creation of Noah’s Ark.
In 2022, NAMI researchers found parts of an ancient ship at an altitude of 4 thousand meters above sea level on the Ararat mountain range. According to scientists, the probability that this ship is the so-called Noah's Ark is about 99.9%, which coincides with the “biblical tradition.” But so far no one has been able to accurately confirm or refute these loud statements. In any case, the found fragments, covered with a significant layer of volcanic rocks, carry enormous historical value, as they contain characteristic elements, stairs, and pieces of solid petrified wood. Judging by the age of the found fragments, it is about 4800 years. This is exactly the figure shown by carbon analysis.
Interesting Facts
- The meaning of the name Noah is consolation, peace.
- There is a legend that Noah took not only living beings on the ark - the bones of Adam were transferred to the ship, which Shem later buried in Jerusalem.
- Islam also contains references to the Great Flood, but the righteous man who survived is called Nuh.
- After the flood, the Earth was inhabited by the children of Noah, and the man himself took a vow of abstinence.
- Theologians claim that Mount Ararat, mentioned in Scripture, has no relation to the modern Armenian Highlands. The legend speaks of the territory on which the ancient state of Assyria was located.
