Parallel Myths

Subsection 1 Summary: “The Story of Noah (Genesis 6:5-9:17)”

Noah is an honorable and virtuous man, and he walks in Yahweh’s favor. The rest of mankind, however, is wicked, and Yahweh resolves to eradicate all humans and animals from the earth. He orders Noah to build an ark and to populate it with every species of animal, bird, and reptile, a male and female of each. Noah and his family also board the ark. Yahweh sends down the rain for 40 days and nights, flooding the earth, submerging the mountains, and destroying every living thing. The floodwaters rise for 150 days. Then, he stops the rain, and the flood gradually subsides until the ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat. Forty days later, Noah sends out a raven and a dove to scout the earth for dry land, but both return. He continues to send out the dove until it returns with an olive branch, and Noah then realized the waters have begun to subside. When the earth is dry, Noah disembarks with his family and the animals, and Yahweh commands them to be fruitful and multiply. Thereafter, Yahweh vows never again to destroy his creation.

Subsection 2 Summary: “Manu and the Fish (India)”