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flood
flood There is no archaeological evidence for the universal flood described in Gen.
6–8, but there are several Mesopotamian stories about how a family marvellously survived such a flood. In Gen. the flood is a punishment from God who was determined to clear the earth of its gross impurities caused by the misdeeds of its inhabitants. Other flood stories, such as the Gilgamesh epic from 12th-cent. BCE babylonia, discovered at Nineveh in 1872, seem to regard the flood as somehow issuing out of disputes amongst the gods, and the hero who survives is granted immortality. There are so many similarities between the Hebrew and the Babylonian stories that both probably depend upon the same original version. The fate of Noah, who survived the biblical flood in his ark, is different; although he offers sacrifices he becomes a shameless drunkard (Gen. 9: 20–8). The importance of the biblical flood story lies in its narrative of the covenant between God and Noah: God's promise is that there will never again be such a deluge, while Noah, as representative of humanity, is to observe certain basic laws, especially about the shedding of blood, and mankind is ‘to replenish the earth’ (Gen. 9: 1–7). These hints of a covenant, long before the covenant with Moses and the chosen people, were later elaborated by the Jewish rabbis into the ‘Noachian precepts’, the ‘way of all the earth’ which they regarded as obligatory on Gentiles. It has been suggested that the requirements laid on Gentile converts by the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 15: 29) are in fact the Noachian code. The symbolism of the flood is used in 1 Pet. 3: 20, where Noah's ark is regarded as a prototype of the Church conceived as a life-boat launched upon the waters of time. |
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "flood." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "flood." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-flood.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "flood." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-flood.html |
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Flood, the
Flood, the Primeval deluge, sent by God to devastate the Earth as a punishment for wickedness. As related in the Old Testament (Genesis 6–9), God sent rain upon the Earth for 40 days and nights, destroying everything he had created. Only Noah, his family, and a pair of every living creature, contained in the floating Ark he had built, were spared to start creation afresh. Similar myths occur in many cultures. The Flood also appears in the Koran and it bears some resemblance to a section of the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.
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"Flood, the." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Flood, the." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Floodthe.html "Flood, the." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Floodthe.html |
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Flood, the
Flood, the. According to Gen. 6: 5–9: 17, God brought a ‘flood of waters’ upon the earth ‘to destroy all flesh’ because of the wickedness of the human race, only Noah and his family, with specimens of each species of animal life, being preserved in the Ark to repeople the earth. Parallel flood stories are found in Mesopotamian sources, including the Gilgamesh Epics, and there is archaeological evidence of such floods.
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Cite this article
E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Flood, the." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Flood, the." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Floodthe.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Flood, the." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-Floodthe.html |
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Flood, the
Flood, the the biblical flood said in Genesis ch. 6–9 to have been brought by God upon earth because of the wickedness of the human race, and from which only Noah and his family were saved; in extended usage, marking a period of time preceded by extreme antiquity, as in antediluvian, before the Flood.
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Flood, the." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Flood, the." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Floodthe.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Flood, the." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-Floodthe.html |
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