The Story of Noah

The story of Noah and the flood is told in The Torah, The Bible, and The Qur’an. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach that God tells Noah he will bring forth a great flood that will cause everything on Earth to perish. All three religions teach that God chooses to save Noah and his family because Noah was a righteous man in an age filled with deceit, violence, hatred and corruption. All three religions teach that God makes a covenant with Noah and orders him to build an ark.

Differences worth Noting...

Judaism and Christianity

In Genesis, the story of Noah focuses primarily on life during the flood and life after the flood. Judaism and Christianity teach that God commands Noah to take himself, his wife, his sons and his son’s wives along with two of every species, male and female onto the Ark. The floods came and continued for 40 days and 40 nights and after 150 days the waters receded. Noah and his family do as God commands and they are saved. In the Bible, Noah is presented as a righteous man, but not necessarily an extraordinary individual. We know he is special in some way because God has chosen him, but he never exhibits remorse or compassion for all who will perish. At no time does he attempt to warn others or negotiate with God to save any who might prove righteous as Abraham does in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Although Noah is presented as a faithful and obedient servant to God, we get no insight into what Noah is thinking or feeling. Noah speaks only once in the entire story of Genesis and this is after the flood when he curses his son, Ham. We also have no indication if Noah’s family was saved because they, too, were righteous or merely because they were part of Noah’s family. We are told in Genesis that Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and 950 years old when he died.

After the flood, God tells Noah to come out of the ark with his family and to bring forth every living thing that is on the ark with them. Judaism and Christianity teach that God then tells Noah he will maintain a covenant with him and promises “never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Gen.9: 11) The rainbow becomes a sign of this covenant.

Islam

In the Qur’an, most of the story of Noah focuses on what happens before the flood. In the Qur’an Noah holds a very special status as one of the five greatest prophets through whom Allah chooses to communicate. In The Qur’an Noah is sent as Allah’s messenger to warn the people that if they do not repent and stop worshipping idols, Allah will bring forth a terrible punishment. Islam teaches that only the lowest class of people, slaves and servants, choose to believe in Noah, which made the rich doubt him all the more. Islam teaches that after 950 years of arguing with the people, Noah does as Allah instructs and builds an Ark to save himself and the few righteous followers who accompany him on the Ark along with a male and female of every kind of animal. In the Qur’an, Noah’s family is defined as all those who are righteous and choose to believe in him, while in the story in Genesis, Noah’s family is clearly defined as his blood relatives. Islam teaches that those chosen to be saved and help repopulate the world must earn that right through their own righteous behavior and, indeed, one of Noah’s sons does not earn that right and is left behind. Although there is no specific mention of a rainbow or covenant in the Qur’an, Allah does promise peace and blessings upon Noah and all those with him.

Judaism and the Noahide Laws

Judaism teaches that out of the story of Noah come the Noahide Laws; seven laws that are considered part of the covenant between God, Noah and Noah’s sons and therefore with all mankind. These laws were considered basic to living peacefully and righteously in a civilized society. The seven laws forbid the worship of idols, forbid the blasphemy of God, require courts of justice, forbid killing, forbid adultery, forbid stealing and demand that man not eat flesh cut from a living animal. Although these laws were already known to Adam and his descendants, they were not considered binding until sealed in the covenantal relationship between God and Noah and symbolized by the seven colors of the rainbow. Judaism teaches that this covenant was an all-inclusive covenant with Jews and non-Jews alike. Judaism teaches that anyone who keeps these laws maintains the covenant with God and is guaranteed salvation in the world to come.

Spirit of the story of Noah

The story of Noah reminds us of our humanity and our limitations on Earth.
It teaches us that there are consequences for violating God’s laws, the laws of morality, the laws of nature, or the laws of society. These consequences may be physical, spiritual, social or legal. The spirit of this story is to remind us that we all have a responsibility to treat each other respectfully and to abide by a standard of laws that are basic to living peacefully and righteously in a civilized society.