Who wrote that part of the Bible about Noah's ark and where did they get the info? Was it popular blief?A Myth

Question

Sorry about spelling and wording, the question space is too short!

Answer 1

Scholars have determined that four different men were the combined authors of Genesis. It was compiled over many generations and finally put in its final written form about the 9th century BCE. Nobody knows the names of those men.

Noah's Ark is lifted from the great Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's first piece of epic poetry, predating Beowulf by at least 1,500 years. The story of the Great Flood is but one small part of the Epic.

Gilgamesh was a god-king of ancient Sumer. When the Epic was first composed he was already so far back in their timeframe that his historicity was unknown. It remains unknown. We don't know if there ever was a king named Gilgamesh, but we can pretty much figure out that most of his "adventures" were as imaginary as anything Hollywood ever turned out.

Gilgamesh had a friend who had a friend named Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim was a mighty sailor. Think Bronze Age Sinbad. The gods got in a snit (not unusual since the gods of Sumer were a contentious lot). They decided that they weren't getting enough in the way of abasement and groveling from the humans. So they decided to drown 'em like rats. One of the gods disagreed but didn't have the moxie to go against his fellows, so he secretly warned Utnapishtim of the nefarious plot and helped the sailor build a boat large enough to save seed crops, livestock, hunting animals and his family along with fresh water and stores enough to weather the weather. Utnapishtim, no fool he, listened to the god and got busy. He built the boat, he stocked the boat, he loaded the boat, they all went aboard the boat and they waited. The rains came. The flood grew. And from there it all went pretty much as the Noah story delineates.

Utnapishtim warned his friend who in turn warned Gilgamesh who used his godlike powers to save the people of Sumer. In return the gods bowed to his superiority and made him one of them. He made them promise not to make nasty on the earth again. Respecting his warrior stance and willingness to turn them into raisin paste, they agreed. And all ended happily....for that episode.

Historically, geographically, there actually was a humongous flood over the entire Fertile Crescent about the time the Epic says Gilgamesh was king in Sumer. You can still see the high water marks on some of the rocks. It must have been horribly devastating to that civilization.

Answer 2

Jesus Christ confirmed that the events regarding Noah's Ark is factual. It is not a myth. If you believe that Jesus existed, then we must believe what he said and that he knew that Noah existed, and the Flood happened.

Jesus stated: "For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. 38 For as they were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; 39 and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be." (Matthew 24:37-39)

(Please see also Luke 17:26, 27, which is a parallel description by Jesus of the events of Noah.)

Jesus' apostles also believed in the Flood and the occurences in Noah's time period. For example the apostle Paul recorded at Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, after being given divine warning of things not yet beheld, showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household; and through this faith he condemned the world, and he became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith."

Also, Peter had faith in the existence of the Flood and of Noah. He said: "And he (God) did not hold back from punishing an ancient world, but kept Noah, a preacher of righteousness, safe with seven others when he brought a deluge upon a world of ungodly people." (2 Peter 2:5 - )

If you would like further information or a free home Bible study, please contact Jehovah's Witnesses at the local Kingdom Hall. Or visit http://www.watchtower.org

Answer 3

Moses is credited with writing down the first five books. The stuff that happened before his time may have come from oral tradition, or it may have been a revelation from God (if there were no humans to witness the events and start the oral history). There is a very interesting theory about the 7-day creation that relates to this. It says that the seven days of creation were the seven days of Moses' vision from God of creation. So on day 1 of the vision, God showed Moses that the light was separated from darkness (then there was evening, and there was morning, the first day of the vision). Then the second day God showed Moses how He separated sky and water (then there was evening, and there was morning, the second day of the vision). That's a bit off the topic, but it would be one case where revelation would have been used instead of oral tradition (as in the case of Noah).

Answer 4

I don't know who wrote it. But Noah's Ark rests on Mt. Ararat (I think that is the right spelling) to this day - right now, in Turkey. It is real because the Bible is real and God is real. The Turkish people won't let anyone get up there though - wonder why? Why? Because they would know that the Bible is real and that Jehovah God is the One True God. That is why. It is not a myth - it is real. Trust in the Lord Jesus today and read His Word (the Holy Bible). Blessings

Answer 5

Moses wrote it. What's interesting is that not only is the there Epic of Gilgamesh and the account in Genesis. There is the Sumerian account of Ziusudra, the counterpart of the Bible's Noah. In China there is the account of Yu, "the conquerer of the great flood", and many more global flood stories.

There is a great chapter called Common Threads in Mythology in the book "Mankind's Search For God". You can get a free copy of the book, which goes into detail about the history of the world's major religions, from any Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. If you know a Witness or have one stop at your door, you can ask and they'll be happy to get you a copy.

Answer 6

Moses wrote the passages. There were both oral traditions and written records that Noah's immediate descendants recorded, however, the creation account recorded was given obviously by God directly to Moses. Genesis chapters 1-11 all have direct revelation tied to them obviously.

Actually the first book of the bible written is probably Job. Job's friends were descendants of Abraham from genealogy records, so that gives us a pretty accurate date of the origin of the written revelations from God.

Answer 7

Jewish tradition says that Moses compiled the 1st 5 books. Genisis was probably an ancient document handed down from patriarch to patriarch, each adding his own life story. So Noah or Shem would have originally written the flood account.

Answer 8

Moses wrote the first 5 books

Answer 9

They probably read the flood story in the epic of Gilgamesh and thought it would be good to include it in Jewish scripture.

Answer 10

Moses wrote as dictated to him by God!