The Flood Story Analysis
1. Moses has traditionally been considered the author, of The Flood Story, included in the book of Genesis. Since writing has yet to be an organized language at time (around 1300 B.C.) it almost seems certain that the stories were handed down orally rather than written down.Moses was a Hebrew prophet, educator and leader who delivered his people from slavery in Egypt. He was also considered to be the organizer of the community’s religious and civil traditions.At his birth, descendants of Israel were slaves to the Pharaoh of Egypt who had ordered all male newborns to death. His mother placed in in a basket near the Nile River and was later found by the Pharaoh’s daughter who took pity on him and adopted him. All of this account comes from the book of Exodus.
Biblical scholars have devoted a great deal of attention to the language used in the Old Testament in order to identify different authors. Genesis is thought to represent at least three strains of thought, each identified by a single letter representing the name given to God by the writer. The most important of these letters are J (Jahweh or Yahweh), or P (Priestly class). Less frequent is E (Elohim). Most of the Flood Story is identified as J, with short inserts by P.
J is the author of the earliest. J tells the stories with attention to the details of the personality of the characters in a direct simple style. For J, man can act freely choosing right or wrong. P is concerned more for order and interested in depicting the overwhelming power of God. 2. The Flood Story is a piece of mythological writing about a great destruction that fell onto the earth. It is related to many accounts of general destruction by water from many cultures.The writer treats it as history, of which the first twelve chapters, including the Flood Story, are “primeval history” with its material mostly borrowed from Mesopotamia. 3. All of the stories were handed down by word of mouth for centuries. It appears
Biblical scholars have devoted a great deal of attention to the language used in the Old Testament in order to identify different authors. Genesis is thought to represent at least three strains of thought, each identified by a single letter representing the name given to God by the writer. The most important of these letters are J (Jahweh or Yahweh), or P (Priestly class). Less frequent is E (Elohim). Most of the Flood Story is identified as J, with short inserts by P.
J is the author of the earliest. J tells the stories with attention to the details of the personality of the characters in a direct simple style. For J, man can act freely choosing right or wrong. P is concerned more for order and interested in depicting the overwhelming power of God. 2. The Flood Story is a piece of mythological writing about a great destruction that fell onto the earth. It is related to many accounts of general destruction by water from many cultures.The writer treats it as history, of which the first twelve chapters, including the Flood Story, are “primeval history” with its material mostly borrowed from Mesopotamia. 3. All of the stories were handed down by word of mouth for centuries. It appears
Bibliography: Armstrong, Karen, The Bible; A Biography, New York; Grove Press, 2007 Book of Genesis, BELIEVE: Religious Information Source, Speiser, E. A, trans., Genesis, New York: Doubleday & Co., 1964 -------------------------------------------- [ 4 ]. E. A. Speiser, trans., Genesis, (Garden City, NY; Doubleday & Co., 1964)[The Anchor Bible, 1] [ 5 ] [ 9 ]. Karen Armstrong, The Bible; A Biography (New York, NY; Grove Press, 2007), 13-14 [ 10 ]