Reading Notes: Noah, Part A

This week I decided to go Biblical and read stories about Noah. I've always found the flood narrative interesting as it pops up in a lot of cultures around the world, but I'd never seen or read anything about Noah outside of the Bible. The Jewish stories were really interesting to me, particularly the description of the birth of Noah. The way I had always understood the story of Noah, he was, as with many biblical figures, a normal guy that listened to God and had faith. The Jewish description of him is much different. Rather than starting out as an average dude, Noah was born special, circumcised, white-haired, and exuding such radiance that he terrified his father.

The story of Noah's birth presents the idea that his very existence was enough to counter many effects of Adam's sin, including great famine, smaller floods, and contrary animals. This concept situates Noah as both a precursor to and parallel of Jesus. His destiny is almost an inversion of Christ, in that while (in the Christian tradition) Jesus died on the cross so that the world might live, Noah lives so that the rest of the world will die. Given that the Jewish tradition doesn't hold Jesus to be the actual son of God, this contrast is actually less meaningful in that respect, but I think it could be interesting to combine a Jewish and Christian perspective in some way to connect Noah and Jesus more directly, maybe by adding a prophecy or something like that.

I'm also interested in possibly exploring a different perspective in this story, that of Noah's father, Lamech. I can't imagine how freaked he would have been, to be excited and ready for his child to come into the world, only for the kid to pop out glowing and bright and already singing the praises of God. Lamech is also more directly involved in the action of this specific story than Noah is, and I want to dig into what his thoughts are about Noah and what he's destined to do. Personally, I'd have mixed feelings, part proud and part, "Why can't my kid be normal, dangit?"

Bibliography: The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909): Book 1, Chapter 4 Noah .Source.

Image: Noah. Source.