Mythology

explaining the belief in the existence of a vanished race of giants, but the Yahwist has made use of it here to support his account of the progressive deterioration of the human race, and goes on to connect it with Yahweh’s purpose to destroy man from the face of the earth. The Myth Of The Flood We have already seen that more than one version of the Creation myth existed among the early traditions of Israel; the same is true of the Flood myth. In the form in which we have it in Genesis, two versions of the story have been woven together by the final editor. The second version of the myth of the destruction of mankind which also occurs in Genesis will be dealt with later. There are also references to the Flood myth in Hebrew poetry and in the prophetic writings. The points of resemblance and difference between the Yahwist’s version and that of the Priestly writer, and the dependence of both on Mesopotamian sources will be seen best if they are set out in tabular form: [Insert Pic tb133 + tb134 + tb135] The Mesopotamian origin of the Flood myth is clear from the above table, even apart from the remarkable resemblances between the Babylonian and the Hebrew accounts. The differences between the Yahwist and the Priestly versions of the myth suggest that the latter is using a different form of the myth from that used by the former, and that the Priestly version is closer in some respects to the Mesopotamian sources. The Flood myth is frequently mentioned in later Hebrew literature; in Ps. 29:10 Yahweh is said to have been ‘enthroned’ at the Flood, and in Isa. 54:9 the Flood is referred to as ‘the waters of Noah’, and Yahweh is represented as recalling his promise not to destroy mankind by a flood again, a promise which occurs in the Priestly version. The measurements in the Babylonian version suggest the dimensions of a building rather than of a boat, and the somewhat doubtful theory has been advanced that in these measurements a tradition has been preserved that the staged towers called ‘ziqqurats’, which are a regular feature of the temple buildings in ancient Mesopotamian cities, were originally designed as places of refuge from the frequent floods in the Delta. It is possible that the Priestly writer does not include the distinction between clean and unclean animals, nor the mention of sacrifices, in his account because he regards these institutions as originating in the time of Moses. We also find in the Priestly account the pattern which he has imposed upon the history of the human race in relation to the divine purpose. He sees that purpose revealed in three successive stages, each marked by a covenant with its characteristic sign. First the covenant with Noah, marked by the sign of the rainbow; then the covenant with Abraham, to which the sign of circumcision is attached; and lastly the covenant with Israel, of which the Sabbath is the sign. There is no trace of this arrangement in the Yahwist’s narrative since he regards the worship of Yahweh and the institution of sacrifice as already existing before the Flood. The Myth Of The Tower Of Babel This is the last of the myths which the editors of the Old Testament have brought together in the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The myth is set in a collection of ethnological and

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