Ranks 30th on The Fictional
100
The following books will introduce you to Noah, who said these
words in Genesis 9:26 (Revised Standard Version). Although
archaeologists continue to search for the historical basis of the
many Near Eastern flood accounts, the evidence is so far
inconclusive, leaving Noah as a legendary figure (see Bailey
below). To order a book, or for more information, follow the title links to Amazon.com,
or return home to browse other
characters.
- Alter, Robert. Genesis: Translation and Commentary
. Norton, 1997.
- A leader in the study of the "Bible as
literature," Alter's new translation and
commentary on Genesis has been widely praised.
Noah is mentioned in the genealogy of chap. 5, he
finds favor with God and is called to build the
ark in chap. 6, chaps. 7 to 9 recount the flood
and its aftermath, and chap. 10 continues with
his sons.
- Zornberg, Avivah. Genesis:
The Beginning of Desire. Jewish Publication Society,
1995.
- Zornberg analyzes Noah's character with
compassion and insight. She shows him to be
righteous, yet human, God's last hope to salvage
the project of creation.
- Brelich, Mario. Navigator
of the Flood. Marlboro Press, 1994.
- Part novel, part essay--this provocative book
speculates on the cause of Noah's drunkenness
after the flood, imagining his guilt as survivor
and silent partner in humanity's
near-destruction.
- Heidel, Alexander. The
Gilgamesh Epic and Old Testament Parallels.
University of Chicago Press, 1963.
- Most scholars agree that the Genesis flood story
owes much to the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh (c.
2000 B.C.). Gilgamesh (probably a historical king
of Uruk) heard Utnapishtim recount a flood tale
with remarkable parallels to Genesis, from
boat-building instructions to landing on a
mountaintop to the sending forth of birds.
Heidel's is the classic text comparing these
ancient legends.
- Bailey, Lloyd R. Noah:
The Person and the Story in History and Tradition.
Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1989.
- Bailey counts 302 flood stories from all over the
world (Middle East, China, India, Australia,
North and South America). He evaluates geological
evidence for a great flood or floods in ancient
world and the archaeological search for an ark
(e.g., in Urartu [Ararat?], Armenia). He also
does a close study of Noah and the flood in
Genesis, comparing the so-called J and P
versions.
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