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Genesis

About this book

The Flood

Chapter 7

1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark,⁠ you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation.⁠ 2 You must take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,⁠ 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the entire earth.⁠ 4 For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”⁠ 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because of the floodwaters. 8 Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground,⁠ 9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.⁠ 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month—on⁠ that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.⁠ 12 And the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives.⁠ 14 They entered, along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 16 Those that entered were male and female, just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.⁠ 17 The flood engulfed the earth for 40 days.⁠ As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 18 The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.⁠ 19 The waters completely inundated the earth so that even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered.⁠ 20 The waters rose more than 20 feet above the mountains. 21 And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 23 So the Lord destroyed every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived.⁠ 24 The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.

Texts in conversation

Compare Epic of Gilgamesh XI 84 and Genesis 7:1

Ancient Near East, Babylonian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis describe final flood preparations by loading people, animals, and supplies onto the ark, then sealing it with a direct command. The similarity and focus on completeness reflect a common ancient Near Eastern tradition.

Passages

Epic of Gilgamesh XI 84

Ancient Near East, Babylonian
81 [Everything I had] I loaded aboard it, 82 I loaded aboard it whatever silver I had, 83 I loaded aboard it whatever gold I had, 84 I loaded aboard it whatever seed I had of living things, each and every one. 85 All my kith and kin I sent aboard the boat, 86 I sent aboard animals of the wild, creatures of the wild, persons of every skill and craft. 87 Šamaš had set me a deadline– 88 “In the morning he will rain down bread-cakes on us, in the evening a torrent of wheat. 89 Go into the boat and seal your hatch!”– 90 “That time had arrived: 91 “In the morning he will rain down bread-cakes, in the evening, a torrent of wheat.” 92 I watched the look of the weather: 93 The weather was frightening to see; 94 I went into the boat and sealed my hatch. 95 To the man who sealed the boat, to the ship-wright Puzur-Enlil, 96 I gave the palace with all its goods.
2100 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Epic of Gilgamesh

Genesis 7:1

Hebrew Bible
1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. 2 You must take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the entire earth. 4 For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

References

"... The exact nature of the biblical flood story's journey from its distant pre–Israelite origins may be as unknowable as both its original form and its exact relationship to known Mesopotamian and connected Hellenistic traditions, but the fact that it took such a journey is beyond question ... Meaningful comparison and contrast is limited, however, to a handful of texts possessing geographical and cultural propinquity - the Mesopotamian texts being, The Epic of Atrahasis, Eridu Genesis, Epic of Gilgamesh, and Berossus's Babyloniaca, and the Hellenistic texts being, Bibliotheca, Metamorphosis, and De Syria Dea. Even without discovering Mesopotamian flood texts dating back to the 14th Century BC at Meggido and Ugarit, and back to the 13th at Emar in Syria, the existence of a connection between the biblical flood story and the Mesopotamian tradition would be obvious. The texts all follow a basic pattern, but what are far more important for validating the use of a mythopoetic lens in the reading of the biblical flood narrative are upwards of forty striking similarities in points of detail within this story pattern between the biblical account and these other texts ... Both Noah and Utnapishtim are specifically commanded to enter the ark, and Scripture, Atrahasis, and Berossus have an entrance scene ... Scripture, Atrahasis, Gilgamesh and Ovid all have a scene of flood description with the use of battle language ... Scripture, Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, and Ovid all describe the deaths of all the living ... Scripture and Eridu Genesis both track the movement of the ark across the waters, being lifted and driven in Genesis and tossed about in Eridu Genesis ..."
Andrew D. Sargent, Wind and Water in Gen 8:1 (Part 1): The Calming of the Waters in Gen 8:1 (Trinity International University, 2016), 1–31.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Epic of Gilgamesh XI 84 and Genesis 7:1

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