Cheshvan 11 – Go into the ark, you and all your household…

October 25, 2023

Cheshvan 11, 5784; from sunset October 25, 2023, to sunset October 26, 2023

Noah’s Ark (1846), by the American folk painter Edward Hicks.

A few days ago, we studied about the life and death of Methuselah. We admitted that we were a little early in commemorating the traditional anniversary of his death – which is attributed to today. But we did so in order to open up this date for his grandson, Noah. Today, according to the Bible, Noah, his family, and the animals entered into the ark.

Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth. – Genesis 7:1-10 (RSV)

So the animals came two by two, at least the unclean animals and everything that creeps on the ground…but the birds of the air and the clean animals came seven by two!

The book of Jasher adds a little extra color to this story by filling in some information about the women in the family. It says that Noah took Na’amah, the daughter of Enoch and sister of Methuselah, as his wife. Together they had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Each of the boys were alleged to have married granddaughters of Enoch by one of Na’amah and Methuselah’s brothers. These are the eight people who boarded the ark. As we’ve said before, the stories contained in the book of Jasher should be held very loosely. The only thing we can say for sure is that Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their wives, entered into the ark seven days before the rains came upon the earth.

The Hebrew word translated as “rain” is “geshem” (Genesis 7:12). Does this word sound familiar to you? If you’ve been studying with us over the past week, perhaps you remember the prayers for rain (tefillat geshem) that are inserted into the synagogue service after the pilgrims from the Feast of Tabernacles have had time to return to their homes. I’m sure they weren’t praying for anything on this scale!

The word for “flood” in Hebrew is “mabul” (מַבּוּל). Mabul is a unique word in the Bible. It is only found in the story of Noah and in one other place – Psalm 29 – where it refers to the Flood. Most of the time it is seen in combination with the definite article. What is the definite article? Picture a dozen or so crayons laying on a table. If I said to you, “Please bring me a crayon.” You would probably feel like you could go over to the table and bring back a crayon of your choice. But, if I said, “Please bring me the crayon.” You would understand that I wanted a specific crayon. The word “the” is known as the definite article. In our story, it’s “The” Flood. An event unequalled in the history of the world.

When we began studying this month of Cheshvan, we learned that it is also referred to as “Bul” (בּוּל) in 1 Kings 6:38. Surprisingly, scholars tend not to connect “Bul” with “mabul.” Rather, they see “Bul” as an extension of the verb-root “yabal” (יבל). The TWOT Lexicon defines “yabal” as meaning “to carry, lead, or conduct.” “Yabal” has some interesting nouns stemming from its root.

yabal = a watercourse or stream (irrigation)	yobel = trumpet
yubal = a stream	yaval = runnings or suppurating
yebul = produce (of the soil)	ubal = stream, river
bul = produce, outgrowth	tevel = the world

As you can see, there is a wide variety of words stemming from this root. Most scholars connect the name of the month of Bul with the produce of the soil. In Israel it’s the season for planting; just in time for the early rains. The etymology of the word “mabul” however, remains a mystery.

If you’d like to read all of our posts on Noah, please click on the image above.