Noah's Role in the Bible and in the Koran

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the lord said, ‘I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created-people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.”(Genesis 6:5-8)

Through reading both stories, it is quite obvious that there are some parallels between the two. The beginning of the new world that Noah lives in directly mirrors the one of the past. In the first verses of Genesis, the week of creation is described with God creating the sea first, and then “God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.” (Genesis 1:9). This exact same process is repeated when the flood comes, starting with “And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.” (Genesis 7:19). This verse echoes the creation story reiterating that the whole world was covered with water until God decided it was time create land. After God had decided that it was time for the new world to begin the waters receded and left Noah’s ark resting on the top of a Mount Ararat. The familiar accounts, however don't stop there. In the beginning, God speaks to Adam saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Theses exact same words are told

‘I now establish My covenant with you and your offspring to come, and with every living thing that is with you. – birds, cattle, and every wild beast as well – all that have come out of the ark, every living thing on earth. I will maintain My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”(Genesis pg. 174) This is Gods way of letting Noah know that he will never again flood the earth again.

God also told Noah about the plan for the flood, and what he was to do with the ark. Noah, his wife, his sons, and his sons wives would all be on the ark an spared from the destruction the flood would cause. Along with his family, God wanted Noah to bring two of all living creatures, one male, and one female. Brining a male and a female of each kind of creature would allow them to reproduce and repopulate their species. The last thing God commanded Noah to do was to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and stored for his family and the creatures.

Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” This was God’s command to Noah, unlike Utnapishtim who was told the secret of the flood by one of the gods.

“And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy the earth. Make yourself an ark…” (Genesis 6:13-14, English Standard Version) “For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.” (Genesis 6:17, ESV) “And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.” (Genesis 6:19, ESV) “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22, ESV) “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of

In the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ and ‘The Biblical Flood Story’ have a very similar plot line, but many several key differences. In both stories a flood occurs, which were caused by the God/s( This shows that in Gilgamesh they were polytheistic while in the Biblical version they were monotheistic. ) to destroy the people of the earth. For both flood stories, a specific person is chosen to build an arc but for different reasons. In the Biblical story, Noah builds the arc due to his righteous character but in Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim built the arc to save himself. Later on in both stories birds are released making them seem very similar. In the end, the stories are separated because of the covenants

In The Koran, Noah is the first of many important prophets. The Koran gave emphasis to the prophetic aspect of Noah's tasks given to him by God. In short, Noah's mission as a prophet was to inform the wrongdoers, and to convince them to submit to God. If they refused to do so, Noah threatened them with anguish and suffering. Regardless, the wrongdoers rejected his warning and shrugged off his threats. Consequently, it became evident to Noah that his people would never take note of his word of warning. It was then that Noah ordered down God's destruction of all who did not take heed to his forewarning.

Several comparative material has been found from the ancient Near East which have many similarities with the Genesis 1-22 bible narratives such as the creation, flood and patriarchal narratives ? Ugarit and Ebla.[footnoteRef:1] Many scholars have argued on the implication of the similarities in the Genesis flood story with Noah and the flood epic that was told in Mesopotamia ? Gilgamesh.[footnoteRef:2] Alexander Heidel has made several comparisons between the flood narrative in Genesis and the epic of ?Gilgamesh?.

The world before the flood was already in turmoil and ruin, enveloped in sin and chaos; it is in this world that Noah’s faith made him the only righteous man. God had entrusted in Noah to complete a very important task that would test his faithfulness to Him. God’s plan was to destroy the world by way of flood as the result of mankind’s misdeeds. He instructed Noah to construct an ark to save his family and all species of animals, two of each kind - male and female. All of them would survive in the ark while God sent down a watery wrath to be swept across the earth, wiping out everything in its path. Noah was obedient; his life revealed qualities of patience and persistence which made him the perfect candidate for the building of the

Noah respected God and did every duty that was asked of him. “Noah was kindhearted and followed the rules” (Genesis 6:7).

Another distinct difference between the stories of Noah in The Bible in and in The Koran is that the Bible speaks of the mixing of races that took place between the sons of God, and the daughters of man. This was supposedly a very important factor that led to the flood. The Koran, on the other hand, never mentions anything about race mixing, and according to the creator of "The Bile of The Koran," Savasan Yurtsever, there was no

Someone once wrote “The Lord saw how great was man’s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time”(Noah and the flood pg.171). “ The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel” (the Epic of Gilgamesh pg.147). Both stories from two different cultures but despite the differences in the heroes, their gods, and the flood stories in “Noah and the Flood” and “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” both of these stories appear to refer to the same historical event the great flood.

The tales of Gilgamesh and Noah are as memorable as they are incredible. They materialize the beliefs of two cultures telling very similar yet very different stories. Gilgamesh, a mighty warrior overwhelmed by grief of his passed friend, went an an epic adventure to find the secret of eternal life. Noah, a morally right and genuine man saved the future of the entire human race and every animal through great endurance and faith. The personality traits, reasons for journeys, and stories of origin of each myth have a plentiful amount of both commonalities and diversities.

Noah and Utnapishtim were both righteous men. They were both told to build a boat and they both complained about it. The flood was a result of man’s wickedness. Utnapishtim said “the world teemed, the people multiplies, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour”. The noise was so harsh that they agreed to “exterminate mankind”. Genesis states that “the earth was filled with violence” and that the world was “corrupt” . So God told Noah that “the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth”. The difference here is the way that the way the gods/Gods got the idea to destroy the Earth. Since man was sinning and making all