Symbolism Of Noah And The Ark

[changed]

I was wondering if anyone out there could post some links to some good sources discussing the symbolism of Noah and the Ark?

Tonight my little 8yo asked me to read to him, he found this really old book that used to be my mom's (our house is filled with old books). It was a collection of re-written OT Bible stories, and we read the one about Noah together. My son was upset about parts of the story - about all the people dieing, suspicious that there had to be more good people on the Earth than just Noah and his family, so we talked a little about Enoch and his translated city (just prior to Noah). Then, knowing some of the Biblical criticisms that James will face, and knowing his questioning smart mind, I introduced the possibility to him that some of the Biblical stories were primarily symbolic in nature. I asked him what the 3 little pigs was symbolic of - that there were real truths within that symbolic story. Then we started talking about what Noah and the Ark was symbolic of, which was something I had not thought too much about previously. We thought perhaps there was symbolism in taking 120 years to build the ark - that 120 years is the upper limit for how long someone lives - that Noah was building an Ark to protect his family - what are we building to protect our family during our life on Earth? That baptismal waters symbolize death - and there was death associated with the flood waters too - so we take a life to build something, then death comes, and what we have built is tested, and hopefully carries us through to the next existence. ... but then what do all the animals in the Ark represent? what do the three pilgrimages of the dove represent? Is the Ark the temple? If you think this story is only symbolic, or if you think it is both symbolic and real - either way, what do you see it representing?

Thanks!

[Rivers]

I've always thought it represented rebirth or a new beginning. Basically the same things baptism represents.

[Nathair/|\]

Passing through water is sometimes equated with passing between ordinary life and sacred space/time.

I wonder if anyone has identified the olive with the world tree/Yggdrasil with it's roots in the underworld, it's trunk in this world, and it's leaves in the heavens.

[changed]

I agree, but what do all the animals represent? something to do with mankind's stewardship over the animals? some statement that it's not just about the salvation of humans, but of all life? or some statement that animals are part of our family? (what is the symbolism behind Jesus being born in an animal stable? not just some shack to make the humility point, but specifically, born in a place with animals?)

Edited March 17, 2013 by changed

[changed]

the olive

there is a lot of symbolism with trees - the tree of life, and olives are used to make anointing oils etc.

but then what do the three flights represent?

1. return with no branch

2. return with branch

3. to fly away, never to return again

[3DOP]

Noah's Ark prefigures the Second Coming of Christ. According to Mt. 24:38, the world that was destroyed with water behaved as though no judgment was approaching, taking no care for their souls:

For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark, And they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away; so also shall the coming of the Son of man be.

It is also a figure of baptism according to I Peter 3:20, 21:

...when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. Whereunto baptism being of the like form, now saveth you also...

[changed]

eight souls, were saved

Yes, I don'tthink there is any doubt that there is baptism symbolism, of death, and new life... I think there is more than that though.

Chai (חי) is a Hebrew word and symbol that means “life.” It is spelled with the Hebrew letters Het (ח) and Yud (י)...A common Jewish toast is “l’chaim!,” which means, “to life!.” The numeric value of chet is 8... the number 8 and 18 are symbolic of life.

Moses - she took for him an "ark" of bulrushes... Exodus 2:3

the "ark" of the covenant...

the ha-kodesh

tebah - one alleged link is to the Egyptian word dbt (coffin)

[LDSGuy]

there is lots of symbolism in the story of Noah and the ark.

The ark has three levels, just as the temple does, and just as there are three degrees of glory.

The animals entered into the ark by 2's, male and female (except for the birds). This may be symbolic of the necessity of man and woman to come to the altar.

The number of those who were saved were 8, and that is also the age of baptism. Eight is also symbolic of a new beginning. It is the first day of the new week.

The word kaphar is hebrew and is translated as pitch which was used inside and outside the ark to seal the cracks and fill the voids between the wood to keep the waters from rushing in. That same word, kaphar is also translated in other passages as atonement. Which adds a whole new meaning to what the atonement means.

[Blah]

The word kaphar is hebrew and is translated as pitch which was used inside and outside the ark to seal the cracks and fill the voids between the wood to keep the waters from rushing in. That same word, kaphar is also translated in other passages as atonement. Which adds a whole new meaning to what the atonement means.

Especially when you consider that the water represents chaos and destruction.

[Questing Beast]

... If you think this story is only symbolic, or if you think it is both symbolic and real - either way, what do you see it representing?

Thanks!

I think the story is so old and widely transmitted that we can't have more than a clue what it was originally told for. Representative? Believed? Or just a fun fable that captured listeners' imaginations? I don't know. And at this point I don't care. If I ever sit down with a grandchild as inquisitive and bright as that little boy appears to be, I will offer that the story is OLD, older almost than dirt. What does s/he think it is for? And that will be good enough for me....

[Tacenda]

I think the story is so old and widely transmitted that we can't have more than a clue what it was originally told for. Representative? Believed? Or just a fun fable that captured listeners' imaginations? I don't know. And at this point I don't care. If I ever sit down with a grandchild as inquisitive and bright as that little boy appears to be, I will offer that the story is OLD, older almost than dirt. What does s/he think it is for? And that will be good enough for me....

The thought that this is a fable makes me cringe, especially when thinking I taught it in sharing time in Primary.

[volgadon]

A common Jewish toast is “l’chaim!,” which means, “to life!.”

That toast is nor particularly ancient. It is hasidic.

[mercyngrace]

The animals entered into the ark by 2's, male and female (except for the birds). This may be symbolic of the necessity of man and woman to come to the altar.

Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. Gen 7:2-3

I'd be interested in the numbers. Why seven (the divine completion) and two (division/ disunity)?

[Questing Beast]

What was the odd "seventh", male or female? God said, "the male and his female", but the seventh is which? Bisexual? Or an extra in case one of the other males or females suffered an unfortunate event? Man those "unclean" beasties must really be robust, in order to not even have any "spares" taken aboard. How many "unclean" species were there originally? Because if just one of them died that would be extinction right there. Of course, we now know more than "God" knew at the time of the flood: that only two (or even seven for that matter) of a species would result in extinction anyway, because of inbred weaknesses inherent in a population lacking sufficient diversity to weed out the genetic weaknesses of individuals....

[kenporay]

I think the story is so old and widely transmitted that we can't have more than a clue what it was originally told for. Representative? Believed? Or just a fun fable that captured listeners' imaginations? I don't know. And at this point I don't care. If I ever sit down with a grandchild as inquisitive and bright as that little boy appears to be, I will offer that the story is OLD, older almost than dirt. What does s/he think it is for? And that will be good enough for me....

To say that tales from other sources that contain the word "flood" (like the gilgamesh tale) is the same story is a real stretch. Akin to saying that the goliath account and jack the giant killer is the same tale. Perhaps the mississippi floods of the nineties and before are also the same account.

[Questing Beast]

Parallels in the known "great deluge" accounts are what biblical scholars and historians find interesting. The word "flood" is not the only parallel. Nibley drew parallels between Noah and the Brother of Jared stories too, and pointed out earlier "great deluge" versions that also contained miraculous sources of light in the vessels. It's been a while since I read any of Nibely's stuff though....

[kenporay]

Parallels in the known "great deluge" accounts are what biblical scholars and historians find interesting. The word "flood" is not the only parallel. Nibley drew parallels between Noah and the Brother of Jared stories too, and pointed out earlier "great deluge" versions that also contained miraculous sources of light in the vessels. It's been a while since I read any of Nibely's stuff though....

I consistanly amazed by those who read the opinions of "experts" as the deciding factor. I prefer to read the source, albiet in translation(s) and then evaluate the "expert opinion" from what the text(s)say.

To do otherwise is to committ the logical facilcy of appeal to authority.

[theplains]

The animals entered into the ark by 2's, male and female (except for the birds). This may be symbolic of the necessity of man and woman to come to the altar.

"Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of

beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens,

the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth" (Genesis 7:2-3).

Would you re-specify your 'altar' analysis.

Thanks,

Jim

[CASteinman]

I was wondering if anyone out there could post some links to some good sources discussing the symbolism of Noah and the Ark?

I don't know of anything but I am grateful for this thread.

I believe the story of Noah and the Ark all the while also feeling pretty confident that what we are reading just doesn't make sense.

I am not a big person for trying to turn what was recorded as history into covert symbolism. I don't think that was USUALLY the case.

However, when it comes to Genesis I make an exception -- because, I am willing to believe that Genesis may be the remnants of an ancient Temple Ritual Story.

[Helen47]

How did they get rid of the waste matter? What did the Lions eat (frozen meat?). How did kangaroos get to Australia? How did the lama make it to the Americas without leaving progeny along the way? How did the Koala bear make it to Australia without access to tree foliage (preferably gum leaves). Lions leave the ark, see the deer? Lunch? One would have to accept a local flood to make sense of it all.

[pogi]

What was the odd "seventh", male or female? God said, "the male and his female", but the seventh is which? Bisexual? Or an extra in case one of the other males or females suffered an unfortunate event?

No, it was dinner.

[cinepro]

I was wondering if anyone out there could post some links to some good sources discussing the symbolism of Noah and the Ark?

Do you mean "symbolism" in the sense that the original authors and transmitters of the story intended it to have meaning, or "symbolism" in the ways that modern readers can add their own meaning to it? In other words, are you trying to "discover" the original meaning of the story (i.e. a question of history or anthropology), or just find meaning for it in our day (a question of creativity)?

And if you're LDS, the article in my signature has some great insight into the LDS view of the symbolic nature of the flood.

Edited March 17, 2013 by cinepro

[Rob Osborn]

It bothers me to live in such a day that so many would be so easily convinced that the flood and ark story is fiction or some kind of fable. At what point does Jesus Christ, the resurrection, and eternal life also become fiction?

[omni]

How did they get rid of the waste matter? What did the Lions eat (frozen meat?). How did kangaroos get to Australia? How did the lama make it to the Americas without leaving progeny along the way? How did the Koala bear make it to Australia without access to tree foliage (preferably gum leaves). Lions leave the ark, see the deer? Lunch? One would have to accept a local flood to make sense of it all.

Helen, do you really have to ask this? It's quite simple, according to Bruce R McConkie the continents split after the flood, apparently some kangaroos and koala bears hitched a ride on the chunk of land we now call Australia. Now according to 99.9% of scientists it didn't happen this way, but as with the dinosaurs bones, we know that Satan was just playing tricks on us. He simply changed the structure of the Earth to make it look like it happened over several billion years. God in his mysterious, yet benevolent ways allowed him to do it so he could you know...test us?

Of course there's the other theory of a local flood, but that's in direct contradiction to what prophet after prophet has taught about Noah's flood being both literal and global as it represented baptism. And as we learned from the fourteen fundamentals of a prophet talk, a prophet is not required to have any earthly trainings or credentials to speak on this subject, so you can pretty much take it to the bank.

[Tacenda]

It bothers me to live in such a day that so many would be so easily convinced that the flood and ark story is fiction or some kind of fable. At what point does Jesus Christ, the resurrection, and eternal life also become fiction?

This has crossed my mind several times.