Hebrew Mythology

**Hebrew Mythology**: Mesopotamian mythology with Jewish Babylonian Exilic redaction

## Creation: Perspective 1

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

## Creation: Perspective 2

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens:

And no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground—the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman, ' for she was taken out of man." For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

## Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

## Cain and Abel

Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?"

"I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"

The Lord said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth."

Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

But the Lord said to him, "Not so; if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. So Cain went out from the Lord 's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

## Adam's Decendants

Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.

To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."

Adam lay with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him."

Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.

## Genealogy of the First Humans

This is the written account of Adam's line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man."

When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Adam lived 930 years, and then he died.

When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. And after he became the father of Enosh, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Seth lived 912 years, and then he died.

When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. And after he became the father of Kenan, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enosh lived 905 years, and then he died.

When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. And after he became the father of Mahalalel, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Kenan lived 910 years, and then he died.

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. And after he became the father of Jared, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Mahalalel lived 895 years, and then he died.

When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. And after he became the father of Enoch, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Jared lived 962 years, and then he died.

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. And after he became the father of Lamech, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed." After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Lamech lived 777 years, and then he died.

After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal ; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days-and also afterward-when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

## Iyyob

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house,14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,15 and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,and naked I will depart.The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;may the name of the Lord be praised.”

22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

4 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

11 When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. 12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

Debate of Iyyob and his Friends

So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God.3 He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. 5 But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.

Elihud Weighs In and Yahweh Speaks

After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

## Noakh

Yahweh saw how great humanity's wickedness on the land had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Yahweh was grieved that he had made humanity on the land and his heart was filled with pain. So Yahweh said, "I'm going to wipe these people that I've made from the face of the land—humans and animals and crawling things and birds of the sky—because I'm sorry that I've made them." But Noakh found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.

This is the account of Noakh. Noakh was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with the God of gods. Noakh had three sons: Shem, Kham, and Yepet. Now the land was corrupted in the eyes of the God of gods and the land was full of violence. The God of gods saw how corrupt the land had become, as all the people on land had corrupted their ways.

So the God of gods said to Noakh, "I'm going to put an end to all people, because the land is filled with violence because of them. I'm certainly going to destroy both them and the land. So make yourself a vessel of *goper* wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The vessel is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Make a roof for it and finish the vessel to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the vessel and make lower, middle, and upper parts. I am going to bring floodwaters on the land to destroy all life under the sky, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on land will die. But I will establish my agreement with you, and you will enter the vessel—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. You are to bring into the vessel two of all living things, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, every kind of animal, and every kind of crawling thing will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

Noakh did everything just as the God of gods commanded him. Yahweh then said to Noakh, "Go into the vessel, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in my eyes during this time. Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the land. Seven days from now I will send rain on the land for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe every existing thing I've made off the face of the land." And Noakh did all that Yahweh commanded him.

### **Flood**

Noakh was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the land. And Noakh and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the vessel to escape the waters of the flood. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, birds, and crawling things, male and female, came to Noakh and entered the vessel, as the God of gods had commanded Noakh. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the land.

In the six hundredth year of Noakh's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the land forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noakh and his sons, Shem, Kham and Yepet, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the vessel. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every crawling thing according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noakh and entered the vessel. The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as the God of gods had commanded Noakh.

Then Yahweh shut him in. For forty days the flood kept coming on the land and as the waters increased they lifted the vessel high above the land. The waters rose and increased greatly on the land, and the vessel floated on the surface of the water. They rose high above the ground and all the tall mountains under the entire sky were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. Every living thing that moved on the land died—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the ground, and all people. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the land was wiped out; humans and animals and crawling things and the birds of the air were wiped from the land. Only Noakh was left, together with those that were with him in the vessel. The waters flooded the land for a hundred and fifty days.

But the God of gods remembered Noakh and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the vessel, so he sent a wind over the land, and the waters receded. Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. The water receded steadily from the land. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the vessel came to rest on the mountains of 'Ararat.

The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible. After forty days Noakh opened the window he had made in the vessel and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the land. Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the land; so it returned to Noakh in the vessel. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the vessel. He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the vessel. When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noakh knew that the water had receded from the land. He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. By the first day of the first month of Noakh's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the land. Noakh then removed the covering from the vessel and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was completely dry.

Then the God of gods said to Noakh, "Come out of the vessel, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the crawling things—so they can multiply on the land and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."

So Noakh came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the land—came out of the vessel, one kind after another. Then Noakh built an altar to Yahweh and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. Yahweh smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. "As long as the land endures, planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

Then the God of gods blessed Noakh and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the land. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the land animals and all the birds of the sky, on every crawling thing, and on all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But don't eat meat that has the blood of its life in it. Because I will certainly avenge the blood that's for your life, avenge it for every living thing and for people, for fellow humans—with a person's life. Whoever sheds a person's blood, by a person his blood will be shed because in his own image the God of gods made humanity. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the land and increase upon it."

Then the God gods said to Noakh and to his sons with him: "I now establish my agreement with you and with your descendants after you and with every living thing that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the vessel with you—every living thing on land. I establish my agreement with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the land." And the God of gods said, "This is the sign of the agreement I am making between me and you and every living thing with you, a agreement for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the agreement between me and the land. Whenever I bring clouds over the land and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my agreement between me and you and all living things of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the neverending agreement between the God of gods and all living things of every kind on the land." So the God of gods said to Noakh, "This is the sign of the agreement I have established between me and all life on the land."

### **Noakh's Sons**

The sons of Noakh who came out of the vessel were Shem, Kham, and Yepet. (Kham was the father of Kenaʿan.) These were the three sons of Noakh and from them came the people who were scattered over the land.

Noakh, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he got drunk and took his clothes off inside his tent. Kham, the father of Kenaʿan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Yepet took cloth and laid it across their shoulders, then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they wouldn't see their father naked.

When Noakh awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Curse Kenaʿan! The lowest of slaves he'll be to his brothers." He also said, "Bless Yahweh, the god of Shem! May Kenaʿan be the slave of Shem. May the God of gods extend the territory of Yepet, may Yepet live in the tents of Shem, and may Kenaʿan be his slave."

After the flood, Noakh lived 350 years. Altogether, Noakh lived 950 years and then he died. These are the descendants of Shem, Kham, and Yepet, Noakh's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood:

#### **Yepet**

The sons of Yepet:

* Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yawan, Tubal, Meshek, and Tiras
* The sons of Gomer: 'Ashkenaz, Ripat, and Togarmah

* The sons of Yawan: 'Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and Rodanim/Dodanim. (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

#### **Kham**

The sons of Kham:

* Kush, Misʼrayim, Putʼ, and Kenaʿan

* The sons of Kush: Seba, Khawilah, Sabta', Raʿama', and Sabteka'

* The sons of Raʿama': Sheba' and Dedan

Kush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior in the land. He was a mighty hunter in the eyes of Yahweh. That's why it's said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the eyes of Yahweh." The first centers of his kingdom were Babel, 'Erek, 'Akkad, and Kalneh—in the land of Shinʿar. From that land he went to 'Asshur, where he built Nineweh, Rekhobot ʿIr, Kelakh, Resen, which is between Nineweh and Kelakh, that is the great city.

* Misʼrayim was the father of the Ludim, the ʿAnamim, the Lehabim, the Naptukhim, the Patrusim, Kaslukhim (which the Pelishtim came from), and the Kaptorim.

* Kenaʿan was the father of Sʼidon, his firstborn, Khet, the Yebusi, the 'Emori, the Girgashi, the Khiwi, the ʿArqi, the Sini, the 'Arwadi, the Sʼemari, and the Khamati.

Later the Kenaʿani clans scattered and the borders of Kenaʿan reached from Sʼidon toward Gerar as far as ʿAzzah and then toward Sedom, ʿAmorah, 'Admah, and Sʼeboyim, as far as Leshaʿ. These are the sons of Kham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

#### **Shem**

Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Yepet; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of ʿEber.

* The sons of Shem: ʿElam, 'Asshur, 'Arpakshad, Lud, and 'Aram.

* The sons of 'Aram: ʿUsʼ, Khul, Geter, and Mash.

* 'Arpakshad was the father of Shelakh, and Shelakh the father of ʿEber.

* Two sons were born to ʿEber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the land was divided, and his brother's name was Yoqtʼan.

* Yoqtʼan was the father of 'Almodad, Shelep, Khasʼarmawet, Yerakh, Hadoram, 'Uzal, Diqlah, ʿObal, 'Abima'el, Sheba', 'Opir, Khawilah, and Yobab. All these were sons of Yoqtʼan.

The region where they lived stretched from Mesha' toward Separ, in the eastern hill country. These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

These are the clans of Noakh's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the land after the flood.

## Tower of Babel

Now the all the land had one language and the same words. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinʿar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come on, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick, instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come on, let's build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the sky, so we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the land." But Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. Yahweh said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come on, let's go down and confuse their language so they won't understand each other." So Yahweh scattered them from there all over the land and they stopped building the city. That's why it was called Babel—because there Yahweh confused the language of all the land. From there Yahweh scattered them over the face of all the land.

## Genealogy of Shem

These are the descendents of Shem.

* Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of 'Arpakshad. And after he became the father of 'Arpakshad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When 'Arpakshad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelakh. And after he became the father of Shelakh, 'Arpakshad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When Shelakh had lived 30 years, he became the father of ʿEber. And after he became the father of ʿEber, Shelakh lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When ʿEber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. And after he became the father of Peleg, ʿEber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reʿu. And after he became the father of Reʿu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When Reʿu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Lherug. And after he became the father of Lherug, Reʿu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When Lherug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nakhor. And after he became the father of Nakhor, Lherug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

* When Nakhor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terakh. And after he became the father of Terakh, Nakhor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

* After Terakh had lived 70 years, he became the father of 'Abram, Nakhor, and Haran.