Genesis 6: 1 9: 17 Noah And The Ark
Target year level: Prep, Year One, Year Eight
Scripture text
Genesis 6: 1 - 9: 17
World behind the text
The Story of Noah appears in the Book of Genesis. Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament. Genesis tells the story of the creation of the world to the death of Joseph in Egypt. In telling this story, Genesis introduces the reader to God, God’s relationship to humanity and God's plan: to work with humanity in order to move it and the world toward ultimate perfection.
Along with these major themes, Genesis introduces a series of sub-themes that are essential to both the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and the rest of the bible:
- the basic unity of all humankind;
- humanity’s propensity for evil;
- human rebellion; and
- the covenant between God and people.
As you read through the Noah story in preparation for teaching it, you may want to consider how these and other themes are being developed.
In Genesis 6-8, there are two stories of the Great Flood. Flood stories were a common theme in the literature of the Ancient Near East. These stories have been intermingled and combined by editors to form the text commonly known as the Story of Noah and the Flood. The older of the stories is found in Genesis 6:8-10; 7:1-10, 16c; 8:6-12, 20-22. This story comes from 1000 BCE and may have Egyptian influence. The newer story is found in Genesis 6:9-22; 7:11-24; 8:1-5, 13-19; 9:1-17, and comes from 500 BCE with Babylonian influence. As a result, the combined and edited story has a number of contradictions.
Biblical scholars generally agree that the material appearing in Genesis comes from three sources, each commonly referred to by a letter:
The Yahwist, Elohist and Priestly groups of writers all wrote parts of the Old Testament, some writing the same material. Another group, the Deuteronomists (D), were also responsible for material that appears in the Old Testament.
Yahwist (J) material was the earliest, and was written with the viewpoint of showing how God's promises to Abraham were fulfilled in the monarchy of David. Elohist (E) writers reflected the views of the northern kingdom, after Solomon's kingdom fell apart and the north went its own way. Priestly (P) writers re-organised other materials and added some new material to reflect the needs of the exilic community.
Biblical scholars can identify which parts of Genesis and other books of the Old Testament were written by each group. (Source criticism) This is done by noting differing story telling styles, key phrases, and theological positions. For example, the Priestly writer has a set of stock phrases that distinguish their writing. Some of them are: “to be fruitful and multiply” and “this very day”.
World of the text
Textual Features of Narratives:
The basic purpose of narrative is to entertain, to gain and hold a reader’s interest. However, narratives can also be written to teach or inform, to change attitudes / social opinions e.g. soap operas and television dramas that are used to raise topical issues.
Narratives sequence people/characters in time and place, but differ from recounts in that through the sequencing, the stories set up one or more problems, which must eventually find a way to be resolved.
There are three key features of a narrative. They are:
- Characters with defined personalities/identities.
- The inclusion of dialogue - tense may change to the present or the future.
- Descriptive language that creates images in the reader's mind and enhances the story.
In a traditional narrative, like the story of Noah and the Flood, the focus of the text is on a series of actions:
- Orientation (introduction): the characters, setting and time of the story are established. Usually answers who? when? where? e.g. Mr Wolf went out hunting in the forest one dark gloomy night.
- Complication or problem: The complication usually involves the main character(s), often mirroring the complications in real life.
- Resolution: The complication may be resolved for better or worse; happily or unhappily. Sometimes there are a number of complications that have to be resolved. These add and sustain interest and suspense for the reader.
To help students explore narratives, teachers should focus on:
- Plot: What is going to happen?
- Setting: Where will the story take place? When will the story take place?
- Characterisation: Who are the main characters? What do they look like?
- Structure: How will the story begin? What will be the problem? How is the problem going to be resolved?
- Theme: What is the theme / message the writer is attempting to communicate?