#especially regarding languages connected to the bible or abrahamic religions

[boneless-mika]

The most annoying thing Christian missionaries have done is describe language in-depth because now we owe one of the largest databases of language to people who I don't think are very good

[insideanairport]

Nietzsche’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra” (part I/II)

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This is the best and most profound work of Nietzsche, yet the hardest to grasp. For beginners, I don’t recommend starting with this book. All of Nietzsche’s philosophical universe is condensed and packed in this work. I picked up this book first when I was still in Highschool. I didn’t understand a lot in the first reading of it. I also took some notes and moved on to reading other works by Nietzsche. Soon, I found myself reading all of his major works. Before writing this review, I looked back on my first notes from Thus Spake Zarathustra. I had to delete every single note I took at that time. My view has been changed completely towards Nietzsche’s work since the first time I read this book.

Where did Zarathustra come from?

If you have never heard of Zarathustra (Zoroaster or زرتشت‎) and have only heard it through this book, it means that you have spent too much time reading European writers. Zarathustra was an ancient Persian figure and the founder of Zoroastrianism religion. His most famous book is Avesta (اوستا) and along with it is the communal household prayer book called the Khordeh Avesta (خرده اوستا). Zoroastrianism is still practiced in many countries around the world, especially in Iran, Pakistan, and India. It is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions that remains active. 

Nietzsche found out that before Manichaean and Abrahamic religions, Zarathustra was the first person who came up with the idea of Good and Evil. A philosophy that states human action fall in these two binary categories. Therefore, Nietzsche considers Zarathustra the first “moralist”. In the book, Nietzsche personifies himself as Zarathustra in order to present a critique of the moralist philosophy of Good and Evil, an idea that he continued in his next book “Beyond Good and Evil”. Nietzsche believed that since Zarathustra created the first notion of morality, he must have also realized his mistake. In his autobiography Ecce Homo, Nietzsche explains: 

“I have not been asked, as I should have been asked, what the name Zarathustra means in precisely my mouth, in the mouth of the first immoralist: for what constitutes the tremendous uniqueness of that Persian in history is precisely the opposite of this. Zarathustra was the first to see in the struggle between good and evil the actual wheel in the working of things: the translation of morality into the realm of metaphysics, as force, cause, end-in-itself, is his work. But this question is itself at bottom its own answer. Zarathustra created this most fateful of errors, morality: consequently he must also be the first to recognize it. Not only has he had longer and greater experience here than any other thinker – the whole of history is indeed the experimental refutation of the proposition of a so-called ‘moral world-order’ –: what is more important is that Zarathustra is more truthful than any other thinker. His teaching, and his alone, upholds truthfulness as the supreme virtue – that is to say, the opposite of the cowardice of the ‘idealist’, who takes flight in the face of reality; Zarathustra has more courage in him than all other thinkers put together. To tell the truth and to shoot well with arrows: that is Persian virtue. Have I been understood? The self-overcoming of morality through truthfulness, the self-overcoming of the moralist into his opposite – into me – that is what the name Zarathustra means in my mouth.” (1)

Walter Kaufmann argued that Nietzsche might have more in common with Zarathustra than we think. “The two figures also share a range of similar properties or powers, such as the ability to annihilate and create in the light of a re-evaluation of past thought, the disposition to be inspired through visions manifested in poetry, dance, and song, and the courage to act in accordance with all of these. Moreover, the ‘Three Stages of History’ that Zoroaster took to be embodied in the individual (as ‘birth’, ‘death’, and ‘beyond’) are mirrored in [Nietzschean] Zarathustra’s ‘Three Metamorphoses of the Spirit’ as Camel, Lion, and Child.” (2)

In this book, Nietzsche is literally preaching but also making fun of preaching and preaching mentality. The book is about a philosopher guy who is trying to “show” humans the right way of living, through Superman (Übermensch). The philosophy is a direct-antagonism to Christianity (not all religions) yet using its lingo. Nietzsche's philosophy starts with the harsh critique of Christian morality. Yet, at times it can be seen as a critique of all morality, or a universal morality (if such a thing exists). We know that not all Abrahamic religions share the same view regarding good and evil. For example, in Bahá'í Faith the concept of evil (devil) does not exist. Evil is interpreted simply as a “lack” of good/goodness. Just as cold is the state of no heat, darkness is the state of no light, forgetfulness the lacking of memory, ignorance the lacking of knowledge.  

Nietzsche’s love of the Greek tragedy, Presocratic Philosophy and art is a reaction to monotheism, rationality, and idealism (especially in Plato). He calls life an “activity”: A continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations. He believes that life is something essentially immoral. In multiple occasions, he joins “God/philosophy” and “dance” to elevate the art and demote God. Quotes such as; “I would only believe in a god who could dance.” or “there is nothing to which the spirit of a philosopher more aspires than to be a good dancer.”    

Nietzsche and the East

The book is speaking of love, affirmation, and also about populism. Nietzsche might have read some Eastern metaphysics, Islamic and Buddhist texts, but definitely has read the bible a dozen times more. While the entire book is preoccupied with references and allusions to the Bible, there is only one reference to the Persians in “One thousand and one goals” where he says: “’To speak truth, and be skillful with bow and arrow’—so seemed it alike pleasing and hard to the people from whom cometh my name—the name which is alike pleasing and hard to me.” 

Dariush Ashuri the translator of Nietzsche’s work into Farsi believes that Nietzsche’s Zarathustra can only be understood in relation to his other works. Zarathustra is not simply a replica of proto-historical Prophet yet a complex iconic figure that bears the voice of Nietzsche and his entire philosophical works, which aims to change the entire vision of humanity about the meaning of being and life through “Transvaluation of all values.” (3)

The book as a whole is written at the end of Nietzsche’s philosophical career and the concept of maturity and prudent is also fitted into the thesis. The reversal of the wisdom is folly, Nietzsche is also interested to play with the two, similar to strategies that Hafez used, although less sophisticated. He is intending to elevate Dionysian philosophy and lower Christianity’s moral dogma. For that reason, I see the influences of Hafez on Nietzsche's work better in this book than others.

The notion of Journey and travel (distance and time) is persistence throughout the whole book next to the idea of repetition and Eternal return. Man is something that needs to be surpassed. Starting from the rosy dawn, following into the noon-tide in the town of Pied Cow, and finally the supper. Similar to the three stages of life: the camel, the lion, and the child. It seems like after reading a lot of Eastern metaphysics Nietzsche is intending to construct a cyclical time perception on top of the very Eurocentric and colonial Kantian perception of time and space. In regard to Europe, Nietzsche is not shy to admit his positionality. His work is from and about European culture, rather than a universal concept. At the end of Joyous Science he mentions that the goal is to emancipate from everything European: 

“If ‘thoughts on moral prejudices’ are not to be merely prejudices about prejudices, they must presuppose a position outside morality, somewhere beyond good and evil, a position to which we must ascend, climb or fly – and in any case, a position beyond our good and evil, an emancipation from everything ‘European’, understood as a sum of the authoritative value judgements which have become transmuted into flesh and blood.” (4)

Sa‘di and Hafez are the only Persian names of the Islamic era mentioned in Nietzsche’s writings. But, going back to the idea of journey and distance, I see Nietzsche’s philosophy closer to Rumi’s poetry than Hafez. Rumi (جلال‌ الدین محمد بلخى) wandered around middle Asia in his life, traveled from modern-day Tajikistan (or as some say Afghanistan) to present-day Turkey where he died. He lived everywhere in between and spoke multiple languages. Hafez on the contrary, similar to Sa‘di, Omar Khayyam and Attar of Nishapur, died in the same city he was born. Hafez’s poetry still has those transcendental elements which influenced Nietzsche yet missing those transformative parts beyond a hegemonic cultural domain. Maybe that’s why both Hafez and Goethe influenced their native speakers yet didn’t manage to connect in a deeper level with the non-natives as much as Rumi did. 

From a Middle Eastern perspective, finding Nietzsche in between the lines of Ali Shariati and Muhammad Iqbal can also be equivalent to reading Rumi and Hafez in between the burning lines of Nietzsche.   

بشنو از نی چون حکایت میکند وز جداییها شکایت میکند

کز نیستان تا مرا ببریدهاند از نفیرم مرد و زن نالیدهاند

سینه خواهم شرحه شرحه از فراق تا بگویم شرح درد اشتیاق

Pay heed to the grievances of the reed  Of what divisive separations breed

From the reedbed cut away just like a weed  My music people curse, warn and heed

Sliced to pieces my bosom and heart bleed  While I tell this tale of desire and need.

(Rumi, Masnavi, Translation by Shahriari, 1998)

"We have left dry land and put out to sea! We have burned the bridge behind us –what is more, we have burned the land behind us! Well, little ship, look out! Beside you is the ocean. True, it does not always roar, and sometimes it is spread out like silk and gold and a gentle reverie, but there will be hours when you realize that it is infinite, and that there is nothing more terrible than infinity. Oh, poor bird that felt free, and now beats against the bars of this cage! Alas, if homesickness should befall you, as if there had been more freedom there –when there is no longer any ‘land’!”  (The Joyous Science - Book III, 124 In the Horizon of the Infinite)

(Part I/II)

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[decaffeinatedlightluminary-blog]

Pre-human Jinn race: God endures some of them in the human population

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Pre-human Jinn race: God endures some of them in the human population

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By Dr. P. R. Palodhi

‘Men worshipped the Jinns and most of them believed in them’ (Qur’an, 34: 41); ‘True, there were persons among humankind (minal-‘insya) who took shelter with the persons among the Jinns (minal-jinni). But they increased them in folly’ (Q, 72: 6);‘O you assembly of Jinns! Much toll did you take of men (Q, 6: 128)’; ‘Verily ye unbelievers, and the false gods that ye worship besides Allah, are but fuel for Hell! To it will ye surely come’! (Q, 21: 98) 

The Qur’an has repeatedly addressed to people on earth by calling: “O ye assembly of Jinns and men” (Q, 6:130; 55:33). And Surah 55 (Ar-Rahaman) addressed both Jinn and human to inform that:  ‘He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: between them is a barrier which they do not transgress,’ (Q, 55:19-20); ‘Soon shall We settle your affairs, O both ye worlds! O ye assembly of Jinns and men! If it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and earth, pass ye! Not without authority shall ye be able to pass!’ (Q, 55: 31-33)  

The word ‘Jinn‘ was revealed by God in the Qur’an more with regard to their ‘trickeries’ rather than in absolute physical sense. In different forms the word ‘Jinn’ has been mentioned in Qur’an for 51 times (likewise the word ‘curse’ (la’nah) is also enumerated for 51 times). The Jinn race is called Jaaanna (Q, 15: 27); and Jinnah means person possessed by Jinns. Janna (Q, 6:76) means to cover, hide, conceal; also means to become possessed insane. Echoes of the word ‘Jinn’ could be heard in other ancient traditions – like Chinese and Indians. The forbidden fruit is called in Chinese as ‘Jin Fruit’. India has ancient religion of Jinas called Jainism which traces its origin in Mahavira of Jñâtr or Nata clans – an elder contemporary of Buddha, and is referred to in Buddhist writings as Nataputra (son of Nata) [see: ‘The Encyclopedia of world religions‘, Merriam-Webster,p.780, 1999]. We find epithets of Buddha as Jina-lankara (Jewel of the Jinas), Jina-carita (Jina trait) etc [1]. But very intriguingly the Biblical scholars abstain from using the term ‘Jinn’ – although it is in Biblical tradition where God revealed the specific racial names (anakim, nephilim etc) with geographical locations of the pre-human giants, strangers, and aliens etc. The very concept of Jinns in Bible has been jeopardized by the pagan expressions like ‘fallen angels‘ or ‘sons of God’ who used to marry daughters of men (Gen, 6:2-7) etc. Christian concept of fallen angels probably crystallized following the Apocalyptic writings which tended to symbolize the astronomical phenomena (Isa. 14: 12; comp. Job, 38: 31, 32). As regard such blasphemous expressions, William Henry Green quoted (in Birney, p. 45): “the whole conception of sexual life, as connected with God or Angels, is absolutely foreign to Hebrew thought“. In Bible (Mat, 22:30) indicates that Angels do not marry. The Hebrew Bible gives us no reason to believe that Angels have a gender or are able to reproduce. However, this did not prevent Josephus (Antiquities 1.73) or the authors of Jubilees and present Biblical writings from equating the “sons of God” with the Angels, even in a sexual context. Aftermath of Biblical tradition clearly shows that the Christianity has deviated in several respects from the revealed path of Prophet Abraham and Prophet Moses. In Christianity formalizations of doctrine have been decided not by the near apostles but by holding the Councils (similar to Buddhism). Clement of Alexandria (150-214 AD) and his successor Origen (185- 254 AD), the most important theologian of early Christianity after Augustine, were the pupil of the mysterious monk Ammonius Sakkas (300 AD) – an advocate of oriental paganism and Buddha. The origin of the Catholic Church is the tragic compromise of Christianity with the pagan religions that surrounded it. Instead of proclaiming the gospel and converting the pagans, the Catholic Church “Christianized” the pagan religions, and “paganized” Christianity to a great extent. Thus millennia old Prophetic tradition of Bible appears to us as if utterly ignorant of the creational aspect of Angels, Jinns, and Humans! God informed in Islam: (I) Angels are created at first from light all at once, they are emissaries of God who never sin, do not reproduce like Jinns and humans, they are free from thirst and hunger, and do not grow or develop via aging process; (II) Jinns, celestial or earth bound, are created from fire before humans, enjoy a period of freedom upon earth, and reproduce and have thirst and hunger like  men; Jinns are of three types: flying, stationed in one area, and animals like creeping and dogs etc; and surely God created human-like forms among the Jinn kind (rijaalim-minal-Jinni, Q,72:6), that is why God permitted Jinn race to share wealth and children with Adamites (Q, 17: 64). God raised humans (Insaan) from the posterity of former people (Q, 6:133), and this is a process which involves blending of Jinns and Adamites encompassing various aspects of primordial ‘soul’ and its receptacle ‘body’.     

The Bible, Talmud, Midrashim and many other sources inform that in the antediluvian time there were giants in the earth in those days who could be none but the Jinns. Descendant races of pre-human giants were great many, both in variety and number, who spread out in all ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus and China. Plethora of mythological archives all over the world consistently mentioned about separate creations of the gods and the men; these gods (dingir/akh/devas etc in varying tongues) could be like human or other forms, earth bound or extra- terrestrials, and who did overwhelm the entire world of ancient people with worship of huge stone idols and thereby making early men subservient to the pagan polytheism. Archaeology unveiled a prolonged history of fabulous stone cultures and scientific linguistics had thrown lights upon enigmatic pictorial languages which continued from the time of pre-humans down to the humans.Hebrew Bible has mentioned about the pre-human race of giants Anakim (who traced their ancestry to Anak, the descendants of Arba (Josh. 15:13), and ancestor of the Anakites. The archives of Sumerian paganism corroborate this by parallel mention of the Anunnaki – whoare children of their patriarch god Anu, depicted variously in myths as humanoid, at other times they are bird-headed with wings, often they are Reptilian in appearance especially when depicted as warriors, and sometimes they are shown as a combination of several types of entities. Igigi were their sky gods, and Anunnaki inhabited the earth after being banished from heaven. A ziggurat of Anu (crowned by a white temple) was built at Uruk of Jamdet Nasr period probably around 3000 BC. Anu’s father was Anshar (Sumerian god of the celestial world who was born of the serpents Lakhmu and Lakhamu). Anshar mated with his sister Kishar (Anu’s mother) and in myths she was depicted as the earth and female principle), and they produced the great gods. The Babylonians said that the fish-men brought them civilization. The first and most famous was called Oannes or Oe, who was thought to have come from a ‘great egg‘. The Chinese have maintained that their civilization was founded by amphibious beings that had a man’s head and a fish tail. In un-deciphered Indus, and Harappan inscriptions and deciphered Near Eastern, we come across far too numerous ‘fish signs’ suggesting the name of divinities. In Greek and Roman mythology, the Oceanids were the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. In Greek mythology the Oceanids were with saltwater and the Nereids specifically with the Mediterranean. Remnants of the Anakim remained in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod even in the time of Joshua (1500-1390 BC) as seen in Joshua 11:21. Josephus wrote that one could see the bones of the Anakim “to this very day, unlike to any creditable relations of other men” (Antiquities 5.126). Cimon is said to have recognized the bones of Theseus on the isle of Scyros by their enormous size (Plutarch, Theseus 38), and Pausanias in his Guide to Greece speaks of two separate caches of giants’ bones that one may visit in Arkadia (8.29.4, 8.32.5). Interestingly, in 1952 two British scientists analyzed the blood of five Inca mummies discovered at Cuzco (now in the British Museum in London). One had shown a blood group with an Rh factor that nobody had seen anywhere in this world before, while another mummy had a blood group that was very rare among other American Indians. Most interestingly, the same blood types are found in Egyptian and Inca mummies, preserving the rare blood that was not of this known human world.

More insight into races of pre-human giants (From: Jewishencyclopedia. com):

 (A) “Nefilim” (Gen. 6: 4a), an extinct (mythological, only semi-human) race, inhabitants of the earth before the Flood who interbred with daughters of human. In Num (13: 33), this name is used of the pre-Israelitish population of Palestine. Gen (6: 4b) calls them the (B) “Gibborim” = mighty men. In the singular (in Job, 16; 14) this word is translated “giant” (“mighty man”). (C) “Refa’im“, a collective appellation for the pre-Canaanite population settled both east and west of the Jordan and described as of immense height (Deut. 3: 11; II Sam. 21: 16-21); the singular occurs as “rafah” (with the definite article, “the giant”; II Sam. 21. 16, 18, 20, 22) or “rafa‘” (I Chron. 20. 4, 6, 8). In the account of the war of the four kings (Gen, 14) the Rephaim are mentioned among the defeated (verse 5), along with the Zuzim, the Emim, and the Horim, peoples cited in Deut. ii. 10, 11, 12, 20, 21 as autochthons of Palestine; with the exception of the last-mentioned, they were said to be “powerful and numerous and tall,” and considered to be Rephaim like the Anakim, the context showing that the Horim as well as the Avim (Deut. 2: 23), even if not explicitly described as such, were also deemed to have belonged to these prehistoric Palestinian tribes. In Gen, 14, the Rephaim are enumerated along with the Kenites, the Hittites, etc, as being in the land in Abraham’s time. Before the conquest, OG, the King of Bashan, is mentioned as the only survivor of the Rephaim (Deut. 3: 11) east of the Jordan, while the Anakim were located west of the river (Num. 13: 22; Josh. 14: 12-15, 15: 13; Judges i. 20), as well as among the Philistines (Josh. 11: 21, 22). Even near Carmel (Josh. 17: 15) they were settled, and the name “valley of Rephaim” (Josh. 15: 8, 18: 16) indicates their early presence near Jerusalem (comp. “Avim,” a Benjamite city, Josh. 18: 23). Under David these giants are connected with Gath (I Chron. 20: 6-8). Goliath (I Sam. 17), Ishbi-benob, Saph (= “Sippai“; I Chron. 20: 4), Goliath the Gittite (“Lahmi, the brother of Goliath the Gittite”; I Chron. 20: 5), and a man of great stature with 24 fingers and toes (II Sam. 21: 16, 22; I Chron. 20: 4-8), are mentioned as born to “the giant.” This giant may have been the Goliath that was slain by David, or the phrase may mean that these men were of the breed of the giants living at Gath.

I. GOD REVEALED THE MYSTERIES OF JINNS’ PAST, AND LATER MIXING OF RACES: 

In order to gravitate toward pre-mental Truths behind our existence, human speculations based upon temporal relativism of the day make little sense. Human enquiry demands attention into everlasting ‘words of God’ than that of ephemeral vagaries of human individualism. Let us turn to what God revealed (Qur’an, 18:50) about Satan Iblis, the leader of the Jinns who abhorred Adam’s creation.  

Satan said to God: “Seest Thou? This is the one whom Thou hast honoured above me! If Thou wilt but respite me to the Day of Judgment, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway – all but a few!” (Q, 17: 62)  

And God said to Satan: “Go thy way; if any of them follow thee, verily Hell will be the recompense of you all — an ample recompense. And arouse those whom thou can among them, with thy seductive voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children ; and make promises to them,” But Satan promises them nothing but deceit.’ (Q, 17: 63-64)

Revelation came before in Bible (Gen, 3: 4-5), and again in Qur’an how Satan (Jinn Iblis) whispered to Adam: – “O Adam! Shall I lead you to the tree of Eternity and Power that never decays?” (Q. 20: 120). Satan seduced Adam and Eve in the blissful Garden made for Adam; as a result both Adam and Satan’s lines were derelict from the Garden. Thereafter their generations began to spread upon earth. Revealed scriptures inform that the two lines of anti-God throng have originated after Satan seduced Adam and Eve in the Garden, and that these two descending heritages will be in a state of continuous war with each other until the Great Day of the Lord. From Bible we come to know what God says to Satan: ‘And I will put enmity between thee (nachash) and the woman [Eve], and between thy seed and her seed; it [her seed] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his [her seed’s] heel.’ (Gen. 3:15). And this Message came again in Qur’an: ‘Get ye down, both of you, – all together, from the Garden, with enmity one to other; but if, as is sure, there comes to you guidance from Me, whosoever follows My Guidance, will not loose his way, nor fall into misery.’ (Q, 20: 123) 

In Hebrew, Satan was known as ‘nachash,’ meaning ‘enchanter’, the whisperer, a name implying secret seductions. Then there is the use of the word ‘beguiled’; the Hebrew word there is ‘nawshaw’, which means ‘seduced’. The same word zehra was used for both the seed of Satan and the seed of Eve. Zehra literally means seed; there is no other meaning. Since the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden, one particular agent has been the Jinn race (the tribe of Iblis in Qur’an) to corrupt the lifestyle and very genetic make-up of resulting human races. This agent (race-mixer) entered the Garden and seduced Eve. This race-mixer was present on this earth before Adam; and Adam was warned of his presence. He was the tempter of Eve then and he is still our tempter today.

‘O you children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner as he got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a position where you cannot see them: We made the evil ones friends only to those without faith.’ (Qur’an, 7: 27)

   II. INTERMIXING BEGAN SINCE THE TIME OF ADAM 

Creation of Adam was antagonized by Jinn race, and this primeval conflict has very interestingly been echoed in the ‘Adapa story’ of Babylonian tablets beside other archives of the ancient civilizations. In the Islamic tradition an enemy of Adam has been called as a farmer named Tirmizi, which reminds Mesopotamian legend of the gods Tammuz and Gizzida in the excavated Babylonian tablets (archives of El-Amara and Ashurbanipal library – ‘the story of Adapa’). Here we find a race of gods who exists with Adapa – whom Supreme God EA had ‘created as model of Man‘ (in Archive – A). A god called ‘south wind’ was very antagonistic to Adapa, and once ‘submerged Adapa down to the home of fish’. But Adapa was empowered by creator God EA, so by Adapa’s curse south wind’s wing was broken. Then the anger of gods found expressions as:  ‘Why did Ea to a worthless human of heaven and of the earth the plan disclose, rendering him distinguished and making a name for him? (Archive – B). For detail see ANET, (1955), pp.101-103. [2]. There goes a myth that before Eve, Adam had a woman called Lilith, but this is not found in the Bible. Various inconsistent myths essentially agree that Lilith left Adam because she did not want to submit to him. According to the legends, Lilith was an evil, wicked woman who committed adultery with Satan and produced a race of evil creatures. Complete absence of Lilith in scripture renders the legend more a myth than revealed truth. Before Adam earth was inhabited by the pre-humans but they were not humankind (Insaan). Let us focus upon the starting point of human history. After removal from Garden, Adam/Eve and their first descendants began a new journey on earth, and history of humankind ensued from their descendants who continued to multiply upon earth.

The people of Cain (Adam’s descendants):

According to Islamic tradition both Cain (Qabeel) and Abel (Habeel) had twine sisters. Each son married to his brother’s sister. There are two forms of this narration in Islamic tradition. One of the narrations says that Adam told Habeel to marry the twin sister of Qabeel, Eklema; and he told Qabeel to marry the twin sister of Habeel, Labuda. Shia Muslims, however, deny this initial mode of human propagation with excuse that: sex with own sister is a grave sin in the sight of Allah (which but came as providential law only after Noah). They explain it differently by saying: Allah sent down two Houris (celestial brides) to be their wives.

Josephus tells us that Cain was a hybridizer: Adam and Eve had two sons: the elder of them was named Cain; which signifies a possession: the younger was Abel, which signifies sorrow. Now the two brethren were pleased with different courses of life: for Abel, the younger, was a lover of righteousness and believing that God was present at all his actions, he excelled in virtue, and his employment was that of a shepherd. But Cain was not only very wicked in other respects, but was wholly intent upon ‘getting’; and he first contrived to plough the ground. Cain slew his brother Abel as a consequence of an event when they both had resolved to offer sacrifice to God. Now Cain brought the fruits of the earth, and of his husbandry; but Abel brought milk, and the first-fruits of his flocks. God was more delighted with the Abel’s oblation, when he was honored with what grew naturally of own accord. But Cain came up with what was the invention of a covetous man, and gotten by forcing the ground. Cain was very angry that Abel was preferred by God before him; and he slew his brother, and hid his dead body, thinking to escape discovery. Josephus thus tells us that Abel offered what grew naturally of own accord. But Cain was a hybridizer; because he contrived to create species for his own purposes and forced the ground! (Josephus, Antiquities, Book 1, Chapter 2, Paragraph 1.) 

According to Islam, Habeel became a shephard and looked after the animals while Qabeel looked after the orchard and grew fruit trees and vegetables. Cain [Qabeel] brought some fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel [Habeel] brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel [Habeel] and his offering, but on Cain [Qabeel] and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain [Qabeel] was very angry, and his face was downcast. The Qur’anic verses relating to the story of Habeel (Abel) and Qabeel (Cain) are (Q, 5: 27-32). 

Since Cain was banished to the land of Nod, after his brother’s murder, and then Eve gave birth to her third son Seth (Compare Genesis 4:8-17 with Genesis 4:25). Now following events indicate that there lived other people (man like humanoids) on earth besides Adam’s family. Cain was driven out of Eden and God decreed upon him a life of fugitive and vagabond on the earth. The Cain said to God (Gen, 4:14): “Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight“. God but gave him a respite (Gen, 4:15):  the Lord said to him:  “If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”  Lord then puts a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Now question is – to whom did he refer who lived beyond the safe area of Adam’s family when he spoke about “everyone that findeth me shall kill me”? It would be none other than the pre-Adamic inhabitants of the land; surely there were other communities of people, for which Cain was afraid to leave his original safe home? We know that Cain had wife, and evidence would indicate that he had taken a female from among the beasts of the field i.e. someone who was not a descendant of Adam. After the birth of his first son, Enoch, Cain built a city (Gen. 4:17). This city was obviously built by the inhabitants of the land of Nod. These were a numerous people who had been created (Gen. 1:27) before the creation of Adam; and Qur’an finally confrmed this by addressing to Jinn race who used spoil the Adamic race: ‘O you assembly of Jinns! much toll did you take of men (Q, 6: 128)’. 

Bible clearly informs that intermixing has begun from the time of Adam. Away from God’s sight Cain’s interest was obviously worldly gain. Cain had no desire for the Lord God. Cain’s fear of being lynched, his marriage to an unknown woman and the fact that he founded a city (Gen, 4: 14-17) are all interpreted as evidence of intermixing between sons of Adam and pre-Adamic races. Cain went eastward to the land of Nod, and produced mixed race of giants. They were smart intelligent, builders, inventors and knew the art of metal. Genesis 4:17-24 gives the  immediate descendants of Cain, who are: Enoch (not the Prophet), after whom he named a city, Irad, Mehujael, Methusael, and Lamech (not Noah’s father). This Lamech had two wives, who bore him Jabal, Jubal, and Tubalcain. Mjabal’s descendnats dwelt in tents. Hence, they were a nomadic people. Jubal’s descendants were musicians. Tubalcain was a metalworker. This metalworking included the invention of the instruments of war, such as swords, spears, shields, etc. They were bragging murderers. It is very intriguing that after Chapter 4, in the rest of Bible Cain is not listed in the line of descent from Adam and Eve. Cain’s line of descent is totally separate and distinct from that of other line of Adamites. Afterward Luke (Chapter 3) again gives us the complete genealogy of Adam down to Jesus Christ.  Cain is not listed in either of these genealogies, even though his mother was Eve!                 

When Cain had traveled over many countries with his wife, he built a city, named Nod, where his children began to multiply. ‘However, he accepted his punishment not for amendment, but to increase his wickedness; for he only aimed to procure everything that was for his own pleasure, though it obliged him to be injurious to his neighbors. He augmented his household substance with much wealth, by rapine and violence; he excited his acquaintance to procure pleasures and spoils by robbery, and became a great leader of men into wicked courses. Even while Adam was alive, it came to pass that the posterity of Cain became exceeding wicked; everyone was successively dying, one after another, more wicked than the former. They were intolerable in war and vehement in robberies; and if anyone were slow to murder people, yet was he bold in his profligate behavior, in acting unjustly, and doing injuries for gain’ (Josephus, Antiquities, Book 1, Chapter 2,  Para. 2). 

From Jasher (4:16-18) we come to know that: And all the sons of men departed from the ways of the Lord in those days as they multiplied upon the face of the earth with sons and daughters, and they taught one another their evil practices and they continued sinning against the Lord. And every man made unto himself a god, and they robbed and plundered every man his neighbor as well as his relative, and they corrupted the earth, and the earth was filled with violence. And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke the Lord; and God saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals. 

Jared (the fater of Prophet Enoch’s / Idris in Islam), who through tradition dictated to his son ‘The Lamentations of Jared‘ – how those pre-human gods came to the earth and led astray his own tribe of Adam and those tribes of Cain also. The “Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah” (ed. Venice, p. 92b) reports that Seth had commanded his descendants to keep aloof from the daughters of Cain. Seven generations obeyed his injunction, but they then cohabited with the accursed breed, and the result was the birth of the giants like Anakim, the perpetrators of all kinds of evil. These giants led a most shameful life, thus causing God to send the Flood. This is also the view taken by Arabic authors. Ṭabari (i. 127 et seq.) records that Adam had enjoined the Sethites to avoid the Cainite women, but that the latter seduced them by bewitching music and by their personal charms heightened by cosmetics; they were also accustomed to adorn themselves with pearl necklaces  (from the rabbinical interpretation of the name Anakim, “anak ” meaning neck). The   same story is told of the generation of Sethite-Cainite giants by Ibn al-Athir (i. 41) and Ya’kubi (p. 7; comp. “Die Schatzhoehle,” ed. Bezold, ii. 18). The consequence of interbreeding between pre-humans and humans beget Lamech (Heb. lemekh, meaning undetermined), father of Noah. In Kabalistic Book of Enoch the giants engendered by the Fallen Angels (Jinns) and daughters of men turned against mankind before the Flood.

   III. NOAH’S FLOOD DID NOT EXTERMINATE THE ENTIRE RACE OF PRE-HUMAN GIANTS  

Battle of the giants continues from pre-Flood world of Adam to post-Flood world of Noah. The Bible account confirms this view, when it tells us:

‘There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown’ (Gen. 6:4).

Genesis (6:4) tells us, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward.” The descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim. The Greek Book of Baruch narrates that over four hundred thousand of the race of giants were destroyed by the Flood. After the Flood, some of them remained alive and multiplied gradually. Various records suggest that the demons repeated their sin after the Flood as well. The Book of Jasher tells us that many of them escaped to a country that eventually became known as “the land of Canaan.”

‘And the sons of men approached in order to break into the ark, to come in on account of the rain, for they could not bear the rain upon them. And the Lord sent all the beasts and animals that stood round the ark. And the beasts overpowered them and drove them from that place, and every man went his way and they again scattered themselves upon the face of the earth.’ (Jasher 6:24-25). 

Now coming to moot questions about the Flood of Noah, we must not be carried away by the vague notion that it was a global Flood destroying all animations on earth except Noah’s family. Noah’s Flood did not destroy every living thing on earth. And Cain was not taken off the planet when he was removed “from the face of the earth” either. He was simply expelled from the Garden, so the word ‘eretz,’ as used in Gen. 4, obviously does not mean planet earth. Scholars inform that false theory has been propagated based on the simple mistranslation of the Hebrew word, eretz, which means, simply, “land” or “territory.”   

The Revelation in Qur’an does not point to such outright global catastrophe. According to Usher’s Bible Chronology it took place around 2348 BC; and the Greek Septuagint more accurately dates it at 3246 BC. In ancient Chinese documents, Fu-His (Noah) arrived into Sz-Hai (with the ‘four seas’) at 2852 BC. This place is recognized by Chinese scholars as being not far from the Caspian Sea near Lake Balkat. Written Chinese is dated at approximately 2500 BC (Acc. to Harvard’s Chinese-Japanese Yenching Library). This correlates closely post Flood beginning of the civilizations, and two of the earliest written languages – Egyptian and Chinese were both picture writing. Regardless of apparent controversies about dates, the most pertinent reflection has come from Charles Weisman (‘Facts and Fictions of Noah’s Flood’) who posits that the Flood falls within the period of history known as the ‘Bronze Age’ which dates from 3000-1200 BC. It was not a worldwide Flood; if there was a global cataclysm, it would have taken several millennia to recover earth’s inhabitations. All civilizations and cultures along with their artifacts, inventions, commerce and architecture would have disappeared. However, there is no evidence that the Bronze Age was abruptly broke off and then restarted all over again. At the time of the Flood there existed definite written historical records of many civilizations with a world population estimated to be 50-100 million. If everybody died in the Flood except Noah and his family, the earth’s population would not yet have recovered immediately. But how they miraculously reappeared in their original shape, size and character? Verified archeological records of Egypt, China, Sumerian, Minoan, Indus Valley and Phoenicia show continuous ongoing civilizations from 3350 BC well through the period of the Flood. By the time of Abraham (1930 BC), Mesopotamia-Sumer was heavily populated and a thriving center of trade. Had the Flood been world-wide the devastation would have wiped out any trace of civilization and their state of affairs. When Bible says: the whole earth has been overspread by the three sons of Noah (Gen, 9:19), this implies not that there were no other people on earth. Hence, in Qur’an we find God reveals it while addressing to particularly the children of Israel: ‘O you that are sprung from those whom We carried in the Ark with Noah! Verily he was a devotee most grateful’ (Q, 17: 3) 

Around 3200 BC Menes was consolidating Upper and Lower Egypt, Sumer was prospering with its gods and goddesses; gradually civilizations of inequity (hegemony of demigods over humans) began to emerge around the river banks of Tigris and Euphrates, Nile, Indus and Yellow river. In clay tablets and cylinder seals the Sumerian King List records all the rulers of Earth back over 400,000 years. However, all the early rulers were allegedly gods/demigods. The earliest known historical figure connected with Elam is the king Enmebaragesi of Kish (2650 BC?), who subdued it, according to the Sumerian king list. However, real Elamite history can only be traced from records dating to beginning of the Semitic Akkadian Empire in around 2300 BC onwards. Elam, (Sumerian inscriptions called it Numma) was south of Media and east of Babylonia, its name came from the Semites (Gen. 10:22) but was inhabited chiefly by the Aryan races; later it became part of Persia, modern Iran. In Sumerian mythology, the gods and demigods after the Flood like Emmerkar, Lugalbanda (Lugulbanda) and Gilgamesh (Sumerian text tells him as: two third god and one third man) were among the first Sumerian kings of the city of Erech. In this epic we find that Gilgamesh is meeting with Prophet Noah (Utnapištim in Akkadian) who was the tenthpatriarch of Adam’s lineage living in around there after the Flood. 

The first Pre-dynastic Culture forms the foundation of the later Egyptian development and was due in the main to the native Hamitic population of North Africa carrying on the tradition of the higher type of culture that had been introduced into the Nile valley by the Badarian people (of Sumer). It underwent a still further development at a later period owing to the appearance in Egypt of the new type of civilization known as the second Pre-dynastic Culture (which is described as Semitic from Palestine). Evidences of archaeology and mythological texts from Mesopotamia apparently reveal about 4000 years’ alternate usurpations of kings of pagan giants and Semitic rulers in post-Flood world via rise and fall of Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Ugarites. Revealed scriptures and ancient mythologies have always mentioned about mixed population of gods (i.e. pre-humans) and humans; and modern science also corroborates that present humans carry genetic signatures of pre-humans races.

   IV. HOW JINNS’ PAGANISM MAKE INROADS TO ADAMIC RACE AFTER NOAH: 

Let us go back to the situation just before the Flood – which Prophetic tradition has left for us in The Book of Enoch [3]: 

(1) Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, (2) and said to him: Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth (this ‘earth’ derived from Heb. ‘erat‘ meaning ‘land’) will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come (3) upon the whole earth (‘eretz‘), and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape (4) and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world. And again the Lord said to angel Raphael: Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening (5) in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may (6), (7) not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels (in fact Jinns) have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the  children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the (8) Watchers (Jinns) have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted (9) through the works that were taught by Azazel (a Jinn): to him ascribe all sin. And to angel Gabriel said the Lord: Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in (10) battle. 

“The Watchers” were those Jinns who had been directed by God to oversee God’s creation, but had instead meddled with it so as to turn it to their own advantage, thus becoming rebel, or “fallen Jinns”. Along with Azazel fell another powerful Jinn, ‘Semjaza‘, with whom it appears he shared the rule, at least, to a certain extent. We discern from the ‘Book of Enoch’ that Azazel like Jinns had not only  given men the gift of technology, he had also meddled with their genetic nature to bring forth the giants, “the children of the Watchers”, as a “master race” of unbeatable warriors that he intended to use to conquer the world. After Azazel and Semjaza were imprisoned, God then decreed that their progeny, the giants, who were poisoning and destroying the whole of God’s Creation, were to be destroyed in a Flood. However, before He sent the Flood to destroy the giants and cleanse earth from their poison and corruption, He had sent the archangel Gabriel to set the giants against each other so that they would destroy each other in a massive civil war. Continuity of these civil wars are reflected later in legendary Atlantis, where the giants had built the mighty empires of Atlantis in the Atlantic Ocean, Osiria in what is now the Mediterranean Sea, Rama, which is now sunken off the coast of India, and other areas of the world. These various empires had, according to esoteric tradition, gone to war with each other in the time right before the Flood, giants fighting against giants. The giants apparently fought against and destroyed each other on every continent until the Great Flood came and wiped them, the poisons of their weapons created, and the corruptions they had wrought off the face of the earth. 

Genesis and the Talmud both suggest that the giants, who resented God for destroying their ancestors, meddled in the affairs of mankind. Islamic tradition mentioned that it was Jinn Azazel who taught men to make weapons for war and the art of seducing men and women via metal jewelry and monetary uses. Azazel which is the Old Testament (Heb. ‘aza’zel) was a personal being — a demon of the wilderness or a fallen angel (i.e. Jinn) who seduced people to evil. 

Others associated with Azazel are the following:

•  Semjaza who was ruler over the rest of the giants and taught enchantments and root-   cuttings.

•  Airmoros who taught the resolving of enchantments.

•  Baraqyal taught astrology.

•  Ezeqeel presented the knowledge of the clouds.

•  Araqil taught the signs of earth.

•  Shasial taught the signs of the sun.

•  Sariel taught the course of the moon. 

The Hebrew “nefilim bene ‘Anak” (Num. 13: 33) are called “jabbarun” in the Qur’an (5. 22), and “jababirah” in other works, both words being the plural of “jabbar” (giant). In the Qur’an, giants are mentioned in connection with the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan.  According to Mas’udi, the giants were of the Amalekite race. The Arabian writers speak particularly of ‘Uj (Og) ibn ‘Unk, means: Og with the Neck, for the reason that when he went out to fight Moses he tore out a mountain and put it on his head with the intention of throwing it upon the Israelites and crushing them; but God sent a bird that bored a hole in the mountain, which thereupon fell on Og’s neck. According to Islamic legends, in the eyes of the giants the twelve spies appeared as small as ants (comp. “grasshoppers,” Num. l.c.). The Arabs call Jericho the city of giants, but their traditions do not agree as to which leader of the Jews fought against the giants. According to Ibn ‘Abbas, Moses died in the wilderness, and the land of the giants was conquered by Joshua; but Mohammed ibn Ishak writes that Moses himself fought the giants at Jericho. Those who survived were led by a certain Ifrikish ibn kais to Africa, and, having killed the king of that country, settled there. The Berbers are their descendants.             

Al Hejer: City of stone

  Noah’s three sons brought with them their wives were not necessarily the absolute pure race from Adam; one of Noah’s son did not embark on Ark out of disbelief (Q, 11: 42; 46) and God said Noah “he is not of thy family” – which Noah knew not. Although Noah carried those in the Ark who were righteous in conduct, yet could be the product of generation from crossbreeding between the humans and contemporary pre-humans like Anakim (in Gen. 14:5: who were of old, men of renown (gods in mythology), some did not survive the Flood. Noah’s sons Ham and Japheth eventually became the ancestors of the ‘goyim‘ where they combined with the Anakim who survived the Flood. In Hebrew, Goy means a non-Israelite, heathen or the Pagan world (Heathen, Pagan or Gentile: Heb. goy, pl. goyim, Gr. ethnos, people, and nation). The word ‘goyim‘ is plural because its ending is ‘im‘ as a suffix it signifies nations, tribes, cities, or towns rather than individuals. 

Nimrod (Heb. nimrodh, assumed ‘rebel’) demands a special mention. Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, was responsible for building the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). He was behind the beginning of kingdom in Babylonia. In Bible (Gen, 10: 8-10): ‘And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty   one in the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.‘  He became distinguished as a hunter, ruler, and builder. He lived for unknown centuries after the Flood, and was the grandson of Ham.  He was a man of great strength. He persuaded men away from the God, in order to bring them into a constant dependence upon his own power. He swore to build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! Thus avenging himself on God for destroying their forefathers! Nimrod and his people were the building of Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar (Gen, 9-10). 

There is a legend which says Paganism had begun in later human tradition from Nimrod and his wife Semiramus (mother-cum-wife!). Nimrod is especially renowned for bringing the pagan way of the Jinns with his empire. When Nimrod began his kingdom and apostasy, many “Semites” fled to various parts of the world with their advanced knowledge and skills with them. Nimrod (the great-grandson of Noah) rebelled against God, like his father Cush which undoubtedly caused his own demise. Eventually Nimrod was put to death for his evil deeds, for history recounts how Shem, a ‘preacher of righteousness‘ had to chase him down and kill him. Tradition says he was killed on a Friday in Egypt, which was part of his empire at that time and according to the ancient patriarchal system, parts of his body were sent to various cities as a warning. His wife Semiramus fled, but spread the rumour that he had ascended to heaven, where he had become one with the sun. Semiramis claimed that he was resurrected the following Sunday and lives in spirit form. Depending on his legends Egyptian developed myths by relating dismemberment of Osiris in 14 parts; his body parts were said to have been retrieved and buried in separate places by Isis. In the various pagan cultures throughout history and around the world, the same basic deities have been worshipped under different names. Based upon this ancient legend, in India we find various mythical stories that relate Siva and his wife, where Siva’s body parts were scattered upon earth. To commemorate his death, a forty-day’ period of mourning was instituted by his wife-mother. Another name for him was Bacchus, meaning, “the Lamented one.” Among the Phoenicians, Bacchos meant “weeping.” As the women wept for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:14), so did they for Bacchus. Hislop informs that this is where the “weeping for Tammuz” came, Tammuz being another name of Nimrod. This season of “weeping” is believed by some to be our modern days “Lent” (Hislop, Alexander, The Two Babylons, p. 21). When Semiramus later gave birth to a son, she claimed that it was the reincarnation of her deified husband, and that he had returned to save the human race. She was later deified as the mother of the sun god, and it was mythified that she had ascended into heaven as the queen of heaven. “Poisson acknowledges that the cult of Osiris (Nimrod and the pagan religion) owes its origin to the Asiatic current, just as the cult of Set (Seth, the son of Adam and representing the true ‘religion’) is due to another race; the fight between these two gods personifies the fight of the two races. There is evidence of specific contact between Egypt and Sumerian culture during the period of the rise and establishment of the Egyptian kingdom.”[4].Considering the similarities of language, culture, and religion, from the Indus Valley to the Middle East, Jean Hunt [5] says: Regarding skeletal findings and other evidence of relationship between (Minoan Crete) and the people in India, Sumer, and Egypt, (Hunt quotes Heras) “…Skull measurements have shown that it would be difficult to choose between the primitive Indian or Egyptian series as the group to which the Sumerians are closer.” It is acknowledged moreover that Egypt received the main elements of its civilization from the lands of Mesopotamia where an older civilization was already in existence (Italics added). Recently, a definitive evidence suggesting contact between India and Egypt has become available. A terracotta mummy from Lothal vaguely resembles an Egyptian mummy and a similar terracotta mummy is found also at Mohenjo-daro. Egyptian mummies are said to have been wrapped in Indian muslin.     

In post-Flood world, God inspired the Prophetic tradition of Semites who appeared on the scene as a severe combative force against gods, demigods and giants of the ancient world. The word “Semite” is derived of the name Shem, one of three sons of Noah who came across the Flood. Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram (Genesis 10:22); they and all their descendants were Semites. But the Semites as well had succumbed to Jinns’ paganism; this is indicated in Joshua 24:2: “Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor (Nachor): and they served other gods.” Bible narrated how God intervened and then missions of one after another Prophets like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon etc have eliminated many of the giants and god-kings of the old world, of which we have no proper historical records except some archaeolological traces. 

From scriptural messages it is evident that before dissolution of this earth God shall gradually orient the mixed population on earth, and bring forth a purest of the human (Insaan) race in terms of ‘obedience to God’. This has a tacit hint in Qur’an (in Surah: 75, Al- Qiyãmat, The Resurrection): while revealing the state of humanity’s Final Days on earth before resurrection in Hereafter –  God exclusively addresses to Insaan; and here we find no more the previous ways of addressing to both Jinns and humans, or any other expression for people. Hence it conceivable that after categorical ending of God-denying factions among Jinns and humans (who enjoy only a limited period of freedom by the Will of God) – earth shall gradually attain a homogeneity of obedient population. But even in the final hours, pure Insaan shall tend to do wrong (Q, 75:5) and remain inclined to fleeting life of ‘Here’ neglecting ‘Hereafter’ (Q, 75: 20). 

References: 

1. Jina-lankara (Buddharakkhita; 1200 AD): This poem of 278 verses gives an account of the Buddha’s life up until his enlightenment. (Pali Literature and Language, (PLL) by Wilhelm Geiger (New Delhi: Oriental Books, 1978, p. 41); Jina-carita (Medhankara; 13th c.): An account of the life of the Buddha, told in a poem of 472 verses. (Handbook of Pali Literature, HPL by Somapala Jayawardhana (Colombo, Sri Lanka: Karunaratne & Sons, 1994, p. 64); Jinakalamali (Ratanapañña; Thai; 1600 AD): This account of the life of the Buddha begins with his birth in a previous life as the Indian King Sattutapa, and continues through successive lives until his final birth as Siddhattha Gotama. It also includes descriptions of the Buddha’s visits to Sri Lanka, the establishment of Buddhism there, and the early rise of Buddhism in Thailand. (Handbook of Pali Literature, HPL by Somapala Jayawardhana (Colombo, Sri Lanka: Karunaratne & Sons, 1994, p. 65) 

2. ANET ‘Ancient Near Eastern Texts, Relating to the Old Testament’, ed. by James B. Pritchard. 2nd Edition (corrected and enlarged). Princton Univ. Press, New Jersey, 1955

3. [Academy for Ancient Texts, “The Book of Enoch: Book 1: Watchers” (Academy for Ancient Texts: [Academy for Ancient Texts, “The Book of Enoch: Book 1: Watchers” (Academy for Ancient Texts: http://www.ancienttexts.org)] 

4. Heras. H, ‘Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture‘, pp. 164-165, Bombay Indian Historical Research Institute, Bombay, India, 1953 

5. Ibid. (Hunt is quoting H. Heras’, Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture).

6. ‘The Holy Qur’an’ – with original ‘Arabic Text, English translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.

    Islamic Book Service, India. 2000.

Bibliography (Races of pre-human giants and gods): 

1. Ṭabari, Chronique, French transl. by Zotenberg, i. 51;

2. Mas’udi, ed. B. de Meynard, i. 19;

3. Ibn al-Athir, Al-Ta’rikh al-Kamil, i. 72, 73, Cairo, 1894; 

4. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, s.v.E. G. H. M. Sel; 

5. Birney, Leroy, “An Exegetical Study of Genesis 6:1-4”, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (No. 13, Winter 1970), pp. 43-52;

6. THE BOOK OF JASHER (The Upright Record). (TGS Publishing), Yoakum, TX. 77995, Ch. 4:18) 

7. The article by Mark Downey explained why this Flood was LOCAL, NOT GLOBAL.

      (www.kinsmanredeemer.com/noah.htm) 

8. Freedman, David Noel, ed. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

     Gerald L. Mattingly, “Anak”, vol. 1 p. 222

     Gerald L. Mattingly, “Emim”, vol. 2 p. 497

     Carl. S. Ehrlich, “Goliath”, vol. 2 pp. 1073-1074

     Ernst Axel Knauf, “Horites”, vol. 3 p. 288

     Richard S. Hess, “Nephilim”, vol. 4 pp. 1072-1073

     Phillip E. McMillion, “Og”, vol. 5 p. 9

     Mark S. Smith, “Rephaim”, vol. 5 pp. 674-676

     Gershon Edelstein, “Rephaim, Valley of”, vol. 5 pp.676-677

     Max Sussman, “Sickness & Disease”, vol. 6 pp. 6-15

     Brendan Byrne, “Sons of God”, vol. 6 pp. 156-159

     Michael C. Astour, “Zuzim”, vol. 6 p. 1176

9. Hendel, Ronald S., “Of Demigods and the Deluge: Toward an Interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4”, Journal of Biblical Literature (Vol. 106 No. 1, March 1987), pp. 13-26.

10. Hesiod (trans. Richmond Lattimore). The Works and Days / Theogony / The Shield of Herakles. Michigan: Ann Arbor Paperbacks, republished 1991.

11. Josephus, Flavius (trans. William Whiston). The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987.

12. Pausanias (trans. Peter Levi). Guide to Greece: II. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd., 1971.

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Mabbuwl - The Great Flood

Many of us, if we are to be honest with ourselves, first came to God for selfish reasons. Some of us might still have mostly selfish reasons for coming to church and worshiping God. In a place where we come to God because we are struggling, and we want God to make it all better. Many come to God wanting Him to remove our obstacles, our struggles. We come to God, perhaps, seeking worldly prosperity.

It makes sense right? Think of Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Daniel, Esther so many powerful and wealthy people are found throughout Scriptures. There are enough stories of success in the Bible for a prosperity gospel to be preached.

The problem is what happens when my personal experience ends up being different from what I expected it to be. What happens when I come to God expecting Him to take away all my trials, and I end up facing more trials than before? What happens when I am expecting an easy life and I don't get it?

What happens to my faith, when I obey God, and things seem only to become more challenging?

A more careful reading of the stories of all the heroes mentioned above teaches us that all of them faced extraordinary challenges. There are blessings that come with following God, no questions about it. But do not fool yourself into thinking there will be no challenges.

Let's see what lessons we can learn from taking a closer look at the life of a man God described as being just and perfect, a man who walked with God.

Noah.

Mabbuwl

(Mabbuwl is the transliteration of the Hebrew word for flood)

"When mankind were overwhelmed with the deluge, none were preserved but a man named Coxcox … and a woman called Xochiquetzal, who saved themselves in a little bark, and having afterwards got to land upon a mountain called by them Colhuacan, had there a great many children; … these children were all born dumb, until a dove from a lofty tree imparted to them languages, but differing so much that they could not understand one another."  -- (Frazer, J.G., Folklore in the Old Testament: Studies in Comparative Religion, Legend and Law (Abridged Edition), Avenel Books, New York, NY, USA, p. 107, 1988. mentioned on http://creation.com/many-flood-legends)

Sounds familiar? Reminds you of the story of Noah's Ark and the Tower of Babel?

This story comes from the Aztecs of Mexico—one of many recorded flood stories, from geographically remote and widely divergent cultures.

Did you know there are some 270 flood stories recorded around the world according to The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia? (Vos. H. F. 1982. Flood (Genesis). In G. W. Bromiley (ed.), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, pp. 319-321. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. mentioned on http://www.grisda.org/origins/17051.htm)

The existence of so many versions of the flood story is a significance challenge for those who want to deny a global flood ever took place, especially when so many of the stories have specific commonalities. There is much debate over the historicity of the biblical flood account, and that is not the focal point of this post. However, I would like to mention that a worldwide flood as described in the Bible helps explain many questions regarding the creation vs evolution debate.

I mention these points in passing for those who are interested to feel free to pursue them. On this post, I wish to focus on the biblical text and what God wants to teach us through this narrative. There are plenty of sites debating the science of the flood, I wish to discuss its theological implications, especially since I am not a scientist.

Continuing our study of the narrative of the Great Flood (Mabbuwl) we turn to Genesis 7.

Repetition?

Before we get into the text I would just like to briefly explain a literary device known as Hebrew parallelism, in which a story is told in two complementary versions that proceed from the general to the specific. There are several examples of this found in the Bible such as the two creation accounts found in Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Genesis 2:4b-25 and Daniel's visions found in Daniel 2 and Daniel 7.

Here in Genesis 7 we have the broad narrative of Noah entering into the ark found in Genesis 7:6-9. Followed by a more detailed second narrative in verses 10-16a. Notice how each narrative ends the same way, saying "as God had commanded" (Genesis 7:9, 16).

I mention this ahead of time as to avoid confusion when we read the story.

Genesis 7

Right away on verse 1 God is giving Noah a command.

Come into the ark, ...

The last time God gave Noah a command was when God told him to build the ark, (Genesis 6:14). Now God is commanding Noah to come into the ark, keeping His covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18). We notice also that Noah is righteous before God, implying his righteousness is not his own but rather given according to God. (Doukhan, Jacques. Genesis. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2016. Print. p146)

Clean and Unclean

Verse two is very interesting in that it differentiates between clean and unclean animals. Many will recognize this distinction from Leviticus 11:1-47 and Deuteronomy 14:3-21. This must make the reader wonder why God is differentiating between the clean and unclean animals before before the building of the Tabernacle, before the giving of the 10 commandments, before the Exodus, before Moses, before Abraham, etc. Why would God differentiate between clean and unclean animals if there were no Jews, unless this differentiation was not meant just for the Jews.

Notice also that God does not have to explain to Noah how to differentiate between the clean and unclean animals. As the text reads, we get the idea that Noah is already familiar with the distinction. We see this more clearly in Genesis 8:20 where Noah offers sacrifices to God out of the clean animals. Apparently some of the instructions God gave Moses for the people of Israel were not limited to them, nor were they new instructions. 

According to Leviticus 11, the differentiation between clean and unclean animals was not just connected to the tabernacle and sacrificial system but also to diet. Leviticus 11 says God spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them which animals they were allowed to eat. It is consistent, and it makes sense, for there to be a greater need for clean animals than unclean in the ark if the clean animals would be used for sacrifice as well as food. The unclean animals, are also important but are not meant for human consumption nor for sacrifices.

I raise this point here, but will pursue it no further in this post, if you would like to explore this topic further feel free to contact me. (I might pursue this topic further in a future post.)

Global Destruction of Life

Verse 4 reminds the reader that God is going to destroy all life from the face of the earth which He had created. Here I would like to make a quick mention of the multiple flood accounts found in diverse cultures around the world. Though many of them have several similarities with the biblical account of the flood, the Bible is unique in its account, and part of what makes the Bible unique is the way it portrays God. God is intentional and deliberate. God has a moral code, God saves Noah, his family, and a representation of the animals. God is intentional, God is moral, God guides and preserves Noah and the animals, and God has a clear purpose and reason for doing so. The flood is not an accident, neither is it a fit of rage, but rather an act of judgment from a moral and almighty God.  

God is not careless, God is searching for someone to save and is careful not to destroy the righteous along with the wicked (Genesis 18:23). Noah is spared because of his character. Noah has a loving and personal relationship with God which involves obedience to God's commands.

Noah's Age

Why mention that Noah was 600 years old? (Genesis 7:6, 11) I believe this establishes the historical value of this account. Noah's life bridges the antediluvian world and the our postdiluvian world, the world of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the other biblical characters. Jesus (Matthew 24:37-39) as well as Peter (2 Peter 3:5-7) both refer to the flood narrative and use it as a warning for our generation regarding God's final judgment. In other words, the Bible treats the flood account as being a real historical event and not a metaphorical illustration.

Reflections

Moving away from the detailed analysis of the biblical text for a moment. Imagine what it must have been like for Noah to go through this experience.

First, imagine living in a neighborhood where every intent of the thoughts of the hearts of your neighbors is only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

Now imagine that its not just that you're in a bad neighborhood, but rather it is the whole world. you can't just move to a nicer neighborhood, it is not a temporary problem that you can solve by relocating. There are no exceptions. You have no good friends. You are the only just person living on the planet and you can't move out. I know you might feel like you can't trust anyone nowadays, but imagine that being the case globally. (Genesis 6:12)

Things get so bad God is going to destroy everyone. Only you and your family will be spared. It is very likely that you had been praying for God to do something for a while. You just never expected for God to do this. God will destroy all life on the planet. Except you and your family, and a sample from all the animals on the planet, and seven pairs of the clean animals. (Genesis 6:17-20, 7:2-3, 14-16)

And by the way, God will not save you in a magical bubble, He will not simply take you to heaven for a few days while He cleans things up here on earth.

No.

God calls you to build a massive boat. He gives you all the directions and details concerning the project (6:14-16). Imagine spending the following 120 (6:3) years building and preaching (2 Peter:2:5) to people about the coming flood. By the way, Noah will also have to gather food himself, for the animals, and his family (Genesis 6:21).

God could have easily taken care of all this. Noah did find grace in the eyes of the LORD (6:8), yet the LORD did not take away the challenges. For many years, things seem to just become even more challenging.

It is too easy for us to read the story of the flood and not take a moment to consider what it must have been like for Noah. Can you imagine the taunts he must have suffered? Can you imagine the work of building a massive boat. The challenges of believing and acting on it without having any tangible proof for completely changing your life and taking on a major project that will cost you a great amount of time and resources?

Imagine

Imagine changing your life completely because God revealed to you that the whole world will be destroyed. Imagine living differently because Jesus is coming again. Imagine going through some discomfort to obey God's will according to what He has revealed to you.

Imagine God speaking to you and letting you know that judgment is coming. This time not by water but by fire. Imagine believing the words found in texts like Malachi 4:1

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. -Malachi 4:1

Discomfort

I imagine the ark was not very comfortable. I can imagine the noise and the smell and the mess all those animals made. Sometimes the church can feel like the ark. You may feel like you're dealing with wild animals at times. Maybe your toes get stepped on, perhaps your experience is not always a pleasant one.

You think about leaving.

This is not what you signed up for when you decided to follow Jesus. You wanted things to get easier not harder. You wanted relief from your trials, not brand new ones. And many will abandon God because they consider it too troublesome to follow Him. Many will walk away from a loving relationship with Jesus because having Jesus as their Lord can be "uncomfortable" at times.

Practical Applications

It is easy for me to get so excited about the details of the text and all the fascinating theological points and questions to be pondered, and end up missing what the human experience might have been like, and how that relates to my current experience.

How do you react when God calls you to build a boat, and you have never even built a raft? Maybe God is not calling you to build a literal boat, but He is calling you out of your comfort zone, and strictly for the benefit of others.

How do you react when your obedience and faithfulness get rewarded with more work and responsibilities?

How do you feel when God reveals to you that your obedience allows others close to you to experience God's mercy? That your relationship with God contributes to the salvation of those closest to you?

Noah was not a young man when God called him. He obediently labored for years, apparently without hearing anything from God. The whole process took time! There was a lot of working, and silence, and challenges, and waiting, and working.

Faith

Genesis 7:4, 7, 10 informs us that Noah and his family and all the animals waited in the ark for seven days before the flood came.

Seven days.

Waiting.

Wondering.

Waiting.

Thinking.

"Did we hear right?"

"Did we interpret God's message accurately?"

"Did we do everything correctly?"

"Did we miss something?"

Waiting.

Those must have been the longest seven days of Noah's life. Seven days. Waiting. Wondering. When you're busy its not so bad. But when it seems like nothing is happening, what do you do? What do you do when you follow what God has revealed to you of His will, to the best of your abilities, and nothing happens?

The Text

Looking back at the biblical text you may wonder how to interpret Genesis 7:13 in light of verses 4, 7 and 10. Remember what I mentioned about Hebrew parallelism? The story repeats, the second time with more details. Genesis 7:13 explains in greater detail that Noah and his family and all the animals entered the ark on the same day. The day the rain began they had already entered the ark. I wrote the "already" to identify that the Hebrew verb "enter" used in verse 13 is in the perfect tense, describing an action that has been completed. As apposed tot he verb "enter" used in verse 7 is in the imperfect tense, indicating the action was taking place.

Shut Door

Notice that verse 16 points out that the LORD shut Noah in.

God shut the door to the ark, not Noah.

After that point, no one could enter the ark. The door was shut before the rain began. Whoever entered the ark, entered by faith. By the time the rain began to fall, it was already too late to enter into the ark.

The idea of the door to salvation being shut is also found in the parable of the 10 virgins found in Matthew 25:10. the same principle is described Revelation 22:11 with the words

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. (Revelation 22:11 King James Bible)

By now you must have begun to realize that the judgment stories in Genesis help us understand how God goes about this process. You probably already noticed that properly understanding judgment in Genesis helps you better interpret Matthew 24 and especially 25. Perhaps even more clear is the realization that this topic is expounded on throughout the book of Revelation. Same God, same modus oprandi, same theology.

Redundancy?

Take a look at Genesis 7:17-24 and see what you think?

I am reminded of my high school English teacher who would write "RR" on parts of my essay. "RR" stood for repetitive and redundant. 

As you read verses 17-20 you get the idea of the waters rising. With each verse there is more and more water, covering more and more things. The text leaves no room for anyone to doubt the universality of the flood. It was a global event, everything on earth was submerged.

In case you still have any doubt verse 21 begins another repetitious and redundant portion of the text. This time emphasizing who or what died. Everything, everyone, who was on the face of the earth died. 

There was no salvation available outside of the ark. No other boats made it. No one outside the ark made it. God had provided a single means of salvation. (John 14:6) (side note: Some might want to argue that it would be unlike God to provide the whole world with a single means of salvation. To me it seems consistent with biblical text.)

Repetition is how the biblical writers highlighted something important. There is a lot of repetition in these verses in order to clearly convey, beyond a shadow of doubt, that God brought about thorough destruction of life. God used a global flood and spared only those who were in the ark.

Takeaway

We have looked closely at the text. We have imagined what it must have felt like to be Noah. We looked at some practical and theological implications, and now what?

What do I take away from all this?

What did I learn about

God

God is the judge over all the earth.

God clearly communicates to his servant/friend Noah what to do at each step of the process (build and ark, get in the ark, etc.)

God cares about the animals too.

God designated some animals for human consumption and others not.

God wants to partner with humanity.

Humanity

We don't always see the big picture of what God is doing.

We need to act by faith (believe God before we see any evidence).

God can work through us to save others.

Application

Life has many challenges.

Following God does not remove all challenges from life.

Following God introduces new challenges to life.

We can face any challenge (even a global flood), when we love God and follow what he calls us to do ("Come into the ark" Gen. 7:1).

In light of this story, life is not about avoiding challenges. Being a believer or follower of God is not about eliminating challenges. But rather about facing the right challenges according to God's revealed will. Life is about faithfulness to God and what He has called you to do.

Right now the door is open. We don't know how long it will be open. God will not force anyone to get into the ark, but He does call.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts... (Heb. 3:15)

Life is hard. Following God is challenging. If I have to face challenges anyway, I would rather face the challenges God call me to face, because I know that He is faithful. (1 Thess. 5:24)