20 Facts about Noah (from the Ark) I
Religion Articles 3/30/12
By: Yona Williams
In the book of Genesis (chapters six through nine), the biblical tale of Noah unfolds. According to the Hebrew Bible, Noah is the tenth and last of the patriarchs before the "Great Flood." Noah builds an ark that he uses to save his family and representatives of all animals. In this article, you will learn interesting facts regarding Noah and his journey on the ark.
1. When the tale of Noah is told, the animals are often mentioned, but there are fewer references to his three sons and their wives when the shortened version is relayed.
2. Noah is mentioned as the "first husbandman" in the Bible, which means that he was the first farmer. He is also known as the first to cultivate grapes vines that would make the first wine.
3. Noah is mentioned in the story of the Curse of Ham, which is often referred to as the Curse of Canaan. This incident in the Bible appears in Genesis 9:20Ã¢â‚¬â€œ27. It is here that we learn about Noah, who is the father of Ham. He places a curse upon Ham's son, Canaan. One night, Noah falls asleep in a drunken stupor. His son Ham sees his father's nakedness and tells his other brothers, Shem and Japheth. They do not look at him as they cover Noah's body in a cloak. When Noah awakens, he "knew what his younger son had done to him." However, the curse did not fall upon the shoulders of Ham, Noah placed it on his son, Canaan. Because of this, Canaan was condemned to be a "servant of servants" to the other sons of Ham. He was also made into the servant of Shem and Japheth. There has been a debate for more than 2,000 years as to why Canaan paid for the sin of his father.
4. Noah is mentioned several times in the Qu'ran, which is the primary religious text of Islam, where Muslims believe that the passages are words that came out of God's mouth Himself.
5. When Noah's father, Lamech, gave him his name, he said, "This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from the ground which the LORD hath cursed."
6. Noah was 600 years old when he built and traveled aboard on the ark. God was saddened by the wickedness of mankind, and wished to destroy all life with a flood. He instructed Noah (who was considered a righteous man of his time) to construct an ark and save a traces of life so that mankind could start anew following the Flood.
7. After the flood, Noah died 350 years later. He was 950 years old at that time and was considered the last of the long-lived patriarchs. The Bible makes note that the maximum lifespan that a human can have greatly decreases from this point on. Where man lived to be almost 1,000 years, they now saw age limits around 120 years, which is what Moses lived to become.