This week’s Parsha is Parsha Noach (Gen. 6:9-11:32) and includes that account of the flood and Noah’s ark:
[13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
[14] Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
[15] And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
[16] A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
[17] And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
[18] But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
(Gen. 6:13-18 KJV)
The author of 4Maccabees (On the Supremacy of Reason) saw, in the flood and the ark, an allegory:
15:31 For like the ark of Noach, in the flood of all the world, were the throes within him. And he kept to the covenant and was sustained, and his strong word was fixed.
15:32 Thus also you keeper of the Torah, from every way overwhelmed with emotion you are drawn in and the violent winds of the torture of your sons, here and there weeping they blow. Strong is hope [over] the storm against shield of truth.
(4th Maccabees 15:31-32 HRV)
Here the reference is to Hanna who has just witnessed the torture and death of her seven sons (2Macc. 7; 4Macc. chapter 8-18 & b.Gittin 57b). Earlier the same author gives a similar allegory:
7:1 For like a swift ship captain, thus was the mind of the aged Eleazar. By way of the steering of the fear of Eloah, his thought was leading, over the great sea of torture and emotions.
7:2 And while threats and tortures of the Tyrant were coming upon him, and tumultuous waves of tribulation.
7:3 And in no way did he turn the rudder from fear of Eloah until he voyaged and arrived to the haven of victory that does not die.
7:4 No city besieged ever held out against mighty vassals coming against its walls and its various parts like this. He was dressed in all the armor. For while his soul was suffering, consumed by torture, and by tribulation, and by burning, he conquered the tribulation because of his mind was fighting with the shield of truth.
(4th Maccabees 7:1-4 HRV)
Here the reference is to the torture and ultimate death of Eleazar (2Macc. 6:18-31; 4Macc. chapters 5-7)
In 4th Maccabees the storm and waves of the flood represent emotions and specifically tortures and tribulation.
In Genesis we read:
[18] But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
(Gen. 6:18 KJV)
And later:
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Gen. 9:17 KJV)
Targum Onkelos to this verse reads:
And YHWH said to Noah,
“This is the token of the covenant
which I have established between My Word [Memra]
and between all flesh that is upon the earth.
(Targum Onkelos Gen. 9:17)
So the Covenant that was established with Noah originated from the Word, the Logos, that is Divine Reason.
It is the Logos (Reason) that allows us to overcome the storm and waves of emotions and tortures, just as the Ark protected Noah and his family from the storm and waves of the flood.
If you would like to see more of these Stoic Torah studies, please support this work of restoration of Hebraic Stoicism by donating by Paypal to donations@wnae.org