And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters
upon
the earth
That there was such a flood of waters brought upon the earth, is
confirmed by the testimonies of Heathen writers of all nations;
only instead of Noah they put some person of great antiquity in
their nation, as the Chaldeans, Sisithrus or Xisuthrus; the
Grecians and Romans, Prometheus or Deucalion, or Ogyges. Josephus
F26 says, all the writers of the
Barbarian or Heathen history make mention of the flood and of the
ark; and he produces the authorities of Berosus the Chaldean, and
Hieronymus the Egyptian, who wrote the Phoenician antiquities,
and Mnaseas, and many others, and Nicolaus of Damascus: and there
are others that Eusebius F1 makes mention of, as Melo, who wrote
against the Jews, yet speaks of the deluge, at which a man with
his sons escaped; and Abydenus the Assyrian, whose account agrees
with this of Moses that follows in many things; as do also what
Lucian F2 and Ovid F3 have
wrote concerning it, excepting in the name of the person in whose
time it was: and not only the Egyptians had knowledge of the
universal deluge, as appears from the testimony of Plato, who
says F4, that an Egyptian priest related to
Solon, out of their sacred books, the history of it; and from
various circumstances in the story of Osiris and Typhon, which
name they give to the sea, and in the Chaldee language signifies
a deluge; and here the Targum of Onkelos renders the word by
"Tuphana"; and the Arabs to this day call the flood "Al-tufan";
but the Chinese also frequently speak of the deluge F5; and
even it is said the Americans of Mexico and Peru had a tradition
of it F6; and the Bramines also F7, who
say that 21,000 years ago the sea overwhelmed and drowned the
whole earth, excepting one great hill, far to the northward,
called "Biudd"; and that there fled thither one woman and seven
men (whose names they give, see ( Genesis 7:13
) ) those understanding out of their books that such a flood
would come, and was then actually coming, prepared against the
same, and repaired thither; to which place also went two of all
sorts of creatures (see ( Genesis 6:19
) ) herbs, trees, and grass, and of everything that had life, to
the number in all of 1,800,000 living souls: this flood, they
say, lasted one hundred and twenty years (see ( Genesis 6:3 ) ) five
months and five days; after which time all these creatures that
were thus preserved descended down again, and replenished the
earth; but as for the seven men and woman, only one of them came
down with her, and dwelt at the foot of the mountain. And this
flood was not topical or national only, but general and
universal: it was brought "upon the earth", upon the whole earth,
as the following account shows; and by the Lord himself, it was
not through second causes, or the common course of things: and to
show it possible and certain, this form of expression is used,
"behold, I, even I, do bring"; it was wonderful, beyond the power
of nature, and therefore a "behold" is prefixed; it was possible,
because the Almighty God declares he would bring it; and it was
certain, which the redoubling of the word points at; and would be
quickly, since he said, "I am bringing", or "do bring"; just
about to do it; wherefore the ark was not so long preparing as
some have thought, and the command to build it was not long
before the flood came. The word for the flood comes from one
which signifies to fall F8, either because of the fall of the
waters at it, or because it made all things to fall, wither, and
decay, as herbs, plants, men, beasts, and all creatures; or from
one that signifies to consume, or to mix and confound, and bring
all things to confusion, as Jarchi suggests F9: and
the end and intention of it, as here expressed, was to
destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from
under
heaven;
every living creature, men and women, the beasts and cattle of
the earth, and every creeping thing on it, and the fowls of the
heaven, man principally, and these for his sake. [And]
everything that is in the earth shall die;
but not what was in the waters, the fishes of the sea, which
could live in the flood.
F26 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 6.
F1 Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 12, 19.
F2 De Dea Syria.
F3 Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 7.
F4 In Timaeo, & de Iside & Osir.
F5 Sinic. Hist. l. 1. p. 3, 26.
F6 See Bishop Patrick, in loc.
F7 Miscellanea Curiosa, vol. 8. p. 261, 262.
F8 (lbn) "cecidit".
F9 (hlb) "consumpsit, vel" (llb) "confudit, miscuit".