googlef87758e9b6df9bec.html A Sure Word: Josephus Talks About Noah's Flood

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Josephus Talks About Noah's Flood

If Noah's Flood were a real event (which it was), it would be an understatement to say it was a significant event in history. Only the eight members of Noah's family who were on the Ark survived the Flood but no doubt they would have told their children about the event. Such a remarkable event would certainly be told and retold generation after generation so that, even centuries after the Flood, everyone in the young world would know about the Flood even if they didn't experience the Flood. We could even predict that every ancient culture would include some account of this Flood in its lore. That's exactly what we find.

The ubiquity of Flood legends isn't just the topic of modern creationists. At least one ancient historian noticed the same thing. In his book, The Antiquities of the Jews, 1st century, Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus penned this paragraph:

Now all the writers of barbarian histories make mention of this flood, and of this ark; among whom is Berossus the Chaldean. For when he was describing the circumstances of the flood, he goes on thus: "It is said, there is still some part of this ship in Armenia, at the mountain of the Cordyaeans; and that some people carry off pieces of the bitumen, which they take away, and use chiefly as amulets, for the averting of mischiefs."--Hieronymus the Egyptian also, who wrote the Phenician antiquities, and Manases, and a great many more, make mention of the same. Nay, Nicholas of Damascus, in his ninety-sixth book, hath a particular relation about them; where he speaks thus: "There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported, that many who fled at the time of the deluge were saved; and that one who was carried in an ark, came on shore upon the top of it; and that the remains of the timber were a great while preserved. This might be the man about whom Moses the legislator of the Jews wrote.

Josephus had a lot to say about Noah and other characters attested in the Bible. Being Jewish himself, a lot of what he said is simply his retelling of the events from the Bible. What is significant about this passage is that he takes note of how other, non-Jewish historians corroborate details of the Flood revealed in the Bible – namely that there was a great deluge, that a man survived in an Ark, and that the Ark came to rest in the mountains.

Josephus did not know about the Australian aborigines or American Indians. He wasn't familiar with the Aztecs or Incas. I'm not even sure how much he new about the people of the Far east. But he understood that the many Flood legends among the western cultures gave weight to its authenticity. As western civilization made it's way into the entire world, we've discovered many more Flood legends among even remote populations everywhere in the world. What Josephus knew then is even more true today. The number of Flood legends among so many cultures strongly suggests it was a real event in history.

10 comments:

Fred Harding said...

I notice that you did not quote another comment by Josephus which says that Noah and family were not the only survivors.

"Now the sons of Noah were three - Shem, Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before the Deluge. These first of all descended from the mountains into the plains, and fixed their habitation there; and persuaded others who were greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the flood, and so were very loath to come down from the higher places, to venture to follow their examples."

Also, how could his sons build cities (not villages, towns) shortly after moving to Shinar without the aid of other people?

RKBentley said...

Fred,

Thank you for your comments. If you reread the passage I cited, Josephus is quoting a reference that says there were other survivors of the Flood – particularly, “There is a great mountain in Armenia, over Minyas, called Baris, upon which it is reported, that many who fled at the time of the deluge were saved;”

Whether or not Josephus or other historians believed there were 8 survivors or many survivors is irrelevant to my point. I was specifically saying that the abundance of flood legends in many cultures is consistent with what we would expect if the Flood were a real event.

Please keep visiting and commenting. God bless!!

RKBentley

Elijah said...

Those verses do not say that those afraid to come down were survivors of the Flood. It doesn't say the fear was in many because they had seen this Flood once and were now afraid again. To the contrary, the many is what the children of Noah became, and because of their three sets of parents, many were negative. This is proven by the 40-day Osiris poem that says the ark was his coffin for 40 days before he was reborn in the sky as anything rising that morn into heaven. (Specifically the triad that rose was Venus-Jupiter-Saturn in Capricorn.) I came across this site seeking the Josephus dates for Flood, which I thought he changed as he does Nehemiah's wall. Important to me since both Maya and the Bible begins the 40 days on Julian November 27, but Genesis says 2-17 as 46 days (+40), and the Maya say uinal 4 as 80 days (+40).

Elijah said...

By the way, building cities with many people. Babel was a tower not a city. It was a Euphrates outpost built for the Tigris city Kish, and did not have populace besides its priesthood or monastery until Peleg died and most of Ur moved to Babel and to build Mari Syria. Ur when built by Peleg the year after the Babel tower was started was then 209 years old at Peleg's death when Ur's maximum population had reached 30,000 not to reach it again until Shelah's death 130 years later then giving Chaldea (the son king) the name of Cainan (wayward son). I find that human error and sin exists in both master and slave. That is to say when the school master dominates the world so the thoughts of slave do not get published, we end up with a master who has the record all wrong. Set the slaves free and you now get one million lying opinions which isn't any better. READ comments of people, and you can see this. Their hearts are not open to truth. They tag people just for having the same character, so it's opened my eyes to see that the expression JUST LIKE NIMROD (as mighty hunter, or opposer, or rebel, or taking up the challenge, good or bad) is all emphasis on NIMROD when the expression refers to MANY others just like him. So the liar says Nimrod is Gilgamesh, and the liar says he is AmraPal, and the liar says he is Hamurabi, and the liars says he is Amizaduga. THEY all make claims using character-blame and character-fault and ignore that ALL have a different timeline, yet share matching dates of 360-day, and Mars, Marduk (Jupiter or Mars, both). This explains why I learn, and none of you in the world do learn. And so it also opens my eyes in how this end is now coming. And not my fault you die because of your own self-assuring arrogance. I don't top my ears up to you people, but nor need I accept what you say when I see what you mean is not correct, so that I must say Get behind me Peter Satan because you hinder what I already know as fact, and neither you nor I have much time left to explain it all to you.

stan said...

The distance in time between these accounts and the flood (in even young earth time) is too great for the accounts to be reliable without inspiration

Pearlman CTA said...

yes it was the descendants of the 8 on the ark that were afraid to settle on a plain until hundreds of years post Mabul at which point we first did when 'we returned from the East'.
Shem and I assume Ham and Yefes were alive long past the founding of Ur as was Noach . The dispersion from Ur started in 1996 AM and several key people families waited ten years till the passing of Noach in 2006 AM. reference TDC chronology also why a transcription error in extant copies of Josephus who himself wrote 1656 AM start to the Mabul on the 17th of the 2nd month not the 27th..
TDC = Torah Discovery Chronology

Elijah said...

Stan, your reasoning would then say that Mr.Stan is even further than Josephus from the Flood-event for anything Stan has to say to be reliable.

Elijah said...

The Flood of Josephus (3460bc in 2256am) is 1440 years 360 leap days before the real death of Noah 2020bc. This is because the 40-day rapture of dead Noah (Dec 25 Christ Mass to Feb 2 Candle Mass) is confused with 40-day rapture of the ark upward which ends on Jan 6 Venus Epiphany. Chinese Flood 2953bc July 10 (SS) as 3-27 is based on 180 days later 9-27 on Jan 6 (WS), derived from 2370bc July 10 (SS) as 9-27 and 180 days later 2369bc Jan 6 (3-27, day 40 of Flood). Likewise, Josephus uses Flood 3060bc (Japan's Flood 2256am) as his 2656am Flood, whose 40-day Christ Mass Flood ends on Feb 2 Candle Mass (3-27). The reliability is what creates the spirit inspiration to do the math which then proves it true without fanatics claiming all things divine must be mysteries that only the self-appointed prophet can see or know. God does not hide his realities. Selection of knowing things is accomplished via trust in truth as God, and God as truth. If you are shown truth, and you say sorry must be God first to be truth, then you do not know God nor trust him. Confusion comes from Noah's death having day 40 on 5-27 day Kiah-Tse (Jia-Zi) but the same Jia-Zi is 3-37 day 40 for the Flood. Reality check = July 10 is SS only for the century of 2000bc as is Jan 6 the WS for that century.

Unknown said...

I have been to eastern Turkey, once a part of Armenia, and seen Noah's Ark. The remains are still there.

Elijah said...

I have been there too. Prove it. What remains are you talking abut because there are so many fraud fakes right there, you probably seen on of these fakes.