you too, would sin.” And He sent them on earth, and then they fell,
as says the Book of Genesis, “_And it came to pass that the sons of
God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them
wives of all which they chose._” After they had sinned, they were given
bodies of flesh; for an angel who spends seven days on earth becomes
opaque and substantial. And when they had been clothed with flesh and
with a corrupt nature, then they spake the word “Shem hamphorasch,”
and sought to regain their former place, but could not; and were cast
out into mountains, there to dwell. From these angels descend the sons
of the giants and the Anakim, and from their seed also spring the
devils.[162] The Rabbi Eliezer says that the giants sprang from the
union of the angels with the daughters of Cain, who walked about in
immodest clothing and cast their eyes around with bold glances. And the
book Zeenaureena, in the Parascha Chykkath, says that Og sprang from
this connection, and that Sammael, the angel, was the parent of Og, but
that Sihon was the son of the same angel who deceived the wife of Ham
when she was about to enter the ark.[163]
The account in the Book of Enoch is as follows:--
“Hear and fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man, and writer of
righteousness, come hither and hear my words: Go speak unto the
Watchers of Heaven, and say unto them, Ye shall pray for men and not
men for you. Why have ye forsaken the high and holy and eternal heaven,
and have joined yourselves to women, and polluted yourselves with the
daughters of men, and have taken to you wives, and have become the
fathers of a giant race? Ye who were spiritual, holy, and enjoying
eternal life, have corrupted yourselves with women, and have become
parents of children with flesh and blood; lusting after the blood of
men, ye have brought forth flesh and blood, like those who are mortal
and perishable. Because men die, therefore did I give unto them wives,
that they might have sons, and perpetuate their generation. But ye are
spiritual and in the enjoyment of eternal life. Therefore give I not to
you wives, for heaven is the abode of the spirits. And now the giants,
who are born of flesh and blood, shall become evil spirits, and their
dwelling shall be on the earth. Bad beings shall proceed from them.
Because they have been generated from above, from the holy Watchers
have they received their origin, therefore shall they be evil spirits
on the earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. And the spirits of
the giants, which mount upon the clouds, will fail and be cast down,
and do violence, and cause ruin on the earth and injury; they shall not
eat, they shall not thirst, and they shall be invisible.”[164]
Among the Oriental Christians it is said, that Adam having related to
the children of Seth the delights of Paradise, several of them desired
to recover the lost possession. They retired to Mount Hermon and dwelt
there in the fear of the Lord; living in great austerity, in hope that
their penitence would recover Eden. But the Canaanites dwelt round them
on all sides, and the sons of Seth becoming tired of celibacy, took
the daughters of the Canaanites to wife, and to them were born the
giants.[165]
Others say that the posterity of the patriarch Seth were those called
the “Sons of God,” because they lived on Mount Hermon in familiar
discourse with the angels. On this mountain they fed only on the fruit
of the earth, and their sole oath was “By the blood of Abel.”[166]
Among the giants was Surkrag, of whom we have already related a few
particulars. He was not of the race of men, nor of the posterity of
Adam. According to the Mussulman account he was commander of the armies
of Soliman Tchaghi, who reigned over the earth before the time of Gian
ben Gian, who succeeded him and reigned seven thousand years. The whole
earth was then in the power of the Jins. Gian ben Gian erected the
pyramids of Egypt.
Surkrag obeyed God, and followed the true religion, and would not
suffer his subject Jins to insult or maltreat the descendants of Adam.
He reigned on Mount Kaf, and allied himself, according to Persian
authorities, with Kaïumarth, the first king of the world, whom some
Persian writers identify with Adam, but others suppose to be the son
of Mahalaleel, and cotemporary with Enoch. Ferdusi, the author of the
Schah-Nâmeh, speaks of him as the first who wore a crown and sat on
a throne, and imposed a tribute on his subjects. He says that this
monarch lived a thousand years, and reigned five hundred and fifty
years. He was the first to teach men to build houses.
But if Kaïumarth was the first man to reign, he was the first also to
weary of it; for he abdicated his sovereignty and retired into his
former abode, a cave, after having surrendered his authority to his son
Siamek. Siamek having been killed, Kaïumarth re-ascended his throne
to revenge his death. After having recovered the body of his son, he
buried him with great honors, and kindled over his grave a great fire,
which was kept perpetually burning, and this originated the worship of
fire among the people of Iran.
Kaïumarth overcame the giant Semendoun, who had a hundred arms; his
son, Huschenk, also overcame a giant who had three heads, mounted on
an animal with twelve legs. This animal, namad Rakhsche, was found by
him in the Dog Isle, or the New Continent, and was born of the union of
a crocodile and an hippopotamus, and it fed on the flesh of serpents.
Having mastered this beast, Huschenk overcame the Mahisers, which have
heads of fish and are of great ferocity. After having extended his
conquests to the extremities of the earth, Huschenk was crushed to
death by a mass of rock which the giants, his mortal enemies, hurled
against him.[167]
According to Tabari, Huschenk was the son of Kaïumarth, who was the
son of Mahalaleel. He was the first man to cut down trees and to make
boards, and fashion them into doors to close the entrance to houses. He
also discovered many precious stones, such as the topaz and jacinth. He
reigned four hundred years.[168]
He was succeeded by Tahmourath, who taught men to saddle and bridle
horses; he was also the first man to write in Persian characters;
he figures as a great hero in Iranian fable. According to the story
in Persia, he was carried by the Simorg to the mountain of Kaf. Now
the Simorg is a wondrous bird, speaking all languages, and eminently
religious.
According to the Kaherman Nâmeh, the bird Simorg, being asked its age,
replied, “This world has been seven times peopled, and seven times made
void of living beings. The generation of Adam, in which we now are,
will last seven thousand years, which form a cycle, and I have seen
twelve of these revolutions. How many more I shall see is unknown to
me.”
The same book informs us that the Simorg was a great friend of the
race of Adam, and a great enemy to the demons and Jins. He knew Adam
personally, and had done obeisance to him, and enjoyed the same
religion as our first fathers. He foretold to Tahmourath all that was
to take place in the world, and plucking from his bosom some feathers,
he presented them to him, and from that time all great captains and men
of war wear feather crests.
Tahmourath having been transported by the bird to the mountains of
Kaf, he assisted the Peris, who were at war with the Jins. Argenk,
the giant, finding that the Peris were gaining the mastery, with the
assistance of Tahmourath, sent an embassy desiring peace; but the
ambassador, Imlain, abandoned the party of the Jins and assisted
Tahmourath to obtain complete mastery in the mountains of Kaf, and
to overcome not only the giant Argenk, but also Demrusch, a far more
terrible monster. Demrusch lived in a cavern guarding a vast treasure,
which he had amassed in Persia and India. He had also carried off the
Peri Mergian. Tahmourath slew Demrusch and released Mergian.
According to the Persian story, Tahmourath was the first to cultivate
rice, and to nourish silk-worms in the province of Tabristan.[169]
To return to Tabari.
Djemschid was the brother of Tahmourath; he was the first man to
forge arms, and he is probably to be identified with Tubal-cain.
He introduced also the use of pigments, and he discovered pearls,
and also to dig for lime, vermilion, and quicksilver; he likewise
compounded scents, and cultivated flowers. He divided all men into four
classes,--soldiers, scribes, agriculturists, and artisans. At the head
of all he placed the learned, that they might guide the affairs of men,
and set them their tasks and instruct them in what they were to do.
Then Djemschid asked the wise men, “What must a king do to secure his
throne?”
They answered, “He must reign in equity.”
Consequently, Djemschid instituted justice; and he sat the first day of
every month with his wise men, and ministered righteous judgments. For
seven hundred years he continued this practice; and in all that time no
rebellion broke out, no afflictions troubled him, nor was his reign in
any way menaced.
One day, whilst Djemschid was taking his siesta alone in his chamber,
Eblis entered by the window, and Djemschid asked, “Who art thou?” Now
he thought he was one of those who waited without till he should come
forth to administer justice. Eblis entered into conversation with
Djemschid, and said, “I am an angel, and I have descended from heaven
to give thee counsel.”
“What counsel dost thou offer?” asked the king.
Eblis replied, “Tell me, who thou art?”
He answered, “I am one of the sons of Adam.”
“Thou mistakest,” said the Evil One: “thou art not a man. Consider,
since thou hast reigned, has any thing failed thee? Hast thou suffered
any affliction, any loss, any revolt? If thou wert a son of Adam,
sorrow would be thy lot. Nay, verily, thou art a god!”
“And what sign canst thou show me of my divinity?”
“I am an angel. Mortal man cannot behold an angel, and live.”
Then he vanished. Djemschid fell into the snare of pride.
Next day he caused a great fire to be lighted, and he called together
all men and said to them, “I am a god, worship me; I created heaven
above and earth beneath; and those that refuse to adore me shall be
consumed in the fire.”
Then from fear of him many obeyed; and the same hour revolt broke out.
There was a man named Beyourasp who stirred up the people, and led a
great army against Djemschid, and overcame him, and took from him his
kingdom, and sawed the king asunder from the head to the feet.[170]
XII.
LAMECH.
“_Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the
name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare
Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have
cattle. And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such
as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain,
an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of
Tubal-cain was Naamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah,
Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have
slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall
be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-fold._”[171]
The speech of Lamech points to a tradition unrecorded in the Sacred
Text, with which the Israelites were probably well acquainted, and
which therefore did not need repetition; or else, there has been a
paragraph dropped out of the original text. The speech is sufficiently
mysterious to raise our curiosity. Whom had Lamech slain? and why
should Lamech be avenged?
The Targums throw no light on the passage, merely paraphrasing it,
without supplying the key to the speech of Lamech.[172] But Rabbinic
tradition is unanimous on its signification. The book Jasher says that
in those days men did not love to have children, therefore they gave
their wives drink to make them sterile. Zillah had taken this drink,
and she was barren till in her old age she bare Tubal-cain and Naamah.
Now Lamech became blind in his old age, and he was led about by the boy
Tubal-cain. Tubal-cain saw Cain in the distance, and supposing from the
horn on his forehead that he was a beast, he said to his father, “Span
thy brow and shoot!” Then the old man discharged his arrow, and Cain
fell dead.
But when he ascertained that he had slain his great ancestor, he
smote his hands together, and in so doing, by accident struck his
son and killed him. Therefore his wives were wroth and would have no
communication with him. But he appeased them with the words recorded in
Genesis.[173] The same story is told in the book of the “Combat with
Adam.”
Some Jewish writers adopt a tradition that Tubal-cain was not slain,
but was severely injured by his father; according to some, he was
lamed. Connecting this tradition with his name, a striking analogy
springs up between him and the Vulcan of classic antiquity, and the
Völundr of Norse mythology. Both were lame, both were forgers of iron,
and the names Vulcan and Völundr bear some affinity to Tubal-cain;
for cutting off Tu, we have Balcain or Vulcan. A very learned and
exhaustive monograph on Völundr has been written by MM. Depping and
Michel.[174]
Tubal is said by Tabari to have discovered the art of fermenting the
juice of the grape, as well as that of music. Eblis deceived the young
man, who was full of gayety, and taught him many things, amongst others
how to make wine. Tubal took grapes and crushed them, and made must,
and let it grow bitter. Then he took it and put it in a glass jug. He
made flutes, lutes, cymbals, and drums. When he began to drink the
wine he had made, he jumped and danced. All the sons of Cain looked
on, and, pleased with his merriment, they also drank and played on the
instruments Tubal had made.[175]
Naamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, became the wife of the devil
Schomron, by whom she became the mother of Asmodeus.[176]
XIII.
METHUSELAH.
It is related that an angel appeared to Methuselah, who was then aged
five hundred years, and lived in the open air, and advised him to build
a house. The Patriarch asked how long he had to live. “About five
hundred years more,” answered the angel. “Then,” said Methuselah, “it
is not worth taking the trouble for so short a time.”[177]
“Methuselah,” says the Midrash, “was a thoroughly righteous man. Every
word that fell from his lips was superlatively perfect, exhausting
the praises of the Lord. He had learnt nine hundred chapters of the
Mischna. At his death a frightful thunder was heard, and all beasts
burst into tears. He was mourned seven days by men, and therefore the
outbreak of the Flood was postponed till the morning was over.”[178]
Eusebius says, “He lived longer than all who had preceded him. He,
according to all editions (of the LXX.), lived fifteen years after the
Deluge, but where he was preserved through it is uncertain.”[179]
But the general opinion of the Jews follows the Midrash. The Rabbi
Solomon says, he died seven days before the Flood; and the Pirke of
Rabbi Eliezer and the Jalkut confirm this opinion. He is said to have
pronounced three hundred and thirty parables to the honor of the Most
High. But the origin of this is to be traced to the Cabbalists, who say
that, by transposition of the letters of his name, the anagram “He who
prophesied in parables” can be read.[180]
He had a sword inscribed with the Schem hammphorasch (the
Incommunicable Name), and with it he succeeded in slaying a thousand
devils.[181]
XIV.
NOAH.
The earth being filled with violence, God resolved on its destruction,
but Noah, the just, He purposed to save alive.
On the words of Genesis, “_All flesh had corrupted his way upon the
earth_,” the Rabbi Johanan taught that not only was the race of men
utterly demoralized, but also all the races of animals.[182]
Noah and his family, and one pair of all the beasts of earth, were to
be saved in the ark, but of every clean beast seven were to enter in.
Falsehood hastened to the ark and asked to be admitted; Noah refused.
“I admit the animals only in pairs,” said he.
Then Falsehood went away in wrath, and met Injustice, who said--
“Why art thou so sad?”
“I have been refused admittance into the ark, for I am single,” said
Falsehood; “be thou my companion.”
“See, now,” answered Injustice, “I take no companionship without
prospect of gain.”
“Fear not,” said Falsehood, “I will spread the toils and thou shalt
have the booty.”
So they went together to the ark, and Noah was unable to refuse them
admission. And when the Flood was passed and the beasts went forth
out of the ark, Falsehood said angrily, “I have done my work and have
caused evil, but thou hast all the plunder; share with me.”
“Thou fool!” answered Injustice, “dost thou forget the agreement? Thine
it is to spread the net, mine alone to take the spoil.”[183]
At the time of the Deluge the giants were not all drowned, for Og
planted his foot upon the fountains of the great deep, and with his
hands stopped the windows of heaven, or the water would have risen
over his head. The Rabbi Eliezer[184] said that the giants exclaimed,
when the Flood broke out, “If all the waters of the earth be gathered
together, they will only reach our waists; but if the fountains of the
great deep be broken up, we must stamp them down again.” And this they
did, but God made the waters boiling hot, and it scalded them so that
their flesh was boiled and fell off their bones.[185] But what became
of Og in the Deluge we learn from the Talmud.[186] He went into the
water along with a rhinoceros[187] beside the ark, and clung to it; now
the water round the ark was cold, but all the rest was boiling hot.
Thus he was saved alive, whereas the other giants perished.
According to another authority, Og climbed on the roof of the ark;
and on Noah attempting to dislodge him, he swore that, if allowed to
remain there, he and his posterity would be the slaves of the sons of
Noah. Thereupon the patriarch yielded. He bored a hole in the side of
the vessel, and passed through it every day the food necessary for the
giant’s consumption.[188]
It is asserted by some Rabbinic writers that the Deluge did not
overflow the land of Israel, but was partial; some say the Holy Land
was alone left dry, and a rhinoceros had taken refuge on it and so
escaped being drowned. But others say that the land of Israel was
submerged, though all agree that the rhinoceros survived without having
entered the ark. And they explain the escape of the rhinoceros in this
manner. Its head was taken into the ark, and it swam behind the vessel.
Now the rhinoceros is a very large animal, and could not be admitted
into the ark lest it should swamp it. The Rabbi Jannai says, he saw a
young rhinoceros of a day old, and it was as big as Mount Tabor; and
Tabor’s dimensions are forty miles. Its neck was three miles long,
and its head half a mile. It dropped dung, and the dung choked up
Jordan. Other commentators object that the head was too large to be
admitted into the ark, and suppose that only the tip of its nose was
received. But as the ark swayed on the waters, Noah tied the horn of
the rhinoceros to the side of the vessel, lest the beast’s nose should
slip off in a lurch of the ark, and so the creature perish.
All this is from the Talmud.
Let us now turn to some of the Mussulman legends of Noah. His history
is briefly related in the Koran, in the chapter entitled “Hud.”
“Noah built the ark with our assistance and that of the angels,
following the knowledge we revealed to him, and we said to him: Speak
no more in behalf of the sinners; they shall all be drowned.
“Whilst Noah was building his ark, all those who passed by mocked him;
but he said to them: Though you rail at me now, the time will come when
I shall rail at you; for you will learn to your cost, Who it is that
punishes the wicked in this world, and reserves for them a further
punishment in the world to come.”
In the annals of Eutychius of Alexandria, who wrote in Egypt in the
tenth century, and who probably quoted from apocryphal documents now
perished, we read that, before the Flood broke out, Noah made a bell of
plane wood, about five feet high, which he sounded every day, morning,
noon, and evening. When any one asked him why he did so, he replied,
“To warn you that God will send a deluge to destroy you all.”
Eutychius adds some further particulars.
“Before they entered the ark,” says he, “Noah and his sons went to
the cave of Elcanuz, where lay the bodies of Adam, Seth, Cainan,
Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, and Lamech. He kissed his dead
ancestors, and bore off the body of Adam together with precious
oblations. Shem bore gold; Ham took myrrh; and Japheth incense. Having
gone forth, as they descended the Holy Mount they lifted their eyes
to Paradise, which crowned it, and said, with tears, ‘Farewell! Holy
Paradise, farewell!’ and they kissed the stones and embraced the trees
of the Holy Mount.”[189]
Ibn Abbas, one of the commentators on the Koran, adds, that Noah being
in doubt as to the shape he was to give to the ark, God revealed to
him that it was to be modelled on the plan of a bird’s belly, and that
it was to be constructed of teak wood. Noah planted the tree, and in
twenty years it grew to such a size that out of it he was able to build
the entire ark.[190]
To return to the Koran.
“When the time prescribed for the punishment of men was arrived, and
the oven began to boil and vomit, we said to Noah: Take and bring into
the ark two couples of every kind of animal, male and female, with
all your family, except him who has been condemned by your mouth, and
receive the faithful, and even the unbelievers; but few only will
enter.”
The interpreters of the Koran say that the ark was built in two years.
They give it the dimensions mentioned in Genesis:--three stages,
that on the top for the birds, the middle one for the men and the
provisions, whilst the beasts occupied the hold. The sign of the
outburst of the Flood was that water flowed out of the burning oven of
Noah’s wife. Then all the veins and arteries of the earth broke and
spirted out water. He who was excluded was Canaan, the son of Ham, whom
he had cursed. But Abulfeda says that it was Jam, a fourth son of Noah,
who was excluded from the ark.[191] The Persians say that Ham incurred
his father’s malediction as well, and, for that, he and his posterity
became black and were enslaved; but that Noah, grieved for his son’s
progeny, prayed God to have mercy on them, and God made the slave to be
loved and cherished by his master.
The Koran says, “Noah having entered the ark with his wife (Noema,
daughter of Enoch, according to the Yaschar, Noria, according to the
Gnostics; Vesta, according to the Cabbalists), and his three sons,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives, the three daughters of
Eliakim, son of Methuselah, he said to those who dwell on the earth,
‘Embark in the name of the Lord.’
“And whilst he thus spake, the ark advanced or halted, according to his
order, in the name of God.”
But the Yaschar says that the ungodly dwellers on the earth, finding
the Flood rising, hastened in such crowds to the ark, that they would
have overfilled it, had not the lions and other animals within defended
the entrance and repulsed them.[192]
According to some Oriental traditions, Noah embarked at Koufah;
according to others, near where Babylon was afterwards erected; but
some say in India; and some affirm that in the six months during which
the Deluge lasted, the ark made the circuit of the world.[193]
Noah, seeing that his grandson Canaan was not on board, called to him,
and said, “Embark, my child, and do not remain among the ungodly.”
But Canaan replied, “I will ascend the mountains, and shall be safe
there.”
“Nothing can save thee to-day but the mercy of God,” said Noah.
Whilst thus speaking, a wave rushed between them and submerged Canaan.
After forty days, the ark swam from one end of the earth to the other,
over the highest mountains. Over Mount Kubeis, chosen by God in which
to preserve the sacred black stone of the Kaaba, the ark revolved seven
times.[194]
Tabari says that Noah had four sons, and that of these Canaan was the
youngest, and that the three elder believed in his mission, but his
wife and Canaan laughed at his predictions. The animals that were
brought into the ark were collected and wafted to it by the wind. When
the ass was about to enter, Eblis (Satan) caught hold of its tail. The
ass came on slowly; Noah was impatient, and exclaimed, “You cursed one,
come in quick.”
When Eblis was within, Noah saw him, and said, “What right have you in
here?”
“I have entered at your invitation,” answered the Evil One. “You said,
‘Cursed one, come in;’ I am the accursed one.”
When six months had passed, the ark rested on the surface of the water
above Djondi,[195] and the rain ceased to fall, and God said to the
earth, “Suck in the water;” and to the sky, “Withhold thy rains.” The
water abated; and the ark lodged on the top of the mountain.