Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/106

 The Book of Genesis

88 V.

The rainbow

13.

that the lightning

A

bow.

called

is

Probably this implied God's bow. as His arrows shot from His

was conceived of

vague, mythological conception seems to underlie

this.

all

The rainbow has played an important role in mythology, as is shown by the Greek legend of Iris, and the Scandinavian conception of the rainbow as the bridge to Walhalla, the abode of the gods. Vv. 20-27. These verses have no connection at all with the flood story.

that

much

Instead,

Noah was

the

first

after the

man

to

manner of IV,

through shameful experience the nature and It

of

is,

Biblical

course, tradition

a typical the

folk-lore

rabbis

17-26, they tell

plant a vineyard and to

motive.

conceived of

the

evil

On

qualities

the basis

following

discover,

of

of

wine. this

interesting

and suggestive story. They told that when Adam was driven forth from Eden, he carried with him a shoot of the vine which grew in the garden. Noah found this and determii>ed to plant it. He was assisted in this task by none other than Satan himself. But before actually beginning the work, Satan first slaughtered in succession a lamb, a lion, a pig and a monkey and let their blood flow over the vine. When Noah asked what was the significance of this, Satan answered that each of these four animals symbolized the qualities of the vine. Before man drinks of its fruit he is innocent as a If he^drinks of it in moderation he becomes strong and bold, lamb. like a lion. If he drinks too much, however, he becomes like a pig in thought and act. And if he drinks to excess and becomes intoxicated, he acts like a monke}'^, not knowing what he does, but behaving in silly and foolish manner, making himself the object of the raillery and contempt of all, and bringing shame upon himself, even as

Noah

did.

Vv. 25-27 are poetic in character. They attempt to describe the political and economic relations of the three different groups of peoples known to ancient Israel. They also account for the condition of subordination and practical servitude of the remnant of the original Canaanite inhabitants of Palestine after the Israelite conquest cf Joshua IX. X. Upon the basis of this chapter the Caucasian race has been divided by scholars into three ethnic groups, named after the three traditional sons of Noah, the Semitic, the Hamitic and the Japhitic This classificaor Indo-Germanic, as it is more commonly called. tion is more convenient than exact and scientific. We know that the Sabaeans (Sheba) and the Ethiopians (Gush), which vv. 6-7 include among the Hamites, really belonged to the Semitic group. On the other hand, the Elamites and Lydians were not Semites, de;

spite

.

the statement of

v.

22.

Israel

is,

of course, a Semitic people.