Noah and The Bible Kristen Roggemann

The Bible builds its literary foundations upon the themes of Knowledge and Sin, two topoi that are reflected again and again in various parables, allegories, and tales found within this sacred text. Genesis 9:20-27 exemplifies the synthesis of these ideas, the relatively short tale of Noahs drunkenness revealing a profound exploration of the underpinning Biblical themes. And yet while being a perfectly self-contained passage, the story of Noah incorporates other parts of Genesis within its ideological framework, creating a multi-leveled structure that is both autonomous of and indebted to its greater context.

Both the structure of the passage and its concepts explore the Biblical theme of knowledge, making Noahs story a literal meditation on the idea, within a humanistic setting. The distinction of Noah being a ³man of the soil² is important within this context, because Adam and Eve dealt with the theme of Knowledge as well, but within a more supernatural, Godly environment (9:20). Thus the story of Noah is meant not as an etiological tale, but more as a morally-based allegory meant to render the concept of Knowledge more intimately understandable to the average person of faith. Noahs drunkenness from his wine leads to him...