Chapter 7
voice of the Lord, and now do you desire to live upon earth?
21. And they said to Noah, we are ready to return to the Lord; only open for us that we may live and not die.
22. And Noah answered them, saying: Behold now that you see the trouble of your souls, you wish to return to the Lord. Why did you not return during these hundred and twenty years, which the Lord granted you as the determined period?
23. But now you come and tell me this on account of the troubles of your souls, now also the Lord will not listen to you, neither will He give ear to you on this day, so that you will not now succeed in your wishes.
24. And the sons of men approached in order to break into the ark, to come in on account of the rain, for they could not bear the rain upon them.
25. And the Lord sent all the beasts and animals that stood round the ark. And the beasts overpowered them and drove them from that place, and every man went his way and they again scattered themselves upon the face of the earth.
26. And the rain was still descending upon the earth, and it descended forty days and forty nights, and the waters prevailed greatly upon the earth; and all flesh that was upon, the earth or in the waters died, whether men, animals, beasts, creeping things or birds of the air, and there only remained Noah and those that were with him in the ark.
27. And the waters prevailed and they greatly increased upon the earth, and they lifted up the ark and it was raised from the earth.
28. And the ark floated upon the face of the waters, and it was tossed upon the waters so that all the living creatures within were turned about like pottage in the cauldron.
29. And great anxiety seized all the living creatures that were in the ark, and the ark was like to be broken,
30. and all the living creatures that were in the ark were terrified, and the lions roared, and the oxen lowed, and the wolves howled, and every living creature in the ark spoke and lamented in its own language, so that their voices reached to a great distance, and Noah and his sons cried and wept in their troubles; they were greatly afraid that they had reached the gates of death.
31. And Noah prayed unto the Lord, and he cried unto Him on account of this, and he said: Lord help us, for we have no strength to bear this evil that has encompassed us, for the waves of the waters have surrounded us, mischievous torrents have terrified us, the snares of death have come before us; answer us, O Lord, answer us, light up thy countenance toward us and be gracious to us, redeem us and deliver us.
32. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and the Lord remembered him.
33. And a wind passed over the earth, and the waters were still and the ark rested.
34. And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
35. And the waters decreased in those days, and the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
36. And Noah then opened the windows of the ark, and Noah still called out to the Lord at that time and he said: Lord, who didst form the earth and the heavens and all that are therein, bring forth our souls from this confinement, and from the prison wherein thou hast placed us, for I am much wearied with sighing.
37. And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Noah, and said to him: When thou shalt have completed a full year thou shalt then go forth.
38. And at the revolution of the year, when a full year was completed to Noah's dwelling in the ark, the waters were dried from off the earth, and Noah put off the covering of the ark.
39. At that time, on the twenty seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry, but Noah and his sons, and those that were with him, did not go out from the ark until the Lord told them.
40. And the day came that the Lord told them to go out, and they all went out from the ark.
41. And they went and returned every one to his way and to his place, and Noah and his sons dwelt in the land that God had told them, and they served the Lord all their days, and the Lord blessed Noah and his sons on their going out from the ark.
42. And He said to them, be fruitful and fill all the earth; become strong and increase abundantly in the earth and multiply therein.
1. AND these are the names of the sons of Noah: Japheth, Ham and Shem; and children were born to them after the flood, for they had taken wives before the flood. 29 .
2. These are the sons of Japheth; Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras, seven sons.
3. And the sons of Gomer were Askinaz, Rephath and Tegarmah.
4. And the sons of Magog were Elichanaf and Lubal.
5. And the children of Madai were Achon, Zeelo, Chazoni and Lot.
6. And the sons of Javan were Elisha, Tarshish, Chittim and Dudonim.
7. And the sons of Tubal were Ariphi, Kesed and Taari.
8. And the sons of Meshech were Dedon, Zaron and Shebashni.
9. And the sons of Tiras were Benib, Gera, Lupirion and Gilak; these are the sons of Japheth according to their families, and their numbers in those days were about four hundred and sixty men.
10. And these are the sons of Ham; Cush, Mitzraim, Phut and Canaan, four sons; and the sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama and Satecha, and the sons of Raama were Sheba and Dedan.
11. And the sons of Mitzraim were Lud, Anom and Pathros, Chasloth and Chaphtor.
12. And the sons of Phut were Grebul, Hadan, Benah and Adan.
13. And the sons of Canaan were Sidon, Heth, Amori, Gergashi, Hivi, Arkee, Seni, Arodi, Zimodi and Chamothi.
14. These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, and their numbers in those days were about seven hundred and thirty men.
15. And these are the sons of Shem; Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram, five sons; and the sons of Elam were Shushan, Machul and Harmon.
16. And the sons of Ashar were Mirus and Mokil, and the sons of Arpachshad were Shelach, Anar and Ashcol.
17. And the sons of Lud were Pethor and Bizayon, and the sons of Aram were Uz, Chul, Gather and Mash.
18. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families; and their numbers in those days were about three hundred men.
19. These are the generations of Shem; Shem begat Arpachshad and Arpachshad begat Shelach, and Shelach begat Eber and to Eber were born two children, the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the sons of men were divided, and in the latter days, the earth was divided.
20. And the name of the second was Yoktan, meaning that in his day the lives of the sons of men were diminished and lessened.
21. These are the sons of Yoktan; Almodad, Shelaf, Chazarmoveth, Yerach, Hadurom, Ozel, Diklah Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab; all these are the sons of Yoktan.
22. And Peleg his brother begat Yen, and Yen begat Serug, and Serug begat Nahor, and Nahor begat Terah, and Terah was thirty eight years old, and he begat Haran and Nahor [apparently twins].
23. And Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a wife in those days, in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod, saying, at that time the sons of men again began to rebel and transgress against God, and the child grew up, and his father loved him exceedingly, for he was the son of his old age.
24. And the garments of skin which God made for Adam and his wife, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush.
25. For after the death of Adam and his wife, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jered, and when Enoch was taken up to God, he gave them to Methuselah, his son.
26. And at the death of Methuselah, Noah took them and brought them to the ark, and they were with him until he went out of the ark.
27. And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers.
28. And when Ham begat his firstborn Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days.
29. And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old he put on those garments.
30. And Nimrod became strong when he put on the garments, and God gave him might and strength, and he was a mighty hunter in the earth, yea, he was a mighty hunter in the field, and he hunted the animals and he built altars, and he offered upon them the animals before the Lord.
31. And Nimrod strengthened himself, and he rose up from amongst his brethren, and he fought the battles of his brethren against all their enemies round about.
33. And the Lord delivered all the enemies of his brethren in his hands, and God prospered him from time to time in his battles, and he reigned upon earth.
33. Therefore it became current in those days, when a man ushered forth those that he had trained up for battle, he would say to them, like God did to Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter in the earth, and who succeeded in the battles that prevailed against his brethren, that he delivered them from the hands of their enemies, so may God strengthen us and deliver us this day. 30 .
34. And when Nimrod was forty years old, at that time there was a war between his brethren and the children of Japheth, so that they were in the power of their enemies.
35. And Nimrod went forth at that time, and he assembled all the sons of Cush and their families, about four hundred and sixty men, and he hired also from some of his friends and acquaintances about eighty men, and he gave them their hire, and he went with them to battle, and when he was on the road, Nimrod strengthened the hearts of the people that went with him.
36. And he said to them, do not fear, neither be alarmed, for all our enemies will be delivered into our hands, and you may do with them as you please.
37. And all the men that went were about five hundred, and they fought against their enemies, and they destroyed them, and subdued them, and Nimrod placed standing officers over them in their respective places.
38. And he took some of their children as security, and they were all servants to Nimrod and to his brethren, and Nimrod and all the people that were with him turned homeward.
39. And when Nimrod had joyfully returned from battle, after having conquered his enemies, all his brethren, together with those who knew him before, assembled to make him king over them, and they placed the regal crown upon his head.
40. And he set over his subjects and people, princes, judges and rulers, as is the custom amongst kings.
41. And he placed Terah the son of Nahor the prince of his host, and he dignified him and elevated him above all his princes.
42. And whilst he was reigning according to his heart's desire, after having conquered all his enemies around, he advised with his counsellors to build a city for his palace, and they did so.
43. And they found a large valley opposite to the east, and they built him a large and extensive city, and Nimrod called the name of the city that he built Shinar, for the Lord had vehemently shaken his enemies and destroyed them.
44. And Nimrod dwelt in Shinar, and he reigned securely, and he fought with his enemies and he subdued them, and he prospered in all his battles, and his kingdom became very great.
45. And all nations and tongues heard of his fame, and they gathered themselves to him, and they bowed down to the earth, and they brought him offerings, and he became their lord and king, and they all dwelt with him in the city of Shinar, and Nimrod reigned in the earth over all the sons of Noah, and they were all under his power and counsel. [An inference can be drawn that there was a partial separation of mankind before the affair at Babel. Verse 34 tells that when Nimrod was 40 years old there was war between his tribe and Japheth's; and Nimrod subdued them – see verse 37; and that they 'all' came to dwell with him in Shinar. The translator mentions that he frequently had to remark that the word 'all' must not in Hebrew be taken in that latitude as it would in modern languages. It just means 'all of those', whatever those implies. ]
46. And all the earth was of one tongue and words of union, but Nimrod did not go in the ways of the Lord, and he was more wicked than all the men that were before him, from the days of the flood until those days.
47. And he made gods of wood and stone, and he bowed down to them, and he rebelled against the Lord, and taught all his subjects and the people of the earth his wicked ways; and Mardon his son was more wicked than his father.
48. And every one that heard of the acts of Mardon, the son of Nimrod, would say concerning him, from the wicked goeth forth wickedness; therefore it became a proverb in the whole earth, saying, from the wicked goeth forth wickedness, and it was current in the words of men from that time to this.
49. And Terah the son of Nahor, prince of Nimrod's host, was in those days very great in the sight of the king and his subjects, and the king and princes loved him, and they elevated him very high.
50. And Terah took a wife, and her name was Amthelo the daughter of Cornebo; and the wife of Terah conceived and bare him a son in those days. [By this it seems he had another wife who bare Abram, different from the one who bare Haran and Nahor, see verse
22. ]
51. Terah was seventy years old when he begat him, and Terah called the name of his son that was born to him Abram, because the king had raised him in those days, and dignified him above all his princes that were with him. [From this it seems that Abram was called so, not because he was a mighty father, but because Terah was a mighty father in Nimrod's court; therefore God changed it at a later stage of his life into Abraham, appropriating to Himself what Terah had applied to himself. ]