- Topic in Antediluvian Patriarchs. By Charles Kamins.
- In Abrahamic religions, Noah was the tenth and last of the pre-flood Patriarchs.
Corruption of the world
The account of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood are among the best-known stories found in ancient texts. The stories contained in the Torah describe the time as filled with corruption brought about by the Fall of the Angels who took wives among the "daughters of humans," giving birth to the Nephilim, half human, half angel.
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)
According to the Book of Enoch, the fallen angels chiefly the angel Azazel taught humans:
"And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjâzâ taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, Armârôs the resolving of enchantments, Barâqîjâl, taught astrology, Kôkabêl the constellations, Ezêqêêl the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiêl the signs of the earth, Shamsiêl the signs of the sun, and Sariêl the course of the moon."[1]
The Flood Judgement
The angels Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel are unable to deal with the fallen angels under Azazel and appeal to God to judge the fallen men and angels. The Lord grieved in his heart at the sight of fallen humanity:
And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:6)
See Also
