Noah's children. How many children and sons did Noah have. Noah's son Ham: a biblical story about a generational curse

After the Flood ended, Noah left the ark with his sons. His sons were named Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Noah began to cultivate the land and grow grapes. He made wine out of grape juice, and after tasting it, he became drunk, because he did not yet know the power of wine. He lay naked in his tent and his son Ham saw it. He disrespected his father - he told his brothers about it. His brothers, Shem and Japheth, took clothes, approached their father so as not to see his nakedness, and covered him. When Noah woke up and learned about the deed of his younger son Ham, he condemned and cursed him, in the face of his son Canaan.

He said that his descendants would be in bondage to the descendants of his brothers. And Shem and Japheth he blessed and predicted that the true faith would be preserved in the offspring of Shem, and the descendants of Japheth would spread over the earth and accept the true faith from the descendants of Shem.

Everything that Noah predicted to his sons came true exactly. The descendants of Shem are called Semites, they include, first of all, the Jewish people, in which alone faith in the true God was preserved. The descendants of Japheth are called Japhetids, they include the peoples inhabiting Europe, who accepted from the Jews faith in the true God.

The descendants of Ham are called Hamites; these include the Canaanite tribes who originally inhabited Palestine, many peoples of Africa and other countries.

Babylonian pandemonium and scattering of people

The descendants of Noah lived together for a long time in one country, not far from the mountains of Ararat, and spoke the same language.

When the human race became numerous, then evil deeds and strife among people increased, and they saw that they would soon have to disperse throughout the earth.

But before dispersing, the descendants of Ham, dragging others along with them, planned to build a city and in it a tower, like a pillar, high to heaven, in order to be glorified and not be subject to the descendants of Shem and Japheth, as Noah predicted. They made bricks and set to work.

Then people were forced to abandon the construction they had begun and disperse along the ground in different directions. The descendants of Japheth went west and settled in Europe. The descendants of Shem remained in Asia, the descendants of Ham went to Africa, but some of them also remained in Asia.

The unfinished city is nicknamed Babylon, which means "mixing". The whole country where this city was, began to be called the land of Babylon, and also the Chaldean.

People settled on the earth gradually began to forget their kinship, and separate, independent peoples or nations began to form with their own customs and language.

The Lord saw that people learn more from each other evil deeds than good ones, and therefore he produced a mixture of languages, divided people into separate nations and gave each nation a separate task and goal in life.

The emergence of idolatry

People saw a lot of wonderful and incomprehensible things around them, and instead of God, they began to honor the sun, moon, stars, fire, water and various animals, make images of them, worship them, make sacrifices and build temples or temples for them.

Such images of false gods are called idols, or idols, and the peoples who worship them are called idolaters, or pagans. This is how idolatry appeared on earth.

Soon almost all people became pagans. Only in Asia, in the offspring of Shem, was there a righteous man named Abraham who remained faithful to God.

After the expulsion from paradise, children began to be born to Adam and Eve: sons and daughters. (Gen. 5 , 4).

They named their first son Cain, and the second Abel. Cain farmed, and Abel herded the flocks.

Once they offered a sacrifice to God: Cain - the fruits of the earth, and Abel - the best animal from his flock.

Abel was of a kind and meek disposition, he offered a sacrifice from a pure heart, with love and faith in the promised Savior, with a prayer for mercy and hope for the mercy of God; and God accepted the sacrifice of Abel, - it is believed that the smoke from it ascended to heaven.

Cain, on the other hand, was of an evil and cruel disposition, he offered sacrifice only as a custom, without the love and fear of God. The Lord did not accept his sacrifice; this, it is thought, was evident from the fact that the smoke from his sacrifice spread over the ground.

After that, Cain became jealous of his brother, called Abel into the field and killed him there.

God spoke to Cain, wanting him to repent, and asked him, "Where is your brother Abel?"

Cain replied boldly, “I don't know; Am I my brother's keeper?"

Then God said to him, “What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. For this you will be cursed and will wander the earth. And Cain, tormented by his conscience, fled with his wife from his parents to another land.

A person's life is a gift from God, therefore a person has no right to deprive himself of it, or to take it away from others. Taking the life of one's neighbor is called murder, and the deprivation of one's own life is called suicide and there is the most serious sin.

Instead of the murdered Abel, God gave Adam and Eve a third son - a pious Sifa and then many other children. Adam and Eve lived on earth for a long time. Adam lived 930 years. They endured much suffering and grief, heartily repented of their sin and firmly believed in the promised Savior. This faith saved them, they are now among the holy forefathers.

Note: see the Bible in the book. Genesis: Ch. 4 , 1-16, 25; 5 , 3-5.

Flood

From the children of Adam and Eve, the human race quickly multiplied, people at that time lived a long time, up to 900 years or more.

From Seth came pious and good people - "sons of God", and from Cain the wicked and evil - "sons of men".

At first, the descendants of Seth lived separately from the descendants of Cain, they kept faith in God and the future Savior. But later they began to take daughters from the descendants of Cain as their wives and began to adopt bad customs from them, to become corrupt and forget the true God.

After a long time, wickedness between people reached the point that of all the people on earth, only one descendant of Seth remained faithful to God - the righteous Noah with your family.

Seeing the great corruption of people, the merciful Lord gave them one hundred and twenty years for repentance and correction. But people not only did not improve, but became even worse.

Then the Lord determined to wash (cleanse) the earth with water from the wicked human race, and to keep the righteous Noah on earth, for the further reproduction of people. God appeared to Noah and said: “The end has come to every creature, for the earth has been filled with wickedness because of them; and I will destroy them from the face of the earth. I will bring a flood of water on the earth to destroy everything that is on the earth.” He told Noah to build the ark, that is, a large quadrangular vessel in the likeness of a house, in which his family and animals could fit, and gave him exact dimensions and instructions for this. Noah accepted God's command with faith and began to build the ark.

When the ark was ready, Noah, at the command of God, entered it with his wife, three sons and their wives, and, according to God’s instructions, took with him all the animals and birds that could not live in the water, clean, (i.e. . which can be sacrificed) - seven pairs, and unclean - one pair, in order to preserve their tribe for the whole earth. I also took a supply of food for everyone for the whole year.

On the day that Noah entered the ark, the waters of the flood rushed to the earth - " all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened”, that is, there was a great flood from the seas and oceans, and from the sky rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights. And the water rose on the earth above the highest mountains, increasing one hundred and fifty days, and drowned all people and animals, so that no one could escape, except those who were in the ark.

After one hundred and fifty days, the water began to gradually decrease. On the seventh month the ark stopped on the mountains of Ararat (in Armenia). First day tenth month the peaks of all the mountains appeared. To end of the year the water entered its containers.

Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out a raven to see if the water had receded from the ground, but the raven flew away and flew back to the roof of the ark.

Then Noah released a dove, which, having flown away, could not find a place to live, because the water was still on the surface of the whole earth, and returned back to the ark. After waiting seven days, Noah again released the dove from the ark. This time the dove returned in the evening and brought a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. And Noah realized that the water had come down from the earth and greenery appeared on it again. After waiting another seven days, Noah sent out the dove again, and it did not return to him. And Noah opened the roof of the ark and saw that the ground had already dried up.

Then, at the command of God, Noah left the ark with all his family and released all the animals that were with him.

And Noah built an altar, that is, a place for offering sacrifices, and offered for his salvation a thankful sacrifice to God from all clean animals and birds.

God graciously accepted Noah's sacrifice and blessed him and his sons and promised that there would never again be such a flood to destroy all life on earth for the sins of people, that is, there would never be a global flood. As a sign of this promise, the Lord pointed to a rainbow in the clouds, which since then has served as an eternal reminder to people of this God's promise.

Note: see the Bible, in the book. "Genesis", ch. 4 , 17-24; 5; 6 , 1-22; 7; 8; 9, 1 -17.

The Flood Talk

On the part of unbelievers, there is an objection to the flood, which is that it is impossible for the whole earth to be under water at the same time, as the Bible says. But, as the English explorer Arthur Hooke points out: “Scientist Dr. John Murray established that if the surface of the earth were turned into a plane, then there is so much water in the seas, which in some places reach six miles of depth, that it would be enough - to cover the whole earth with a simultaneous ubiquitous depth of two miles.

But the flood could not be in the full sense of the word universal. We must remember why the Lord made the flood: The Lord saw that the corruption of men on earth was great and that their thoughts were evil for all time ... And the Lord said: I will destroy from the face of the earth the people whom I created. (Gen. 6 , 5 and 7). Consequently, we can also imagine the flood as a flood that engulfed only the space of the earth inhabited by people, but how great this space was during the flood, we do not know at all. At the same time, we may not be embarrassed by the fact that the Bible several times speaks of the flood as spreading "throughout the whole earth." The Bible and all religious literature, which has only the human soul as its object of concern, often calls the earth and even the universe only the area where people live, and even only the area of a certain human culture that is ripe for the impact of Holy Scripture. Byzantium, brought up on the Bible, called the Mediterranean basin the Universe, which is why it called its emperors “masters of the universe” and gave the Patriarch of Constantinople the title of ecumenical.

The widespread prevalence of the flood tradition indicates that the flood was an event that swept all of humanity, and it was preserved in the memory of many branches of the human race. The same researcher Arthur Hooke reports that the Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Phrygians, Syrians, Persians, Greeks, and even Armenians all had, more or less, agreeable stories about the flood. The Phrygian narrative, for example, mentions Enoch as heralding the flood, and reports that he wept and prayed for the fate of the hardened, unrepentant inhabitants of the antediluvian world. An ancient Phrygian coin was found, with a crude image of an ark, and the letters "N-0" on one of its sides, undoubtedly referring to Noah. Further we find that India and China have records of the flood and, that in the flood, was saved someone with seven members of his family. The Mexicans had a legend about a man who made a ship to save himself from a catastrophe that was about to come.

In addition, it should be indicated that on the basis of scientific (geological) excavations it has been established that there is thick layer of clay, silty layering, which does not contain any remnants of organic animal life. This layer sharply separates layers stone age(paleolithic), from subsequent layers: neolithic, bronze and iron age. The French scientist Mortillet called this layer hiatus, that is, a break. it silt layer from the bottom of the sea happened, as is believed, under the influence of a world cataclysm, i.e., the land sank below the level of the ocean, the waters of which flooded the whole earth, all the mountains. As Moses says: “and all the fountains of the great deep were broken up”(Gen. 7 , 11), and then mentions the rain. Moreover, these silty layers cover with a thick layer the whole of Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, up to the high mountains. Scientist Cuvier and called these deposits, this powerful silty layer, Deluge (Deluzh) - a flood.

Of course, for believers, all these proofs are not needed, because they know that the Almighty Lord God, having created heaven and earth, could certainly flood the whole land with the waters of the flood.

Life of Noah and his children after the flood

The sons of Noah who went out with him from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah began to cultivate the land and planted a vineyard. When he made wine from grape juice and tasted it, he became drunk, because he did not yet know the power of wine, and having opened himself, he lay naked in his tent. His son Ham saw this, he disrespected his father, went and told his brothers about it. Shem and Japheth took clothes, went up to their father so as not to see his nakedness, and covered him. When Noah woke up and learned about the act of his younger son Ham, he condemned and cursed him, in the person of his son Canaan, and said that his descendants would be in slavery to the descendants of his brothers. And Shem and Japheth he blessed and predicted that the true faith would be preserved in the offspring of Shem, and the descendants of Japheth would spread over the earth and accept the true faith from the descendants of Shem.

Noah lived 950 years, he was the last to reach such a deep old age. After him, human strength began to decline, and people could only live up to 400 years. But even with such a still long life, people multiplied rapidly.

Everything that Noah predicted to his sons came true exactly. The descendants of Shem are called Semites, these include, first of all, the Jewish people, in which alone faith in the true God was preserved. The descendants of Japheth are called Japhetids, they include the peoples inhabiting Europe, who accepted from the Jews faith in the true God. The descendants of Ham are called Hamites; these include the Canaanite tribes who originally inhabited Palestine, many peoples of Africa and other countries. The Hamites have always been subordinate to other peoples, and some of them remain savages to this day.

Note 9 , 18-29; ch. 10 .

Babylonian pandemonium and scattering of people

The multiplied descendants of Noah lived together for a long time in one country, not far from the mountains of Ararat, and spoke the same language.

When the human race became numerous, then evil deeds and strife among people increased, and they saw that they would soon have to disperse throughout the earth.

But, before dispersing, the descendants of Ham, dragging others along with them, decided to build a city and in it tower, like pillar high to the heavens, to be glorified and not to be subject to the descendants of Shem and Japheth, as Noah foretold. They made bricks and set to work.

This proud idea of people was displeasing to God. So that evil would not finally destroy them, the Lord mixed the language of the builders so that they began to speak different languages and ceased to understand each other. Then people were forced to abandon the construction they had begun and disperse along the ground in different directions. The descendants of Japheth went west and settled in Europe. The descendants of Shem remained in Asia, the descendants of Ham went to Africa, but some of them also remained in Asia.

The unfinished city is nicknamed Babylon which means mixing. The whole country where this city was, began to be called the land of Babylon, and also the Chaldean.

The people who settled on the earth gradually began to forget their kinship, and separate, independent peoples or nation, with their customs and language.

The Lord saw that people learn more from each other evil deeds than good ones, and therefore he produced a mixture of languages, and divided people into separate nations and gave each nation a separate task and goal in life.

Note: see the Bible in the book. "Genesis": ch. 11 .

The emergence of idolatry

When people dispersed throughout the earth, they began to forget the invisible true God, the Creator of the world. The main reason for this was sins, which remove people from God and darken the mind. There were fewer and fewer righteous people, and there was no one to teach people the true faith in God. Then the wrong faith (superstition) began to appear among people. People saw a lot of marvelous and incomprehensible things around them, and instead of God, they began to worship the sun, moon, stars, fire, water and various animals, make images of them, worship them, make sacrifices and build temples or temples for them. temple. Such images of false gods are called idols, or idols, and the peoples who worship them are called idolaters, or pagans. This is how idolatry appeared on earth.

Soon almost all people became pagans. Only in Asia, in the offspring of Shem, was there a righteous man named Abraham who remained faithful to God.

“The sons of Noah that went out with him from the ark were Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
Noah began to cultivate the land and planted a vineyard. When out
grape juice made wine and tasted it, then got drunk. That's why
that did not yet know the power of wine, and having opened, lay naked in
his tent. His son Ham saw this, he disrespected his father
his own, went and told his brothers about it. Shem and Japheth
took the clothes, went up to the father so as not to see his nakedness, and
covered it. When Noah woke up and learned about the deed of his lesser
son of Ham, he condemned and cursed him, in the person of his son Canaan, and said,
that his descendants will be in bondage to the descendants of his brothers. And Sima and
He blessed Japheth and predicted that in the offspring of Shem will be preserved
true faith, and the descendants of Japheth will spread over the earth and receive
true faith from the descendants of Shem.

Noah lived 950 years, he was the last one to reach such a deep
old age. After him, human strength began to decline, and people
could only live up to 400 years. But even with such a still long life, people quickly multiplied.

Everything that Noah predicted to his sons came true exactly. The descendants of Shem are called SEMITES, they include, first of all, the Jewish people, in which alone faith in the true God was preserved. The descendants of Japheth are called IAPHEDITS, they include the peoples inhabiting Europe, who accepted from the Jews faith in the true God. The descendants of Ham are called HAMITES; these include the Canaanite tribes, originally inhabiting Palestine, many peoples of Africa and other countries. The Hamites have always been subordinate to other peoples, and some of them remain savages to this day.

NOTE: see the Bible in the book. "Being" ch. 9, 18-29; ch. ten

THE LIFE OF NOAH AND HIS CHILDREN AFTER THE FLOOD.

With Noah, his three sons were saved:
Shem, Ham, and Japheth
The earth easily gave birth to fruits,
Gives hope to God's Light.

Noah began to cultivate the land
And planted a vineyard
He built a winery right there,
Wine for the first time.

Noah drank wine and admired
Appreciating the taste and aroma.
He gradually got drunk
And fell into a deep sleep.

In his tent, smitten with wine,
Naked and drunk Noah lay,
And Ham, surprised by that view,
He told his brothers about it.

But Shem and Japheth did not
Laugh at your father
They took his clothes
And immediately went to the father:

They entered the tent so as not to see
Father in involuntary nakedness,
So as not to offend with disrespect,
They threw on those clothes

And the father's nakedness was covered,
And slowly they left
Although this case is not forgotten,
But there were no gossip.

Waking up, Noah found out about Ham,
his younger son,
He condemned the impudent son
And cursed him forever...

He cursed him in the face of his son,
Which Canaan to call
So that life repays the descendants,
To become their slaves,

To be in slavery to the descendants
His good sons
And to wander with a knapsack
In a foreign land, not one's own...

And Shem with his brother Japheth
Blessed and prophesied
That their descendants with bright faith
In the lands of any they will find a berth,

What will be the true faith
Save the descendants of Sim
And Japheth is one of the first
Spread all over the earth.

All Noah's predictions came true:
From Sim, the family went big -
Semites as a friendly family
Completed the entire human race.

The descendants of Japheth became
Settling other lands
They were called Japhetides
In Europe, you need to look for them.

Noah lived with true faith!
Nine centuries, fifty years -
There are no similar examples
There are no more Noah alive!

And faith in the true God
Jews still carry -
To Israel - a tortuous road,
Pilgrims go there.

The descendants of Ham used to live
All in the Canaanite tribes-
Hamites in ancient Palestine,
They did not know the fear of God.

The Hamites were in subjection,
As Noah had told them before,
They didn't know how to teach
And their family ran wild in some places.

According to the Bible, one and a half thousand years after the creation of the world, the Lord set out to punish people for their moral fall and unwillingness to follow the paths that He commanded them. But, in order not to completely stop the human race, the Creator chose Noah, saved him from death and made him the progenitor of all people who were born in subsequent times.

Venerable Patriarch

It follows from the Holy Scriptures that by the time the Almighty brought down the Flood on the earth, the chosen one of God was five hundred years old from birth, and he had three sons. The era in which he lived can truly be called the dawn of mankind. From Adam - the first man created by the Lord - he was separated by only ten generations. In those days, human life lasted much longer than today. It is known that the venerable patriarch died at the age of nine hundred years. His children were also long-livers. The Bible tells us the names of Noah's sons. They were Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Not wanting to destroy the work of His hands, the Creator commanded the righteous old man to build an ark, and before the abyss of heaven opens and water streams fall on the earth, enter into it together with all his family. In order to preserve also the animal world, he said to take with him a pair of each species of all animals and birds. Those who, according to religion, were considered “clean” and were suitable for sacrifices, were to be taken in seven pairs. This is what Scripture tells us.

The death of all life on earth

Noah did exactly what the Lord commanded, and when the Flood broke out, he was safe. Together with him, his sons and wives and many animals entered the ark. For forty days and nights the water was rising, until, finally, the highest mountain peaks disappeared in its abyss. God's punishment has come to pass: all those who were not included in the number of His chosen ones perished in the raging waves. Only after five months the elements finally pacified.

Little by little the clouds dissipated, the streams flowing from them dried up. The water began to subside, and soon the ark touched the Ararat peak with its bottom. But the whole surrounding world was hidden in the waves for a long time. Noah waited forty days before releasing a raven to find out if there was any land suitable for habitation. But the bird soon returned without finding anything. This was repeated several times, until, finally, the dove sent by him brought an olive leaf in its beak - a sign that the water had receded, the earth had dried out, and the long-awaited end of the voyage had come.

Days after the flood

The first thing Noah and his sons did after leaving the ark was to build an altar and offer a burnt offering in gratitude to God for the salvation they had been given. The Lord gave them a number of moral laws and promised to save the human race from floods in the future, as evidenced by the heavenly rainbow.

When life began to get into its groove, the three sons of Noah, together with the patriarch, took up farming. The soil, so lavishly irrigated, bore abundant fruit. The brothers laid out extensive vineyards, and their father took up winemaking. The bunches filled with the sun turned into a drink that gladdens the heart and soul. But, as it sometimes happens, one day the old man got carried away and, having drunk too much, fell asleep.

Curse of the Patriarch

At this time, the son of Noah, named Ham, entering the tent, saw the naked body of his father stretched out on the floor. Instead of showing respect, covering him up and withdrawing, he went to the brothers and laughingly told what he had seen. Shem and Japheth were, unlike him, delicate people, and therefore, taking clothes, they modestly entered Noah, while trying to keep their backs to him so as not to offend the elder with their views. Covering the body, the brothers respectfully departed.

Waking up in the morning and learning about how disrespectfully Ham treated him, the father cursed his son and all his descendants. In the heat of anger, he announced that henceforth his entire race would be in eternal slavery to the peoples who would come from Shem and Japheth. From that moment on, the future offspring of Noah was divided into those who are destined to command, and those who are doomed to obey. The venerable old man himself lived another three hundred and fifty years and went to the forefathers in peace.

Descendants of the sons of the pious elder

His offspring spread throughout the earth. How many sons Noah has - so many peoples that appeared from them. Kham became the ancestor of the nationality, called "Khamites". This ethnic group, who lived at one time south of Canaan and spoke a dialect that belongs to the Afroasian language family. Since the territory where Ham went after the conflict with his father was Africa, the current inhabitants of this continent are considered to be his descendants. By the way, his very name has become a household name these days and means a rude, ill-mannered person.

Another son of Noah, named Shem, is the progenitor of a people called "Simites." Despite the fact that this nation is heterogeneous in its composition, it is united by a common culture, religion and historical traditions. The very same name is taken from the Old Testament, and large groups of inhabitants of the Middle East are mentioned under it. At present, this term, although considered obsolete, is still not out of use.

And finally, the third son of Noah, Japheth, became the father of many Indo-European nationalities. This is the largest group, which includes both the peoples that disappeared in the course of the historical development of mankind, and those that exist today. The territory of their residence is very extensive and includes huge spaces that today belong to various states. According to some scientists, the Slavs also belong to this group.

Other testimonies about Noah

It is mentioned in literary monuments of many world religions. So, for example, the Hebrew Haggadah dwells in great detail on his deeds and deeds before and after the flood. In particular, it speaks of Noah's foresight, thanks to which he foresaw the future death of all living things, and for this reason did not want to marry. This, by the way, explains his so late paternity. When he finally got married, he did it solely at the command of God.

It is difficult to accurately indicate the name of his wife, since in different sources she is called differently. Most often it is Neoma or Emzarag. Jewish literature also indicates that Noah enriched people with many useful knowledge and skills. It was he who introduced the plow, sickle, ax and many other tools that are familiar in our time. By the way, it is said about his hands that they were special - strong and adapted to physical labor. This quality, of course, helped the patriarch in the construction of the ark.

Love for people and humanism

Before taking care of himself and his family, Noah did everything he could to help everyone around him avoid death. From the same Haggadah it is known that he repeatedly called people to repentance and even postponed his own salvation for this reason. His boundless humanity is evidenced, in particular, by the fact that for a whole year, while the flood lasted, Noah, knowing neither sleep nor rest, took care of the animals that were inside the ark.

In conclusion, I would like to cite a small parable from Hebrew literature, which is not mentioned in Holy Scripture, but has a deep meaning. It is said that in Noah's ark there was a very unusual couple - Lies and Misfortune. At first, the Lie tried to get inside alone, but she was kicked out, saying that the entrance was open only to married couples. Then she left, and when she returned, she brought Misfortune with her. Then they were let in. Since then, they have been inseparable.

In conclusion, I would like to say one more thing: since, according to the Bible, the chosen one of God and the builder of the ark through his offspring became the ancestor of all nations, then every person is, to a certain extent, the son of Noah. Holy Scripture also testifies to this, calling him our forefather.

Noah's father was Lamech, his mother's name is unknown. According to the Bible, when Noah was five hundred years old, he begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah's Ark.

Noah was a righteous and believing person, for which he was chosen by God as the builder of the ark, in which everyone who would restore the human race after the Flood, God's punishment for the sins of mankind, was to be saved. God gave Noah precise instructions regarding the construction of the ark and how exactly to equip it for a long voyage. Before the flood, Noah took a pair of each type of animal, as well as seven pairs of those animals that could be sacrificed. Of the people, Noah himself entered the ark, his wife and three sons with their wives. After that it started to rain like never before or since. After 40 days, the ark floated. Every living thing outside the ark perished. The ark floated for 150 days before the waters began to recede. After the 8th month of travel, Noah released a raven from the ark, but he, not finding land, returned to the ark. Then Noah released a dove, at first the dove returned with nothing, then brought an olive leaf, and the third time it did not return at all, this indicated that the land had again become habitable. Noah left the ark about a year after the flood began.

Noah's covenant with God.

It is believed that Noah left the Ark at the foot of the Ararat Mountains, after which he immediately offered a sacrifice to God in gratitude for the salvation of him and his family. God, in turn, promised never to devastate the earth with floods and blessed Noah and his descendants (the coming humanity). God gave Noah's descendants a number of commandments:

Be fruitful and multiply
Possess the earth
Control animals and birds
Feed from the earth
Do not shed human blood.

The sign of God's covenant was a rainbow that shone in the heavens.

Noah's life after the flood.

According to the Bible, after the flood, Noah began to cultivate the land and planted a vineyard. Noah is considered the first winemaker on Earth. One day, after drinking wine, Noah lay naked in his tent. His son Khan and his son Khaan entered the tent and saw a naked sleeping Noah. Without doing anything, they hurried to tell the sons of Noah Shem and Japheth about this, the same, without looking at their father, covered his nakedness with clothes.

Waking up, Noah was angry with his son Khan and especially with his grandson Khaan for disrespect. Noah cursed Khaan and all his descendants, punishing them to be slaves to their brothers. The name of the son of Noah Ham became a household name.

According to the Bible, Noah lived another 350 years after the flood and died at the respectable age of 950 years.

After Noah.

The descendants of Noah are considered the ancestors of all mankind. As we already know, Noah had three sons who became the ancestors of different peoples.

The descendants of Shem are Jews, Arabs and Assyrians.

The descendants of Ham are the peoples of North and East Africa and South Arabia, incl. Egyptians, Libyans, Ethiopians, Phoenicians, Philistines, Somalis, Berbers, etc.

The descendants of Japheth settled Europe. The sons of Jather became the ancestors of the tribes and peoples of Russia, Chud, Yugra, Lithuania, Livs, Poles, Prussians, Varangians, Goths, Angles, Romans, Germans, Finno-Ugric peoples, etc. The peoples of the Caucasus also came from Japheth.

The image of Noah in Christianity.

Noah is the prototype of the new humanity. He is the harbinger of Christ. The salvation of Noah during the Great Flood anticipates the sacrament of baptism. Noah's ark is a type of the Church saving those who yearn for salvation.

The Orthodox Church classifies Noah as one of the forefathers and commemorates him on the "Week of the Forefathers".