Noah’s
religious
and moral
precepts.
Noah’s three sons were within reach of the moral and religious
instruction of the Patriarch. Therefore it probably was in the
fruitful-valleys of Central Armenia that Noah delivered the
celebrated precepts which were intended to restore the purity
of the Divine Law, and which have become an interesting
link between the antediluvian and postdiluvian religions:—
1. Not to follow strange worship, or idolatry.
2. Not to blaspheme the name of God.
3. Not to commit murder.
4. Not to commit incest.
5. To abstain from theft and rapine.
6. To appoint just judges and judicatures, &c.
7- Not to eat flesh with the blood of it.1
It will be seen that the first and second refer to man’s duty
towards his Creator, the former being manifestly intended to
overcome that idolatrous worship which probably had already
been given to the heavenly bodies instead of their great Creator
himself.
The next four regulated man’s duty towards his neighbour,
and the last forbade cruelty to other creatures, though it permitted
the use of flesh for food as well as for sacrifices. It is
probable that the Cainites had not confined the latter to the
fruits of the earth, or even to animals, for Lamech, the earliest
polygamist, is supposed to have immolated a human being—■
his own son
“ Ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech, for I have
slain a man to the wounding of myself, and a stripling to my
own bruising.”8
The primeval religion and strict moral code, which were to
be thus restored for the guidance of Noah’s posterity, appear
however to have undergone some modifications, one of which
was introduced in order to commemorate the recent catastrophe,
and the signal deliverance of Noah and his family.3
1 Bishop Patrick’s Preface to the Book of Job.
8 Gen. IV ., v. 2 3 ; and read p. 201 of Frederick von Schlegel’s Philosophy
of Hist., translated by Janies Brunton Robinson, Esq. Bohn, London, 1847.
8 In a recent work it has been ably shown, that the Arkite worship was
at one time extensively in use throughout the greatest part of the world,
That Noah’s first altar, and well-known sacrifice, should The Arkite
have had a direct reference to the vessel constructed by
Almighty command, and from which he had recently escaped,
seems to be quite natural ; and it is equally probable that the
continued use of this type was expressly enjoined to his
descendants. The ark was the constant symbol used tq represent
an altar, and this was in the shape of a crescent, probably
from Luban or the Moon, one of the names of Mount Ararat :
it is remarkable that in the ancient stone found near Dundalk,
a ship’s hull is plainly represented.1 It is believed that the
Druids were in reality Arkites ;8 also that Stonehenge and
Avebury in Wilts, Manister Grange (near Limerick), the fourteen
circles of large stones, in the neighbourhood of Sligo, called
the Giant’s Grave, and other similar structures at home and
abroad, are the remains of structures which were sepulchral,
and at the same time connected with a system of religious
worship that once generally prevailed in Great Britain and3
throughout the ancient world ; but probably, like that which is
exemplified in the Chinese temples dedicated to Kwan-Ya’n,
or the Goddess of Mercy and of the Sea,4 more or less mixed
with idolatry.
Doubtless the primeval worship, as renewed by Noah imme-were added to
diately after the Deluge, was free from this taint, which how- worship,
ever must have followed at a later period, since it was
expressly forbidden by the first and second commandments;5
J dating from the Descent itself. Doctrine of the Deluge, by the Rev. Vernon
Harcourt. See also the Mythology and Rites o f the British Druids, pp. 90,
91, 107, 178, 180, 492, 493, 494, 495. J . Booth, London. 1809.
1 Naoi is the Irish word for Ship, and hence Naïads or Shipmen. Har-
court’s Doctrine of the Deluge, vol. I I . p. 23. 8 Ibid, vol. I ., p. 75.
8 Arkite rites prevailed in many parts of Britain, and the rites o f Bacchus
or Noah were duly celebrated, pp. 184, 131. Davies’ Mythology of the
British Druids. Booth, London. 1809.
4 The Sea-God was Oannes, and the Fish-God of the Babylonians, Dagon.
Chronological Antiquities, &c., by John Jackson, vol. I., p. 209. London,
1752.
5 Arkite theology embraced some memorials of thé history of the Deluge,
together with an idolatrous commemoration of Noah, of his family, and of
his Sacred Ship ; and in many countries the worship of the host of heaven has
existed in conjunction therewith. Ibid. to 492.