Review

Author(s): Jack P. Lewis

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perceive this ancient world (orany world) In presenting his case for the flood narra- doubts, however,if some of the mysteries
in its wholeness only by considering the tive being a primevalstory, Bailey casts will ever be clearedup.
roles of women and men together within his net wide in attempting to identify its
the interplay of political, social, eco- place in Genesis 1-11. Included is a sur- Bibliography
nomic, and religious spheres. vey of Julius Wellhausen's(andhis suc- Allen, D. C.
PatriciaCockrell Wood cessors')skepticism of early history. 1949 The Legendof Noah. Urbana:Uni-
MaryBaldwin College Bailey summarizes (without significant versity of Illinois Press.
addition) standardsource-criticalargu- Bailey,L.
ments for the Pentateuch'scomposition 1978 Whereis Noah'sArk?Nashville:
from four sources or traditions. In the AbingdonPress.
Kikawada,I. M., and Quinn, A.
Noah: The Personand The Story in primitive stories, independent narratives 1985 BeforeAbraham Was:The Unity of
are gatheredin the two stages Jand P.He Genesis 1-11. Nashville: Abingdon
History and 'Tradition,by Lloyd Bailey, gives reasons for conjecturaldates for
xi + 244 pp. Columbia, SC: University Press.
these sources and supposes that Jhas Lewis,J.P.
of South Carolina Press, 1989; $26.95 been truncatedin being joined with P. 1968 A Study of the Interpretationof
(hardback), $13.95 (paper). The standardargumentsfor think- Noah and the Flood in Jewish and
ing that the Noah story is a compilation Christian Literature.Leiden:
In 7 chapters,supplemented by 5 appen- of earlier independent units are sum- E. J.Brill.
dices and accompaniedby 13 figures, marized. Bailey notes that all the data do 1979 Review of Whereis Noah'sArk?by
10 maps, and 11 tables, LloydBailey deals not fit and that Isaac Kikawadaand LloydR. Bailey.BiblicalArchaeologist
42:190-91.
with such questions as "Catastrophe Arthur Quinn (1985)have asked if the
Whitcomb,J.C., Jr.,and Morris,H. M.
Stories Around the World,""FloodStories narrativeis not a single composition. 1961 The Genesis Flood. Philadelphia:
in the Ancient Near East,""Isthere However,Bailey finds their effort to see a Publish-
andReformed
Presbyterian
Physical Evidence of Noah's Flood?"and politrophe in the flood narrativedefec- ing Company.
"HasNoah'sArk Survived?"He then in- tive when the Hebrew text is consulted, Jack P. Lewis
cludes an analysis of the primeval story, and he rejects it. Harding Graduate School of Religion
of the figure Noah in the Bible, and con- In raising the question of what the
cludes by discussing "So,What Does It story of Noah meant, Bailey surveys six
Mean?"A selected bibliographyis also post-biblicallevels of meaning. Choos-
included. Material discussing the sur- ing to center on what the editor/redactor - Do you have a question
vival of the ark was published in Bailey's said, Bailey surveys the Jand P levels of aboutyour subscription?
previous work (1978),which I reviewed the story.The latter centers on the fact
here (1979).Appendix 4 of the present that for the sake of one righteous man - Do you need to changeyour
volume summarizes some of the ark the world was preserved.Bailey is not address?
searches that took place between 1982 explicit about what he thinks the flood Call JohnsHopkins
and 1987, which, like their predecessors, story should now mean to the individual.
were frustratedby failure. The appendicesgive a translation of UniversityPressat
a portion of a study of evidence for a 1-301-338-6964
Bailey centers on a period of inter-
pretation that is earlier than that studied native Armenian flood story,a discus- or write
by Don C. Allen (1949)and myself (1961). sion of Faustus'saccount, a study of JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress
After surveying the silt layers of Mesopo- nonliteral numbers in the Bible, and a 701 W. 40th St., Suite275
tamian sites as evidence for the flood, survey of recent searches for the ark.
Bailey concludes that they indicate Appendix 5 offers a conjecturethat the MD 21211.
Baltimore,
floods but not the flood. Such layershave episode of Noah the Farmermay origi- When callingor writing,
not been found at Syro-Palestiniansites. nally have been a continuation of the pleasegive your name, address
Pointing to the differenceof opinion over account of the originof craftsof Genesis 4. and zip code as it appearson
a local or universal flood, Bailey notes It is conjecturedthat the flood is in-
that how one defines flood determines serted at its place because Noah is the your mailinglabel.
whether or not one can say there is eighth generation from Adam as there
archaeologicalevidence. He reviews are eight monarchs in the Sumerian
cases that attribute the source of the silt king list.
layers to a tidal wave, a glacial melt, a The methodology of Bailey'sstudy BOOKPUBLISHERS
vaporcanopy,an extraterrestrialorigin, is more to raise questions than to give Please send all review copies to:
and to dust. He concludes with a nega- answers.The proposalsmade are hypo- Dr. JamesC. Moyer
tive opinion of these cases as well as of thetical, usually prefacedby the words Department of Religious Studies
so-called Creation Science. "ifthe interpretationgiven is correct" Southwest Missouri State University
Bailey characterizeshis study as and presentedwith "maybe"and "might." 901 South National, Box 167
being historically descriptive.Chapters5 Bailey offershis questions and hypothe-
and 6 deal with Pentateuchal criticism ses as coming from the desire to take the Springfield,MO 64804-0095
ratherthan with archaeologicalmatters. text seriously and understandit. He

120 Biblical Archaeologist, June 1990

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