NOE
88
NOE
The division of the Vinils into two or three Noc-
turns in the Roman Churrli dates back at least to the
fifth century. We may conjcoturo that St. Benedict,
who, in the composition of the iiKiiia.stic cursus, fol-
lows the arranjicmrnt of the Roman Office so closely,
must have been inspired equally by the Roman cus-
toms in the composition of his ()ffice. Whatever
doubt there may be as to priority, it is certain that the
Roman system bears a strong analogy to that of the
Nocturns in the Benedictine Office even at the present
time, and the differences subsisting are almost en-
tirely the result of transformations or additions, which
the Roman Oflice has been subjected to in the course
of time. On Sundays and feast-days there are three
Nocturns, as in the Benedictine Office. Each Noc-
turn comprises three psalms, and the first Nocturn of
Sunday has three groups of four psalms each. The
ferial days have only one Nocturn consisting of twelve
psalms; each Nocturn has, as usual, three lessons. For
the variations which have occurred in the course of
time in the composition of the Nocturns, and for the
different usages see M.itins. These different usages
are recorded by Dom Martcne. For the terms, " Noc-
tumales Libri", "Nocturnse", see Du Cange, "Glos-
sarium infim;e latinitatis", s. vv.
See Matins; Vioil; C.issi.in, Decmnoh. instil., II, x; Beleth, Rationale, xx; Liber Diurnus, P. L., CV, 71; DuH.vNDua or Mexde, Rationale, III, n. 7; Rupert, De din. offidis, I. x; Mar- t£:ne, De antiquis Monach. rit., IV, 4 sq.; Zaccaria, Onomasticon, 50, 51; B.vUMER-BlRON. Histoire du Briviaire, I (Paris, 1905). 74 Bq., 78, 99, 263, 338-361, etc.
F. Cabrol.
Noe [Heb. nj (Noah), "rest"; Gr. Nwe; Lat. Noc], the ninth patriarch of the Sethite line, grandson of i\lathusala and son of Jjamech, who with his family was saved from the Deluge and thus became the sec- ond father of the human race (Gen., v, 2.5 — ix, 29). The name Noah was given to him because of his fa- ther's expectation regarding him. " This same", said Lamech on naming him, "shall comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on [or more correctly "from", i. e. which come from] the earth, which the Lord hath cursed." Most commentators consider Lamech's words as the expression of a hope, or as a prophecy, that the child would in some way be instru- mental in removing the curse pronounced against Adam (Gen., iii, 17 sqq.). Others rather fancifully Bee in them a reference to Noe's future discovery of wine, which cheers the heart of man; whilst others again, with greater probability, take them as ex- pressing merely a natural hope on the part of Lamech that his son would become the support and comfort of his parents, and enable them to enjoy rest and peace in their later years. Amid the general corruption which resulted from the marriages of "the sons of God" with "the daughters of men" (Gen., vi, 2 sqq.), that is of the Sethites with Cainite women, "Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations" and "walked with God" (vi, 9). Hence, when God de- creed to destroy men from the face of the earth, he "found grace before the Lord". According to the common interpretation of Gen., vi, 3, Noe first re- ceived divine warning of the impending destruction one hundred and twenty years before it occurred, and therefore when he was four hundred and eighty years old (cf. vii, 11); he does not seem, however, to have received at this time any details as to the nature of the catastrophe. After he reached the age of five hundred years three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth, were born to him (vi, 10). These had grown to man- hood and had taken wives, when Noe was informed of God's intention to destroy men by a flood, and re- ceived directions to build an ark in which he and his wife, his sons and their wives, and representatives, male and female, of the various kinds of animals and birds, were to be saved fvi, 1.3-21). How long before the Deluge this revelation was imparted to him, it is impossible to say; it can hardly have been more than
, seventy-five years (cf. vii, 11), and probably was con-
siderably less.
Noe had announced the impending judgment anfl had exhorted to repentance (II Pet., ii, h), but no heed was given to his words (Matt., xxiv, :{7 sqq.; Luke xvii, 2(), 27; I Pet., iii, 20), and, wIkm the fatal time arrived, no one except Noe's immediate family found refuge in the ark. Seven days before the waters began to cover the earth, Noe was commanded to enter the ark with his wife, his three sons and their wives, and to take with him seven pairs of all clean, and two pairs of all unclean animals and birds (vii, 1-4). It has been objected that, even though the most liberal value is allowed for the cubit, the ark would have been too small to lodge at least two pairs of every species of animal and bird. But there can be no difficulty if, as is now generally admitted, the Deluge was not geographically universal (see Deluge; Ark). After leaving the ark Noe built an altar, and taking of all clean animals and birds, offered holo- causts upon it. God accepted the sacrifice, and made a covenant with Noe, and through him with all man- kind, that He would not waste the earth or destroy man by another deluge. The rainbow would for all times be a sign and a reminder of this covenant. He further renewed the blessing which He had pro- nounced on Adam (Gen., i, 28), and confirmed the dominion over animals which He had granted to man. In virtue of this dominion man may use animals for food, but the flesh may not be eaten with the bloorl (viii, 20-ix, 17). Noe now gave himself to agricul- ture, and planted a vineyard. Being unacquainted with the effects of fermented grape-juice, he drank of it too freely and was made drunk. Cham found his father lying naked in his tent, and made a jest of his condition before his brothers; these reverentlj' covered him with a mantle. On hearing of the oc- currence Noe cursed Chanaan, as Cham's heir, and blessed Sem and Japheth. He lived three hundred and fifty years after the Deluge, and died at the age of nine hundred and fifty years (ix, 20-29). In the later books of Scripture Noe is represented as the model of the just man (Ecclus., xliv, 17; Ezech., xiv, 14, 20), and as an exemplar of faith (Heb., xi, 7). In the Fathers and tradition he is considered as the type and figure of the Saviour, because through him the human race was saved from destruction and recon- ciled with God (Ecclus., xUv, 17, 18). Moreover, as he built the ark, the only means of salvation from the Deluge, so Christ established the Church, the only means of salvation in the spiritual order.
The Babylonian account of the Deluge in many points closely resembles that of the Bible. Four cune- iform recensions of it have been discovered, of which, however, three are only short fragments. The com- plete story is found in the Gilgamesh epic (Tablet xi) discovered by G. Smith among the ruins of the library of Assurbanipal in 1872. Another version is given by Berosus. In the Gilgamesh poem the hero of the story is Ut-napishtim (or §it-napishti, as some read it), surnamed Atra-hasis "the very clever"; in two of the fragments he is simply styled Atra-hasis, which name is also found in Berosus under the Greek form Xisuthros. The story in brief is as follows: A council of the gods having decreed to destroy men by a flood, the god Ea warns Ut-napishtim, and bids him buihl a ship in which to save himself and the seed of all kinds of life. Ut-napishtim builds the ship (of which, according to one version, Ea traces the plan on the ground), and places in it his family, his dependents, artisans, and domestic as well as wild animals, after which he shuts the door. The storm lasts six days; on the seventh the flood begins to subside. The ship steered by the helmsman Puzur-Bel lands on Mf. Ni§ir. After seven days Ut-napishtim sends forth a dove and a swallow, which, finding no resting-place for their feet return to the ark, and then a raven, which
