|
Noah's ark toy
The Noah's ark was the most wonderful thing that Laura had ever seen. They all knelt down and squealed and laughed over it. There were zebras and elephants and tigers and horses; all kinds of animals, just as if the picture had come out of the paper-covered Bible at home. -On the Banks of Plum Creek, Chapter 22, "Town Party"
The Noah's ark toy has always been popular; or, as an 1868 book put it, "immortal" - even though the pieces were not in proportion to each other and they were frequently swallowed! – E. Littell's Living Age. Boston: Littell and Gay, 1868, page 633. Many families kept the Noah's ark as a "Sunday toy" and they were rarely played with. This may be one reason why antique Noah's ark toys can sometimes be found in excellent condition.
Antique Noah's ark toys.
|
|
 The Flood and History of Noah
The following is from Mary Bradford's The Bible Opened for Children, published in 1866 by Cassell, Peter, and Galpin, in London. As a child's story of the story of Noah and the ark, it is typical of the stories published when Laura Ingalls was a small child.
I am sure you have often seen the pretty rainbow in the sky, dear children, with its soft colors, and you would, I dare-say, like to know why God placed it there.
After Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden of Eden, the earth became more thickly peopled; that is, there were more men and women in it; and these people were very wicked, so wicked that after some time God determined to destroy them all by a great flood, which washed every living thing and everybody from off the earth, except one good man, whose name was Noah, who was saved from the flood in the following way. God told him to build a house, which should be like a boat at the
bottom, and into this house Noah took his wife, and his sons and daughters, and two of every animal and bird; and your little toy, called "Noah's ark," with its contents, is in imitation of the house Noah lived in when the earth was all covered with water. The high hills also were covered with water, and every living thing that was not in the ark died.
At length God caused all the water to go back from all the earth. It went away very slowly; Noah let a dove fly out of the ark when he saw that the water was going away; but the little dove flew round and round, and then came back again, for she could not find a green tree to perch on, or anywhere to rest her little feet. Noah waited seven days more, and then he let the dove fly again; and in the evening she came back with a green leaf in her beak, and that showed Noah the waters
were subsiding, and that he would soon be able to leave the ark. And when he did so they must all have been very glad to be able to walk about again; and the animals must have been very glad to have some nice green grass to eat once more. God promised that He would never destroy the people off the earth by a flood any more, and as a sign of this promise He made the beautiful rainbow to be seen in the sky when the sun shines after a shower of rain. So, whenever you look at the pretty rainbow, I hope you will remember
why God made it, and think how very wicked the people must have been to make God so very angry as to destroy them all. Now for the questions, if you wish to ask any.
Henry. Yes, Mama, I want to know where Noah put all the animals in the ark. Was the great elephant in there?
Mama. Yes, my love, the great elephant and the little mouse, and even the little fly and the busy bee, were in the ark. This we are very sure of, because the Bible tells us that two of every living thing went in. What became of them all while in the ark, I cannot tell you; but I think it is very likely that God, who is able to do with everything just as He likes, made the great beasts tame for a time, and content to stay quietly in the ark until Noah let them out.
Charles. Thank you, dear Mama; I am very glad to know why the pretty rainbow is in the sky, and now I know why you say when we are waiting to go out on a rainy day, "Oh, it will be fine now, for there is a rainbow."
Mama. Yes, the storm generally clears away when the rainbow comes.
|
The Story of Noah and the Flood - from the King James Bible
Genesis 6
|
| 1 |
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on
the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
|
|
2
|
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that
they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they
chose.
|
| 3 |
And the LORD said, My Spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days
shall be a hundred and twenty years.
|
| 4 |
There were giants in the earth in those days; and
also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and
they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which
were of old, men of renown.
|
| 5 |
And GOD saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
|
| 6 |
And it repented the LORD that he
had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
|
| 7 |
And the LORD said, I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast,
and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I
have made them.
|
| 8 |
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. |
| 9 |
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was
a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with
God.
|
| 10 |
And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
|
| 11 |
The earth also was corrupt before God; and the
earth was filled with violence.
|
| 12 |
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
|
| 13 |
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come
before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I
will destroy them with the earth.
|
| 14 |
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou
make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
|
| 15 |
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make
it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the
breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
|
| 16 |
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit
shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side
thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make
it.
|
| 17 |
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters
upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from
under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall
die.
|
| 18 |
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou
shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives
with thee.
|
| 19 |
And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every
sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee;
they shall be male and female.
|
| 20 |
Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their
kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind; two of every
sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
|
| 21 |
And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten,
and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and
for them.
|
| 22 |
Thus did Noah according to all that God
commanded him, so did he.
|
|
Genesis 7
|
|
1
|
And the LORD said unto Noah,
Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before
me in this generation.
|
|
2
|
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by
sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two,
the male and his female.
|
|
3
|
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the
female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
|
|
4
|
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon
the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have
made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
|
|
5
|
And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
|
|
6
|
And Noah was six hundred years old when the
flood of waters was upon the earth.
|
|
7
|
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his
sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the
flood.
|
|
8
|
Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not
clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the
earth,
|
|
9
|
there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the
male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
|
|
10
|
And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters
of the flood were upon the earth.
|
|
11
|
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the
second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the
fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
|
|
12
|
And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty
nights.
|
|
13
|
In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham,
and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons
with them, into the ark;
|
|
14
|
they, and every beast after his kind, and all the
cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth
after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every
sort.
|
|
15
|
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two
of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
|
|
16
|
And they that went in, went in male and female of all
flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him
in.
|
|
17
|
And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and
the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the
earth.
|
|
18
|
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly
upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
|
|
19
|
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth;
and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were
covered.
|
|
20
|
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the
mountains were covered.
|
|
21
|
And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of
fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth, and every man:
|
|
22
|
all in whose nostrils was the breath of life,
of all that was in the dry land, died.
|
|
23
|
And every living substance was destroyed which was
upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and
the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only
remained alive, and they that were with him in the
ark.
|
|
24
|
And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and
fifty days.
|
|
1
|
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and
all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass
over the earth, and the waters assuaged.
|
|
2
|
The fountains also of the deep and the windows of
heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
|
|
3
|
And the waters returned from off the earth
continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were
abated.
|
|
4
|
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ar'arat.
|
|
5
|
And the waters decreased continually until the tenth
month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the
tops of the mountains seen.
|
|
6
|
And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that
Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
|
|
7
|
and he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and
fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
|
|
8
|
Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the
waters were abated from off the face of the ground.
|
|
9
|
But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot,
and she returned unto him into the ark; for the waters were on the face
of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in
unto him into the ark.
|
|
10
|
And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent
forth the dove out of the ark.
|
|
11
|
And the dove came in to him in the evening, and, lo,
in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters
were abated from off the earth.
|
|
12
|
And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth
the dove, which returned not again unto him any more.
|
|
13
|
And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first
year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters
were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and
looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
|
|
14
|
And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth
day of the month, was the earth dried.
|
|
15
|
And God spake unto Noah, saying,
|
|
16
|
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy
sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
|
|
17
|
Bring forth with thee every living thing that
is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed
abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the
earth.
|
|
18
|
And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and
his sons' wives with him:
|
|
19
|
every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl,
and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out
of the ark.
|
|
20
|
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and
offered burnt offerings on the altar.
|
|
21
|
And the LORD smelled a sweet
savor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again
curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart
is evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing
living, as I have done.
|
|
22
|
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and
cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
|
|
Genesis 9
|
|
1
|
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
|
|
2
|
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be
upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that
moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand
are they delivered.
|
|
3
|
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you;
even as the green herb have I given you all things.
|
|
4
|
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the
blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
|
|
5
|
And surely your blood of your lives will I require:
at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the
hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
|
|
6
|
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed:
for in the image of God made he man.
|
|
7
|
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly
in the earth, and multiply therein.
|
|
8
|
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him,
saying,
|
|
9
|
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and
with your seed after you;
|
|
10
|
and with every living creature that is with
you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from
all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
|
|
11
|
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither
shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall
there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
|
|
12
|
And God said, This is the token of the
covenant which I make between me and you, and every living creature that
is with you, for perpetual generations:
|
|
13
|
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a
token of a covenant between me and the earth.
|
|
14
|
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over
the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
|
|
15
|
and I will remember my covenant, which is
between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall
no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
|
|
16
|
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look
upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every
living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
|
|
17
|
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of
the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is
upon the earth.
|
|
18
|
And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark,
were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of
Canaan.
|
|
19
|
These are the three sons of Noah: and of them
was the whole earth overspread.
|
|
20
|
And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he
planted a vineyard:
|
|
21
|
and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was
uncovered within his tent.
|
|
22
|
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of
his father, and told his two brethren without.
|
|
23
|
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid
it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the
nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw
not their father's nakedness.
|
|
24
|
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his
younger son had done unto him.
|
|
25
|
And he said,
|
|
|
Cursed be Canaan;
|
|
a servant of servants shall he be unto his
brethren.
|
|
|
|
26
|
And he said,
|
|
|
Blessed be the LORD God of Shem;
|
|
and Canaan shall be his
servant.
|
|
|
|
27
|
God shall enlarge Japheth,
|
|
|
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem;
|
|
and Canaan shall be his
servant.
|
|
|
|
28
|
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and
fifty years.
|
|
29
|
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty
years: and he died.
|
|
Noah's ark toy (BPC 22), see also elephant, tiger, zebra
|
