Meaning of NOAH

"rest, tranquility."
Son of Lamech, descendant of Seth (Gen. 5:28-29). Based on the words of Lamech, the name of Noah meant for him both rest and consolation: «This one will relieve us (y'nahamênû) from our works and from the labor of our hands, because of the land that Jehovah cursed. »

Indeed, in Heb. It is common to play games on words and assonances. We are not told anything more about Noah until he reached 500 years of age, and that he had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth (Gen. 5:32).

(a) The preacher of justice.
This is how Peter designates Noah (2 Pet. 2:5). He was righteous, upright, and walked with God, which made him stand in stark contrast to his impious and corrupt generation (Gen. 6:9; cf. 5-6, 11-13). While God's patience lasted (1 Pet. 3:20), Noah preached to his contemporaries in various ways:

(A) By the example of his clean life (cf. Phil. 2:15);

(B) because of his “preaching,” because he clearly warned the men of his generation,

(C) By the building of the ark, possessed of awe, he believed in the outraged holiness of God and in the imminence of the coming judgment (Heb. 11:7). Taking the Word of the Lord seriously, he clung to the only means of salvation for himself and his people. There was plenty of room in the ark for many other people (if they had wanted to enter), as well as for the animals.

It was thus that he "by that faith he condemned the world" demonstrating that the wicked were going to die, not by the waters of the Flood, but by their indifference and disbelief. As for Noah, he became "heir of the righteousness that comes through faith." Indeed, no matter how upright he was he was not without sin (Rom. 3:10, 23, 24) and he was literally saved by faith.

(b) Noah in the ark.
For details and confirmations of the flood account see FLOOD. Noah's behavior during this prolonged period in which his patience and faith are tested is impressive. He was 600 years old when he entered the ark (Gen. 7:6).

He left the door open for seven days and then God Himself closed the door behind him (Gen. 7:4, 7, 10, 16). We do not see in Noah any haste or confusion, he did "according to all that God commanded him" (Gen. 6:22; 7: 5, 9, 16) and his express attitude, the same as his name , rest and tranquility of him. After the long months of the terrible cataclysm, God showed that he remembered Noah (cf. Gen. 8: 1).

In a calm and methodical manner, Noah examined a solution, letting out the raven and up to three times the dove, to factually verify the state of the earth (Gen. 8:6-12); He then opened the cover of the ark (Gen. 8:13). He only left it, however, in obedience to a certain order from God (eight weeks later, neither before nor after) with all his people, and with the animals that had been saved (Gen. 8: 15-19) .

(c) The covenant with Noah.
Immediately, the patriarch erected an altar, offering sacrifices to God. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22), and it is on the basis of sacrifice that Jehovah establishes a covenant with Noah and his descendants (Gen. 8:20; 9:9). The essential points of this pact are:

(A) God promises never again to send a flood of waters over the entire earth; the days, the seasons, and the crops will last as long as the earth (Gen. 8:21-22; 9:11, 15). However, one day the heavens and the earth will be destroyed by fire (2 Pet. 3:6-7, 10, 12).

(B) As with Adam in the past (Gen. 1:28), Noah and his children were commanded to be fruitful and to multiply and fill the earth (Gen. 9:1, 7).

(C) God gave the animals into their hands, and granted them meat as food, while Adam, before his fall, was a vegetarian (Gen. 9: 2-3; 1:29).

(D) There is a general prohibition on eating blood (Gen. 9:4; cf. Lev. 17:10-11).

(E) Human life is protected against animals and men themselves (Gen. 9:5-6). This text institutes the death penalty for the first time in the OT (cf. Lev. 24:17, etc.; for the NT, cf. Ro. 13:4).

(F) The rainbow is given as a sign of this perpetual covenant (Gen. 9:12-17).

(d) Noah's drunkenness.
Noah tilled the land and planted a vineyard, being surprised by the intoxicating effect of the wine. Shem and Japheth behaved towards his father with filial respect.

But Ham behaved with an unseemly attitude, which aroused the anger of Noah, and which brought upon Canaan, son of Ham, a prophetic curse (Gen. 9:20-27; cf. Ex. 20:5-6). For a consideration of this curse, and why Noah cursed Canaan instead of Ham.