Noah

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NOAH

NOAH , son of Lamech and father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, according to the Hebrew scriptures (Gn. 5:29–30, 6:10); chosen by God to be saved from the universal flood that destroyed the earth. Plausibly, this story has ancient Mesopotamian roots, as do many other features of the biblical flood traditions. But while ancient Sumerian tradition and its reflexes refer to a hero who attained immortality after the flood, biblical tradition speaks of the mortality of Noah.

As one born in the tenth generation after Adam, Noah is clearly linked to Adam. Indeed, his position as an Adam redivivus is more expressly indicated in the popular etymology of his name in Genesis 5:29, which regards him as the one who "will comfort us from our labor and the travail of our hands, out of the earth which Yahveh has cursed," a thematic and verbal allusion (and, indeed, a hoped-for end) to the divine curses announced in Genesis 3:17. Moreover, after the flood Noah and his sons are given the same blessing and earthly stewardship as was Adam, with the singular exception that now flesh is permitted as food, whereas Adam was a vegetarian (Gn. 9:1–7, 1:28–30). In the postdiluvian world, Noah also goes beyond his ancestor Adam insofar as he is considered a man of domesticated labor—a vintner (Gn. 9:19). Later biblical tradition remembered Noah as the hero of the flood (Is. 54:9) and as one of the three most "righteous" men of antiquity (Ez. 14:14, 14:20). In this latter attribution, there is an obvious link to the statement in Genesis 6:9 that "Noah was a righteous man; perfect in his generation."

In the Midrash and aggadah, rabbis developed the traditions of Noah's righteousness, emphasizing, on the one hand, both his fellow feelings and his concern that his generation repent of their sins (a tradition also found in the church fathers) and, on the other hand, his concern for all animals and species of life. A more jaundiced note is sounded by both the rabbinic view that Noah merely excelled in his own generation, which was very evil, but was not himself of exemplary righteousness (Gn. Rab. 30.9) and the later Hasidic comment of Yaʿaqov Yosef of Polonnoye that Noah was a self-centered tsaddiq, or righteous leader, since he did not seek the spiritual-social transformation of the entire people.

In Christianity, Noah served as one of the most important typological figures insofar as he symbolized the just person who, in a sinful world, submitted in faith to God (cf. Heb. 11:7, Lk. 17:26, 1 Pt. 3:20, 2 Pt. 2:5). The flood, ark, and dove prominent in the biblical story also serve as Christian prefigurations, for just as Noah rises above death by water, so Jesus and the Christians defeat Satan and death by the waters of baptism (1 Pt. 3:18–21). In other traditions, Noah prefigures Jesus as one who announces judgment and saves humanity from complete destruction, and his ark symbolizes the church. The dove sent forth by Noah comes to symbolize the Holy Spirit of peace and divine reconciliation moving over the baptismal waters. In Muslim tradition, Noah (Arab., Nuh) also plays a strong role: an entire sūrah of the Qurʾān (17) is devoted to him, and Muḥammed considered Noah's life as prototypical of his own.

Bibliography

Allen, D. C. Legend of Noah: Renaissance Rationalism. Urbana, Ill., 1949.

Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews (1909–1938). 7 vols. Translated by Henrietta Szold et al. Reprint, Philadelphia, 1937–1966. See the index, s.v. Noah.

Sarna, Nahum M. Understanding Genesis. New York, 1972.

Speiser, E. A. Genesis. Anchor Bible, vol. 1. Garden City, N.Y., 1964.