Noah

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This article is about the biblical Noah. For the Book of Mormon king, see King Noah.

Noah or Nóach ("Rest," Standard Hebrew נוֹחַ Nóaḥ, Tiberian Hebrew נֹחַ Nōªḥ; Arabic نوح Nūḥ), is a Biblical figure who according to Genesis built an ark to save his family and a selection of the world's animals from the Deluge (an example of divine retribution). The story of his life is told in the Book of Genesis and the Qur'an.

1 Life of Noah
2 Interpretive Differences
3 Popular culture
4 See also
5 External links and references

Life of Noah

According to the account in Genesis, Noah was the son of Lamech and the grandson of Methuselah. He lived five hundred years, and then he and his wife had three sons, Japheth, Sem or Shem, and Ham. The order can be deduced from the Genesis record: Noah was 500 when the first son, Japheth, was born (Genesis 5:32), 600 when the Flood came, so there are 100 years between these events. Note that Shem was two years younger—he had Arphaxad 2 years after the Flood, when he was 100 (Genesis 11:10). Therefore Shem was only 98 when the Flood came. Ham is stated to be the youngest (Genesis 9:24). (See Sons of Noah for further discussion).

Noah's wife is not named in the western canon of the Bible; according to the Book of Jubilees (canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) her name was Emzara. Later Midrashic writings give her name as Naamah, also employed by the Book of Jasher.

According to Genesis, Noah was a "just man and perfect in his generation", and "walked with God" (cf. Ezekiel 14:14,20). The "sons of god" (Hebrew elohim) and "the daughters of men" began to intermarry, and from them sprang up a race of giants. Men became more and more corrupt, and God determined to sweep the Earth of its wicked population (Gen. 6:7). But God entered into a covenant with Noah, with a promise of deliverance from the threatened deluge (Gen. 6:18). He was accordingly commanded to build an ark (6:14-16) to save himself and his family. According to Christian interpretations of Genesis, preserved in the First Epistle of Peter 3:18–20 and the Second Epistle of Peter 2:5, an interval of one hundred and twenty years elapsed while the ark was being built (6:3), during which Noah tried to convince the people to repent so they could avoid the wrath of God.

When the ark of "gopher-wood" (a Biblical hapax legomenon) was at length completed, the living creatures that were to be preserved entered into it; and then Noah, his wife, sons, and daughters-in-law entered it, and the "Lord shut him in" (Gen. 7:16). The judgment of God then fell on the guilty world:

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. And the LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them". (Gen 6:5-7)
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. (Gen 6:11-13)
For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. (2 Peter 3:5-6)

The ark floated on the waters for one hundred and fifty days, and then rested on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:3,4). They were in the ark for a whole year (Gen. 6:13) as the waters resided, after which time Noah given permission to leave the ark (Gen. 6:16-17).

On leaving the ark Noah's first act was to erect an altar (the first altar mentioned in the Bible) and offer sacrifices of thanks and praise to God. God entered into a covenant with Noah, the first covenant between God and man, granting him possession of the earth by a new and special charter, which remains in force to the present time (Gen. 8:21-9:17). As a sign and witness of this covenant, the rainbow was adopted and set apart by God, as a sure pledge that the earth would never again be destroyed by a flood.

Genesis 9:20-27 relates that Noah planted a grapevine and, in the first mention of alcohol in the Bible, we are told that Noah drank of the wine, became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent (Gen. 9:21). Ham "saw his father's nakedness"—opinions differ on just what this means—and told his brothers about it. Ham's older brothers, Japheth and Shem, covered Noah's body with a garment, respectfully walking backwards and turning their faces (Gen. 9:23). When he awoke, Noah foretold Canaan and his descendants' cursed future.

Logically, in this account, Noah is the ancestor of all human beings. The New Testament's gospels trace Jesus's ancestry, though they are not fully consistent with each other or with the Old Testament; Luke follows the geneology back to Noah (Luke 3:36: "... the [son] of Arphaxad, the [son] of Shem, the [son] of Noah, the [son] of Lamech"). William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part II contains a wry comment about people who claim to be related to royal families. Prince Hal notes of such people,

...they will be kin to us, or they will fetch it from Japhet. (II.ii 117-18)

Genesis 10:5 was often interpreted to say that the peoples of Europe were descended from Japheth. Clearly, then, any two Englishmen must have at least this one ancestor in common, and thus any individual could claim kinship with the king.

Interpretive Differences

Christian

Noah is pointed to as someone who has absolute faith in God. Jesus referred to Noah as a real person and the Deluge as a historical event. He pointed to this being a forerunner of the salvation of man.

"For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah" (Matt 24:37 NASB)
"For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark" (Matt 24:38 NASB)
"And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man" (Luke 17:26 NASB)
"they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:27 NASB) (Noah and the Deluge were also mentioned in 1 Peter 3:20)

Following New Testament Scripture, Hebrews and the Second Epistle of Peter, most Christians accept the account of Noah as a righteous man, in the same category as Abraham and Jacob.

Hebrew 11:7--By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
2 Peter 2:5--and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly

Jewish

The Jewish tradition, however, gives Noah less credit as to his righteousness. Noah's being "perfect in his generation" implied to some Jewish scholars that his perfection was only relative. Moreover, his late entry into the ark (Gen. 7, 12-16) can be seen as an act of one who is of little faith. Later commentaries find two degrees of righteousness, which they demonstrate as a metaphor for a man who is cold: the fully righteous person would set up a fire - that is, help the others. A person who is not absolutely righteous would only get himself a coat - and be warm while others are cold, just like Noah was safe while all other men besides his family died. Noah's actions are contrasted with those of Abraham, who, upon hearing of the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, intervened on behalf of its inhabitants. According to medieval Jewish traditions the pre-Mosaic Noahide Laws established by Noah after the flood are binding on non-Jews, and serve to distinguish righteous gentile faiths from corrupted religious practices.

Islamic

نوح Nūḥ (the Arabic form of Noah) is a prophet in the Qur'an.

Because the Qur'an is more poem than prose, references to him are scattered throughout the Qur'an, but no historical account of the entire flood is given. Generally speaking, the references in the Qur'an are consistent with Genesis and Islamic tradition generally accepts the Genesis account as historical. However, the degree of detail varies between the two accounts.

Generally, the Qur'anic account emphasizes Noah's preaching of the monotheism of God, and the ridicule heaped on him by idolators.

Particularly:

We sent Nuh to his people: He said, “O my people! worship Allah! Ye have no other god but Him. Will ye not fear (Him)?”

The chiefs of the Unbelievers among his people said: “He is no more than a man like yourselves: his wish is to assert his superiority over you: if Allah had wished (to send messengers), He could have sent down angels; never did we hear such a thing (as he says), among our ancestors of old.”

(And some said): “He is only a man possessed: wait (and have patience) with him for a time.”

(Nuh) said: “O my Lord! help me: for that they accuse me of falsehood!”

God later instructed Nuh to build the ark:

But construct an Ark under Our eyes and Our inspiration, and address Me no (further) on behalf of those who are in sin: for they are about to be overwhelmed (in the Flood). (Surah Hud: 37) (Surat al-Mumenoon: 23-26)

The Qur'anic account contains a detail not included in the Biblical account, a reference to another son who chose not to enter the ark:

So the Ark floated with them on the waves (towering) like mountains, and Nuh called out to his son, who had separated himself (from the rest): “O my son! embark with us, and be not with the unbelievers!” The son replied: “I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water.” Nuh said: “This day nothing can save, from the command of Allah, any but those on whom He hath mercy!” And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood. (Surah Hud: 42-43)

Also, the Qur'anic account lacks several details of the Genesis account, including the crime of disrespect by Noah's son Ham in mocking, rather than covering his father's nakedness (Genesis 9:22), and the resultant cursing of his grandson Canaan.

Some Muslims assert that the flood during Noah's time was a local event, in contrast to the Biblical account which asserts that it was global. They infer this from several Qur'anic verses. Other Muslims, however, hold that the flood was indeed global. The Qur'an is not explicit on the point, allowing for some variety of interpretation.

Mormon

Joseph Smith taught that Noah is the same person as the angel Gabriel: "The Priesthood was first given to Adam; ... He is Michael the Archangel, spoken of in the Scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel: he stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 157).

Noah is also the name of a king in the Book of Mormon; see King Noah.

Gnostic

The Apocryphon of John reports that the chief archon caused the flood because he desired to destroy the world he had made, but the First Thought informed Noah of the chief archon's plans, and Noah informed the remainder of humanity. Unlike the account of Genesis, not only are Noah's family saved, but many others also heed Noah's call. It explicitly disagrees with the account in Genesis that there was an ark; rather, it reports that Noah and the others hid in a "lumninous cloud" (Wisse translation).

Popular culture

In 1998 a made-for-tv movie entitled Noah was created about a carpenter who is visited by an angel to build another ark so he may survive another world flood

Dr. Walt Brown, a leading scientist on the area of scientific evidence supporting the Bible, has written a book detailing scientific evidence of a massive, global flood, detailed in Genesis. Dr. Brown received his PhD from MIT in mechanical engineering. His book is available both in hardcover, and online at the link below.