📖 Biblical Definition
Noah was the tenth from Adam (Gen 5:29-32), son of Lamech, grandson of Methuselah. Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Gen 6:8). God commanded him to build an ark to preserve himself, his family, and breeding pairs of all clean and unclean animals through a coming flood. Noah built it (taking some 120 years), preached righteousness while building (2 Pet 2:5), entered the ark with seven family members and the animals, survived the Flood (~7 weeks aboard plus a year afterward), and disembarked to rebuild humanity. The Noahic Covenant follows.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Preserver of humanity through the Flood; son of Lamech; ancestor of all post-Flood humanity.
expand to see more
Genesis 6-9 dedicates four chapters to him. Found grace; built the ark; preserved his family; offered post-Flood sacrifice; received covenant; planted vineyard; was shamed by Ham; lived 350 years after the Flood.
New Testament: 1 Pet 3:20 (eight souls saved by water, antitype of baptism); 2 Pet 2:5 (preacher of righteousness); Heb 11:7 (faith's ark-building); Mt 24:37-39 (Christ frames His coming as ‘as the days of Noah’).
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 6:8 — "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."
Genesis 6:22 — "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he."
Hebrews 11:7 — "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house."
Matthew 24:37 — "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often domesticates Noah into a children's-Bible figure; the Genesis text is sober, Hebrews calls it faith working under fear of God, and Christ uses Noah's days as the type of His own coming.
expand to see more
Genesis 6:8 is striking: but Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. The narrative is otherwise unrelieved corruption (every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually). One man, one family, one act of grace held humanity's line open.
Christ's framing in Matthew 24 is sober: as the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of man be. People eating, drinking, marrying — ordinary life until the day Noah entered the ark. The household's vigilance is calibrated by this comparison.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew Noach; rest.
expand to see more
Hebrew Noach — rest, comfort; from the verb nuach, to rest.
Note: Lamech named him so saying this same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands (Gen 5:29) — the curse on the ground.
Usage
"Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."
"By faith, moved with fear, prepared an ark."
"As the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of man be."