📖 Biblical Definition
Noah was the tenth generation from Adam, a righteous man who "walked with God" in an age of universal corruption (Genesis 6:9). God determined to destroy the world with a flood because of the wickedness of mankind, but Noah "found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (Genesis 6:8). He was commanded to build an ark for the preservation of his family and the animal kinds, and he obeyed — spending decades constructing the vessel while preaching righteousness to a mocking world (2 Peter 2:5). The flood is a type of God's final judgment, and the ark is a type of Christ — the only refuge from the wrath to come. As only those inside the ark were saved from the waters of judgment, so only those in Christ are saved from the wrath of God. After the flood, God established the Noahic covenant, promising never again to destroy the earth with water and setting the rainbow as its sign. Noah is listed in the "hall of faith" — "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household" (Hebrews 11:7).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The patriarch who built the ark and preserved mankind and the animal kinds through the flood.
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NO'AH, n. [Heb. נח, rest.] The son of Lamech, the tenth from Adam in the line of Seth. A preacher of righteousness who, at God's command, built the ark in which he and his family were preserved during the deluge. After the flood, God established a covenant with Noah, setting the rainbow as its perpetual sign.
📖 Key Scripture
• Genesis 6:8-9 — "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God."
• Genesis 9:11-13 — "I establish my covenant with you... I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant."
• Hebrews 11:7 — "By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark."
• 1 Peter 3:20-21 — "In the days of Noah... eight persons were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you."
• Matthew 24:37-39 — "For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Noah is reduced to a children's story about animals on a boat, stripped of judgment theology.
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The account of Noah has been sanitized into a cheerful nursery decoration — cute animals, a rainbow, a friendly boat. This is perhaps the most grotesque trivialization in all of Scripture. The flood narrative is about the holy wrath of God against sin so severe that He destroyed every living thing on earth save eight souls. It is a preview of the final judgment. The ark is not a zoo — it is a type of Christ, the only salvation from divine wrath. The rainbow is not a symbol of human diversity or tolerance — it is the sign of God's covenant mercy restraining His judgment. Hollywood treatments (like the 2014 film) reimagine Noah as an environmentalist or a conflicted anti-hero, stripping the narrative of its theological core: that God judges sin, that salvation comes through faith and obedience, and that there is only one ark.
Usage
• "The ark of Noah is a type of Christ — the only refuge from the flood of divine judgment against sin."
• "Noah preached righteousness for decades while building the ark, and the world mocked him until the rain fell — just as they will mock until Christ returns."
• "The rainbow is not a symbol of human pride; it is the sign of God's covenant restraint — His promise that the next judgment will come by fire, not water."