Who is…
Noah
also known as: Noe and Noa
Hebrew: נֹ֫חַ —transliteration: Noah or Noach —meaning: rest
Greek: Νῶε —transliteration: Nóe
Noah is the name of a biblical man and a woman.
Noah, a major patriarch
Major patriarch of all peoples, Godly man of two different worlds, a savior of animals and mankind
By God’s plan, he survived the worldwide catastrophic judgment of God on mankind’s evil.
Noah built the ark with his 3 sons. He was the grandson of Methuselah (Genesis 5:25-29)—who was for 250 years contemporary with Adam. Noah was the son of Lamech, who was about 50 years old at the time of Adam’s death.
Noah is rightly regarded as the connecting link between the Adam’s prediluvian world and the post-Flood world. He is the second great progenitor of the human family. He lived 950 years, more than half of them in the prediluvian world.
The words of his father Lamech at his birth (Genesis 5:29) have been regarded as in a sense prophetical, designating Noah as a type of Him who is the true “rest and comfort” of men under the burden of life (Matt.11:28).
He lived 500 years, and then there were born unto him 3 sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Genesis 5:32). He was a “just man and perfect in his generation,” and “walked with God” (compare Ezek. 14:14, 20).
But now the descendants of Cain and of Seth began to intermarry, and then there sprang up a race distinguished for their ungodliness. Men became more and more corrupt, and God determined to sweep the Earth of its wicked population (Genesis 6:7). But with Noah, God entered into a covenant, with a promise of deliverance from the threatened deluge (18).
God commanded Noah to to build an ark (6:14-16) for the saving of himself and his family, and breeding pairs of all air-breathing land animals. An interval of 120 years elapsed while the ark was being built (6:3), during which Noah bore constant testimony against the unbelief and wickedness of that generation (1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:5).
When the ark of “gopher” wood (mentioned only here) was at length completed, according to the command of the Lord, the living creatures that were to be preserved were sent by God to the ark and entered into it. Then Noah and his wife and sons and daughters-in-law entered it, and the “Lord shut him in” (Gen.7:16).
The judgment threatened now fell on the guilty world, “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished” (2 Peter 3:6). The ark floated on the waters for 150 days, and then rested on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:3-4), but not for a considerable time after this was divine permission given him to leave the ark. He and his family were shut up within it for more than a whole year (Genesis 6-14).
On leaving the ark, Noah’s first act was to erect an altar, the first of which there is any mention, and offer the sacrifices of adoring thanks and praise to God, who entered into a covenant with him, 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 (Genesis 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 never again would the Earth be destroyed by a flood.
But, alas! Noah after this fell into sin (Genesis 9:21), and the conduct of Ham on this sad occasion led to the memorable prediction regarding his 3 sons and their descendants.
Noah “lived after the flood 350 years, and he died” at 950 years old (Gen. 9:28-29). (See DELUGE).
Lineage, from Creation to Noah
God → ADAM → Seth → Enos → Cainan → Mahalaleel → Jared → Enoch → Methuselah → Lamech → NOAH
Relatives of the man Noah
- Grandfather: Methuselah, a descendant of Adam’s son Seth
- Father: Lamech, son of Methuselah
- Mother: not named
- Brothers: not named or numbered in the Bible
- Sisters: not named or numbered
- Wife:
Who was Mrs. Noah? What was she like? Learn about this rarely mentioned, but important woman. - Sons: Shem, Ham, Japheth (any other sons—either pre-Flood or post—remain unnamed and unnumbered)
- Daughters: not named or numbered
- Daughter-in-laws: not named, but we know there were at least 3 / The early Christian writer Hippolytus of Rome (called Saint Hippolytus by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church — died 235 AD) reported that according to the Syriac Targum (an ancient Aramaic translation of the Old Testament with notes, paraphrases and explanations), “The names of the wives of the sons of Noah are these: the name of the wife of Sem [Shem], Nahalath Mahnuk; and the name of the wife of Cham [Ham], Zedkat Nabu; and the name of the wife of Japheth, Arathka.” However, this is not necessarily a reliable source.
- Grandsons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras, Cush, Mizraim, Put (Phut), Canaan, Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, Aram (Genesis 10:1-22)
- Notable descendants: Nimrod (Noah’s great-great grandson), King David, Jesus Christ
Dispersion of Noah’s descendants, from the plain of Shinar
This was caused by the confusion of tongues at Babel (Genesis 11:9). They were scattered abroad “every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations” (Genesis 10:5, 20, 31).
The tenth chapter of Genesis gives us an account of the principal nations of the Earth in their migrations from the plain of Shinar, which was their common residence after the Flood. In general, it may be said that the descendants of Japheth were scattered over the north, those of Shem over the central regions, and those of Ham over the extreme south.
JAPHETH (Japhetites) • Gomer Gomerites: Galatians (Anatolian Galatia) Cappadocians Cimmerians/Gimmerai (southern Russia) Armenians Celts Gauls • Magog Caucasians Scythians • Madai Medes Persian tribes • Javan Javanites: • Elishah Greeks • Tarshish Etruscans Romans • Chittim Cyprians Macedonians • Dodanim Rhodians • Tubal Tibareni Tartars • Meshech Moschi Muscovites • Tiras Thracians SHEM (Semites) • Elam Elamites Persian tribes • Asshur Assyrians • Arpakshad
Arpakshad → Shelah → EBER (founder of the Hebrews) → Peleg → Reu → Serug → Nahor → Terah → ABRAHAM (Abram)• Isaac • Jacob (aka Israel) Israelites • Esau (aka Edom) Edomites • Ishmael Ishmaelites mingled with Arab tribes • Lud Lydians • Aram (A-ram) Arameans HAM (Hamites) • Cush Cushites Ethiopans Sons: • Seba • Havilah • Sabtah • Raamah • Sabtecha • Nimrod • Mizraim (Mizrain) Egyptians Lybians Mauritanians • Canaan Canaanites Phoenicians-
The woman Noah
Hebrew: נֹעָה —transliteration: Noah
Meaning: movement; moving
She was an Israelite woman of Manasseh, one of the 5 daughters of Zelophehad (Num.26:33; 27:1; 36:11; Joshua 17:3).
More information
- patriarch
- ark
- Deluge/Flood
- Frequently asked questions about the Biblical Flood catastrophe
- What are judgments of God in the Bible?
- What is the justice of God?
- rainbow
- covenant
- rainbow coloring page for children