Noach - Genesis 6:9-11:32

Apologetics, the field that, among other things, makes up reasons why a character (or Character) in the Bible was perfect, has a lot to say about Noah (aka “Noach”).

When mentioning the genocide, they say that they wouldn’t listen to Noah (even though there’s no mention of him speaking to anyone but his family, or God). They say that people would have noticed him building a large ark, even though it never mentions that he had neighbors or cared enough to live near others. They say that it took years to build the ark, even though the language is one of immediacy, and no time period is mentioned.

When it comes to the Noah story, there are a lot of stories added to make him appear better than he was and, amazingly enough, most of them are Christian.

The Jewish commentators hold a different view: Noah was a jerk. Yeah, he was called righteous, but that was only when comparing him to the purely evil people of his generation. If compared to post-flood people, he wasn’t such a good guy.

Let’s look at the story.

Noah is somewhere between 500 and 600 years old when God gives him His mission. Noah doesn’t try to talk Him out of it. He doesn’t seek out others to warn them. He seems to not really care about anyone other than his own circle. And at the end of the story, he strips down naked, gets drunk, and passes out.

That’s not a great description of a righteous person.

Here are a few commentaries on his character:

Although Noah was righteous, he was not worthy of the Holy One, blessed be He, protect the world on his merit….and he was afraid that he would die with the wicked. Come and see the difference between Moses and others. When the Holy One, Blessed be He, told Moses, “Now let me alone…that I may consume them, and I will make you [another] great nation” (Exodus 32:10), Moses said, “Shall I abandon Israel’s cause for my personal benefit?!” But when the Holy One, Blessed be He, told Noah that He would save him in the ark, [Noah] did not pray for the people of the world, and they perished. – Zohar 1:67b-1:68a

“Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:9). There are those among our Rabbis who expound this word of ‘praise’ as, “If he had been in a generation of righteous people he would have been even more righteous”. And there are those who expound is as deprecation, “According to his [evil] generation, he was righteous, but if he had been in the generation of Abraham he would not have been considered anything.” – Rashi.

There are a lot more of these. But they all address certain questions:

1. Why was Abraham chosen to get the title of a “Father of Nations” and not Noah?
2. Why didn’t Noah argue with God?
3. The name Noah seems contrary to his actual nature. Was he selfish?
4. How could Noah have such a character flaw at the end of his story?

So in summary, Noah is considered by some to have been righteous “because the Bible says so”, but when reading what type of person he actually was, I tend to go with the other view, which is…

…Noah was a jerk!