Genesis 6:8-10

Genesis 6:8 a

‘But Noah found favour in the eyes of Yahweh. These are the histories of Noah.'

Among all who are committing such evil there is one who, with his close family, has remained pure. He alone of his world is worthy to be spared. And with this sentence the record called ‘these are the histories of Noah' ends.

Genesis 6:9 (6:9b-10)

‘Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God (Elohim). And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.'

The three sons are mentioned here as introduction to ‘the histories of the sons of Noah' (Genesis 10:1).

In Genesis 6:8 we were told that ‘Noah found favour in the eyes of Yahweh'. That was something Noah could have said about himself, a statement of awe at the goodness and mercy of Yahweh. But this verse which exalts Noah must be by a third party. This may well be due to the fact that while the origin of ‘this is the history of Noah' was Noah himself, this further account ‘this is the history of the sons of Noah' was the work of his sons.

They could not, of course, have written them down, for writing had not then been invented, but they passed them on orally because of the covenants contained in them, and when writing was established they would later be written down word for word on tablets as sacred evidence of the covenants, with authorship referred to. The recognition of this is found in the descriptions applied to the tablets. Had the titles been invented the latter tablet would surely have been ascribed to Noah in some way, and not to his sons.

This cannot by its nature be proved, but it certainly does seem reasonable, in the light of what happened with covenants elsewhere, that Noah and his sons should ensure that these important covenants should be passed on together with the historical experiences which resulted in them, remembered with awe. Noah would want his sons, and his son's sons, to be aware of the causes of the Flood and the promise and warning that God had given. The sons would want their descendants to know and remember the Flood, and be aware of God's subsequent covenant which included the guaranteeing of future seasons. Such covenants in the ancient world were always remembered in their historical context. This particular one was probably recited at harvest time to remind them and God of His covenant to maintain the seasons.

Note that the name Noah is mentioned three times, with three different affirmations about him, which declared his righteousness, his walk with God and his fruitfulness in having ‘three' sons, a ‘complete' family. The threefold threeness brings out the ‘perfection' of Noah. To the ancient reader threeness conveys a positive idea of completeness, and in a short space the verses define Noah as complete in every way.

The statements about Noah stress his godliness, in contrast with the ungodliness of his world (Genesis 6:11). They are in three stages, a statement about him - he was righteous - a statement of contrast with his contemporaries - he was blameless in contrast with them - and a statement of his relationship with God - Noah walked with God (compare Enoch - Genesis 5:22).

“Righteous” in this context probably means ‘right with God' because of his faithfulness to God's covenants and promises, and his continuing in cultic purity (compare Genesis 4:26 which suggests the establishment of cultic worship of Jahweh). ‘Blameless' means that he refused to enter into the excesses of his contemporaries, as outlined earlier and mentioned in Genesis 6:11. ‘Walked with God' goes even deeper and stresses his unique relationship with God. He knows God in the deepest sense as an honoured friend and guide, as well as creator and judge. Malachi 2:5 is very apposite in this connection.

The previous man who walked with God, Enoch, was taken out of the earth because he was too pure for it (Genesis 5:22). Now God will take another line. He will leave Noah and remove the evil world.

Notice that in this section the references to God are as ‘Elohim', as in chapter 1. This is because God is seen as about to act in relation to His creation, as judge of all. When he begins to deal personally with Noah He becomes Yahweh (Genesis 7:1). Later, once the pattern of calling God both Elohim and Yahweh has become more established, the distinction will not always be quite so clear.

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Three represents completeness. These would survive with him through the flood as the complete family unit.