(אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים הָיָה בְּדֹרֹתָיו אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹחַ׃ (בראשית ו:ט
"This is the line of Noah. Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:9).
An ancient debate focuses on how righteous Noah was. Was
he considered righteous only because
he lived in a wicked generation? If he had
lived in better times might he have reached even greater heights? The issue
remains unresolved. However, we do know that Noah responded to God’s call, and
this determined the continued existence of the world, although in a different
format than before.
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| Farmer Noah (Mosaic in Basilica di San Marco) 13th century |
The important moment comes after the flood, when Noah
reestablishes human civilization: “Noah removed the cover from the ark and saw that the land was dry (Hebrew root: Ḥ-R-B); (Gen. 8:13).
What did Noah see? That the land was dry? Yes, but he saw more, he saw destruction (Hebrew, ḥurban). Forget about pretty children’s books with a smiling sun and butterflies. That will come but not yet. Instead, think about a tsunami. Water has tremendous power. Everything was devastated.
God needs to command Noah to leave the ark and continue living. Noah obeys. What is the first thing he does? He built an altar and thanks God for saving him. This scene is also familiar from the news: for example, a family standing next to a pile of wood and brick that was their home before a storm hit. They wipe away a tear; say, “Thank God, we’re alive;” and promise to rebuild.
God promises not to destroy the earth again and withdraws from the scene. In Noah’s world, which is our world, divine intervention is extremely rare. We have to manage by ourselves.
Noah plants a vineyard. He begins with productive work that requires a long-term commitment. He is successful; the vines flourish and give fruit. Noah harvests his grapes and makes wine successfully, perhaps too successfully. He gets drunk. He succeeds and stumbles. Sound familiar? We are all Noah.
His son, Ḥam also gets in trouble. The details aren’t important. What is important is Noah’s response. In the morning, he sobers up and opens his eyes. He knows what happened and takes action to remedy matters. He judges and punishes-curses the sinner, by himself without heavenly involvement. No less important, he also blesses his other sons, Shem and Yafet, because they responded correctly to the situation that had been created.
Noah left the ark, saw the destruction and began to build. From my perspective, this is the essence of his righteousness, in his generation and for all generations ever after.
Noah was indeed righteous in his time but also embedded in his psyche was a fatal flaw which in my opinion severely limited his righteousness. He lived in a time of disastrous chaos and disorder and what made him stand out was an apparent penchent for order at all costs (notice he didn't invite any other humans onto the ark, surely some of them must have been worthy of being saved)—more order was something neccessary but not sufficient to sustain humankind. His talent displayed itself in his ability to follow the extremely detailed set of orders on how to build the ark (why afterall were all the dimensions really needed in the text— not to teach us how to build an Ark but rather to document Noahs oderliness). But we see later on humanity with one language and one goal—build the tower of babel. This was as much a disaster based on order (e.g. the order of the Nazis)vas was the disastor of disorder of the generation of Noah. Hence Divine disruption once again to add many languages and disperse humankind for another reset -- this time leading to Abraham. While Noah walked with G-d, Abraham walked before G-d.
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