is the central figure in the Old Testament story of the Flood (Gen 6–9), a classic example of Israel’s knowledge and borrowing of material from its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. The Mesopotamian flood narratives (the Sumerian flood story, the epics of Atrahasis and Gilgamesh) resemble the biblical account most closely.
Gen 5:29 interprets the name Noah as deriving from the verb נָחַם/nāḥam and meaning “he will comfort us”; it is more likely, as the Septuagint reading of this passage suggests, that the name derives from נוּחַ/nûaḥ and means “he will give us rest.…