I don’t think that there are a lot of persons in the world, whom are not familiar with Noah’s character. Noah was the man who saved the fluid, after building the famous ark; He was the first man that had a covenant with The Lord; He was definitely the father of agriculture.

The meaning of Noah’s name

The name Noah in Hebrew is written with two letters (nun and het)and that leads us to five different meanings to his name, because unlike the usual way in Hebrew , that a word has three letters of a root (Radicals), in Noah we are not sure if we have three letters, and even if we do have we are not sure what are the third letters that should join to the nun and the het .

The first interpretation is connected to his second appearance when it’s been said that Noah found favor with The Lord as written in Genesis 6:8

“ וְנֹחַ, מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה ”

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”

If we are replacing the place of letters we can say that the meaning of Noah’s name is grace.

The second interpretation is connected to Noah’s birth, as written in Genesis 5:29

“וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ נֹחַ, לֵאמֹר:  זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ מִמַּעֲשֵׂנוּ, וּמֵעִצְּבוֹן יָדֵינוּ, מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר אֵרְרָהּ יְהוָה”

“And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed”

That means the Noah’s name means a comfort.

The third interpretation relates to the feeling of The Lord as written in Genesis 6:6-

“וַיִּנָּחֶם יְהוָה, כִּי-עָשָׂה אֶת-הָאָדָם בָּאָרֶץ; וַיִּתְעַצֵּב, אֶל-לִבּוֹ”

“ And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart”

That means that Noah’s name means a regret or remorse.

The forth interpretation relates to the ark after the fluid, as written in Genesis 8:4-

“וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי, בְּשִׁבְעָה-עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ, עַל, הָרֵי אֲרָרָט”

“ And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat”

That means that Noah’s name means rest.

The last interpretation related to Noah’s action after the fluid, when he build an altar for The Lord and The Lord smells the altar as written in Genesis 8:21-

“ וַיָּרַח יְהוָה, אֶת-רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ….”

“And the LORD smelled a sweet savour”

According to the last interpretation the meaning of the name is fragrance.

Five interpretations and one big advise – Learn Biblical Hebrew, my friends!!!!

Main phrases of the post + transcription + translation

Eli@eteachergroup.com