Was Noah Good?

The juxtaposition of 'favour' (Gen. 6:8) and 'righteousness' (Gen. 6:9) in the flood narrative raises an interpretative and theological problem: Is Noah chosen because of divine favour (Gen. 6:8) or because of his piety (Gen. 6:9)? Source-critical scholars maintain that Gen. 6:8 and 6:9 represent two different theologies by J and P: J understands Noah's election to be an act of grace (Gen. 6:8) whereas P emphasizes Noah's righteousness as the basis for his election (Gen. 6:9). In our opinion, however, it seems unlikely that such divergent views would be present in the final redaction of the text. Alternatively, scholars who interpret the flood narrative according to its final form argue that Noah is chosen because he is righteous; thus Gen. 6:9 provides the reason or motivation for divine favour. This view is problematic, however, since in the primaeval history grace is shown to the 'undeserving', thus it is characteristically unmerited. This book entails an exegetical analysis of Gen. 6:8 and 6:9 according to the final form of the text, with particular attention being given to the meaning and function of these verses in the Toledot structure. We argue against the commonly held view that Noah finds favour because he is righteous, and seek to demonstrate that divine favour in Gen. 6:8 is unmerited in accordance with the theme of grace in the primaeval history and in Genesis as a whole. Thus what sets the flood story in motion is not Noah's righteousness, but the divine favour he finds.

Carol M. Kaminski (Ph.D., Cambridge) is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Massachusetts, USA. She is the author of From Noah to Israel: Realization of the Primaeval Blessing After the Flood (T&T Clark, 2004).