Genesis 6
Noah is depicted as Adam redivivus (revived). He is the sole survivor and successor to Adam; both “walk” with God; both are the recipients of the promissory blessing; both are caretakers of the lower creatures; both father three sons; both are workers of the soil; both sin through the fruit of a tree; and both father a wicked son who is under a curse. Also there is a wordplay between Adam in the garden and the “rest” motif recurring in the Noah story (see 5:29; 8:21). The Lord “put” (nûaḥ) Adam in Eden as the divine ideal for man (2:15), but because of sin the soil is man’s new opponent (3:17). Lamech’s prayer is that “Noah” (nōaḥ) alleviate the toil and achieve “comfort” (nḥm; 5:29), but it comes about in an unexpected way when Noah preserves the human family by the “resting” ark (8:4) and the “resting-inducing odor” (8:21) of sacrifice, which appeases God and leads the way for a new promise. We can only view Noah through the template of Adam, both the promise and the garden sin.