(28) When Lamech had lived 182 years, he begot a son. (29) And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will provide us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands, out of the very soil which the Eternal placed under a curse.”
(17) To Adam God said, “Because you did as your wife said and ate of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’
Cursed be the ground because of you;
By toil shall you eat of it
All the days of your life: (18) Thorns and thistles shall it sprout for you.
But your food shall be the grasses of the field; (19) By the sweat of your brow
Shall you get bread to eat,
Until you return to the ground—
For from it you were taken.
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
(10) Then God said, “What have you done? Hark, your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! (11) Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. (12) If you till the soil, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. You shall become a ceaseless wanderer on earth.”
(21) The Eternal smelled the pleasing odor, and the Eternal said to God's self: “Never again will I doom the earth because of human beings, since the devisings of human minds are evil from their youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living being, as I have done.
וַיִּקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ נֹחַ לֵאמֹר (בראשית ה, כט), רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן וְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ, רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר לֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הַשֵּׁם וְלֹא הַשֵּׁם הוּא הַמִּדְרָשׁ, לָא הֲוָה צָרִיךְ קְרָא לְמֵימַר אֶלָּא נֹחַ זֶה יְנִיחֵנוּ, אוֹ נַחְמָן זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ, אֶלָּא בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן הִשְׁלִיטוֹ עַל הַכֹּל, הַפָּרָה הָיְתָה נִשְׁמַעַת לַחוֹרֵשׁ, וְהַתֶּלֶם נִשְׁמַע לַחוֹרֵשׁ, כֵּיוָן שֶׁחָטָא אָדָם מָרְדוּ עָלָיו, הַפָּרָה לֹא הָיְתָה נִשְׁמַעַת לַחוֹרֵשׁ, וְהַתֶּלֶם לֹא הָיָה נִשְׁמַע לַחוֹרֵשׁ, כֵּיוָן שֶׁעָמַד נֹחַ, נָחוּ. וּמְנָא לָן, נֶאֱמַר כָּאן נְיָחָה, וְנֶאֱמַר לְהַלָּן (שמות כג, יב): לְמַעַן יָנוּחַ שׁוֹרְךָ וַחֲמֹרֶךָ, מַה נְּיָחָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר לְהַלָּן נְיָחַת שׁוֹר, אַף נְיָחָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר כָּאן נְיָחַת שׁוֹר.
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ אָמַר לֹא הַשֵּׁם הוּא הַמִּדְרָשׁ, וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הַשֵּׁם, וְלֹא הֲוָה צָרִיךְ קְרָא לְמֵימַר אֶלָּא אוֹ נֹחַ זֶה יְנִיחֵנוּ, אוֹ נַחְמָן זֶה יְנַחֲמֵנוּ, אֶלָּא עַד שֶׁלֹא עָמַד נֹחַ הָיוּ הַמַּיִם עוֹלִים וּמְצִיפִים אוֹתָם בְּתוֹךְ קִבְרֵיהֶם. שְׁתֵּי פְעָמִים כְּתִיב (עמוס ה, ח): הַקּוֹרֵא לְמֵי הַיָּם, כְּנֶגֶד שְׁתֵּי פְּעָמִים שֶׁהָיוּ הַמַּיִם עוֹלִים וּמְצִיפִין אוֹתָן בְּתוֹךְ קִבְרֵיהֶם, אַחַת בְּשַׁחֲרִית וְאַחַת בְּעַרְבִית, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים פח, ו): כְּמוֹ חֲלָלִים שֹׁכְבֵי קֶבֶר, שׁוֹכְבִים שֶׁלָּהֶם חֲלָלִים הָיוּ, כֵּיוָן שֶׁעָמַד נֹחַ, נָחוּ. נֶאֱמַר כָּאן נְיָחָה וְנֶאֱמַר לְהַלָּן נְיָחָה (ישעיה נז, ב): יָבוֹא שָׁלוֹם יָנוּחוּ עַל מִשְׁכְּבוֹתָם, מַה נְּיָחָה הָאָמוּר לְהַלָּן נְיָחַת קֶבֶר, אַף נְיָחָה הָאֲמוּרָה כָּאן נְיָחַת קֶבֶר.
רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אָמַר לְשֵׁם קָרְבָּנוֹ נִקְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית ח, כא): וַיָּרַח ה' אֶת רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ, רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא אָמַר לְשֵׁם נַחַת הַתֵּבָה נִקְרָא, דִּכְתִיב (בראשית ח, ד): וַתָּנַח הַתֵּבָה...
And he called his name Noach - Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish dispute. Rabbi Yochanan said: "The midrash is not the name, and the name is not the midrash. Rather, the verse only needed to say "Noach, this one will comfort us", or "Nachman , this one will comfort us". Rather, in the hour that the Holy One created Adam HaRishon (the First Human), He made him rule over all, the cow would listen to the plowman and the furrow would listen to the plowman. Since Adam sinned they rebelled against him, the cow would not listen to the plowman and the furrow would not listen to the plowman. When Noach stood/was established, they rested (nachu). And from where do we have this? Here we have the expression of rest (nichah), and there we have the expression of rest: "so that your ox and your donkey will rest (yanuach)" (Ex. 23:12). Just as in that case the expression has to do with the ox resting, so too here...
Rabbi Eliezer said: Noach was named after his sacrifice (korban) as it is written: "And the Eternal smelled the pleasing [hanichoach] odour" (Gen. 8:21). Rabbi Yosi bar Rabbi Chanina said: He was named after the resting of the ark, as it says "and the ark rested [tanach]" (Gen. 8:4)...
Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years and begot his son (Gen. 5:28), through whom the world was to be reestablished. He called him Noah (lit. “comfort, ease”), saying: This one will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hand (Gen. 5:29). How did he know that this one would comfort us in our work? Was Lamech a prophet? R. Simeon the son of Yehozadak said: There was a tradition that when the Holy Blessed One told Adam: Cursed be the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it (Gen. 3:17), Adam inquired: “Ruler of the Universe, how long will the ground be cursed?” God replied: “Until a man-child already circumcised shall be born.” When Noah was born circumcised, Lamech understood immediately that this was the one concerning whom the Holy Blessed One had said: This one will comfort us in our work (ibid. 5:29).
(6) And the Eternal regretted that God had made humans on earth, and God's heart was saddened.
God's decision to "blot out" the whole of creation follows on an account of births and deaths over ten generations, culminating in the birth and naming of Noah. The central event of each generation is the birth of the significant heir; the father's years are numbered before and after this pivotal act of propagation. Intense expectation builds up, therefore, in this objective account of numbers and names, an expectation that becomes explicit when the reason for Noah's name is given by Lamekh, his father: "THis one will provide us relief [y'nahamenu] from our work and from the toil of our hands, out of the very soil which the Lord placed under a curse" (5:29). That Noah's name is derived from the word nechama, comfort, is in itself strange: etymologically, the word noach meaning "rest", would seem more appropriate; and, in fact, Rashi insists on treating y'nahamenu as a pun on yaniah mimenu - "God will give us relief - from the labor of our hands". (Otherwise, as he points out, Noah should have been named Menahem!)
There begins to be woven, therefore, a tissue of verbal plays on the words noah, nahem: the comfort Noah will bring to mankind is the relief from a relation with nature that is misarticulated and, in some real sense, perverse... Noah is therefore seen, at least by his father, as representing a readjustment of man's relation with the world; in effect, he will neutralize the primal curse on Adam. This is the human expectation...
A kind of sensitivity is lost to man. At this point, God, with a terrible humor, quotes the the word-play on Noah's name, subtly transforming the meanings and indulging in a positive flurry of puns. The root nahem "comfort", which held out hope of comfort or relief, now denotes "regret" a radical revision of the entire Adam project...