Language Studies

Difficult Sayings

Noah, a preacher of righteousness
2 Peter 2:5

"God ... did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly" (2 Peter 2:4-5)

We all know that Noah was righteous but where do we get the idea of his being a "a preacher of righteousness" when this is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Is this another fiction along the lines of the new children's book Not the End of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean? In this soon to be published, Whitbread book award shortlisted novel we are given the unwritten story of Noah's daughter Timna and the additional imagined events surrounding the building of the ark, the reaction of local people to it, and even the smell of the animals onboard! The people watching Noah build the ark over 120 years must have thought he was crazy much as the first car, plane or rocket builder. It was not that they had never seen a boat before, it was the sheer size of a ship the size of the largest 20th century ocean liner and what is more he was building it inland, not even in sight of water!

Whether creatively imagined or passed on by oral tradition we do have references to preaching in a variety of literature apart from 2 Peter. The pre-Christian Jewish book of Jubilees 7.20-39 talks of Noah's preaching and teaching his sons after the flood lest the same fate befall them as did those who perished in the flood, but this is not preaching to the generation of the Flood itself. Josephus, the first century Jewish historian speaks of Noah preaching to the ungodly (Antiquities 1.3.1/74) and so certainly a tradition was known of or implied.

Another source known as the Sibylline Oracles, possibly produced within Diaspora Hellenistic Judaism or even by later Christians, purports to be the writings of Etruscan prophetic priestesses as far back as the 6th century B.C. These books were partially burnt in a fire in 83 B.C. and later destroyed by the Roman General Flavius Stilicho in the 4th century A.D.. So whether the following passage dates from the original oracles or from a later edited and/or interpreted reconstruction we cannot be sure. Here is the text, however, judge for yourself, whether this was a source for Peter and Josephus:

"God himself
From heaven thus spoke: "Noah, be of good cheer
In thyself and to all the people preach
Repentance, so that they may all be saved.
But if, with shameless soul, they heed me not
The whole race I will utterly destroy"
(Sib. Or. 1:156-61)

"Thus he spoke; and great trembling seized on him
At what he heard. And then, within his mind
Having contrived each matter, he besought
The people and began with words like these:
"O men insatiate, smit with madness great,
Whatever things ye practiced they shall not
Escape God's notice; for he knows all things,
Immortal Saviour overseeing all,
Who bade me warn you, that ye perish not...""
(Sib. Or. 1:182-90)

Another source of Jewish tradition is the Talmud and Midrashim, or commentaries on the biblical text. We find in the Babylonian Talmud the following reference:

"...the righteous Noah rebuked them, urging, 'Repent; for if not, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring a deluge upon you.and cause your bodies to float upon the water like gourds, as it is written, He is light [i.e., floats] upon the waters. Moreover, ye shall be taken as a curse for all future generations, as it is written, their portion is cursed' in the earth." (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 108a)

Similarly in the early Jewish Midrash on Genesis:

"Noah planted cedars and cut them down. On being asked, 'Why are you doing this? ' he replied: 'The Lord of the universe has informed me that He will bring a Flood in the world.' Said they [his contemporaries] to him: If a Flood does come, it will come only upon your father's house!' R. Abba interpreted: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: 'One herald arose for me in the generation of the Flood, viz. Noah.'" (Genesis Midrash Rabbah 30.7).

Finally, in another midrashic commentary:

16. THERE WAS A LITTLE CITY (IX, 14): i.e. the world, AND FEW MEN WITHIN IT: i.e. the generation of Enosh and the generation of the Flood. AND THERE CAME A GREAT KING AGAINST IT, AND BESIEGED IT.: i.e. the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, AND BUILT GREAT BULWARKS AGAINST IT: i.e. craft and guile.

17. NOW THERE WAS FOUND IN IT A MAN POOR AND WISE (IX, 15): i.e. Noah, as it is stated, For thee have I seen righteous before Me in this generation (Gen. VII, 1). AND HE BY HIS WISDOM DELIVERED THE CITY: for he said to the people, 'Woe, ye foolish ones! To-morrow a flood will come, so repent.' They answered him, ' If punishments begin, they will begin with your house.' When Methuselah died, they said to Noah, ' Have punishments not begun with your house! ' YET NO MAN REMEMBERED THAT SAME POOR MAN: the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, 'You have not remembered him, but I will remember him,' as it is stated, And God remembered Noah (ib. VIII, 1). (Ecclesiastes Midrash Rabbah 9:16-17)

Jewish tradition also saw the 120 years not as simply time for an enormous construction project but also as a period of mercy to allow time for the people to repent (e.g., Targums on Genesis 6:3; Mishnah, Pirqe Aboth 5:2; Philo, Quaest. Gen. 2.13; also cf. 1 Peter 3:20).

The late first century early church writer, Clement also supports Peter's assertion:

"Noah preached repentance, and they that obeyed were saved." (1 Clement 7.6) "Noah, being found faithful, by his ministration preached regeneration unto the world, and through him the Master saved the living creatures that entered into the ark in concord." (1 Clement 9.4)

Further references that may add credence to the legend may be found in: Pirqe Rab Eliezer 22; Theophilus, Ad Autol. 3.19; Methodius, Conviv. 10.3; Apoc. Paul 50: Book of Adam and Eve 3:2,4, for those that want to do further research.

Thus there is plenty of source material to validate at least the idea that Noah did not stand idly by during the building of the ark and the undoubted mockery but rather witnessed to his generation, how could a righteous man not. According to Ezekiel 33:8-9 it would have been Noah's responsibility to have warned them of the coming judgement, even in order to have saved his own soul.

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