The quick answer
Who was Noah in the Bible?
Noah was Lamech’s son, Methuselah’s grandson, husband of an unnamed wife, and father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis describes him as righteous and blameless among his contemporaries, says he walked with God, and repeatedly records his obedience. He survived the Flood with his household, received God’s covenant, worked the soil afterward, and died at 950.
A name shaped by rest and comfort
What does the name Noah mean in the Bible?
The Hebrew name Noach is commonly associated with rest. At Noah’s birth, however, Lamech says his son will “comfort” or bring relief from painful toil, using a related-sounding word from a different Hebrew root. Genesis creates meaningful wordplay without making the two words identical.
How Genesis describes him
Noah’s character before the story events
The Bible’s introduction concentrates on relationship and response, not appearance, wealth, or social rank.
Righteous in his generation
Genesis sets Noah apart from the violence and corruption surrounding him.
Genesis 6:9Walked with God
The same phrase used of Enoch describes Noah’s continuing relationship with God.
Genesis 6:9Did all God commanded
Noah’s defining response before the Flood is repeated obedience.
Genesis 6:22; 7:5Heir of righteousness by faith
Hebrews interprets Noah’s action as faith responding to a warning about the unseen.
Hebrews 11:7A 950-year biography
Noah’s life from Lamech’s son to family patriarch
These age markers explain the person’s life without duplicating the Flood narrative.
Genesis 5:28–32
Born into Lamech’s family line
Genesis 6:8–22
Finds favor and obeys God
Genesis 7:6; 8:13
Passes from age 600 to 601
Genesis 9:20–29
Lives 350 more years
The direct answer
How old was Noah?
Noah was 600 when the Flood began, lived 350 years after it, and died at 950. Genesis also marks the drying of the earth in his 601st year.
Noah’s family tree
Lamech, Noah’s wife, Shem, Ham, and Japheth
Lamech
Names Noah with words of hoped-for comfort from painful toil.
Unnamed wife
Enters and leaves the ark with Noah; Scripture gives no name.
Shem
Ancestor in the family line later traced through Abraham.
Ham
Father of Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
Japheth
His descendants are listed among the nations of Genesis 10.
An important unnamed person
Who was Noah’s wife?
Scripture never gives Noah’s wife a personal name. She shares his household’s journey into and out of the ark and becomes an ancestor of the post-Flood human family, but Genesis consistently identifies her only by relationship.
Present throughout
She enters and leaves with Noah and their sons’ households.
Genesis 7:7; 8:18No biblical name
Naamah and other suggested names come from later traditions.
Genesis remains silentMother of three named sons
Genesis names Shem, Ham, and Japheth but not their mother.
Genesis 5:32Three family lines
Noah’s sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth
The three sons stand at the head of the family lists in Genesis 10. Their familiar listing order should not automatically be treated as a straightforward birth order.
A line leading toward Abraham
Genesis later follows Shem’s descendants through Arpachshad toward Terah and Abraham.
Father of four named sons
Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan are named as Ham’s sons.
A branching family of nations
Seven sons are named at the beginning of the Table of Nations.
Continue without duplication
Choose the Noah page that matches your question
Noah’s Ark Story
Follow the ark, passengers, Flood timeline, birds, landing, and rainbow covenant in narrative order.
Read the full story →Fact guideFacts About Noah
Explore dimensions, dates, animal distinctions, forty days versus 150 days, and common retelling errors.
Explore the facts →Interactive gameNoah’s Ark Game
Build the ark and pair representative animal tiles across a 12-level puzzle campaign.
Play the game →Read the claim carefully
What Scripture says—and what tradition adds
Noah’s wife is mentioned but never named.
Genesis consistently calls her Noah’s wife. It also leaves the wives of Shem, Ham, and Japheth unnamed.
Genesis 7:7, 13; 8:16, 18Noah was 600 at the Flood and lived to 950.
The narrative supplies age markers rather than requiring a reconstructed estimate.
Genesis 7:6; 9:28–29Genesis does not give the three sons in a simple birth-order list.
Ham is later called the youngest. Genesis 10:21 and 11:10 matter when discussing whether Shem or Japheth was older.
Genesis 9:24; 10:21; 11:10The Bible does not identify Noah’s wife as Naamah.
Naamah is named in Cain’s family line, but Genesis never says she married Noah. That identification belongs to later interpretation.
Genesis 4:22; 7:7Noah is righteous, but Genesis does not present him as flawless.
His favorable introduction and obedience stand beside the later vineyard episode. Biblical righteousness should not be flattened into sinless perfection.
Genesis 6:8–9; 9:20–24This profile answers who Noah was. The Noah’s Ark story owns the event sequence, while Facts About Noah owns the detailed list of measurements, dates, and popular misconceptions.