Genesis 6:8

6:8 But ¹  Noah found favor ²  in the sight of ³  the Lord.

Genesis 7:1

7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. ⁴ 

Genesis 8:20-21

8:20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ⁵  8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ⁶  and said ⁷  to himself, ⁸  “I will never again curse ⁹  the ground because of humankind, even though ¹⁰  the inclination of their minds ¹¹  is evil from childhood on. ¹²  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Hebrews 11:7

11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard ¹³  constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

¹ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is contrastive here: God condemns the human race, but he is pleased with Noah.

² tn The Hebrew expression “find favor [in the eyes of]” is an idiom meaning “to be an object of another’s favorable disposition or action,” “to be a recipient of another’s favor, kindness, mercy.” The favor/kindness is often earned, coming in response to an action or condition (see Gen 32:5; 39:4; Deut 24:1; 1 Sam 25:8; Prov 3:4; Ruth 2:10). This is the case in Gen 6:8, where v. 9 gives the basis (Noah’s righteous character) for the divine favor.

³ tn Heb “in the eyes of,” an anthropomorphic expression for God’s opinion or decision. The Lord saw that the whole human race was corrupt, but he looked in favor on Noah.

⁴ tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment.

⁵ sn Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.

⁶ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

⁷ tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

⁸ tn Heb “in his heart.”

⁹ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

¹¹ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

¹² tn Heb “from his youth.”

¹³ tn Cf. BDAG 407 s.v. εὐλαβέομαι 2, “out of reverent regard (for God’s command).”