Genesis 5:29

5:29 He named him Noah, ¹  saying, “This one will bring us comfort ²  from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed.”

Genesis 20:5

20:5 Did Abraham ³  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ⁴  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ⁵  and with innocent hands!”

Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ⁶  to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 32:17

32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, ⁷  “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? ⁸  Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ ⁹ 

Genesis 44:32

44:32 Indeed, ¹⁰  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

Genesis 46:31

46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ¹¹  ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

¹ sn The name Noah appears to be related to the Hebrew word נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”). There are several wordplays on the name “Noah” in the story of the flood.

² tn The Hebrew verb יְנַחֲמֵנוּ (yÿnakhamenu) is from the root נָחָם (nakham), which means “to comfort” in the Piel verbal stem. The letters נ (nun) and ח (heth) pick up the sounds in the name “Noah,” forming a paronomasia on the name. They are not from the same verbal root, and so the connection is only by sound. Lamech’s sentiment reflects the oppression of living under the curse on the ground, but also expresses the hope for relief in some way through the birth of Noah. His words proved to be ironic but prophetic. The relief would come with a new beginning after the flood. See E. G. Kraeling, “The Interpretations of the Name Noah in Genesis 5:29,” JBL 48 (1929): 138-43.

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

⁵ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

⁵ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

⁷ tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “to whom are you?”

⁹ tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”

⁹ tn Or “for.”

¹¹ tn Heb “tell Pharaoh and say to him.”