I. Name

The etymology of the name Noah has never been satisfactorily explained. It is usually connected with the verb root nwḥ ‘rest, settle down’ (of the ark Gen. 8.4), ‘repose, be quiet’ (after labour Exod. 20.11) and so Noah may mean ‘rest’ possibly in association with the resting of the ark on the mountains of Ararat after the flood. The root appears in Akk. nâḫu to rest, as in inūḫ tâmtu … abūbu ikla ‘the sea subsided … the flood ceased’ in the Babylonian account of the flood (Gilg. xi, 131) and Noth (1951: 25…