Genesis 5:29
in Genesis 5And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.
KJV
And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.
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This verse in Genesis 5
Commentary
12 notes on this verseAnd he called his name Noah,.... Which signifies rest and comfort; for rest gives comfort, and comfort flows from rest, see 2Sa 14:17, where a word from the same root is rendered "comfortable", and agrees with the reason of the name, as follows: saying, this same shall comfort us, concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground, which the Lord hath cursed; this he spake by a spirit of prophecy, foreseeing what his son would be, and of what advantage to him and his family, and to the world, both in things temporal and spiritual.
This site's exposition
May this one comfort us
on Genesis 5:29-31
Lamech asks for comfort in the labor and toil of his hands. This is the second Lamech in Genesis, and the first had used his voice to boast of vengeance at 4:23. He names the boy Noah and dies five years before the flood. The comfort came in a form he never named.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
from the prophecy of Lamech, the father of Noah, we learn that Noah, by means of the world-carrying Ark, was to convey men and the brute beasts into this earth of ours, for the prophecy runs somewhat to this effect: This same shall give us …
Fifthly, again, we are taught through Lamech the father of Noah, who prophesied and said that his son would deliver us from toils and the curse, and would conduct us to the enjoyment of a better condition.
(Verse 29.) And he called his name Noah, saying: This one shall bring us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.
By ascending through the individual levels of the dwellings [in the ark built by Noah during the flood], one arrives at Noah himself, whose name means rest or righteous, who is Jesus Christ. For what Lamech his father says is not appropriate to the ancient Noah. For "this one," he says, "shall give us rest from the labors and the sorrows of our hands and from the earth that the Lord God cursed." For how shall it be true that the ancient Noah gave rest to that Lamech or to that people who were then contained in the lands? How is there a cessation from the labors and sorrows in the times of Noah? Jesus only has given rest to humanity and has freed the earth from the curse with which the Lord God cursed it.
Enoch begot Methuselah, and Methuselah begot Lamech, and Lamech begot Noah (whose name means "relief" in Hebrew and Syriac).
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
It should be noted that where our Codices, translated from the Hebrew source, say Adam lived for one hundred and thirty years and begot Seth, the ancient translation has, instead of one hundred and thirty, two hundred and thirty; where our Codices continue, "And the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed - Very probably there were some prophecies that went before of him, as a person that should be wonderfully serviceable to his generation.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:22w-of-44
The first words of the chapter are the title or argument of the whole chapter: it is the book of the generations of Adam; it is the list or catalogue of the posterity of Adam, not of all, but only of the holy seed who were the substance thereof ( Isa. vi. 13 ), and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came ( Rom. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed - Very probably there were some prophecies that went before of him, as a person that should be wonderfully serviceable to his generation.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
This same shall comfort us - This is an allusion, as some think, to the name a Noah, which they derive from נחם nacham, to comfort; but it is much more likely that it comes from נח nach or נוח nuach, to rest, to settle, etc. And what is more comfortable than rest after toil and labor?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[THIS SAME SHALL COMFORT US.] Lamech was informed by Adam, who was a prophet, that through his newborn child the land would live.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֧א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמ֛וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| נֹ֖חַ | noach | Noah | H5146 → | 46 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| זֶ֠ה | zeh | this [one] | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| יְנַחֲמֵ֤נוּ | yenachamenu | he will comfort us | H5162 → | 108 times |
| מִֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֙נוּ֙ | mimaasenu | from work our | H4639 → | 236 times |
| וּמֵעִצְּב֣וֹן | umeitzevon | and from [the] pain of | H6093 → | 3 times |
| יָדֵ֔ינוּ | yadeinu | hands our | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה | haadamah | the ground | H127 → | 225 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֵֽרְרָ֖הּ | ʾererah | he has cursed it | H779 → | 63 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֧אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמ֛וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
נֹ֖חַNoah
noachH5146 →46 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
זֶ֠הthis [one]
zehH2088 →1180 times
יְנַחֲמֵ֤נוּhe will comfort us
yenachamenuH5162 →108 times
מִֽמַּעֲשֵׂ֙נוּ֙from work our
mimaasenuH4639 →236 times
וּמֵעִצְּב֣וֹןand from [the] pain of
umeitzevonH6093 →3 times
יָדֵ֔ינוּhands our
yadeinuH3027 →1618 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔הthe ground
haadamahH127 →225 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֵֽרְרָ֖הּhe has cursed it
ʾererahH779 →63 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 24:37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
it leads to
- Luke 17:26–27
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 6:1–7
Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them,
- Luke 17:26–27
Through
Hebrews 11:7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 14:14
then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 6:13
Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth.
- 1 Peter 3:20
who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.
- Luke 17:26
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Ezekiel 14:14
Through
2 Peter 2:5if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Peter 3:6
through which the world of that time perished in the flood.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 11:7
Where this verse is studied
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On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 2; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 6; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 5.2.2; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 2.3.