Verse 8
Noah was the one exception to universal godlessness. "Noah" may mean "grieved" (the Hebrew niphal form) or "comfort" (the piel form). "Favor" is grace. This is the first mention of this word in the Old Testament, though we have seen many examples of God’s grace thus far. There is a word play in the Hebrew text (an anagram). The same consonants of Noah’s name (nh) in the reverse order mean "grace" (hn).
All God’s people can identify with Noah, the recipient of God’s grace. It is only by God’s grace that we can escape His judgment on the wicked.
"Genesis is flatly contradicting the humanistic optimism of Mesopotamia: humanity’s situation in its view is hopeless without divine mercy." [Note: Wenham, p. xlviii.]
This section shows that pagan idolatry and immorality pain God and incur His judgment that man can only escape by His provision of salvation.
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