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 16:11

16:11 Then the Lord’s angel said to her,

“You are now ³  pregnant

and are about to give birth ⁴  to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael, ⁵ 

for the Lord has heard your painful groans. ⁶ 

Genesis 47:9

47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All ⁷  the years of my travels ⁸  are 130. All ⁹  the years of my life have been few and painful; ¹⁰  the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” ¹¹ 

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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 The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) focuses on her immediate situation: “Here you are pregnant.”

⁴ tn The active participle refers here to something that is about to happen.

⁵ sn The name Ishmael consists of the imperfect or jussive form of the Hebrew verb with the theophoric element added as the subject. It means “God hears” or “may God hear.”

⁶ tn Heb “affliction,” which must refer here to Hagar’s painful groans of anguish.

sn This clause gives the explanation of the name Ishmael, using a wordplay. Ishmael’s name will be a reminder that “God hears” Hagar’s painful cries.

⁷ tn Heb “the days of.”

⁸ tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.

⁹ tn Heb “the days of.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.

¹¹ tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”