Noah

===Judaism===
{{See also|Noah in rabbinic literature|Noach (parsha)}}
[[File:Ararat Ms. 11639 521a.jpg|205px|left|thumb|A Jewish depiction of Noah]]
The righteousness of Noah is the subject of much discussion among rabbis.<ref name=JewishEnyc/> The description of Noah as "righteous in his generation" implied to some that his perfection was only relative: In his generation of wicked people, he could be considered righteous, but in the generation of a ''[[tzadik]]'' like [[Abraham]], he would not be considered so righteous. They point out that Noah did not pray to God on behalf of those about to be destroyed, as Abraham prayed for the wicked of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]]. In fact, Noah is never seen to speak; he simply listens to God and acts on his orders. This led some commentators to offer the figure of Noah as "the righteous man in a fur coat," who ensured his own comfort while ignoring his neighbour.<ref>Mamet, D., Kushner, L., [https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr0SAQAAIAAJ&q=+%22man+in+a+fur+coat%22 ''Five Cities of Refuge: Weekly Reflections on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy''], Schocken Books, 2003, p. 1.</ref> Others, such as the medieval commentator [[Rashi]], held on the contrary that the building of the Ark was stretched over 120 years, deliberately in order to give sinners time to repent. Rashi interprets his father's statement of the naming of Noah (in Hebrew – Noaħ נֹחַ) "This one will comfort us (in Hebrew– yeNaĦamenu יְנַחֲמֵנו) in our work and in the toil of our hands, which come from the ground that the Lord had cursed",<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|5:29|9}}</ref> by saying Noah heralded a new era of prosperity, when there was easing (in Hebrew – naħah – נחה) from the curse from the time of Adam when the Earth produced thorns and thistles even where men sowed wheat and that Noah then introduced the plow.<ref>Frishman, J., Rompay, L. von, [https://books.google.com/books?id=SqThaPjXFyQC&q=noah+righteous&pg=PA63 ''The Book of Genesis in Jewish and Oriental Christian Interpretation: A Collection of Essays''], Peeters Publishers, 1997, pp. 62–65.</ref>

According to the ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]'', "The [[Book of Genesis]] contains two accounts of Noah." In the first, Noah is the hero of the flood, and in the second, he is the father of mankind and a husbandman who planted the first vineyard. "The disparity of character between these two narratives has caused some critics to insist that the subject of the latter account was not the same as the subject of the former."<ref name=JewishEnyc/>

The ''[[Encyclopedia Judaica]]'' notes that Noah's drunkenness is not presented as reprehensible behavior. Rather, "It is clear that ... Noah’s venture into viticulture provides the setting for the castigation of Israel’s Canaanite neighbors." It was Ham who committed an offense when he viewed his father's nakedness. Yet, "Noah’s curse, ... is strangely aimed at Canaan rather than the disrespectful Ham."<ref name=Skolnik287 />