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Noah's father, of that Noah in whose time the flood happened, was not righteous, was not pleasing to God, was not approved by God; for if he were righteous, if he were pleasing, if he were well-pleasing to God, it would not have said that Noah alone was found perfect in his generation; it would not have passed over the father of the righteous man, if he had been righteous. What then of him? He gave a name to the child, which held a great account of future events, and the naming of the righteous one was itself a prophecy. For this name signified that the flood was going to happen. And how did the name of Noah signify that the flood was going to happen? The name "Noah," is said in the Hebrew tongue and is interpreted, "the one who gives rest." For "Nia," in the Syriac language, is "rest." Just as, therefore, there from "Abar," which is "beyond," he was called Abraham, and from "Edem," which is "earth," he was called Adam, which is "earthly;" so also here from "Nia," which is "rest," he was called Noah, which is "one who gives rest," and the context also shows this. For he called him Noah, saying: "This one will give us rest," calling the flood "rest." For since the flood was about to happen in his time, and the flood was death, and death is rest for a man, for this reason he called the man, in whose time the flood happened, "the one who gives rest." 6. And that I am not forcing the interpretation, let us hear this from Scripture itself. Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-eight years, and begot a son, and he called his name Noah, saying: "This one will give us rest from our pains, and our sorrows, and the works of our hands, and from the earth, which God has cursed." What do you say, "He will give us rest"? And why did he not say, he says, "This one will kill us, this one will cause the flood to happen"; but said, "He will give us rest"? All creation was remade, the abysses burst forth from below, the cataracts were opened from above, everything was a strange and extraordinary and frightful sea, and in a common tomb in the mud, both the bodies of men and the bodies of horses and beasts were hidden; and such great evils, tell me, and so great a disaster you call rest? Yes, he says. For since the people were living in wickedness, and the flood checked the wickedness, those who were delivered from wickedness found rest. For just as a body held by various diseases, and finding no cure, if death should come and take it, it finds rest; so indeed also that generation of men, just as a body suffering from incurable diseases and possessed by many terrible things, having no consolation, 54.630 the coming flood snatched away and gave it rest. For if Death is rest for a man, much more is death a rest for those living incorrigibly in wickedness, delivering them from their labors, and not allowing the pasture of wickedness to advance further, nor the burden of sins to become heavier than it is. For nothing is so heavy and hard to bear as the nature of sin; nothing so provides us with toil and labor as the form of wickedness and transgressions. For this reason Christ said to those living in sins: "Come, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." For this reason also Lamech called the flood "rest," which came and stopped wickedness. I wished to extend this discourse further; for much is left concerning the naming of Noah; but for now, having deposited these things in the memory of your mind, and having spoken to our brothers who are absent, so that we may not again be compelled to make the introductions longer, taking up the sequence of what has been said, let us conclude the sermon with prayers, giving thanks to God who has granted us to say these things, because to him is the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Νῶε πατὴρ, τοῦ Νῶε ἐκείνου, ἐφ' οὗ ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐγένετο, οὐκ ἦν δίκαιος, οὐκ ἦν εὐάρεστος τῷ Θεῷ, οὐκ ἦν δόκιμος τῷ Θεῷ· εἰ γὰρ ἦν δίκαιος, εἰ ἦν εὐάρεστος, εἰ ἦν εὐδόκιμος τῷ Θεῷ, οὐκ ἂν εἶπεν, ὅτι Νῶε μόνος εὑρέθη τέλειος ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ· οὐκ ἂν παρέδραμε τοῦ δικαίου τὸν πατέρα, εἰ δίκαιος ἦν. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνος; Ἐπέθηκεν ὄνομα τῷ παιδίῳ, πολλὴν ἔχον τῶν μελλόντων πραγμάτων τὴν ἱστορίαν, καὶ αὐτὸ προφητεία ἦν ἡ προσηγορία τοῦ δικαίου. Τὸ γὰρ ὄνομα τοῦτο τὸν μέλλοντα κατακλυσμὸν ἔσεσθαι ἐδήλου. Καὶ πῶς τὸν μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι κατακλυσμὸν ἐδήλου τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Νῶε; Τὸ, Νῶε, τοῦτο τὸ ὄνομα Ἑβραϊκῆ λέγεται γλώττῃ καὶ ἑρμηνεύεται, ὁ ἀναπαύων. Τὸ γὰρ, Νία, τῇ Σύρων φωνῇ, ἀνάπαυσίς ἐστιν. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκεῖ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἄβαρ, ὅπερ ἐστὶ πέρα, Ἀβραὰμ ἐλέγετο, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Αἰδὲμ, ὅπερ ἐστὶ γῆ, Ἀδὰμ ἐλέγετο, ὅπερ ἐστὶ γήϊνος· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἀπὸ τοῦ Νία, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀνάπαυσις, Νῶε ἐκλήθη, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀναπαύων δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ ἐπαγωγή. Ἐκάλεσε γὰρ αὐτὸν Νῶε, λέγων· Οὗτος ἡμᾶς διαναπαύσει, ἀνάπαυσιν τὸν κατακλυσμὸν καλῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἔμελλεν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ ὁ κατακλυσμὸς γίνεσθαι, ὁ δὲ κατακλυσμὸς θάνατος ἦν, Θάνατος δὲ ἀνδρὶ ἀνάπαυσις, διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἐφ' οὗ γέγονεν ὁ κατακλυσμὸς, τὴν ἀναπαύοντα ἐκάλεσε. ςʹ. Καὶ ὅτι οὐ βιάζομαι τὴν ἑρμηνείαν, ἀπ' αὐτῆς τῆς Γραφῆς ἀκούσωμεν τοῦτο. Ἔζησε Λάμεχ ἔτη ὀκτὼ καὶ ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν, καὶ ἐγέννησεν υἱὸν, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Νῶε, λέγων· Οὗτος διαναπαύσει ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν πόνων ἡμῶν, καὶ τῶν λυπῶν, καὶ τῶν ἔργων τῶν χειρῶν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἧς κατηράσατο ὁ Θεός. Τί λέγεις, Ἀναπαύσει ἡμᾶς; Καὶ διὰ τί μὴ εἶπε, φησὶν, Οὗτος ἀποκτενεῖ ἡμᾶς, οὗτος ποιήσει τὸν κατακλυσμὸν γενέσθαι· ἀλλ' εἶπεν, Ἀναπαύσει ἡμᾶς; Ἀνεστοιχειώθη ἡ κτίσις ἅπασα, ἄβυσσοι ἀνεῤῥάγησαν κάτωθεν, καταῤῥάκται ἀνεῴχθησαν ἄνωθεν, ἅπαντα πέλαγος ἦν ξένον καὶ παράδοξον καὶ φρικῶδες, καὶ ἐν τάφῳ κοινῷ τῇ ἰλύϊ καὶ σώματα ἀνθρώπων καὶ σώματα ἵππων καὶ θηρίων ἐκρύπτετο· καὶ τοσαῦτα κακὰ, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ τοσαύτην συμφορὰν ἀνάπαυσιν καλεῖς; Ναὶ, φησίν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν κακίᾳ ἔζων οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ὁ δὲ κατακλυσμὸς τὴν κακίαν ἀνέκοψεν, οἱ τῆς κακίας ἀπαλλαγέντες ἀνέπαυσαν. Καθάπερ γὰρ σῶμα ποικίλοις νοσήμασι κατεχόμενον, καὶ ἰατρείαν οὐδεμίαν εὑρίσκον, ἐὰν ἐπελθὼν ὁ θάνατος λαβῇ, ἀνέπαυσεν· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκείνων γενεὰν, καθάπερ σῶμα ἀνίατα νόσουν καὶ πολλοῖς προκατειλημμένον δεινοῖς παραμυθίαν οὐδεμίαν ἔχουσιν, 54.630 ἐπελθὼν ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐξήρπασε καὶ ἀνέπαυσεν. Εἰ γὰρ Θάνατος ἀνδρὶ ἀνάπαυσις, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐν κακίᾳ ἀδιορθώτως ζῶσιν ἀνάπαυσις ὁ θάνατος, τῶν πόνων αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάττων, καὶ οὐκ ἐῶν περαιτέρω τῆς πονηρίας τὴν νομὴν προελθεῖν, οὐδὲ βαρύτερον τοῦ ὄντος γενέσθαι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὸ φορτίον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτω βαρὺ καὶ δυσβάστακτον, ὡς ἁμαρτίας φύσις· οὐδὲν οὕτω κάματον καὶ πόνον ἡμῖν παρέχει, ὡς τὸ τῆς πονηρίας εἶδος καὶ τὰ πλημμελήματα. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ Χριστὸς τοῖς ἐν ἁμαρτίαις ζῶσι ἔλεγε· ∆εῦτε πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Λάμεχ ἀνάπαυσιν τὸν κατακλυσμὸν ἐκάλεσεν, ἐπελθόντα καὶ στήσαντα τὴν πονηρίαν. Ἐβουλόμην περαιτέρω τὸν λόγον ἐκτεῖναι τοῦτον· καὶ γὰρ πολλὰ ὑπολέλειπται ἀπὸ τῆς προσηγορίας τοῦ Νῶε· ἀλλὰ τέως ταῦτα τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ὑμετέρας διανοίας ἐναποθέμενοι, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἡμετέρους ἀδελφοὺς τοὺς ἀπολειφθέντας εἰπόντες, ἵνα μὴ πάλιν ἀναγκαζώμεθα μακρότερα ποιεῖν τὰ προοίμια, τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν ἀκολουθίαν ἀναλαμβάνοντες, εἰς εὐχὰς τὸν λόγον καταλύσωμεν, εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ ταῦτα δεδωκότι εἰπεῖν Θεῷ, ὅτι αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.