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If Noah was not of Jewish descent, of what race was he? What races had already been created before the time of Noah?

And how and why did God choose Noah and his family to be the survivors of the Great flood?

Agatha Napoleon
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    One can be Jewish regardless of race. Judaism isn't a race. Consider breaking this up into two questions a) What races had already been created before the time of Noah? and b) why did God choose Noah and his family to be the survivors of the Great flood? – mevaqesh Mar 23 '17 at 15:53
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    Welcome to Mi Yodeya Agatha! Consider registering your account to best utilise all the sites' features. – mevaqesh Mar 23 '17 at 15:53
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    At the time of Noah (e.g. pre-Tower of Babel), everybody was of "שָׂפָה אֶחָת, וּדְבָרִים, אֲחָדִים" ("one language and of one speech"). That doesn't prove that there weren't different races but considering he was the sole survivor of the flood, it probably doesn't make much sense to consider him a member of a particular race, at least after the flood. He's the ancestor of all of surviving humanity. – Daniel Mar 23 '17 at 16:15
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    This looks like three different questions. – Robert Columbia Mar 23 '17 at 17:05
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    there weren't any Jews in the sense that we know someone to be Jewish today until after the giving of the Torah on mount Sinai. Why do you think it important to know his race? It says clearly in the chumash Noah and his family were chosen to be the survivors of the flood b/c of the merit that Noah was a righteous individual – Dude Mar 23 '17 at 18:56

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Noach as a direct descendant of Adam was a member of the Human Race. At that time, people were divided into families and the concept of race had not yet been set up.

The dispersion of the human race into different national groups did not occur until the Tower of Babel (in 1996 after creation, 300 years after the flood). Until then the human race was divided into family groups which then spread out and inherited the various parts of the world.

Judaism was not set up until the revelation at Sinai. As a result, Noach could not be Jewish.

Your second question is answered in Breishis 6:8-9

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

These are the generations of Noah, Noah was a righteous man he was perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God.

Hashem still had the intent to save humanity and restart them with the righteous family that existed. This was the only family that had raised above the general depravity of the time and could have been used to restart the world.

An interesting point is to compare this to the punishment of the Jews at the Golden Calf. Originally, Hashem said he would wipe out the Bnai Yisrael and start again with Moshe. This is exactly what happened with the flood, but Noach accepted what Hashem said rather than reacting as Moshe did. However, that is a different matter and does not need to be gone into here.

sabbahillel
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  • It seems that there is confusion both with the OP and perhaps in your answer about what the OP is calling 'race'. It seems the intention is connected to the idea of nationhood. That might be worth explaining. You seem to be associating that with Bavel, but the claim of Avraham ito the land of Israel is based on inheritance via Shem. And the concept of 'Banai Yisroel' is also associated with inheritance from Adam HaRishon. Seems worth clarifying. – Yaacov Deane Mar 24 '17 at 01:15