(ט) אֵ֚לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת נֹ֔חַ נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו אֶת־הָֽאֱלֹהִ֖ים הִֽתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹֽחַ׃
(Gen. 6:9) Noah was a just, perfect man in his generation; according to R. Jochanan in his generation, but not in others [among more righteous]. And according to Resh Lakish: In his generation [among the wicked], so much the more in other generations. "R. Jochanan's theory," remarked R. Chanina, "should be likened unto the following parable : If a barrel of wine is placed among barrels of vinegar, in that place, the good smell of wine is marked, which would not be the case if placed among other barrels of wine." R. Oshia said : "Resh Lakish's theory may be likened unto the following parable: If a glass of perfume is placed in a filthy place, and its odor is marked, how much more would it be marked if it were placed among spices?" (Gen. 7:23) And it swept off etc. If man sinned, what were the sins of the animals? We are taught in the name of R. Joshua b. Karcha : "This is similar to one who made a canopy for his son, and prepared all kinds of delicacies for the wedding-meal, but his son died before the wedding and he destroyed all that he prepared, remarking: 'All this was done only because of my son ; now, as he is dead, for what purpose do I need the canopy and all that I prepared?' So the Holy One, praised be He ! said : 'For what purpose have I created cattle and beast, only for the sake of man ; now, when man has sinned and is to be destroyed, for what purpose do I need all other creatures'?" (Gen. 6:22) All that were on dry land died, but not the fish in the sea.
(9) These are the generations of Noah. Noah was in his generations a man righteous and wholehearted; Noah walked with God.
אלה תולדת נח נח, “these are the generations of Noach, Noach;” why has the name of Noach been repeated here twice? He was exemplary vis a vis spiritual beings in the heavenly spheres as well as vis a vis his contemporaries on earth. (B’reshit Rabbah, 30,4) The meaning is to tell us that whenever we encounter such a construction of a person’s name appearing twice in a row, it is to remind us that the person concerned was a righteous person. An example for this is found in Genesis 2:11 where the name Avraham appears twice in a row. This interpretation has been challenged in the Jerusalem Talmud where it is pointed out that we find the same repetition of a man’s name applied to Avraham’s father Terach, a renowned idolater and seller of heathen images (Genesis 11:27) The answer provided by B’reshit Rabbah is that Terach, though an idolater had become a penitent. It is this very fact that convinced our sages that he had become a penitent before his death. This also explains why Avraham was told by G’d in Genesis 15:15 that he would join his fathers in the hereafter.
בדורותיו, both in the time of his generation, and the generation following him after the deluge. [this is the reason for the plural ending יו in the word בדורותיו. Ed.] Noach lived for 350 years after the deluge, so that he was a reminder of the deluge to at least 8-9 generations after him. In fact, Avraham was already 58 years old when Noach died, and he was the 10th generation counting from Noach. An easy way to remember this is the line that אברהם בן נח, “Avraham was a son of Noach“ (family member, as all people before the Torah was given) the numerical value of the letters in the name נח have a combined value of 58. According to Bereshit Rabbah 30:9the word בדורותיו refers to three specific generations, that of Enosh, that of the deluge, and the generation of the Tower of Babel, and the scattering of mankind and the division into many languages.