Noah's Wife - Excavating Her Story

(1) Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, with all your household, for you alone have I found righteous before Me in this generation... (7) Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood.

"And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Na’amah." (Gen. 4:22) Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Na’amah was Noah’s wife. Why was she called Na’amah? Because all of her deeds were pleasant (ne’imim). The Rabbis said this was a different Na’amah. Why was she called Na’amah? Because she beat (man'emet) on a drum [to seduce people] to idol worship.

AND THE SISTER OF TUBAL-CAIN WAS NA'AMAH...
In Bereshith Rabbah there are some Rabbis who say that Naamah was Noah’s wife. “And why did they call her Naamah [which means lovely]? Because her deeds were lovely and pleasant.” By this the Rabbis meant to say that she was famous in those generations because she was a righteous woman and she gave birth to righteous children. This was why Scripture mentioned her. If so, a small remembrance of Cain was left in the world. However, if we say that she was not the woman from whom Noah begot his three sons, there is no reason for Scripture mentioning her. However, our Rabbis have another Midrash concerning her which states that she was the very beautiful woman in whom the bnei ha’elohim erred. This is hinted in the verse, And the ‘bnei ha’elohim’ saw the daughters of men, as mentioned in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer. But other sources have it that Naamah was the wife of Shamdon, the mother of Ashmedai, and it is from her that the demons were born for her name is indeed found in the writings of “the use of the demons.” Scripture hints and deals briefly with such hidden matters.

And Zillah also bore Tuval Kayin, master of all artisans who know how to forge brass and iron. And the sister of Tuval Kayin was Na'amah; she was mistress of elegies and songs.

R' Isaac said: Why was it written, "The sister of Tuval Kayin was Na'amah?" He answered: [It was because] she was a righteous woman, pleasant in her deeds.

R' Abahu said: The plain meaning of the text teaches that she was an expert in the working of brass, like her brother Tuval Kayin. The Torah implies this, in saying, "[Tuval Kayin] was the father of all bronze and brass work, and his sister was Na'amah..." He brought forth this artisan-craft, with his sister [in partnership] with him. This is why it said, "Tuval Kayin's sister was Na'amah," that she was an expert just like him, proven by the seemingly unnecessary vav that begins the clause (ואחות תובל קין...)

(1) זה ינחמנו THIS WILL COMFORT US — He will ease from off us (ינחמנו) the toil of our hands. For until Noah came people had no agricultural instruments and he prepared such for them. The earth had brought forth thorns and thistles when they sowed wheat in consequence of the curse imposed upon Adam. In the days of Noah, however, this ceased (Tanchuma 1:1:11).

(1) These are the last words of David: The utterance of David son of Jesse, The utterance of the man set on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, The favorite of the songs of Israel:

"The sister of Tuval Kayin was Na'amah" - Our Sages said that [she was named] Na'amah because she brought harmony due to the result of her actions, as the angels sought to dally with her, and she ran away from them.

(7) 7. Adam had intercourse with female spirits for 130 years until Na'amah came. Because of her beauty, she led the sons of Elohim, Aza and Azael astray. She bore them all sorts of new kinds of Kelipah. Evil spirits and demons spread out from her into the world. They wander around the world during the night, deriding human beings and causing nocturnal pollution. Wherever they find men sleeping alone in their own homes, they hover over them and cling to them, arousing lustful desires and having offspring by them.

(1) From the parashah of the <Red> Heifer: There was a story about R. Matthew bar Heresh. Now he was wealthy, feared Heaven, practiced virtuous beneficence, pursued good deeds of charity, and entertained the disciples of the sages from his own assets. Moreover, orphans and widows were always found at his table. All his paths were in uprightness, and like his master, R. Meir, he was occupied with the Torah all his days. So the radiance of his countenance shone like the brightness of the sun; and they said of him that at no time in his life had he ever looked at anyone's wife or at any other woman. On one occasion he was sitting and occupied with the Torah, when Satan passed by. Upon seeing him, he was envious of him. He said: Is it possible for a righteous person to exist in the world without sin! Immediately he went up on high, where he stood before the Holy One and said: Sovereign of the World, how does Matthew ben Heresh stand before you? He said to him: Completely righteous. He said to him: Give me permission to test him. He gave him permission. Immediately he went and found him sitting and occupied with the Torah. He became like a beautiful woman, whose beauty had not been equalled since the the days of Naamah, the sister of Tubal Cain (of Gen. 4:22), through whom the ministering angels went astray. It is so stated (in Gen. 6:2): THE SONS OF GOD SAW HOW BEAUTIFUL THE HUMAN DAUGHTERS WERE <AND TOOK WHOMEVER THEY CHOSE AS THEIR WIVES>. When <Matthew ben Heresh> saw her, he turned his face away. Again Satan went opposite his face. He turned his face to another side, but Satan was opposite his face. When he saw that she was turning to <face him on> all sides, he said in his heart: I am afraid that the evil drive may prevail against me. So what did that righteous man do? He called one of his students to attend him. He said to him: Go, my son, and get me fire and pins! When he had brought them, he ignited <the pin> in the fire and stuck them in his eyes. When Satan saw that, he trembled in dismay.

(2) She was Noah’s wife. ... Rashi’s proof is the fact that this woman is mentioned where other women are not. And why is this? Because Naamah [was Noah’s wife and she] had three brothers: Yaval, Yuval and Tuval Kayin. And Tuval Kayin was wicked; as Rashi previously explained that he produced weapons for murderers. But Yaval was righteous, dwelling in tents, according to Rashi’s first explanation. Also Yuval was righteous [according to this explanation]. Thus two brothers were righteous, and one was wicked. Noah also had three sons: Shem, Cham and Yefes. Shem and Yefes were righteous, as Rashi explains in Parshas Noah (9:23). And one son was wicked, as is seen there. Accordingly, one should not ask why two [of Noah’s sons] were righteous and one wicked. For Rashi already explained that Naamah was Noah’s wife — and children are usually like the mother’s brothers.

...And Enos lived ninety years and begat Cainan and he grew up, and when he had reached his ‎fortieth year he acquired wisdom and was practiced in all knowledge and skill, and he ruled all ‎the sons of man, and he directed them all in the ways of wisdom and understanding... And Cainan ruled over the whole earth and he influenced part of the sons of man to turn and ‎serve God again.‎ And when Cainan was seventy years he had already begotten three sons and two daughters.‎ And these are the names of Cainan’s sons. The name of the first-born was Mahalaleel, and the ‎second Enon, and the third Ered; and their sisters were Adah and Zillah. Those are all that were ‎born unto Cainan—five children.‎ And Lamech Methusael’s son, became the son-in-law of Cainan, taking his two daughters to ‎wives.‎ And Adah conceived and bare a son unto Lamech and she called his name Jabloh, and she ‎conceived again and bare a son and she called his name Jubal.‎ And Zillah her sister was barren in those days, she had no child as yet.

And it was at the end of many years when Zillah became old that the Lord remembered her, ‎and she conceived and bare a son and called his name Tubal-Cain, saying: After I have ‎withered away, I have created him from E-l Shad-ai. And she conceived and bore a daughter and called her name Na'amah, saying, "After I have withered away, I have obtained pleasure and joy.‎.."