“He found in it a poor, wise man, and he saved the city in his wisdom; but no one remembered that poor man” (Ecclesiastes 9:15). “He found in it a poor, wise man, – this is Noah, as it is stated: “For I have seen you righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). “And he saved the city in his wisdom” – as he would say to them: ‘Alas, empty ones, the flood is coming tomorrow; repent!’ 88Noah said to the people of his generation, attempting to save them.
They would say to him: ‘If calamity will begin, it will begin from the house of that man.’89This is a reference to Noah. When Methuselah died they said to him: ‘Is it not from the house of that man that the calamity began?’90Methuselah, a righteous man, died just seven days before the beginning of the Flood. Noah was a direct descendant of his and mourned his death. “But no one remembered that poor man” – the Holy One blessed be He said to them: You did not remember him; I remember him, as it is stated: “The Lord remembered Noah…” (Genesis 8:1).