The Naming of Noah and the Earth That Found Rest

(Genesis 5:28-29) "And he called his name Noah, saying, This one shall comfort us." The name is not the exposition and the exposition is not the name; the verse should have said only "Noah [Noach], this one shall give us rest [yanichenu]," or "Nachman, this one shall comfort us [yenachamenu]." Rather, when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the first Adam, He gave him dominion over everything: the cow would obey him to plow, the furrow would obey to be plowed. But on the day he sinned, they rebelled against him and rested. When Noah arose, he gave them rest. "Rest" is stated here and "rest" is stated elsewhere, "so that your ox may rest"; just as the rest there is the rest of an ox, so the rest stated here is the rest of an ox. Resh Lakish said: the name is not the exposition, and so forth. Rather, before Noah arose the waters would rise and flood them in their graves twice, as it is written (Amos 5:8; 9:6), "He who summons the waters of the sea," once in the morning and once in the evening. This is the meaning of what is written (Psalms 88:6), "like the slain who lie in the grave" — their lying down was that of the slain; and when Noah arose, they found rest. "Rest" is stated here and "rest" is stated elsewhere, "He shall enter into peace, they shall rest on their beds"; just as the rest stated there is the rest of the grave, so the rest stated here is the rest of the grave. Rabbi Eliezer said: he was called for his offering, (Genesis 8:21) "And the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma [hanichoach]." Rabbi Yosi says: he was called for the resting of the ark, as it is said (8:4), "And the ark rested." "And he begot a son." Why did he not state it by his name as with Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, and Enoch? This teaches that Methuselah was a great sage and warned his father not to call him by his name, for the men of the flood generation were sorcerers, lest they kill him by sorcery. When he was born, he called him Noah, but to his father he said, Call him Menachem, for he comforts his generation. They said, This one will comfort us from our deeds. He said to them: If you return in repentance, he will comfort you.