What was the name of Noah's wife and daughters-in-law?

Answer 1

The Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible does not give the name of Noah's wife, nor the names of his daughters-in-law, who were the wives of his three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Except for the brief references they are rendered (Genesis 6:18; 7:7, 13; and 8:16, 18) as companions to the lead characters (if you will), what we do know about their names is exclusively from extra-biblical sources; which are mostly based on tradition.

The following sources list the names of Noah's wife and his son's wives. As you will see these names vary greatly over time and with different schools of religious thought. They are as follows:

1. According to the Book of Jubilees, which is known to have been in use from the late 2nd century BC, they are as follows:

Wife of Noah - Emzara, daughter of Rake'el, son of Methuselah

Wife of Shem - Sedeqetelebab

Wife of Ham - Ne'elatama'uk or Ne'eltama'uk

Wife of Japheth - 'Adataneses

2. According to the Christian writer St. Hippolytus(d. 235 AD) who recorded a tradition of their names according to the Syriac Targum (Rabbinic explanations, expansions and paraphrases of the Tanakh) which is similar to the Book of Jubilees, they are as follows:

Wife of Shem - Nahalath Mahnuk

Wife of Ham - Zedkat Nabu

Wife of Japheth - Arathka

(Note: Noah's wife is apparently not mentioned here.)

3. According to an old Arabic work know as the Kitab al-Magall or Book of Rolls, which is part of Clementine literature of the Gnostics; the Syriac Book of the Cave of Treasures, a book of New Testament apocrypha (ca. 350); and Patriarch Eutychius of Alexandria (ca. 930) agree to the following:

Wife of Noah - Haykêl, the daughter of Namûs (or Namousa), the daughter of Enoch, the brother of Methuselah; the first of these sources in other places calls her the daughter of Mashamos, son of Enoch

Wife of Shem - Leah, daughter of Nasih

Eutychius of Alexandria goes on to say the following on his own:

Wife of Shem - Salit

Wife of Ham - Nahlat

Wife of Japheth - Arisisah

Theologian John Gill (1697-1771) in his Exposition of the Bible explains/ comments on this tradition, showing that:

Wife of Shem - Zalbeth or, as other copies, Zalithor Salit

Wife of Ham - Nahalath

Wife of Japheth - Aresisia

(Note: All three sons wives were refered to by Eutychiusas daughters of Methuselah.)

4. According to the Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis (ca. 375) an early Christian heresiology:

Wife of Noah - Barthenos

(Note: Shem, Ham and Japheth's wives are apparently not mentioned here.)

5. According to Ge'ez language work Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan (ca. 5), a Christian pseudepigraphical work translated from Arabic:

Wife of Noah - Haikal, the daughter of Abaraz, of the daughters of the sons of Enos; whom some authors have connected with the above Barthenos (i.e., Bath-Enos, daughter of Enos)

(Note: Shem, Ham and Japheth's wives are apparently not mentioned here.)

6. According to Armenian tradition:

Wife of Noah - Nemzar, Noyemzar or Noyanzar

7. According to an 8th century Latin manuscript called Inventiones Nominum, copies of which were found at the Abbey of St. Gall in Switzerland and in a library a Albi, SW France, relate as follows:

Wife of Noah - Set

Wife of Shem - Nora

Wife of Ham - Sare

Wife of Japheth - Serac

8. According to the Genesis Rabba midrash, ancient rabbinic homiletical interpretation of the Book of Genesis (B'reshith in Hebrew); and the medieval midrash, the Book of Jasher 5:15:

Wife of Noah - Naamah, according to the first, daughter of Lamech and sister of Tubal-Cain; according to the second, daughter of Enoch

(Note: Shem, Ham and Japheth's wives are not mentioned here.)

9. According to the Persian historian Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (ca. 915) who based his information on Islamic traditions, their names are as follows:

Wife of Noah - Waila

Wife of Shem - Salib, daughter of Batawil, another son of Mehujael

Wife of Ham - Nahlab, daughter of Marib, another son of al-Darmasil

Wife of Japheth - Arbasisah, daughter of Marazil, son of al-Darmasil, son of Mehujael, son of Enoch, son of Cain

(Note: Based on the book Commentary on the Koran(1734) by George Sale, some Muslim commentators claimed that the wife of Noah was an infidel, who died in the flood and therefore was not aboard the Ark.)

10. In Irish folklore the names of Noah's wife and his son's wives usually are as follows:

Wife of Noah - Percoba

Wife of Shem - Olla

Wife of Ham - Olliva

Wife of Japheth - Ollivani

But according to some versions of the Irish LeborGebála, a mythological history of Ireland, their names are:

Wife of Shem - Cata Rechta

Wife of Ham - Cata Flauia

Wife of Japheth - Cata Chasta

(Note: Noah's wife is not mentioned here.)

And there are many others, even as far away as China.

For more info, please refer to source below.

Answer 2

In The Bible, Noah was the son of Lamech.

Apocryphal literature which is not accepted in the biblical canon has the story that Lamech raised him but noah was not his biological son. Noah was the son of the "Gods". The story told is that Lamech came home one day and saw a child that didnt belong. He asked his wife who the child was and the wife told him the child was Lamech's. Lamech was outraged. His wife pleaded saying it was his son and not one of the sons of "Gods" that the child was a son of man. Lamech went to his father to ask for help. His father than asked Enoch what his son should do about this mysterious child. Enoch told him he should name his Noah and keep him as his own for one day he will be choosen.

Answer 3

The book of Genesis didn't name Noah's mother. It identified the genealogical lines of ascent from Noah to Adam, by way of the males for each generation. Noah's father was identified as Lamech [5:28-29].

Answer 4

Noah's father was Lemech. There were two men named Lemech (Genesis 4 and 5), not to be confused. Noah's mother and brothers are not named.

See also:

Evidence of the Flood

Answer 5

Noah's fathers name was Lamech, however his mothers name was not said in the bible