“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

How could eight people be the parents of all the ethnic groups we see today? Part of the answer lies in the interpretation of our study verse. It says Noah was perfect in his generations. The word “perfect” implies entire, complete, or full. In its immediate sense it probably refers to his righteousness before God—“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

As God looked at the world in Noah’s day, He found Noah to be “complete.” While the primary interpretation focuses on his moral character, it may also imply he was complete in other aspects of his life, too. If he was “complete” in a genetic sense, he must have had the array of genes necessary to become an ancestral father of all that are living today. We now know that organisms with multiple traits can produce unique expressions of these traits in just a few generations. This would have been enhanced by the institution of the various language groups at Babel with migrations resulting in the nations we see around the globe.

Let us not forget that Noah was a real person who lived a just life before God. In like manner each of us is to seek completeness in Noah’s God. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). No doubt God knew Noah’s frame and chose him to be a father of us all. We can’t change our inheritance, but we can perfect our judgment and truth and place our trust in Him (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:30). KBC