Who was Naama, the wife of Noach?

There is a Midrash¹ which takes each line of Eishet Chayil – King Solomon’s beautiful alphabetical poem about the Jewish woman – and aligns it with different righteous women throughout Tanach. This includes the Imahot, Yocheved, mother of Moshe and Chana, mother of Shmuel. Contained inside this Midrash is the name of Noach’s wife: Na’ama. By examining what the Midrash tells us about Na’ama, we can begin to understand her greatness.  

Although the Midrash only begins listing individual comparisons from the second verse of Eishet Chayil, the first pasuk² in fact represents two different couples.

 ‘אֵֽשֶׁת־חַ֭יִל מִ֣י יִמְצָ֑א וְרָחֹ֖ק מִפְּנִינִ֣ים מִכְרָֽהּ.’ ‘A woman of valour, who can find? Her worth is far beyond pearls.’

The Midrash compares this to the marriage of Sara and Avraham as well as to Noach and Naama who are both seen as united in their good deeds. Somehow, Na’ama’s greatness seems tied to her marriage to Noach. 

Naama is an obscure character and little is known about her. Here, however, she is given great acknowledgement for being what we call Noach’s ‘ezer knegdo,’ his helpmate, his partner in life. The Midrash says that Hashem made the match between Noach, a righteous man and Na’ama, a righteous woman as they were deserving of each other. Since Na’ama was as praiseworthy as Noach, she merited to be saved from the flood. We see this in her name, Na’ama, which is related to the Hebrew word na’im meaning pleasant³. 

What was unique about Na’ama, that she, of all the women of the generation, was matched with the righteous Noach? Rebbetzin Lankry, author of “Parsha in Pink,” adds that since the mabul – the devastating flood which Hashem brought upon the world – wiped out all of humanity, Na’ama was essentially the second Chava of the world– the second mother of mankind. What did she do to earn this title? 

According to the Midrash⁴, in the immoral days prior to the mabul, the men would take two wives: one to bear children and one for beauty. The wife who was designated to bear children would live in seclusion, resigned to her childbearing responsibilities while the wife selected for beauty would be adorned with fine garments and jewelry, given poison to ensure she could not bear children and be seated with her husband. The two were seen as completely different functions- one purely utilitarian and one utterly self-indulgent. A wife was either set aside for pleasure or procreation – never the two together.

Na’ama’s name is not mentioned in this parsha, rather, she is constantly referred to as eishet Noach, the wife of Noach. This was not to render her irrelevant or detract from her identity. Conversely, it highlights her greatness. Na’ama was a true wife to Noach, she both bore children and stood by her husband’s side. This was her unique purity. She was a wife in all senses, with no split functions. Noach and Na’ama were thus written together in the Midrash because their marriage, their purity and loyalty towards each other, was like no other in the generation. She was Noach’s sole partner in life.

We learn that Noach’s construction of the teiva took place over a span of 120 years. A lifetime! Throughout this time, the people of the generation scorned Noach and mocked his belief in the coming mabul⁵. Despite the entire world around them doubting them and laughing at them, Na’ama stood by her husband, in silent loyalty. She watched as her husband built the teiva, according to the command of Hashem, and witnessed the world turn their back on them. Yet, she remained loyal to her husband and to his mission in what could have saved the whole world. 

In Shir Hashirim, Hashem compares the Jewish people to a dove. This is a beautiful praise of the nation as it likens them to the bird renowned for its total commitment to its mate, its partner for life. The Jewish people, Hashem’s loyal bride, will never betray their husband and will bind themselves faithfully to Hashem and no other.

 We see this theme of true partnership and loyalty emerge throughout the parsha. Even the animals and birds are sent into the teiva as pairs, male and female. Most obviously, we see this with the raven and the dove. Noach used these two birds⁶ to ascertain whether the land was dry and safe to re-enter. Initially, he sent out the raven, but the bird merely circled the teiva, giving Noach no clarity. He then sent the dove who at first could not find a place to rest but nevertheless returned to Noach. A week later, Noach sent the dove out again and it returned faithfully to Noach with an olive branch in its bill. The dove is emblematic of loyalty as it only has one mate and demonstrated great faithfulness by returning to the one who sent it. As the pasuk⁷ says, ‘She returned to him, to the ark.’ The verse emphasizes that not only did the dove return to the correct place, but she went back to her sender. 

In Shir Hashirim⁸, Hashem compares the Jewish people to a dove. This is a beautiful praise of the nation as it likens them to the bird renowned for its total commitment to its mate, its partner for life. The Jewish people, Hashem’s loyal bride, will never betray their husband and will bind themselves faithfully to Hashem and no other. The verse in Yeshayahu⁹ compares the return of the Jewish people to their homeland to the return of the dove to its nest. ‘Who are these who fly like a cloud, like doves to a window?’ The Radak writes that this analogy powerfully illustrates our desire to return to our land. The same way that it is characteristic of a dove to fly quickly home to its nest to tend to its young, so will the Jewish people long to return to their nest: Eretz Yisrael.
 Indeed, the dove in Parshat Noach symbolises this deep-rooted faithfulness to one’s nest – both in our physical homes in our relationship with our spouse and in our spiritual homes in our relationship with Hashem. It is this loyalty which Na’ama teaches us through her steadfast commitment to her husband’s vision, dreams and goals, a message which is conveyed so subtly through the pesukim. We sing on Shabbat, yona matza vo manoach, that the dove found its resting place. May we merit to find our true peace of mind over Shabbat and always, connecting faithfully to our families and above all, to Hashem.

¹ Midrash Eishet Chayil, quoted in Shira Hochheimer’s ‘Eishet Chayil’

² Proverbs 31:10

³ Rabbi Abba bar Kahana, quoted in Rebbetzin Lankry’s ‘Parsha in Pink’ p6

⁴ Bereishit Rabba 32:2

⁵ Gemara Sanhedrin 108b

⁶ See essay on the raven and dove, Prof Yonatan Grossman, Yeshivat Har Etzion

⁷ Bereishit 8:9

⁸ 2:14

⁹ 60:8