Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 5:29 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 29. 29And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Lamech names his son Noah and hopes that he will bring comfort from the exhausting work caused by the LORD's curse on the ground.
Read It With
- Genesis 5:1–32
Read verses 28–32 with Genesis 3:17–19 and the later Noah story. The naming reaches back to cursed-ground toil and forward to the flood, preservation, sacrifice, promise, and Noah's later work as a man of the ground.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Noah's naming voices hope for relief from the cursed ground and interprets why the genealogy has reached him.
Read Genesis 5:28–32 together
Why these verses belong together: Lamech's naming of Noah, hope for comfort, later life and death, and Noah's three sons close the genealogy and prepare the flood.
Verse 28. 28 And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
Verse 29. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
Verse 30. 30 And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
Verse 31. 31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
Verse 32. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Follow the Context
- The heading recalls humanity's creation in God's likeness, male and female, blessing, and the shared human name Adam (5:1–2).
- Adam fathers Seth in his own likeness and image; Adam's full entry establishes the recurring formula and ends, 'and he died' (5:3–5).
- The formula repeats from Seth through Jared, showing named succession, unnamed sons and daughters, long lives, and unavoidable death (5:6–20).
- Enoch's entry follows the family formula but replaces the death notice with walking with God and being taken by God (5:21–24).
- Methuselah's entry returns to the death refrain and reaches Lamech (5:25–27).
- Lamech names Noah in hope of comfort from cursed-ground toil; Lamech dies, and Noah fathers Shem, Ham, and Japheth (5:28–32).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“called his name Noah”
In plain language: Lamech names the child Noah, a name associated in sound with rest.
The name introduces the flood hero at the genealogy's climax.
Why it matters: The literary association prepares hope without supplying a complete prophecy.
How certain? strong“shall comfort us”
In plain language: Lamech expects the child to bring relief or consolation.
The hope answers the work and hand-toil caused by cursed ground.
Why it matters: The explanation uses soundplay with Noah's name but a different exact Hebrew root.
How certain? strong“ground which the LORD hath cursed”
In plain language: Human labor remains burdened by the judgment of Genesis 3.
The genealogy carries Eden's consequences into Noah's generation.
Why it matters: Noah's story is introduced as a response to real toil and curse, not as an isolated hero tale.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Noah's name does not guarantee an easy life, immediate removal of the ground's curse, or simple comfort through the flood.
The wordplay does not make Noah and the verb 'comfort' the same exact Hebrew root or prove that Lamech knew the coming flood in detail.
What Remains True
People may bring their weariness and hope for relief before God, while allowing God's unfolding work to define the form of that relief.
How It Can Shape Life
- Name the real burdens of work and inherited brokenness, pray for relief, and refuse to turn hope into a guarantee of comfort on your preferred terms.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 5:29's contribution to Genesis 5:1–32. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 5:1–32 — Adam's Generations Carry Life Through Death to NoahSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The later narrative develops Lamech's hope in several directions, but Genesis never gives a simple formula stating exactly how Noah fulfilled the naming explanation.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.
Exact location: Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 5:1–32
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Toledot heading, Adam/humanity wording, image and likeness, formulaic genealogy, Enoch walking and taking, death refrain, and Noah-comfort wordplay.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 5:1–32
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Adam as humanity, image and likeness, Enoch idiom, Noah wordplay, name cautions, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 5 translator notes
Open NET Genesis 5 ↗modern open whole book commentary
Genesis
T. Desmond Alexander
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Final-form movement from Adam's image-bearing line through repeated death, Enoch's exception, and Noah's anticipated comfort.
Exact location: Genesis commentary, section Genesis 5:1–32
Open source ↗peer reviewed open literary compositional and reception study
Intratextual Exegesis in the Primeval History – the Literary Function of the Genealogies in View of the Formation of Gen 1–11
Michaela Bauks
Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 131.2, 2019
Supports: Genealogical structure, Genesis 1 echoes, named and unnamed children, ten-generation pattern, Adam-Enoch-Noah expansions, death refrain, textual age differences, and ancient Near Eastern formal setting.
Exact location: Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 131.2 (2019), pp. 177–193, especially pp. 177–182 and 185–186
Open source ↗