The history of Adam has ended in the previous verse. It has become clear from Genesis 5:1 – 6:8 that the humanity that descended from Adam had put itself in a hopeless position. The history of Noah shows that the Lord nevertheless chooses to save. Noah was righteous and upright. He stood out among his contemporaries, who did not even want to be righteous and blameless in God’s eyes. Someone is righteous when he seeks to live according to God’s law and will (see Ezekiel 18:5–9).

Here Noah is called righteous and blameless. A sacrificial animal also had to be blameless, without defect (see Exodus 12:5; Leviticus 1:3; Leviticus 3:1). One who is upright and blameless lives according to God’s law, according to his good commandments (see Psalm 119:1). When the word blameless is used for a person, it does not mean that he is sinless. But it does show that his heart is focused on following God. That is the compass of his life. It is precisely this that identified Noah’s life and in this he stood in contrast to his contemporaries. For walking with God, see Genesis 5:22–24. Noah, together with his three sons, formed the nucleus of the new humanity when the flood had washed away the rest of the people from the earth.