Kislev 8 – And the ark moved about on the surface of the waters…

November 27, 2025

09 – Kislev, 5786_09_Kislev, Genesis, Jesus, Luke, Matthew

Noah

Kislev 8, 5786; from sunset November 27, 2025, to sunset November 28, 2025

(The eighth day of the ninth month)

Noah’s Ark (1846), by the American folk painter Edward Hicks.

Noah’s been in the ark about four weeks now, three of those weeks it’s been raining. But he’s not done yet; there are still almost three more weeks of rain in his future. Last time we checked in with the occupants of the ark, we compared the great sinfulness of mankind on the earth to the waters greatly increasing upon the earth. Let’s dig into the text again and see what else we can pull out of it.

Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. – Genesis 7:17-18 (NKJ)

Today we’re going to focus on the latter part of verse 18. It reads, “and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.” This is a great verse to look at in Hebrew.

וַתֵּלֶךְ הַתֵּבָה עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם

vatelech hatevah al-penei hamayim

and it moved about, the ark, upon the face of the waters

The word “vatelech” is rooted in the verb “halach” which means “to walk or go.” So, you could translate this verse as:

“And the ark walked upon the face of the waters.”

When we think of walking on water, of course, our minds shift to our Messiah, Jesus, who walked upon the surface of the water:

But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. – Matthew 14:24-25 (NKJ)

We’ve already learned that Noah was righteous in his generation and Jesus was certainly righteous in His. Neither one was drowned in the chaos of the waves which symbolized the sinfulness of mankind. Both Noah and Jesus intentionally caused themselves to walk intensively with God.

But there’s yet another comparison which can be made between Noah and Jesus.

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.

And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” – Luke 8:22-24 (NKJ)

This story is also recounted in Matthew 8:23-27 and Mark 4:35-41.

So what’s the other connection to Noah? Well, Noah’s name in Hebrew is “Noach” (“No-ahkh”). It comes from the verb root “nuach” which means “to rest or settle down.” If we take a careful look at the story above, we find Jesus sleeping – He was “resting.” And, when the disciples woke Him, He caused the wind and the waves to “settle down.” You could say that Jesus “Noah-ed” the storm.

On the flip side, Jesus’ name in Hebrew is Yeshua. Yeshua comes from the verb root “yasha” which means “to be saved or delivered.” Yeshua means “The LORD Saves.” This is exactly what the LORD did for Noah. You could say that the LORD “Yeshua-ed” Noah and his family.

If you’d like to read all of our posts on Noah, please click on the image above.