And he called his name Noah, which signifies rest, saying, by the Spirit of prophecy: This same shall comfort us, concerning the hard labour and manifold troubles to which we are sentenced, Genesis 3:19. 2948 And this he did either,
1. By the invention of instruments of husbandry, whereby tillage was made more easy. Or,
2. By removing in some part the curse inflicted upon the earth, and reconciling God unto mankind. Possibly he might suppose that this was the Messias, or promised Seed, and the Saviour of the undone world; as it was frequent with the ancient fathers, through their earnest desire of the Messias, to expect him long before he came, and to mistake other persons for him. Or,
3. By preserving a remnant of mankind from that deluge which he by the Spirit foresaw would come, and repeopling the emptied earth with a new generation of men, and by restoring and improving the art of husbandry: see Genesis 9:20.