# Noah — Two Treatises of Government character guide

> Noah in Two Treatises of Government by John Locke.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0005-iii-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-creation

## Snapshot

The post-flood patriarch whose division of the world among his sons quietly undermines Filmer's claim that all regal power descends from Adam alone.

## Who they are

Noah appears in Locke's argument as a test case: if Shem inherited universal lordship as eldest heir, then Noah's laborious division of territories by lot among his sons was 'labour lost.' The tension is between paternal power and private dominion—two distinct titles that Filmer jumbles together but that plainly separate at Adam's and Noah's deaths. Noah matters because his story exposes how succession and grant cannot both ground sovereignty, forcing Filmer's system to choose between two supremes that cannot agree.

## Relationships

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Adam is the ancestor of Noah through the genealogical line, representing the continuation of humanity after the Fall.

### [Sir Robert Filmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/sir_robert_filmer)

_rivalry_

Noah is cited by Locke to counter Filmer's argument that patriarchal power descended from Noah to his sons.

### [Sir Robert Filmer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/sir_robert_filmer)

_rivalry_

Noah is cited by Locke to counter Filmer's argument that patriarchal power descended from Noah to his sons.

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Adam is the ancestor of Noah through the genealogical line, representing the continuation of humanity after the Fall.

## In the story

### [Book I: Of Government](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/book-i-of-government)

Noah is referenced in the context of Filmer's claims about patriarchal authority and the transmission of sovereignty.

### [II: Of Paternal and Regal Power](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/ii-of-paternal-and-regal-power)

Noah is mentioned in Filmer's narrative as a patriarch through whom the 'fatherhood' continued after the flood, part of the story Locke critiques.

### [Of Adam's Title to Sovereignty by Creation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/iii-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-creation)

Used as a counterexample: if possibility of fatherhood grants monarchy, Noah would be monarch at birth.

### [Of Adam’s Title to Sovereignty, by Donation, Gen. 1:28](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/iv-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-donation-gen-1-28)

Locke compares the grant to Noah in Gen. 9:1-3, arguing it was given to Noah and his sons in common, not as private dominion.

### [Of Adam’s Title to Sovereignty, by the Subjection of Eve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/v-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-the-subjection-of-eve)

Noah is referenced in a discussion about the interpretation of scripture, where Locke notes that God's words to Noah and his sons are sometimes misapplied to Noah alone.

### [VII: Of Fatherhood and Property Considered Together as Fountains of Sovereignty](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/vii-of-fatherhood-and-property-considered-together-as-fountains-of-sovereignty)

Noah is discussed in relation to the division of the world among his sons, raising questions about the inheritance of regal power after his death.

### [Of Monarchy, by Inheritance from Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/ix-of-monarchy-by-inheritance-from-adam)

Referenced implicitly as part of the patriarchal lineage; Locke's argument about inheritance applies to all descendants, including Noah.

### [Of Property](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/v-of-property)

Mentioned alongside Adam as a recipient of God's grant of the world to mankind.

### [XVIII: Of Tyranny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/xviii-of-tyranny)

Referenced in King James I's speech regarding the pact God made with Noah after the deluge, used to illustrate the binding nature of laws.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/noah
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters