The name of Noah, in the Bible, immediately calls to mind the narrative of the flood (Gn 6‑9) of which he is the hero who saves humanity from total destruction. But can his story be reduced to the flood ? How can we define this hero and understand what he represents in the traditions of various biblical books ? This article, with an approach that is at once literary and also historical and comparative, determines Noah's place within increasingly vast groups and contexts, beginning with the story of the flood (I), then of the origins (II), the Pentateuch (III), the Prophets (IV) and finally the Deuterocanonical books (V). The question of his name will be examined in the final section, notably in relation to the different literary perspectives analyzed in this article and to several Mesopotamian traditions (V).