Midrash su Genesi 6:10

And Noah was four hundred and ninety-eight years old when he took Naamah to wife.And ‎Naamah conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Japheth, saying: The Lord hath ‎enlarged me in the land. And she bare another son, and she called his name Shem, saying: God ‎has made me a remnant, to be kept alive in the midst of the earth; and Noah was five hundred ‎and two years old when Naamah bare Shem. And the boys grew large and they walked in the ‎ways of the Lord, according to all that Methuselah and Noah, their father, had taught them. ‎And Lamech, the father of Noah, died at that time, for he followed not in the ways of his ‎father with all his heart; and he died in the five hundred and ninety-fifth year of Noah's life. ‎And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years when he died. And ‎all the other sons of man that knew the Lord, died in that year, which was the one previous to ‎the Lord's bringing the evil upon the sons of man; for the Lord pleased to let them die, so that ‎they should not see their brothers and relatives in the great misery which the Lord had ‎resolved upon. At that time the Lord spoke unto Noah and Methuselah, saying: Arise ye and ‎cry out in the hearing of all the sons of man all the words which I had spoken unto you ‎sometime since, perhaps the sons of man will turn from their evil ways, so that I might repent ‎of the evil, and not bring it about. And Noah and Methuselah arose and cried out aloud in the ‎hearing of all the people all that the Lord had spoken unto them, but the sons of man would ‎not hearken and would not incline their ears unto all their words. And it was after this that the ‎Lord spoke unto Noah: The end of all flesh hath come before me on account of its wicked ‎actions, and behold now I will destroy all men with the earth. And thou take unto thee gopher ‎wood, and go to yonder place and make unto thee an ark, and erect it in yonder place. And ‎this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred ‎cubits, the breadth of it fifty cu bits, and the height of it thirty cubits. And the door of the ark ‎thou shalt set on the side thereof, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above, and shalt pitch it ‎within and without with pitch. And behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth ‎to destroy all flesh from under the heaven; all that hath within itself the breath of life shall ‎perish ; and thou and thy household will come into the ark, and thou shalt take along with thee ‎from all the living beings two and two, male and female, into the ark, to keep alive seed upon ‎the earth; and also of all the food that is eaten by all the animals gather up to thee in the ark, ‎to be unto thee and unto them for food;

R. Joshua the son of Nehemiah said: The third was always the most precious. Adam had three sons, Cain, Abel, and Seth; and Seth was the most beloved, as it is said: This is the book of the generations of Adam, and that is followed by the sentence And begot a son in his own likeness (Gen. 5:3). Noah had three sons, as it is said: And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth (ibid. 6:10), and though Japheth was the eldest, only Shem merited greatness. Amram had three children, Miriam, Aaron, and Moses, and it is written: Had not Moses His chosen stood before him (Ps. 106:23). Concerning the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Levi was the most important, as it is said: At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi (Deut. 10:8). Among the kings Saul, David, and Solomon, Solomon was the most beloved, as it is said: Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord (I Chron. 29:23). In the case of months, the third month is the most precious, as it is stated: In the third month (the Torah was given).