What was Noah doing when God called him righteous in the Genesis flood story?

Genesis says Noah was walking with God when the flood story presents him as righteous.

Genesis 6:9 describes Noah as a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and says that he walked with God. This wording appears before the instructions to build the ark and establishes Noah’s character within the narrative.

The phrase “walked with God” is an idiomatic expression of close relationship and faithful conduct in biblical language. It is also used of Enoch in Genesis 5:24, creating a literary connection between the two figures. The text does not describe Noah as a king, priest, military leader, or temple builder.

Noah’s righteousness is not presented as a claim that he was completely free from every later failing. After the flood, Genesis recounts an episode involving Noah’s vineyard and drunkenness. The opening description instead explains why Noah is singled out in the generation portrayed as corrupt and violent.