The Torah relates that Noah alone was righteous in his generation; therefore, only he and his family were rescued. The interactions between Noah and the members of his generation are left undescribed. Did he attempt to convince them to change their ways? Did they respect him, or did they despise and oppose him? The Sages present a more detailed picture of this matter.

Rav Huna says in the name of Rabbi Yosei: The Holy One, blessed be He, warned the generation of the flood for 120 years, so that perhaps they would repent. As they did not repent, He said to Noah: “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood” (Genesis 6:14). Noah arose and repented and planted cedars. The people of his generation would say to him: Why are you planting these cedars? Noah said to them: The Holy One, blessed be He, seeks to bring a flood to the world, and He told me to build an ark so that my family and I will escape in it. They would laugh at him and ridicule his words. He would water those cedars and they grew. The people of his generation said to him: What are you doing? He responded to them in that same manner, and they would ridicule him. Eventually, he chopped down the cedar trees and was sawing them. The people of his generation said to him: What are you doing? He told them as he had told them previously, and he warned them. Since they did not repent, God immediately brought the flood upon them. “On that very day, Noah…entered the ark” (7:13). Rabbi Yohanan says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said: If Noah enters the ark at night, all the people of his generation would then say this: We did not know of him. Had we known of him that he was entering the ark we would not have enabled him to enter. Rather: “On that very day, Noah…entered the ark.” Let anyone who is in pain speak.(Tanĥuma, Noah; Bereshit Rabba 32)