The reasons Noach was saved
Last year, we expounded on the Ohr Hachaim on the previous possuk, how the titles used for Noach were all relevant to the reason he was saved and how the world benefited from his existence. The Torah said אֵלֶה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ נֹחַ אִישׁ צַדִיק תָּּמִים הָּיָּה – these are the children of Noach, Noach was a righteous man, he was complete. The purpose of this possuk was to tell us why Noach found favor in Hashem’s eyes, and the Torah enumerated five outstanding traits of Noach for which he deserved to find favor in Hashem’s eyes.
If the parsha were to continue without telling us about Noach’s children, we could mistakenly think that his children’s existence did not contribute to his merits with which he was saved from the flood. If someone were to make this mistake, he would deduce that either the children were not righteous people, and the world had no benefit from them, or that they were conceived and born with impure thoughts. Someone may mistakenly believe that Noach’s intentions when they were conceived were not for the mitzvah of having children; rather for his own, selfish reasons. The Torah repeats the story of their birth to show that their birth was also a product of his selfless avodas Hashem.
