Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach The Seven Noahide Laws

By Shlomo Phillips 5.12.2004 (last updated 06.20.2013)

One of the best-known biblical accounts is the story of Noah and the Flood. Many ancient cultures recorded or referenced this historic event. Modern science -- with its discoveries of frozen animals found at the North Pole with freeze dried vegetation still in their mouths and so on -- supports the notion that something like this did indeed occur. Whether it was a global or massive regional deluge is debated. The considerable amount of evidence from ancient sources from the Middle East to India to the Americas lends solid support to Moshe's description of what happened in the Torah. While cultures remember the flood differently, we accept the Torah's version as most accurate and consistent with what is known. In this study our interest is in what happened immediately after the flood as recorded in Genesis. Shortly after the flood waters subsided and the survivors left the ark, our common father Noach (Noah) released the animals he had rescued. He then built an alter and worshiped Elohim with thanksgiving (Genesis 8:20). Like him we should all be thankful to HaShem for the innumerable blessings He showers on us each and every day. His worship should be the central focus of our lives. As Jews we remain mindful of His mercies through observing the 613 Laws, through the three daily prayers, by practicing Hitbodedut, with Shabbat observance and so on. Noahides (non-Jews who worship HaShem) have the Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach ("the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah") to guide them. HaShem has not left humanity without clear instructions. We humans are ordained by our Creator to be caretakers of the earth and its other inhabitants. According to Torah, as we properly maintain life on the planet we serve the Eternal who entrusted us with this great responsibility. When Noach rescued the animals by bringing them aboard the ark he performed a truly great mitzvah. He then gave thanks to the Eternal with an offering. As we read: Genesis 8:21 ADONAI smelled the sweet aroma, and ADONAI said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, since the imaginings of a person's heart are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy all living things, as I have done. 22 So long as the earth exists, sowing time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease." Rather than destroy humanity completely for its lack of holiness, HaShem established a global covenant through Noach that provided a way for all of his descendants to find favor and acceptance in His sight. This Noahide Covenant allows the dual nature of yetzer tov and yetzer hara to continue operating, thus ensuring free will for humanity while allowing humanity to eventually achieve redemption in the Olam Haba (the world to come of the Messianic Age). Having given humanity another chance, HaShem established a visible reminder with the rainbow. This symbol would forever remind humanity of the universal Noahide Covenant

(Genesis 9:12). This natural phenomenon continues to serve as a visible reminder of the Eternal's love for His creation. For those who embrace this Torah truth. Genesis 9:1 God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything 4 only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat. Now Noah was told that the animal creation would henceforth have a natural "fear" of humankind. Prior to this time Torah teaches that no such fear existed. Prior to this point humans apparently did not consume the flesh of the animals nor skin them for clothing etc. Prior to the flood, there was no need for them to fear us. After the flood however the Eternal granted humans permission to begin eating the animals (under certain conditions). For this reason they needed a healthy fear. In the Messianic Age this fear will again be removed as humans return to a peaceful, healthful vegetarian diet as taught Isaiah 11:1-10 and elsewhere. While this important Messianic prophecy uses peace between animal predators as a simile for the peace that will exist between people groups and Am Israel, there is doubtless also the literal meaning here as well. During the Olam Hazeh (the present world system or age) humans are biblically permitted to eat the flesh of most other creatures if we wish; Jews have certain additional limitations established in the laws of Kashrut as discussed elsewhere. Now the topic turns to maintaining social justice within human society. Considering the undeserved mercy shown to humans by the Eternal, we should be merciful one to another. If someone violates the conditions of the Covenant and for instance kills another person, justice must be done. Otherwise the Covenant would have no "teeth" and those who are abused would have no protection. Noah is told that it is our collective responsibility to deal with such cases when they occur. The rationale given for this is that the Eternal created humanity in His own image (Genesis 9:8). As HaShem's legal and political representatives on earth, humanity must enforce the terms of the Covenant. We are in a sense, God to the lower creatures (even as Moshe was "God to Pharaoh" (Exodus 7:1). We are called to defend the weak and to judge justly (Psalm 82). We are to bestow the same mercy on others that HaShem bestows on us with love. There is a very important point here. At Genesis 8:21 HaShem states that our hearts are continually evil (given over to yetzer hara). By empowering humanity to handle our own rectification we are forced to collectively take responsibility for our choices. There practical experience humanity comes to acknowledge our negative proclivities and to strive to better ourselves as His representatives in order to establish and know social harmony. Rather than condemn humanity for its weaknesses as in the Christian dogma of "Original Sin," Torah empowers humanity to learn and to choose yetzer tov (the path of Light) over yetzer ra (the path of Darkness). Human history is the record of this ongoing education.

Genesis 9:8 God spoke to Noach and his sons with him; he said, 9 "As for me - I am herewith establishing my covenant with you, with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you - the birds, the livestock and every wild animal with you, all going out of the ark, every animal on earth. The Noachide Covenant is with Noah and all future generations of humans, animals and every living thing on the planet. The Noachide Covenant therefore is a universal contract with global implications. All who observe its terms and conditions are blessed by the Eternal. It is believed by some that HaShem cares nothing about the earth. That the natural world is sinful and vile beyond redemption. Others say our remarkable little planet is just a stop-over on the way to Heaven or Hell. But this is not what the Sacred Scriptures teach. This is our Home and we are responsible for it. Adam was specifically instructed to be the planetary caretaker. HaShem shows great concern for the natural order. By including all life in the Noachide Covenant, not just humans, HaShem provides for the well being of all. We humans are to be the wise and compassionate caretakers of this planet and the representatives of HaShem (Genesis 3:15,16) to its inhabitants. Clearly we are not supposed to recklessly exploit the planet, to destroy its environment, to wage senseless wars of aggression, to bring misery and extinction upon the other species and so on. No! We are the sons and daughters of HaShem! We have been charged with upholding the instructions of the Creator for the well being of all creation (Psalm 82:8). This is an awesome responsibility and one we are failing to observe properly! Likewise the current attempts by some to lower humanity to the level of being simply another species of terrestrial life is in direct opposition with the revealed Will of HaShem. Our Godordained role is much greater than that. We are to be the representatives of God for the well being of the earth's inhabitants. We must neither shirk that responsibility nor abuse the authority it brings. The next section of our text is very important because here HaShem sets up the order for how human relations are to be conducted in the future by delegating the responsibilities He has given us. By divine authority and wisdom Noah declares the roles of his sons and their offspring and announces the delegated authority of the earthly governance: Shem: This firstborn son of Noah was granted the rights of the firstborn. Shem was declared the leader of the B'nei Noach: the children of Noah. The descendants of Shem include Avraham avinu ("our father Abraham") who received the Avrahamic Covenant of People Israel and his descendants. The initial lineage of Shem included the Semitic Jews through Sarah as well as the Semitic Arabs through Hagar, the people living to the east of Babylon and the Persian Gulf, the Assyrians, the Northern Arabs and others. Eventually the specific blessings granted to this Semitic lineage was narrowed by HaShem to the

descendants of Avraham and Sarah (i.e. it came to exclude the Arabs of the line of Ishmael and his mother Hagar and others as described at Genesis 17:20,21. The Covenant and blessings established with Avraham and Sarah passed to Isaac and Jacob (whose name God changed to Israel) and thence to the 12 Houses of Israel. In time the blessing was further narrowed to the Houses of Judah and Benjamin when the 10 northern houses were defeated by the Assyrians and became the "10 lost tribes." Today the inheritors of the ancient Covenant are known as the Jews. The rights, blessings and responsibilities of Shem now reside with the Jewish people. Through the intervening thousands of years some Semitic Jews married non-Semites and/or allowed non-Semitic converts to enter the Covenant. Today most Jews are not Semitic and yet all Jews are of the Covenant without distinctions. Converts to Judaism must enter through a recognized beit din (Jewish religious court) and meet their requirements and conditions. If one is not Jewish as defined by the sages of Israel one is not a member of the Covenant of Avraham. I share more on this topic elsewhere. Ham: Canaan (Ham's son) and his offspring include the Ethiopians, Egyptians, Africans, Libyans, Phoenicians, Hittites and others. Japheth: His descendants will be "enlarged" and blessed if they "dwell in the tents of Shem." In other words, if they bless Shem and his descendents they will be blessed by HaShem as ger tzadikim (righteous Gentiles), but if they choose to curse the Shemites (the Jews) they will be cursed by HaShem (Genesis 12:3). This blessing/cursing applies to the descendants of Ham as well, however it is specifically directed to the descendants of Japheth, who are instructed by HaShem to "live in the tents of Shem." The descendants of Japheth include the Cimmerians, Cimbri, Celts, Scythians, Russians, Greeks, Anglo-Saxons, Syrians, Thracians, Armenians, peoples of Asia Minor, Sicilians, Cypriots etc. People Israel are the Shemites/Semites who passed through Eber's lineage (Genesis 10:21: i.e. the Hebrews). While most of the other ancient people groups have been buried in the sands of time, these people continue to exist as "the Jews" (the Houses of Judah and Benjamin). They are ordained by HaShem in the Torah to be the priests of the other nations (Exodus 19:6). The other nations of the human family are advised to establish the earth under their direction as HaShem's emissaries. This will be the case during the theocratic kingdom age of haMoshiach, the Olam Haba (Zechariah 8). Historically the Jewish people have often failed to maintain proper submission to HaShem. They disobeyed Moshe and the others sent to them by HaShem and hence they still have not experienced the full blessings the Eternal has in store for them. The Noachide nations have often turned against the Jews with fierce wrath. Anti-Semitism remains an ever present danger. Again today the Noahide nations are turning against Israel. The foundations of the earth are out of balance and will continue to be so until the coming of Melech haMoshiach ben David (may he quickly and in our days!). As has always been the case however, even during these times of growing uncertainty, those Noahides (Gentiles) who seek HaShem and choose to bless the Jewish People are not without

hope and direction. They may draw close to HaShem through the heartfelt observance of the Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach or Seven Noahide Laws. After the Seven Laws were issued to the human race HaShem revealed other, more detailed laws to the family of Avraham and Sarah. These mitzvot were revealed to Moshe and number 613 (by standard count). The 613 mitzvot only apply to the People of the Jewish Covenant. Noahides are not under them.

Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach

Avodah Zarah: Prohibition against idolatry. This includes all forms of idolatry including placing anything before ones service and devotion to HaShem. Birchat HaShem: Commandment to bless the Name of HaShem. Inherent in this is the prohibition against blasphemy, cursing and dishonoring the Name of God in any way. For this reason we typically say/write HaShem ("The Name") or Y'Ya rather than utter or write the Holy Name. The Name is most sacred. Shefichat Damim: Prohibition on murder. "Murder" refers to the unjustified taking of a human life (killing animals is not murder biblically speaking). There is a righteous taking of life and an unrighteous taking of life. Gezel: Prohibition on robbery and theft. Gilui Arayot: Prohibition on immorality and forbidden sexual relations. Such rules and mores are determined by biblical principles and vary from culture to culture. What is acceptable in one setting may not be in another. Ever Min HaChay: Prohibition on removing and eating a limb from a live animal. This is broadly interpreted and has its origins in practices long since abandoned, but essentially it forbids all cruelties and perversions done to animals. Treat all life with respect. Dinim: Requirement to establish justice systems and courts of law to enforce the other 6 laws. We humans have free will and our societies are not static. The Seven Noahide Laws require and empower humanity to self-rule harmonious with divine revelations granted by HaShem. Those who are wise will rule in concert with the wisdom of the Jewish sages: Zechariah 8:23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'

Genesis 8:15-9:28
Genesis 8:15 God said to Noach, 16 "Go out from the ark, you, your wife, your sons and your son's wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing you have with you - birds, livestock and every animal that creeps on the earth - so that they can swarm on the earth, be fruitful and multiply on the earth." 18 So Noach went out with his sons, his wife and his sons' wives; 19 every animal, every creeping thing and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. 20 Noach built an altar to ADONAI. Then he took from every clean animal and every clean bird, and he offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 ADONAI smelled the sweet aroma, and ADONAI said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, since the imaginings of a person's heart are evil from his youth; nor will I ever again destroy all living things, as I have done. 22 So long as the earth exists, sowing time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease." Genesis 9:1 God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you. 3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything - 4 only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat. 5 I will certainly demand an accounting for the blood of your lives: I will demand it from every animal and from every human being. I will demand from every human being an accounting for the life of his fellow human being. 6 Whoever sheds human blood, by a human being will his own blood be shed; for God made human beings in his image. 7 And you people, be fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it." 8 God spoke to Noach and his sons with him; he said, 9 "As for me - I am herewith establishing my covenant with you, with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you - the birds, the livestock and every wild animal with you, all going out of the ark, every animal on earth. 11 I will establish my covenant with you that never again will all living beings be destroyed by the waters of a flood, and there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 God added, "Here is the sign of the covenant I am making between myself and you and every living creature with you, for all generations to come: 13 I am putting my rainbow in the cloud - it will be there as a sign of the covenant between myself and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow is seen in the cloud; 15 I will remember my covenant which is between myself and you and every living creature of any kind; and the water will never again become a flood to destroy all living beings. 16 The rainbow will be in the cloud; so that when I look at it, I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of any kind on the earth." 17 God said to Noach, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between myself and every living creature on the earth." 18 The sons of Noach who went out from the ark were Shem, Ham and Yefet. Ham is the father of Kena'an. 19 These three were the sons of Noach, and the whole earth was populated by them.

20 Noach, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank so much of the wine that he got drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Kena'an, saw his father shamefully exposed, went out and told his two brothers. 23 Shem and Yefet [Japheth] took a cloak, put it over both their shoulders, and, walking backward, went in and covered their naked father. Their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father lying there shamefully exposed. 24 When Noach awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 He said, "Cursed be Kena'an; he will be a servant of servants to his brothers." 26 Then he said, "Blessed be ADONAI, the God of Shem; Kena'an will be their servant. 27 May God enlarge Yefet; he will live in the tents of Shem, but Kena'an will be their servant." 28 After the flood Noach lived 350 years. 29 In all, Noach lived 950 years; then he died.

Be the Blessing you were created to be

and

'Don't let the perfect defeat the good.