Skip to main content

The 7 Laws of Noah For All Mankind According To The Babylonian Talmud

Noah Ark
Judaism doesn't say that conversion to Judaism is necessary for non-Jews; however, it does hold it obligatory for every human to obey what are considered to be the 7 Laws of Noah. Anyone who abides by these 7 laws is considered to be a "righteous gentile" and is assured of a portion in the world to come.1 In other words, though the Law of Moses given to the Covenant people of Israel is not obligatory for the non-Jewish world, the Laws of Noah are obligatory for all mankind.

Tract Sanhedrin of the Babylonian Talmud lists the seven laws in the following words:
The rabbis taught: Seven commandments were given to the children of Noah, and they are: Concerning judges, blasphemy, idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery, and that they must not eat of the member of a body while the animal is still alive.2
The view known as Noahidism builds its ideology on these. Six of the commandments were considered to have been Adamic: "(1) not to worship idols; (2) not to blaspheme the name of God; (3) to establish courts of justice; (4) not to kill; (5) not to commit adultery; and (6) not to rob". The seventh was added after the Flood: (7) not to eat flesh that had been cut from a living animal (Gen. 9:4)3

According to this view, it is obligatory for mankind everywhere to establish legal systems and courts (Law #3) in order to warn and judge people upon the basis of the 6 laws. Obviously, each of the basic laws needed to be interpreted into laws applicable for various crimes.

After the Holocaust, the title "Righteous Among the Nations", based upon the concept of "Righteous Gentiles", became an honorific given by the State of Israel to all those non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save the Jews from extermination by the Nazis.4

1 "Laws, Noachian," Jewish Encyclopedia. jewishencyclopedia.com
2 Babylonian Talmud, Book 8: Tract Sanhedrin, tr. by Michael L. Rodkinson, [1918], at sacred-texts.com
3 "Laws, Noachian," Jewish Encyclopedia.
4For details on the Righteous Among the Nations, visit Yadvashem.org by The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Tale of Something, or Nothing, and God

In the beginning was God and nothing. Then, God created something out of nothing. But, soon that something forgot she was once a nothing. And, forgetting herself and God, she assumed herself to be everything. And, assuming herself to be everything, she died to everything else and God. After many days, when this something had run out of everything she got, She came to her senses and "Who am I? Where am I?" she thought. Then, she realized she was a nothing without her God, And so returned to her original place in God. In the end was God and something.
Post a Comment
Read more

Not I but Grace

I worked...yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1Cor. 15:10) I get tired and weary most times; grace, never. I feel weak sometimes; grace, never. I get confused at times; grace, never. I see darkness at times; grace, never. I wish to give up sometimes; grace, never. I fail many times; grace, never. I have misunderstandings at times; grace, never. I am afraid at times; grace, never. I feel broken sometimes; grace comes to heal. I feel estranged sometimes; grace comes to comfort. I feel purposeless sometimes; grace comes to guide. I feel powerless sometimes; grave comes to strengthen. I feel I am that I am because of what I am; grace departs.... For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Post a Comment
Read more

August 15 Speech - School

Honorable Director, Respected Chief Guest, Principal, Teachers, and Dear Friends: It gives me great honor to speak on the occasion of the 66th Independence Day Celebration of India. As we know, our country went through various phases of foreign domination, finally falling subject to the British Crown, before we saw the Sun of Freedom rise over our nation. But we were never slaves to anyone. In our minds we were always a free spirit. Mahatma Gandhi said, "The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. Freedom and slavery are mental states." Freedom begins within, first, then comes in action externally. The Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl said, "Forces beyond control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation." This sense and life of freedom, subject only to the Law of God, to the Law of Justice, Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity, is the spring and fountain...
Post a Comment
Read more