Seven Laws of Noah
In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah (Hebrew: שבע מצוות בני נח, Sheva Mitzvot B'nei Noach), otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws[6] or the Noachian Laws[8] (from the Hebrew pronunciation of "Noah"), are a set of universal moral laws which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a covenant with Noah and with the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity.[12]
For the Jewish new religious movement, see Noahidism.
The Seven Laws of Noah include prohibitions against worshipping idols, cursing God, murder, adultery and sexual immorality, theft, eating flesh torn from a living animal, as well as the obligation to establish courts of justice.[15]
According to Jewish law, non-Jews (gentiles) are not obligated to convert to Judaism, but they are required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba), the final reward of the righteous.[19] The non-Jews that choose to follow the Seven Laws of Noah are regarded as "Righteous Gentiles" (Hebrew: חסידי אומות העולם, Chassiddei Umot ha-Olam: "Pious People of the World").[20]
Origins[edit]
Biblical sources[edit]
According to the Genesis flood narrative, a deluge covered the whole world on account of violent corruption on the earth, killing every surface-dwelling creature except Noah, his wife, his sons, their wives, and the animals taken aboard the Ark. According to the biblical narrative, all modern humans are descendants of Noah, thus the name Noahide Laws refers to the laws that apply to all of humanity.[3] After the Flood, God sealed a covenant with Noah with the following admonitions as written in Genesis 9:4-6:[35]
Judaism[edit]
Talmud[edit]
According to the Talmud, the Noahide laws apply to all of humanity.[3][9][29] In Judaism, the term B'nei Noach (Hebrew: בני נח, "Sons of Noah")[18] refers to all mankind.[9] The Talmud also states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come".[44] Any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as one of the righteous among the gentiles.[29] According to the Talmud, the seven laws were given first to Adam and subsequently to Noah.[2][3][9][29] Six of the seven laws were exegetically derived from passages in the Book of Genesis,[2][7][9][29] with the seventh being the establishment of courts of justice.[2][7][9][29]
The Talmudic sages expanded the concept of universal morality within the Noahide laws and added several other laws beyond the seven listed in the Talmud and Tosefta which are attributed to different rabbis,[2][3][7][9] such as prohibitions against committing incest, cruelty to animals, pairing animals of different species, grafting trees of different kinds, castration, emasculation, homosexuality, pederasty, and sorcery among others,[2][3][7][9][29][45][46] with some of the sages, such as Ulla, going so far as to make a list of 30 laws.[2][3][7][47] The Talmud expands the scope of the seven laws to cover about 100 of the 613 mitzvot.[48]