Nine Commandments of the Noahide
They said that there were Seven Laws of Noah that were given by God as a binding set of laws for the "children of Noah" – that is, all of humanity. Those seven laws are prohibition of idolatry, prohibition of blasphemy, prohibition of murder, prohibition of forbidden sexual relations, prohibition of theft, prohibition of eating limb of a living animal, and to establish the courts of law. However, there's one huge problem with these seven laws: it has no basis from the Scripture. In fact, it has no basis from the apocrypha. The only basis for these seven laws is from the Talmud, which was written several hundred years after the beginning of the common era. Therefore, I kinda feel that these seven laws are dubious.
However, I do believe that Noah was given some commandments by God. But these commandments are different from what they described in the Talmud. In my opinion, the commandments that were given to Noah is more like the commands that Noah gave to his children in the Book of Jubilee chapter 7.
The commands that Noah gave to his children according to the Book of Jubilee are as follows:
1. to observe righteousness, including not to gather the fruit of everything for three or four years,
2. to cover the shame of your flesh,
3. to bless your Creator,
4. to honor your father and mother,
5. to love your neighbour,
6. to guard your soul from whoring,
7. to guard your soul from uncleanness,
8. to guard your soul from all iniquity,
9. not to eat blood. [1]
All of these Nine Commandmets were echoed in the Holiness Code in Leviticus, particularly Leviticus 17-20. The list of those commandments are as follows:
1. To observe righteousness: You shall do my judgements, and you shall observe my laws to go by them. I am the LORD your God. And you shall observe my laws and my judgements which when a human does them, he'll live through them. I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:4-5, and please also see Leviticus 19:23-25)
2. To cover the shame of your flesh: You shall not expose nudity, I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:6 etc)
3. To bless your Creator: You shall not swear by My Name falsely, so that you would desecrate your God's name. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:12)
* According to the Talmud, whenever referring to blasphemy, the Talmud calls it by the euphemistic term "blessing God", to avoid directly expressing the idea of cursing God. [2]
+ Some authorities state that false oaths or meaningless oaths whereby one invokes the Name of God are forbidden under the category of blasphemy [3]
4. To honor your father and mother: You shall each fear your mother and your father ... I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:3)
5. To love your neighbor: You shall not hate your brother in your heart, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Levoticus 19:18)
6. To guard your soul from whoring: Any man from the children of Israel and from the alien who resides in Israel who gives any of his seed to the Moloch shall be put to death ... and the person who turns to ghosts and to spirits of acquaitances to whore after them, I shall set my face against that person.... (Leviticus 20:1-6)
7. To guard your soul from uncleanness: You shall not come close to a woman during her menstrual impurity to expose her nudity. And you shall not give your intercourse of seed to your fellow's wife to become impure by it. And you shall not lie with a male like lying with a woman. You shall not give your intercourse with any animal to become impure by it. (Leviticus 18: 19-23)
8. To guard your soul from all iniquity: You shall not do an injustice in judgement. You shall judge your fellow with justice. You shall not do an injustice in judgement, in measurement, in weight, and in quantity. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:15, 35-36)
9. You shall not eat blood: Any man from the house of Israel and from the aliens who reside among them who eat blood, I shall set my Face against the person who eats the blood ... every person among you shall not eat blood, and the alien who resides among you shall not eat blood. (Leviticus 17: 10-12)
[1] The "additional" commandment(s) including not to collect the fruit can be found in Yovelim chapter 7:26-37, taken from the book Genesis Retold by J.A. Brown, page 292.
[2] The Path of the Righteous Gentile by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky, page 155
[3] ibid, page 160
References:
1. The Path of the Righteous Gentile by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky
2. Genesis Retold by J.A. Brown
3. Jubilees & Genesis The Parallel Edition by Russell Redden
4. The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard Elliott Friedman
However, I do believe that Noah was given some commandments by God. But these commandments are different from what they described in the Talmud. In my opinion, the commandments that were given to Noah is more like the commands that Noah gave to his children in the Book of Jubilee chapter 7.
The commands that Noah gave to his children according to the Book of Jubilee are as follows:
1. to observe righteousness, including not to gather the fruit of everything for three or four years,
2. to cover the shame of your flesh,
3. to bless your Creator,
4. to honor your father and mother,
5. to love your neighbour,
6. to guard your soul from whoring,
7. to guard your soul from uncleanness,
8. to guard your soul from all iniquity,
9. not to eat blood. [1]
All of these Nine Commandmets were echoed in the Holiness Code in Leviticus, particularly Leviticus 17-20. The list of those commandments are as follows:
1. To observe righteousness: You shall do my judgements, and you shall observe my laws to go by them. I am the LORD your God. And you shall observe my laws and my judgements which when a human does them, he'll live through them. I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:4-5, and please also see Leviticus 19:23-25)
2. To cover the shame of your flesh: You shall not expose nudity, I am the LORD (Leviticus 18:6 etc)
3. To bless your Creator: You shall not swear by My Name falsely, so that you would desecrate your God's name. I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:12)
* According to the Talmud, whenever referring to blasphemy, the Talmud calls it by the euphemistic term "blessing God", to avoid directly expressing the idea of cursing God. [2]
+ Some authorities state that false oaths or meaningless oaths whereby one invokes the Name of God are forbidden under the category of blasphemy [3]
4. To honor your father and mother: You shall each fear your mother and your father ... I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 19:3)
5. To love your neighbor: You shall not hate your brother in your heart, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. (Levoticus 19:18)
6. To guard your soul from whoring: Any man from the children of Israel and from the alien who resides in Israel who gives any of his seed to the Moloch shall be put to death ... and the person who turns to ghosts and to spirits of acquaitances to whore after them, I shall set my face against that person.... (Leviticus 20:1-6)
7. To guard your soul from uncleanness: You shall not come close to a woman during her menstrual impurity to expose her nudity. And you shall not give your intercourse of seed to your fellow's wife to become impure by it. And you shall not lie with a male like lying with a woman. You shall not give your intercourse with any animal to become impure by it. (Leviticus 18: 19-23)
8. To guard your soul from all iniquity: You shall not do an injustice in judgement. You shall judge your fellow with justice. You shall not do an injustice in judgement, in measurement, in weight, and in quantity. I am the LORD your God (Leviticus 19:15, 35-36)
9. You shall not eat blood: Any man from the house of Israel and from the aliens who reside among them who eat blood, I shall set my Face against the person who eats the blood ... every person among you shall not eat blood, and the alien who resides among you shall not eat blood. (Leviticus 17: 10-12)
[1] The "additional" commandment(s) including not to collect the fruit can be found in Yovelim chapter 7:26-37, taken from the book Genesis Retold by J.A. Brown, page 292.
[2] The Path of the Righteous Gentile by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky, page 155
[3] ibid, page 160
References:
1. The Path of the Righteous Gentile by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky
2. Genesis Retold by J.A. Brown
3. Jubilees & Genesis The Parallel Edition by Russell Redden
4. The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard Elliott Friedman
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