Noachidic commandments

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The rainbow is the symbol of the covenant between Noah and YHWH .

The Noachidic commandments (also Noachite commandments and outdated Noachic commandments ) are seven commandments in Judaism , which should apply to all people. Non-Jews who adhere to these can receive a “share in the world to come” as tzaddiks (“righteous people”), which is why Judaism does not teach the need for mission by those of different faiths.

The Noahidismus goes back to the tradition of Noah in the Torah and interpretations in the Talmud .

As a translation back from English , Noachidian laws are sometimes used . However, since the term is derived from the Hebrew Mitzvah ("command"), this has not caught on in German-language literature.

etymology

According to biblical tradition ( Gen 5  EU ), Noah lived in the tenth generation after Adam . He, his wife, his three sons and their wives were, according to tradition in Gen 8: 15–22  EU, the only survivors of the Flood , making them the first parents of all humanity .

The commandments

According to rabbinical interpretation, the first six orders of YHWH in force since Adam, the first man, were known: the prohibition of idolatry, the prohibition of blasphemy, the commandment to establish courts of justice, the prohibition to murder, the prohibition of adultery, the prohibition of Robbery.

According to the Bible, people were allowed to eat meat after the Flood. This added the commandment not to eat blood: “You are not allowed to eat only meat in which there is still blood” ( Gen 9,4  EU ).

The Noachidian Commandments

According to the rabbinical view, all provisions of the Torah apply exclusively to members of the Jewish people - in this context the “yoke of the Torah” is also used. All other people would only have to obey a small number of basic rules that enable human coexistence. According to the Talmud, the Noachidic commandments apply as a general religious and ethical right for all people, regardless of any religion or state.

A list of the seven Noachidic commandments can be found in the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin 13, but they are also partly mentioned and partly indicated in the Torah ( Gen 9: 1–13  EU ).

In the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin 56a / b the following seven Noachidic commandments are defined:

In Judaism, everyone who accepts these seven Noachidic commandments and keeps them is regarded as a tzaddik (righteous / righteous) - no special ritual is required. The organization of people who have consciously chosen this path calls themselves B'nei Noach "Children of Noach". There are local associations of this organization in many countries.

God's covenant with Noah

In the biblical history of the flood, a covenant is mentioned for the first time , which God promised Noah before the flood ( Gen 6,18  EU ) and fulfilled after the flood ( Gen 9,9  EU ). This covenant summarizes the seven “Noachidic commandments” of God in the context of a legal relationship between God and man. The rabbinical tradition assumes that the seven commandments of the covenant also apply to the children of Noah and thus to all of humanity ( Gen 9:19  EU ). Only now can one speak of commandments within this contractually “cut” covenant . This is why the seven commandments were called the “Noachidic commandments,” although six of them had been known since Adam, before the flood story.

The Rainbow

Noah was considered a "just, blameless man" ( Gen 6.9  EU ). The times he lived before the flood are marked as depraved ( Gen 6:11  EU ). After Noah made a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for his salvation, he made an agreement with him: No more floods of this magnitude should come over the earth - but Noah and his descendants should obey a few rules. The rainbow is a symbol of this alliance .

Heathens

The Jewish tradition demands that every person has to observe a minimum of religious and legal rules. Starting from the rabbinical lists with few commandments for all non-Jews, three classes of pagans were derived:

  • the Nochri does not keep the Noachidian commandments,
  • the Ben Noach comply with the Noahide commandments
  • the Ger Toschaw declared before a public court that he will comply with the Noahide commandments. He is allowed to live as a stranger in the Holy Land .

The world to come

Belief in a world to come ( Olam Haba ) or in a world of eternal life is a basic principle of Judaism . This Jewish belief is fundamentally different from the Christian belief in eternal life . The Jewish teaching does not deny anyone the salvation of this coming world, but neither threatens with hell punishments in the hereafter . Jews simply believe that all people can have a share of the world to come. There are indeed many ideas about the world to come, but no canonical definition of its nature; d. That is, Judaism has no clear answer to what happens to us after death. The question of the life after death is also seen as less essential than questions that concern the life of man on earth and in society.

The Jewish belief in a world to come does not mean that people who have never heard of the Torah are evil or otherwise inferior people. Judaism teaches the belief that all people are connected to God. There is therefore no reason in Judaism to do missionary work . Judaism also teaches that all people are alike in that they are neither good nor bad in principle, but have an inclination for both good and evil. During the earthly life man should choose the good again and again.

Jewish self-image

According to a Jewish teacher narration ( Midrash ), God once offered his Torah to all peoples. As a reward, the accepting people should be "special property" and "holy people" ( Ex 19,5  LUT ). Because of the demands formulated in the Torah, all peoples rejected this request as too "inhuman", too "strenuous" and "unattainable". When God came to the Jewish people, they immediately accepted - out of love for and reverence for God.

The other peoples were therefore only imposed the Noachidic commandments, while the Jewish people took on the more extensive “yoke of Mitzvot” (Hebrew Mitzvah , command). According to tradition, these mitzvot consist of 613 do's and don'ts.

See also

literature

  • Michael Ellias Dallen: The Rainbow Covenant: Torah and the Seven Universal Laws. Lightcatchor Books, 2003, ISBN 0-9719388-2-2 .
  • Klaus Müller: Torah for the Nations. The Noachidic commandments and approaches to their reception in Christianity. Institute Church and Judaism, Berlin 1994 (2nd edition 1998), ISBN 3-923095-66-X (Studies on Church and Israel 15).
  • David Flusser , Roman Heiligenthal : Noachidische Gebote I. Judaism II. New Testament. In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie 24 (1994), pp. 582-587 (introduction with reference).

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b Gunther W. Plaut: The Torah in a Jewish interpretation ; Gütersloher publishing house, 2008; P. 129ff, comment: “The 'Noachidischen Commandments'”.
  2. ↑ Tzvi Freeman: The Seven Instructions of Noah . Chabad website Jüdische.info, accessed on November 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Sanhedrin Folio 56a / b . Halakhah.com, accessed November 9, 2016.
  4. ↑ Aria Folger: Ask the Rabbi: What are Noachids? Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ Uri Cherky: The 7 Noachidian Commandments. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  6. ^ Samuel Atlas, Dimensions 1,2; 1967; P. 22.
  7. ↑ See the similar rabbinical sources: Sanhedrin 56a / b; Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 8:11; 9.1ff and Jehuda Ha-Levi, Kursari 3.73.