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I will hold every living being responsible for the life of another. I will hold every human being responsible for the life of another; I will demand an accounting for each life.

6 Since man was made in God’s image, whoever kills a person will be killed by others.3

      7 But you, reproduce, have children, and become numerous throughout the earth: rule over it.”

      8 Then God spoke to Noah and his sons, saying,

      9 “I will definitely fulfill my covenant with you and your descendants,

      10 and with all the creatures that were with you, and left the boat with you; with the birds, animals, and all life on earth.

      11 I will make my covenant with you by never again destroying all life by floodwaters. There will never again be a flood that will totally devastate the entire earth.”

      12 Then God said, “This is the sign of my covenant that I am making between me and you, and all animal life that is with you. It will last till eternity, for all generations.

      13 I have made my rainbow in the clouds, and it is the sign of My covenant between Me and all of the earth.

      14 So when I cause cloudy skies over the earth and My rainbow is seen in the clouds,

      15 I will then remember my covenant between Me and you and all types of life. Never again will floodwaters devastate all life.

      16 When you see a rainbow in the clouds, remember the eternal covenant between God and all types of living beings that are on earth.”

      17 Then God said to Noah, “This (the rainbow) is the sign of the covenant that I am making between Me and all life that is on earth.”

      18 The sons of Noah who left the boat were Shem, Ham, and Yafet. Ham was the father of Canaan.

      19 These were Noah’s three sons, and they filled and spread out over all the earth.

      20. Noah became a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.

21 He drank from its wine, became intoxicated, and undressed inside his tent.4

22 So Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father inappropriately, and he told this to his two brothers who were outside.5

      23 Then Shem and Yafet took and carried an outer garment, and walked backward (into the tent). They covered their naked father while looking away. They did not see their father undressed.

      24 When Noah recovered from being drunk, he knew what his youngest son had done.

      25 He then said, “Cursed is Canaan; he will be a slave of slaves to his brothers.”

      26 He further said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Canaan will be his slave.

27 May God make Yafet expand his influence, and may he live under the protection of Shem. Canaan will be his slave, too.”6

      28 After the great flood, Noah lived another 350 years.

      29 Noah reached the age of 950 years, and then he died.

1. v. 2: This description of human-animal relations causes me to believe that the “large amphibians” previously mentioned, if they can be identified as dinosaurs, no longer existed by this time.

2. v. 4: This verse may also be rendered, “But don’t eat any animal that is still alive.” The intent of this mitzvah (commandment) is to forbid eating a live animal, and additionally to insure that a slaughtered animal is not eaten raw (as blood would still be in the meat). Both of these interpretations or translations are true to the Hebrew text and are parts of our kosher dietary laws.

3. v. 6: This mitzvah means that whoever murders a fellow human will be liable to capital punishment. The Hebrew word tselem (image) has significant meaning in the Torah. We can see the great value of human life when we understand this word. 1.26 notes that man was made in God’s tselem. See my note to 1.26.

4. v. 21: The word that is translated “to undress” may also mean that Noah behaved drunkenly and was discovered in this state inside his tent. Thus his actions were “uncovered.”

5. v. 22: Thus, either Ham saw Noah naked or behaving like a drunkard. We can ask why Noah may have chosen to get intoxicated. An interesting opinion is offered by Rabbi Steinhardt: “Noah is the first survivor (of the flood). When he came out of the ark he saw that every single person he knew except for his immediate family had been killed. He saw all the destruction and he despaired. He saw (that) every house and every tree and everything that was familiar to him were wiped out” (taken from http://www.bnai-torah.org/clientuploads/sermons/Rabbi_Steinhardt_Parsha_Noah_5768_2 .pdf). Then Steinhardt expresses another opinion, that of a colleague: “Rabbi Daniel Gordis, offers . . . (his) explanation. . . . (Noah) got drunk because he couldn’t handle the success. . . . He actually had saved the world and he was the focus of the universe….He did great things. He was on an incredible high and when he came off the ark. He now had to involve himself in the mundane. . . . That was very, very difficult for him. Rabbi Gordis refers to it as the “Noah Syndrome” (taken from http://www.bnai-torah .org/clientuploads/sermons/Rabbi_Steinhardt_Parsha_Noah_5768_2.pdf).

      As a biographical note, Rabbi Gordis was vice president at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and the dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies there before immigrating to Israel. He now serves as the Senior Vice President of the Shalem Center in Israel.

6. v. 27 makes a pun of Yafet’s name, since the Hebrew word for “expand” is from the same root. Yafet is portrayed as one who “expands” his territory and influence, while Shem (Hebrew for “name” and “good reputation”) retained his good reputation in this blessing by his father. The name Ham (Hebrew for “hot,” maybe “hot-headed,” if it refers to Ham’s temperament), may denote his derogatory or degrading words to his brothers about their father. Another tradition ties the name Yafet to the Hebrew word for “beauty” (yafeh).

      Chapter 10

      1 These are the family histories of Shem, Ham, and Yafet. After the flood occurred, they fathered sons and daughters.

2 Yafet’s sons were named Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yavan, Tuval, Mesheq, and Tiras.1

      3 Gomer’s sons were named Ashkenaz, Rifat, and Togarmah.

      4 Yavan’s sons were named Elisha, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

      5 Their clans settled in island-nations, each in its respective area. Each clan developed its own language, specific to its given nation.

      6 Ham’s sons were named Cush, Mitzrayim, Put, and Canaan.

      7 Cush’s sons were named Sava, Havilah, Savtah, Ra’amah, and Savteka. Ra’amah’s sons were Sheva and Dedan.

8 Cush also fathered Nimrod. He was a very prominent, famous man on earth.2

      9 He was a hunter of prowess in God’s presence. Because of this, the saying, “Like Nimrod, the great hunter in God’s presence,” was popular.

10

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