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Glossary

Trees of the Garden:
Noahide Laws

Noahide Laws

Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a-b

[The question at hand is what commandments God gave to the non-Jewish world. According to the Talmud, the Torah includes six hundred and thirteen commandments (mitzvot), but the vast majority are specific to Jews. Even the Ten Commandments include rules such as keeping Shabbat, which do not apply to non-Jews.]


Our Rabbis taught: The children of Noah [i.e. all non-Jews] were commanded [only] seven mitzvot:

{1} [the obligation to have] judges [a society must have a system of judges], [and the prohibitions of]
{2} "blessing the Name" [euphemism for "cursing the Name" -- blasphemy],
{3} idolatry,
{4} forbidden sexual relations,
{5} murder,
{6} robbery, and
{7} eating a limb from a living animal...


From where (in Scripture) do we learn these things?

Rabbi Yochanan explained: Scripture says [concerning God's commandments to the first human being, ancestor of non-Jews as well as Jews]: "YHVH God commanded the human, saying: From all the trees of the garden, eat, yes, eat."

[Rabbi Yochanan now takes the words of this verse one or two at a time, in their Hebrew word order, linking them to other verses with similar wording which have thematic connections with the seven commandments.]

"Commanded" -- these are the judges. As Scripture says {Genesis 18:19} "I have chosen him (Abraham) so that he will command his children and his descendants to keep the way of YHVH, doing what is right and just..."

"YHVH" refers to [the prohibition of] "blessing the Name". As Scripture says {Leviticus 24:16} "Whoever blasphemes the name YHVH will die, yes, die."

"God" [Elohim, which can also mean "gods"] refers to [the prohibition of] idolatry. As Scripture says {Exodus 20:3} "You shall have no other gods [elohim]".

"The human" refers to [the prohibition of] bloodshed [i.e. murder]. As Scripture says {Genesis 9:6} "Whoever sheds the blood of a human -- their blood will be shed by a human."

"Saying" refers to forbidden sexual relations. As Scripture says [Jeremiah 3:1 -- the verse begins abruptly with the word "saying"]: "Saying: If a man sends away his wife and she goes away from him to be with another man, shall she then come back to him again? Would not such a land be defiled? You have whored with many lovers..."

"From all the trees of the garden" -- and do not rob [by taking from another garden].

"Eat, yes, eat" -- but not a limb from a living animal.

When Rabbi Yitzhak joined the discussion, he taught [the first part of this teaching] in a different order:  "Commanded" refers to [the prohibition of] idolatry [perhaps because that is the major theological commandment of the Torah]; "God (Elohim)" refers to judges [because elohim can also mean "judges"].