RR Noach Genesis 6:9-11:32 By Jeffery Freeman

Shabbat Shalom,

This week’s parshah is Noach. The name comes from Genesis 6:9 These are the genealogies of Noah (Noach).
 
In parshah Noach, we get God ordering Noah to construct the ark, the gathering of animals, the flood, God’s covenant (brit) with Noah (the rainbow as a sign), the Table of Nations, the Tower of Babel, and the genealogy from Shem to Abraham.
 
In Hebraic thought, the term “seventy nations” is understood to mean all nations and all peoples. This thought originates in Genesis 10 because there are seventy descendants of Noah and his sons mentioned. This idea reminds us of both the diversity of people groups and humanities unity. We may have differences, but we are all descended from a common ancestor.
 
Most of us remember from our childhood fun Bible stories of the animals marching two by two into the ark.
 
Genesis 6:19 Of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of everything – male and female – into the ark to keep alive with you.
 
But is this the whole story? Just two of every bird and animal?
 
Genesis 7:2-3 Of every clean animal you shall take seven of each kind, male and female, and of the animals which themselves are not clean two, male and female. And also the flying creatures of the sky seven of every kind, male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of the whole land.
 
Let’s look at one part of this verse before delving into the more important part. That is the “seven of each kind” bit. This little statement has caused endless debate among scholars. Bible translations variously say seven, seven pairs, or fourteen of each kind of clean animals or birds. The Hebrew is tiqqach-lecha shivah shivah. Literally, you shall take with you seven seven. In Hebrew a repeated word is normally distributive – like seven of everything listed. In this case it can be read seven of each kind of clean animal or seven of each male and female (of each kind) which equals seven pairs or fourteen of each kind.
 
I wouldn’t base my faith on any one of these specific numbers. Whichever the number, it was what God commanded, Noah obeyed, and it was sufficient to repopulate the earth after the flood.
 
What I really wanted to focus our attention on is “Of every clean animal you shall take seven of each kind.”  Wait a minute, the first time we get a definition of what constitutes a clean animal isn’t until Leviticus 11 which according to Bible scholars is more than 1100 years after the flood.
 
Yet somehow Noah knew. Some may speculate that of course he knew, because Noah could count…if there were just two animals, they were unclean, if there were seven or seven pairs, they were clean.
 
However, “clean” comes from the Hebrew word tahor – which is more in line with ceremonially acceptable or ceremonially pure – not physically clean (free of soil or other physical contaminate). While there is no biblical evidence that Noah was offering sacrifices before the flood, I will point out that Abel offered animal sacrifice Genesis 4:4 Abel brought the first born of his flock and their fat portions.
 
It seems reasonable that as a righteous and Godly man, Noah very well may have been offering sacrifices before the flood. Whether he made sacrifices before the flood or not, Noah certainly knew exactly what to do when he came out of the ark Genesis 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to ADONAI and took of every clean domestic animal and of every clean flying creature and he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
 
Why is this important to us? Many will accuse someone of being legalistic if they refrain from eating unclean (lo-tahor) animals, like pork or horse, because they are following the Law of Moses, which is according to them, for the Jews.
 
But the account of Noah teaches a different conclusion. Clean and unclean animals were not determined through Moses. What Moses did more than 1100 years after the flood is write down, codify for everyone – Jew and Gentile – what is tahor and what is lo-tahor.
 
Commonly the Jews are very good at keeping to their morashah, their tradition or heritage which is thought to reach back to the exodus. Perhaps the account of Noah and the clean and unclean animals tells us that maybe morashah reaches back even further – to Noah and maybe even earlier. The difference is that the Jews remembered while most of the rest of Noah’s descendants forgot.
 
Let’s close with this thought from Paul, Colossians 2:16 Therefore, don’t let anyone pass judgement on you in matters of food or drink, or in respect to a festival or new moon or Shabbat. In other words, don’t let people pass judgement on you because you are following God’s commandments. Never forget our morashah.
 
Shabbat Shalom

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat      17-Oct-2026             6th of Cheshvan, 5787 Parashat Noach
Ge 11:1-32                Isa 54:1-55:5                        2 Pe 3:1-14