Parashat Noach.

These are the progeny of Noah: Noah was a righteous man. Since the text mentions him it sings his praise, in accordance with what is said, (Proverbs 10:7) “The mention of the righteous shall be for a blessing.” Another explanation is: since after stating “These are the progeny of Noah”, it does not at once mention the names of his children but declares that he “was a righteous man”, Scripture thereby teaches you that the real progeny of righteous people are their good deeds (Genesis Rabbah 30:6).

In his generations. Some of our Rabbis explain it (this word) to his credit: he was righteous even in his generation; it follows that had he lived in a generation of righteous people he would have been even more righteous owing to the force of good example. Others, however, explain it to his discredit: in comparison with his own generation he was accounted righteous, but had he lived in the generation of Abraham he would have been accounted as of no importance (cf. Sanhedrin 108a).

Noah walked with G-d. In the case of Abraham Scripture says, (Genesis 24:40) “[G-d] before whom I walked”; Noah needed G-d’s support to uphold him in righteousness, Abraham drew his moral strength from himself and walked in his righteousness by his own effort (Genesis Rabbah 30:10).

He walked. This word is in the past tense. The following is the usage of this verbal form: in the “heavy” (כבד) conjugation one grammatical form is used both as future (i. e. the imperative, since the imperative calls for on action to be done in the future relative to the time when the command is given) and as past tense e. g., (13:17) קום התהלך “arise walk” is future (i. e. imperative); התהלך נח “Noah walked” (in this passage) is past; (1 Samuel 12:19) התפלל בעד עבדיך “Pray for thy servants” is future (i. e. imperative) and (1 Kings 8:42) ובא והתפלל אל הבית הזה “When he shall come and shall pray toward this house” is past, only that the ו at the beginning of the word changes the tense into the future (it is Vav conversive).

[the earth] was corrupt. It means lewdness and idolatry, as (Deuteronomy 4:16) פן תשחיתון “lest ye deal corruptly” (the following words show that this refers to idolatry) and as ‘כי השחית כל בשר וגו “for all flesh had corrupted etc.” (in next verse of this chapter where Rashi states that this has reference to lewdness) (Sanhedrin 57a).

And the earth was filled with violence. means robbery.

For all flesh had corrupted. even cattle, beasts and fowl did not consort with their own species (Genesis Rabbah 28:8).

The end of all flesh. Wherever you find lewdness and idolatry, punishment of an indiscriminate character comes upon the world killing good and bad alike (Genesis Rabbah 26:5).

For the earth is filled with violence. Their fate was sealed only on account of their sin of robbery (Sanhedrin 108a).

[i will destroy them] with the earth. It is similar to מן הארץ "from the earth”; other examples of this use of את are: (Exodus 9:29) בצאתי “when I go forth” את העיר which means מן העיר “from the city” and (1 Kings 15:23) חלה “he suffered” את רגליו which means מן רגליו “from his feet”. Another explanation of את הארץ is: “together with the earth”, for the earth was blotted out and washed away to the depth of a furrow of three handbreadths (Genesis Rabbah 31:7).

Make thee an ark. There are numerous ways by which G-d could have saved Noah; why, then, did he burden him with this construction of the Ark? So that the men of the generation of the Flood might see him employed on it for 120 years and might ask him, “What do you need this for”? and so that he might answer them, “The Holy One, blessed be He, is about to bring a flood upon the world”, perhaps they might repent (literally, return to G-d) (Sanhedrin 108b).

Gopher wood. Thus is its name. Why of this species (גפר)? Because of the (גפרית) “sulphur” by which it was decreed that they were to be blotted out.

Rooms. Separate cabins for each kind of cattle and beast.

With כפר. This is an Aramaic term for the Hebrew זפת “pitch”, and in the Talmud (Shabbat 67a) we find the noun כופרא “pitch”. In the case of the ark (cradle) in which Moses was placed, since the waters were not rapid it sufficed that it should be daubed with slime inside and with pitch outside; and a further reason for this was that this righteous person (Moses) should not smell the bad odour of the pitch (Sotah 12a). Here, however, because of the rough waters he had to cover it with pitch inside as well as outside.

A light. Some say this was a window; others say that it was a precious stone that gave light to them (Genesis Rabbah 31:11).

And to a cubit shalt thou finish it upward. Its covering (roof) slanted upwards so that it narrowed at the top to a cubit, in order that the water should run off on both sides.

Thou shalt set [the door] in the side thereof. in order that the rain might not penetrate.

With lower, second and third stories. Three stories one above the other: the top rooms for the human beings, the middle ones as cabins for the cattle, and the bottom was for the refuse (Sanhedrin 108b).

And i, behold, i do bring. G-d says, “Now I am prepared to agree with those angels who cautioned Me and long ago said to Me (when I was about to create man), (Psalms 8:5) “What is man that thou art mindful of him” (Genesis Rabbah 31:12).

A flood. so called because it ruined (בלה) everything; because it cast everything into confusion (בלל), and because it brought (הוביל from root יבל) everything down from the heights to a lower level. And this last explanation underlies the translation of Onkelos who translates it by טופנא (Ar. טוף = Heb. צוף) because the Flood caused everything to float about and brought it (the Ark) to Babel which is a low-lying district. That is the reason why it (Babylon) is called, also, Shinar (שנער): because all those who died through the Flood were shaken out (ננערו) into it (Shabbat 113b).

But i will establish my covenant. A covenant was necessary for the sake of the fruits that they should not rot or decay; and also that the wicked people of that generation should not kill him (Genesis Rabbah 31:12)

Thou, and thy sons and thy wife. Males separately and females separately. From this one may infer that they were not permitted to live together in the Ark as man and wife (Sanhedrin 108b).

And of every living thing. Even of demons (Genesis Rabbah 31:13).

Two of every sort. Even of the least numerous amongst them there were not less than two, one male, the other female.

Of the fowls after their kind. those that had kept to their own species and had not corrupted their way (taking the words to mean, “of the fowls that had kept to their own kind”). All these came of their own accord, but only those which the Ark was allowing to pass in did Noah permit to enter (Sanhedrin 108b).

Thus did Noah. This refers to the building of the Ark (Genesis Rabbah 31:14).

[thee] have i seen righteous. It does not say “righteous and wholehearted” (as it does at the beginning of the Sedrah); hence we may infer that only a part of a man’s good qualities should be enumerated in his presence (since here G-d is speaking to Noah and calls him only “righteous”), but that in his absence the whole of his good qualities may be told (since when the Torah speaks about him in the earlier passage it calls him “righteous and wholehearted”) (Eruvin 18b).

Clean. It means those cattle which will in future be permitted to Israel as clean; we thus learn that Noah studied the Torah.

Seven and seven. so many, in order that he might offer some of them as a sacrifice when leaving the Ark (Genesis Rabbah 34:9).

‘גס מעוף השמים וגו of fowls also of the air. Scripture here means “clean” birds just as the animals in verse 2 are stated to be clean, for what is not explicitly stated may be learned by analogy from what is explicitly stated.

For yet seven days. These are the seven days of mourning for the righteous man Methuselah for whose honour the Holy One, blessed be He, had regard, and therefore postponed punishment. Go and calculate the years of Methuselah and you will find that they came to an end (i. e. he died) in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life (which coincided with the date of the Flood) (Sanhedrin 108b).

For yet [seven] days. What is meant by עוד "yet", "more"? A further period of time: this period (seven days) additional to the 120 years of respite that was promised (Sanhedrin 108b).

Forty days. corresponding to the period of a child’s formation, for by their sinning they had troubled their Creator to form embryos of illegitimate children (Genesis Rabbah 32:5).

And Noah did. This refers to his coming to the Ark.

Noah and his sons. The men separately and the women separately, because they were forbidden to live together as man and wife since the world was living in a state of distress

Because of the waters of the flood. (מפני properly means “from before”), Noah, also, was of those people who are wanting in faith: he believed and he did not believe that the Flood would come, and he would not enter the Ark until the waters forced him to do so (Genesis Rabbah 32:6).

Two and two. In this number they were all equal, the least number was two.

They came to Noah. of their own accord (Genesis Rabbah 32).

In the second month. Rabbi Eliezer said, “This is the month Marcheshvan”; Rabbi Joshua said, “This is the month Eyar (Rosh Hashanah 11b).

Were broken up. so that they might give forth their waters.

The great deep. Measure for measure: they had sinned with רבה רעת האדם “great was the evil of man” (i. e. their sin is described by the word רבה “great”) and they were therefore punished by תהום רבה “the great deep” (i.e. the expression “great” is used of the instrument by which they were punished for their great sin) (Sanhedrin 108a).

And the rain was upon the earth. But later on (v. 17) it says. “And the Flood was upon the earth”! But the explanation is this: when He poured down the water at first He made it fall in mercy (gently), in order that if the people would repent, it might prove a rain of blessing; but when they did not repent it became a destructive flood (Genesis Rabbah 31:12) .

‘ארבעים יום וגו forty days and [forty nights]. The first day is not included in this number, because its night (i.e. the night that preceded it, since according to Jewish reckoning a “day” comprises night-time and the following day-time) was not included with it, for it is written (v. 11) “On the same day (i. e. day-time) were all the fountains of the great deep broken up”. (Consequently the forty days ended, according to R. Eliezer, on the 28th day of Kislev (Rosh Hashanah 11b). as the months are counted as regular months, one full (of 30 days) and the next defective (of 29 days), so we have, 12 days of Marcheshvan and 28 days of Kislev.

In the selfsame day. Scripture teaches you that the people of his generation said: “If we see him enter the Ark we will smash it up and kill him”. The Holy One, blessed be He, thereupon said, “I will let him enter before the eyes of everyone and we shall see whose word prevails” (Genesis Rabbah 32:8).

[every] bird of every kind. The word צפור is in the construct state, viz.. birds of every kind of wing, thus including locusts (Chullin 139b). The word כנף means “wingfeather”, as (Leviticus 1:17) “He shall rend it by the wings thereof”, for even its feathers were offered as a sacrifice. Also here, the meaning is, birds with any kind of semblance of wing.

And the Lord shut him in. He protected him so that they could not smash up the Ark (cf. 5:13): He surrounded the Ark (thus enclosing it סגר) with bears and lions which killed some of them (Genesis Rabbah 32:8). But the literal meaning of the text is: He shut the door in front of him against the waters. Similarly, wherever בעד occurs in the Scriptures it means כנגד in front of. E. g., (20:18) “The lord had made a closure in front of (בעד) every womb”; (2 Kings 4:4) “Close the door in front of thyself (בעדך) and in front of (ובעד) thy sons”; (Job 2:4) “skin in front of (as a protection for) (בעד) skin”; (Psalms 3:4) “a shield in front of me ובעדי”: (1 Samuel 12:19) “Pray (בעד) thy servants” which means כנגד in front of (i. e. on behalf of, as a protection for) thy servants.

And it was lifted up above the earth. It was eleven cubits deep in the water like a laden ship that has part of it sunk in the waters (Genesis Rabbah 32:9); the following verses prove that this is the meaning.

[and the waters] prevailed. by themselves (without any external aid).

Fifteen cubits above. above the summits of all the mountains when once the waters reached the level of the mountains (Yoma 76a).

. means the breathing of the breath of life.

Whatsoever was in the dry land [died]. and not the fish in the sea (Sanhedrin 108a).

And he blotted out. The word וימח is a Kal form and not a Niphal, and it is of the same grammatical form as ויפן and ויבן Every verb whose last root letter is ה, such as בנה, מחה, קנה when י and ו are perfixed, has Chireq as its vowel beneath the yod.

. means NOAH ONLY. This is its real meaning. But the Midrashic explanation is (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 9) that he was coughing and spitting blood because of the trouble he had with the cattle and beasts (אך is taken as a מיעוט limitation, meaning to say that something is defective); others say, that he was once late in bringing food to a lion, so it struck him. Regarding him may the words be applied (Proverbs 11:31), “Behold, even the righteous is paid (for his evil deeds) in this world”.

And G-d remembered. This Divine Name really signifies the G-d of Strict Justice but it is transformed into Divine Mercy through the prayers of the righteous, whilst the evil practised by wicked people transforms Divine Mercy into Strict Justice, as it is said (Genesis 6:5) “And the Lord ('ה) saw that the wickedness of man was great” and (Genesis 5:7) “And the Lord ('ה) said, “I will blot out etc.”, yet in these passages the Name ('ה) is מדת רחמים, that signifying Divine Mercy (Genesis Rabbah 33:3).

. ‘ויזכור אלהים את נח וגו AND G-D REMEMBERED NOAH etc., What did He remember regarding the cattle? The merit that no perversion of their way had been seen amongst them previously to the Flood, and that they lived apart in the Ark.

And G-d made a wind. (or SPIRIT) TO PASS, A spirit of consolation and relief passed before Him.

Over the earth. Because of what was happening on earth.

And the waters assuaged. The word occurs again (Esther 2:1), “when the wrath of the king was assuaged (כשוך)”, and it means there abatement of anger.

And the fountains … were stopped. When they were opened, it was stated that all fountains were opened (7:11), whilst here the word all is omitted: the reason is that such of them as were essential to the world were left unstopped, such as the hot springs of Tiberias and their like (Sanhedrin 108a).

. means was restrained. withheld, as (Psalms 40:12) “Thou wilt not withhold (תכלא) thy mercies” and (Genesis 23:6) “None of us will withhold (יכלה) from thee.”

After the end of one hundred and fifty days. they began to decrease: that was on the first day of Sivan. How so? The rains ceased to fall on the twenty-seventh day of Kislev, you have three days left in Kislev, and the 29 days of Tebeth make 32, and Shebat, Adar, Nisan and Eyar have together 118, making altogether 150.

In the seventh month. viz., Sivan, which is the seventh from Kislev in which the rains stopped falling.

On the seventeenth day. From here you may infer that the Ark was submerged in the water to a depth of eleven cubits. For it is written (next verse) “In the tenth month on the first day of the month the tops of the mountains were seen” and this was Ab which is the tenth month after Cheshvan, after the rain began to fall. Now the waters were 15 cubits high above the mountains so that they subsided from the first of Sivan to the first of Ab 15 cubits for those 60 intervening days, which is one cubit each four days. Consequently by the sixteenth of Sivan they had subsided only 4 cubits, and since the Ark rested on Ararat on the next day, you may learn that it was submerged eleven cubits in the waters which were then still above the mountain tops (Genesis Rabbah 33:7).

In the tenth month … were the tops of the mountains seen. This was Ab which is the tenth from Marcheshvan when the rain began. If, however, you say that it means Elul, the tenth month from Kislev in which the rain stopped, just as you said (see Rashi on verse 4) that “in the seventh month” means Sivan which was the seventh month after the rain stopped, then I reply that it is impossible to argue so. For you must needs admit that the “seventh” month when the Ark rested can only be counted from the time when the rain stopped, since the 40 days during which the rain fell and the 150 days during which the waters prevailed did not terminate until the first day of Sivan, and if you say that it means the seventh after the rain began to fall, this would not be Sivan. The “tenth month”, however, when the tops of the mountains became visible cannot possibly be counted except from the time the rain began to fall, for if you say that it must be calculated from the time when it stopped, which would be Elul, you would not then find that “in the first month, on the first day of the month the waters dried up from off the earth” (Genesis 8:13). For it was only at the end of 40 days after the tops of the mountains were visible that he sent forth the raven (Genesis 8:6), and he waited periods amounting altogether to 21 days during which he was sending forth the dove, making altogether 60 days from when the tops of the mountains became visible until when the face of the earth became dry; if, therefore, you say that it was in Elul that they were seen, it would follow that the earth became dry in Marcheshvan (60 days after Elul). But it (Scripture) calls it (the month when the waters were dried up; Genesis 8:13) the first month, and that can only be Tishri which is the first month reckoning according to the creation of the world, or according to R. Joshua, it would be Nisan (Genesis Rabbah 30:6).

At the end of forty days. from when the tops of the mountains were seen.

The window of the ark which he had made. for the light; it does not mean the door of the Ark intended for entry and exit.

Went forth to and fro. It (the raven) flew in circles round and round the Ark and did not go on its errand for it suspected that he (Noah) intended to injure its mate, just as we learn in the Agada of Chelek (Sanhedrin 108b).

Until the waters were dried up. The real sense of the verse is what it plainly implies (until the waters of the Flood were dried up); but the Midrashic explanation (Genesis Rabbah 33:5) is: The raven went to and fro in the world being kept in readiness for another errand during the time when the rain was withheld and the waters dried up in the days of Elijah, as it is said, (1 Kings 17:6) “And the ravens brought him bread and flesh”.

And he sent forth a dove. at the end of seven days, for it is written, (Genesis 8:10) “And he stayed yet other seven days”, from this statement you may infer that after the first occasion, also, he waited seven days.

. And HE SENT FORTH, This does not mean merely “sending on an errand”, but “sending away”, “letting go”, he freed her to go where she liked, and thus he could see whether the waters abated, because if she could find a resting place she would not return to him.

And he stayed. The word means waiting, as (Job 29:21) “Unto me they gave ear and waited (ויחלו)”, and it occurs frequently in the Scriptures.

Plucked in her mouth. I am of opinion that it (the dove) was a male and that therefore it (the text) speaks of it sometimes as masculine and sometimes as feminine, because really wherever יונה “dove” occurs in the Scriptures it is spoken of as feminine, as (Song 5:12) “[His eyes] are like those of doves beside the water brooks. that are washing themselves (רוחצות fem.) in milk”; (Ezekiel 7:16) “Like the doves of the valleys, all of them moaning" and as (Hosea 7:11) “Like a silly (פותה fem.) dove”

. means IT HAD PLUCKED OFF, The Midrashic explanation takes it as meaning “food”, and interprets בפיה as “speaking”, viz., she said. “Rather that my food be bitter as an olive but from the hand of G-d, than as sweet as honey and from the hand of mortal men” (Eruvin 18b; Genesis Rabbah 33).

And he stayed. This has the same meaning as ויחל (Genesis 8:10), only that the latter is the Kal, whereas the word here is the Hithpael: ויחל means “he waited” וייחל “he had patience”.

In the first month. According to R. Eliezer this would be Tishri, and according to R. Joshua Nisan (Rosh Hashanah 11b).

[the waters] dried up. It (the earth) had become like clay, for now its surface had become somewhat hardened.

On the twenty-seventh [of the month]. The rain had begun to fall in the second month on the seventeenth day (Genesis 7:11): the ten days are those by which the solar year exceeds the lunar year; for the punishment of the generation of the Flood lasted a full (i.e. a solar) year (Genesis Rabbah 33:17).

Was [the earth] dried. It became hard as is its normal condition.

. ’אתה ואשתך וגו THOU AND THY WIFE etc., Husband and wife are mentioned together, now He allowed them to resume family life (Genesis Rabbah 34:8).

Bring forth. The Ketib is הוצא and the Keri היצא;היצא means, “tell them to go forth”, הוצא means, “if they do not wish (if they refuse) to go forth, you make them go out”.

That they may bring forth abundantly in the earth. but not in the Ark: this teaches that cattle and fowls also were separated, male and female, in the Ark (Genesis Rabbah 34:8).

After their families. They took upon themselves to keep to their specie.

Of all clean cattle. He said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, ordered me to take in seven pairs of these only in order that I might offer a sacrifice of them” (Genesis Rabbah 34:9).

From his youth. This word is written without a Vav after the ע so that it may be read as מנעריו which would imply that from the moment the embryo bestirs itself to have an independent existence the evil inclination is given to it (Genesis Rabbah 34:10).

אסף… ולא אסף i will never again … neither will i ever again. He repeated the expression that it might serve as a solemn oath, and it is to this that the text (Isaiah 54:9) refers: “For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah [will never again pass over the earth]”. We, however, do not find any explicit oath regarding this, but this passage in which He repeated these words, which may be regarded as an oath. Thus do our Sages explain in Treatise Shevuot 36a.

While the earth remaineth … shall not cease. Of these six seasons each consists of two months, as we have learned (Bava Metzia 106b): Half of Tishri, Marcheshvan and half of Kislev is seedtime; half of Kislev, Tebeth and half of Shebat is the cold-season.

. COLD-SEASON is more severe than חורף winter.

Winter. is the time of sowing barley and pulse which are quick (חריף) to ripen. It is half of Shebat, Adar and half of Nisan.

Harvest. Half of Nisan, Eyar, and half of Sivan.

Summer. Half of Sivan, Tammuz and half of Ab. This is the time of fig-gathering, the time when they lay them out to dry in the fields. and its name is קיץ “summer-fruittime”, as (2 Samuel 16:2) “And the bread and the summer-fruit (קיץ) for the young men to eat”.

Heat. This is the end of the hot season, half of Ab, Elul and half of Tishri, when the world is excessively hot, as we have learned in Treatise Yoma 29a: “The end of the summer is worse than the summer itself”.

Day and night shall not cease. From this we may infer that they (day and night) ceased during the period of the Flood, for the planetary system did not function, so that there was no distinction between day and night (Genesis Rabbah 34:11).

Shall not cease. None of these shall cease to take their natural course.

. means AND THE DREAD OF YOU, similar to (Job 6:21) “ye see a terror (חתת)." The Agada takes the word as signifying “life”, “vitality” (חיות): So long as a baby, even one day old, has life you do not have to guard it against the attacks of mice, whilst Og, king of Bashan, when dead needs to be guarded against the attacks of mice, as it is said, “And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be [upon the beasts of the field etc.].” When will the fear of you be upon the beasts? So long as you are alive (חתכם) (Shabbat 151b).

Shall be food for you. For I did not permit Adam Harishon to eat meat, but green herbs alone; but lo you, even as the green herbs that I gave the full use of to Adam Harishon, do I give everything (Sanhedrin 59b).

Flesh with the soul thereof [shall ye not eat]. He here prohibited to them אבר מן החי the eating of a limb cut from a living animal, that is to say that בשר בנפשו (literally, flesh together with its life) means so long as its life is in it you shall not eat the flesh.

. (literally, its blood together with its life) means whilst its (the animal’s) life is still in it (the blood).

. Consequently בשר בנפשו לא תאכלו FLESH SO LONG AS THERE IS LIFE IN IT SHALL YE NOT EAT forms the prohibition of אבר מן החי the eating of a limb cut from a living animal. And connecting בנפשו with דמו we obtain the reading also בנפשו דמו לא תאכלו ITS BLOOD TOGETHER WITH ITS LIFE SHALL YE NOT EAT which forms the prohibition of partaking of blood of a living animal (Sanhedrin 59a)

However your blood. Although I have permitted you to take the life of cattle yet your blood I will surely require from him amongst you who sheds his own blood (see Bava Kamma 91b).

Your life. Even though one strangles himself (Genesis Rabbah 34:13) so that no blood flows from him yet I will require it from him.

At the hand of every beast. Because the generation of the Flood sinned and they were therefore freely exposed to become food for wild beasts which would have power over them, as it is said (Psalms 49:21), “He is ruled over by wild beasts like the beasts that perish” (these being the prey of other animals) (Shabbat 151b), it was therefore necessary to proclaim a punishment against wild animals on their account.

At the hand of man. At the hand of one who kills with premeditation, when there are no witnesses to the murder, will “I” require it.

At the hand of every man’s brother. At the hand of a man who loves him like a brother and slays him accidentally will “I” require it, unless he go into banishment (in one of the Cities of Refuge) and pray for forgiveness for his iniquity. For even one who kills another by accident needs atonement: therefore if there are no witnesses to the deed to make him liable to banishment and he does not humble himself, the Holy One, blessed be He, will require it of him, just as our Rabbis explain the text, (Exodus 21:13) “But G-d causes it to come to hand”, in Treatise Makkot (Makkot 10b): The Holy One, blessed be He, causes them (the man who killed by accident and had not expiated the murder and the man who killed with premeditation) to meet at the same inn. The former in ascending a ladder falls upon the latter and kills him and has therefore, the accident having been seen by men, to go to banishment.

By man shall his blood be shed. If there are witnesses you kill him. Why? Because in the image of G-d [made He man] and he has destroyed the Divine image (Genesis Rabbah 34:14)

He made man. This verse is abbreviated and should be “the Maker made man”; there are many similar expressions in the Scriptures.

And ye, be fruitful and multiply. According to the real sense, the first time this was said to man (Genesis 9:1) it was said as a blessing (an assurance that they would be fruitful); here it is a command (Ketubot 5a). According to the Midrashic explanation this command is mentioned here after the mention of murder in order to liken one who abstains from having children to one who sheds blood (Yevamot 63b).

And i behold i. “I am in agreement with you”; He said this because Noah feared to fulfil the duty of propagating the species until the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him that he would not again destroy the world and this promise G-d made (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 11). Ultimately He said to him, “If you are still anxious I am willing to give to My promise the permanence and strength of a covenant and I will give you a sign.”

And every animal of the earth with you. or, THAT ARE WITH YOU, those which go about with human beings.

Of all that go out of the ark. These words would include creeping things and reptiles.

[even every] beast of the earth. These words are intended to include dangerous animals which cannot be included in the above description, “every living creature that is with you”, for these do not go about with human beings.

And i will establish. I will give confirmation to my covenant; and in what consists this confirmation? “The sign of the rainbow”, as it goes on explaining at the end.

For generations for ever. The word לדרת “for generations” is written defective (without Vav) (implying that the sign will be necessary only for such generations as are “defective” in faith) because there will be some generations which will require no sign since they were completely righteous, such as the generation of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and the generation of R. Simeon ben Yochai (Genesis Rabbah 35:2).

When i bring a cloud. When I have it in mind to bring darkness and destruction upon the world.

Between G-d and every living soul. Between Divine Justice and you; for otherwise it should have written “between Me and every living thing”. But this is its explanation: when Justice will come to accuse and condemn you I will look upon the sign and remember the covenant (see Genesis Rabbah 35:3).

This is the sign of the covenant. He pointed to the rainbow, and said to him, “This is the sign of which I have spoken.”

And ham is the father of Canaan. Why is it necessary to mention this here? Because this section goes on to deal with the account of Noah’s drunkenness when Ham sinned and through him Canaan was cursed. Now as the generations of Ham have not yet been mentioned and we therefore would not know that Canaan was his son, it was necessary to state here that “Ham is the father of Canaan”.

[and Noah] began. (The word may be connected also with a root meaning “profane”) He profaned (degraded) himself, for he should have occupied himself first with planting something different (Genesis Rabbah 36:3).

A man of the ground. The master (owner, lord) of the ground; similar to Ruth 1:3 איש נעמי “The husband (lord) of Naomi”.

And he planted a vineyard. When he went into the Ark he had taken with him vine-branches and shoots of fig trees (Genesis Rabbah 36:3).

אָהָלֹה. "אָהֳלָה" כְּתִיב, רֶמֶז לְעֶשֶׂר שְׁבָטִים שֶׁנִּקְרְאוּ עַל שֵׁם שׁוֹמְרוֹן שֶׁנִּקְרֵאת "אָהֳלָה", שֶׁגָּלוּ עַל עִסְקֵי הַיַּיִן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (עמוס ו,ו): "הַשּׁוֹתִים בְּמִזְרְקֵי יַיִן".

And he uncovered himself. This is the Hithpael form.

וַיַּרְא חָם אֲבִי כְנַעַן. יֵשׁ מֵרַבּוֹתֵינוּ אוֹמְרִים: כְּנַעַן רָאָה וְהִגִּיד לְאָבִיו. לְכָךְ הוּזְכַּר עַל הַדָּבָר וְנִתְקַלֵּל (בראשית רבה לו,ז).

וַיַּרְא אֵת עֶרְוַת אָבִיו. יֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים סֵרְסוֹ, וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים רְבָעוֹ (סנהדרין ע' ע"א).

And shem and japheth took. (literally, “And Shem took and Japheth”) It is not written here ויקחו “And they took”, but ויקח “And he took”, in order to teach regarding Shem that he devoted himself to this duty with more eagerness than Japheth. Therefore have Shem’s sons received the privilege of wearing the cloak that has fringes, and the sons of Japheth were privileged to receive honorable burial, as it is said, (Ezekiel 39:11) “I will give unto Gog (a descendant of Japheth) a place fit for burial [in Israel]”. But as for Ham who despised his father, of his descendants it is said (Isaiah 20:4) “So shall the king of Assyria lead away the captives of Egypt, and the exiles of Ethiopia (these were peopled by the children of Ham) young and old, naked and barefoot and with buttocks uncovered etc.” (Genesis Rabbah 36:6 and Tanchuma 1:2:15).

And their faces were backward. Wherefore is it written a second time (that they turned themselves backward)? It is to tell us that when they came near to him and it was necessary for them to turn round in order to cover him they kept their faces turned away (Genesis Rabbah 36:6).

His younger son. The unworthy and despicable one, as (Jeremiah 49:15) “For, behold, I make thee small (קטן) among the nations, and despised among men" (Genesis Rabbah 36:7).

Cursed be Canaan. You have brought it about that I cannot beget a fourth son to serve me; cursed, therefore, be your fourth son (see Chap. 10:6) to serve under the descendants of these elder ones upon whom the duty of serving me will devolve from now on. Why did Ham maltreat him in this manner? He said to his brothers, “Adam Harishon had two sons and one killed the other in order that he might possess the whole world(Genesis Rabbah 36:7): our father already has three sons, and he wishes to have yet another “.

Blessed be the eternal, the G-d of shem. who will in days to come carry out his promise to his descendants to give them the land of Canaan.

And may he be. Canaan, their servant serving and paying tribute (Cp. Josh. 16:10).

כְנַעַן. לְמַס עוֹבֵד.

May G-d enlarge japheth. The Targum renders the verb by יפתי meaning, “may He extend”.

And may he dwell in the tents of shem. may He make His Divine Presence (Shechinah) dwell in Israel. According to the Midrashic exposition of the Sages (Yoma 10a) it means: Although G-d enlarged Japheth inasmuch that Cyrus, who was a descendant of Japheth, built the second Temple, yet the Shechinah did not dwell in it. Where, then, did it dwell? In the first Temple which Solomon, a descendant of Shem, built.

And may Canaan be servant to them. Even when the children of Shem be in exile, children of Canaan will be sold to them as slaves.

And tiras. This is Persia (Yoma 10a).

To be a mighty one. Mighty in causing the whole world to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He, by the plan he devised for the generation that witnessed the separation of the races (דור הפלגה) to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis Rabbah 23:7).

A mighty hunter. He ensnared the minds of people by his words, misleading them to rebel against the Omnipresent (Genesis Rabbah 37:2).

‘לפני ה before the Lord. intending purposely to provoke Him to His face

Wherefore it is said. Regarding any man who brazenly acts wickedly, knowing his Master and yet of set purpose rebelling against Him, it is said. “This man is like Nimrod a mighty hunter” (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 1-2).

‘מן הארץ וגו out of that land went forth asshur. As soon as Asshur saw that his sons listened to Nimrod, rebelling against the Omnipresent by building the Tower, he went forth out of their midst (Genesis Rabbah 37:4).

The great city. This refers to Nineveh (not to Calah the last mentioned city nor to Resen), as it is said (Jonah 3:3) “Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city” (Yoma 10a).

Lehabim. So called because their faces were fiery as a flame.

And pathrusim and casluhim out of whom came philistim. They (the Philistines) were descended from both of them for the Pathrusim and the Casluhim used to live together in promiscuous intercourse, and the Philistines were their offspring (Genesis Rabbah 37:5).

And afterwards were spread abroad. From these many families were spread abroad (besides those already mentioned. 5:15, 18).

The boundary of the canaanite. means the end of his land: wherever גבול occurs it signifies end and extremity.

As thou comest. This word is a noun. I think it is a colloquial expression like that used by a person who says to another: This boundary stretches until you come to such and such a boundary.

After their tongues, in their lands. Although these were of different tongues and lands they are nevertheless all sons of Ham.

The father of all the children of eber. (עבר means the “side” or “ other side” of a river), The father of all the children of עבר הנהר, the other side of the River (Euphrates), was Shem.

[shem …] the brother of japheth, the elder. (The Hebrew is ambiguous: “the elder” may refer either to Shem or to Japheth). One cannot from here determine whether Japheth was the elder or Shem. Since, however, it states (10:10) “Shem was a hundred years old … two years after the flood” you must admit that Japheth was the elder. Because Noah was 500 years old when he first had children (5:32), and the Flood happened in the six hundredth year of his life (7:11), consequently the eldest of his sons was then one hundred years old, whereas Shem reached his hundredth year only two years after the Flood (and therefore Japheth was the elder of the two) (Genesis Rabbah 37:7).

The brother of japheth. It does not state “brother of Ham”, because those two honoured their father whereas Ham put him to shame.

[the earth] was divided. The languages became confounded and they (the peoples) were scattered abroad from the plain of Shinar, and were dispersed throughout the whole world. We may learn from this that Eber was a prophet, for he gave his son the name פלג, “division” after an event which was to happen in the future (Genesis Rabbah 37:7). For we learn in Seder Olam that it was during the last of his days that they were dispersed abroad. For if you argue that this happened early in his life (and that therefore he was not anticipating the future in so naming his son, but that the name referred to an event that had already happened), behold, his brother Joktan was younger than he and he had begotten many families previous to the dispersion, as it is said (10:26) “And Joktan begot etc.” and only afterwards is it stated “And the whole earth was etc.” (with reference to the dispersion). If, on the other hand, you argue that the dispersal happened in the middle period of his life, then I reply that the verse surely does not intend to refer to the time when the dispersion took place in an indefinite manner, but to state quite definitely when it was. Hence you may learn that it was in the year of Peleg’s death that they were dispersed.

וְיָקְטָן. שֶׁהָיָה עָנָיו וּמַקְטִין עַצְמוֹ, לְכָךְ זָכָה לְהַעֲמִיד כָּל הַמִּשְׁפָּחוֹת הַלָּלוּ.

. He was so called (Court of Death) after his city. So is the statement of the Agada (Genesis Rabbah 37:8).

One language. The Holy Tongue (Hebrew) (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 19).

And one speech. They came with one plan, saying: “He has no right to select the heavenly regions exclusively for Himself; let us ascend to the skies and make war upon Him”. Another explanation (of דברים אחדים which is taken to mean “words referring to “One”): words regarding the Sole Being (G-d) in the Universe. Another explanation of ודברים אחדים is: they spoke דברים חדים “sharp” words; they said, “Once in every one thousand six hundred and fifty six years (the period that elapsed from the Creation to the Flood) there is a heaven-shaking, just as there was in the days of the Flood. Come. then, and let us make supports for it” (Genesis Rabbah 38:6).

As they journeyed from the east. where they were then dwelling, as it is written above, (Genesis 10:30) “And their dwelling place was … the mountain of the East”. From there they journeyed to search out for themselves a place that would accommodate them all, but they found none except Shinar (Genesis Rabbah 38:7).

One to another. One nation to the other: Mizraim to Cush, Cush to Put. and Put to Canaan (Genesis Rabbah 38:6).

. means, “Prepare yourselves”. Wherever the word הבה (come) occurs it has the meaning of “prepare”, meaning that they should get themselves ready and unite for some work or plan or burden (undertaking). “Come, get ready”: in old French appareiller; English to prepare.

Bricks. For there is no stone in Babel which is a plain.

And burn them thoroughly. This is how bricks, which in old French are called Tuiles, English tiles, are made: they fire them in a furnace.

For mortar. to plaster the walls.

Lest we be scattered abroad. That He shall not be able by bringing some plague upon us, to scatter us from here.

And the Lord came down to see. He really did not need to do this, but Scripture intends to teach the judges that they should not proclaim a defendant guilty before they have seen the case and thoroughly understand the matter in question. This is to be found in Midrash of R. Tanchuma.

The children of man (Adam). But whose children could they have been (except the children of man, i.e. human beings), perhaps the children of donkeys or camels? But it means the children of Adam Harishon who proved himself ungrateful when he said, (Genesis 3:12) “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, [she gave me of the tree etc.]”. These people, also, were ungrateful, rebelling against the One who had showered kindness upon them and had rescued them from the Flood (Genesis Rabbah 38:9).

Behold, they are one people. They possess all the advantage of being one people and of having one language common to all of them, and this is what they begin to do!

. is infinitive, like אמרם “their speaking”. עשותם “their doing” (i.e. “they speak”, “they do”), so here: “they begin to do”) (Genesis Rabbah 38:9).

. This is a question (although the ה which introduces an interrogative sentence is absent): SHALL THEY NOT BE RESTRAINED FROM DOING WHAT THEY IMAGINE TO DO? The word יבצר means “restraining”, as the Targum understands it; a similar instance is, (Psalms 76:13) “He restrains (יבצור) the spirit of princes”.

Come, let us go down. He took counsel with His Judicial Court because of His exceeding meekness (Sanhedrin 38b)

Come. measure for measure: they had said “Come, let us build“; He meted out to them correspondingly saying. “Come let us go down” (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 18)

. means AND LET US CONFOUND The נ is the plural prefix, and the ה at the end is additional to the root as the ה in ונרדה.

. THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND, One asks for a brick and the other brings him lime: the former therefore attacks him and splits open his brains.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence. In this world (Sanhedrin 107b). What they had said. (Genesis 11:4) “lest we be scattered abroad” really happened to them. This is what Solomon said, (Proverbs 10:24) “What the wicked fears will come upon him” (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 18).

And from thence did the Lord scatter them. This teaches that they have no portion in the world to come (Sanhedrin 107b). Which sin was greater: that of the generation of the Flood or that of the generation of the Dispersion? The former did not stretch forth their hands against G-d; the latter did stretch forth their hands against G-d to war against him (surely, then, the sin of the generation of the Dispersion was greater) and yet the former (the generation of the Flood) were drowned and these did not perish from the world! But the reason is that the generation of the Flood were violent robbers and there was strife among them, and therefore they were destroyed; but these conducted themselves in love and friendship, as it is said, “They were one people and had one language”., You may learn from this how hateful to G-d is strife and how great is peace (Genesis Rabbah 38:6).

Shem was a hundred years old. when he begat Arpachshad two years after the Flood.

In the presence of his father terah. meaning during his father’s lifetime (Genesis Rabbah 38:13). The Midrashic explanation is that he died through his father. For Terah accused his son Abram before Nimrod of having smashed his idols to pieces, and he cast him into a fiery furnace. Haran waited and said to himself, “If Abram proves triumphant I will be on his side; if Nimrod wins I shall be on his”. When Abram was saved they said to Haran, “Whose side are you on?” Haran replied, “I am on Abram’s side”. They therefore cast him into the fiery furnace and he was burnt to death. It is to this that the name of the place Ur-Kasdim (fire of the Chaldees) alludes (Genesis Rabbah 38:13). Menachem ben Seruk, however, explains that אור means a valley, as (Isaiah 24:15) “Glorify ye the Lord in the valleys (באורים)”, and as (Isaiah 11:8) “the den (מאורת) of the basilisk”. Every hole or deep cleft may be called אור.

Jiscah. This was Sarah; she was also named Jiscah (from a root meaning “”to see”, “to look”) because she could see the future by holy inspiration, and because everybody looked (gazed) at her beauty (Megillah 14a). The name Jiscah also has reference to princely dignity (נסיכות) just as the name Sarah (שרה) has an allusion to “ruling”(שררה).

And they went forth with them. ויצאו אתם Terah and Abram went forth with Lot and Sarai.

And terah died in haran. after Abram had left Haran (as related in the next chapter) and had come to the land of Canaan and had been there more than sixty years. For it is written, (Genesis 12:4) “And Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran”, and Terah was seventy years old when Abram was born (Genesis 11:26), making Terah 145 years old when Abram left Haran, so that there were then many years of his life left (i. e. he lived many years after that, as a matter of fact, 60 years, as he was 205 years old when he died). Why, then, does Scripture mention the death of Terah before the departure of Abram? In order that this matter (his leaving home during his father’s lifetime) might not become known to all, lest people should say that Abram did not show a son’s respect to his father, for he left him in his old age and went his way. That is why Scripture speaks of him as dead (Genesis Rabbah 39:7). For indeed the wicked even while alive are called dead and the righteous even when dead are called living, as it is said, (2 Samuel 23:20) “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada the son of a living man”.

[בְּחָרָן. הַנּוּ"ן הֲפוּכָה, לוֹמַר לְךָ: עַד אַבְרָם חֲרוֹן אַף שֶׁל מָקוֹם בָּעוֹלָם.]