The Talmud states: "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come" (Sanhedrin 105a). Any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as one of "the righteous among the gentiles". [[Maimonides]] states that this refers to those who have acquired knowledge of G-d and act in accordance with the Noahide laws.
==Introduction===
The seven laws (commonly rendered as Sheva Mitzvot Shel Bene Noach) are:
The Noachide is free from punishment if he commits a sin unwittingly; ignorance of the Law, however, does not excuse him. If he commits a sin under duress, even one for which an Israelite is obliged to undergo martyrdom rather than transgress (e.g., idolatry, adultery, or murder), he is not liable to punishment (Mak. 9a; Sanh. 74b; "Yad," l.c. x. 1, 2; comp. "Leh.em Mishneh" and "Kesef Mishneh," ad loc.). A Noachide who slays another Noachide, or worships idols, or blasphemes, or has illicit connection with the wife of another Noachide, and then becomes a proselyte, is free from punishment. If, however, he has killed an Israelite, or has had illicit connection with the wife of an Israelite, and then becomes a proselyte, he must submit to the punishment that is inflicted upon an Israelite found guilty of such a transgression (Sanh. 71b; "Yad," l.c. x. 4).
A Noachide who wishes to observe any of the laws of the Torah is not prevented from doing so. With regard to the prohibition against a Noachide studying the Law or observing the Sabbath, see [[Gentile ]] in Relation to Jews]].
He who observed the seven Noachian laws was regarded as a foreign resident (, 'Ab. Zarah 64b; see [[Ger Toshav]]), as one of the pious of the Gentiles, and was assured of a portion in the world to come (Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 1; Sanh. 105a; comp. ib. 91b; "Yad," l.c. viii. 11). In Talmudic times the non-Jews of Babylon were apparently sunk in the grossest immorality, so that 'Ula, one of the earlierBabylonian amoraim, complains that out of the thirty laws (see above) which the Noachide accept they observe only three—they do not write a marriage contract ("ketubah") for pederasty; they do not sell human flesh in their shops; and they show respect for the Torah (H.ul. 92b).
