With regard to the other laws which are mentioned in the Book of Genesis and which were not included among the Noachian laws, as, for instance, circumcision and the prohibition against eating of the "sinew that shrank," the Rabbis laid down the following principle: "Every law that was enjoined upon the Noachide and was repeated at Sinai is meant to apply both to Israelites and to non-Israelites; laws that were enjoined upon the Noachide and were not repeated at Sinai apply to Israelites only".<ref>[[Sanhedrin 59a]]; R. Jose ben H.anina; comp. Bacher, "Ag. Pal. Amor." i. 430 and note</ref> By this principle a number of the pre-Sinaitic laws were excluded from the Noachian laws, although it required a great deal of speculative reasoning to make this principle apply to all cases.<ref>[[Sanhedrin 59b]]</ref>

In the elaboration of these seven Noachian laws, and in assigning punishments for their transgression, the Rabbis are sometimes more lenient and sometimes more rigorous with Noachide than with Israelites. With but a few exceptions, the punishment meted out to a Noachide for the transgression of any of the seven laws is decapitation, the least painful of the four modes of execution of criminals (see [[Capital Punishment]]). The many formalities of procedure essential when the accused is an Israelite need not be observed in the case of the Noachide. The latter may be convicted on the testimony of one witness, even on that of relatives, but not on that of a woman. He need have had no warning (''hatra'ah'') from the witnesses; and a single judge may pass sentence on him .<ref>[[Sanhedrin 57a]], [[Sanhedrin 57b]]; ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars,~~" l.c.~~ Chapter 9|Mishneh Torah, Melachim 9:14]]</ref> With regard to idolatry, he can be found guilty only if he worshiped an idol in the regular form in which that particular deity is usually worshiped; while in the case of blasphemy he may be found guilty, even when he has blasphemed with one of the attributes of G-d's name—an action which, if committed by an Israelite, would not be regarded as criminal.<ref>[[Sanhedrin 56b]]; see [[Blasphemy]])</ref>

==Procedure==

The Noachide are required to establish courts of justice in every city and province; and these courts are to judge the people with regard to the six laws and to warn them against the transgression of any of them.<ref>ib.; ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars, Chapter 9|Mishneh Torah,~~" l.c. ix.~~ Melachim 9:14, x. 10"11]]; comp. Nachmanides on Gen. xxxiv. 13, where the opinion is expressed that these courts should judge also cases other than those coming under the head of the six laws, as, for example, larceny, assault and battery, etc.</ref> In the case of murder, if the Noachide slay a child in its mother's womb, or kill a person whose life is despaired of (''terefah''), or if he cause the death of a person by starving him or by putting him before a lion so that he can not escape, or if he slay a man in self-defense, the Noachide is guilty of murder and must pay the death-penalty, although under the same circumstances an Israelite would not be executed<ref>[[Sanhedrin 57b]]; ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars, Chapter 9|Mishneh Torah,~~" l.c. ix.~~ Melachim 9:4]]; comp. "Kesef Mishneh," ad loc.</ref>

Only six cases of what would ordinarily be illicit connection are forbidden to the Noachide: (1) with mother; (2) with father's wife, even after the father's death; (3) with a married woman, whether married to a Jew or to a non-Jew; (4) with sister by the same mother; (5) pederasty; (6) bestiality. In these cases also there are differences in the punishment inflicted, dependent upon whether the offenses are committed by a Noachide or by an Israelite.<ref>see ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars,~~" l.c. ix.~~ Chapter 9|Mishneh Torah, Melachim 9:5-8]]</ref> The Noachide is punished with decapitation for all kinds of robbery, whether from a Jew or from a non-Jew, even though the article stolen is worth less than a ''perutah'' (the smallest Palestinian coin, for less than which no case can be instituted against an Israelite). The Noachide is executed also if he eat of a limb cut from a living animal, even though the quantity consumed be less than the size of an olive (the minimum portion for the eating of which an Israelite may be punished~~; "Yad~~.<ref>[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars, Chapter 9|Mishneh Torah,~~" l.c. ix.~~ Melachim 9:9-13).]]</ref>

==Special Exceptions==

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 <ref>Mak. 9a; Sanh. 74b; ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars, Chapter 10|Mishneh Torah,~~" l.c. x.~~ Melachim 10:1, 2]]; comp. "Lechem Mishneh" and "Kesef Mishneh," ad loc.</ref> 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 <ref>[[Sanhedrin 71b]]; ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars, Chapter 10|Mishneh Torah,~~" l.c. x.~~ Melachim 10:4]]</ref>.

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<ref>'Ab. Zarah 64b; see [[Ger Toshav]]</ref>, as one of the pious of the Gentiles, and was assured of a portion in the world to come.<ref>Tosef., Sanh. xiii. 1; Sanh. 105a; comp. ib. 91b; ~~"Yad~~[[Maimonides' Law of Noahides#Laws of Kings and their Wars,~~" l.c. viii.~~ Chapter 8|Mishneh Torah, Melachim 8:11]]</ref> 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.<ref>Hullin 92b</ref>

In the Messianic age the Noachide will accept all the laws of the Torah, although later they will again reject them.<ref>Yer. 'Ab. Zarah ii. 1</ref>

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