Seven Commandments
From Wikinoah English
Revision as of 11:06, 3 July 2006 by Abrahamson (talk | contribs)
The seven laws (commonly rendered as Sheva Mitzvot Shel Bene Noach) are:
- Avodah zarah - Do not worship false gods.
- Shefichat damim - Do not murder.
- Gezel - Do not steal (or kidnap).
- Gilui arayot - Do not be sexually immoral (forbidden sexual acts are traditionally interpreted to include incest, bestiality, male homosexual sex acts, i.e. sodomy, and adultery.)
- Birkat Hashem - Do not "bless God" euphemistically referring to blasphemy.
- Ever min ha-chai - Do not eat any flesh that was torn from the body of a living animal (given to Noah and traditionally interpreted as a prohibition of cruelty towards animals)
- Dinim - Set up a system of honest, effective courts, police and laws.
The Talmud also 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 God and act in accordance with the Noahide laws.
