Hebräische Bibel
Hebräische Bibel

Related zu Bereschit 8:7

וַיְשַׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־הָֽעֹרֵ֑ב וַיֵּצֵ֤א יָצוֹא֙ וָשׁ֔וֹב עַד־יְבֹ֥שֶׁת הַמַּ֖יִם מֵעַ֥ל הָאָֽרֶץ׃

Und er schickte den Raben aus. Dieser flog hin und her, bis die Erde vom Wasser trocken war.

Rabbeinu Bahya

וישלח את העורב, “he sent out the raven, etc.” Our sages in Sanhedrin 108 claim that the raven had an incontrovertible argument against Noach, claiming that both G-d and Noach hated it. G-d hated the impure creatures, seeing that He had commanded Noach to save only a single pair of each. Noach hated the raven seeing that he was prepared to endanger its survival as a species by sending it on a dangerous mission when he could have sent out a dove or another pure bird of which there were seven pairs. It therefore taunted Noach by accusing him of having sexual designs on its mate. Noach retorted by telling the raven that it was being deliberately vicious seeing it was well aware that he had refrained from indulging in sexual relations in the Ark even with his own wife, someone with whom he was permitted to have relations. Why then would the raven suspect him of having designs on a species which was forbidden to him, i.e the raven’s mate? The raven was not willing to accept Noach’s argument. As a result, Noach told the raven that it would neither be fit to eat nor to be offered as a sacrifice to G-d. At that point G-d intervened and told Noach to take the raven back into the Ark at least until the waters on the earth had dried off. G-d explained that in the future a certain righteous individual (the prophet Elijah) would dry out the world (decree drought) and at that time G-d would need the raven who would carry food to Elijah who would be in hiding at that time. (compare Kings I 17,8). The word יבשת, “dry land,” is closely related to the word תשבי, a favourite description of the prophet Elijah whose home town appears to have been Tishbi or something similar.
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