Commentaire de citation sur La Genèse 9:15

Shemot Rabbah 9,1 phrases it thus. Seeing that even righteous people demand legitimisation by the performance of a miracle, it is clear that wicked people will do no less. We find that after the deluge G’d said to Noach that He would not ever again bring a deluge to wipe out all the people. Noach asked for a sign. Thereupon G’d gave him the sign of the rainbow (Genesis 9,12). When King Chiskiyah was told by the prophet Isaiah that G’d had accepted his prayer for an extension of his life, the King (a very loyal Jew who almost became the Messiah) asked for a sign that the message from Isaiah which contradicted his earlier message that he should make his last will and testament was true (Isaiah 38,1-7). Seeing that these righteous people asked G’d for a sign, we cannot blame Pharaoh for asking Moses to perform some miracle.

והקימותי את בריתי אתכם. And I will keep My covenant with you. We need to understand why the Torah repeated the promise that all flesh would not be destroyed again and that there would not be another deluge. If, as Rava had said in Shavuot 36, the reason is to give this assurance the status of an oath, our sages used both this and the second half of the verse, ולא יהיה המים for that purpose. They ignored 8,21 in that context. I have explained all that in connection with 8,21.

ויאמר השם אל לבו לא אוסיף עוד לקלל G'd said to His heart: "I will not continue to curse, etc." Why does G'd use the words לא אוסיף twice in the same verse? Rashi claims that the repetition makes the statement equivalent to an oath. He bases himself on Shavuot 36. This poses a problem, seeing that the sages do not really say this. This is the text of the Talmud: Rabbi Eliezer said the word לא is a term used as an oath; the word הן is also a term used as an oath; Rabbi Eliezer quotes some verse as proof. Rava corrects his statement by saying that only when these words are used twice do they constitute an oath. Rava quotes Genesis 9,11 ולא יכרת כל בשר עוד ממי המבול ולא יהיה עוד מבול, all flesh will not again be annihilated by the waters of the deluge, nor will there ever be another flood, as proof for his rule. The fact that Rava quotes this verse and not 8,21 shows that he means two separate verses or statements are needed. The single verse in 8,21 does not constitute an oath according to the Talmud.