Commento su Genesi 6:18

והקמתי את בריתי BUT I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT — A covenant was necessary for the sake of the fruits that they should not rot or decay; and also that the wicked people of that generation should not kill him (Genesis Rabbah 31:12)

AND I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that this is a sign that G-d had sworn to Noah that during the flood, neither he nor his children would die even though it is not clearly written at first. This is similar to what we find in Deuteronomy: And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said: Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us.⁴⁹Deuteronomy 1:22. This account, narrated by Moses, is not explicitly stated in Numbers, Chapter 13, which begins with G-d saying: Send thou men… Ramban cites this as another case where the first account lacks some of the details of the later account.
The meaning of V’hakimothi (And I will establish) is “I will fulfill My oath.” It appears likely to me that this covenant mentioned here refers to the rainbow, [Thus G-d hinted to Noah that after the flood He will make a covenant with him if he will fulfill the commandment concerning the making of the ark.] The meaning of the word b’rith (covenant) is an agreement and accord which two have chosen, stemming from the root, ‘b’ru’ (choose) you.⁵⁰I Samuel 17:8. And the word b’rith takes the same form in construct and in separateness. A similar case is [the word sh’vith, captivity]: ‘sh’vith’ (the captivity of) Jacob;⁵¹Psalms 85:2. Here the word sh’vith is in construct. And his daughters ‘bash’vith’ (in captivity).⁵²Numbers 21:29. Here the word bash’vith is separate. And some say that the word b’rith means the establishment of a boundary [to which each party to the covenant should adhere]. All these are Abraham ibn Ezra’s words.
A more correct explanation in line with the simple meaning of Scripture is that the purport of the expression, And I will establish My covenant, is, “At the time of the coming of the flood, My covenant will be established with you so that you and your family and two of all flesh will come into the ark to remain alive, that is to say, so that you will live there and maintain yourself in order to go forth from there alive.” And b’rith (covenant) means G-d’s word when He decrees something without any condition and residuary and fulfills it. Now He mentions the b’rith and mentions that it will be fulfilled, [which, according to the present interpretation is an apparent redundancy], just as we find the verse, The Jews ordained and took upon them, and upon their seed,⁵³Esther 9:27. meaning they accepted upon themselves a matter which was to exist. [Thus our verse is to be explained in a similar way, i.e., He established an unconditional covenant.]
By way of the truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], the b’rith is everlasting, the word being derived from. In the beginning G-d ‘bara’ (created).³⁷Above, 1:1. Thus brithi (My covenant) is similar to b’riyothi (My creation), and the word is alike in construct form because it is adjoined to the times there were before us. He thus commanded that the b’rith exist and be with the righteous one [Noah]. In a similar sense are the verses: As for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you;⁵⁴Genesis 9:9. My covenant was with him.⁵⁵Malachi 2:5. The learned student [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand.

והקימותי את בריתי, a reference to the covenant G’d made with Noach after the deluge.

והקימותי את בריתי. I shall fulfil My covenant. Why did G'd not first tell Noach to enter the ark seeing that his survival depended on that? Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 31,12) say that the covenant in question was merely that Noach's peers would not kill him when he would enter the ark. In that event it is quite appropriate that the Torah first mentioned G'd as maintaining His covenant with Noach.

והקימותי את בריתי אתך, the covenant that I am going to make with you as part of the deal that you and your family will be saved. I will keep this promise for you and your descendants.

I will establish My covenant. This refers to the blessing that Hashem gave Adam and Chavah. Its consequence here was that Noach and his family would remain alive.

והקימותי את בריתי אתך, “but I will maintain My covenant with you.” According to Rashi the covenant was needed to prevent the produce in the ark that was to serve its inhabitants as food from rotting, during the year it would remain inside. Ibn Ezra suggests that this was an oath by G’d to Noach that neither he nor members of his family would die while in the ark during the deluge, even though the Torah does not spell it out as a specific promise. We explained this (Tur)) in connection with Deut. 1,22 on the line נשלחה אנשים לפנינו, “let us send some men ahead.” [in that verse too the Torah refrains from spelling out that the request was for spies and not simply scouts. Ed.] The word והקימותי refers to “keeping a promise, an oath.” It is most likely that this is a veiled hint of the rainbow, which will become the symbol of G’d’s oath later on in our portion. The word ברית, meaning “a solemn and mutual undertaking,” is derived from the expression ברו לכם, (Samuel I 17,8) where it means “choose for yourselves.” Nachmanides writes, more in line with the plain meaning of the text, that G’d promised Noach that when the moment came for the deluge to commence, he and his family would enter the ark safely, unharmed and the requisite pairs of animals would all show up ready to enter the ark to spend the time within safely. The special significance of the word (concept) ברית is that it is a binding promise not subject to additional clauses which could invalidate it.

A covenant was necessary. It is as if it said, “I have established My covenant with you, and then you shall go into the ark.” But otherwise you could not go in.

ברית, Wurzel ברת, verwandt mit פרת ,פרד ,ארד, die alle ein Trennen ausdrücken. (Daher auch wohl ברת: ein Stück, ברת ארץ, eine Strecke). ברית ist eine solche Bestimmung, die unabhängig von allen äußeren Umständen, ja selbst im Gegensatz zu denselben, in Erfüllung gebracht werden soll. Es entspricht buchstäblich dem Begriff des "Absoluten", dem von allem Kausalnexus Abgelösten, dem Unbedingten. Daher auch das Errichten eines כרת :ברית, trennen, sondern, heißt, sowie die Erfüllung eines, Bündnisses: קום .הקים ist verschieden von עמד: Gegensatz der Bewegung; von התיצב: Gegensatz des Sichhingebens, die Selbständigkeit. קום ist Gegensatz des Fallens. Nun ist ברית eben etwas, das in dem Zusammenhang der Dinge keine Stütze hat, sich selbst überlassen, fallen würde, und nur von dem כורת ברית aufrecht erhalten wird. Der Begriff "Bund" entspricht dem ברית keineswegs. Schon darum nicht, weil Bund immer ein Gegenseitiges voraussetzt, ברית kommt aber auch völlig einseitig vor. So Gottes ברית der Erhaltung Noa׳s und der noachidischen Welt. So הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום an Pineas. Nichts hatte wohl mehr eine n^-Be- stimmung nötig als die Erhaltung Noa׳s. Die paar Balken machten gewiss nicht die Rettung aus, sonst hätten sich ebenso noch andere retten können. Wohl nur im Sinne des אין סומכין על הנס, nach welchem der Mensch jederzeit das ihm Mögliche tun soll,. hatte Noa seinen Kasten zu bauen, aber die Erhaltung und Rettung selbst bedurfte gewiss des ganz besonderen Schutzes des göttlichen Willens; daher: אתך — .ברית, die übrigen alle um Noa׳s und seines Verdienstes willen. Zu ihm gehörte die Familie und die zu rettende lebendige Welt.

והקימותי את בריתי אתך, “I will maintain My covenant with you.” The reference is to the covenant that Noach’s descendants will not be wiped out during the deluge.

אתה ובניך ואשתך THOU, AND THY SONS AND THY WIFE — Males separately and females separately. From this one may infer that they were not permitted to live together in the Ark as man and wife (Sanhedrin 108b).

ובאת אל התבה, the ark in which I told you that I would save you from the waters of the deluge.

And so that they not kill him. You might ask: Why not say this was the only reason [for the covenant]? The answer is: Then it should say, “I will establish My covenant.” Since it says והקמותי, “I established,” it means: When I created the fruits, I already established My covenant with them to fulfill My word. [And if the covenant was for the fruits alone, why does it say אתך?] (Maharshal)

An additional meaning maybe that G'd was afraid that Noach would not consider his salvation as a permanent one. He might feel that what was about to occur now might occur again some generations later if mankind did not improve. G'd therefore already hinted to him what He would spell out in more detail after Noach's thanks-giving offering in 8,21. In the meantime Noach had to enter the ark to escape the destruction that would kill all flesh.

אתה ובניך, the absence of a reference to the females, shows that copulation was forbidden in the ark, seeing that the women were to have separate quarters. (Chulin 70) G’d separated them by writing: אתה ובניך, אשתך ונשי בניך, The moral lesson in all this is that a time when the entire human species is being wiped out, it is not appropriate for the survivors to indulge in physical pleasures. All they were allowed to do was to eat enough in order to keep themselves alive and well.

That marital relations were prohibited to them. Rashi knows this because of the textual changes between Scripture’s description of their coming into the ark and their leaving the ark. When they left the ark it is written (8:16): “Depart from the ark, yourself and your wife.” I will later explain b’ezras Hashem why it is written (ibid. v. 18), “Noach departed from the ark together with his sons, his wife and son’s wives,” [implying they were separate]. Question: Why, on the verse of “Noach went in...” (7:7), did Rashi repeat his comment, “Because they were forbidden marital relations”? Furthermore, Rashi explained there, “Since the world was in a state of grief.” Why did he not mention this here? It seems the answer is: The command [to enter, which appears here,] mentions entering the ark first, and afterwards the separation. But when it comes to actually entering, the separation is mentioned first and only afterwards does it says “into the ark.” This is because Noach decided on his own to separate even before entering the ark, because he saw the world was already in a state of grief. For Noach did not enter the ark until forced by the water, as Rashi explains (7:7). Thus the grief had already begun [before he entered], and marital relations became prohibited. This is why Rashi mentioned grief then. But the command [as mentioned here] was to enter the ark before the rainfall, when there was not yet grief. (Divrei Dovid)

G'd may also have wanted to reassure Noach prior to his entering the ark that He would not abandon him during the time it took to sit out the deluge in the ark. Noach should not worry that the ark itself would prove a death trap. This assurance helped Noach as we know from 8,1 where the Torah mentions that G'd remembered Noach during all that time. After this G'd commanded Noach to enter the ark under the protection of this covenant. Although the covenant is not mentioned again in connection with 7,1, G'd relied on His previous assurance to Noach in this regard. The covenant is alluded to again in 8,1 where G'd is reported as "remembering" all those in the ark. Even though Rashi understands G'd as "remembering" Noach's good deeds and the animals refraining from mating while in the ark, this is homiletics and not the plain meaning of the verse.