사사기 9:15의 유대 사상

(1) Since Noach became a founder of mankind, similar to Adam, he is first introduced as a descendant of his ancestors. Once he has been chosen to be the sole survivor, he is again introduced, this time as the forefather of all subsequent human beings. "He walked with G-d" means that he incorporated all the virtues that indicate that man has been created in the image of G-d. His righteousness was not confined to matters of money etc., but encompassed all parts of his personality. The difference between Abraham and Noach lay in the fact that the circumcision enabled Abraham to become tamim, perfect, and to walk "before" G-d. The names of the sons are repeated since they reflect not only the fact that Noach had sired them, but their respective characters are hinted at in their names. These sons, after all, became the founders of three distinctly different lifestyles and outlooks amongst mankind. (2) The fact is that corruption of mankind translates into corruption of the laws of nature through the influence of man's actions on the universe. The statement in the Torah then underlines this connection of the upheaval in the world with the behaviour of its inhabitants. (3) Noach, who acted properly and maintained his part of universal harmony, deserved to be saved on that account. Water which is held in check constantly through Divine decree, ensuring that it stays within its bounds, is released from such constraints as it is a midah keneged midah, tit for tat, kind of punishment. Man's lack of restraint brings about the release of the waters from all the restraints they had been under. (3) The covenant that G-d "maintains" then is that the waters will not cause damage to him who has acted in harmony with the laws of the universe. "Enter the ark!" G-d has to give detailed instructions to assure Noach that essentially all species would survive, else Noach's own survival would lose most of its meaning, and at the end of the deluge he would be faced with a universe that could no longer regenerate itself. Secondly, he had to make provisions for an extended stay in the ark. (4) Man's punishment can either be viewed as a natural event, not as retribution, since as we have stated, conduct contrary to the harmony inherent in the universe will result in upheavals; or it was retribution. When one fumigates a house, having exhausted other means of ridding oneself of vermin, one's prime purpose is to keep the house in good shape. Here, too, G-d was fumigating His universe, so to speak, in order to get rid of the harmful leeches inhabiting it. Since there was no good reason to save these people, they fell victim to the need to cleanse the earth. Since earth had been created, all sins committed by man were punishable by death; only when the Jewish people accepted Torah at Sinai did they receive laws, the transgression of some of which carried a lighter sentence. Mankind had therefore been doomed, no special warning had been called for. "Noach made the ark." In spite of the tremendous inconvenience incurred, plus the fact that Noach could hardly have had in mind to build an ark large enough to accomodate representatives of all creatures, he carried out all G-d’s instructions without question or hesitation. He entered the ark before the deluge, mipney hamabul, on account of the deluge which was to occur. The forthcoming event was as vivid before his mental eye as if it had already occurred. The repetition of "on that day, Noach entered the ark" in verse 13, indicates merely that though the ark had already served as his residence, he did not know the precise date on which the deluge would start. Now that it had started, he stayed inside, and G-d closed the door from the outside. (5) The dates given emphasize that G-d waited out the one hundred and twenty years that He had given man to repent and reverse his course.