תּלמוד אויף בראשית 20:12

If you say, by Jewish rules, he⁴⁸The Gentile who had raped a preliminarily married virgin, mentioned in the paragraph before the last. is guilty if he converted. If you say, by their rules, he cannot be prosecuted if he converted, as Rebbi Ḥanina said, a descendant of Noah who blasphemed and then converted cannot be prosecuted since the law changed for him⁴⁹Nobody can be convicted under a law which did not apply to him at the moment the criminal act was committed. Since after conversion, Jewish law applies to him, he cannot be prosecuted for prior crimes. The Babli agrees, Sanhedrin 71b.. Rebbi Eleazar in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina: The descendants of Noah are warned about nakedness⁴¹עֶרְוָה “nakedness”, abbreviated for גִּלּוּי עֶרְוָה “uncovering of nakedness”, is the legal term for “incest and/or adultery”. as Jews are⁵⁰Gen.rabba 18(8), Babli Sanhedrin 58b.; ⁵¹Gen. 2:24. Cf. Gen.rabba 18(8), Babli Sanhedrin 57b. the verse says, “he shall cling to his wife”, not to somebody else’s wife. “He shall cling to his wife”, not to a male, nor to an animal⁵²In addition, it is deduced there that the wording “father and mother” prohibits incest of father with daughter or stepdaughter, and son with mother or father’s wife. From Gen. 20:12 it is inferred that the uterine half-sister also is forbidden.. Rebbi Samuel, Rebbi Abbahu, Rebbi Eleazar in the name of Rebbi Ḥanina: A descendant of Noah who had perverse intercourse⁵³Any sex play which does not include penetration and ejaculation. with his wife is killed. What is the reason? “He shall cling to his wife so they become one flesh,” at the place where they together create one flesh⁵⁴Any intercourse which excludes the possibility of creating a pregnancy is sinful, except regular intercourse with one’s pregnant wife..

A Gentile has to separate from his sister, whether paternal or maternal, the words of Rebbi Meïr. Rebbi Jehudah says, he must separate from his maternal halfsister; a paternal halfsister he may keep. He must separate from his mother’s sister but may keep his father’s sister, the words of Rebbi Meïr. Rebbi Jehudah says, he must separate from his mother’s maternal halfsister but may keep his mother’s paternal halfsister⁸⁶The rules for Gentiles living under Jewish law are identical to those valid for converts; in the Babli they are given in Sanhedrin 58a, identical to the rules given for converts in Yebamot98b.. Rav Ḥanin said, he⁸⁷This must be Rav, Rav Ḥanin’s teacher and father-in-law. explained us the words of Rebbi Meïr simply: “Therefore, a man has to abandon his father and his mother⁸⁸Gen. 2:24. The common interpretation of the verse as basis of a “natural law” of incest prohibitions is in the sources [Babli Sanhedrin 58a, Gen. rabba 18(8)]: “Therefore, a man leaves his father (the father’s wife who might not be his mother) and his mother and clings to his wife (marriage is effected by intercourse, but after the first intercourse of a woman all sex acts with other people are adulterous since there is no divorce; male homosexual activity is also forbidden) and they will be one flesh (only vaginal intercourse is counted as such).” All other incest prohibitions of Lev. are for Jews only. (A minority opinion, that of R. Eliezer in the Babli, identifies the “father” as the father’s sisters.).” What is close to him from his father’s side, what is close to him from his mother’s side. Rebbi Vivian asked: Then his father’s sister should be forbidden because she is close to his father! His mother’s sister should be forbidden because she is close to his mother⁸⁹This shows that the opinion of R. Eliezer, quoted in the Babli (see the preceding note) was unknown to the editors of the Yerushalmi.! Rebbi Simeon, the son of Rebbi Ayvo objected: “Amram took his aunt Yokhebed as wife⁹⁰Ex. 6:20. According to the rules promulgated by him, Moses was a bastard. This proves (a) that the incest prohibitions of Lev. 18 are introduced because of the holiness of the Land or as prohibition of idolatrous practices and (b) the paternal aunt is permitted to a Gentile..” Does that mean that the Israelites did not even behave as descendants of Noah? Rebbi Hila said, what is close to him from his father’s side, what is close to him from his mother’s side⁹¹Only the father’s wives and the mother.. They objected to Rebbi Meïr: “And truly she is my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s.⁹²Gen. 20:12. According to Philo (Special Laws III, 22–25), the practice of marrying halfsisters was recognized in Greece and that of marrying full sisters in Egypt.” He said to them: Is a proof from there? Not “she became my wife”⁹³I am at a loss to understand the argument. The expedient chosen by the talmudic sources, that Sarah was not Abraham’s sister but his niece, should be excluded out of respect for the biblical text (Cf. Chapter 10, Note 210). This cannot be a general Jewish tradition since Sadducee (Karaite) traditions prohibit the niece to the uncle because the text prohibits the nephew to the aunt.?