Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 15, scan section 71

And the warnings should be from [Deut. vi. 13] : " The Lord thy God shalt thou fear " (which means to pronounce His name). This does not hold good, firstly because, as said above, it must be by the Name; and secondly, a warning of a positive commandment cannot be counted as a warning. And if you wish, it may be said because it is so written plainly [Lev. xxiv. 11]: "The son of the Israelitish woman pronounced (we- yiqaub) the holy name and blasphemed." Hence this term is used to blaspheme. But perhaps one is not guilty unless he did both — expressed the name and blasphemed? This cannot be supposed, as farther on it reads [ibid. 14] : " Lead forth the blasphemer," and the expression " nauquib " is not mentioned. Hence it is one and the same. The rabbis taught : It reads : " any man whatsoever," etc., meaning to include the heathen, who are warned of blasphemy the same as an Israelite. And they are to be executed by the sword, as wherever it is mentioned in the Scripture concerning death to the children of Noah, it means by the sword, and not otherwise. But is this inferred from the verse cited? Is it not stated farther on that such is inferred from a verse in Genesis? Said R. Itz'hak of Navha: This verse is needed to include the pseudonyms. And it is in accordance with R. Mair of the fol- lowing Boraitha : Any man whatsoever that blasphemeth his God shall bear his sin. To what purpose is this written? It reads earlier [ibid. 16] : " But he that pronounced the name of the Lord (with blasphemy) shall be put to death " ? Because from this one might say that he is not guilty, unless he has done so with the unique proper Name, but not with the pseudonyms. Therefore it reads in the cited verse (15), " his God " — no dif- ference between proper and pseudonym. So is the decree of R. Mair. The sages, however, maintain : For the unique proper Name death is the punishment; and for the pseudonyms it is only a warning by a negative commandment, and the punish- ment is as for the transgression of a negative commandment. (Says the Gemara:) Itz'hak of Navha differs with R. Maisha, who said : One of the children of Noah, who blasphemed God by any of His pseudonyms whatsoever is guilty, and is put to death, even according to the rabbis. i68 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. The rabbis taught : Seven commandments were given to the children of Noah, and they are: Concerning judges, blasphemy, idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery, and that they must not eat of the member of a body while the animal is still alive. R. Hananiah b. Gamaliel said : Also of the blood of the same. R. Hidka said: Also castration was forbidden to them. R. Sim- eon said : Also witchcraft. And R. Jose said : All that is said in the portion on witchcraft is forbidden to a descendant of Noah. As it reads [Deut. xviii. 10-12] : " There shall not be found among thee any one who causeth his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who useth divination, one who is an ob- server of times, or an enchanter, or a conjurer, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or who inquireth of the dead. For an abomination unto the Lord are all that do these things; and on account of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee." And as there is no punishment without preceding warning, hence they were commanded not to do all this. R. Elazar said: Also Kilaim. I mean to say, the descendants of Noah are allowed to dress themselves with a mixture of wool and flax; and also sow dif- ferent kinds of seeds together (which are forbidden to the Is- raelites); but they are forbidden to gender different kinds of animals and to graft two kinds of trees together. Whence is all this deduced? Said R. Johanan: From Gen- esis ii. 16.* Were the descendants of Noah indeed commanded concerning judges? Is there not a Boraitha: Ten command- ments were commanded to Israel in Marah; seven of them are those which were accepted by the descendants of Noah, and three were added to them : viz., judges, Sabbath, and to honor father and mother. Judges — as it is written [Ex. xv. 25] : " There he made for them a statute and an ordinance," etc. And concerning Sabbath and the honor of parents it reads [Deut. V. 12 and 16] : " As the Lord thy God hath commanded thee.'' And R. Jehudah said: " As he hath commanded thee in Marah." Said R. Aha b. Jacob: This means that Israel was commanded to establish courts of justice in every district and • It would be of no use to quote the verse, as every word in it is used for an analogy of expression of the Hebrew terms. There, is besides, a difference of opin- ion among the Amoraim, which expression is to be used for an analogy, and what it means; and to translate it all, we would have to fill our page with Hebrew words and their explanations. After all, it would be of no importance, as the fact that to the children of Noah seven commandments were given is traditional. TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME COUNCIL). 169 city; and the children of Noah were commanded concerning judges in general only. But is there not a Boraitha: As Israel was commanded to establish judges in every city and district, so also were the children of Noah commanded? Said Rabha: The Tana of the Boraitha cited above is in accordance with ihe school of Manasheh, which excluded from the seven command- ments judges and blasphemy, and included castration and ki- laim. Thus was it taught in the school of Manasheh : Seven commandments were the descendants of Noah commanded: Concerning idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery, a member of a living animal, castration, and kilaim. R. Jehudah, however, said : Adam the First was commanded as to idolatry only, as it reads [Gen. ii. 16] : " And the Lord commanded the man " i.e., the Lord commanded him about the law of God (that he should not be exchanged for another). R. Jehudah b. Bathyra said: Also as to blasphemy. And there are some others who say, also concerning judges. According to whom is that which was said by R. Jehudah in the name of Rabh : God said to Adam : I am God, thou shalt not blaspheme me. I am God, thou shalt not exchange me for an idol. I am God, the fear of me shall be always upon thee? According to the " some others " just mentioned. (The expres- sion " the fear of me," etc., means to appoint judges who shall punish them who transgress my commandments.) Said R. Joseph : It was said in the college : For transgression of the following three commandments a descendant of Noah is put to death: viz., adultery, bloodshed, and blasphemy. R. Shesheth opposed : It is correct concerning bloodshed, as it reads [Gen. ix. 6] : " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." But whence do you deduce the two others? And should you say that it is inferred from blood-