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Parashat Noach
PARASHAT NOACH (Noah) describes to us the story of the first generations of humanity and of how God chose to destroy them. Apparently the morals of humankind had sunk so low that God saw no other way but to bring His destruction upon them. But, not everyone was destroyed. Noach was chosen to preserve humanity and all the species of the animals. God’s way of destroying the world was by sending ( pouring) rain on the earth . Let’s see some of the words used in the biblical text about that time, words which are still used today in the Hebrew language:
springs | MAAYANOT | מַעְיָינוֹת | |
water | MAYIM | מַיִם | |
rain | GESHEM | גֶּשֶׁם | |
pouring rain | MABUL | מַבּוּל |
When Noach came out of the ark with all the living creatures, he offered a sacrifice to thank God for His rescue. God responded by making a covenant with Noach as a representative of humanity, and said that such a punishment will never be brought again on mankind. Let’s see some of words used there:
covenant | BRIT | בְּרִית | |
cloud | ANAN | עָנָן | |
rainbow | KESHET | קֶשֶׁת |
The fact that the language has kept the meaning of these words accurately until today has an implication for the validity of this covenant for our days too.