The Sin of Noah
I was mute and silent, I refrained even from good, and my sorrow grew worse. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned; Psalm 39:2-3a NASB
Refrained– A short while ago we examined these verses. We concluded that David’s experience of deliberate silence caused emotional and physical separation from others and from himself. Based on the Hebrew word, kĕʾēb, John Oswalt comments, “it is impossible to separate the mental and physical anguish as far as this word is concerned.”[1] David notices that his deliberate decision to say nothing and do nothing resulted in increased anguish. He found no relief at all by keeping everything inside.
But maybe David forgot the lesson of Noah. We read that Noah was a righteous man, but the rabbis notice that Noah also kept his mouth shut, and in doing so, condemned the entire world to destruction.
At the heart of this tradition lies a specific critique of Noach. He is not accused of the crimes of his contemporaries. Instead, the charge against him is of silence. If they express themselves in babble, he is totally silent. In response to God’s speeches, he speaks not a word. Impassively, twice, the text records, “and Noach did just as God had commanded him.” Perfect obedience is a virtue, undoubtedly. But he might, for example, have prayed for his doomed generation; or he might have tried to alert his contemporaries and avert disaster . . . Noach does not find the words to save even one soul. Prayer . . . is absent from his lips: the world is under sentence of death but he maintains his silence.[2]
The Zohar claims that the flood is eternally known as Noach’s flood because his silence caused it. Perhaps David’s internal anguish rides on the same rails. Disaster faces him. The world is filled with evil. Plots against God’s anointed occupy his mind. He is aware of surrounding idolatry. And most importantly, he feels God’s judgment. The loving Father has become Judge of all the earth. But what does he do? He does exactly what Noach did—obedient silence. He makes no effort to reach out to others, to confront, to challenge, to empathize or even to intercede. He lets it go. And then he complains that God has turned divine judgment on him.
“I refrained” (hě-ḥěšê’ti from ḥāšâ – silent, inactive, still) is the root of David’s sin, the reason he burns within, and the cause of his dismay. David abdicates the role of the anointed. He is intended to be God’s voice to the world, but he gags God. A silent witness is no witness. Just as Noah let the world slip into destruction, this king lets evil men prevail. Perhaps David’s concern about judgment isn’t quite so unexpected.
Topical Index: refrained, ḥāšâ, silence, destruction, Noah, Psalm 39:2-3
[1]Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 940 כָאַב. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 425). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2]Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Murmuring Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious, pp. 50-51.
good life lesson for sure, but please help me correlate this idea with 2 Peter 2:5 that Noach was a “preacher of righteousness”.
Your explanation (in contention with the Rabbis and Zohar) may be in the Book of Jasher, ch.5
“…6 And after the lapse of many years, in the four hundred and eightieth year of the life of Noach, when all those men, who followed after YHWH had died away from among the sons of men, and only Metushelach was then left, YHWH said unto Noach and Metushelach, saying,
7 Speak you, and proclaim to the sons of men, saying, Thus says YHWH, return from your evil ways and forsake your works, and YHWH will repent of the evil that he declared to do to you, so that it shall not come to pass.
8 For thus says YHWH, Behold I give you a period of one hundred and twenty years; if you will turn to me and forsake your evil ways, then will I also turn away from the evil which I told you, and it shall not exist, says YHWH.
9 And Noach and Metushelach spoke all the words of YHWH to all the sons of man, day after day, speaking every day to them.
10 But the sons of men would not hearken to them, nor incline their ears to their words, and they were stiffnecked.
11 And YHWH granted them a period of one hundred and twenty years, saying, If they will return, then will YHWH repent of the
evil, so as not to destroy the earth….”
OK, try this. First, dikaiosýnē (Greek – righteousness) is used in the LXX for the Hebrew idea of legal and covenantal relationship and responsibility. So, whatever Noach’s actions are, they need to be viewed in terms of God’s judgment on the human failure to live up to these components. This is to say that “righteousness” as we understand it today needs to be tempered with the meaning of the LXX. After all, Peter uses Jewish Greek. dikaiosýnē reveals God’s judicial intervention, precisely what the flood demonstrates.
Now let’s look at the term translated “preacher.” The Greek is kḗryx, a herald. Note this comment in TDNT. In the rabbis, however, the herald is again prominent with the adoption of the loanword kārôz. The origin of this term is disputed (Greek? Persian?), but it finds frequent and varied use for town criers, court heralds, temple criers to awaken the priests, the announcers of rabbinic judgments, and God’s angelic or human heralds (e.g., Noah in the generation of the flood).
Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (431). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
Since Peter calls Noach a kḗryx we might assume that he functioned in the role of messenger of impending doom. But that’s the problem. There is nothing in the text to suggest that he actually did this. What the text shows us is that Noach built the ark in the presence of others so perhaps the ark itself was the message of doom, but if he functioned as a speaker on God’s behalf, there is no indication of this in the text. That’s what bothers the rabbis. Thus the problem.
Thanks, Skip…maybe Peter based his statement on the Book of Jasher instead of Bereshit:)
What bothers the rabbis is their problem with the Messiah. They refuse to see Him in the text and you do not have to go very deep to see Him everywhere. Noach was another “shadow-type”. Jasher 4:14 And Metushelach called his name Noach, saying, The ground was in his days at rest and free from corruption, and Lamech his father called his name Menachem, saying, This one shall comfort us in our works and miserable toil from the ground, which YHWH had cursed. [According to the Talmud “Menachem” (comforter) is one of the names of Messiah (b.San 98a). ]
In his sermon, “Peter” (probably more correctly) proclaimed [ H7121] (on behalf of Messiah – the final / completed proclaimer of righteousness) “… but saved Noah, the eighth proclaimer of righteousness, … (2 Pet.2:5) – Who were the other 7 ?
I find it difficult to see Noach a Tzadik and a proclaimer to keep quiet when all around him is “going to hell in a hand-basket”.
haha…. they also put the blame on YHWH for the “works and miserable toil from the ground”… LOL…classic!!
Noah preached righteousness by his WITNESS for 120 years. There is nothing more powerful than witness! He was scoffed at, I think, because of so much time lapse. As usual (like Olga notes below) YHVH, as well as His righteous, get the blame. Noah would not have been ‘righteous’ if he had not warned the world!
I think this is exhibit A as to why we cannot start from extra-Biblical sources to ‘judge’ the Bible: we have to start from it to judge everything else!
How do you explain 2 Peter 2:5, ‘if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others” sir?
perhaps you’ll want to look at the Greek text of 2 Peter 2:5
I think this is a little harsh on Noach. He did as God commanded him. He was told that only he and his family would enter the Ark. He had made a covenant with the LORD and kept it. There was no Torah, no commandment to be a witness to the world. His testimony was building the Ark and being obedient to God’s Word. Others saw Noach building the Ark. God had already determined who He would save and who He would destroy. God does the choosing, yesterday, today and always.
Rabbi Eric
I get your point (see my other comments in the blog on this topic), but two things to think about. 1. The fact that no FORMAl Torah was available does not mean that the principle and morality of the Torah was absent (e.g. judgment occurred on the basis of disobedience so disobedience must have been known) and 2. even if we don’t like this rabbinic view, it raises serious questions about how we act in our world. It does nothing to take away from God’s assessment of Noach as righteous. It just raises some worthwhile questions.
Whether or not Noah or David used their audible skills
as fully as they could or should, it does point out that many
of us have difficulty in comfortably sharing God’s Word in our
speaking. Many others in our actions.
Both shortcomings remind me of a very profound statement
made by Albert Einstein. He said: “The world is a dangerous
place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because
of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
Failure to speak or act on God’s behalf has been affecting many
since the beginning. May God continue to bless “the feet of those
who bring good news.”
This is powerful. Amos 3:7 says that God won’t do anything unless He first tells His prophets. Prophets speak words out loud and then the Father acts or brings into existence what was spoken. What if the Lord had been putting something both on Noah’s and David’s heart, but they refused to speak? Was Noah bitter with everyone because they had been verbally abusing him for years? David so depressed that he said nuts to the world?
These are everyday guys, blue collar just like you and me. They went through the same emotions – the same as you and me, but they got their emotions recorded. Which leads me to think that there have been many times when a thought of forgiveness or doing the right thing has passed through my mind and I’ve ignored it. We could all be in the same boat – thank goodness for the love of our heavenly Father that forgives.
This article takes me back to a time when I learned to be obedient in a way that lead to me “staying out of Gods way.” I was reading 2 kings 8:11 in which Elisha wept but did not stop the madness of Hazael …
Elisha stared steadily at Hazael until he was embarrassed, and then the man of God wept. Hazael said, “Why are you weeping, my lord?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the sons (descendants) of Israel. You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the sword, smash their children to pieces, and rip up their pregnant women.” Then Hazael said, “ Surely not! For what is your servant, who is nothing more than a dog, that he would do this monstrous thing?” And Elisha answered, “The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Aram.” 2 Kings 8:11-13
My thought would’ve been to “fix” it … get rid of hazael and save lives. Elisha wept yes but he kept his hands out of it. Sometimes consequences must speak and not me.
While it’s certainly true that people who serve God shouldn’t withhold proclaiming the good news, there’s not much of a chance that God flooding the earth was Noah’s doing.
First, the Zohar isn’t much more than a Judaisms version of occult 101. But, beyond that, we really don’t know how much Noah did or didn’t proclaim the coming calamity insomuch as a warning to the people. And even if we do assume somehow Noah didn’t do what God wanted Him to or speak what He wanted him too, He would most assuredly have brought someone else. Either that or had him swallowed up by a fish until he said: “I will”.
Either way, no way it could be said that Noah caused the flood due to silence. The creator of heaven and earth not only made this earth without our voice but He has also brought about Salvation through Yeshua without our permission. And He will not lose one of His either. Not then, not now or not in the future.
Yes; and an argument from silence is very rarely a good argument. The Biblical text neither overtly nor implicitly states anything regarding Noah’s “silence” on this. In fact, using this tact, one could just as easily, and perhaps more persuasively (Gen 6:5-8ff), argue that Noah was silent expressly because God told him not to say anything.
Right. The text doesn’t say this explicitly. But that isn’t the point. The point is that there is a long rabbinic tradition that questions Noah’s apparent silence in his community. We can justify our refusal to think about this by saying, “Well, it’s not in the text,” but does that mean we just ignore the destruction of the whole world while one man apparently does nothing to save his generation? Sure, God chooses (?) and Noah is called righteous. But does that mean we shouldn’t ask, “What could have been done?” This is an investigation of the tradition surrounding Noah. If you only want to think about the exact wording of the text, then there’s a lot of theology that needs to be dismissed.
Correct me if I’m wrong on this, but it appears this rabbinic tradition is from the Zohar, which is ca. 13th century and later, as opposed to 1st-2nd century midrash, e.g. And there are other rabbinic traditions that do not take this particular trajectory.
As regards arguments from silence related to theology, I’m unsure to what you may be referring, so I cannot specifically engage. But note that I didn’t limit my comment to explicit wording of the text but also to things implicit in the text. However, just for the record, theology based upon logical inferences from textual ambiguities, supported by other related texts (which may or may not themselves be ambiguous to any degree), is not exactly an argument from silence.
To further make my point in the previous comment, I’ll quote Zornberg here and follow with engagement of her position:
Given that the text is completely silent on these issues, we might just as well think Noah had (1) prayed for the doomed and/or (2) tried to warn them. Thus, we could, again from silence, extrapolate further that YHWH heard his prayers, worked on (some of) the people’s hearts, yet they remained unmoved, and/or that Noah’s warnings fell on deaf ears—or even laughter (“Right; what’s an ark?”).
So, though I understand you are engaging this text based on this particular rabbinic tradition, I have difficulty accepting this argument from silence as any more valid than what, e.g., I just proposed in the immediately preceding paragraph. It’s a matter of paradigm—though, to be clear, I’m not aligning myself with either position. I think that where the text is silent we should be silent. At most we can speculate a bit, firmly communicating that we are doing just that—speculating. Building a theology upon such speculation to the point that it impugns the character of a person whom the Biblical text otherwise calls “righteous” in a number of passages seems contradictory to me.
But who’s building a theology? I’m just asking, by way of the Noach texts and traditions, if we really think escaping the destruction without comment is the proper course of action.
You know sometimes I think readers of these investigations are just way to serious. It’s as if we expect to have there right and final answer instead of using the text as a springboard to consider other possibilities.
Sorry, “building a theology” was poor word choice. I meant building a doctrine.
I admit that I can be too serious at times. But, in this case, my main reaction is to what I see as the inherent contradiction between an understanding of this Scripture which implicitly impugns the character of Noah and other Scripture that calls him ‘righteous’. That’s the crux of it.
I agree. Accusation will never be from God. We should never indulge in it, either, even as a basis for “investigation”. The occult accuses God all the time. By this, it is easy to see its author: the Accuser. I will never feel the need to stand shoulder to shoulder with him or anyone else who uses accusation. Even Michael did not engage in it when face to face with the Accuser: he merely said “the Lord rebuke thee” (Jude). Thus, I say to the occult, too, “the Lord rebuke thee”.
Speaking of silence . . .
Luk 23:8 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. 9 And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.
So, I suppose one could argue that Jesus missed a wonderful opportunity to personally witness to Herod, the king (or at least Tetrarch) of the Jews. And Jesus didn’t even need to push Himself onto Herod. No, Herod wanted to be an eager interrogator of Jesus. Maybe if Jesus had taken the time, He could have won him over with impeccable speech, overwhelming love, and maybe the odd miracle or two. And with Herod convinced and in tow, maybe Jesus could have won over the whole nation. But no, Jesus remained silent.
I have to presume that Jesus either, 1. Knew Herod was a lost cause, or, 2. Actually didn’t want Herod period, as he was not one of His sheep.
And so too, perhaps, with the great wicked multitudes lost in the Flood.
(Just springboarding.)
No argument with the first thought. Noah didn’t have much to do with God’s judgment. But I didn’t make that claim (I hope). I only tried to point out that the rabbis wonder why Noah didn’t do more to try to save his generation. You and I live in modern Babylon. The world is on a fast track to destruction. Should we be like Noah and build an ark? Or should we try to do more than he did? Either way, God may could us righteous, but how do we think of ourselves if we let the world fall to ruin while we build escape pods?
While it’s my opinion, that as servants of Yeshua, we not only have a responsibility but also an obligation to do the best we can, with what we’ve been given to work with, to proclaim His Name, to faithfully serve our brothers and sisters, to be DOERS of His commandments, and to love as we’re told to love.
But, I’m also of the opinion that IF I choose NOT to do or say anything, the world’s ruin or salvation doesn’t depend on me. It depends on the One that saved me and that can save it. I just don’t think that the world or individuals ruin hinges on me. If it does then I fear it will be doomed. Because apart from Him, my works are filthy rags.
Trying to escape isn’t in my way of living this life and I hope in the end I hear “Well done, good and faithful servant!”.
I am quite sure you will, my brother.
Thank you, my friend. As I’m sure you will as well. Love you brother.
The Sin of Noah. October 17. Just wondering. Is ‘my works are like filthy rags’ the same as ‘my righteousnesses are like filthy rags’? To me this verse has more to do with attitude. Self-righteousness. Christians who are caught up in acting like Christians instead of normal people. They tend to separate themselves from anyone who doesn’t pass the test based on words they expect to hear. Like the 4 spiritual laws. Sort of how cults work I think. They will not listen to anything that causes cognitive dissonance and are pretty comfortable with the false teachings they believe aren’t false.
I would just caution in order to remember where most of us came from. It’s been my experience that many Christians have a tendency to keep more of Torah than many who claim to be Messianic/HR/Torah Observance folks.
That’s one of the reasons I normally don’t even call myself, when asked, any of the above. Too much bad scholarship and messy theology. Just sayin…
The Sin of Noah/October 17. I don’t like labels either. I started to keep the Sabbath in 2005 after reading an article two years prior to that. No one around me was keeping the Sabbath. No interaction with others who did either.
I grew up in a Catholic family. Went to Protestant services after I left ‘the church’, mostly in Japan after moving to Japan on an exchange program which was my final semester of school. Went to a Christian meeting on campus in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with a roommate who also believed in God. It was new to me because of the lingo but because I wasn’t like that, people might not have thought I was a believer. I remember going to a huge conference in Chicago with the group. In one of the sessions we were supposed to go around and pray about something. (Something that I will never like doing.) Have no idea now what I said but the lady after me CORRECTED me. Ha ha. It was weird. Now 40 years later I am guessing I was probably right! I always thought others knew more than me. I have wondered which was worse, the Catholic period or the Protestant period as far as how it affected me personally. False ideas cause death and injury the way vaccines do.
I definitely don’t agree with him, but a man by the name of Seth Andrews was probably one of those guys who went to the beaches during spring break going up to students asking them to pray with him using the ‘four spiritual laws’ and giving them the little origami type paper explaining it. He would have been considered a ‘strong’ Christian. He completely rejected God and Christianity in his 40’s because of a traumatic experience where someone wasn’t healed. (I only listened to his talk once.) He has a talk on YouTube titled ‘Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot. I could understand his feelings regarding the weird things Christians say or what they do or the false ideas they have. I don’t understand how he could stop believing in God if he really had ever. I know two other men like him. They aren’t atheists like Mr. Andrews though. I am allergic to people who ‘act’ religious but I understand things better now as to why. I am not being judgmental. Not in the least. It’s just very sad that things have been so perverted and how it has hurt so many people in the process.
A reminder of Job, God changed his condition and increased his wealth when he started praying for his friends. God seems to desire that we pray for those we associate with…
Then the prophetic instruction not to pray for the unrighteous and those that do not honour God…
And from these two examples we may need to consider God desire. Pray for everyone or for our true neighbours not the man next door but the one that extends a helping hand or comforting word when we are caught up in grief or tragedy.
God requires that we obey His direct instruction as we understand it without murmuring. Either with excitement or grudgingly but never to see what we can gain from it. Hot or Cold not warm…
Now being silent. Is something I agree with. Talk is cheap deeds are what God desires. Skip once referred to the loneliness and distanced lifestyle of the called. How often do we wonder if doing good really helps as Yeshua said our best deeds are but dirty rugs just right to be tossed away… Is silent obedience not better than righteous preaching? Is waiting silently and patiently not better than pleading that God assists us to do what we believe is right and just in the situation…
Laurita once referred to the hard lesson we often have to go through to learn to be silent patient believers as God faithfulness will always prevail… And then Skip reoterated as many others in this community that our ways are not necessary Gods.
Ask for God to reveal what he desires. Then patiently wait in silence while he strengthens and anoints us…
Skip thank you for reminding tjat silent obedience is the attitude of a believer trusting in God.
if there is one thing that amazes me, it is the amount of detail that Yah commanded to Noah in building the arc . The obedience of Noah building a destroyer size ship with his bare hands during decades of drought was his way of preaching (faith by works?).
The dimensions of the ark were given for a finite capacity of animals and only 8 humans, to repopulate the new eden. Yah is the giver and he is the taker. I wonder what would have happened if people who lived around Noah and his sons and daughters-in-law had come to offer help, and to obey by faith following the voice of the prophet. Would that have changed God’s plan and made a bigger ark? For what I see Yah knew people’s heart and His plan was perfectly accomplished by Noah according to His will.
Indeed. Show and tell speaks.
35 John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining [to show you the way], and you were willing for a while to rejoice in his light. John 5:35