http://www.geocities.com/rachav/noahides.html
The Hebrew Scriptures known as the TeNaCh (Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim) = Teachings, Prophets, Writings) plus the Talmud contain
information about the role of the non-Jew and what God expects of him or her.
This is a committment to a total lifestyle which when followed helps us to become focussed in our goals, and bring us closer to God.
There are numerous books about the Noahides, and what is expected of us.
I will be introducing various Noahides from the pages of the Scriptures.
An article by
Benseon Apple
The Torah has basic laws for universal adherence, known as the "Seven Mitzvot of the Sons of Noah". As enumerated in Tractate 56a of the TalmudBavli and explained by the Rambam (Yad HaChazakah, Melachim 9), they are:
1. Do not worship idols.
2. Do not curse God's name in any language.
3. Do not murder. This includes abortion and euthanasia.
4. Do not commit incest, adultery, homosexuality, bestiality.
5. Do not forcibly rob, steal money, or kidnap.
6. Establish courts of justice: judges and magistrates must be appointed in each district to enforce the Noachide laws.
7. Do not eat a limb or flesh from a living animal.
The Rambam relates (Yad, Melachim 9:1) how the first six were given to Adam. The seventh was promulgated to Noah after the Flood, when mankind was given permission to kill animals for meat (Gen. 9:3-4). It is unclear why all the seven are termed the "Seven Mitzvot of the Sons of Noah" or the "Seven Noachide Laws", for the first six were taught to Adam, not Noah.
Perhaps it is because Adam represented the first genesis of man, Noah the second. Noah became the progenitor of mankind after the Flood and thus every gentile is called a "son of the covenant of Noah". The English rabbi, Solomon Schonfeld, explains: "It was the failure of anti-Deluvian mankind to observe even these seven basic laws which brought destruction to the world. After the deluge Noah's descendants were given a second chance. Thus ... (we term the laws) the Teaching for the Sons of Noah".
Gentiles should be encouraged to study the seven precepts (Yad 10:9). Jews are also mandated to encourage the observance of these laws (8:10). The Rambam categorically states that "all who accept the Seven Mitzvot and are careful in observing them, are counted among the pious of the peoples of the world and have a portion in the World to Come" (8:11). Benseon Apple