The Seven Laws of Noach

The Seven Laws of Noah (Hebrew: שבע מצוות בני נח‎‎ Sheva Mitsvot Bne Noah), also referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachide Laws (from the English transliteration of the Hebrew pronunciation of “Noah”), are a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God ^[1] as a binding set of laws for the “children of Noah” – that is, all of humanity.^[2][3]

Accordingly, any non-Jew who adheres to these laws because they were given by Moses^[4] is regarded as a righteous gentile, and is assured of a place in the world to come (Hebrew: עולם הבא‎‎ Olam Haba), the final reward of the righteous.^[5][6]

The seven Noahide laws as traditionally enumerated are:^[7]

1. Do not deny God.
2. Do not blaspheme God.
3. Do not murder.
4. Do not engage in illicit sexual relations.
5. Do not steal.
6. Do not eat from a live animal.
7. Establish courts/legal system to ensure obedience to the law.

According to the Talmud,^[7] the rabbis agree that the seven laws were given to the sons of Noah. However, they disagree on precisely which laws were given to Adam and Eve. Six of the seven laws are exegetically derived from passages in Genesis,^[8] with the seventh being the establishing of courts.