Shabbat Parashat Noach - 5783

Shabbat Parashat Noach - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller

God smelled the pleasing aroma and God said in His heart, "I will not continue

to curse again the ground because of man since the inclination of man's heart is evil

from his youth, nor will I again continue to smite every living being as I have done."

[Bereishit 8:21]

This verse is full of confusing expressions. It seems to begin that God was somehow

impressed with the aroma of Noach's sacrifice, and because of this He took a vow not

to do something. What that something is, is not clear.

The last phrase of the verse might be the easiest to decode. God will not do something to

all life as He did. But "again continue" is difficult. Rashi says it means that God took an oath,

such as we might understand He might do. We know from context that the smiting referred

to was the destruction of all life (except on the Ark) in the world through the Flood. But the

apparent repetition of "again continue" seems odd here, for the Flood is over so there will

be no continuing, even if there could have been a repetition. Abarbanel explains, "God will

not again bring a destruction like this one even though man will continue to sin." What

God is saying is that He will not again bring a Flood even though man continues to sin.

This opinion can also be applied to God's promise to "not continue to curse again". It may

also explain why God will not curse the ground because of man, since He knows that man

is going to sin anyway, so cursing the ground is not the response He wants to give. Instead

He will punish man individually for each sin rather than collectively.

And God said to His heart. This is often translated as "to Himself". Why would God promise

to Himself not to again curse the ground? Radak says He foresaw that it would not be

necessary. Sforno answers, "God did not reveal to Noach until he and his sons had

accepted His commandments and He had established a covenant with them." Rashi writes

that God's promise would be misunderstood by man as meaning God would never destroy

living beings again, but what God meant was only that He would never destroy all life all

at once. He was not promising not to destroy portions of the world. Somehow this seems

tied to smelling the aroma of the sacrifice. But that is a physical manifestation, so God

would not do something based on aroma. It means that He was pleased with Noach's

reaction to the events, that the re-start of mankind had a chance for a good outcome.

But the most difficult phrase is "because of man since the inclination of man's heart is evil

from his youth". Rav Hirsch and Malbim note that the word used for "because of man" is

ba'abor ha'adam, rather than big'lal ha'adam. Ba'abor would be "for the sake of", while

big'lal would be "as a consequence of". In English, it would seem that the verse places

man in a bad position, that man would sin due to the inclination of his heart, but that would

only follow if the word used had been big'lal. Here, God is promising something for man's

sake. Perhaps it means He will protect man despite the inclination, thus a benefit rather than

a punishment. Rav Hirsch understands the verse as being for the sake of man's upcoming

children, that God will save them by blocking man's evil from his youth.

Ramban sees it just the opposite. The evil inclination affects man in his youth, but not in his

old age, so God will protect man from the mistakes of his youth. Many commentators note

that the evil inclination enters a person upon birth, and that the good inclination to balance

it only develops with maturity, and that this difference came about because of the Flood.

Because of this change of nature, God changed His expectations of man for the future, and

would only punish individuals on an as-needed basis rather than all of life. A confusing verse.