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Noah's Sacrifice

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Noah's Act of Gratitude
TANAKH
Noah's immediate act of gratitude to God after the Flood sets a profound example of thanksgiving and dedication. The Torah recounts how Noah built an altar and offered burnt offerings from every pure animal and bird to God.
Then Noah built an altar to יהוה and, taking of every pure animal and of every pure bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 8:20
Noah's Thanksgiving Offering
MUSAR
Noah's thanksgiving offering serves as a substitute for human fate, neutralizing horoscopic influences. In his 17th-century work, Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz explains the deeper significance of Noah's sacrifice after the flood.
Noach's sacrifice was in the nature of a thanksgiving offering. He thanked G–d for his miraculous escape from the deluge, i.e. he had survived a descent into the sea. I have already explained that the thanksgiving offering is in the nature of a תמורה. G–d, by interfering personally in man's fate, selected an alternate creature to experience the fate that was in store for the person saved. In this way G–d neutralised horoscopic influences. The various animals offered on the altar normally, serve as the substitute for the person G–d saved…
Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Sefer Vayikra, Torah Ohr, Vayikra 63
Burnt or Peace Offerings?
COMMENTARY
The sages debated whether Noah's sacrifices after the flood were solely burnt-offerings or also included peace-offerings, which could be partially consumed by the offerers. Radak, a medieval Jewish commentator, explores this debate in his commentary on Genesis 8:20, reflecting on the significance of sacrificial practices in Jewish tradition.
ויעל עולות במזבח, there is a disagreement among our sages if Noach only offered burnt-offerings or if he also offered peace-offerings, i.e. offerings part of which may be eaten by the owners. (Zevachim 116)
Radak on Genesis 8:20:3
The Mystical Significance of Seven
COMMENTARY
The number seven holds deep mystical significance in Noah's sacrifice, connecting it to other biblical events. Rabbeinu Bachya, a medieval Jewish commentator, explores the symbolic meaning of the number seven in the context of Noah's sacrifice and its broader implications in Jewish tradition.
מכל הבהמה הטהורה תקח לך שבעה שבעה, “from every species of pure domestic animal take for yourself seven pairs each.” In order to keep the species alive it would have been sufficient to take a single pair of each species. The reason G-d commanded Noach to take seven pairs of each of these species was to ensure that he would have sufficient animals to offer some as a sacrifice. There is a mystical connotation for this number seven which our author discusses in connection with Numbers 23,4 where we read about the number of animals Bileam offered before he hoped to curse the Jewish people.
Rabbeinu Bahya, Bereshit 7:2:1
The Moral Distinction in Noah's Sacrifice
COMMENTARY
Noah's sacrifice established a moral distinction between the sanctity of human life and the permissibility of killing animals for food or sacrificial purposes. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, in his series 'Covenant and Conversation,' explores how Noah's sacrifice channeled human violence towards non-human animals, thereby creating a crucial moral framework.
According to Albo the logic of the passage is clear. Noah offers an animal sacrifice in thanksgiving for having survived the Flood. God sees that human beings need this way of expressing themselves. They are genetically predisposed to violence (“every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood”). If society were to survive, humans would need to be able to direct their violence towards non-human animals, whether as food or sacrificial offerings. The crucial line to be drawn is between human and non-human…
Covenant and Conversation; Leviticus; The Book of Holiness, Tzav, Violence and the Sacred 19
Noah's Sacrifice and Human Superiority
JEWISH THOUGHT
Noah's sacrifice was a pivotal moment that established the superiority of humans over animals, reinforcing the unique and noble nature of human life. In the 15th-century philosophical work Sefer HaIkkarim, Rabbi Joseph Albo explains the significance of Noah's offering and its implications for human and animal life.
When they were all destroyed and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained, God wanted to eradicate this opinion. Hence when Noah, after leaving the ark, brought an animal offering to God because he knew that man is superior by virtue of his reason and can know his Creator and serve Him better than the animals and can be thankful to God for this privilege, his offering was accepted with favor, as is said, “And the Lord smelled the sweet savour.” But He feared that unless this opinion was made firm…
Sefer HaIkkarim, Maamar 3 15:9
Noah's Pure Sacrifice
TALMUD
Noah's choice of animals for sacrifice was based on their moral and ritual purity, even before the formal kosher laws were established. The Talmudic tractate Zevachim discusses the distinction between kosher and non-kosher species, emphasizing that Noah's sacrifices were from animals not involved in sin.
§ The baraita also teaches that before the Tabernacle was constructed, sacrifices were brought from animals and birds that were kosher, but not from non-kosher species. This is based on the verse that describes what Noah sacrificed when he exited the ark: “And he took of every pure animal and of every pure fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). The Gemara asks: And were there pure and impure species at that time, during the period of Noah? The distinction between pure, i.e., kosher species, and impure, i.e…
Zevachim 116a:9
Noah's Autonomous Sacrifice
SECOND TEMPLE
Noah's decision to build an altar and offer sacrifices without explicit divine command showcases his initiative and autonomy. Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher, provides a unique blend of Jewish tradition and Greek philosophy in his midrashic interpretations.
Why did Noah build an altar without having been commanded to do so? (Genesis 8:20).
The Midrash of Philo 8:20:1
The Significance of Noah's Sacrifices
MIDRASH
The rabbis engaged in detailed debates about the types of offerings Noah made, highlighting the historical and future significance of these sacrifices. Bereshit Rabbah, a talmudic-era midrashic work on the book of Genesis, offers various rabbinic interpretations of Noah's sacrifices after the flood.
“Noah built an altar to the Lord, and he took from every pure animal and from every pure bird, and offered up burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20).
“Noah built [vayiven] an altar to the Lord” – vayaven is written; he contemplated [nitbonen] and He said: ‘Why did the Holy One blessed be He command me to increase the number of the pure animals beyond that of the impure ones, if not to sacrifice an offerings from them?’ Thereupon, “he took from every pure animal…”
Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: It was on the great altar in Jerusalem…
Bereshit Rabbah 34:9
The Evolution of Sacrifices in Jewish Worship
HALAKHAH
Sacrifices have been a central part of Jewish worship, tracing their origins from Cain and Abel to Noah, and were especially significant in the Temple as a means of drawing closer to God. Rabbi Sharon Shalom explores the historical and ritualistic context of sacrifices, highlighting their evolution and significance in Jewish religious practice.
Sacrifices appear in the Bible from the beginning of human history. Cain and Abel were the first to offer sacrifices, leading to a struggle between them, and Cain’s murder of Abel. Noah offered a sacrifice of thanks to God for saving him from the Flood – “And Noah built an altar to the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). Sacrifices were offered on altars both in the Temple and outside it as well. But when the Israelites entered the Land of Israel, they were commanded to offer sacrifices in the Temple alone…
From Sinai to Ethiopia, Shulhan haOrit; The Halakhah of Ethiopian Jewry, Then and Now, 1 Daily Practices 6:6
Sacrifice of Noah, James Tissot, 1896-1902 {{PD-US}}
Sacrifice of Noah, James Tissot, 1896-1902 {{PD-US}}

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