Noahide Laws

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Pronunciations

Noahide Laws (NOH-uh-hyed LAWS) listen

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Definitions

  • n. The seven laws that Judaism considers relevant to all people. 

Example Sentences

  • "The concept is a Jewish one that, while Jews are the chosen people to follow the Torah, God will give non-Jews an equal position to pious Jews if they follow the Noahide Laws. But underlying this is the requirement that these non-Jews accept that these are Laws given by God." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • English

Who Uses This

  • Jews: Jews of diverse religious backgrounds and organizational involvements
  • Non-Jews: (words that have spread outside of Jewish networks)

Regions

  • North America

Dictionaries

  • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).

Notes

  • "These laws were initially given to Noah. The first six prohibit idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, robbery, and the eating of flesh cut from a living animal. The seventh commandment is an injunction to establish courts of justice. While Jews are expected to keep all the laws of the Torah, non-Jews are expected to keep only these seven laws. A non-Jew who keeps these laws is one of the hasidei ummot ha-olam (the righteous of the nations of the world) and therefore guaranteed a place in the world to come." (JPS)

    See also sheva mitzvot livney noach.

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