God's New Covenant With Noah After the Flood

The Midrash of Philo 3:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·March 24, 2026

Why does God say, "Every creeping thing which lives shall be to you for food?" (Genesis 9:3).

Themes

Creation Noah Adam Eve Flood Humor

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Seder Olam ZuttaBirth of Adam of SethThe narrative begins with Adam. That Adam lived 130 years until his son Seth was born. So, from Creation to Seth’s birth, 130 years had passed. Adam then lived Seder Olam RabbahThe Flood Was All of Twelve Months,1rThe Flood was all of twelve months,1R. Eliyahu from Vilna explains that according to Seder Olam a year about which no details are given is a simple, regular yea Targum OnkelosThe Flood Through Onkelos's Aramaic LensThe Hebrew Bible says God "shut him in" the ark (Genesis 7:16), a strangely intimate image of the Creator personally closing Noah's door. Targum Onkelos renders Bereshit RabbahThe Great Flood of RabbisThat’s kind of what the ancient Rabbis were wrestling with when they looked at the story of Noah, specifically (Genesis 7:6): “And Noah was six hundred years ol Bereshit RabbahHow the Ark Was Lifted and Raised Above the EarthBereshit Rabbah turns to How the Ark Was Lifted and Raised Above the Earth. What does it mean that the flood was forty days, before the ark was lifted? Rabbi Pi Bereshit RabbahWhy Only Some Wellsprings Were Sealed After the FloodThe rabbis of old, in Bereshit Rabbah, one of the most important collections of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, saw layers of meaning in these few words. S