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“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).
This passage comes from the Book of Genesis, the first e-book of the Bible. Genesis consists of, amongst others, the story of the seven days of creation, the story of Adam and Eve and the story of Noah’s Ark.
Tradition states that Moses was the creator of Genesis.
Readers of Genesis could also be confused as to why God destroyed the earth with a flood after his first try at creation, New York-based rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm informed Fox News Digital.
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Lamm is the chief govt of BZ Media, a gaggle devoted to “bringing collectively the inventive expertise and philanthropic assets to produce the finest Jewish and Israel content material for mainstream Gen Z audiences and past.”
Genesis 6:11, which states that the “earth was corrupt” and “filled with violence,” supplies a clue about God’s anger, mentioned Lamm.
Rabbi Dr. Avi Lamm informed Fox News Digital that God selected to destroy the world with the nice flood, as people had begun to deal with one another with contempt. (Rabbi Dr. Avi Lamm/iStock)
In Hebrew, the phrase used in this verse is “chamas,” which is commonly, however not all the time, translated into English as “violence,” he mentioned.
“I suspect they weren’t too sure what the word meant,” mentioned Lamm.
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The phrase’s precise which means is pretty nuanced, he mentioned.
“Forms of the word ‘chamas’ appear 60 times in the Bible. But other than here in the story of Noah, there are only three times in the Bible where it accompanies the verb ‘malei,’ meaning ‘fill,’” he mentioned.
In Genesis, God turned pissed off at the state of the world — and directed Noah to construct an ark to hold his household secure throughout the nice flood. (iStock)
In different elements of the Bible, “chamas” is translated to “theft,” he mentioned.
“But even ‘theft’ misses some important nuances,” mentioned Lamm. “The word ‘chamas’ conveys a larger sense of callous disregard for others’ humanity, not just in monetary matters.”
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“So let’s bring it back to Noah. Why did God destroy the world? Not because of physical violence, or even necessarily because of theft,” mentioned Lamm.
“But because of ‘chamas’ — treating others with contempt, failing to see our shared divine image.”
The Book of Genesis states that after the flood, the rainbow was the image of God’s promise not to destroy the world once more. (Owen Humphreys/PA through AP)
Once folks started to deal with others with contempt, they “became capable of true evil,” mentioned Lamm.
“The ancient rabbis told the following story about the generation of the flood. You’d go to market with a bucket of produce. Passerby would all casually steal less than a penny’s worth from the bucket. Too little to prosecute … but enough so that by day’s end you’d have nothing,” he mentioned.
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Lamm mentioned this story is one in every of his favorites, as “it so poignantly gets at both the ‘theft’ meaning and the callous disregard for humanity: No one cared about harming others.”
He added, “They just didn’t want to be held responsible if they were caught!”
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The classes discovered in Genesis stay relevant to right this moment, mentioned Lamm.
“We should begin resolving to treat our fellow citizens, regardless of our disagreements, as full partners in our aspiration to better the American experiment, and ensure our mutual human flourishing,” he mentioned.
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