How does Gen 2:16 turn into 6 laws?
It is complex and is not evident at first blush. To understand, you have to know a little bit about Hebrew. It is believed that the Israelites spoke and wrote Hebrew because God put the language into their ancestors at the Tower of Babel split. He did this because the Hebrew language is very complex and has meanings inside meanings...allowing Him to write a surface meaning and various deeper meanings with the same words. Arabic is also a complex language and can do much the same thing (to show another language readily capable of this).
Each word has meaning as the word itself, but it also has a reference to other uses of the same word. Also, the first time a word is used is important, as that is a pointer to other uses of the same word. To show a very simplified English use of such a thing, imagine this:
A teenager is working at a gas station. A man walks in to pay for his gas. He hands over the cash, exposing a red wristwatch from under his shirtsleeve, and leaves. A few hours later, another man runs in, bleeding from a gunshot to the stomache. The dying man hands a USB memory stick to the teenager and croaks out "Get this to the FBI, it is vital. Trust no one...and if you see someone with a red wristwatch on, he is part of the group trying to prevent the FBI from knowing." The man who spoke suddenly spasms and dies, a dart in his neck.
A red wristwatch obvious is something we all have seen and would quickly dismiss. However, given the info later on, the importance of seeing the wristwatch suddenly becomes important.
Also, since the Hebrew numbers are all letters (like in Roman), each letter has a number value and that is important as well.
Much is lost when translating out of the native writings.
Here is a basic breakdown of how the Noahide Laws are derived:
There is a fundamental principle in Torah Judaism that every part of the Oral Torah can be found hinted at in the Written Torah. Using these methods of exegesis, the Mishna in Sanhedrin 56a derives the Noachide Laws given to Adam from Genesis 2:16. The Seventh Law is recorded outright to Noach in Genesis 9:4. They are formalised by the Rambam [7] in his monumental Codification of Torah Law, Mishne Torah, Section Hilchot Melachim (The Laws of Kings), 9:1.
Avodah Zarah - The prohibition against idolatry
Birkat HaShem - The prohibition against blasphemy
Shefichut-Damim - The prohibition against murder
Gilui Arayot - The prohibition on sexual immorality
HaGezel - The prohibition against theft.
HaDinim - The command to establish laws and courts of justice
Ever min haChai - The prohibition against eating the limb of a living animal.
The derivation of the first six laws From Genesis 2:16 is accomplished as follows:
VAYITSAV HASHEM ELOKIM AL HAADM LEIMOR MICHAL EITS HAGAN OCHEL
And Hashem God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.
Idolatry: TSAV (command). As evident from Hosea 5:11, TSAV is an allusion to the worship of idols. There, the word TSAV is used directly in reference people doing the command (TSAV) of idolatrous priests (Rashi) and the wicked kings (Radak).
Blasphemy: HASHEM (God). The word develops an association between this verse and the prohibition against cursing God mentioned in the verse Leviticus 24:16, which explicitly uses the name HASHEM.
Murder: AL HAADAM (To the Man). The words refer to the command against murder as mentioned in Genesis 9:6 where the word ADAM is also used to describe man.
Sexual Immorality: LEIMOR (saying). The word LEIMOR establishes a connection between this verse and Jeremiah 3:1, which starts with the word LEIMOR. Jeremiah 3:1 discusses acts which are sexually immoral.
Theft: This is derived from the plain meaning of the verse to granting license to eat from the trees of the garden for otherwise Adam would have been forbidden to do so, because the property did not belong to him.
Courts of Justice: ELOKIM (God). Exodus 22:27 uses that Name in reference to judges and the judical process.
Flesh from a Living Animal: Nevertheless, you may not eat flesh with its life, which is its blood. This is not derived from Genesis 2:16. Rather, from the plain meaning of Genesis 9:4.
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