Torah Trivia for Parshah Noach
1.) From what materials is the ark made?
Answer: The explicit description states that the ark is made of cypress Wood and includes tar; Bereshit 6:14.
2.) How many of each kind of clean animal does Adonai command Noach to take?
Answer: 14: There are 7 pairs of every kind of clean animal; Bereshit 7:2.
3.) What is the number of days from the time that Adonai commands Noach to build the ark until the time that Noach, his family, and the animals are able to return to land?
Answer: There are 3 plausible responses: 1.) Approximately 1 year; 2.) 1 Year and 17 Days; 3.) 377 Days:
1.) Approximately 1 Year according to Noach’s Age; Bereshit 7:6 (Noach is 600 Years Old); Bereshit 8:13 (Noach is 601 Years Old);
2.) Presumably 1 Year and 17 Days; Bereshit 7:10 – 11 (Flood Begins on 17th Day of 2nd Month [7 Days after Command]); Bereshit 8:14 (Land is Completely Dry and Noach Leaves Ark on 27th Day of 2nd Month)
3.) 377 Days, Presuming That 1 Month Equals 30 Days; Bereshit 7:4 – 8:16 (Referencing Table Below)
Day Count: Calendar (From Flood Year 1): Event/Fact Descriptions/Sequence; Source:
Day 1* 1.2.10 * Adonai Commands Noach; Bereshit 7:4;
Day 8 1.2.17 7 Days Later, Flood Begins;
Bereshit 7:10 – 11;
Day 47 1.3.27 Flood Lasts for 40 Days; Bereshit 7:17;
Day 157 1.7.17 Water Remains for 150 Days; Bereshit 7:24;
150 Days Is Same 150 Days*; Bereshit 8:3;
150 Days Equals 5 Months*; 1 Month Equals 30 Days*; Bereshit 8:4 – 5;
Day 157 1.7.17 On 17th Day of 7th Month, Arks Rests on Ararat Mountains; Bereshit 8:4 – 5;
Day 231 1.10.1 On 1st Day of 10th Month, Mountain Peaks Visible; Bereshit 8:5;
Day 271* 1.11.11* On 10th Month and 40 Days, Noach Sends out Raven; Bereshit 8:6 – 7;
Day 307* 1.12.17* Noach Sends out Dove 1st Time; Bereshit 8:8;
Day 314* 1.12.24* 7 Days Later, Noach Sends out Dove 2nd Time; Bereshit 8:10;
Day 321 2.1.1* 7 Days Later, Noach Sends out Dove 3rd Time; Bereshit 8:12 – 13;
Day 321 2.1.1 1st Day of 1st Month Noach Removes Roof; Bereshit 8:13;
Day 377 2.2.27 27th Day of 2nd Month, Land Is Dry;
Bereshit 8:14;
Day 377* 2.2.27* Noach Leaves Ark; Bereshit 8:14 – 16.
*Derived through factual and/or reverse mathematical inferences.
4.) What is the stated distinguishing characteristic between the animals on the ark and the animals that survive off the ark?
Answer: The animals on the ark have the breath of life; Bereshit 7:15.
5.) How many times does Noach send out the dove?
Answer: Noach sends the dove out 3 times and the raven out Once; Bereshit 8:7 (Noach Sends out Raven); Bereshit 8:8 (Noach Sends out Dove without Being Able to Rest Its Feet); Bereshit 8:10 (Noach Sends out Dove 2nd Time and It Brings Back Olive Leaf); Bereshit 8:12 (Noach Sends out Dove 3rd Time and It Stays Away).
6.) How long does Noach wait after sending the raven and before sending the dove?
Answer: Presumably, Noach waits approximately 1 Month (36 Days with an Approximate Standard Deviation of 1 - 2 Days); Bereshit 8:8 (and Referencing the Table Listed Above)
7.) What are the 7 Noachide Laws?
Answer: The 7 Noachide Laws are:
1.) Prohibition from Idolatry;
2.) Prohibition from Blasphemy;
3.) Prohibition from Murder;
4.) Prohibition from Incest and Adultery;
5.) Prohibition from Theft;
6.) Prohibition from Eating Limb (Meat) of a Living Animal;
7.) Responsibility for Establishing a System of Laws.
This description is provided by the website of Orthodox Union (and Phil Chernofsky with the OU Israel Centre), http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5761/noach61/featuretidbit.htm; Traditionally, the 7 Noachide are understood as being extrapolated from: Bereshit 9:1 – 17.
8.) What is the symbol of the covenant between Adonai and Noach and all life?
Answer: Adonai utilises the symbol of the rainbow; Bereshit 9:12 – 13.
9.) From whom does Sheba descend?
Answer: There are 2 Shebas: 1 is a grandson of Ham (via Ham’s son, Cush, and Cush’s son, Raamah); Bereshit 10:6 – 7. Another is the grand-grand-grand-grandson of Shem (via Shem’s son, Arpachshad, and Arpachshad’s son, Shelach, and Shelach’s son, Eber, and Eber’s son, Yoktan); Bereshit 10:22 – 29.
10.) From whom do the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Tzemarites, and Chamathites descend?
Answer: Each is a descendant of Canaan; Bereshit 10:15 – 18.
11.) What is a.) the paternal lineage from Shem to Avraham, and b.) the duration of time between the end of the flood to Avraham’s birth?
Answer:
a.) The paternal lineage is: Shem to Arpachshad to Shelach to Eber to Peleg to Reu to Serug to Nachor to Terach to Avraham (Avraham is Shem’s grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grand-grandson); Bereshit 11:10 – 26;
b.) 292 Years Pass; When Avraham is born, Shem is alive, at the age of 390, and Noach is alive, at the age of 890; Bereshit 9:28 – 29:
Year 2 (after the Flood) Arpachshad Is Born; Bereshit 11:10;
Year 37 Shelach Is Born (Arpachshad Is Age 35); Bereshit 11:12;
Year 67 Eber Is Born (Shelach Is Age 30); Bereshit 11:14;
Year 101 Peleg Is Born (Eber Is Age 34); Bereshit 11:16;
Year 131 Reu Is Born (Peleg Is Age 30); Bereshit 11:18;
Year 163 Serug Is Born (Reu Is Age 32); Bereshit 11:20;
Year 193 Nachor Is Born (Serug Is Age 30); Bereshit 11:22;
Year 222 Terach Is Born (Nachor Is Age 29); Bereshit 11:24;
Year 292 Abram Is Born (Terach Is Age 70); Bereshit 11:26.
12.) What relation is Nachor to Avraham?
Answer: There are actually 2 Nachors: 1 is Avraham’s grandfather (Father of Terach); Bereshit 11:24 - 26; and 1 is Avraham’s brother (Son of Terach); Bereshit 11:26.
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Discussion Questions:
If the flood is supposed to kill every living animal or “every living thing on land”, what about all the aquatic life (like fish, whales, sharks, and dolphins)? Bereshit 6:17.
Why does Adonai command Noach to bring 7 pairs of every “clean animal,” but later proclaim that “all animals” are available to be eaten (is something lost within the English translation)? Bereshit 7:2; Bereshit 9:3.
All other birds are destroyed? What about ducks, geese, and swans? Bereshit 7:21 – 23.
What does Ham actually do to Noach? Bereshit 9:22 – 24.
Amidst the arrogance of building a tower towards sky of Adonai, is there any benevolent, redeeming factor in the people of Shinar wanting to stay together? Bereshit 11:1 – 9.
Are Avraham, Nachor, and Haran triplets, or do each have a separate mother, or is something lost in the English translation of Terach having all 3 sons at age 70? Bereshit 11:26.
Is there any significance that Terach actually first begins the Pilgrimage out of his native land of Ur Kasdim towards Canaan; and that he passes away, before reaching Canaan, in the land of Haran, which is also the name of one of his sons (the father of Lot) who previously passes away in the land of Ur Kasdim? Bereshit 11:27 – 32.
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