Genesis Rabbah 28

¹“The Lord said: I will obliterate man whom I have created from the face of the earth; from man to animal, to crawling creatures, to bird of the heavens, as I regret that I made them” (Genesis 6:7). “The Lord said: I will obliterate man.” “Therefore, He knows [ yakir ] their activities, and He turns it into night, and they are crushed” (Job 34:25) – Rabbi Ḥanina asked of Rabbi Yoḥanan, saying to him: What is it that is written: “Therefore, He knows their activities…”? He said to him: The Holy One blessed be He does not exact retribution from the wicked until He first reads out their indictment as “He makes known,” rather than “He knows.” on High. Only then the Holy One blessed be He exacts retribution from them, as the Holy One blessed be He transforms [their] day into night, preparing them for punishment, and then He exacts retribution from them. So, initially, “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great” (Genesis 6:5), then, “the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth” (Genesis 6:6), and then, “The Lord said: I will obliterate man whom I have created.” ²Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rav Beivai: “Let the water…be gathered [ yikavu ]” (Genesis 1:9) – let a set measure be established for the water, just as it is stated: “A plumb line [ kav ] is a measure used in building. will be extended over Jerusalem” (Zechariah 1:16). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Levi: [It means,] let the water eagerly wait [ yekavu ] for Me, for what I am going to do with it in the future. This is analogous to a king who built a palace and settled mute residents in it. They would rise early and greet the king with gestures with fingers and with kerchiefs. The king said: If they, who are mute, rise early and greet me with gestures with fingers, if they could speak, all the more so. The king then settled speaking residents in it. They rose up and seized the palace, and said: This palace is not the king’s; it is ours. The king said: Let the palace be restored to its previous state. So, in the beginning, the praises of the Holy One blessed be He would arise only from the water, as it is written: “It is from the sound of many waters…” (Psalms 93:4). What would they say? “The Lord is mighty on High” (Psalms 93:4). The Holy One blessed be He said: If these [waters] that have no ability to talk and speak and yet they laud Me, when man will be created, all the more so. [But] the generation of Enosh rose up and rebelled against Him, the generation of the Flood rebelled against him, the generation of the Dispersion rebelled against Him. The Holy One blessed be He said: Let these [mankind] be expelled and let these [waters] come back. That is what is written: “The Lord said: I will obliterate man whom I have created.” What do they think – that I need lions, or regiments of soldiers? Did I not create the world with [mere] speech? I will eradicate them from the world with speech. Rabbi Berekhya said: Did I not create them only from soil? What washes away soil? It is water. ³“The Lord said: I will obliterate man [ haadam ]” – Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Even the lower millstone was obliterated. Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Even the dust of Adam the first man was obliterated. When Rabbi Yehuda expounded this in public in Tzippori, they did not accept it from him. Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak said: Even the sacrum, from which the Holy One blessed be He will cause man to sprout in the future, was obliterated. Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, once asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, saying to him: From where will the Holy One blessed be He cause man to sprout in the future? He said to him: From the sacrum. He said to him: From where do you know this? He said to him: Bring one to me and I will show you. He ground it in a mill, but it did not become ground up. He placed it in water but it did not dissolve. He placed in on an anvil and began striking it with a hammer; the anvil split and the hammer broke and it [the sacrum] lacked nothing. ⁴“I will obliterate [ emḥe ]” – I impose My will [ mamḥe ] upon My creations, but My creations do not impose their will [ mamḥim ] upon Me. Rabbi Elazar said: This is analogous to a king who had storehouses of inferior grain. The residents of the province began slandering the king, saying that he had a bad disposition. What did the king do? He opened for them the best of them, and they filled the entire province with rotten produce. They [the residents] began gathering it up and discarding it into the river. So too, if these, the most notable among them, did so, the iniquitous among them all the more so. “One man out of one thousand [ elef ] I have found” (Ecclesiastes 7:28) – this is like what we learned: The primary source [ alfa ] for wine. 86b, and the verse thus means: I have found one superior man, i.e., Noah. “I will obliterate man whom I have created” – it was God’s original thought to create one thousand generations. How many of them were obliterated? Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yosei HaGelili: Nine hundred and seventy-four generations. What is his source? “He commanded the word for one thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8) – this is the Torah. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Nine hundred and eighty. What is his source? “He commanded the word for one thousand generations, [the covenant that He sealed with Abraham]” (Psalms 105:8–9) – this is circumcision. ⁵Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: What was not done [even] by the generation of the Flood was done by the ten tribes. Regarding the generation of the Flood it is written: “And that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day” (Genesis 6:5), while regarding the ten tribes it is written: “Woe, the devisers of iniquity and the evildoers on their beds” (Micah 2:1) – that is at night. From where is it derived during the day as well? The verse states: “They perform it at the morning light” (Micah 2:1). [Yet] from these [the generation of the Flood], no remnant remained, whereas from those [the ten tribes] there was a remnant. However, it is due to the merit of the righteous men and women that were destined to arise from them. That is what is written: “But behold, a remnant has remained in it who are being taken out, sons and daughters” (Ezekiel 14:22). It is not written here, “they are taking out [ motziim ] sons and daughters,” but rather: “who are being taken out [ mutza’im ], can also mean: those who will emerge. sons and daughters” – due to the merit of the righteous men and women who were destined to descend from them. Rabbi Berekhya said: What was not done by the people of Sodom was done by the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. Regarding the people of Sodom it is written: “And their sin because it is very grave” (Genesis 18:20), but regarding the tribe of Judah it is written: “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great” (Ezekiel 9:9). [Yet] from these [the people of Sodom], no remnant remained, whereas from those [Judah and Benjamin] there was a remnant. However, that one, “[Sodom], which was overthrown in a moment” (Lamentations 4:6) – because they did not extend their hands to do charitable deeds; “and no hands seized [ ḥalu ] it” (Lamentations 4:6) – Rabbi Tanḥum said: Hand did not reach out [ ḥalat ] to hand [to assist one another]. But these [Judah and Benjamin] did extend their hands to do charitable deeds: “The hands of merciful women cooked their children” (Lamentations 4:10). Why to that extent? “They were food [ levarot ] for them in the disaster of the daughter of my people” (Lamentations 4:10). ] for their mourning friends. Rabbi Ḥanin said: What is not stated regarding the generation of the Flood is stated regarding coastal cities: “Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, nation [ goy ] of the Keretites” (Zephaniah 2:5) – a nation that was worthy of total annihilation [ karet ]. So by what merit did they in fact endure? It is by the merit of one gentile [ goy ], by the merit of one God-fearing man, whom they would produce each year. Rabbi Levi interpreted it favorably: A nation that established [ karat ] a covenant, just as it says: “And established [ vekharot ] a covenant with him” (Nehemiah 9:8). ⁶Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Pinḥas: Rabbi Yudan said: This is analogous to a king who entrusted his son to a teacher who caused him to stray onto an evil path. The king became angry at his son and killed him. The king said: Was it not this man who caused him to stray onto an evil path? My son is lost; should this man endure? That is why: “[And the Lord said, I will obliterate…] from man to animal, to crawling creatures, to bird of the heavens.” Rabbi Pinḥas said: This is analogous to a king who was marrying off his son and prepared a wedding chamber for him. He whitewashed it, painted it, and decorated it. The king grew angry at his son and killed him. What did he do? He entered the wedding chamber and began shattering the wood strips, breaking the walls, and ripping the curtains. The king said: Did I not prepare this only for my son? My son is lost; should this [structure] endure? That is why God destroyed “from man to animal…to bird of the heavens.” That is what is written: “I will destroy everything from upon the face of the earth – the utterance of the Lord. I will destroy man and animal, I will destroy the bird of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks of the wicked” (Zephaniah 1:2–3) – it was they [the animals] that caused the wicked to stumble. When one would hunt a bird, he would say to it: Go get fat and come back, and it would go and get fat and come back [to be eaten]. ⁷Rabbi Elazar said: “Surely, their substance was eradicated” (Job 22:20) – initially, the Holy One blessed be He eliminated their wealth, so they would not say: He needs our wealth. “And their wealth was consumed by fire” (Job 22:20) – [meaning] that they would see chunks of gold melting in the fire. Rabbi Akiva said: Everyone reproached them [the Israelites] over the gold and silver that they took with them from Egypt, as it is stated: “Your silver has become dross” (Isaiah 1:22); “and I lavished upon her silver and the gold they used for the Baal” (Hosea 2:10); “With their silver and gold they crafted for themselves idols, so that it will be eliminated” (Hosea 8:4). Rav Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Rav Yitzḥak: It is not written here, “so that they would be eliminated,” but rather, “so that it will be eliminated” – like a person who says: May the name of so-and-so be obliterated because he caused my son to stray onto an evil path. ⁸Rabbi Azarya said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon: They all corrupted their actions in the generation of the Flood – the dog would consort with the wolf, and the chicken would consort with the peacock. That is what is written: “As all flesh has corrupted [its path upon the earth]” (Genesis 6:12). It is not written, “all of mankind had corrupted,” but rather, “as all flesh had corrupted.” Rabbi Luleyani bar Tavrin said in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: The earth itself also strayed; people would sow wheat and it would produce darnel. This darnel that grows [today], its origins are with the generation of the Flood. ⁹Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The sentence of the generation of the Flood lasted over the course of twelve months 2:10. – they received their [full] punishment, and they will have a share in the World to Come. It is as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Each and every drop that the Holy One blessed be He rained down upon them, He would boil it in Gehenna and take it out and rain it down upon them. That is what is written: “When scorched, they disappear [ nitzmatu ]” (Job 6:17). Their scorching was absolute [ laḥlutanit ]. , in perpetuity, as laḥalutin . “Even their love” (Ecclesiastes 9:6) – as they loved their idol worship; “even their hatred” (Ecclesiastes (9:6) – as they hated the Holy One blessed be He; “even their fury” (Ecclesiastes (9:6) – as they would infuriate the Holy One blessed be He with their idol worship; “they have already perished” (Ecclesiastes (9:6) – and they have no share in the world, referring to “anything that takes place under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 9:6). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: “As I regret that I made them, but Noah found favor [in God’s eyes]” (Genesis 6:7–8) – this is bewildering. as “and Noah,” rather than “but Noah.” Why is Noah included among the wicked?. However, even Noah, who [alone] remained from them, it is not that he was worthy, but rather that he found favor [in God’s eyes].