Commentary on Parashat Noach, Genesis 6:9-11:32; Numbers 28:9-15
Questions
1. How many floors or levels (or decks) did the Ark contain?
2. Which people was Noah told to take onto the Ark with him?
3. What was Noah’s wife’s name?
4. How many of each living thing was Noah to take onto the Ark?
5. How long was the entire earth completely submerged?
6. Why was Noah commanded to take seven pairs of each fowl?
7. What bird did Noah send out first?
8. What bird did Noah send out next? How often, and with what result?
9. After Noah and his family left the Ark, God blessed them and gave them a commandment. What was it, and how often did He give it?
10. What was the sign of God’s covenant between Himself and all living creatures? What was the purpose of this sign?
11. Ham had four sons. Name three of them and the countries their names represent.
12. What was Nimrod’s relationship to Noah? For what was he famous?
13. Terah had three sons. Name two of them.
14. There is a similarity between the story of Noah and the story of Abraham. What is the similarity? How are they different?
Answers
1. The ark contained 3 floors (6:16).
2. Noah was told to take his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives (6:18).
3. We don’t know what Noah’s wife’s name was.
4. Noah took “two of everything except the clean beasts (seven pairs of each) and fowl (also seven pairs) (7:2-3).”
5. The earth was submerged for 150 days (8:4).
6. Noah was commanded to take seven pairs “to keep seed alive on the face of the earth (6:20).”
7. Noah first sent out a raven (8:7).
8. Noah sent a dove three times: The first time it returned with an empty beak; the second time it brought an olive leaf; the third time it did not return (8:8-12).
9. God gave the commandment: Be fruitful and multiply. He gave this commandment three times (8:17, 9:1, 9:7).
10. The sign of God’s covenant is the rainbow, which reminds God of His promise never to destroy the earth again (9:13-15).
11. Ham’s four sons were named: Cush (Ethiopia), Mizraim (Egypt), Put (Libya), and Canaan (Phoenicia) (9:18-19).
12. Nimrod was Noah’s great-grandson. He was famous for being a mighty hunter (10:8-9).
13. Terah’s sons were Abram, Nahor, and Haran (11:26).
14. God told both Noah and Abraham that he was going to destroy the people. Abraham pleaded for their lives, but Noah did not.
Provided by special arrangement with the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.
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ark
Pronounced: ark, Origin: English, the place in the synagogue where the Torah scrolls are stored, also known as the aron kodesh, or holy cabinet.
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