Editing Seven Laws of Noah (section)

== Judaism ==
=== Talmud ===
According to the Talmud, the Noahide laws apply to all of humanity.<ref name="Vana 2013"/><ref name="Talmudica"/><ref name="JVL"/> In Judaism, the term ''B'nei Noach'' ({{langx|he|בני נח}}, "Sons of Noah")<ref name="Sefaria"/> refers to all mankind.<ref name="Talmudica"/> The Talmud also states: {{qi|Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come}}.<ref>Sanhedrin 105a</ref> Any non-Jew who lives according to these laws is regarded as one of the righteous among the gentiles.<ref name="JVL"/> According to the Talmud, the seven laws were given first to [[Adam]] and subsequently to [[Noah]].<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Vana 2013"/><ref name="Talmudica"/><ref name="JVL"/> Six of the seven laws were [[Exegesis|exegetically]] derived from passages in the Book of Genesis,<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Talmudica"/><ref name="JVL"/> with the seventh being the establishment of courts of justice.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Talmudica"/><ref name="JVL"/>

The Talmudic sages expanded the concept of [[Moral universalism|universal morality]] within the Noahide laws and added several other laws beyond the seven listed in the Talmud and Tosefta which are attributed to different rabbis,<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Vana 2013"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Talmudica"/> such as prohibitions against committing [[Jewish views on incest|incest]], [[cruelty to animals]], [[Hybrid (biology)|pairing animals of different species]], grafting trees of different kinds, [[castration]], [[emasculation]], [[Homosexuality and Judaism|homosexuality]], [[pederasty]], and [[Witchcraft#Judaism|sorcery]] among others,<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Vana 2013"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Talmudica"/><ref name="JVL"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Goodman |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Goodman (historian) |chapter=Identity and Authority in Ancient Judaism |year=2007 |title=Judaism in the Roman World: Collected Essays |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVI2a9jc4pMC&pg=PA30 |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |series=Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity |volume=66 |pages=30–32 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004153097.i-275.7 |isbn=978-90-04-15309-7 |issn=1871-6636 |lccn=2006049637 |s2cid=161369763 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref>[[Sanhedrin (Talmud)|Sanhedrin]] [http://www.halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_56.html 56a/b] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171106145103/http://www.halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_56.html |date=6 November 2017 }}, quoting [[Tosefta]] Avodah Zarah 9:4; see also Rashi on Genesis 9:4</ref> with some of the sages, such as [[Ulla (Talmudist)|Ulla]], going so far as to make a list of 30 laws.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Vana 2013"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref>Chullin 92a-b</ref> The Talmud expands the scope of the seven laws to cover about 100 of the [[613 commandments|613 mitzvot]].<ref name="Annual">{{cite book |editor1-last=Grishaver |editor1-first=Joel Lurie |editor2-last=Kelman |editor2-first=Stuart |year=1996 |title=Learn Torah With 1994–1995 Torah Annual: A Collection of the Year's Best Torah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pxv3NpOLdEC&q=maimonides+seven+laws+differ+from+the++talmud&pg=PA18 |publisher=Torah Aura Productions |page=18 |isbn=978-1-881283-13-3 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

=== Punishment ===
{{Main|Capital and corporal punishment in Judaism}}

In practice, Jewish law makes it very difficult to apply the death penalty.<ref name="Jewishvirtuallibrary.org Capital Punishment">{{Cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0004_0_03929.html |title=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=15 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123158/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0004_0_03929.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> No record exists of a gentile having been put to death for violating the seven Noahide laws.<ref name="Novak 1983"/> Some of the categories of capital punishment recorded in the Talmud are recorded as having never been carried out. It is thought that the rabbis included discussion of them in anticipation of the coming [[Messianic Age]].<ref name="Jewishvirtuallibrary.org Capital Punishment"/>

According Sanhedrin 56a, for Noahides convicted of a capital crime, the only sanctioned method of execution is decapitation,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| title = Sanhedrin| publisher = Halakhah.com 56a| access-date = 25 February 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053238/http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| archive-date = 21 February 2015| url-status = live}}</ref> considered one of the lightest capital punishments.<ref>Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Judges, Laws of Sanhedrin, chapter 14, law 4</ref> Other sources state that the execution is to be by stoning if he has intercourse with a Jewish betrothed woman, or by strangulation if the Jewish woman has completed the marriage ceremonies, but had not yet consummated the marriage. In Jewish law, the only form of blasphemy which is punishable by death is blaspheming the [[Tetragrammaton|Ineffable Name]] ({{Tanakhverse|Leviticus|24:16}}).<ref name="Amram-Kohler">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Kohler |first1=Kaufmann |last2=Amram |first2=David Werner |author1-link=Kaufmann Kohler |author2-link=David Werner Amram |url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3354-blasphemy |title=Blasphemy |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Kopelman Foundation]] |year=1906 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910144739/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3354-blasphemy |archive-date=10 September 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> Some Talmudic rabbis held that only those offences for which a Jew would be executed, are forbidden to gentiles.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| title = Sanhedrin| publisher = Halakhah.com 56b| access-date = 25 February 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053238/http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| archive-date = 21 February 2015| url-status = live}}</ref> The Talmudic rabbis discuss which offences and sub-offences are capital offences and which are merely forbidden.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| title = Sanhedrin| publisher = Halakhah.com 57a-b| access-date = 25 February 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053238/http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| archive-date = 21 February 2015| url-status = live}}</ref>

Maimonides states that anyone who does not accept the seven laws is to be executed, as God compelled the world to follow these laws.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |title=Mishneh Torah Shoftim, Laws of Kings and their wars: 8.13 |publisher=Halakhah.com |access-date=25 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053607/http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> For the other prohibitions such as the grafting of trees and bestiality he holds that the sons of Noah are not to be executed.<ref name="Halakhah.com">{{cite web |url=http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |title=Mishneh Torah Shoftim, Laws of Kings and their wars: 10:8 |publisher=Halakhah.com |access-date=25 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053607/http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Maimonides adds a universalism lacking from earlier Jewish sources.<ref name="Annual"/>{{rp|18}} The Talmud differs from Maimonides in that it considers the seven laws enforceable by Jewish authorities on non-Jews living within a Jewish nation.<ref name="Annual"/>{{rp|18}} [[Nahmanides]] disagrees with Maimonides' reasoning. He limits the obligation of enforcing the seven laws to non-Jewish authorities, thus taking the matter out of Jewish hands. The [[Tosafot]] seems to agree with Nahmanides' reasoning.<ref name="warAndPeace">{{cite book |title=War and Peace in the Jewish Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4YpnaFxUrYC&pg=PA39 |editor1-first=Lawrence H. |editor1-last=Schiffman |editor2-first=Joel B. |editor2-last=Wolowelsky |publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc. |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-88125-945-2 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>{{rp|39}} According to some opinions, punishment is the same whether the individual transgresses with knowledge of the law or is ignorant of the law.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 9a, commentary of Rashi</ref>

Some authorities debate whether non-Jewish societies may decide to modify the Noachide laws of evidence (for example, by requiring more witnesses before punishment, or by permitting circumstantial evidence) if they consider that to be more just.<ref>[https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/noahides/noahides01.pdf Law and the Noahides], pp. 73–76</ref> Whilst Jewish law requires two witnesses, Noachide law, as recorded by Rambam, Hilkhot Melakhim 9:14, can accept the testimony of a single eyewitness as sufficient for use of the death penalty. Whilst a confession of guilt is not admissible as evidence before a Jewish court, it is a matter of considerable dispute as to whether or not it constitutes sufficient grounds for conviction in Noachide courts.<ref>Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol II, Part II, Chapter XVII Capital Punishment in the Noachide Code III. Rules of Evidence in the Noachide Code Contemporary halakhic problems, by J. David Bleich, 1977-2005</ref>

There is also some debate as to whether the ideal punishment for violation of these laws is the death penalty, or if it is up to the court's discretion to decide which punishment is most fitting. While a simple reading of the Talmud might suggest that the ideal punishment is the death penalty, a number of prominent commentators, including Rav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, have argued that it is up to the courts to decide.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-08-18 |title=Ask the Rabbi: Does Jewish law promote the death penalty? |url=https://www.jpost.com/not-just-news/ask-the-rabbi-does-jewish-law-promote-the-death-penalty-464426 |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=The Jerusalem Post|language=en}}</ref>

=== Subdivisions ===
Various [[Rabbinic literature|rabbinic sources]] have different positions on the way the seven laws are to be subdivided in categories. Maimonides, in his ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'', included the grafting of trees.<ref name="Halakhah.com"/> Like the Talmud, he interpreted the prohibition against homicide as including a [[Judaism and abortion|prohibition against abortion]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |title=Mishneh Torah Shoftim, Laws of Kings and their wars: 9:6 |publisher=Halakhah.com |access-date=25 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053607/http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf |title=Sanhedrin |publisher=Halakhah.com 57b |access-date=25 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053238/http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra]], a commentator on Maimonides, expressed surprise that he left out castration and sorcery which were also listed in the Talmud.<ref>Sanhedrin 56b.</ref>

The Talmudist [[Ulla (Talmudist)|Ulla]] wrote of 30 laws which the sons of Noah took upon themselves. He only lists three, namely the three that the gentiles follow: not to create a [[Ketubah]] between males, not to sell [[carrion]] or [[human flesh]] in the market and to respect the Torah. The rest of the laws are not listed.<ref>[[Kodashim#Chullin or Hullin|Chullin]] 92a, and see Rashi.</ref> Though the authorities seem to take it for granted that Ulla's thirty commandments included the original seven, an additional thirty laws are also possible from the reading. Two different lists of the 30 laws exist. Both lists include an additional twenty-three [[Mitzvah|mitzvot]] which are subdivisions or extensions of the seven laws. One from the 16th-century work ''Asarah Maamarot'' by Rabbi [[Menahem Azariah da Fano]] and a second from the 10th century [[Samuel ben Hofni]] which was recently published from his Judeo-Arabic writings after having been found in the [[Cairo Geniza]].<ref>[[Mossad HaRav Kook]] edition of the Gaon's commentary to Genesis.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.noachide.org.uk/html/30_commandments.html |title=The Thirty Mitzvot of the Bnei Noach |publisher=noachide.org.uk |access-date=15 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123212311/http://www.noachide.org.uk/html/30_commandments.html |archive-date=23 November 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Rabbi [[Zvi Hirsch Chajes]] suggests Menahem Azariah of Fano enumerated commandments are not related to the first seven, nor based on Scripture, but instead were passed down by oral tradition.<ref>''Kol Hidushei Maharitz Chayess'' I, end Ch. 10</ref>

=== ''Ger toshav'' (resident alien) ===
{{Main|Ger toshav}}

During [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|biblical times]], a gentile living in the [[Land of Israel]] who did not want to convert to Judaism but accepted the Seven Laws of Noah as binding upon himself was granted the legal status of ''ger toshav'' ({{langx|he|גר תושב}}, ''ger'': "foreigner" or "alien" + ''toshav'': "resident", lit. "[[Alien (law)|resident alien]]").<ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Bromiley 1986">{{cite book |last=Bromiley |first=Geoffrey W. |author-link=Geoffrey W. Bromiley |title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia |year=1986 |edition=Fully Revised |page=1010 |volume=3 |publisher=[[Eerdmans]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |isbn=0-8028-3783-2 |quote=In rabbinic literature the ''ger toshab'' was a Gentile who observed the Noachian commandments but was not considered a convert to Judaism because he did not agree to circumcision. [...] some scholars have made the mistake of calling the ''ger toshab'' a "proselyte" or "semiproselyte." But the ''ger toshab'' was really a resident alien in Israel. Some scholars have claimed that the term "[[God-fearer|those who fear God]]" (''yir᾿ei Elohim''/''Shamayim'') was used in rabbinic literature to denote Gentiles who were on the fringe of the synagogue. They were not converts to Judaism, although they were attracted to the Jewish religion and observed part of the law.}}</ref><ref name="Bleich 1995">{{cite book |last=Bleich |first=J. David |author-link=J. David Bleich |year=1995 |title=Contemporary Halakhic Problems |volume=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IOqQrPlc9ggC&pg=PA161 |location=New York City |publisher=[[KTAV Publishing House]] ([[Yeshiva University Press]]) |page=161 |isbn=0-88125-474-6 |quote=[[Rashi]], ''Yevamot'' 48b, maintains that a resident alien (''ger toshav'') is obliged to observe ''[[Shabbat]]''. The ''ger toshav'', in accepting the Seven Commandments of the Sons of Noah, has renounced idolatry and [...] thereby acquires a status similar to that of [[Abraham]]. [...] Indeed, [[Nissim of Gerona|Rabbenu Nissim]], ''Avodah Zarah'' 67b, declares that the status on an unimmersed convert is inferior to that of a ''ger toshav'' because the former's acceptance of the {{qi|yoke of the commandments}} is intended to be binding only upon subsequent immersion. Moreover, the institution of ''ger toshav'' as a formal halakhic construct has lapsed with the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Temple]]. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name="JE2">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Jacobs |first1=Joseph |author1-link=Joseph Jacobs |last2=Hirsch |first2=Emil G. |author2-link=Emil G. Hirsch |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12391-proselyte#anchor4 |title=Proselyte: Semi-Converts |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |year=1906 |publisher=[[Kopelman Foundation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531104704/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12391-proselyte |archive-date=31 May 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2020 |quote=In order to find a precedent the rabbis went so far as to assume that [[proselyte]]s of this order were recognized in [[Mosaic Law|Biblical law]], applying to them the term "toshab" ("sojourner," "aborigine," referring to the [[Canaanites]]; see Maimonides' explanation in "Yad," Issure Biah, xiv. 7; see Grätz, l.c. p. 15), in connection with "ger" (see Ex. xxv. 47, where the better reading would be "we-toshab"). Another name for one of this class was "proselyte of the gate" ("ger ha-sha'ar," that is, one under Jewish civil jurisdiction; comp. Deut. v. 14, xiv. 21, referring to the stranger who had legal claims upon the generosity and protection of his Jewish neighbors). In order to be recognized as one of these the neophyte had publicly to assume, before three "ḥaberim," or men of authority, the solemn obligation not to worship idols, an obligation which involved the recognition of the seven Noachian injunctions as binding ('Ab. Zarah 64b; "Yad," Issure Biah, xiv. 7). ... The more rigorous seem to have been inclined to insist upon such converts observing the entire Law, with the exception of the reservations and modifications explicitly made in their behalf. The more lenient were ready to accord them full equality with Jews as soon as they had solemnly forsworn idolatry. The "via media" was taken by those that regarded public adherence to the seven Noachian precepts as the indispensable prerequisite (Gerim iii.; 'Ab. Zarah 64b; Yer. Yeb. 8d; Grätz, l.c. pp. 19–20). The outward sign of this adherence to Judaism was the observance of the Sabbath (Grätz, l.c. pp. 20 et seq.; but comp. Ker. 8b).}}</ref> A ''ger toshav'' is therefore commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile" ({{langx|he|חסיד אומות העולם|link=no}}, ''Chassid Umot ha-Olam'': "Pious People of the World"),<ref name="myjewishlearning.com"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="ET1"/><ref name="Sefaria"/> and is assured of a place in the [[World to Come#Jewish eschatology|World to Come (''Olam Ha-Ba'')]].<ref name="myjewishlearning.com"/><ref name="JE1"/><ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="ET1"/><ref name="Sefaria"/>

The rabbinic regulations regarding Jewish-gentile relations are modified in the case of a ''ger toshav''.<ref name="ET1"/> The accepted halakhic opinion is that the ''ger toshav'' must accept the seven Noahide laws in the presence of three ''haberim'' (men of authority),<ref name="JE2"/> or, according to the [[Rabbinic Judaism|rabbinic tradition]], before a ''[[beth din]]'' (Jewish rabbinical court).<ref name="ET1"/> He will receive certain legal protection and privileges from the Jewish community, and there is an obligation to render him aid when in need. The restrictions on [[Shabbos goy|having a gentile do work for a Jew on the Shabbat]] are also greater when the gentile is a ''ger toshav''.<ref name="ET1"/>

According to [[Menachem Kellner]], a ''ger toshav'' could be a transitional stage on the way to becoming a "righteous alien" ({{langx|he|גר צדק|link=no}}, ''[[Conversion to Judaism#Terminology|ger tzedek]]''), i.e. a full [[Conversion to Judaism|convert to Judaism]].<ref name="Kellner1991">{{cite book |last=Kellner |first=Menachem |author-link=Menachem Kellner |year=1991 |title=Maimonides on Judaism and the Jewish people |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBWiRKhun4oC&pg=PA44 |location=[[Albany, New York]] |publisher=[[SUNY Press]] |series=SUNY Series in Jewish Philosophy |page=44 |isbn=0-7914-0691-1 |quote=against my reading of Maimonides is strengthened by the fact that Maimonides himself says that the ''ger toshav'' is accepted only during the time that the Jubilee is practiced. The Jubilee year is no longer practiced in this dispensation [...]. Second, it is entirely reasonable to assume that Maimonides thought that the messianic conversion of the Gentiles would be a process that occurred in stages and that some or all Gentiles would go through the status of ''ger toshav'' on their way to the status of full convert, ''ger tzedek''. But this question aside, there are substantial reasons why it is very unlikely that Maimonides foresaw a messianic era in which the Gentiles would become only semi-converts (''ger toshav'') and not full converts (''ger tzedek''). Put simply, semi-converts are not separate from the Jews but equal to them; their status is in every way inferior and subordinate to that of the Jews. They are separate and ''un''equal. |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> He conjectures that, according to Maimonides, only a full ''ger tzedek'' would be found during the Messianic era.<ref name="Kellner1991"/> Furthermore, Kellner criticizes the assumption within [[Orthodox Judaism]] that there is an {{qi|ontological divide between Jews and Gentiles}},<ref name="Kellner2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishideas.org/article/orthodoxy-and-gentile-problem |title=Orthodoxy and "The Gentile Problem" |last=Kellner |first=Menachem |author-link=Menachem Kellner |date=Spring 2016 |website=[[Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals]] |publisher=[[Marc D. Angel]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801013545/https://www.jewishideas.org/article/orthodoxy-and-gentile-problem |archive-date=1 August 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> which he believes is contrary to what Maimonides thought and the [[Torah]] teaches,<ref name="Kellner2016"/> stating that {{qi|Gentiles as well as Jews are fully [[Creationism|created]] in the image of God}}.<ref name="Kellner2016"/>

According to [[Christine Hayes]], the ''gerim'' were not necessarily Gentile converts in the [[Hebrew Bible]], whether in the modern or rabbinic sense.<ref name="Hayes 2002"/> Nonetheless, they were granted many rights and privileges when they lived in the [[Land of Israel]].<ref name="Hayes 2002"/> For example, they could offer sacrifices, actively participate in Israelite politics, keep their distinct ethnic identity for many generations, inherit tribal allotments, etc.<ref name="Hayes 2002">{{cite book |author-last=Hayes |author-first=Christine |author-link=Christine Hayes |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGZ0_PUBLVcC&pg=PA19 |chapter=Part I: Gentile Impurities in Biblical and Second Temple Sources — Chapter 2: Gentile Impurity in the Bible |title=Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities: Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud |year=2002 |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=19–44 |doi=10.1093/0195151208.003.0002 |isbn=9780199834273 |lccn=2001051154}}</ref>

=== Maimonides' view and its critics ===
The [[Medieval Jewry|medieval]] Jewish philosopher and [[rabbi]] [[Maimonides]] (1135–1204) wrote that gentiles must perform exclusively the Seven Laws of Noah and refrain from [[Torah study|studying the Torah]] or resting on the [[Shabbat]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Moses |last=Maimonides |author-link=Maimonides |year=2012 |chapter-url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Kings_and_Wars.10?lang=bi |chapter=Hilkhot M'lakhim (Laws of Kings and Wars) |title=[[Mishneh Torah]] |page=10:9 |translator-last=Brauner |translator-first=Reuven |publisher=[[Sefaria]] |access-date=10 August 2020}}</ref> He also states that if gentiles want to perform any Jewish commandment besides the Seven Laws of Noah according to the correct halakhic procedure, they are not prevented from doing so.<ref name="JVL"/><ref>{{cite book |first=Moses |last=Maimonides |author-link=Maimonides |year=2012 |chapter-url=https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Kings_and_Wars.10?lang=bi |chapter=Hilkhot M'lakhim (Laws of Kings and Wars) |title=[[Mishneh Torah]] |page=10:10 |translator-last=Brauner |translator-first=Reuven |publisher=[[Sefaria]] |access-date=10 August 2020}}</ref> According to Maimonides, teaching non-Jews to follow the Seven Laws of Noah is incumbent on all Jews, a commandment in and of itself.<ref name="Kress">{{cite web |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-modern-noahide-movement/ |title=The Modern Noahide Movement |last=Kress |first=Michael |date=2018 |website=My Jewish Learning |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> Nevertheless, the majority of [[Rabbinic Judaism|rabbinic authorities]] over the centuries have rejected Maimonides' opinion, and the dominant halakhic consensus has always been that Jews are not required to spread the Noahide laws to non-Jews.<ref name="Kress"/>

Maimonides held that gentiles may have a part in the [[World to Come#Jewish eschatology|World to Come]] just by observing the Seven Laws of Noah and accepting them as divinely revealed to Moses.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name="Sefaria"/><ref name="JVL"/><ref name="Lemler 2011">{{cite journal |last=Lemler |first=David |date=December 2011 |title=Noachisme et philosophie: Destin d'un thème talmudique de Maïmonide à Cohen en passant par Spinoza |editor-last=Grieu |editor-first=Étienne |journal=Archives de Philosophie: Recherches et documentation |publisher=Centre Sèvres |location=Paris |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=629–646 |language=fr |doi=10.3917/aphi.744.0629 |doi-access=free |eissn=1769-681X |issn=0003-9632 |via=[[Cairn.info]]}}</ref> According to Maimonides, such non-Jews achieve the status of ''Chassid Umot Ha-Olam'' ("Pious People of the World"),<ref name="Sefaria"/> and are different from those which solely keep the Noahide laws out of moral/ethical [[reason]]ing alone.<ref name="Sefaria"/> He wrote in ''Hilkhot M'lakhim'':"<ref name="Sefaria"/>

{{Blockquote|Anyone who accepts upon himself and carefully observes the Seven Commandments is of the Righteous of the Nations of the World and has a portion in the World to Come. This is as long as he accepts and performs them because (he truly believes that) it was the Holy One, Blessed Be He, Who commanded them in the Torah, and that it was through Moses our Teacher we were informed that the Sons of Noah had already been commanded to observe them. But if he observes them because he convinced himself, then he is not considered a Resident Convert and is not of the Righteous of the Nations of the World, but merely one of their wise.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |title=TRANSLATION OF THE FINAL CHAPTER OF THE RAMBAM'S MISHNEH TORAH |first=Reuven |last=Brauner |publisher=Halakhah.com |year=2012 |access-date=26 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111015524/http://halakhah.com/rst/kingsandwars.pdf |archive-date=11 November 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Some later editions of the ''Mishneh Torah'' differ by one letter and read {{qi|Nor one of their wise men}}; the latter reading is narrower. In either reading, Maimonides appears to exclude philosophical Noahides from being "Righteous Gentiles".<ref name="Sefaria"/> According to him, a truly "Righteous Gentile" follows the seven laws because they are divinely revealed, and thus are followed out of obedience to God.<ref name="Sefaria"/><ref name="m1"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UY2GAAAAQBAJ&q=Maimonides+laws+of+kings+wise+men&pg=PA253 |title=Maimonides: Life and Thought |first=Moshe |last=Halbertal |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |page=253 |year=2013 |access-date=26 May 2014 |isbn=978-1-4008-4847-8 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Rabbi [[Yosef Caro]] (15th century) rejected Maimonides' denial of the access to the World to Come to the gentiles who obey the Noahide laws guided only by their reason as [[Anti-rationalism|anti-rationalistic]] and unfounded, asserting that there is not any justification to uphold such a view in the Talmud.<ref name="Lemler 2011"/> The 17th-century Sephardic philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]] read Maimonides as saying "nor one of their wise men", and accused him of being narrow and particularistic.<ref name="Lemler 2011"/> Other Jewish philosophers influenced by Spinoza, such as [[Moses Mendelssohn]] and [[Hermann Cohen]], also have formulated more inclusive and universal interpretations of the Seven Laws of Noah.<ref name="Lemler 2011"/><ref name="m1">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OISKHHuUIkC&q=nor+of+%27the+pious+among+the+gentiles%2C%27+nor+of+their+wise+men&pg=PA179 |title=Maimonides |first=T. M. |last=Rudavsky |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |pages=178–179 |year=2009 |access-date=26 May 2014 |isbn=978-1-4443-1802-9 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> Mendelssohn, one of the leading exponents of the [[Haskalah]] (Jewish enlightenment), strongly disagreed with Maimonides' opinion, and instead contended that gentiles which observe the Noahide laws out of ethical, moral, or philosophical reasoning, without believing in the Jewish monotheistic conception of God, retained the status of "Righteous Gentiles" and would still achieve [[World to Come#Jewish eschatology|salvation]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Kogan |first=Michael S. |year=2008 |chapter=Three Jewish Theologians of Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aE8SDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |title=Opening the Covenant: A Jewish Theology of Christianity |location=New York City |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=77–80 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195112597.003.0003 |isbn=978-0-19-511259-7 |s2cid=170858477 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> 

According to [[Steven Schwarzschild]], Maimonides' position has its source in his adoption of [[Aristotle]]'s skeptical attitude towards the ability of reason to arrive at moral truths,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schwarzschild |first=Steven S. |author-link=Steven Schwarzschild |date=July 1962 |title=Do Noachite Have to Believe in Revelation? (Continued) |journal=[[The Jewish Quarterly Review|Jewish Quarterly Review]] |volume=53 |issue=1 |location=[[Philadelphia]] |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |pages=44–45 |doi=10.2307/1453421 |jstor=1453421 |quote=the basic philosophical reason which compelled Maimonides to take this restrictive position toward the Noachides was the fact that he had learned from his teacher Aristotle and was ready also for religious reasons to believe that ethics are not a purely rational, philosophic or scientific discipline. Only the barest outline of general ethical principles can be defined by logical methods. The substance of the matter which resides in its details can be obtained only through positive statutes, traditions, or divine commands, none of which are produced by conscious, rational processes}}</ref> and {{qi|many of the most outstanding spokesmen of Judaism themselves dissented sharply from}} this position, which is {{qi|individual and certainly somewhat eccentric}} in comparison to other Jewish thinkers.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schwarzschild |first=Steven S. |author-link=Steven Schwarzschild |date=July 1962 |title=Do Noachite Have to Believe in Revelation? (Continued) |journal=[[The Jewish Quarterly Review|Jewish Quarterly Review]] |volume=53 |issue=1 |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |pages=46–47 |doi=10.2307/1453421 |jstor=1453421}}</ref>

A novel understanding of Maimonides' position in the 20th century, advanced by the Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi [[Abraham Isaac Kook]], is that a non-Jew who follows the commandments due to philosophical conviction rather than revelation (what Maimonides calls {{qi|one of their wise men}}) ''also'' merits the World to Come; this would be in line with Maimonides' general approach that following philosophical wisdom advances a person more than following revelatory commands.<ref>''Iggerot HaReiyah'' 1:89, quoted in [https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/vl/noahides/noahides01.pdf Law and the Noahides], p.35</ref>

=== Modern Noahide movement ===
{{Main|Noahidism}}
{{Further|Jewish fundamentalism|Religious Zionism}}

[[Menachem Mendel Schneerson]] encouraged [[Chabad-Lubavitch|his followers]] on many occasions to preach the Seven Laws of Noah,<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Kress"/> devoting some of his addresses to the subtleties of this code.<ref name=lk_26_yisro3/><ref name=lk_4_vaeschonon/><ref name=lk_35>{{cite book |last=Schneerson |first=Menachem Mendel |author-link=Menachem Mendel Schneerson |year=1987 |title=[[Likkutei Sichos|Likkutei Sichot]] |volume=35 |page=97 |trans-title=Collected Talks |language=yi |location=[[Brooklyn]] |publisher=[[Kehot Publication Society]] |isbn=978-0-8266-5781-7}}</ref> Since the 1990s,<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/> [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] rabbis from Israel, most notably those affiliated to Chabad-Lubavitch and [[religious Zionist]] organizations,<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany">{{cite news |last=Ilany |first=Ofri |title=The Messianic Zionist Religion Whose Believers Worship Judaism (But Can't Practice It) |work=[[Haaretz]] |location=[[Tel Aviv]] |date=12 September 2018 |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-the-messianic-zionist-religion-that-wants-to-recruit-7-billion-members-1.6455144 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200209223631/https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-the-messianic-zionist-religion-that-wants-to-recruit-7-billion-members-1.6455144 |archive-date=9 February 2020 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> including [[The Temple Institute]],<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> have set up a modern Noahide movement.<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> These Noahide organizations, led by religious Zionist and Orthodox rabbis, are aimed at non-Jews to [[Proselytism|proselytize]] among them and commit them to follow the Noahide laws.<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> These religious Zionist and Orthodox rabbis that guide the modern Noahide movement, who are often affiliated with the [[Third Temple]] movement,<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> are accused of expounding a [[Racism|racist]] and [[Supremacism#Jewish|supremacist]] [[ideology]] which consists in the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen nation and racially superior to non-Jews,<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> and mentor Noahides because they believe that the Messianic era will begin with the [[Third Temple|rebuilding of the Third Temple]] on the [[Temple Mount]] in [[Jerusalem]] to re-institute the [[Jewish priesthood]] along with the practice of [[Korban|ritual sacrifices]], and the establishment of a Jewish [[theocracy]] in Israel, supported by communities of Noahides.<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> In 1990, [[Meir Kahane]] was the keynote speaker at the First International Conference of the Descendants of Noah, the first Noahide gathering, in [[Fort Worth, Texas]].<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Ilany"/> After the [[assassination of Meir Kahane]] that same year, The Temple Institute, which advocates rebuilding the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, started to promote the Noahide laws as well.<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Ilany"/>

=== Public recognition ===
In the 1980s, [[rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson]] urged his followers to actively engage in activities to inform non-Jews about the Noahide laws, which had not been done in previous generations.<ref name="Kress"/><ref name="Tabletmag">{{cite magazine |last=Strauss |first=Ilana E. |date=26 January 2016 |title=The Gentiles Who Act Like Jews: Who are these non-Jews practicing Orthodox Judaism? |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/the-gentiles-who-act-like-jews |magazine=[[Tablet (magazine)|Tablet Magazine]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026025031/https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/196588/the-gentiles-who-act-like-jews |archive-date=26 October 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> The Chabad-Lubavitch movement has been one of the most active in Noahide outreach, believing that there is spiritual and societal value for non-Jews in at least simply acknowledging the Noahide laws.<ref name="Feldman2017"/><ref name="Feldman2018"/><ref name="Kress"/><ref name="Tabletmag"/>

In 1982, Chabad-Lubavitch had a reference to the Noahide laws enshrined in a [[Presidential proclamation (United States)|U.S. Presidential proclamation]]: the "Proclamation 4921",<ref name="ucsb.edu1">{{cite web |last1=Woolley |first1=John |last2=Peters |first2=Gerhard |title=Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States: 1981–1989 – Proclamation 4921—National Day of Reflection |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-4921-national-day-reflection |date=3 April 1982 |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> signed by the then-U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref name="ucsb.edu1"/> The [[United States Congress]], recalling House Joint Resolution 447 and in celebration of Schneerson's 80th birthday, proclaimed 4 April 1982, as a "National Day of Reflection".<ref name="ucsb.edu1"/>

In 1989 and 1990, Chabad-Lubavitch had another reference to the Noahide laws enshrined in a U.S. presidential proclamation: the "Proclamation 5956",<ref name="ucsb.edu2">{{cite web |last1=Woolley |first1=John |last2=Peters |first2=Gerhard |title=George Bush, 41st President of the United States: 1989–1993 – Proclamation 5956—Education Day, U.S.A., 1989 and 1990 |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-5956-education-day-usa-1989-and-1990 |date=14 April 1989 |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=[[University of California, Santa Barbara]] |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref> signed by then-U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]].<ref name="ucsb.edu2"/> The [[United States Congress]], recalling House Joint Resolution 173 and in celebration of Schneerson's 87th birthday, proclaimed 16 April 1989, and 6 April 1990, as "Education Day, U.S.A."<ref name="ucsb.edu2"/>

In January 2004, the spiritual leader of the [[Druze in Israel|Druze community in Israel]], Sheikh [[Mowafak Tarif]], met with a representative of Chabad-Lubavitch to sign a declaration calling on all non-Jews in Israel to observe the Noahide laws; the mayor of the [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arab city]] of [[Shefa-'Amr]] (Shfaram) – where Muslim, Christian, and Druze communities live side-by-side – also signed the document.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=18 January 2004 |title=Druze Religious Leader commits to Noachide "Seven Laws" |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/56379 |work=[[Arutz Sheva]] |location=[[Beit El]] |access-date=1 November 2020}}</ref>

In March 2016, the [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] [[Chief Rabbi of Israel]], [[Yitzhak Yosef]], declared during a sermon that Jewish law requires that only non-Jews who follow the Noahide laws are allowed to live in Israel:<ref name="Sharon 2016">{{cite news |last=Sharon |first=Jeremy |date=28 March 2016 |title=Non-Jews in Israel must keep Noahide laws, chief rabbi says |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Non-Jews-are-forbidden-by-Jewish-law-to-live-in-Israel-chief-rabbi-says-449395 |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |location=Jerusalem |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328213855/http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Non-Jews-are-forbidden-by-Jewish-law-to-live-in-Israel-chief-rabbi-says-449395 |archive-date=28 March 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Israel.pdf |title=Israel 2016 International Religious Freedom Report: Israel and the Occupied Territories |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=State.gov |publisher=[[United States Department of State|US Department of State]]-[[Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor]] |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> {{qi|According to Jewish law, it's forbidden for a non-Jew to live in the Land of Israel – unless he has accepted the seven Noahide laws, [...] If the non-Jew is unwilling to accept these laws, then we can send him to [[Saudi Arabia]], ... When there will be full, true redemption, we will do this.}}<ref name="Sharon 2016"/> Yosef further added: {{qi|non-Jews shouldn't live in the land of Israel. ... If our hand were firm, if we had the power to rule, then non-Jews must not live in Israel. But, our hand is not firm. [...] Who, otherwise be the servants? Who will be our helpers? This is why we leave them in Israel.}}<ref name="ADL 2016">{{cite web |last1=Greenblatt |first1=Jonathan |author1-link=Jonathan Greenblatt |last2=Nuriel |first2=Carole |url=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-israeli-chief-rabbi-statement-against-non-jews-living-in-israel-is-shocking |title=ADL: Israeli Chief Rabbi Statement Against Non-Jews Living in Israel is Shocking and Unacceptable |date=28 March 2016 |website=Adl.org |location=New York City |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20170314123513/https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-israeli-chief-rabbi-statement-against-non-jews-living-in-israel-is-shocking |archive-date=14 March 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> Yosef's sermon sparked outrage in Israel and was fiercely criticized by several human rights associations, [[NGOs]] and [[Member of Knesset|members of the Knesset]];<ref name="Sharon 2016"/> [[Jonathan Greenblatt]], [[Anti-Defamation League]]'s CEO and national director, and Carole Nuriel, Anti-Defamation League's Israel Office acting director, issued a strong denunciation of Yosef's sermon:<ref name="Sharon 2016"/><ref name="ADL 2016"/>

{{Blockquote|The statement by Chief Rabbi Yosef is shocking and unacceptable. It is unconscionable that the Chief Rabbi, an official representative of the State of Israel, would express such intolerant and ignorant views about Israel's non-Jewish population – including the millions of non-Jewish citizens.<br />As a spiritual leader, Rabbi Yosef should be using his influence to preach tolerance and compassion towards others, regardless of their faith, and not seek to exclude and demean a large segment of Israelis.<br />We call upon the Chief Rabbi to retract his statements and apologize for any offense caused by his comments.<ref name="ADL 2016"/>}}

=== Contemporary status ===
Historically, some rabbinic opinions consider non-Jews not only not obliged to adhere to all the remaining laws of the Torah, but actually forbidden from observing them.<ref name="JE3">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Eisenstein |first1=Judah D. |author1-link=Julius Eisenstein |last2=Hirsch |first2=Emil G. |author2-link=Emil G. Hirsch |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6585-gentile#anchor21 |title=Gentile: Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah |encyclopedia=[[Jewish Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Kopelman Foundation]] |year=1906 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118024556/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6585-gentile |archive-date=18 January 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| title = Sanhedrin| publisher = Halakhah.com 59a-b| access-date = 25 February 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150221053238/http://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf| archive-date = 21 February 2015| url-status = live}}</ref>

Noahide law differs radically from [[Roman law]] for gentiles (''Jus Gentium''), if only because the latter was enforceable judicial policy. Rabbinic Judaism has never adjudicated any cases under the Noahide laws,<ref name="Novak 1983"/> and Jewish scholars disagree about whether the Noahide laws are a functional part of the ''[[Halakha]]'' (Jewish law).<ref>{{cite book |last=Bleich |first=J. David |author-link=J. David Bleich |year=1997 |chapter=Tikkun Olam: Jewish Obligations to Non-Jewish Society |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6by4AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |editor1-last=Shatz |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Waxman |editor2-first=Chaim I. |editor3-last=Diament |editor3-first=Nathan J. |title=Tikkun Olam: Social Responsibility in Jewish Thought and Law |location=[[Northvale, New Jersey|Northvale, NJ]] |publisher=[[Jason Aronson]] Inc. |pages=61–102 |isbn=978-0-765-75951-1 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

Some modern views hold that penalties are a detail of the Noahide Laws and that Noahides themselves must determine the details of their own laws for themselves. According to this school of thought – see N. Rakover, ''Law and the Noahides'' (1998); M. Dallen, ''The Rainbow Covenant'' (2003) – the Noahide laws offer humankind a set of absolute values and a framework for righteousness and justice, while the detailed laws that are currently on the books of the world's states and nations are presumptively valid.

In recent years, the term "Noahide" has come to refer to non-Jews who strive to live in accord with the seven Noahide Laws; the terms "observant Noahide" or "Torah-centered Noahides" would be more precise but these are infrequently used. Support for the use of "Noahide" in this sense can be found with the [[Yom Tov Asevilli|Ritva]], who uses the term ''Son of Noah'' to refer to a gentile who keeps the seven laws, but is not a ''[[ger toshav]]''.<ref name="ET1"/>