Although Genesis is a part of the Torah, it doesn't contain many commandments. Here are the ones that I could find.
- Be fruitful and multiply.
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply. Genesis 1:28a, 9:1, 9:7, 35:11
This command is given repeatedly by God, and although it may have been meant only for the particular people that God was talking to at the time (Adam and Eve, Noah and his shipmates, and Jacob), many Bible believers consider it a direct command to all humankind. So, for the sake of completeness, I'll include it on the list. - Subdue the earth.
Replenish the earth, and subdue it. Genesis 1:28b
- Have dominion over every living thing.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1:28c
The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Genesis 9:2
- Be a vegan.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. Genesis 1:29
- Don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:17
The fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, ... lest ye die. Genesis 3:3
- Don't touch the tree in the middle of the garden.
The fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not ... touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 2:17
- Every man shall become one flesh with his wife.
The LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone ... Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:18-24
- Be an omnivore.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. Genesis 9:3
- Don't eat blood.
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. Genesis 9:4
This commandment is presented several times in the Bible, but first in Genesis 9:4. In my official "Jot and Tittle" list, I will assign the commandment number according to its first occurrence. The other passages will then be listed in biblical order.It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood. Leviticus 3:17
Ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. Leviticus 7:26-27
And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ... No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. ... Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. Leviticus 17:10-14
Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood. Leviticus 19:26
Ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. Deuteronomy 12:16
Thou shalt not eat the blood thereof; thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water. Deuteronomy 15:23
But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. ... For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood.... Acts 15:20, 28-29
This commandment is included in Maimonides' list as #192, but it refers only to Leviticus 3:17. No mention is made of Genesis 9:4
Muslims and Jews require the blood to be drained when animals are slaughtered for meat to be considered halal or kosher. It is one of the few things that they seem to agree on.
Most Christians ignore God's first commandment, with the Jehovah's Witnesses being a notable exception. They believe it refers to human blood, and therefore prohibits blood transfusions. (They completely ignore the part about eating fat in Leviticus 3:17.)
Although abstaining from blood is mentioned in Acts 15, it is unclear what is being condemned -- participating in pagan sacrifices, eating blood, or both. It is included here for completeness' sake.
- Whoever kills another person must be killed.
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. Genesis 9:6
This commandment seems clear enough. Murders must be executed. But if so, then why wasn't the first murderer executed? God went out of his way to protect Cain from execution by putting some sort of mark on him, so that his parents (the only other people alive at the time) wouldn't kill him. God also said that whoever killed the first killer would be killed seven times over, setting a somewhat dubious precedent for future murder prosecutions. (Genesis 4:8-15)He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. Exodus 21:12
If a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die. Exodus 21:14
He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. Leviticus 24:17
He that killeth a man, he shall be put to death. Leviticus 24:21b
Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Numbers 35:30
- Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. Genesis 17:10
Male circumcision is God's "everlasting covenant." Even Jesus was circumcised when he was eight days old (Luke 2:21). But some passages in the New Testament claim that God's everlasting covenant is no longer required. See Is circumcision necessary?Ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. Genesis 17:11
My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. Genesis 17:13
- Circumcise boys eight days after their birth.
He that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations. Genesis 17:12
And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Leviticus 12:3
- Circumcise your male slaves.
He that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised. Genesis 17:13
- Cut off any uncircumcised male.
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Genesis 17:14
- Don't eat the sinew on the hollow of the thigh.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. Genesis 32:25-32
6 comments:
After mentioning that Jehovah's witnesses forbid blood transfusions you add the parenthetical comment: “They are completely okay with eating rare non-human meat.”
That's not really a contradiction on their part. Although the red juices that are found in rare meat are popularly referred to as blood, they aren't blood. The red color is a protein called myoglobin.
Good point, JT. I've removed the comment about rare meat.
Thanks for the correction.
You forgot not partaking of the 'sinew that jumped', due to Jacob's unfortunate wrestling boutwith YAHWAY.
There's also 'be fruitful and multiply' at the beginning.
You might want to check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_ha-Chinuch
- a Jewish medieval work that categorizes the commandments in order of their apearance in scriptures.
noodleki,
Yeah, I thought about including the "be fruitful and multiply" command, but I decided not to, since it seemed to be a command for Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28, to Noah and his shipmates in Genesis 9:1, and Jacob in Genesis 35:11. It doesn't look like a general commandment to me.
The bit about the sinew from Jacob's wrestling match with God might be considered a commandment, I suppose. But it seems more like an explanation for Jewish dietary customs, rather than laws. But it's far from clear to me.
noodleki,
I've decided to include the "Be fruitful and multiply" commandment, along with God's command to Adam and Noah about having dominion over the earth and every living thing. It isn't clear (to me, anyway) that God is talking generally in these commands, but that's the way many Christians and Jews interpret it.
I've also taken your advice and checked the Jewish lists, which has resulted in the addition of another couple dozen commandments that I'd missed. (The numbering is a bit screwed up now, but the list is more complete.) Thanks for your suggestions!
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