Home -- Content: Series 7 (Laws) -- Translation: English -- Book: 1 (Tora) -- Part: 1 (Positive) -- Command: 187 -- Text
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The Sharia of Moses in the TORA
Part 1 - The 248 Positive Commandments of the Tora
187 - THE LAW OF THE SEVEN NATIONS*
This commandment and that which follows will be better understood in the light of the following passage from the Mishneh Torah: “We are not to engage in war with anyone whatever unless we first proclaim peace to him; this is applicable to both an optional and an obligatory war; for it is said, When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. (Deuteronomy 20:10). If the inhabitants accept the offer of peace and take upon themselves the obligation to observe the seven commandments given to the Noachidae, we are not to slay a soul among them, and they merely become tributary, for it is said, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. (Deuteronomy 20:11)”*
“Three letters Joshua sent to the seven nations that occupied Canaan before entering the land. In the first letter he wrote: ‘He who wishes to flee may flee’; again he wrote: ‘He who wishes to accept peace may accept peace’; and finally: ‘He who wishes to engage in war may engage in war’.”*
Scripturally a proselyte of the seven nations was permitted to marry a daughter of Israel; but such marriage was subsequently prohibited on account of their natural hardness and cruelty.*
In conclusion, the following words of Maimonides are of interest: “You have, no doubt, noticed in the Torah how the commandment to annihilate the seven nations, and to let nothing that breathes remain alive, (Deuteronomy 20:16), is followed immediately by the words: lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 20:18); that is to say, you shall not think that this commandment implies an act of cruelty or of retaliation; it is an act demanded by the need for man to remove everything that might turn him away from the right path, and to clear away all obstacles in the road to perfection, that is, to the knowledge of God.”*