Noach 8:1 · unit 1

TT #29 · Parashas Noach · Third Aliyah · Passuk 8:1

The Complete Passuk

וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־נֹ֔חַ וְאֵ֤ת כׇּל־הַֽחַיָּה֙ וְאֶת־כׇּל־הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתּ֖וֹ בַּתֵּבָ֑ה וַיַּעֲבֵ֨ר אֱלֹהִ֥ים ר֙וּחַ֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וַיָּשֹׁ֖כּוּ הַמָּֽיִם׃

God remembered Noach and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to blow across the earth, and the waters subsided.

Chabad.org — 8:1

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sanhedrin 108b (Rav Chisda — boiling waters).

Sefaria — Sanhedrin 108b

E-Daf image — Sanhedrin 108b (size=3)

Shas / HebrewBooks PDF of the daf

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ הַמָּיִם — אָמַר רַב חִסְדָּא: דּוֹר הַמַּבּוּל בְּרוֹתְחִין קִלְקְלוּ וּבְרוֹתְחִין נִדּוֹנוּ. בְּרוֹתְחִין קִלְקְלוּ — בַּעֲבֵרָה, וּבְרוֹתְחִין נִדּוֹנוּ, כְּתִיב הָכָא ״וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ הַמָּיִם״ וּכְתִיב הָתָם ״וַחֲמַת הַמֶּלֶךְ שָׁכָכָה״.

English: “And the waters subsided” — Rav Chisda said: The generation of the Flood corrupted themselves with boiling [passion] and were judged with boiling [water]. They corrupted with boiling — with sin; and they were judged with boiling. It is written here “and the waters subsided (va-yashokku)” and it is written there “and the king’s wrath subsided (shachachah).”

On the daf / in context: The rare verb for the waters “subsiding” is linked to the language of a king’s wrath cooling. The waters themselves were boiling (measure-for-measure for the generation’s heated sins).

Type of Learning

Custom (measure-for-measure reading of boiling waters via linguistic parallel).

What Is Learned

The Flood waters were boiling; the generation that sinned with heated passion was punished with heated water, and the “subsiding” of the waters parallels the cooling of wrath.