Noahic Covenant

The Noahic Covenant is the universal promise made to Noah and all living creatures after the Flood - sealed by the rainbow and prohibiting the consumption of blood, establishing the first post-diluvian moral order. Following the catastrophic deluge that cleansed the earth of the violence and corruption sown by the Watchers, the surviving patriarch Noah receives a divine assurance that reshapes the relationship between heaven and all living creatures. This covenant, recorded most fully in the Book of Jubilees, emerges directly from the Enochic narrative of angelic transgression and its consequences. In Jubilees 6, Noah offers burnt offerings on the renewed altar, prompting God to bind himself by oath never again to destroy the earth by flood, an oath sealed visibly by the rainbow set in the clouds as an eternal sign visible to every generation. The passage underscores that this promise extends not only to humanity but to “all flesh that is on the earth,” establishing a universal order restored after the chaos of the giants and their illicit teachings. The same chapter in Jubilees elaborates the stipulations attached to this covenant, forbidding the consumption of blood because “the blood is the life” and requiring that any shed blood-whether of beast or human-be accounted for through justice. These commands echo the earlier warnings preserved in 1 Enoch 65-67 and 106-107, where Noah is singled out as the righteous remnant spared to perpetuate a purified lineage. The Book of Jasher complements this account by describing Noah’s post-flood ordinances and the solemn renewal of laws governing bloodshed, reinforcing the idea that the covenant reestablishes moral boundaries fractured by the Watchers’ influence. Within the broader Enochic tradition, the Noahic covenant therefore functions as the pivot between antediluvian revelation and the renewed world, guaranteeing cosmic stability while demanding human accountability for life itself. Scholars note that the oath sworn at this moment is presented as eternally binding, observed in heaven and on earth alike, and renewed annually at the Festival of Weeks according to Jubilees 6:17-19. This framework highlights the covenant’s dual character: a divine pledge of restraint paired with enduring ethical imperatives. For readers of the apocryphal corpus, the episode illustrates how the flood judgment ultimately yields not mere survival but a structured peace, symbolized by the rainbow and guarded by laws that prevent the recurrence of the very sins that once provoked heavenly intervention.

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Covenant Details

Parties: God and Noah/all living creatures
Sign: Rainbow

Key Chapters

The Book of Jubilees 6 Noah's Sacrifice, Covenant, and the Division of the Year 9 min read The Book of Jasher 6 Animals, Beasts, and Fowls Preserved in the Ark. Noah and his Sons, and their Wives are Shut in. When the Floods come the People want to get in. Noah ... 9 min read The Book of Jubilees 7 Noah's Admonitions to His Sons 9 min read

Key Passages

The Covenant

The Book of Jubilees 6:1-17

And on the new moon of the third month he went forth from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain....

A¹nd on the new moon of the third month he went forth from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain.

² And he made atonement for the earth, and took a kid and made atonement by its blood for all the guilt of the earth; for everything that had been on it had been destroyed, save those that were in the ark with Noah. ³ And he placed the fat thereof on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat, and a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a dove, and placed a burnt sacrifice on the altar, and poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a goodly savour to arise, acceptable before the Lord. ⁴ And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and He made a covenant with him that there should not be any more a flood to destroy the earth; that all the days of the earth seed-time and harvest should never cease; cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not change their order, nor cease for ever. ⁵ 'And you, increase ye and multiply upon the earth, and become many upon it, and be a blessing upon it. The fear of you and the dread of you I will inspire in everything that is on earth and in the sea. ⁶ And behold I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged things, and everything that moves on the earth, and the fish in the waters, and all things for food; as the green herbs, I have given you all things to eat. ⁷ But flesh, with the life thereof, with the blood, ye shall not eat; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of your lives be required. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every (beast) will I require the blood of man. ⁸ Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made He man. ⁹ And you, increase ye, and multiply on the earth.' ¹⁰ And Noah and his sons swore that they would not eat any blood that was in any flesh, and he made a covenant before the Lord God for ever throughout all the generations of the earth in this month. ¹¹ On this account He spake to thee that thou shouldst make a covenant with the children of Israel in this month upon the mountain with an oath, and that thou shouldst sprinkle blood upon them because of all the words of the covenant, which the Lord made with them for ever. ¹² And this testimony is written concerning you that you should observe it continually, so that you should not eat on any day any blood of beasts or birds or cattle during all the days of the earth, and the man who eats the blood of beast or of cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth, he and his seed shall be rooted out of the land. ¹³ And do thou command the children of Israel to eat no blood, so that their names and their seed may be before the Lord our God continually. ¹⁴ And for this law there is no limit of days, for it is for ever. They shall observe it throughout their generations, so that they may continue supplicating on your behalf with blood before the altar; every day and at the time of morning and evening they shall seek forgiveness on your behalf perpetually before the Lord that they may keep it and not be rooted out. ¹⁵ And He gave to Noah and his sons a sign that there should not again be a flood on the earth. ¹⁶ He set His bow in the cloud for a sign of the eternal covenant that there should not again be a flood on the earth to destroy it all the days of the earth. ¹⁷ For this reason it is ordained and written on the heavenly tablets, that they should celebrate the feast of weeks in this month once a year, to renew the covenant every year.

In Jasher

The Book of Jasher 6:1-10

At that time, after the death of Methuselah, the Lord said to Noah, Go thou with thy household into the ark; behold I wi...

A¹t that time, after the death of Methuselah, the Lord said to Noah, Go thou with thy household into the ark; behold I will gather to thee all the animals of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and they shall all come and surround the ark.

² And thou shalt go and seat thyself by the doors of the ark, and all the beasts, the animals, and the fowls, shall assemble and place themselves before thee, and such of them as shall come and crouch before thee, shalt thou take and deliver into the hands of thy sons, who shall bring them to the ark, and all that will stand before thee thou shalt leave. ³ And the Lord brought this about on the next day, and animals, beasts and fowls came in great multitudes and surrounded the ark. ⁴ And Noah went and seated himself by the door of the ark, and of all flesh that crouched before him, he brought into the ark, and all that stood before him he left upon earth. ⁵ And a lioness came, with her two whelps, male and female, and the three crouched before Noah, and the two whelps rose up against the lioness and smote her, and made her flee from her place, and she went away, and they returned to their places, and crouched upon the earth before Noah. ⁶ And the lioness ran away, and stood in the place of the lions. ⁷ And Noah saw this, and wondered greatly, and he rose and took the two whelps, and brought them into the ark. ⁸ And Noah brought into the ark from all living creatures that were upon earth, so that there was none left but which Noah brought into the ark. ⁹ Two and two came to Noah into the ark, but from the clean animals, and clean fowls, he brought seven couples, as God had commanded him. ¹⁰ And all the animals, and beasts, and fowls, were still there, and they surrounded the ark at every place, and the rain had not descended till seven days after.

Noah's admonitions

The Book of Jubilees 7:1-20

And in the seventh week in the first year 1317 A.M. thereof, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on whic...

A¹nd in the seventh week in the first year 1317 A.M. thereof, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lubar, one of the Ararat Mountains, and they produced fruit in the fourth year, 1320 A.M. and he guarded their fruit, and gathered it in this year in the seventh month.

² And he made wine therefrom and put it into a vessel, and kept it until the fifth year, 1321 A.M. until the first day, on the new moon of the first month. ³ And he celebrated with joy the day of this feast, and he made a burnt sacrifice unto the Lord, one young ox and one ram, and seven sheep, each a year old, and a kid of the goats, that he might make atonement thereby for himself and his sons. ⁴ And he prepared the kid first, and placed some of its blood on the flesh that was on the altar which he had made, and all the fat he laid on the altar where he made the burnt sacrifice, and the ox and the ram and the sheep, and he laid all their flesh upon the altar. ⁵ And he placed all their offerings mingled with oil upon it, and afterwards he sprinkled wine on the fire which he had previously made on the altar, and he placed incense on the altar and caused a sweet savour to ascend acceptable before the Lord his God. ⁶ And he rejoiced and drank of this wine, he and his children with joy. ⁷ And it was evening, and he went into his tent, and being drunken he lay down and slept, and was uncovered in his tent as he slept. ⁸ And Ham saw Noah his father naked, and went forth and told his two brethren without. ⁹ And Shem took his garment and arose, he and Japheth, and they placed the garment on their shoulders and went backward and covered the shame of their father, and their faces were backward. ¹⁰ And Noah awoke from his sleep and knew all that his younger son had done unto him, and he cursed his son and said: 'Cursed be Canaan; an enslaved servant shall he be unto his brethren.' ¹¹ And he blessed Shem, and said: 'Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. ¹² God shall enlarge Japheth, and God shall dwell in the dwelling of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.' ¹³ And Ham knew that his father had cursed his younger son, and he was displeased that he had cursed his son. and he parted from his father, he and his sons with him, Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. ¹⁴ And he built for himself a city and called its name after the name of his wife Ne'elatama'uk. ¹⁵ And Japheth saw it, and became envious of his brother, and he too built for himself a city, and he called its name after the name of his wife 'Adataneses. ¹⁶ And Shem dwelt with his father Noah, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after the name of his wife Sedeqetelebab. ¹⁷ And behold these three cities are near Mount Lubar; Sedeqetelebab fronting the mountain on its east; and Na'eltama'uk on the south; 'Adatan'eses towards the west. ¹⁸ And these are the sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad -this (son) was born two years after the flood- and Lud, and Aram. ¹⁹ The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan, Tubal and Meshech and Tiras: these are the sons of Noah. ²⁰ And in the twenty-eighth jubilee 1324-1372 A.M. Noah began to enjoin upon his sons' sons the ordinances and commandments, and all the judgments that he knew, and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness, and to cover the shame of their flesh, and to bless their Creator, and honour father and mother, and love their neighbour, and guard their souls from fornication and uncleanness and all iniquity.

Did You Know?

The rainbow is the universal sign for all flesh, not just Israel.

Includes the first prohibition against eating blood.

The prohibition against eating blood establishes the sanctity of life as the first post-flood law.

Jubilees connects the rainbow to the Feast of Weeks, making it an annually renewed sign rather than passive.

This is the only covenant in the corpus made with all living creatures, not just humanity.