Noah's Covenant and the Rainbow

Era: Post-Flood Era
Date: Post-Flood ○ Traditional
Reference: The Book of Jubilees 6:1-17

Noah's Covenant is the universal promise made after the Flood, sealed by the rainbow - God's self-imposed oath never to destroy the earth by water again, establishing the first post-diluvian moral order with the prohibition of blood. Jubilees 6 provides the most detailed account, specifying that the covenant was renewed annually at the Feast of Weeks and included precise dietary laws. The Book of Jasher records Noah's altar on Ararat and the immediate establishment of laws governing bloodshed. Within the Enochian tradition, this covenant represents the pivot between the antediluvian chaos caused by the Watchers and the structured renewal of human civilization. This event represents a critical juncture in the sacred chronology that the Books of Enoch, Jubilees, and Jasher collectively preserve. Within the jubilee framework that Jubilees meticulously tracks, it occupies a precise position in the divine timetable - not an accident of history but a predetermined turning point inscribed on the heavenly tablets before creation. The expanded narratives in Jasher and the theological interpretations in Jubilees together provide a multidimensional understanding of this moment that illuminates both its immediate consequences and its role in the larger pattern of divine action spanning from creation to final judgment.

0:00

Did You Know?

The rainbow is renewed annually at the Feast of Weeks according to Jubilees - not a one-time event.

The blood prohibition is the first universal dietary law in the tradition.

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

Noah builds the first post-flood altar immediately upon exiting the ark.

The covenant includes specific festival regulations that connect to the solar calendar.

Key Passage

Noah's Covenant and the Rainbow

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.

Read full chapter: The Book of Jubilees 6 →

Did You Know?

The rainbow is renewed annually at the Feast of Weeks according to Jubilees - not a one-time event.

The blood prohibition is the first universal dietary law in the tradition.

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

Noah builds the first post-flood altar immediately upon exiting the ark.

The covenant includes specific festival regulations that connect to the solar calendar.

Noah's Covenant and the Rainbow

Did You Know?

Key Passage

Noah's Covenant and the Rainbow

Did You Know?

Related

Characters