Today’s daf TB Sanhedrin 108 almost exclusively discusses the generation of the flood. “The members of the generation of the flood have no share in the World-to-Come and will not stand in judgment at the end of days, as it is stated: “My soul shall not abide [yadon] in man forever” (Genesis 6:3); neither will they stand in judgment [din] nor shall their souls be restored to them. (They have no share in the World to Come, but on the other hand, they will not be resurrected to receive a punishment for the sins on the final Day of Judgment which precedes the World to Come because they already received their punishment through the flood {Yad Ramah}-the Schottenstein travel addition of our Gemara, page 107 part 4, note 48-gg)” (TB Sanhedrin 107b, Sefaria.org translation) It also discusses the life on Noah’s Ark.
Robbery was
the reason why the generation of the flood was punished according to the Gemara.
“With regard to the verse: “And God said to Noah: The end of all flesh is
come before Me, for the earth is filled with robbery through them, and
behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:13), Rabbi Yoḥanan
says: Come and see how great is the power of robbery, as the generation of the
flood violated every precept, but their sentence to be destroyed was
not sealed until they extended their hands and engaged in robbery, as it
is stated: “For the earth is filled with robbery through them, and behold, I
will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:13). And it is written:
“Robbery is risen up into a rod of wickedness; nothing comes from them, nor
from their multitude, nor from any of them, nor shall there be wailing [no’ah]
for them” (Ezekiel 7:11).” (Sefaria.org translation)
I’ve been a
subscriber to the magazine Biblical Archaeological Review almost from
its inception. I wish I could give you the author’s name and the citation who
gave murder as the alternative reason why the generation of the flood was
punished.
He cites the
importance of removing blood guilt in the Israelite religion by quoting Deuteronomy
21:1-9. “If, in the land that your God YHVH is assigning you to possess,
someone slain is found lying in the open, the identity of the slayer not being
known, your elders and magistrates shall go out and measure the distances from
the corpse to the nearby towns. The elders of the town nearest to the corpse
shall then take a heifer which has never been worked, which has never pulled in
a yoke; and the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to an
everflowing wadi, which is not tilled or sown. There, in the wadi, they shall
break the heifer’s neck. The priests, sons of Levi, shall come forward; for
your God YHVH has chosen them for divine service and to pronounce blessing in
the name of YHVH, and every lawsuit and case of assault is subject to their
ruling. Then all the elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall wash their
hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi. And they shall make this declaration: “Our hands did not shed this
blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Absolve, YHVH, Your people Israel whom You
redeemed, and do not let guilt for the blood of the innocent remain among Your
people Israel.” And they will be
absolved of bloodguilt. Thus you
will remove from your midst guilt for the blood of the innocent, (my emphasis-gg)
for you will be doing what is right in the sight of YHVH.”
Ever since
Cain murdered Abel, all these murders went unpunished. Blood guilt accumulated
and grew and grew until God could no longer tolerate the situation. What did
God do? The Holy One literally cleaned the world of all that blood guilt by
washing it away with the waters of the flood.