Noach (parsha) of every man's and beast's life-blood, and whoever shed the blood of man would have his blood shed by man, for in God's image did God make man. God told them to be fertile and increase. The fourth reading (, "aliyah") and a closed portion (, "setumah") end here. In the fifth reading (, "aliyah"), God made a covenant with Noah, his sons, and every living thing that never again would a flood destroy the earth. God set the rainbow in the clouds as the sign of God's covenant with earth, so that when the bow appeared in the clouds,
Noah in rabbinic literature the latter thereupon swore to be Noah's servant eternally (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer l.c.). Being in great distress, Noah prayed to God to shorten the time of his suffering. God answered him that He had decreed that the Flood should last twelve months and that such decree might not be changed (Tan., Noah, 17; Midrash Agadat Bereshit l.c. 9.12). When Noah sent the raven to see whether the waters were abated, it refused to go, saying: "Thy Lord hateth me; for, while seven of other species were received into the ark, only two of mine were admitted. And thou also