# פרשת נח



## Helen White

Hi all,

I tried to look up פרשת נח in the dictionary, but there are so many meanings of each word, like the screenshot:
Screenshot "פרשת נח - Translation into English - examples Hebrew _ Reverso Context - Google Chrome 2019-05-05 21.47.40.png"

I can't understand what exactly is the meaning of פרשת נח. I need your help. Thank you.


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## slus

Noach (parsha) - Wikipedia


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## Helen White

slus said:


> Noach (parsha) - Wikipedia


Thanks for this useful information. After reading it, according to my poor understanding, can I say that פרשת נח means the story of Noah?


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## slus

Yes. But more accurately, the Biblical story of Noah.


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## Helen White

slus said:


> Yes. But more accurately, the Biblical story of Noah.


Got itreally appreciate your help



slus said:


> Yes. But more accurately, the Biblical story of Noah.


slus, here I learn another phrase פרשת בראשית. According to what you told me, I understand this phrase to be "the biblical story of Genesis." Am I right?


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## amikama

פרשה doesn't mean "Biblical story".

The Pentateuch (the five first books of the Tanakh) are divided into 54 portions called פרשות (_parashot, _sing_. parasha_). Most of the parashot are named after one of the words in the first verse of the parasha, and so פרשת בראשית (the first parasha) is called so because it begins with the word בראשית (Genesis 1:1), and פרשת נח (the second parasha) is called so because Noah appears in the first verse of this parasha (Genesis 6:9), and so on.


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## Helen White

amikama said:


> פרשה doesn't mean "Biblical story".
> 
> The Pentateuch (the five first books of the Tanakh) are divided into 54 portions called פרשות (_parashot, _sing_. parasha_). Most of the parashot are named after one of the words in the first verse of the parasha, and so פרשת בראשית (the first parasha) is called so because it begins with the word בראשית (Genesis 1:1), and פרשת נח (the second parasha) is called so because Noah appears in the first verse of this parasha (Genesis 6:9), and so on.


So, the meaning of פרשת בראשית is "the first parasha," right? But is it easy for others people to understand what is this? In some other places, I found another meaning of פרשת בראשית is "Parshat Bereshit." Is this correct?


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## Egmont

Helen White said:


> So, the meaning of פרשת בראשית is "the first parahvha," right? But is it easy for others people to understand what is this? In some other places, I found another meaning of פרשת בראשית is "Parshat Bereshit." Is this correct?



No. Parashat Bereshit is the first parasha in the Torah. It tells the story of creation, through Chapter 6, Verse 8 of the book of Genesis. Its name comes from its first word in Hebrew, "bereshit," which means "In the beginning." Most English translations of the Bible begin with those words or with other words that have a similar meaning. It makes sense to start something with "in the beginning," so it makes sense for a parasha with those words to come first, but does not have this name because it comes first. 

"Parashat Bereshit" is not another meaning of פרשת בראשית. It is simply how those words are pronounced, written in English letters. An English speaker who is familiar with the Torah and its division into parashot might refer to it that way in an English sentence, but that doesn't make it a translation. It's like an English speaker might use a Hindi word to refer to the Indian dish "tandoori chicken" rather than translating it as "chicken cooked in a cylindrical oven." Sometimes words are not translated when everyone in a conversation knows their meaning in their original language.


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## Helen White

Egmont said:


> No. Parashat Bereshit is the first parasha in the Torah. It tells the story of creation, through Chapter 6, Verse 8 of the book of Genesis. Its name comes from its first word in Hebrew, "bereshit," which means "In the beginning." Most English translations of the Bible begin with those words or with other words that have a similar meaning. It makes sense to start something with "in the beginning," so it makes sense for a parasha with those words to come first, but does not have this name because it comes first.
> 
> "Parashat Bereshit" is not another meaning of פרשת בראשית. It is simply how those words are pronounced, written in English letters. An English speaker who is familiar with the Torah and its division into parashot might refer to it that way in an English sentence, but that doesn't make it a translation. It's like an English speaker might use a Hindi word to refer to the Indian dish "tandoori chicken" rather than translating it as "chicken cooked in a cylindrical oven." Sometimes words are not translated when everyone in a conversation knows their meaning in their original language.


Yeah, Egmont, I am sorry I didn't make myself clear. What I wanted to say is: פרשת בראשית is the first parasha in the Torah and can also be called Parashat Bereshit, right?


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## AnythingGoes

Helen White said:


> What I wanted to say is: פרשת בראשית is the first parasha in the Torah and can also be called Parashat Bereshit, right?


Both statements are correct. But when you "call" it _Parashat Bereshit, _you're just saying its name in Hebrew.


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## Drink

I would say that English-speaking Jews only call the parashot by their Hebrew names, to the extent that they are considered English words in the context of Judaism. Just like the word "Torah" is an English word, even though it is really a Hebrew word.


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## Egmont

Drink said:


> I would say that English-speaking Jews only call the parashot by their Hebrew names, to the extent that they are considered English words in the context of Judaism. Just like the word "Torah" is an English word, even though it is really a Hebrew word.



I'd go further and say that they don't even have English names. Translating the word (or, for a handful of them, the two words) in their names is not useful. Someone who refers to, for example, "the 'and he dwelt' parasha" (Vayeshev, Genesis 37:1-40:23) or "the 'after the death' parasha" (Acharei Mot, Leviticus 16:1-18:30) will get only confused looks.


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