זוהר, נח ה׳Zohar, Noach 5

Segment 1א׳

וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה כֵּיוָן דִּכְתִיב וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ אַמַּאי לִפְנִי הָאֱלֹהִים. אֶלָּא כֵּיוָן דְּעֲבָדוּ חוֹבֵיהוֹן בְּאִתְגַּלְּיָא לְעֵינֵיהוֹן דְּכֹלָּא כְּדֵין לִפְנֵי הָאֱלהִים כְּתִיב.

AND THE EARTH WAS CORRUPTED BEFORE GOD. Said R. Judah: ‘What does the phrase “before God” signify? ‘It signifies that they perpetrated their crimes openly in the eyes of all.’

Segment 2ב׳

רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אָמַר אֲנָא אִפְכָא אֲמָרִית. וַתִּשָּׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ לִפְנִי הָאֱלֹהִים. בְּקַדְמִיתָא לִפְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים דְּלָא הֲווּ עָבְדֵי בְּאִתְגַּלְּיָיא. לִפְנֵי הָאֱלהִים עֲבָדוּ וְלָא לִפְנֵי בְּנֵי נְשָׁא. וּלְבַסוֹף עֲבָדוּ בְּאִתְגַּלְּיָא הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ חָמָס. דְּלָא הֲוָה אֲתַר בְּכָל אַרְעָא דְּלָא הֲוָה בְּאִתְגַּלְּיָא. וּבְגִין כָּךְ בִּתְרֵי גַּוְונֵי אָמַר קְרָא.

Said R. Jose: ‘I interpret it in a reverse sense, namely, that at first “the earth was corrupted before God”, that is, that they committed their sins secretly, so as to be known only to God but not to man. They finished, however, by coming out into the open, as it is written, AND THE EARTH WAS FILLED WITH VIOLENCE, indicating that there was not a place in the whole earth which did not witness their sins.’

Segment 3ג׳

אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדוֹת נֹחַ. רַבִּי אַבָּא אָמַר מִיּוֹמָא דְּעֲבַר אָדָם עַל פְּקוּדָא דְּמָרֵיהּ כָּל בְּנֵי עָלְמָא דְּאִתְיַלִּידוּ לְבָתַר אִקְרוּן בְּנֵי הָאָדָם. וְלָא לִשְׁבָחָא אִקְרוּן הָכִי. אֶלָּא כְּמַאן דְּאָמַר בְּנוֹי דְּהַהוּא דְּעֲבַר עַל פְּקוּדָא דְמָרֵיהּ.

R. Abba said: ‘From the time that Adam transgressed the command of his Master, all the succeeding generations were called “sons of Adam” in a derogatory sense, as much as to say, “the sons of the man who transgressed his Master’s commands”.