Parasha Ekev
The rewards of faithfulness, the second paragraph of the Shema, and the manna recalled.
Overview
Parasha Ekev continues Moses' address with promises of blessing for obedience, warnings against pride and forgetting God, and a review of the wilderness experience — including the manna, the Golden Calf, and the second tablets. It contains the second paragraph of the Shema.
The Story
Moses promises that if Israel keeps the commandments, God will bless them with abundance, health, and victory. He warns: when you are prosperous, do not say "my own power brought me this wealth" — remember it is God who gives you the ability to succeed. He recalls the manna: God fed you with manna "so that you would know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God's mouth." He reviews the Golden Calf and his forty-day intercession. The second paragraph of the Shema follows: if you obey, rain will come in its season; if you stray, the heavens will close.
Significance for Noahides
"Man does not live by bread alone" — this verse, quoted by Moses, is one of the Torah's most universal teachings. Material sustenance is necessary but not sufficient; the human being needs spiritual nourishment as much as physical food. The warning against attributing success to one's own power is a universal antidote to the pride that leads to moral collapse.