The Rainbow: The First Biblical Symbol of Human Communication with God and Its Visualization in Christian, Moslem, and Jewish Art

The Bible tells of God giving Noah and his family a very picturesque visual sign when they disembarked from the ark:

I have set my bow (keshet) in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; (Gen. 9: 13–15)

The story of the Flood is portrayed in the art of all three religions, but the detail of the rainbow as a symbol for divine communication is entirely missing from Jewish art. Why? Obviously, it is not because of the Second Commandment, as there are myriad visualizations of various aspects of the story.

To understand why the rainbow, in particular, is not pictured and the attitude toward “Images of Divine Communication in Jewish Art” in general, I will discuss the Talmudic, Medieval Rabbinic, and Kabbalistic sources that might have influenced the choice of illustrations included or avoided. My discussion will also relate to the possible influences of Christian and Islamic art on the visual culture of the Jews in this subject. I will emphasize the Jewish literary sources that played a role in the choice of the images used to illustrate the notion of a link between the terrestrial and the divine realms, where heaven and earth meet and humans can attempt to communicate with God.