A gentile who doesn’t know the law

If a gentile violated on of the seven commandments of the sons of Noah, but he was unaware that this action is forbidden (similar to a “stolen baby”), is he supposed to be punished for this, or is he exempt from punishment? If he is exempt, how is this different from a Jew who has the status of a “stolen baby” (a Jew who had a non-Jewish upbringing and didn’t receive any Jewish education)?  

Dear …!

This is an excellent question! There is an argument between Talmudic sages, how the law views someone who, as a result of his ignorance, mistakenly thought that a forbidden item is permitted. Is this considered an unwitting act that is close to an intentional one, or an unwitting act close to an accidental occurrence? How do we treat a person who was supposed to learn and did not learn?

Besides that, there is a disagreement between earlier commentaries to the Talmud, whether a son of Noah who unwittingly commented a sin is punishable for his act or whether he’s exempt from punishment.

In order to understand why someone would be liable for an unintentional transgression, we have to remember that committing a sin is like touching a live electric wire. Someone who does this gets electrocuted. It doesn’t make any difference whatsoever, whether he knew that this is dangerous, or not. An intelligent person learns the rules by which the world works in order to know, what is dangerous and what is not. An unintelligent person doesn’t try to find out what his goal and his role in this world are. Therefore, there is a disagreement, whether such a person has the privilege of being exempt if he commits a sin unwittingly.

Tractate Makkot 9a, see the Rashi and Ramban commentaries there; Maimonides, Laws of Kings, 10:1; Sepher Ha-Chinuch, 26 and 192