Bereshis 9:2

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of ha’aretz, and upon every bird of the air, upon all that moveth upon ha’adamah, and upon all the dagim of the yam; into your yad are they delivered.

Bereshis 9:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:2

And the fear or you, and the dread of you, shall be upon
every beast of the earth
This is a renewal, at least in part, of the grant of dominion to Adam over all the creatures; these obeyed him cheerfully, and from love, but sinning, he in a good measure lost his power over them, they rebelled against him; but now though the charter of power over them is renewed, they do not serve man freely, but are in dread of him, and flee from him; some are more easily brought into subjection to him, and even the fiercest and wildest of them may be tamed by him; and this power over them was the more easily retrieved in all probability by Noah and his sons, from the inhabitation of the creatures with them for so long a time in the ark:

and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the
earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea;
as appears by fowls flying away, by beasts and creeping things getting off as fast as they can, and by fishes swimming away at the sight of men:

into your hand are they delivered;
as the lords and proprietors of them, for their use and service, and particularly for what follows, see ( Psalms 8:6-8 ) where there is an enumeration of the creatures subject to men.

Bereshis 9:2 In-Context

1 Vayevarech Elohim et Noach and his banim, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish ha’aretz.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of ha’aretz, and upon every bird of the air, upon all that moveth upon ha’adamah, and upon all the dagim of the yam; into your yad are they delivered.
3 Every remes that liveth shall be food for you; even as the yarok esev (green plant) have I given you all.
4 But basar with the nefesh thereof, which is the dahm thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your dahm of your nefeshot will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the yad haAdam; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the nefesh haAdam.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.