Bereshis 9:1-7

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.

6 Shofech dahm (one who sheddeth man’s blood), by man shall his dahm be shed; for in the tzelem Elohim made He man.

7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly on ha’aretz, and multiply therein.

Bereshis 9:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 9

In this chapter we have an account of God's blessing Noah and his sons, being just come out of the ark, with a renewal of the blessing of propagating their species, and replenishing the earth, the dominion over the creatures, and a freedom from the fear of them; with liberty to eat flesh, only it must not be eaten with blood; with a providential care and preservation of their lives from men and beasts, by making a law that that man or beast should die that shed man's blood, Ge 9:1-6 and after repeating the blessing of procreation, Ge 9:7 mention is made of a covenant God made with Noah, his sons, and all the creatures, that he would drown the world no more, the token of which should be the rainbow in the cloud, Ge 9:8-17 the names of the sons of Noah are observed, by whom the earth was repeopled, Ge 9:18,19 and seem to be observed for the sake of an event after recorded; Noah having planted a vineyard, and drank too freely of the wine of it, lay down uncovered in his tent, which Ham seeing, told his two brothers of it, who in a very modest manner covered him, Ge 9:20-23 of all which Noah being sensible when he awoke, cursed Canaan the son of Ham, and blessed Shem and Japheth, Ge 9:24-27 and the chapter is concluded with the age and death of Noah, Ge 9:28,29.