Genesis 9:1-17

God’s Covenant with Noah and Humankind

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

2 And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven, [and] on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given.

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As [I gave] the green plants to you, I have [now] given you everything.

4 Only you shall not eat {raw flesh with blood in it}.

5 And {your lifeblood} I will require; from {every animal} I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of [each] man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.

6 "[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

7 "And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it."

8 And God said to Noah and to his sons with him,

9 "As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you,

10 and with every living creature that [is] with you--the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all [that] came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth.

11 I am establishing my covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will there ever be a flood that destroys the earth."

12 And God said, "This [is] the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you, and between every living creature that [is] with you for future generations.

13 My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of [the] covenant between me and between the earth.

14 And when I make clouds appear over the earth the bow shall be seen in the clouds.

15 Then I will remember my covenant that [is] between me and you, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again {cause the destruction} of all flesh.

16 The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it, so as to remember [the] everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh that [is] upon the earth."

17 And God said to Noah, "This [is] the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

Genesis 9:1-17 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "the sky"
• [b]. Literally "flesh with its life, its blood"
• [c]. Or "only"; the same word that occurs at the beginning of v. 4
• [d]. Literally "your blood belonging to your life"
• [e]. Literally "from the hand of every animal"
• [f]. Or "And"
• [g]. Literally "be to destroy"