Genesis 9:2

2 The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you.

Genesis 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.

Genesis 9:2 In-Context

1 God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.
2 The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you.
3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything -
4 only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat.
5 I will certainly demand an accounting for the blood of your lives: I will demand it from every animal and from every human being. I will demand from every human being an accounting for the life of his fellow human being.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.