Genesis 9:17

17 So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is a sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.

Genesis 9:17 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:17

And God said to Noah, this is the token of the covenant,
&c.] Which is repeated for the greater confirmation and certainty of it, since the fears of men would be apt to run very high, especially while the flood was fresh in memory; which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the
earth:
see ( Genesis 9:9-11 ) , it is highly probable, that from the rainbow being the token of the covenant between God and Noah, and the creatures, sprung the fable of the Chinese concerning their first emperor, Fohi, who seems to be the same with Noah, and whom they call the son of heaven, and say he had no father; which is this, that his mother, walking on the bank of a lake near Lanthien, in the province of Xensi, trod upon a large footstep of a man impressed upon the sand, and from thence, being surrounded with the rainbow, conceived and brought forth Fohi F24.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 Martin. Sinic. Hist. p. 11.

Genesis 9:17 In-Context

15 I will remember my agreement between me and you and every living thing. Floods will never again destroy all life on the earth.
16 When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the agreement that continues forever between me and every living thing on the earth."
17 So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is a sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with him were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
19 These three men were Noah's sons, and all the people on earth came from these three sons.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.