Genesis 9:1-17

God’s covenant with all life

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

2 All of the animals on the earth will fear you and dread you—all the birds in the skies, everything crawling on the ground, and all of the sea's fish. They are in your power.

3 Everything that lives and moves will be your food. Just as I gave you the green grasses, I now give you everything.

4 However, you must not eat meat with its life, its blood, in it.

5 I will surely demand your blood for a human life, from every living thing I will demand it. From humans, from a man for his brother, I will demand something for a human life.

6 Whoever sheds human blood, by a human his blood will be shed; for in the divine image God made human beings.

7 As for you, be fertile and multiply. Populate the earth and multiply in it."

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

9 "I am now setting up my covenant with you, with your descendants,

10 and with every living being with you—with the birds, with the large animals, and with all the animals of the earth, leaving the ark with you.

11 I will set up my covenant with you so that never again will all life be cut off by floodwaters. There will never again be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 God said, "This is the symbol of the covenant that I am drawing up between me and you and every living thing with you, on behalf of every future generation.

13 I have placed my bow in the clouds; it will be the symbol of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds,

15 I will remember the covenant between me and you and every living being among all the creatures. Floodwaters will never again destroy all creatures.

16 The bow will be in the clouds, and upon seeing it I will remember the enduring covenant between God and every living being of all the earth's creatures."

17 God said to Noah, "This is the symbol of the covenant that I have set up between me and all creatures on 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]. LXX; MT includes for all the animals of the earth.