Berĕshith (Genesis) 9
9
1And Elohim blessed Noaḥ and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase, and fill the earth.
2“And the fear of you and the dread of you is on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the heavens, on all that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea – into your hand they have been given.
3“Every creeping creature that lives is food for you. I have given you all, as I gave the green plants.
4“But do not eat flesh with its life, its blood.
5“But only your blood for your lives I require, from the hand of every beast I require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I require the life of man.
6“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood is shed, for in the image of Elohim has He made man.
7“As for you, be fruitful and increase, bring forth teemingly in the earth and increase in it.”
8And Elohim spoke to Noaḥ and to his sons with him, saying,
9“And I, see, I establish My covenant with you and with your seed after you,
10and with every living being that is with you: of the birds, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
11“And I shall establish My covenant with you, and never again is all flesh cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again is there a flood to destroy the earth.”
12And Elohim said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living being that is with you, for all generations to come:
13“I shall set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
14“And it shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud,
15and I shall remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living being of all flesh, and never again let the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16“And the rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I shall see it, to remember the everlasting covenant between Elohim and every living being of all flesh that is on the earth.
17And Elohim said to Noaḥ, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
18And the sons of Noaḥ who went out of the ark were Shĕm and Ḥam and Yapheth. And Ḥam was the father of Kena‛an.
19These three were the sons of Noaḥ, and all the earth was overspread from them.
20And Noaḥ, a man of the soil, began and planted a vineyard.
21And he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
22And Ḥam, the father of Kena‛an, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23So Shĕm and Yapheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, but their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24And Noaḥ awoke from his wine, and he knew what his younger son had done to him,
25and he said, “Cursed is Kena‛an, let him become a servant of servants to his brothers.”
26And he said, “Blessed be יהוה, the Elohim of Shĕm, and let Kena‛an become his servant.
27“Let Elohim enlarge Yapheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shĕm. And let Kena‛an become his servant.”
28And Noaḥ lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29So all the days of Noaḥ were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.
Genesis 9
9
God’s Covenant with Noah
1God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. # Gn 1:28; 8:17; 9:7; 35:11 2The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority. # Lit are given in your hand 3Every living creature will be food for you; # Dt 12:15; 1Tm 4:3-4 as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything. # Gn 1:28-30 4However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it. # Lv 3:17; 7:20; 17:10-16; 19:26; Dt 12:16,23; 15:23; 1Sm 14:34; Ac 15:20,29 5I will require the life of every animal # Ex 21:28 and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life. # Gn 4:2,8
6Whoever sheds man’s blood,
his blood will be shed by man, # Ex 21:12-14; Lv 24:17; Nm 35:33; Mt 26:52
for God made man in His image. # Gn 1:26-27
7But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.” # Gn 1:28
8Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9“Understand that I am confirming My covenant # Gn 6:18; 8:22; 17:2; Ex 6:4; 19:5; Lv 26:9 with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you — birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you — all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” # Is 54:9-10
12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant # Gn 17:11 I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13I have placed My bow in the clouds, # Ezk 1:28; Rv 4:3; 10:1 and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember My covenant # Lv 26:42,45; Dt 7:9; 1Kg 8:23; Ezk 16:60 between Me and you and all the living creatures: # Lit and creatures of all flesh water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant # Gn 17:13; 2Sm 23:5; 1Ch 16:17; Is 24:5 between God and all the living creatures # Lit creatures of all flesh on earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”
Prophecies about Noah’s Family
18Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. # Gn 9:1,7; 10:32; 1Ch 1:4
20Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant # Or Noah began to be a farmer and planted a vineyard. 21He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. # Lm 4:21; Hab 2:15 23Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.
24When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said:
Canaan will be cursed. # Dt 27:16
He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. # Jos 9:23; Jdg 1:28; 1Kg 9:20-21
26He also said:
Praise the Lord, the God of Shem;
Canaan will be # As a prophecy; others interpret the verbs in vv. 26-27 as a wish or prayer: let Canaan be . . . his slave.
27God will extend # In Hb, the name Japheth sounds like the word “extend.” Japheth;
he will dwell in the tents of Shem;
Canaan will be his slave.
28Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.
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