Genesis 9
9
1And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.
2And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.
3And every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:
4Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.
5For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.
6Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.
7But increase you and multiply:, and go upon the earth, and fill it.
8This also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him:
9Behold, I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you.
10And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark: and in all the beasts of the earth.
11I will establish my covenant with you; and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood: neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.
12And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I will give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.
13I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth.
14And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds:
15And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.
16And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.
17And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth.
18And the sons of Noe who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.
19These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all mankind spread over the whole earth.
20And Noe, a husbandman, began to till the ground, and planted a vineyard,
21And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his tent.
22Which when Cham the father of Chaanan had seen, to wit, that his father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without.
23But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him,
25He said: Cursed be Chaanan; a servant of servant shall he be unto his brethren.
26And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem; be Chanaan his servant.
27May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem; and Chanaan be his servant.
28And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
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Genesis 9: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Genesis 9
9
God’s Covenant with Noah
1God lovingly blessed Noah and all his family and said to them, “Reproduce, be fruitful, and populate the earth. 2I will cause every living creature of earth, sky, and sea # 9:2 Or “every animal of the earth, every bird of the air, everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea.” to fear and dread you from this time forward. They are now under your authority. # 9:2 Or “are delivered into your hands.” 3You may now eat the meat of animals # 9:3 Or “every moving thing that lives.” See Col. 2:16; 1 Tim. 4:3–5. as well as green plants; I now give you everything for food for you. 4However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it, for its life is in the blood. 5If anyone takes another person’s life, I will demand an account—whether from man or beast, I will demand an account for taking a human life.
6“Whoever sheds human blood,
by other humans he must have his own blood shed;
for to kill a person is to kill one made
in God’s own beautiful image.
7Now all of you, with my blessing, reproduce,
be fruitful and repopulate the earth.” # 9:7 Or “swarm throughout the earth.”
8Then God said to Noah and his family, 9“I establish my loving covenant # 9:9 The Hebrew word for “covenant” is berit and is found numerous times in this chapter. God’s covenant turns judgment into grace. with you, your descendants, 10and every living creature that is with you—animals large and small, birds, and every living thing that came out of the ark. 11I will maintain my loving covenant with you. I will never again completely destroy life on earth by means of a flood. Yes, never again will a flood destroy the whole earth!”
The Rainbow
12“Here is the sign for you and future generations that my loving covenant will endure between me and you and every animal that came with you out of the ark: 13I have placed my rainbow # 9:13 Or “bending,” most often translated “warrior’s bow,” for just as a warrior hangs up his bow after the battle, so God’s bow, without arrows, is now surrendered to the sky, not aimed at earth, because of his love for humanity. The rainbow around God’s throne is a full circle, for the earth does not cut off God’s rainbow promises. And it is an emerald-colored rainbow around the throne, for it is the promise of life. See Rev. 4:3; 10:1. among the clouds, and it will be a sign of my loving covenant between me and the earth. 14Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant with you and with every living thing upon the earth. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy life from the earth. 16When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant I made with you and every living thing of every kind upon the earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “The rainbow is my signature in the sky, my seal of love # 9:17 Or “sign of confirmation.” to confirm that I have kept my covenant between me and every living thing on earth.”
Noah’s Sons
18Noah’s sons came out of the ark with him: Shem, Ham (the father of Canaan), and Japheth. 19From these three sons of Noah the entire world was repopulated.
20Noah, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21He drank so much of the wine he made that he got drunk and passed out naked inside his tent. # 9:21 Chronologically, this would likely have been years after they exited the ark. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, went into the tent and gazed on his shamefully exposed father. # 9:22 Various Hebrew scholars surmise that this was a euphemistic account of Ham doing some act of gross indecency, not mere voyeurism. See Prov. 30:17; 1 Peter 4:8. Then he went out and informed his brothers. 23So, Shem and Japheth took their father’s cloak # 9:23 Or “the garment.” It is possible that Ham brought his father’s garment outside the tent to show it to his brothers. and walked backwards with the cloak on their shoulders into the tent to cover up their naked father. Respectfully, they turned their faces away so as not to see their father lying there exposed. 24When Noah sobered up and realized what his youngest son had done to him, 25he uttered these words:
“Cursed be your son, Canaan, # 9:25 Although it was Ham, Noah’s son, who violated his father, Ham’s son Canaan was the one who was cursed. Some see the possibility that Canaan was complicit in what Ham did.
and let him be the lowest of servants # 9:25 Or “slave of slaves.” Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanites. Canaan means “bow down.” See Josh. 9:23; Judg. 1. to his brothers.”
26He also said,
“Worthy of praise is Yahweh,
the God of Shem! # 9:26 Jesus Christ came through the lineage of Shem (see Luke 3:23–38), the father of the Semitic peoples. This is a prophecy that Shem would have a special relationship with Yahweh.
Let Canaan be Shem’s slave.
27May God enlarge Japheth’s family
and increase his territory. # 9:27 Or “May God make room for Japheth.” This a play on words, for the Hebrew triliteral root for Japheth (y-p-t) is identical to the root for “make room,” “increase,” or “enlarge [enrich, prosper].” Japheth was to become the father of enlarged nations, spreading out over the globe.
May he share in the blessing of Shem,
and his descendants make their homes
among the tents of Shem, # 9:27 Many scholars view this as an alliance between Shem and Japheth that would include sharing the blessing of prosperity among them.
and may Canaan be his slave also!” # 9:27 This account of Noah’s cursing and blessing of his three sons illustrates the power of a father’s words over his children (and grandchildren) and how those words create the reality of their future. Descendants of each of Noah’s sons were present at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. The descendants of Shem were present in the Jewish religious leaders who conspired to crucify the Messiah. Japheth was present in the Romans who participated jointly with the Jews to crucify the Lord Jesus. And a descendant of Ham was present in the person of Simon of Cyrene, who bore the cross of Christ in servitude (see Luke 23:26). The sons of Noah are brought before us again in Acts 8–10. The Ethiopian was a descendant of Ham whom Philip blessed with the gospel (see Acts 8:25–40). Saul of Tarsus (Paul) was from Shem and was also converted by the revelation of Jesus (see Acts 9:1–31). Cornelius the centurion was a son of Japheth who believed the good news of Christ (see Acts 10).
28After the flood, Noah lived another three hundred and fifty years. 29Noah’s entire lifetime was nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died. # 9:29 There are numerous parallels between Noah and Adam. Both came onto an earth that had been submerged by water. Both were given lordship over creation. Both were blessed and told to multiply. Both were men of the soil, working the ground. Both sinned in a garden (vineyard). Both experienced the exposure of nakedness. Both men’s sins affected their posterity. Both had three sons. And both experienced a prophecy following their fall.
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