The Covenant of the Rainbow
God’s first post-flood speech opens and closes with...
God’s first post-flood speech opens and closes with blessing (9:1, 7). In it, human and animal relationships are again defined, with some modification of the original created order. The sanctity of life is given special focus.
1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
There are two modifications to the original created...
There are two modifications to the original created order. (1) Previously, humans reigned over the animals (1:28), but now animals would live in terror of humans (similar military language is found in Exod 23:27–31; Deut 11:25; 31:8). (2) The animals’ terror was related to a change in human diet. Humans were now permitted to eat the meat of animals to supplement their subsistence on grains, fruits, and vegetables (Gen 1:29).
2The fear and dread of you will fall on every living creature on the earth, every bird of the air, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are delivered into your hand. 3Everything that lives and moves will be food for you; just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you all things. 4But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
Violence, including murder, was a major factor in...
Violence, including murder, was a major factor in bringing about God’s judgment of the flood (4:8; 6:11, 13). At this new beginning for humans, God affirmed the sanctity of human life and established a system of retributive justice for the taking of human life (see also Ps 9:12; “Retribution” Theme Note). The function of law is to restrain human wickedness and preserve moral order. This law was further developed in the law of Moses (Exod 21:12–14; Lev 24:17–22; Num 35:16–34; Deut 17:6–7; 19:15).
5And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
6Whoever sheds the blood of man,by man his blood will be shed;for in His own imageGod has made mankind.7But as for you,be fruitful and multiply;spread out across the earthand multiply upon it.”
God’s second post-flood speech conveys his promise and...
God’s second post-flood speech conveys his promise and plan for preserving creation.
8Then God said to Noah and his sons with him,
God had promised this covenant before the flood...
God had promised this covenant before the flood (6:18). Its scope extends beyond humanity to include the earth and all animals.
9“Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth—every living thing that came out of the ark. 11And I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
God brought cataclysmic judgment through the rainstorm; now,...
- God brought cataclysmic judgment through the rainstorm; now, the rainbow, a meteorological phenomenon associated with the rainstorm, would be an image of peace for all the earth (see 9:17).
- The same Hebrew term denotes both “rainbow” and “bow.” Since God is sometimes pictured as a warrior who shoots arrows of judgment (see Deut 32:42; Pss 7:12; 18:13–14; Hab 3:9–11), some think that the imagery in Gen 9:13–17 is of the Divine Warrior hanging up his bow of judgment.
13I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
14Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16And whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.”
17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and every creature on the earth.”
Noah’s Shame and Canaan’s Curse
18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.
The story of Noah begins with him walking...
The story of Noah begins with him walking in righteousness and obeying the Lord (6:9), but it ends with him lying drunk and naked in his tent and then delivering a curse on Canaan. Even after the great flood, the human race exhibited some of the same sinful characteristics that warranted the judgment in the first place. Special attention is given to the cursed origin of the Canaanites, the corrupt and idolatrous people Israel would later displace from the Promised Land (see also 15:16 and study note; Lev 18:3; 20:23).
20Now Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded† to plant a vineyard. 21But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
23Then Shem and Japheth took a garment and placed it across their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24When Noah awoke from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!A servant of servantsshall he be to his brothers.”Shem’s Blessing and Noah’s Death
26He also declared:
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem!May Canaan be the servant of Shem.27May God expand the territory of Japheth;†may he dwell in the tents of Shem,and may Canaan be his servant.”28After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. 29So Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.