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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Genesis 9: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationGenesis 9
9
Covenant with Noah. 1#God reaffirms without change the original blessing and mandate of 1:28. In the Mesopotamian epic Atrahasis, on which the Genesis story is partly modeled, the gods changed their original plan by restricting human population through such means as childhood diseases, birth demons, and mandating celibacy among certain groups of women. God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.#Gn 1:22, 28; 8:17. 2#Pre-flood creatures, including human beings, are depicted as vegetarians (1:29–30). In view of the human propensity to violence, God changes the original prohibition against eating meat. Fear and dread of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. 3#Gn 1:29–30; Dt 12:15. Any living creature that moves about shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. 4#Lv 7:26–27; 17:4; Dt 12:16, 23; 1 Sm 14:33; Acts 15:20. Only meat with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.#Because a living being dies when it loses most of its blood, the ancients regarded blood as the seat of life, and therefore as sacred. Jewish tradition considered the prohibition against eating meat with blood to be binding on all, because it was given by God to Noah, the new ancestor of all humankind; therefore the early Christian Church retained it for a time (Acts 15:20, 29). 5Indeed for your own lifeblood I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from a human being, each one for the blood of another, I will demand an accounting for human life.#Gn 4:10–11; Ex 21:12.
6#The image of God, given to the first man and woman and transmitted to every human being, is the reason that no violent attacks can be made upon human beings. That image is the basis of the dignity of every individual who, in some sense, “represents” God in the world. Anyone who sheds the blood of a human being,
by a human being shall that one’s blood be shed;
For in the image of God
have human beings been made.#Gn 1:26–27; Lv 24:17; Nm 35:33; Jas 3:9.
7Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.#Gn 1:28; 8:17; 9:2; Jas 3:7.
8#God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants and, remarkably, with all the animals who come out of the ark: never again shall the world be destroyed by flood. The sign of this solemn promise is the appearance of a rainbow. God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you#Gn 6:18. 10and with every living creature that was with you: the birds, the tame animals, and all the wild animals that were with you—all that came out of the ark. 11I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.#Sir 44:18; Is 54:9. 12God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: 13#Sir 43:12. I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature—every mortal being—so that the waters will never again become a flood to destroy every mortal being.#Is 54:9. 16When the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature—every mortal being that is on earth. 17God told Noah: This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and every mortal being that is on earth.
Noah and His Sons. 18#The character of the three sons is sketched here. The fault is not Noah’s (for he could not be expected to know about the intoxicating effect of wine) but Ham’s, who shames his father by looking on his nakedness, and then tells the other sons. Ham’s conduct is meant to prefigure the later shameful sexual practices of the Canaanites, which are alleged in numerous biblical passages. The point of the story is revealed in Noah’s curse of Ham’s son Canaan and his blessing of Shem and Japheth. The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.#Gn 5:32; 10:1. 19These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.
20Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and lay naked inside his tent.#Lam 4:21; Hb 2:15. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. 23Shem and Japheth, however, took a robe, and holding it on their shoulders, they walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness; since their faces were turned the other way, they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25he said:
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
shall he be to his brothers.”#Dt 27:16; Wis 12:11.
26He also said:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!
Let Canaan be his slave.
27May God expand Japheth,#In the Hebrew text there is a play on the words yapt (“expand”) and yepet (“Japheth”).
and may he dwell among the tents of Shem;
and let Canaan be his slave.”
28Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29The whole lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years; then he died.
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