Genesis 9
9
God’s Covenant with Noah and Humankind
1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven,#Or “the sky” and on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given. 3Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As I gave the green plants to you, I have now given you everything. 4Only you shall not eat raw flesh with blood in it.#Literally “flesh with its life, its blood” 5And#Or “only”; the same word that occurs at the beginning of v. 4 your lifeblood#Literally “your blood belonging to your life” I will require; from every animal#Literally “from the hand of every animal” I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of each man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.
6“As for the one shedding the blood of humankind,
by humankind his blood shall be shed,
for God made humankind in his own image.
7“And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it.” 8And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all that came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth. 11I am establishing my covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will there ever be a flood that destroys the earth.” 12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you, and between every living creature that is with you for future generations. 13My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth. 14And when I make clouds appear over the earth the bow shall be seen in the clouds. 15Then#Or “And” I will remember my covenant that is between me and you, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again cause the destruction#Literally “be to destroy” of all flesh. 16The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it, so as to remember the everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh that is upon the earth.” 17And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Noah’s Descendants
18Now#Or “And” the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.#Literally “all the earth branched out” 20And Noah began to be a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 21And he drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he exposed himself in the midst of his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside. 23Then#Or “And” Shem and Japheth took a garment, and the two of them put it on their shoulders and, walking backward, they covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were turned backward, so that#Or “and” they did not see the nakedness of their father. 24Then#Or “And” Noah awoke from his drunkenness,#Or “his wine” and he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25And he said,
“Cursed be Canaan,
a slave of slaves he shall be to his brothers.”
26Then#Or “And” he said,
“Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem,
and let Canaan be a slave to them.
27May God make space for Japheth,
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be a slave for him.”
28And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
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Genesis 9: LEB
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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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