Genesis9
New American Standard
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every animal of the earth and on every bird of the sky; on everything that crawls on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. They are handed over to you.
3Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I have given everything to you, as I gave the green plant.
4But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
5I certainly will require your lifeblood; from every animal I will require it. And from every person, from every man as his brother I will require the life of a person.
6Whoever sheds human blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made mankind.
7As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.”
8Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9“Now behold, I Myself am establishing My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;
10and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth.
11I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;
13I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
15and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
18Now the 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 these the whole earth was populated.
20Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.
21He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.
25So he said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.”
26He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.
27May God enlarge Japheth, And may he live in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”
28Noah lived 350 years after the flood.
29So all the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Genesis 9.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: God blesses Noah, and grants flesh for food. (1–3). Blood, and murder forbidden. (4–7). God's covenant by the rainbow. (8–17). Noah plants a vineyard, is drunken and mocked by Ham. (18–23). Noah curses Canaan, blesses Shem, prays for Japheth, His death. (24–29).
vv1-3
The blessing of God is the cause of our doing well. On him we depend, to him we should be thankful. Let us not forget the advantage and pleasure we have from the labour of beasts, and which their flesh affords. Nor ought we to be less thankful for the security we enjoy from the savage and hurtful beasts, through the fear of man which God has fixed deep in them. We see the fulfilment of this promise every day, and on every side. This grant of the animals for food fully warrants the use of them, but not the abuse of them by gluttony, still less by cruelty. We ought not to pain them needlessly whilst they live, nor when we take away their lives.
vv4-7
The main reason of forbidding the eating of blood, doubtless was because the shedding of blood in sacrifices was to keep the worshippers in mind of the great atonement; yet it seems intended also to check cruelty, lest men, being used to shed and feed upon the blood of animals, should grow unfeeling to them, and be less shocked at the idea of shedding human blood. Man must not take away his own life. Our lives are God's, and we must only give them up when he pleases. If we in any way hasten our own death, we are accountable to God for it. When God requires the life of a man from him that took it away unjustly, the murderer cannot render that, and therefore must render his own instead. One time or other, in this world or in the next, God will discover murders, and punish those murders which are beyond man's power to punish. But there are those who are ministers of God to protect the innocent, by being a terror to evil-doers, and they must not bear the sword in vain, Ro 13:4. Wilful murder ought always to be punished with death. To this law there is a reason added. Such remains of God's image are still upon fallen man, that he who unjustly kills a man, defaces the image of God, and does dishonour to him.
vv8-17
As the old world was ruined, to be a monument of justice, so this world remains to this day a monument of mercy. But sin, that drowned the old world, will burn this. Articles of agreement among men are sealed, that what is promised may be the more solemn, and the doing of what is covenanted the more sure to mutual satisfaction. The seal of this covenant was the rainbow, which, it is likely, was seen in the clouds before, but was never a seal of the covenant till now it was made so. The rainbow appears when we have most reason to fear the rain prevailing; God then shows this seal of the promise, that it shall not prevail. The thicker the cloud, the brighter the bow in the cloud. Thus, as threatening afflictions abound, encouraging consolations much more abound. The rainbow is the reflection of the beams of the sun shining upon or through the drops of rain: all the glory of the seals of the covenant are derived from Christ, the Sun of righteousness. And he will shed a glory on the tears of his saints. A bow speaks terror, but this has neither string nor arrow; and a bow alone will do little hurt. It is a bow, but it is directed upward, not toward the earth; for the seals of the covenant were intended to comfort, not to terrify. As God looks upon the bow, that he may remember the covenant, so should we, that we may be mindful of the covenant with faith and thankfulness. Without revelation this gracious assurance could not be known; and without faith it can be of no use to us; and thus it is as to the still greater dangers to which all are exposed, and as to the new covenant with its blessings.
Key Words
אֱלֹהִים: gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
בָרַךְ: to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphemism) to curse (God or the king, as treason)
נֹחַ: Noach, the patriarch of the flood
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
פָּרָה: to bear fruit (literally or figuratively)
רָבָה: to increase (in whatever respect)
מָלֵא: to fill or (intransitively) be full of, in a wide application (literally and figuratively)
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
מוֹרָא: fear; by implication, a fearful thing or deed
Cross References
Genesis 9Re-establishment of the creation mandate to multiply and replenish the earth after the flood.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Expounds the prohibition of eating blood as representing the life and reserving it for atonement.
Supported by Matthew Poole
New Testament backing for civil government utilizing the sword to punish murderers.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The creation of man in the image of God justifies the death penalty for murder.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Prophetic confirmation of God's oath that the waters of Noah would no more overflow the earth.
Fulfilled in the Gibeonites (Canaanites) being made perpetual bondservants to Israel.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Contrasts the original vegetarian diet in Eden with the new permission to eat animal meat.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Mosaic law executing a beast that kills a human, showing life's sacred value.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The rainbow appears in Ezekiel's vision of the glory of the Lord, signifying mercy.
A rainbow surrounds God's throne in heaven, signifying the eternal covenant of grace.
Shem and Japheth's action embodies the principle that love covers a multitude of sins.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Relates to the Gentiles (Japheth's descendants) sharing in the spiritual riches of Israel.
Supported by JFB
Gentiles becoming fellow heirs, dwelling in the spiritual tents of Shem's lineage.
Supported by JFB
Poetic reflection on man's dominion over beasts restored here to Noah.
Apostolic decree in Jerusalem abstaining from blood, reflecting this enduring Noahic precept.
Reuben uses the same Hebrew idiom of 'requiring' blood for murder.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Noah's unexpected fall warns: 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.'
Supported by Matthew Henry
Pronounces woe on those who make others drink to look on their nakedness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Solomon levying tribute/bondservice on the remaining Canaanite nations.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Sins against other men are heinous because they are made in God's similitude.
Parallels the language of a physical token given to seal a divine covenant.
Noah's return to husbandry parallels Cain's original tilling of the ground.
Parallels Lot's drunkenness, illustrating how wine betrays even righteous patriarchs.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Shem and Japheth exemplify the honor due to parents commanded in the Decalogue.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Of Shem's lineage, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is God blessed forever.
Supported by JFB
Contrasts Noah's 'perfect' character in a wicked world with his sudden lapse in sobriety.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Jesus warns against overcharging hearts with surfeiting and drunkenness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Law curses anyone who dishonors or sets light by their father.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Identifies Shem as the ancestor of all the children of Eber.
Supported by JFB