English · ASV

Genesis 9

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

The New Post-Flood Mandate 1–7

1
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. ​
2
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens; with all wherewith the ground teemeth, and all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they delivered. ​
3
Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the green herb have I given you all. ​
4
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. ​
5
And surely your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it: and at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, will I require the life of man. ​
6
Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. ​
7
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

The Noahic Covenant Established 8–17

8
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; ​
10
and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.
11
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. ​
12
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ​
13
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. ​
14
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
15
and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ​
16
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Noah's Shame and Prophetic Blessings 18–27

18
And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. ​
19
These three were the sons of Noah: and of these was the whole earth overspread.
20
And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard: ​
21
and he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. ​
23
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. ​
24
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him.
25
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. ​
26
And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. ​
27
God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. ​

The Death of Noah 28–29

28
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 9

Verse 1

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish — The words of Gen 1:28 are given again, now to Noah and his sons. 'Replenish' is male, to fill, the verb of the first blessing. The earth emptied by the Flood (Gen 6:17) is to be filled again, and v.7 repeats the command: 'bring forth abundantly in the earth'.

Verse 2

the fear of you and the dread of you — 'Fear' is mora, awe or dread, and 'dread' is chath, terror. Gen 1:28 gave man 'dominion' over the creatures; now they are to fear him. The classes named, fowl, fish and beast, are those of Ps 8:8, and James says every kind 'is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind' (Jas 3:7).

Verse 3

shall be meat for you — 'Meat' is okhlah, food, the word of Gen 1:29, where 'every herb bearing seed' was 'for meat'. Living creatures are now added: 'even as the green herb have I given you all things'. Paul speaks of 'meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving' (1 Tim 4:3).

Verse 4

the life thereof, which is the blood thereof — Nephesh is the life and dam the blood, and this is the one limit on the new permission. The reason is given to Israel: 'the life of the flesh is in the blood' (Lev 17:11); 'the blood is the life' (Deut 12:23). The apostles ask Gentile believers to 'abstain from … blood' (Acts 15:20).

Verse 5

your blood of your lives will I require — Darash is to seek out, to demand an account: the LORD himself calls for the life, from beast and from man. The ox that kills is 'surely stoned' (Ex 21:28). 'Every man's brother' recalls Cain: 'the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground' (Gen 4:10).

Verse 6

in the image of God made he man — 'Image' is tselem, as in Gen 1:27, 'in the image of God created he him'. The penalty rests on what man is: bloodshed strikes the image. James uses the same ground against cursing men, 'which are made after the similitude of God' (Jas 3:9). The law of Ex 21:12 applies it.

Verse 9

I establish my covenant — The covenant promised in Gen 6:18, 'with thee will I establish my covenant', is now made. Berith, covenant, appears in seven verses of this chapter. It runs 'with you, and with your seed after you', and (v.10) 'with every living creature'. Isa 54:9 calls it 'the waters of Noah'.

Verse 11

neither shall all flesh be cut off any more — 'Flood' is mabbul, the word for Noah's Flood, found outside Genesis only in Ps 29:10, 'The LORD sitteth upon the flood'. 'Cut off' is karath, which also means to cut a covenant. The LORD repeats the promise to Israel: 'as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth' (Isa 54:9).

Verse 12

the token of the covenant — Oth, a sign. Each covenant has its token: here the bow; for Abraham, circumcision, 'a token of the covenant betwixt me and you' (Gen 17:11); for Israel, the sabbaths, 'a sign between me and you throughout your generations' (Ex 31:13). This one is 'between me and you and every living creature'.

Verse 13

my bow in the cloud — Qesheth is the ordinary word for the bow of a warrior, and the LORD calls it 'my bow'. The same bow is seen around the throne: 'as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain' (Ezek 1:28); 'a rainbow round about the throne' (Rev 4:3).

Verse 15

I will remember my covenant — Zakar, to remember, is the verb of Gen 8:1, 'And God remembered Noah', where the remembering was followed by a wind passing over the earth. Of the bow he says, 'I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant' (v.16). The promise is that 'the waters shall no more become a flood'.

Verse 18

Ham is the father of Canaan — The notice prepares for vv.22 and 25. In Gen 10:6 Canaan is the fourth of Ham's sons, 'Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan', so he is singled out here. 'Ark' is tebah, the word for the 'ark of bulrushes' of Moses (Ex 2:3). Of these three sons 'was the whole earth overspread' (v.19).

Verse 20

began to be an husbandman — Literally 'a man of the ground' (ish ha-adamah). Noah was named in hope: 'This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed' (Gen 5:29). The 'vineyard' (kerem) he plants is the first one named in Scripture.

Verse 22

saw the nakedness of his father, and told — 'Nakedness' is ervah. Ham 'saw' (ra'ah) and 'told' (nagad) his two brethren 'without', outside the tent. Noah afterwards 'knew what his younger son had done unto him' (v.24). The verse calls Ham 'the father of Canaan' again, the son named in the curse of v.25.

Verse 23

their faces were backward — Shem and Japheth 'took a garment' (simlah) and 'covered' (kasah) their father. The verb of Ham's 'saw' (ra'ah, v.22) is turned about: 'they saw not their father's nakedness'. The law later says, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' (Ex 20:12).

Verse 25

Cursed be Canaan — The curse is on Canaan, Ham's son, not on Ham, who was among those God blessed in v.1. 'Servant of servants' is ebed, the lowest of servants. The record later shows the Canaanites put 'to tribute' (Judg 1:28) and the Gibeonites kept as 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' (Josh 9:23).

Verse 26

Blessed be the LORD God of Shem — Noah blesses the LORD, not Shem: Shem's portion is the LORD as his God. Shem's line runs to Abram (Gen 11:10–26), to whom the LORD says, 'in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed' (Gen 12:3), and appears in Christ's genealogy as 'Sem' (Luke 3:36).

Verse 27

God shall enlarge Japheth — Pathah is to open, to make roomy, and it sounds like the name Yepheth. 'Dwell' is shakan, the verb of 'that I may dwell among them' (Ex 25:8); the reading of who dwells in Shem's tents, Japheth or God, is debated. Paul pictures Gentiles as a wild olive 'graffed in among them' (Rom 11:17).