Chapter Nine
God’s Covenant with Noah Continued
9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.
God reiterates what He said to Adam (see Genesis 1:26-28), be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. However, God did not repeat the command to subdue the earth, no explanation given, perhaps it did not need to be repeated. Some believe that the dominion of the earth was no longer in human hands.
Instead of co-inhabiting the planet, animals would now have fear and dread of humans. Both the Hebrew words ‘mô·rǎ’ǎ’[1] (translated here as ‘fear’) and ‘ḥit’[2] (‘dread’) depict great fear and terror. God tells Noah that man still had dominion over the animals, but things are different now, they are now a source of food.
9:3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Up until this time, man was only allowed to eat plants for food, now God allows for the first time the consumption of meat. There is no mention about any dietary restrictions (that comes later, see Leviticus 11:1-47 and Deuteronomy 14:1-21), except that no one is to eat any flesh with blood still in it. That means no eating of live animals, the animal must be killed and the blood drained out before consumption. This instruction mirrors what God commands later in Leviticus 17:11.[3]
9:5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
The life of a human being is more valuable to God, the New Living Translation renders it, “And I will require the blood of anyone who takes another person’s life. If a wild animal kills a person, it must die. And anyone who murders a fellow human must die.” (Genesis 9:5, NLT) The Hebrew word ‘dāraš’[4] is an interesting word, it is found three times in verse five (translated here as ‘require’), it implies the need to inquire and then legally require a response, in this case someone’s life for killing another human being. Plus, if an animal kills a human being, that animal must be put to death. God is giving mankind the responsibility to inquire and see that justice is served.
Life of a human being more valuable to God, as we were created in His image,[5] which sets us apart from the animals. Even after the fall, man still retains the image of God, some of the more distinctive attributes include love, self-awareness, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and justice.
9:7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”
God once again repeats the command to be fruitful and multiply (see Genesis 1:28; 9:1). The phrase “increase greatly,” is the Hebrew word ‘šir·ṣû’,[6] which is usually translated as ‘swarms’, one could translate this as to “multiply in swarms.”
9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
God once again returns to the subject of His covenant with Noah, this time He includes Noah’s descendants and the other group that will benefit from this promise, all the animals.
9:11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
God is promising that He will never kill all life with a worldwide flood again. The Hebrew word ‘yik·kā·rēṯ’[7] (translated here as ‘cut off’), can also mean destroy or kill. The Hebrew word translated here as ‘future’ (‘ô·lām’),[8] implies a never-ending covenant, and in order that all generations will know about this covenant, God offers a sign.
9:13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
God established the rainbow as the sign of this covenant. The horrific nature of sin, along with God’s glorious plan of redemption through Jesus Christ, should always be remembered when this colorful symbol in the sky appears. While everyone admires a rainbow, few associate it with God’s promise, so don’t forget to share the story of the fall of man and God’s solution when you see a rainbow.
Considerations
We first saw the Hebrew word ‘berît’ in Genesis 6:18, the word refers to a covenant, treaty, alliance or an agreement and it can be found 284 times in the Old Testament.[9] We see it as an agreement between human beings (see Genesis 14:13; 21:25-34; 31:44), between nations (see Psalm 83:4-12), and it is also used figuratively (see Isaiah 28:15-18; Job 5:23). However, the word is probably best known to describe a covenant between God and mankind. In that context, we see that it is used:
There are many theologians that refer to an Edenic covenant and an Adamic covenant, however, the word ‘berît’ was never used with any of God's dealings with Adam. Some also point out that the promise given in Genesis 3:15 (promise of a coming Savior), might be understood as a covenant, but the text again, does not use that term in connection with it.
Noah’s Descendants
9:18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.
The last time we heard the names of Noah’s sons was back in Genesis 7:13, when they entered the ark (in chapter eight, they were mentioned but only referred to then as Noah’s sons) and now we hear their names again as they exit the ark. Since all human life is starting over with these three sons, everyone alive today is a descendant of one of these three (see also Genesis 10:32). It is interesting to note that the text gives us a “heads up” advanced statement that Ham was the father of Canaan. There are a number or speculations as to why Moses wrote it this way. One idea is that since Canaan was the progenitor of Canaanites, the wicked inhabitants of the future Promised Land, and since most readers would likely know that they would recognize the name and connect the dots, so to speak. Others believe Moses was just giving us an advanced notice that the line of Ham would be indeed infamous.
9:20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
We see a number of first appearances of several Hebrew words in these two verses: ‘kā’·rěm’[10] (vineyard), ‘yēšt’[11] (drank), ‘yǎ’·yin’[12] (wine), ‘yiš·kār’[13] (drunk) and ‘yiṯ·gǎl’[14] (uncovered). While these words may potentially identify a less-than-stellar character flaw of Noah, we know that there was also a significant passing of time here. Up to this point Noah had faithfully followed every one of God’s commands, stood strong during significant adversity, and now with all the evil destroyed, he took a break. But not all things evil were destroyed, Satan and his minions were still around, and we should also never forget that all humans are sinful and because we are sinners, we can be tempted and keep on sinning. The apostle Peter warned that all Christians should, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Being intoxicated was probably not Noah’s intention, but nonetheless here he is laying naked in his tent.
9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
The Hebrew implies that Ham intentionally looked at his father. While there has been a lot of speculation as to why he looked, especially in light of the following verse, we must remember that they are just speculations as the text does not specifically clarify Ham’s motivation or actions. Regardless of why, he tells his brothers of what he saw, and they then took action to cover their father without exposing him to any further shame or embarrassment.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
The question that many ask is, how did Noah know what Ham did to him? Some believe that Noah was not completely unconscious when Ham saw him, while others believe that Noah must have inquired as to what happened, the text does not specify. Nor do we know the extent of what happened. We can, however, probably safely assume that Noah was deeply ashamed, but even in his humiliations, he understood that he was sinned against by his son Ham, which could ultimately be revealing a rebellious nature within Ham and perhaps his family.
9:25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”
Noah’s response surprises many readers as this event must have taken place many years after the flood, seeing that Canaan, the youngest of Ham’s four sons, was the subject of Noah’s prophetic statement. Plus, Canaan must have been old enough to have already developed a self-centered and potentially ungodly perspective of life. According to the prophecy, the descendants of Canaan were to become servants to the people that descended from his uncles, Shem, and Japheth (see Deuteronomy 27:16).
As pointed out above, Canaan is the forefather of the wicked pagan nations that Satan will later influence in an attempt to spiritually pollute the future Promised Land. We will later hear about the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvidites, Zemarites, and the Hamathites, all descendants of Canaan (see Genesis 10:15-18). Each one turned out to become a problem for the Israelites, but each one was ultimately defeated by them.
9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
Noah lived another 350 years after the flood, only Jared (who died at 962) and Methuselah (who died when he was 969 years old), lived longer than Noah. If he lived two more years, he could have witnessed the birth of Abraham!
Considerations
It is interesting to note that the Bible does not “sugar coat” godly men and women mentioned in Scripture. Here we read about the inebriation of Noah, and we will see many more leaders chosen by God that will be nothing more than flawed and sinful human beings. Why? Well, first there are no perfect humans, we are all sinful (with the only exception of Jesus). This should be an encouragement for all of us; if God selected and used less-than-perfect people to do His work, He can surely use us! Secondly, since God does use flawed individuals, we know that the Bible is telling us the truth, we are not given only the good or “polished image” of a person, we see them as they are, their true and accurate nature. No other religious writing that claims to be divinely inspired will point out any flaws or imperfections regarding their prophets, leaders, or any other person divinely chosen. The Bible stands alone in that regard, and we would not expect anything less than the truth from the real God.
We briefly touched the subject of prophecy when we encountered Enoch in chapter five, but we did not cover the importance of prophecy. One big question that comes up often by believers and unbelievers alike, is about the authenticity of the Bible. Since it was written by human beings, how do we know it was inspired by God? The best proof of authenticity is prophecy, it is often referred to as the “Signature of God.” We know that God is outside time, He alone is unaffected by time. Being outside the realm of time allows Him to know exactly what is going to happen and since He is the only one unaffected by time, He has woven this knowledge into Scripture so that we would know that the Bible is indeed from God. Prophecy provides accurate accounts of future events and concepts on the very day it is supposed to happen at the exact time it should. There are no guesses with God. There are many prophecies given in the Old Testament; some are what we often call ‘near term’ referring to things that will happen anywhere from immediately to a couple of weeks to establish a prophet’s credibility as one who speaks for God. Other prophecies are given that are a longer term, some several hundred years later (including some that are yet-future prophecies waiting to be fulfilled). WARNING: Unfilled prophecies in the Bible should not be used to predict future events. While some prophecies could be analyzed and interpreted sufficiently to estimate when an event or a series of events will happen, prophecy is primarily to confirm God’s Word, after the fact. As Christians, our hearts and minds should be on following Jesus and doing those things He has called us to do.
So how does a person like Noah or Moses know what to say or prophesy? The answer is easy, as we discussed back in the Considerations under Genesis chapter five, the apostle Peter wrote: “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21, NLT). It all comes from God, not from man!
This is a difficult subject for most believers since, even though the Word of God does not encourage slavery, it never condemns the practice of slavery. The curse that is given in verse 25 has been misunderstood by some to be a form of condoning of slavery. The Bible does not justify or approve slavery in any way. The Hebrew word ‘ebed’[15] is first used here in this verse, and while it can be translated as ‘slave’ the context here implies servitude, not slavery. The word is the equivalent of the Greek word ‘doúlos’,[16] which can also be translated servant, slave or bondservant, depending on context.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 4172.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 2844.
[3] See commentary under Genesis 3:21.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 1875.
[5] See commentary and Considerations under Genesis 1:26-27.
[6] See commentary under Genesis 1:20.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 3772.
[8] Strong’s Hebrew 5769.
[9] The counts are based on the number of times these words appear in the ESV, 2016 edition. According to their preface, the ESV is based on the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible as found in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (5th ed., 1997), and on the Greek text in the 2014 editions of the Greek New Testament (5th corrected ed.), published by the United Bible Societies (UBS), and Novum Testamentum Graece (28th ed., 2012), edited by Nestle and Aland.
[10] Strong’s Hebrew 3754.
[11] Strong’s Hebrew 8354.
[12] Strong’s Hebrew 3196.
[13] Strong’s Hebrew 7937.
[14] Strong’s Hebrew 1540.
[15] Strong’s Hebrew 5650.
[16] Strong’s Greek 1401.