Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 9

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 9 Noah and his sons commanded to multiply and fill the earth—They are given dominion over all forms of life—Death penalty decreed for murder—God shall not again destory the earth by a flood— Canaan cursed; Shem and Japheth blessed.	Noah and his sons are commanded to multiply and fill the earth—They are given dominion over all forms of life—Death penalty decreed—God covenants with man to not flood the earth again—God also give the token/sign of the everlasting covenant as the rainbow—Canaan or descendants of Ham cursed and Shem and Japeth with him are blessed.	Rainbow Round the Throne of God
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, ^aBe fruitful, and ^bmultiply, and ^creplenish the earth^a. 2 And the ^afear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be ^ameat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.	1^a Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth The first commandment is stated again, that man is to multiply, having families with children as being the natural course of man so commanded of God. Such as is not after this order violates the founding commandment of God to have children as men and women upon the earth.	1^a Moses 5:2 ^b Gen. 8:17 TG Marriage, Fatherhood ^c HEB fill 2^a Gen. 1:28 (26-28) 3^a HEB food; TG Food; TG Meat; TG Word of Wisdom;
4 ^aBut flesh with the ^blife thereof, which is the ^cblood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely ^ayour blood of your lives will I ^brequire; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso ^asheddeth man's blood, by man shall his ^bblood be shed^a: for in the ^cimage of God made he man. 7 And you, be ye ^afruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.	6^a Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed It was violence, even the secret covenants of murder and violence of one man upon the other which had brought about the destruction of men unto the flood of Noah. Now, thus God gave the law that if a man murder, then that man was to be put to death, that the cycle of murder and violence might be ended in the law. And that he that would murder should be himself destoryed that it might not continue and persist and grow in the earth unto that great violence and destruction as was in the days of Noah's flood. This is perhaps the first 'pre-emptive' law, that because of the feat of the penalty of law men would not resort unto murder. This deterant is being removed in our laws today and violence continues to esculate, and the murderer continues to go unpunished, thus purpetuating the crime within society unto societies destruction.	1^a Moses 5:2 ^b Gen. 8:17 TG Marriage, Fatherhood ^c HEB fill 2^a Gen. 1:28 (26-28) 3^a HEB food; TG Food; TG Meat; TG Word of Wisdom;
8 ¶ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, ^aI establish my ^bcovenant with you, and with your seed after you; 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to 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 a flood; neither shall there any more be a ^aflood to ^bdestroy the ^cearth.		1^a Moses 5:2 ^b Gen. 8:17 TG Marriage, Fatherhood ^c HEB fill 2^a Gen. 1:28 (26-28) 3^a HEB food; TG Food; TG Meat; TG Word of Wisdom;
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 ^bcovenant, which ^ais between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a ^cflood to destroy all flesh. 16 ^aAnd 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^a that is upon the earth. 17 And God said unto Noah, This is the ^atoken of the covenant^a, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.	16^a that I may remeber the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh More than just that it would not rain no more, the Lord made again with man, as promised to Enoch, through Noah the oath and everlasting covenant of God with man which was from the beginning and foundation of the world as set forth by the Father in the preexistence. 17^a This is the token of the covenant The token of the everlasting covenant renewed by God with Noah is that of the rainbow. More than just a sign given that God would not make it to rain to destory all flesh, it was a token of the promises of God made to man from before the foundation of the world, that a redeemer would be provided and that man would have the way of salvation openned unto them that them might again return to the presence of God, to obtain immortality and eternal life and not be utterly destoryed from off the face of the earth forever.	Everlasting Covenant Now the Everlasting Covenant relates to the work and glory of God, and that work and glory is to 'bring to pass the immortality and eternal life' of man' (Moses 1:39), and the life of living creatures does relate unto it. The opossite of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man is to bring about the destruction of man. While the flood did not destroy man's immortality but did in effect save him from his gross sins, it was still and act of destruction. The 'rainbow' was given by God, Jehovah, as a token of the covenant with man, the everlasting covenant, that the plan of eternal life would be carried out to the end that man might return to the presence of God and gain immortality and eternal life. Therefore, while the rainbow in a incomplete frame of reference was taken to mean no more great flood, it related more particularly to the salvation of man, that God did remember that work of bringing to pass the immortality of man which he had promised in the preexistance to do, to Adam to do, do Enoch to so do to the benefit of mankind, and now unto Noah. It would also be the basis of the covenant promise of Abraham, even the promises of the fathers, in that all the nations of the earth and the people thereof who ever did live would come under the availability of that 'everlasting covenant' of the atonement of Jesus Christ unto the salvation of all mankind. This 'rainbow covenant' being so associated with the 'patriarchal birthright of the covenant' will lift its head again in the 'coat of many colors' or the 'rainbow coat' of Joseph, as it did indicate that Joseph was to be the promised son of the covenant. It will also be stated in terms of Jesus Christ and the throne of God in heaven (Revelation 4:3, Revelation 10:1) and it presumed to there be indicative of the everlasting covenant, that eternal round of bring to past the immortality and eternal life of man.
18 ¶ And the ^asons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole ^aearth overspread^a.	19^a of them was the whole earth overspread In a would where the theories of science take the origin of man back beyond Adam and make of the flood of Noah a minor local affair in comparison to what it truly was, it is important to note what it is that the Bible does clearly teach. Here to Bible clearly states that the whole earth was overspread by the families of the three sons of Noah.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he 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 younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, ^aCursed be ^bCanaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his ^aservant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
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.