10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every animal of the earth with you. Of all that go out of the ark, even every animal of the earth.
and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, "Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man, For I will question you, then you answer me! "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. Who determined the measures of it, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? Whereupon were the foundations of it fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? "Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it broke forth from the womb, When I made clouds the garment of it, Thick darkness a swaddling-band for it, Marked out for it my bound, Set bars and doors, And said, 'Here you may come, but no further; Here shall your proud waves be stayed?' "Have you commanded the morning in your days, And caused the dawn to know its place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And shake the wicked out of it? It is changed as clay under the seal, And stands forth as a garment. From the wicked, their light is withheld, The high arm is broken. "Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if you know it all. "What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is the place of it, That you should take it to the bound of it, That you should discern the paths to the house of it? Surely you know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great! Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war? By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? Who has cut a channel for the flood water, Or the path for the thunderstorm; To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, in which there is no man; To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, To cause the tender grass to spring forth? Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it? The waters become hard like stone, When the surface of the deep is frozen. "Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loosen the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the constellations in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish the dominion of it over the earth? "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?' Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky, When the dust runs into a mass, And the clods of earth stick together? "Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, When they crouch in their dens, And lie in wait in the thicket? Who provides for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry to God, And wander for lack of food?
"Can you draw out Leviathan{Leviathan is a name for a crocodile or similar creature.} with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a hook? Will he make many petitions to you? Or will he speak soft words to you? Will he make a covenant with you, That you should take him for a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, Or his head with fish-spears? Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more. Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Will not one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine. "I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who shall come within his jaws? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. Strong scales are his pride, Shut up together with a close seal. One is so near to another, That no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; They stick together, so that they can't be pulled apart. His sneezing flashes forth light, His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning torches, Sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, As of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath kindles coals. A flame goes forth from his mouth. In his neck there is strength. Terror dances before him. The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can't be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone, Yes, firm as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing. If one lay at him with the sword, it can't avail; Nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. He counts iron as straw; And brass as rotten wood. The arrow can't make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him. Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. His undersides are like sharp potsherds, Leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He makes a path to shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. On earth there is not his equal, That is made without fear. He sees everything that is high: He is king over all the sons of pride."
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 9
Commentary on Genesis 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
Ge 9:1-7. Covenant.
1. And God blessed Noah—Here is republished the law of nature that was announced to Adam, consisting as it originally did of several parts.
Be fruitful, &c.—The first part relates to the transmission of life, the original blessing being reannounced in the very same words in which it had been promised at first [Ge 1:28].
2. And the fear of you and the dread of you—The second part re-establishes man's dominion over the inferior animals; it was now founded not as at first in love and kindness, but in terror; this dread of man prevails among all the stronger as well as the weaker members of the animal tribes and keeps away from his haunts all but those employed in his service.
3. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you—The third part concerns the means of sustaining life; man was for the first time, it would seem, allowed the use of animal food, but the grant was accompanied with one restriction.
4. But flesh … the blood … shall ye not eat—The sole intention of this prohibition was to prevent these excesses of cannibal ferocity in eating flesh of living animals, to which men in the earlier ages of the world were liable.
5. surely your blood of your lives will I require—The fourth part establishes a new power for protecting life—the institution of the civil magistrate (Ro 13:4), armed with public and official authority to repress the commission of violence and crime. Such a power had not previously existed in patriarchal society.
6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood … for in the image of God made he man—It is true that image has been injured by the fall, but it is not lost. In this view, a high value is attached to the life of every man, even the poorest and humblest, and an awful criminality is involved in the destruction of it.
Ge 9:8-29. Rainbow.
13. I do set my bow in the cloud—set, that is, constitute or appoint. This common and familiar phenomenon being made the pledge of peace, its appearance when showers began to fall would be welcomed with the liveliest feelings of joy.
20. And Noah … planted a vineyard—Noah had been probably bred to the culture of the soil, and resumed that employment on leaving the ark.
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken—perhaps at the festivities of the vintage season. This solitary stain on the character of so eminently pious a man must, it is believed, have been the result of age or inadvertency.
24. This incident could scarcely have happened till twenty years after the flood; for Canaan, whose conduct was more offensive than that even of his father, was not born till after that event. It is probable that there is a long interval included between these verses and that this prophecy, like that of Jacob on his sons, was not uttered till near the close of Noah's life when the prophetic spirit came upon him; this presumption is strengthened by the mention of his death immediately after.
25. Cursed be Canaan—This doom has been fulfilled in the destruction of the Canaanites—in the degradation of Egypt and the slavery of the Africans, the descendants of Ham.
26. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem—rather, "Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem,"—an intimation that the descendants of Shem should be peculiarly honored in the service of the true God, His Church being for ages established among them (the Jews), and of them, concerning the flesh, Christ came. They got possession of Canaan, the people of that land being made their "servants" either by conquest, or, like the Gibeonites, by submission [Jos 9:25].
27. God shall enlarge Japheth—pointing to a vast increase in posterity and possessions. Accordingly his descendants have been the most active and enterprising, spread over the best and largest portion of the world, all Europe and a considerable part of Asia.
he shall dwell in the tents of Shem—a prophecy being fulfilled at the present day, as in India British Government is established and the Anglo-Saxons being in the ascendancy from Europe to India, from India over the American continent. What a wonderful prophecy in a few verses (Isa 46:10; 1Pe 1:25)!