GENESIS, CHAPTER NINE

(The BEGINNING Of Human Government)

9:1 AND GOD BLESSED NOAH AND HIS SONS, AND SAID UNTO THEM, BE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY, AND REPLENISH THE EARTH.

9:2 AND THE FEAR 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.

A.This is a repetition of the authority given man in Chapter 1.

B.It is generally true that animals are afraid of human beings.

9:3 EVERY MOVING THING THAT LIVETH SHALL BE MEAT FOR YOU; EVEN AS THE GREEN HERB HAVE I GIVEN YOU ALL THINGS.

A.This is the first authority for human beings to eat flesh.

B.EVERY MOVING THING: No recorded clean/unclean distinction yet, at least so far as food was concerned; Would be later.

9:4 BUT FLESH WITH THE LIFE THEREOF, [WHICH IS] THE BLOOD THEREOF, SHALL YE NOT EAT.

A.Immediately a restriction on the eating of animal flesh; This is the first time the life principle has been stated.

B.Later, in the Law of Moses, and also in the New Covenant, the same restriction would apply - cf Ac 15:29.

C.This indicates the sanctity of all life (there is an element of God's holiness in all life); We must respect life, there-fore must refuse to eat BLOOD which is the principle of life.

9:5 AND SURELY YOUR BLOOD OF YOUR LIVES WILL I REQUIRE; 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.

A.HAND OF EVERY BEAST: If a beast kills a man, it is to die, not because it has been immoral (it is amoral -- has no moral values), but because life must be respected.

B.HAND OF MAN: For the same reason, the man who takes upon him-self the prerogative to take a human life must also die.

9:6 WHOSO SHEDDETH MAN'S BLOOD, BY MAN SHALL HIS BLOOD BE SHED: FOR IN THE IMAGE OF GOD MADE HE MAN.

A.Here God enjoins capital punishment; Obviously it is to uphold the dignity of life. Note that the order was given long before the Law of Moses; It is God's decree to mankind for all of time.

B.This shows the sacredness of life; Only God can give human life, and only He has the right to take it away.

C.One who kills sins against humanity, and thus sins against God who is the Father of all our spirits - Heb 12:9.

D."But the Bible later says THOU SHALT NOT KILL, so it contra-dicts itself."

THOU SHALT NOT KILL is a prohibition against murder.
Capital punishment is not murder; God ordained this punish-ment, so when the order is carried out by human government the government is not taking upon itself the right to end life, but simply serving as an agent to do God's will.
The principle is not to be that of retaliation, but of justice (doing WHAT'S RIGHT).

E."My view of life is too high for capital punishment" -- No, your view is too LOW; You need the same view God has (which is expressed in this verse).

F."Capital punishment is barbaric" -- ALMIGHTY GOD ordained it to be so; You'd better read Rom 9:20 and 11:34 and 13:1-4. What is barbaric is to let the murderer live (and perhaps murder someone else) in spite of what God said.

G."Capital punishment is not a deterrent."

How did deterrence get into the discussion? The reason God gave for taking the murderer's life is not to deter someone else, but because life is to be held sacred -- FOR IN THE IMAGE OF GOD MADE HE MAN.
So far as deterrence is concerned, if capital punishment were meted out speedily and consistently, notice would be taken. The way it is done now (or NOT done), it probably does not restrain others - cf Ecc 8:11.

9:7 AND YOU, BE YE FRUITFUL, AND MULTIPLY; BRING FORTH ABUNDANTLY IN THE EARTH, AND MULTIPLY THEREIN.

A.Once again the order to fill the earth.

B.From those eight people there are now five billion or more.

9:8 AND GOD SPAKE UNTO NOAH, AND TO HIS SONS WITH HIM, SAYING,

9:9 AND I, BEHOLD, I ESTABLISH MY COVENANT WITH YOU, AND WITH YOUR SEED AFTER YOU;

9:10 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.

A.God's first covenant with mankind was Gen 6:18.

B.This is the second covenant, as God tells what he will do.

C.Someone is always made a party to a covenant: Here it is Noah and all his descendents, including US (and animals). This covenant is not a part of the Law which was cancelled.

9:11 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 FLOOD TO DESTROY THE EARTH.

**If the Flood was just a local storm, then God has often broken this covenant!

9:12 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;

9:13 I DO SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD, AND IT SHALL BE FOR A TOKEN OF A COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH.

9:14 AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, WHEN I BRING A CLOUD OVER THE EARTH, THAT THE BOW SHALL BE SEEN IN THE CLOUD:

9:15 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.

9:16 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.

9:17 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.

A.A TOKEN is a sign, an indicator (as a wedding band is a sign of a marriage covenant).

B.When we see the rainbow, this says God sees it too.

C.When those eight people saw a rainbow, would they take it lightly? Should we not contemplate its seriousness? We are a party to this covenant as much as was Noah and his family.

9:18 AND THE SONS OF NOAH, THAT WENT FORTH OF THE ARK, WERE SHEM, AND HAM, AND JAPHETH: AND HAM [IS] THE FATHER OF CANAAN.

9:19 THESE [ARE] THE THREE SONS OF NOAH: AND OF THEM WAS THE WHOLE EARTH OVERSPREAD.

A.CANAAN: Not yet born, but figures prominently later.

B.So from these four couples, all human beings have descended.

9:20 AND NOAH BEGAN [TO BE] AN HUSBANDMAN, AND HE PLANTED A VINEYARD:

9:21 AND HE DRANK OF THE WINE, AND WAS DRUNKEN; AND HE WAS UNCOVERED WITHIN HIS TENT.

A.This is the first time WINE is mentioned -- Note its connec-tion! It has been a problem ever since.

B.The Bible is unique in literature in that it does not whitewash the sins of its heroes.

9:22 AND HAM, THE FATHER OF CANAAN, SAW THE NAKEDNESS OF HIS FATHER, AND TOLD HIS TWO BRETHREN WITHOUT.

9:23 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.

9:24 AND NOAH AWOKE FROM HIS WINE, AND KNEW WHAT HIS YOUNGER SON HAD DONE UNTO HIM.

9:25 AND HE SAID, CURSED [BE] CANAAN; A SERVANT OF SERVANTS SHALL HE BE UNTO HIS BRETHREN.

9:26 AND HE SAID, BLESSED [BE] THE LORD GOD OF SHEM; AND CANAAN SHALL BE HIS SERVANT.

9:27 GOD SHALL ENLARGE JAPHETH, AND HE SHALL DWELL IN THE TENTS OF SHEM; AND CANAAN SHALL BE HIS SERVANT.

A.The seriousness surrounding this account may suggest something happened that we do not know about.

B.Ham may have had evil thoughts, or he may have laughed and joked about it; Our English translation does not convey this to us, but the original might.

SAW THE NAKEDNESS OF HIS FATHER: The original carries the idea of "gazed, with satisfaction."
AND TOLD HIS TWO BRETHREN: The original carries the idea that he "told with delight and humor" -- More than just telling the facts.
KNEW WHAT HIS YOUNGER SON HAD DONE: Some think this indi-cates further sin of Ham in a homosexual act.
Shem and Japheth were sorry for Noah's drunken stupor and his nakedness, and did not joke about it, but rather showed dignity and shame and embarrassment.

C.A problem: Why was CANAAN cursed instead of HAM?

Canaan probably was not even born yet! - see Gen 10:6.
It seems the curse was a consequence, not punishment.

a.Sometimes the greatest curse to a parent is the woe he brings on his children.

b.Perhaps this was intended to make the curse emphatic to Ham; We just do not know the details.

c.It does seem to have had something to do with Canaan's descendents later being driven out of the land.

D.This passage has been misused (mostly during and after the U.S. Civil War) to try to teach that there is some kind of curse upon black people, or that they are inferior in some way to white people, and will always be servants to them.

Unprejudiced reading of the passage will see no suggestion of such ideas.
We do not know that Ham and the Canaanites were black; We have no information about the origin of races.

9:28 AND NOAH LIVED AFTER THE FLOOD THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS.

9:29 AND ALL THE DAYS OF NOAH WERE NINE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS: AND HE DIED.

A.He was 600 when the Flood came - Gen 7:6; So, 600 + 350=950.

B.He lived almost as long as did Methuselah; And it might be interesting to do the adding up of ages and note that Methuselah's life overlapped both Adam's and Noah's lives.

Return to Genesis