The big picture
The flood is over, and Noah, the man God preserved through it, has left the ark with his family. Genesis 8 ended with Noah's sacrifice and God's promise that the earth's regular seasons will continue. Chapter 9 gives new terms for human life. God blesses the family, speaks about food, blood and the taking of human life, and makes a covenant, a binding promise, with people and living creatures. It then turns to a shameful event inside Noah's own family.
In this chapter
- Human Life Receives New Boundaries Genesis 9:1-7
God blesses Noah and his sons and tells them to multiply and fill the earth.
- The Rainbow Marks God's Covenant Genesis 9:8-17
God speaks to Noah and his sons about a covenant.
- Noah's Family Falls Into Shame Genesis 9:18-29
Noah becomes a farmer and plants a vineyard.
Central truth
Genesis 9 gives rules for life after the flood, records God's covenant with creation, and ends with serious trouble inside Noah's family.
Scripture beside the summary
Genesis · King James Version · 29Genesis 9:1-7
Human Life Receives New Boundaries
God blesses Noah and his sons and tells them to multiply and fill the earth. Animals now fear humans, and people are allowed to eat living creatures as food. God forbids eating flesh with its blood still in it, because blood is linked with life. He then speaks about human blood. An animal or person that takes a human life will answer for it. If a person kills another person, that killer's life is to be taken by humans. The reason is that God made humanity in his image. The command to multiply is then repeated. Animals can be food, but human life receives a special protection tied to God's image.
In everyday life
A kitchen manager prepares meat for dinner service, then stops every task when a worker collapses and starts bleeding. The food remains food, but a human life changes everyone's priorities at once. Genesis makes a different kind of claim because its rule comes from God and ties human worth to God's image.
Notice
Genesis 9:6 The reason given for protecting human life is God's image in humanity. The verse does not base human worth on strength, usefulness, wealth or social rank.
Genesis 9:1-7
King James Version1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2And 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.
3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5And 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.
6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
Genesis 9:8-17
The Rainbow Marks God's Covenant
God speaks to Noah and his sons about a covenant. It includes their descendants and every living creature that came from the ark. God promises that floodwaters will never again destroy all flesh and the earth in this way. He gives the bow in the cloud as the visible sign of that promise. It appears in the same kind of weather that brings rain. God says the sign will call the everlasting covenant to mind. He repeats that the covenant reaches every living creature on earth. The promise is not limited to Noah's family. It includes the living world that survived with them.
In everyday life
Two shop owners sign a long lease and each stores a stamped copy where it can be found later. The paper gives both sides a visible record of the promise they made. Genesis also gives a visible sign tied to a promise. Unlike a business lease, God's covenant is not negotiated between equal parties.
Notice
Genesis 9:13 The bow is placed in the cloud, where rain appears. The sign is therefore seen in the same setting that once brought destruction, while pointing to God's promise.
Genesis 9:8-17
King James Version8And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10And 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.
11And 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.
12And 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:
13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15And 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.
16And 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.
17And 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.
Genesis 9:18-29
Noah's Family Falls Into Shame
Noah becomes a farmer and plants a vineyard. He drinks its wine, becomes drunk and lies uncovered in his tent. Ham, one of Noah's sons and the father of Canaan, sees his father's nakedness and tells his brothers. His brothers, Shem and Japheth, take a garment, walk backward and cover Noah without looking at him. Noah later wakes and learns what his younger son did. He curses Canaan, Ham's son, and speaks blessings connected with Shem and Japheth. The account does not explain why Canaan receives the curse instead of Ham. Noah lives three hundred and fifty years after the flood and dies at nine hundred and fifty years old.
In everyday life
A son finds his father passed out after drinking and sends a humiliating photo to relatives. His two brothers enter the room, cover their father and remove the phone. The family remembers the two responses very differently. Genesis goes further because Noah then speaks a curse and blessings over named family lines.
Notice
Genesis 9:25 Noah curses Canaan rather than naming Ham in the curse. Genesis does not explain why, so the missing reason should not be filled in as though the chapter states it.
Genesis 9:18-29
King James Version18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23And 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.
24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Genesis 9:1 begins with “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
Where the chapter turns
Genesis 9:4 forms a natural hinge: “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”
The final note
Genesis 9:29 leaves the reader with “And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words earth, Noah, covenant, flesh, Canaan, beast help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- replenish
- Fill or populate; Noah's family is told to increase across the earth.
- meat
- Food; here living creatures are given to humans as food.
- token
- A visible sign or marker of a promise or agreement.
- husbandman
- A farmer or cultivator of land; Noah begins working the soil and planting a vineyard.
- covenant
- A binding promise or pledged relationship; here God commits himself to people and living creatures.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
