9:5God will require each person to account for his or her actions. We cannot harm or kill another human being without answering to God. A penalty must be paid. Justice will be served.
Life Application Study BibleGenesisChapter 9
Genesis 9
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 20, 21
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9Genesis 9
God Confirms His Covenant
1Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth. 2All the animals of the earth, all the birds of the sky, all the small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the fish in the sea will look on you with fear and terror. I have placed them in your power. 3I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables. 4But you must never eat any meat that still has the lifeblood in it. 5“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. 6If anyone takes a human life, that person’s life will also be taken by human hands. For God made human beings* in his own image. 7Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.” 8Then God told Noah and his sons, 9“I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, 10and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. 11Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” 12Then God said, “J am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 131 have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 15When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, t5and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. ‘*When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”
Noah’s Sons
1818The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) 19From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth. 20After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 21One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. 22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. 23Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked. 24When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done.
25Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham:“May Canaan be cursed!May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”
26Then Noah said,“May the LORD, the God of Shem, be blessed,and may Canaan be his servant!
27May God expand the territory of Japheth!May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem,*and may Canaan be his servant.”
28Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood. 29He lived 950 years, and then he died.
Textual footnotes
- 9:6 Or man; Hebrew reads ha-adam.
- 9:27 Hebrew May he live in the tents of Shern.
Life Application Notes 5 notes
9:5,6Here God explains why murder is so wrong: To kill a person is to kill one made in God’s image. Because all human beings are made in God's image, all people possess the qualities that distinguish them from animals: morality, reason, creativity, and self-worth. When we interact with others, we are interacting with beings made by God, beings to whom God offers eternal life. God wants us to recognize his image in all people.
9:8-17Noah stepped out of the boat onto an earth devoid of human life. But God gave him a reassuring promise. This covenant had three parts: (1) Never again will a flood do such destruction; (2) as long as the earth remains, the seasons will always come as expected; (3) a rainbow will be visible when it rains as a sign to all that God will keep his promises. The earth’s order and seasons are still preserved, and rainbows still remind us of God’s faithfulness to his word.
9:20-27Noah, the great hero of faith, got drunk—a poor example of godliness to his sons. Perhaps this story is included to show us that even godly people can sin and that their bad influence affects their families. Although the wicked people had all been killed, the possibility of evil still existed in the hearts of Noah and his family. Ham’s mocking attitude revealed a severe lack of respect for his father and for God.
9:25This verse has been wrongfully used to support racial prejudice and even slavery. Noah’s curse, however, wasn't directed toward any particular race, but rather at the Canaanite nation— a nation God knew would become wicked. The curse was fulfilled when the Israelites entered the Promised Land and drove the Canaanites out (see the book of Joshua).
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 21
BIBLE Shem Ham Japheth Shem’s descendants were called Semites. NATIONS Hebrews Canaanites Greeks Abraham, David, and Jesus descended DESCENDED Chaideans Egyptians Thracians from Shem. Ham’s descendants settled Assyrians Philistines Scythians in Canaan, Egypt, and the rest of Africa. NOAH’S SONS Persians Hittites Japheth’s descendants settled for the most Arameans Amorites part in Europe and Asia Minor. (Syrians) a