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The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 9

Covenant and a troubled household

General context

God blesses Noah and his sons, calls them to multiply, permits living creatures as food and forbids eating flesh with its blood. Human bloodshed brings a demand that the killer's blood be shed, grounded in humanity being made in God's image. God establishes a covenant with Noah, his descendants and every living creature: a flood will not again destroy all flesh. The bow in the cloud is its sign. The scene then turns to Noah's vineyard, drunkenness and uncovered body. Ham sees his nakedness and tells his brothers, while Shem and Japheth cover him. Noah later curses Canaan to servitude and speaks concerning Shem and Japheth, and the chapter closes with his death.

Cited passages: Genesis 9:1, Genesis 9:2, Genesis 9:3, Genesis 9:4, Genesis 9:5, Genesis 9:6, Genesis 9:7, Genesis 9:8, Genesis 9:9, Genesis 9:10, Genesis 9:11, Genesis 9:12, Genesis 9:13, Genesis 9:15, Genesis 9:16, Genesis 9:17, Genesis 9:20, Genesis 9:21, Genesis 9:22, Genesis 9:23, Genesis 9:24, Genesis 9:25, Genesis 9:26, Genesis 9:27, Genesis 9:29

Genesis 9 (KJV)

1And 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.

8And 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.

18And 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Noah and his three sons are addressed after leaving the ark, and the account presents their families as the source of the earth's later population. Noah plants a vineyard and becomes drunk in his tent. Ham is identified as Canaan's father; Shem and Japheth are the brothers who cover Noah while turning their faces away. The curse is spoken by Noah over Canaan, although the chapter does not describe Canaan taking part in the tent episode. The final notices give Noah 350 years after the flood and a total life of 950 years.

Cited passages: Genesis 9:1, Genesis 9:8, Genesis 9:9, Genesis 9:10, Genesis 9:18, Genesis 9:19, Genesis 9:20, Genesis 9:21, Genesis 9:22, Genesis 9:23, Genesis 9:24, Genesis 9:25, Genesis 9:26, Genesis 9:27, Genesis 9:28, Genesis 9:29

Literary context

Blessing and multiplication recall the creation account, and the protection of human life explicitly returns to the image of God. The covenant's repeated scope includes descendants and living creatures, with the bow joined to God's remembering. The later household scene shifts from this broad promise to seeing, telling and covering within one family. Ham's seeing is contrasted with his brothers' deliberate avoidance of looking as they cover their father. Noah's curse names Canaan, while his following words invoke the Lord God of Shem and speak of Japheth. A lifespan and death notice closes the chapter.

Cited passages: Genesis 9:1, Genesis 9:5, Genesis 9:6, Genesis 9:7, Genesis 1:27, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 9:9, Genesis 9:10, Genesis 9:11, Genesis 9:12, Genesis 9:13, Genesis 9:15, Genesis 9:16, Genesis 9:17, Genesis 9:21, Genesis 9:22, Genesis 9:23, Genesis 9:25, Genesis 9:26, Genesis 9:27, Genesis 9:28, Genesis 9:29

Key moments

  1. Human life and God’s image (Genesis 9:6). The instruction that a killer’s blood be shed is linked with humanity being made in God’s image.
  2. The bow is a covenant sign (Genesis 9:13). God sets the bow in the cloud as a sign of the covenant with the earth.
  3. Two brothers cover their father (Genesis 9:23). Shem and Japheth walk backward with a garment and cover Noah without looking at him.
  4. Noah’s life closes (Genesis 9:29). Noah’s life is recorded as 950 years, followed by his death.

For reflection

How does the move from a covenant with every living creature to the troubled household shape your reading of the chapter?

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