Genesis 9
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 9
1 God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 [a]Fear and dread of you will come upon every wild animal and every bird of the air, everything that crawls upon the earth and all the fish of the sea; they will be under your dominion.
3 “Whatever moves and has life will be used for your food. I give you all these things, just as I have already given you every green plant. 4 [b]Only do not eat flesh along with its life, that is, with its blood. 5 For your blood, that is, your life, I will require an accounting. I will require it of every living creature, and I will require it of every human in regard to other humans, each person for his brother.
6 “Whoever spills human blood,
that person’s blood will be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; become numerous upon the earth and have dominion over it.”
Covenant of Mercy.[c] 8 God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “As for me, I will establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 with every living creature along with you—the birds, tame and wild animals, and with all the animals which left the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you: never again will all living creatures be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will the earth be laid waste by a flood again.”
12 God said, “This will be a sign of the covenant that I establish between me and you and every living creature for all generations. 13 I will place my rainbow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I gather the clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and with every living creature of every kind, that water and flood shall never again destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow will be in the clouds and I will look upon it and remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is found upon the earth.”
17 God said to Noah, “This is a sign of the covenant that I am establishing between myself and every creature upon the earth.”
A World of Diverse Peoples[d]
18 The Return of Sin.[e] The sons of Noah who left the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of the people of Canaan. 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from these came all the people on the earth.
20 Now Noah tilled the soil, and he was the first to plant grape vines. 21 He drank some of the wine and he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of the Canaanites, saw his father lying naked, and he mentioned it to his two brothers who were standing outside.[f] 23 Shem and Japheth took a robe and, holding it in back of them, walked backward toward him and covered their father with it. Having faced backward, they did not see their father naked.
24 When Noah woke up from his drunken slumber, he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 25 Because of this, he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
A slave of slaves
shall he be to his brothers!”[g]
26 [h]And he continued,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem,
and let Canaan be his slave!
27 May God enlarge Japheth
so that he dwells in the land of Shem;
and let Canaan be his slave!”
28 After the flood, Noah lived for three hundred and fifty years. 29 In all, Noah lived for nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.
Footnotes
- Genesis 9:2 All this is simply a popular image for describing the complete happiness God had intended for humankind in the state of innocence. Verse 3 makes clear that the eating of meat is part of God’s general plan for the created world.
- Genesis 9:4 In the popular Semitic view blood is the seat of the vital principle; it is not, however, a product of matter but is infused into it by God. Therefore, the blood belongs in its entirety to God, and in a special way the blood of human beings, made as they are in the image of God, who is their protector and avenger.
- Genesis 9:8 God’s intention as enunciated in the Yahwist tradition (8:21-22) is rethought in this Priestly passage as a covenant between God and Noah, analogous to that which will later be established between God and Abraham (Gen 15; 17) and then between God and the Israelite people (Ex 19–24). The imagery brings out the unqualified steadfastness of the divine intention. The Covenant is freely made on God’s part, that is, it does not depend on the future behavior of human beings, for the Lord does not ask Noah to fulfill any particular requirement.
- Genesis 9:18 God has blessed the new creation, and the earth is repopulated. At the heart of this humankind, which is divided and marked by sin, is the towering figure of Abraham. It is upon him that the Lord has affixed his choice as the forerunner through whom the salvation of human beings will take place.
- Genesis 9:18 The story is from the Yahwist tradition. After the second creation, as after the first, we read the story of a sin, a condemnation, and a prophecy of hope. This last is connected with chapter 12 and the call of Abraham.
- Genesis 9:22 This is not a sexual sin but an abuse of power; the sons make themselves the superiors and judges of their father, who is humiliated and dishonored. To the Hebrews drunkenness is wanton, dishonorable, and humiliating; it provokes ridicule, leads to idolatry, incites violence, causes injustice and poverty, and makes persons subject to their enemies. It is unseemly especially for the leaders of nations. Clothing, then, in addition to being a means of decency, expresses the dignity of the person and his or her social position. When naked (Gen 3:7), Adam and Eve are deprived of glory and grace; the garments of skin with which God clothes them (Gen 3:21) are symbolic of their hope of being clothed again in their lost dignity.
- Genesis 9:25 According to the Semitic mentality, the blessings and curses of the Patriarchs (generally) are regarded as efficacious and able to determine the lot of the tribe represented by each Patriarch. For this reason, popular stories connected events or characteristics of a human group with blessings or curses uttered by an ancestor. In the present story Noah curses Canaan and therefore the Canaanites. The Canaanites were to be supplanted by the Hebrews in the conquest of the Promised Land. The Phoenicians, too, were Canaanites (see Gen 10:15-19; Jdg 1:31).
- Genesis 9:26 A great numerical and territorial expansion is announced for the descendants of Japheth; there is a play on the resemblance in sound between this ancestor’s name and the verb meaning “to open,” “to enlarge.”
Genesis 9
King James Version
9 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
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.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
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.
6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
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.
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.
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:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
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.
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.
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.
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.
19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
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.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
