Genesis 9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 9
Covenant with Noah. 1 [a]God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.(A) 2 [b]Fear and dread of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. 3 (B)Any living creature that moves about shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. 4 (C)Only meat with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.[c] 5 Indeed for your own lifeblood I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from a human being, each one for the blood of another, I will demand an accounting for human life.(D)
6 [d]Anyone who sheds the blood of a human being,
by a human being shall that one’s blood be shed;
For in the image of God
have human beings been made.(E)
7 Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.(F)
8 [e]God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you(G) 10 and with every living creature that was with you: the birds, the tame animals, and all the wild animals that were with you—all that came out of the ark. 11 I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.(H) 12 God said: This is the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you and every living creature with you for all ages to come: 13 (I)I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature—every mortal being—so that the waters will never again become a flood to destroy every mortal being.(J) 16 When the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature—every mortal being that is on earth. 17 God told Noah: This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and every mortal being that is on earth.
Noah and His Sons. 18 [f]The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.(K) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and lay naked inside his tent.(L) 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. 23 Shem and Japheth, however, took a robe, and holding it on their shoulders, they walked backward and covered their father’s nakedness; since their faces were turned the other way, they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said:
“Cursed be Caanan!
The lowest of slaves
shall he be to his brothers.”(M)
26 He also said:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!
Let Canaan be his slave.
27 May God expand Japheth,[g]
and may he dwell among the tents of Shem;
and let Canaan be his slave.”
28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 The whole lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years; then he died.
Footnotes
- 9:1 God reaffirms without change the original blessing and mandate of 1:28. In the Mesopotamian epic Atrahasis, on which the Genesis story is partly modeled, the gods changed their original plan by restricting human population through such means as childhood diseases, birth demons, and mandating celibacy among certain groups of women.
- 9:2–3 Pre-flood creatures, including human beings, are depicted as vegetarians (1:29–30). In view of the human propensity to violence, God changes the original prohibition against eating meat.
- 9:4 Because a living being dies when it loses most of its blood, the ancients regarded blood as the seat of life, and therefore as sacred. Jewish tradition considered the prohibition against eating meat with blood to be binding on all, because it was given by God to Noah, the new ancestor of all humankind; therefore the early Christian Church retained it for a time (Acts 15:20, 29).
- 9:6 The image of God, given to the first man and woman and transmitted to every human being, is the reason that no violent attacks can be made upon human beings. That image is the basis of the dignity of every individual who, in some sense, “represents” God in the world.
- 9:8–17 God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants and, remarkably, with all the animals who come out of the ark: never again shall the world be destroyed by flood. The sign of this solemn promise is the appearance of a rainbow.
- 9:18–27 The character of the three sons is sketched here. The fault is not Noah’s (for he could not be expected to know about the intoxicating effect of wine) but Ham’s, who shames his father by looking on his nakedness, and then tells the other sons. Ham’s conduct is meant to prefigure the later shameful sexual practices of the Canaanites, which are alleged in numerous biblical passages. The point of the story is revealed in Noah’s curse of Ham’s son Canaan and his blessing of Shem and Japheth.
- 9:27 In the Hebrew text there is a play on the words yapt (“expand”) and yepet (“Japheth”).
Bereshis 9
Orthodox Jewish Bible
9 Vayevarech Elohim et Noach and his banim, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish ha’aretz.
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of ha’aretz, and upon every bird of the air, upon all that moveth upon ha’adamah, and upon all the dagim of the yam; into your yad are they delivered.
3 Every remes that liveth shall be food for you; even as the yarok esev (green plant) have I given you all.
4 But basar with the nefesh thereof, which is the dahm thereof, shall ye not eat.
5 And surely your dahm of your nefeshot will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the yad haAdam; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the nefesh haAdam.
6 Shofech dahm (one who sheddeth man’s blood), by man shall his dahm be shed; for in the tzelem Elohim made He man.
7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly on ha’aretz, and multiply therein.
8 And Elohim spoke unto Noach, and to his banim with him, saying,
9 And I, hineni, I establish My brit (covenant) with you, and with your zera after you;
10 And with kol nefesh that is with you, of the bird, of the behemah, and of every animal of ha’aretz with you; from kol yotzei hatevah (all that go out of the ark), to every creature of ha’aretz.
11 And I will establish My brit (covenant) with you, neither shall kol basar yikaret (be cut off, violently killed) any more by the waters of the mabbul; neither shall there be any more mabbul l’shachat (to destroy) ha’aretz.
12 And Elohim said, This is the ot (sign) of the brit (covenant) which I make between Me and you and every nefesh chayyah (living creature) that is with you, for dorot olam (perpetual generations);
13 I do set My keshet (bow) in the anan (cloud), and it shall be for an ot brit between Me and ha’aretz.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring an anan over ha’aretz, that the keshet be’anan (rainbow) shall be seen;
15 And I will remember My brit, which is between Me and you and kol nefesh chayyah of kol basar; and the waters shall no more become a mabbul (flood) l’shachat (to destroy) kol basar.
16 And the keshet shall be in the anan; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the brit olam between Elohim and kol nefesh chayyah of kol basar that is upon ha’aretz.
17 And Elohim said unto Noach, This is the ot habrit, which I have established between Me and kol basar that is upon ha’aretz.
18 And the bnei Noach, that went forth of the tevah, were Shem, and Cham, and Yephet; and Cham is the av of Kena’an (Canaan).
19 Shloshah (Three) are the bnei Noach; and of them was the kol ha’aretz populated.
20 And Noach began to be an ish ha’adamah (a man of the soil), and he planted a kerem (vineyard);
21 And he drank of the yayin, and became shikker (intoxicated); and he lay uncovered inside his ohel.
22 And Cham, the av of Kena’an, saw the erom (nakedness) of his av, and told his two achim on the outside.
23 And Shem and Yephet took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward, and covered the erom of their av; and their faces were turned the other way, and they saw not the erom of their av.
24 And Noach awoke from his yayin, and had da’as of what his ben katan had done unto him.
25 And he said, Arur (cursed) be Kena’an; an eved of avadim shall he be unto his achim.
26 And he said, Baruch Hashem Elohei Shem; and Kena’an shall be his eved.
27 Elohim shall enlarge Yephet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Kena’an shall be his eved.
28 And Noach lived after the mabbul three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noach were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
创世记 9
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
上帝与挪亚立约
9 上帝赐福给挪亚和他的儿子们，对他们说：“你们要生养众多，遍布地面。 2 你们要管理所有地上的走兽、空中的飞鸟、地上的爬虫和海里的鱼，它们都必惧怕你们。 3 凡是活着的动物都可作你们的食物，就像菜蔬和谷物一样。 4 只是你们不可吃带血的肉，因为血就是生命。 5 凡是杀人害命的，无论人或兽，我必向他们追讨血债。凡杀人的，我必追讨他的血债。 6 凡杀害人的，也必被人杀害，因为人是上帝照着自己的形象造的。 7 你们要生养众多，使地上人口兴旺。”
8 上帝又对挪亚和他的儿子们说： 9 “我要跟你们和你们的后代， 10 以及所有和你们在一起、从方舟出来的飞禽走兽和牲畜等各种动物立约。 11 我与你们立约，不再叫洪水淹没一切生灵，也不再让洪水毁灭大地。” 12 上帝说：“我与你们及各种生灵立世代永存的约，我要给这个约一个记号。 13 我把彩虹放在云中，作为我跟大地立约的记号。 14 我使云彩覆盖大地的时候，会有彩虹在云中出现。 15 这样我会记得我与你们及一切生灵所立的约，水就不会再泛滥淹灭所有生灵。 16 当我看见彩虹在云中出现的时候，就会记得我与地上一切生灵立的永约。” 17 上帝对挪亚说：“彩虹是我与地上一切生灵立约的记号。”
挪亚和他的儿子
18 与挪亚一起出方舟的有他的儿子闪、含、雅弗。含是迦南的父亲。 19 挪亚这三个儿子的后代遍布天下。
20 挪亚做了农夫，他是第一个栽种葡萄园的人。 21 一天，他喝葡萄酒喝醉了，赤裸着身体躺在帐篷里。 22 迦南的父亲含看见他父亲赤身露体，便去告诉外面的两个弟兄。 23 于是，闪和雅弗拿了一件衣服搭在肩上，倒退着走进帐篷，把衣服盖在父亲身上，他们背着脸不看父亲赤裸的身体。
24 挪亚酒醒后，知道了小儿子做的事， 25 就说：
“迦南该受咒诅，
必做他弟兄的仆人的仆人。”
26 又说：
“闪的上帝耶和华当受称颂！
迦南要做闪的仆人。
27 愿上帝扩张雅弗的疆界，
愿他住在闪的帐篷里，
让迦南做他的仆人。”
28 洪水以后，挪亚又活了三百五十年。 29 挪亚一生共活了九百五十岁。
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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