^8:1But God remembered¹ Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over² the earth and the waters receded. ^8:2The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed,³ and the rain stopped falling from the sky. ^8:3The waters kept receding steadily⁴ from the earth, so that they⁵ had gone down⁶ by the end of the 150 days. ^8:4On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.⁷^8:5The waters kept on receding⁸ until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible.⁹

^8:6At the end of forty days,¹⁰ Noah opened the window he had made in the ark¹¹^8:7and sent out a raven; it kept flying¹² back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

^8:8Then Noah¹³ sent out a dove¹⁴ to see if the waters had receded¹⁵ from the surface of the ground. ^8:9The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered¹⁶ the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah¹⁷ in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove,¹⁸ and brought it back into the ark.¹⁹^8:10He waited seven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. ^8:11When²⁰ the dove returned to him in the evening, there was²¹ a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. ^8:12He waited another seven days and sent the dove out again,²² but it did not return to him this time.²³

^8:13In Noah’s six hundred and first year,²⁴ in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that²⁵ the surface of the ground was dry. ^8:14And by the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth²⁶ was dry.

^8:15Then God spoke to Noah and said, ^8:16“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ^8:17Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out²⁷ every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase²⁸ and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”²⁹

^8:18Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. ^8:19Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.

^8:20Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.³⁰^8:21And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma³¹ and said³² to himself,³³ “I will never again curse³⁴ the ground because of humankind, even though³⁵ the inclination of their minds³⁶ is evil from childhood on.³⁷ I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

^8:22“While the earth continues to exist,³⁸

planting time³⁹ and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

God’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

^9:1Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ^9:2Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you.¹ Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority.²^9:3You may eat any moving thing that lives.³ As I gave you⁴ the green plants, I now give⁵ you everything.

^9:4But⁶ you must not eat meat⁷ with its life (that is,⁸ its blood) in it.⁹^9:5For your lifeblood¹⁰ I will surely exact punishment,¹¹ from¹² every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person¹³ I will exact punishment for the life of the individual¹⁴ since the man was his relative.¹⁵

^9:6“Whoever sheds human blood,¹⁶

by other humans¹⁷

must his blood be shed;

for in God’s image¹⁸

God¹⁹ has made humankind.”

^9:7But as for you,²⁰ be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”

^9:8God said to Noah and his sons,²¹^9:9“Look! I now confirm²² my covenant with you and your descendants after you²³^9:10and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature of the earth.²⁴^9:11I confirm²⁵ my covenant with you: Never again will all living things²⁶ be wiped out²⁷ by the waters of a flood;²⁸ never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

^9:12And God said, “This is the guarantee²⁹ of the covenant I am making³⁰ with you³¹ and every living creature with you, a covenant³² for all subsequent³³ generations: ^9:13I will place³⁴ my rainbow³⁵ in the clouds, and it will become³⁶ a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. ^9:14Whenever³⁷ I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ^9:15then I will remember my covenant with you³⁸ and with all living creatures of all kinds.³⁹ Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy⁴⁰ all living things.⁴¹^9:16When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember⁴² the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”

^9:17So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things⁴³ that are on the earth.”

The Curse of Canaan

^9:18The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.)⁴⁴^9:19These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.⁴⁵

^9:20Noah, a man of the soil,⁴⁶ began to plant a vineyard.⁴⁷^9:21When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself⁴⁸ inside his tent. ^9:22Ham, the father of Canaan,⁴⁹ saw his father’s nakedness⁵⁰ and told his two brothers who were outside. ^9:23Shem and Japheth took the garment⁵¹ and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned⁵² the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.

^9:24When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor⁵³ he learned⁵⁴ what his youngest son had done⁵⁵ to him. ^9:25So he said,

“Cursed⁵⁶ be Canaan!⁵⁷

The lowest of slaves⁵⁸

he will be to his brothers.”

^9:26He also said,

“Worthy of praise is⁵⁹ the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem!⁶⁰

^9:27May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers!⁶¹

May he live⁶² in the tents of Shem

and may Canaan be his slave!”

^9:28After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ^9:29The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [], especially p. 34).
2 Heb “to pass over.”
3 Some (e.g., ) translate the preterite verb forms in this verse as past perfects (e.g., “had been closed”), for it seems likely that the sources of the water would have stopped before the waters receded.
4 The construction combines a Qal preterite from שׁוּב (shuv) with its infinitive absolute to indicate continuous action. The infinitive absolute from הָלָךְ (halakh) is included for emphasis: “the waters returned … going and returning.”
5 Heb “the waters.” The pronoun (“they”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.
6 The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite here describes the consequence of the preceding action.
7 Heb “on the mountains of Ararat.” Obviously a boat (even one as large as the ark) cannot rest on multiple mountains. Perhaps (1) the preposition should be translated “among,” or (2) the plural “mountains” should be understood in the sense of “mountain range” (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [], ). A more probable option (3) is that the plural indicates an indefinite singular, translated “one of the mountains” (see §124.o). Ararat is the Hebrew name for Urartu, the name of a mountainous region located north of Mesopotamia in modern day eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 29–32; G. J. Wenham, Genesis (), 1:; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:.
8 Heb “the waters were going and lessening.” The perfect verb form הָיָה (hayah) is used as an auxiliary verb with the infinitive absolute חָסוֹר (khasor, “lessening”), while the infinitive absolute הָלוֹךְ (halokh) indicates continuous action.
9 Or “could be seen.”
10 The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayéhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.
11 Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.
12 Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.
13 Heb “he”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 The Hebrew text adds “from him.” This has not been translated for stylistic reasons, because it is redundant in English.
15 The Hebrew verb קָלָל (qalal) normally means “to be light, to be slight”; it refers here to the waters receding.
16 The words “still covered” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
17 Heb “him”; the referent (Noah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
18 Heb “it”; the referent (the dove) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
19 Heb “and he brought it to himself to the ark.”
20 The clause introduced by vav (ו) consecutive is translated as a temporal clause subordinated to the following clause.
21 The deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to the olive leaf. It invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the olive leaf with their own eyes.
22 The word “again” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23 Heb “it did not again return to him still.” For a study of this section of the flood narrative, see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Dove with the Olive Leaf (Gen VIII 8–11),” 18 (1906/07): 377–78.
24 Heb In the six hundred and first year.” Since this refers to the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, the word “Noah’s” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
25 Heb “and saw and look.” As in v. 11, the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) invites readers to enter into the story, as it were, and look at the dry ground with their own eyes.
26 In v. 13 the ground (הָאֲדָמָה, ha’adamah) is dry; now the earth (הָאָרֶץ, ha’arets) is dry.
27 The words “bring out” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
28 Following the Hiphil imperative, “bring out,” the three perfect verb forms with vav (ו) consecutive carry an imperatival nuance. For a discussion of the Hebrew construction here and the difficulty of translating it into English, see S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew, .
29 Heb “and let them swarm in the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
30 Offered burnt offerings on the altar. F. D. Maurice includes a chapter on the sacrifice of Noah in The Doctrine of Sacrifice. The whole burnt offering, according to Leviticus 1, represented the worshiper’s complete surrender and dedication to the Lord. After the flood Noah could see that God was not only a God of wrath, but a God of redemption and restoration. The one who escaped the catastrophe could best express his gratitude and submission through sacrificial worship, acknowledging God as the sovereign of the universe.
31 The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.
32 Heb “and the Lord said.”
33 Heb “in his heart.”
34 Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
35 The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see 473 כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
36 Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
37 Heb “from his youth.”
38 Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”
39 Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.
1 Heb “and fear of you and dread of you will be upon every living creature of the earth and upon every bird of the sky.” The suffixes on the nouns “fear” and “dread” are objective genitives. The animals will fear humans from this time forward.
2 Heb “into your hand are given.” The “hand” signifies power. To say the animals have been given into the hands of humans means humans have been given authority over them.
3 Heb “every moving thing that lives for you will be for food.”
4 The words “I gave you” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
5 The perfect verb form describes the action that accompanies the declaration.
6 Heb “only.”
7 Or “flesh.”
8 Heb “its life, its blood.” The second word is in apposition to the first, explaining what is meant by “its life.” Since the blood is equated with life, meat that had the blood in it was not to be eaten.
9 The words “in it” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. You must not eat meat with its life … in it. Because of the carnage produced by the flood, people might conclude that life is cheap and therefore treat it lightly. But God will not permit them to kill or even to eat anything with the lifeblood still in it, serving as a reminder of the sanctity of life.
10 Again the text uses apposition to clarify what kind of blood is being discussed: “your blood, [that is] for your life.” See C. L. Dewar, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’ ” 4 (1953): 204–8.
11 The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarification. The verb דָּרָשׁ (darash) means “to require, to seek, to ask for, to exact.” Here it means that God will exact punishment for the taking of a life. See R. Mawdsley, “Capital Punishment in Gen. 9:6,” 18 (1975): 20–25.
12 Heb “from the hand of,” which means “out of the hand of” or “out of the power of” and is nearly identical in sense to the preposition מִן (min) alone.
13 Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
14 Heb “of the man.”
15 Heb “from the hand of a man, his brother.” The point is that God will require the blood of someone who kills, since the person killed is a relative (“brother”) of the killer. The language reflects Noah’s situation (after the flood everyone would be part of Noah’s extended family), but also supports the concept of the brotherhood of humankind. According to the Genesis account the entire human race descended from Noah.
16 Heb “the blood of man.”
17 Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
18 See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in , as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis—A Study of Terminology,” 51 (1968/69): 11–26.
19 Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 The disjunctive clause (conjunction + pronominal subject + verb) here indicates a strong contrast to what has preceded. Against the backdrop of the warnings about taking life, God now instructs the people to produce life, using terms reminiscent of the mandate given to Adam (Gen 1:28).
21 Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
22 Heb “I, look, I confirm.” The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) used with the participle מֵקִים (meqim) gives the sense of immediacy or imminence, as if to say, “Look! I am now confirming.”
23 The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
24 The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
25 The verb וַהֲקִמֹתִי (vahaqimoti) is a perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive and should be translated with the English present tense, just as the participle at the beginning of the speech was (v. 9). Another option is to translate both forms with the English future tense (“I will confirm”).
26 Heb “all flesh.”
27 Heb “cut off.”
28 Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
29 Heb “sign.”
30 On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” 121 (1951): 21–22.
31 Heb “between me and between you.”
32 The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
33 The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
34 The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Other translation options include “I have placed” (present perfect; cf. , ) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. ).
35 The Hebrew word קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) normally refers to a warrior’s bow. Some understand this to mean that God the warrior hangs up his battle bow at the end of the flood, indicating he is now at peace with humankind, but others question the legitimacy of this proposal. See C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (), 1:.
36 The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
37 The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, véhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
38 Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
39 Heb “all flesh.”
40 Heb “to destroy.”
41 Heb “all flesh.”
42 The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
43 Heb “all flesh.”
44 The concluding disjunctive clause is parenthetical. It anticipates the following story, which explains that the Canaanites, Ham’s descendants through Canaan, were cursed because they shared the same moral abandonment that their ancestor displayed. See A. van Selms, “The Canaanites in the Book of Genesis,” 12 (1958): 182–213.
45 Heb “was scattered.” The verb פָּצָה (patsah, “to scatter” [Niphal, “to be scattered”]) figures prominently in story of the dispersion of humankind in chap. 11.
46 The epithet a man of the soil indicates that Noah was a farmer.
47 Or “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard”; Heb “and Noah, a man of the ground, began and he planted a vineyard.”
48 The Hebrew verb גָּלָה (galah) in the Hitpael verbal stem (וַיִּתְגַּל, vayyitggal) means “to uncover oneself” or “to be uncovered.” Noah became overheated because of the wine and uncovered himself in the tent.
49 For the second time (see v. 18) the text informs the reader of the relationship between Ham and Canaan. Genesis 10 will explain that Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes living in the promised land.
50 Some would translate “had sexual relations with,” arguing that Ham committed a homosexual act with his drunken father for which he was cursed. However, the expression “see nakedness” usually refers to observation of another’s nakedness, not a sexual act (see Gen 42:9, 12 where “nakedness” is used metaphorically to convey the idea of “weakness” or “vulnerability”; Deut 23:14 where “nakedness” refers to excrement; Isa 47:3; Ezek 16:37; Lam 1:8). The following verse (v. 23) clearly indicates that visual observation, not a homosexual act, is in view here. In Lev 20:17 the expression “see nakedness” does appear to be a euphemism for sexual intercourse, but the context there, unlike that of Gen 9:22, clearly indicates that in that passage sexual contact is in view. The expression “see nakedness” does not in itself suggest a sexual connotation. Some relate Gen 9:22 to Lev 18:6–11, 15–19, where the expression “uncover [another’s] nakedness” (the Piel form of גָּלָה, galah) refers euphemistically to sexual intercourse. However, Gen 9:22 does not say Ham “uncovered” the nakedness of his father. According to the text, Noah uncovered himself; Ham merely saw his father naked. The point of the text is that Ham had no respect for his father. Rather than covering his father up, he told his brothers. Noah then gave an oracle that Ham’s descendants, who would be characterized by the same moral abandonment, would be cursed. Leviticus 18 describes that greater evil of the Canaanites (see vv. 24–28). Saw the nakedness. It is hard for modern people to appreciate why seeing another’s nakedness was such an abomination, because nakedness is so prevalent today. In the ancient world, especially in a patriarchal society, seeing another’s nakedness was a major offense. (See the account in Herodotus, Histories 1.8–13, where a general saw the nakedness of his master’s wife, and one of the two had to be put to death.) Besides, Ham was not a little boy wandering into his father’s bedroom; he was over a hundred years old by this time. For fuller discussion see A. P. Ross, “The Curse of Canaan,” 137 (1980): .
51 The word translated “garment” has the Hebrew definite article on it. The article may simply indicate that the garment is definite and vivid in the mind of the narrator, but it could refer instead to Noah’s garment. Did Ham bring it out when he told his brothers?
52 Heb “their faces [were turned] back.”
53 Heb “his wine,” used here by metonymy for the drunken stupor it produced.
54 Heb “he knew.”
55 The Hebrew verb עָשָׂה (’asah, “to do”) carries too general a sense to draw the conclusion that Ham had to have done more than look on his father’s nakedness and tell his brothers.
56 For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (), and J. Scharbert, 1:405–18.
57 Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” 9 [1966]: 31–49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).
58 Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.
59 Heb “blessed be.”
60 Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
61 Heb “may God enlarge Japheth.” The words “territory and numbers” are supplied in the translation for clarity. There is a wordplay (paronomasia) on the name Japheth. The verb יַפְתְּ (yaft, “may he enlarge”) sounds like the name יֶפֶת (yefet, “Japheth”). The name itself suggested the idea. The blessing for Japheth extends beyond the son to the descendants. Their numbers and their territories will be enlarged, so much so that they will share in Shem’s territories. Again, in this oracle, Noah is looking beyond his immediate family to future generations. For a helpful study of this passage and the next chapter, see T. O. Figart, A Biblical Perspective on the Race Problem, 55–58.
62 In this context the prefixed verbal form is a jussive (note the distinct jussive forms both before and after this in vv. 26 and 27).