Discovery BoxGenesis 9:5-17
Context9:5 For your lifeblood 1 I will surely exact punishment, 2 from 3 every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person 4 I will exact punishment for the life of the individual 5 since the man was his relative. 6
9:6 “Whoever sheds human blood, 7
by other humans 8
must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image 9
God 10 has made humankind.”
9:7 But as for you, 11 be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”
9:8 God said to Noah and his sons, 12 9:9 “Look! I now confirm 13 my covenant with you and your descendants after you 14 9:10 and 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. 15 9:11 I confirm 16 my covenant with you: Never again will all living things 17 be wiped out 18 by the waters of a flood; 19 never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
9:12 And God said, “This is the guarantee 20 of the covenant I am making 21 with you 22 and every living creature with you, a covenant 23 for all subsequent 24 generations: 9:13 I will place 25 my rainbow 26 in the clouds, and it will become 27 a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 Whenever 28 I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you 29 and with all living creatures of all kinds. 30 Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy 31 all living things. 32 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember 33 the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”
9:17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things 34 that are on the earth.”
[9:5] 1 tn 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,’” JTS 4 (1953): 204-8.
[9:5] 2 tn 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,” CentBib 18 (1975): 20-25.
[9:5] 3 tn 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.
[9:5] 4 tn Heb “and from the hand of the man.” The article has a generic function, indicating the class, i.e., humankind.
[9:5] 6 tn 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.
[9:6] 7 tn Heb “the blood of man.”
[9:6] 8 tn Heb “by man,” a generic term here for other human beings.
[9:6] 9 sn See the notes on the words “humankind” and “likeness” in Gen 1:26, as well as J. Barr, “The Image of God in the Book of Genesis – A Study of Terminology,” BJRL 51 (1968/69): 11-26.
[9:6] 10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:7] 11 sn 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).
[9:8] 12 tn Heb “to Noah and to his sons with him, saying.”
[9:9] 13 tn 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.”
[9:9] 14 tn The three pronominal suffixes (translated “you,” “your,” and “you”) are masculine plural. As v. 8 indicates, Noah and his sons are addressed.
[9:10] 15 tn The verbal repetition is apparently for emphasis.
[9:11] 16 tn 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”).
[9:11] 19 tn Heb “and all flesh will not be cut off again by the waters of the flood.”
[9:12] 21 sn On the making of covenants in Genesis, see W. F. Albright, “The Hebrew Expression for ‘Making a Covenant’ in Pre-Israelite Documents,” BASOR 121 (1951): 21-22.
[9:12] 22 tn Heb “between me and between you.”
[9:12] 23 tn The words “a covenant” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[9:12] 24 tn The Hebrew term עוֹלָם (’olam) means “ever, forever, lasting, perpetual.” The covenant would extend to subsequent generations.
[9:13] 25 tn 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. NIV, NRSV) and “I place” (instantaneous perfect; cf. NEB).
[9:13] 26 sn 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, 1:473, and G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:196.
[9:13] 27 tn The perfect verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here has the same aspectual function as the preceding perfect of certitude.
[9:14] 28 tn The temporal indicator (וְהָיָה, vÿhayah, conjunction + the perfect verb form), often translated “it will be,” anticipates a future development.
[9:15] 29 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
[9:15] 31 tn Heb “to destroy.”
[9:16] 33 tn 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.”
