9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number [KJV: “replenish”] and fill the earth. (NIV)
Establishment of the Covenant
This blessing of Noah is similar to the later blessing of Abraham: God promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation as recipients of the covenant, Noah's descendants would also multiply, becoming recipients of a covenant made by God (vs 9).
9:2 Fear and dread of you will come on all the animals on earth, on all the birds of the air, on everything that moves on the ground, and on all fish in the sea; they are made subject to you. (REB)
9:3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. (NIV)
Noah, a man of God, was well aware of which animals God had deemed clean and which were unclean. In giving man plants to eat, God did not elaborate on which ones were to be avoided, simply stating "every seed-bearing plant."
9:4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. (NIV)
God specifies that animals should be properly bled before the meat was eaten.
9:5 But for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning: I will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man! (TAN)
God now emphasizes the sanctity of human life, punishing those who have violated that sanctity, whether animal (EXO 21:28-29), or man (EXO 21:12, 14).
9:6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. (NIV)
God authorizes capital punishment.
9:7-11 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it [REB: “people the earth and rule over it”]." Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. I establish My covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." (NIV)
Worldwide Flood
Here again the worldwide extent of the Flood is indicated: There have been many floods which have taken numerous human and animal lives, but never another that literally destroyed all life.
9:12-13 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign [Hebrew: “nathatti” = “appointing”] of [TAN: “this is the sign that I set for”] the covenant between Me and the earth. (NIV)
Appointing of a Sign
God now appointed a well-known sight as the sign representing His promise.
9:14-17 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between Me and all life on the earth." (NIV)
A bow of colors encircles God's throne in heaven (REV 4:3). He symbolically shows that He is fulfilling His promise to man by the fact that wherever the bow is, God is close at hand.
9:18-19 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
Worldwide Flood
Another statement showing the worldwide scope of the Flood. All of mankind is descended from these three men.
9:20 Noah, a man of the soil [REB: “who was the first tiller of the soil”], proceeded to plant a vineyard. (NIV)
9:21 He drank so much of the wine [Hebrew: “yayin”] that he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. (REB)
Noah’s drunkenness
We are not told in the narrative if this was the first alcohol Noah had since before the Flood, or whether this was a mistake he made later in the winery’s operation. We do know that this event occurred years after the Flood, probably 20-30 years since Canaan, Ham’s youngest, had reached the age of accountability.
9:22-23 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. (NIV)
By walking backward, they did not notice what had been done to their father.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine [REB: “from his drunkenness”] and found out what his youngest son had done to him, (NIV)
“Youngest” Reference
In order to properly understand the next verse, we need to understand that “his youngest” refers to Ham’s youngest son, Canaan (10:6). Canaan had committed an act of sodomy on Noah.
9:25 he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." (NIV)
9:26-27 And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem [indicates that the knowledge of God would be preserved among Shem’s descendants] , and may Canaan be his servant [NIV: “be the slave of Shem”]. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell [NIV: “extend the territory of Japheth, and may Japheth live”] in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant."
Blessings to Shem and Japheth
Noah prophesied about Japheth's future greatness (10:2-5), while living under the influence of Shem.
9:28-29 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died. (NIV)
Noah’s Death
According to tradition, Noah died in Italy in 1979 B.C.
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