Genesis
Chapter 9
God’s Covenant with Noah
God blessed Noah and his sons and he said to them:
“Be fruitful,
multiply and fill the earth.
Fear and dread of you
will be in all the animals of the earth
and all the birds of the air,
upon everything that creeps on the ground
and all the fish of the sea. They are given to you.
Everything that moves and lives
shall be food for you;
as I gave you the green plants,
I have now given you everything.
Only you shall not eat flesh with its life,
that is, its blood.
But I will also demand a reckoning
for your lifeblood.
I will require it from every animal,
and from man, too,
I will insist on a reckoning
for the life of his fellow man.
He who sheds the blood of man
shall have his blood shed by man;
for man was made in the image of God.
As for you, be fruitful and multiply.
Increase on the earth and take dominion over it.”
God spoke to Noah and his sons:
“See I am making a Covenant with you and with your descendants after you;
also with every living animal with you: birds, cattle and every living creature of the earth that came out of the ark.
I establish my Covenant with you. Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God said:
“This is the sign of the Covenant I make between me and you, and every animal living with you for all future generations.
I set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth.
When I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
I will remember the Covenant between me and you and every kind of living creature, so that never again will floodwaters destroy all flesh.
When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting Covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that exists on the earth.”
God said to Noah:
“This is the sign of the Covenant I have made between me and all that has life on the earth.”
The Sons of Noah
The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the ancestor of Canaan.
These were Noah’s three sons, and from them, the entire earth was populated.
Noah, a man of the soil, planted a vineyard.
He drank the wine, became drunk, and lay uncovered in the middle of his tent.
When Ham, Canaan’s ancestor, saw his father’s nakedness, he told his two brothers outside the tent.
But Shem and Japheth took a cloak, put it on their shoulders, and walked backward to cover their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, so they did not see their father’s nakedness.
When Noah awoke from his wine, he understood what his youngest son had done to him.
And he said:
“Cursed be Canaan! He shall be his brothers’ meanest slave!”
He then added:
“Blessed be the Lord, God of Shem, let Canaan be his slave!
May God extend (the territory of) Japheth, and may he live in the tents of Shem! And may Canaan be his slave!”
Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood.
In total, Noah lived for nine hundred fifty years. Then he died.
Commentaries
God’s Covenant with Noah.
Just as at the beginning of creation (1:1-2:4a), God blesses the created work, and in a very special way, all living beings (1-3). He entrusts the care of creation to Noah and his family, much like He did for the first couple. However, there is a particular emphasis on the responsibility to one’s brother (5f).
Verses 8-17 present God’s covenant with Noah. Although this narrative appears in the text before we discuss Abraham and the covenant with him and his descendants (15:1-21), and long before we address the covenant at Sinai (Ex 19-24), it is, in fact, a much more recent covenant text than the previous two. It is the “noachic” covenant, whose sign is the rainbow. The priestly school (P), focused on preserving Israel’s identity and exclusivity in the world, cannot deny that God’s paternal concern extends to all humanity. By sheltering everyone under the covenant with Noah, the faith of Israel affirms God’s fatherhood over all living beings. The sign, also universal, is the rainbow. Still, Israel is much closer to God. It holds a prominent place in its relationship with him through the covenant made with Abraham, whose sign is much more intimate—a physical mark carried in the flesh: circumcision (17:10f).
This difference between Israel and the rest of humanity will be abolished in Jesus. In him, all forms of division and separation among people and believers are eliminated. From now on, the only things that establish differences are love, the practice of justice, listening to the Word of God, and putting it into practice (cf. Lk 11:28). This suppression is perfectly illustrated by the passage of the tearing of the veil of the temple, which Mark and Matthew recount after the Lord’s death (Mt 27:51; Mk 15:38). Paul himself fervently announces the end of all division and distinction (cf. Gal 3:28; Col 3:11).
The Sons of Noah.
This passage anticipates the narrative of Noah’s descendants in the following chapter and seeks to explain the international relations of Israel throughout its history. It provides an account that aims to clarify the causes of a reality experienced in the present, the “historical” origin of which is unknown. However, in light of the Gospel of Jesus, no one should be subject to any other. Instead, we are all subject to the law of love and the practice of justice.