5 And surely H389 your blood H1818 of your lives H5315 will I require; H1875 at the hand H3027 of every beast H2416 will I require it, H1875 and at the hand H3027 of man; H120 at the hand H3027 of every man's H376 brother H251 will I require H1875 the life H5315 of man. H120
If an ox H7794 gore H5055 a man H376 or a woman, H802 that they die: H4191 then the ox H7794 shall be surely H5619 stoned, H5619 and his flesh H1320 shall not be eaten; H398 but the owner H1167 of the ox H7794 shall be quit. H5355 But if the ox H7794 were wont to push with his horn H5056 in time past, H8543 H8032 and it hath been testified H5749 to his owner, H1167 and he hath not kept H8104 him in, but that he hath killed H4191 a man H376 or a woman; H802 the ox H7794 shall be stoned, H5619 and his owner H1167 also shall be put to death. H4191
And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto Cain, H7014 Where H335 is Abel H1893 thy brother? H251 And he said, H559 I know H3045 not: Am I my brother's H251 keeper? H8104 And he said, H559 What H4100 hast thou done? H6213 the voice H6963 of thy brother's H251 blood H1818 crieth H6817 unto me from the ground. H127
Moreover ye shall take H3947 no satisfaction H3724 for the life H5315 of a murderer, H7523 which is guilty H7563 of death: H4191 but he shall be surely H4191 put to death. H4191 And ye shall take H3947 no satisfaction H3724 for him that is fled H5127 to the city H5892 of his refuge, H4733 that he should come again H7725 to dwell H3427 in the land, H776 until the death H4194 of the priest. H3548 So ye shall not pollute H2610 the land H776 wherein ye are: for blood H1818 it defileth H2610 the land: H776 and the land H776 cannot be cleansed H3722 of the blood H1818 that is shed H8210 therein, but by the blood H1818 of him that shed H8210 it.
If one be found H4672 slain H2491 in the land H127 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee to possess H3423 it, lying H5307 in the field, H7704 and it be not known H3045 who hath slain H5221 him: Then thy elders H2205 and thy judges H8199 shall come forth, H3318 and they shall measure H4058 unto the cities H5892 which are round about H5439 him that is slain: H2491 And it shall be, that the city H5892 which is next H7138 unto the slain man, H2491 even the elders H2205 of that city H5892 shall take H3947 an heifer, H1241 H5697 which hath not been wrought with, H5647 and which hath not drawn H4900 in the yoke; H5923 And the elders H2205 of that city H5892 shall bring down H3381 the heifer H5697 unto a rough H386 valley, H5158 which is neither eared H5647 nor sown, H2232 and shall strike off H6202 the heifer's H5697 neck H6202 there in the valley: H5158 And the priests H3548 the sons H1121 of Levi H3878 shall come near; H5066 for them the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath chosen H977 to minister H8334 unto him, and to bless H1288 in the name H8034 of the LORD; H3068 and by their word H6310 shall every controversy H7379 and every stroke H5061 be tried: And all the elders H2205 of that city, H5892 that are next H7138 unto the slain H2491 man, shall wash H7364 their hands H3027 over the heifer H5697 that is beheaded H6202 in the valley: H5158 And they shall answer H6030 and say, H559 Our hands H3027 have not shed H8210 this blood, H1818 neither have our eyes H5869 seen H7200 it. Be merciful, H3722 O LORD, H3068 unto thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 whom thou hast redeemed, H6299 and lay H5414 not innocent H5355 blood H1818 unto thy people H5971 of Israel's H3478 charge. H7130 And the blood H1818 shall be forgiven H3722 them. So shalt thou put away H1197 the guilt of innocent H5355 blood H1818 from among H7130 you, when thou shalt do H6213 that which is right H3477 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 9
Commentary on Genesis 9 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 9
Ge 9:1-7. Covenant.
1. And God blessed Noah—Here is republished the law of nature that was announced to Adam, consisting as it originally did of several parts.
Be fruitful, &c.—The first part relates to the transmission of life, the original blessing being reannounced in the very same words in which it had been promised at first [Ge 1:28].
2. And the fear of you and the dread of you—The second part re-establishes man's dominion over the inferior animals; it was now founded not as at first in love and kindness, but in terror; this dread of man prevails among all the stronger as well as the weaker members of the animal tribes and keeps away from his haunts all but those employed in his service.
3. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you—The third part concerns the means of sustaining life; man was for the first time, it would seem, allowed the use of animal food, but the grant was accompanied with one restriction.
4. But flesh … the blood … shall ye not eat—The sole intention of this prohibition was to prevent these excesses of cannibal ferocity in eating flesh of living animals, to which men in the earlier ages of the world were liable.
5. surely your blood of your lives will I require—The fourth part establishes a new power for protecting life—the institution of the civil magistrate (Ro 13:4), armed with public and official authority to repress the commission of violence and crime. Such a power had not previously existed in patriarchal society.
6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood … for in the image of God made he man—It is true that image has been injured by the fall, but it is not lost. In this view, a high value is attached to the life of every man, even the poorest and humblest, and an awful criminality is involved in the destruction of it.
Ge 9:8-29. Rainbow.
13. I do set my bow in the cloud—set, that is, constitute or appoint. This common and familiar phenomenon being made the pledge of peace, its appearance when showers began to fall would be welcomed with the liveliest feelings of joy.
20. And Noah … planted a vineyard—Noah had been probably bred to the culture of the soil, and resumed that employment on leaving the ark.
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken—perhaps at the festivities of the vintage season. This solitary stain on the character of so eminently pious a man must, it is believed, have been the result of age or inadvertency.
24. This incident could scarcely have happened till twenty years after the flood; for Canaan, whose conduct was more offensive than that even of his father, was not born till after that event. It is probable that there is a long interval included between these verses and that this prophecy, like that of Jacob on his sons, was not uttered till near the close of Noah's life when the prophetic spirit came upon him; this presumption is strengthened by the mention of his death immediately after.
25. Cursed be Canaan—This doom has been fulfilled in the destruction of the Canaanites—in the degradation of Egypt and the slavery of the Africans, the descendants of Ham.
26. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem—rather, "Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem,"—an intimation that the descendants of Shem should be peculiarly honored in the service of the true God, His Church being for ages established among them (the Jews), and of them, concerning the flesh, Christ came. They got possession of Canaan, the people of that land being made their "servants" either by conquest, or, like the Gibeonites, by submission [Jos 9:25].
27. God shall enlarge Japheth—pointing to a vast increase in posterity and possessions. Accordingly his descendants have been the most active and enterprising, spread over the best and largest portion of the world, all Europe and a considerable part of Asia.
he shall dwell in the tents of Shem—a prophecy being fulfilled at the present day, as in India British Government is established and the Anglo-Saxons being in the ascendancy from Europe to India, from India over the American continent. What a wonderful prophecy in a few verses (Isa 46:10; 1Pe 1:25)!