Genesis 9

Gods Covenant with Noah

The 1st few verses renew the original mandate given by God in Genesis 1:26-28 and expands upon it.

1 God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth.

2 All the wild animals, large and small, and all the birds and fish will be *afraid of you. I have placed them in your power.

*afraid: “terrified of”, man no longer has “dominion” over them.

3 I have given them to you for food, just as I have given you grain and vegetables.

1 Timothy 4:3-4: “They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanksgiving by people who know and believe the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it. We may receive it gladly, with thankful hearts.”

4But you must never eat animals that still have their *lifeblood in them.

*lifeblood:
• Leviticus 17:10-11: “…I will turn against anyone…who eats or drinks blood…for the life (nephesh) of any creature is in its blood. I have given you the blood so you can make atonement for your sins. It is the blood, representing life, that brings you atonement.”
• When killing an animal to eat, its blood was to be spilled on the ground and covered with dirt. In reality, blood could save no one and could not cover sin – only Christ’s blood could do that.
• Hebrews 9:7 “Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:”,
• Hebrews 9:12-14 “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
• Hebrews 9:22: “In fact, we can say that according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified by sprinkling with blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.”

Acts 15:19-21: “And so my judgment is that we should stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God, except that we should write to them and tell them to abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols, from sexual immorality, and from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals. For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations."”

5 And murder is forbidden. Animals that kill people must die, and any person who murders must be killed.

6 Yes, you must execute anyone who murders another person, for to kill a person is to kill a living being made in God's image.

Matthew 26:52: "Put away your sword," Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will be killed by the sword.”

7 Now you must have many children and repopulate the earth. Yes, multiply and fill the earth!"

8 Then God told Noah and his sons,

9 "I am making a *covenant with you and your descendants,

*covenant – 1st occurrence of the Hebrew word “berith”.

10 and with the animals you brought with you--all these birds and livestock and wild animals.

11 I solemnly promise (covenant) never to send another flood (mabbul) to kill all living creatures and destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "I am giving you a sign as evidence of my eternal covenant with you and all living creatures.

13 I have placed my *rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise (covenant) to you and to all the earth.

*rainbow – Appears only 3 more times in the Scripture:
Ezekiel 1:28: “All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining through the clouds. This was the way the glory of the LORD appeared to me. When I saw it, I fell face down in the dust, and I heard someone's voice speaking to me.”
Revelation 4:3: “The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones--jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.”
Revelation 10:1: “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire.”

14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds,

15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life.

16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."

17 Then God said to Noah, "Yes, this is the sign of my covenant with all the creatures of the earth."

Noah’s Sons
18 Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, survived the Flood with their father. (Ham is the ancestor of the *Canaanites.)
*Canaanites: Canaan was Ham’s youngest son: Genesis 10:6: “The descendants of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.”

19 From these three sons of Noah came all the people now scattered across the earth.

20 After the Flood, Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard.

21 One day he became *drunk on some wine he had made and lay naked (**uncovered) in his tent.

Ephesians 5:18: “Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.”

*uncovered: Scholars tell us that the Hebrew word here for "uncovered" clearly indicates a deliberate act and not a mere unconscious effect of drunkenness.




22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was *naked and went outside and told his brothers.

Leviticus 18:6-8: "You must never have sexual intercourse with a close relative, for I am the LORD. Do not violate your father by having sexual intercourse with your mother. She is your mother; you must never have intercourse with her. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your father's wives, for this would violate your father.”

“Uncovered your father’s nakedness”.

What's going on in the story of Ham uncovering "his father's nakedness"? In Hebrew, this phrase is a figure of speech used to describe incest (Leviticus 20:17; 18:6-18. Note: In other places besides the story of Noah and Ham, The New American Bible translates this phrase as "to have intercourse with." The Revised Standard Version in all cases keeps the more literal translation "uncover the nakedness of." See RSV-Leviticus 20:17; 18:6-18).

To uncover the nakedness of your father is to commit incest with your mother. To state it bluntly, in all its brutality - while Noah was drunk, Ham slept with his mother. We don't know what Ham was thinking. It could be that he wanted to seize power from his dad and this heinous act was his way of insulting Noah and showing his total disrespect (see similar episodes in Genesis 29:32; 35:22; 49:3-4; 2 Samuel 16:21-22).

It is interesting to note, too, that the only other episode of drunkenness in Genesis is also associated with incest - and the birth of immoral nations hostile to the people of God. That's the story of Lot's daughters, who ply Lot with wine and then lie with him in incestuous unions that are the origin of the Moabites and the Ammonites (see Genesis 19:30-38).
Gen 19:31-35 “One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father." That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up. So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.”

23 Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, walked backward into the tent, and covered their father's naked body. As they did this, they looked the other way so they wouldn't see him naked.

24 When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done.

25 Then he cursed the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham:

"A curse on the Canaanites! May they be the lowest of servants
to the descendants of Shem and Japheth."

Deut 27:16 "Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Let us consider now the meaning of Noah’s prophecy. This utterance consists of two parts: a malediction and a benediction. Noah’s prediction concerning his sons corresponds with their conduct on the occasion of their father’s drunkenness. Fearful had been the fall of Noah, but it was a still greater sin for Ham, on discovering the sad condition of his parent, to go out and report with malignant pleasure to his brethren. It is "fools" who "make a mock of sin" (Proverbs 14:9). For a child to expose and sneer at his parent’s fall was wickedness of the worst kind, and evidenced a heart thoroughly depraved.

In the curse passed upon Canaan we find an exceedingly solemn instance of the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children. In this day of human pride and skepticism, when everything is questioned and challenged, men have dared to criticize the ethics of this hereditary law. It has been termed unmerciful and unjust. The humble believer does not attempt to pry into things which are too deep for him, it is enough for him that the thrice holy God has instituted this law and therefore he knows it is a righteous one whether he can see the justice of it or no.

Ham’s sin consisted of an utter failure to honor his father. He was lacking, altogether, in filial love. Had he really cared for his father at all he would have acted as his brothers did; but instead, he manifested a total disrespect for and subjection unto his parent. And mark the fearful consequence: he reaped exactly as he had sown—Ham sinned as a son and was punished in his son! The punishment meted out to Ham was that his son shall be brought into subjection to others, his descendants shall be compelled to honor, yea, "serve" others—"servant of servants" (v. 25) implies the lowest drudgery, slavery.

It is to be noted that the "curse" uttered by Noah did not fall directly on Ham but upon one of his sons, the fourth—"Canaan " (Gen. 10:6). As we shall seek to show, this curse was not confined to Canaan but embraced all the descendants of Ham. It is highly probable that "Canaan" was specifically singled out from the rest of his brethren as a special encouragement to the Israelites who, centuries later, were to go up and occupy the Promised land. Moses would thus be taught by the Holy Spirit that a special curse rested upon the then occupants of the land, i.e., the Canaanites. Yet, as we have said, all of Ham’s children appear to have been included within the scope of this malediction as is evident from the fact that no blessing at all was pronounced upon Ham as was the case with each of his brothers.

"Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren" (v. 25). Above, we intimated that as no blessing at all was pronounced upon Ham as was the ease with each of his brothers, it would seem that the curse was not intended to be limited to Canaan (there being a particular reason why Canaan should be thus singled out, namely, as an encouragement to the Israelites,) but included all of his children. By tracing the history of Ham’s other sons it becomes evident that the scope of Noah’s prophecy reached beyond Canaan. Nimrod sprang from Ham through Cush (Gen. 10:6-8), and he founded the city and empire Babylon. Mizraim was another of Ham’s children and he was the father of the Egyptians (Gen. 10:6 and Ps. 78:51). For a time Babylon and Egypt waxed great, but subsequently both of them were reduced to subjection, first by the Persians who descended from Shem, and later by the Greeks and Romans who were the children of Japheth. And from these early subjugations they have never recovered themselves.



26 Then Noah said,

"May Shem be blessed by the LORD my God;
and may Canaan be his servant.

The reward of Shem was in the sphere of religious privileges. The Divine title employed here supplies the key. In the following verse we read, "God shall enlarge Japheth," but here "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem," this being the title expressive of covenant relationship. God was to enter into covenant relationship with the children of Shem. The realization that Jehovah was to be the God of Shem caused Noah to break forth into thanksgiving—"Blessed be the Lord God of Shem."

Shem was "the father of all the children of Eber," that is, the Hebrews (Gen. 10:21). Thus, in the Hebrews, the knowledge and worship of God was preserved in the family of Shem. The fulfillment of this part of the prophecy is well known to our readers. God was in a peculiar sense the God of the Hebrews
Exodus 29:45: "And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God"
Amos 3:2 "You only have I known of all the families of the earth"

27 May God enlarge the territory of Japheth, and may he share the prosperity of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant."

"God shall enlarge Japheth" (v. 27). The word Japheth means "enlargement" so that here there was a play upon words. "And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem." This expression is somewhat ambiguous, the obscurity being occasioned by the difficulty to ascertain the antecedent. Scholars and students have differed as to whether the "he" refers to God or to Japheth dwelling in the tents of Shem. Personally, we incline toward the latter alternative, though we believe that each of them has been verified in subsequent history. May it not be that the Holy Spirit has designedly left it uncertain, to show that both interpretations are true? Sure it is that God did dwell in the tents of Shem, and equally sure is it that the descendants of Japheth are now doing so.

"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem" (v. 27). Two things were also predicted of Japheth: first, he should be enlarged; second, he should dwell in the tents of Shem or, in other words, should receive blessing from Shem. The accomplishment of this prediction is witnessed to by history both sacred and secular. Those nations which have been most enlarged by God have descended from Japheth. The Greeks and the Romans who in their time dominated practically all of the then known world; and more recently the European Powers who have entered into the rich possessions of Asia (inhabited by the children of Shem); and, today, the Anglo-Saxon race, which occupies more territory than any other people, are all the descendants of Noah’s firstborn! In Genesis 10, where a list of Japheth’s sons is found, we read, "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands."

"And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem" intimates that Japheth was to be Shem’s guest, that he should share the rest and shelter of Shem’s tabernacles. How remarkably has this prophecy been fulfilled spiritually! "The revelation which we prize is that of the God of Israel; the Savior in whom we trust is the seed of Abraham; the Old Testament was written principally for Israel; and the New Testament though written in a Japhetic tongue, and, therefore for us, was penned by Jewish fingers" (Urquhart). To this may be added the words of our Lord, "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22); and that remarkable statement of the Apostle Paul’s in Romans 11 where, writing of the Gentiles, he says, "And thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them (Israel), and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree" (v. 17). Thus do we see Japheth "dwelling in the tents of Shem."

"And Canaan shall be his (Shem’s) servant." This received its first fulfillment in the days of Joshua—"And Joshua made them (the Gibeonites) hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation" (Joshua 9:27). The following scriptures set forth its further accomplishment: "And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute" (Judges 1:28). "And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bond service unto this day" (1 Kings 9:20, 21).

28 Noah lived another 350 years after the Flood.

29 He was 950 years old when he died.


And so Genesis continues - telling the story of the conflict between the two seeds of Noah, the good and the bad. The descendants of Ham become the great national enemies of the people of God - Egypt (10:6), Canaan (10:6), Philistia (10:14), Assyria (10:11), and Babylon (10:10).