I. Summary
Yahweh blesses Noah, allows him to eat meat, and prohibits murder. The rainbow is a sign that Yahweh will never again destroy the world by flood. The genealogy of Noah is recounted and Ham the father of Canaan is cursed for not covering the nakedness of his drunken father Noah.
II. Photo
Yahweh will never destroy the world again: “I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (v. 13)
III. Select Verses
3-6: Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these. You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it. 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! Whoever sheds the blood of man, By man shall his blood be shed; For in His image Did God make man.
11-13: I will maintain My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God further said, “This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
20-25: Noah, the tiller of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a cloth, placed it against both their backs and, walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness; their faces were turned the other way, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; The lowest of slaves Shall he be to his brothers.”
IV. Outline
1-17. Yahweh's [called Elohim] message to Noah and his family
1. Blessing to be fertile and multiply
2. The animals shall fear man
3-4. Animals may be eaten, just not while they are living
5. Murder is prohibited
6. Murder is punished by death for man was created in Yahweh's image
7. Blessing to be fertile and multiply
9-11. The covenant: never again will a flood destroy the world
12-17. The sign of the covenant: rainbows in the clouds
18-29. Genealogy of Noah's family
18-19. Noah's three sons: Shem, Ham the father of Canaan, and Japheth
20-25. Noah curses Canaan for not covering Noah's nakedness when Noah was drunk
26-27. Canaan will be a slave to Shem and Japheth
28-29. The years of Noah's life: 950 (350 after the flood)
V. Comment
No comment today. Stay tuned.
VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Photo copied from http://www. israel21c .org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ashkelon_rainbow .jpg