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 [Genesis 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 (), 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.
. 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 [].
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 (Isaiah 46:10;
1 Peter 1:25)!
CHAPTER 9
. 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 [Genesis 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 (), 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.
. 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 [].
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 (Isaiah 46:10; 1 Peter 1:25)!