◄ Genesis 9:10 ►
and with every living creature that was with you--the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth--every living thing that came out of the ark.
Study Bible
and with every living creature
The phrase "every living creature" in Hebrew is "kol-nephesh chayyah," which emphasizes the breadth of God's covenant. The term "nephesh" often refers to the soul or life force, indicating that God's promise extends beyond humanity to all life forms. This reflects the comprehensive nature of God's care and the interconnectedness of all creation, reminding us of our responsibility to steward the earth and its inhabitants.

that was with you
This phrase underscores the inclusivity of Noah's covenant. The Hebrew word "im" (with) signifies companionship and presence. It highlights the relational aspect of God's promise, not just to Noah but to all creatures that shared the ark's refuge. This companionship is a reminder of the unity and harmony intended in God's creation, a call to live in peace with all living beings.

the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth
Here, the specific mention of "birds, livestock, and every beast" serves to enumerate the diversity of life that God values. The Hebrew words "oph" (birds), "behemah" (livestock), and "chayyah" (beast) cover the spectrum of animal life, from the skies to the fields. This enumeration reflects the order and intentionality in God's creation, encouraging us to appreciate and protect the diversity of life.

every living thing that came out of the ark
The phrase "every living thing" reiterates the inclusivity of God's covenant. The Hebrew "kol-yotze" (every living thing) emphasizes the continuity of life post-flood. The ark, a symbol of salvation and preservation, becomes a new starting point for creation. This serves as a powerful reminder of God's mercy and the hope of renewal, encouraging us to trust in God's provision and faithfulness.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Noah
The righteous man chosen by God to survive the flood and repopulate the earth. He is the recipient of God's covenant.

2. God
The Creator who establishes a covenant with Noah and all living creatures, promising never to destroy the earth with a flood again.

3. The Ark
The vessel built by Noah under God's instructions to save his family and pairs of every living creature from the flood.

4. Living Creatures
This includes birds, livestock, and every beast of the earth that came out of the ark, signifying the breadth of God's covenant.

5. The Covenant
A divine promise made by God to Noah and all living creatures, symbolized by the rainbow, ensuring the preservation of life on earth.
Teaching Points
God's Faithfulness
The covenant with Noah is a testament to God's unwavering faithfulness and His commitment to creation.

Stewardship of Creation
As recipients of God's covenant, humans are called to be responsible stewards of the earth and its creatures.

Universal Scope of God's Promise
God's covenant extends beyond humanity to include all living creatures, highlighting the inclusivity of His care.

Symbolism of the Rainbow
The rainbow serves as a perpetual reminder of God's promise and His mercy, encouraging believers to trust in His word.

Hope and Renewal
The post-flood covenant signifies a new beginning and the hope of renewal, encouraging believers to seek restoration in their own lives.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the covenant with Noah in Genesis 9:10 reflect God's character and His relationship with creation?

2. In what ways can we, as modern believers, practice stewardship over the earth and its creatures in light of God's covenant?

3. How does the promise of the rainbow serve as a reminder of God's faithfulness in your personal life?

4. What parallels can you draw between the covenant with Noah and the new covenant established through Jesus Christ?

5. How can the themes of hope and renewal in Genesis 9:10 inspire you to seek restoration in areas of your life that need it?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1:28
This verse connects to the original blessing and command given to humanity to be fruitful and multiply, which is reiterated to Noah after the flood.

Genesis 8:21-22
These verses describe God's promise not to curse the ground again or destroy all living creatures, setting the stage for the covenant in Genesis 9.

Isaiah 54:9
This passage references the covenant with Noah as a symbol of God's enduring promise and mercy.

Romans 8:19-22
Paul speaks of creation's eager expectation for the revelation of the children of God, echoing the theme of God's care for all creation.

Revelation 4:3
The rainbow around God's throne in John's vision serves as a reminder of God's covenant faithfulness.
Sermons
Divine CovenantsT. H. Leale.Genesis 9:8-11
God's Covenant with NoahC. Kingsley, M. A.Genesis 9:8-11
God's Covenant with NoahA. Fuller.Genesis 9:8-11
God's Covenant with the New HumanityT. H. Leale.Genesis 9:8-11
The Covenant with NoahA. P. Foster.Genesis 9:8-11
The Covenant with NoahD. C. Hughes, M. A.Genesis 9:8-11
The Scheme of ProvidenceR. S. Candlish, D. D.Genesis 9:8-11
The New Noachic Covenant EstablishedR.A. Redford Genesis 9:8-17
People
Ham, Japheth, Noah, Shem
Places
Tigris-Euphrates Region
Topics
Animal, Animals, Ark, Beast, Birds, Cattle, Creature, Fowl, Livestock, Ship, Soul, Wild
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 9:1-17

     7203   ark, Noah's

Genesis 9:8-10

     4604   animals, nature of

Genesis 9:8-11

     6667   grace, in OT

Genesis 9:8-17

     1347   covenant, with Noah
     5467   promises, divine
     7227   flood, the

Genesis 9:9-11

     1055   God, grace and mercy

Library
Capital Punishment
Eversley. Quinquagesima Sunday, 1872. Genesis ix. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6. "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. . . . Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you . . . But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require: at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other Sermons

Noah's Flood
(Quinquagesima Sunday.) GENESIS ix. 13. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. We all know the history of Noah's flood. What have we learnt from that history? What were we intended to learn from it? What thoughts should we have about it? There are many thoughts which we may have. We may think how the flood came to pass; what means God used to make it rain forty days; what is meant by breaking up the fountains of the great deep. We may …
Charles Kingsley—The Gospel of the Pentateuch

Death.
PSALM CIV. 20, 21. Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. Let me say a few words on this text. It is one which has been a comfort to me again and again. It is one which, if rightly understood, ought to give comfort to pitiful and tender-hearted persons. Have you never been touched by, never been even shocked by, the mystery of pain and death? I do not speak now of pain and death …
Charles Kingsley—Westminster Sermons

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

That the Ruler Should Be, through Humility, a Companion of Good Livers, But, through the Zeal of Righteousness, Rigid against the vices of Evildoers.
The ruler should be, through humility, a companion of good livers, and, through the zeal of righteousness, rigid against the vices of evil-doers; so that in nothing he prefer himself to the good, and yet, when the fault of the bad requires it, he be at once conscious of the power of his priority; to the end that, while among his subordinates who live well he waives his rank and accounts them as his equals, he may not fear to execute the laws of rectitude towards the perverse. For, as I remember to …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil by Force Has Been Professed by a Minority of Men from the Very Foundation of Christianity. Of the Book "What
CHAPTER I. THE DOCTRINE OF NON-RESISTANCE TO EVIL BY FORCE HAS BEEN PROFESSED BY A MINORITY OF MEN FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY. Of the Book "What I Believe"--The Correspondence Evoked by it-- Letters from Quakers--Garrison's Declaration--Adin Ballou, his Works, his Catechism--Helchitsky's "Net of Faith"--The Attitude of the World to Works Elucidating Christ's Teaching--Dymond's Book "On War"--Musser's "Non-resistance Asserted"--Attitude of the Government in 1818 to Men who Refused to …
Leo Tolstoy—The Kingdom of God is within you

Original Righteousness.
"For in Him we live and move, and have our being: as certain also of your own poets have said. For we are also His offspring." --Acts xvii. 28. It is the peculiar characteristic of the Reformed Confession that more than any other it humbles the sinner and exalts the sinless man. To disparage man is unscriptural. Being a sinner, fallen and no longer a real man, he must be humbled, rebuked, and inwardly broken. But the divinely created man, realizing the divine purpose or restored by omnipotent grace …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.' Exod 20: 13. In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, Thou shalt not kill,' and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the life of others. The sin forbidden is murder: Thou shalt not kill.' Here two things are to be understood, the not injuring another, nor ourselves. I. The not injuring another. [1] We must not injure another in his name. A good name is a precious balsam.' It is a great cruelty to murder a man in his name. We injure others in …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Being Made Archbishop of Armagh, He Suffers Many Troubles. Peace Being Made, from Being Archbishop of Armagh He Becomes Bishop of Down.
[Sidenote: 1129] 19. (12). Meanwhile[365] it happened that Archbishop Cellach[366] fell sick: he it was who ordained Malachy deacon, presbyter and bishop: and knowing that he was dying he made a sort of testament[367] to the effect that Malachy ought to succeed him,[368] because none seemed worthier to be bishop of the first see. This he gave in charge to those who were present, this he commanded to the absent, this to the two kings of Munster[369] and to the magnates of the land he specially enjoined …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

Mosaic Cosmogony.
ON the revival of science in the 16th century, some of the earliest conclusions at which philosophers arrived were found to be at variance with popular and long-established belief. The Ptolemaic system of astronomy, which had then full possession of the minds of men, contemplated the whole visible universe from the earth as the immovable centre of things. Copernicus changed the point of view, and placing the beholder in the sun, at once reduced the earth to an inconspicuous globule, a merely subordinate …
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

Mount Zion.
"For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them: for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Covenanting Predicted in Prophecy.
The fact of Covenanting, under the Old Testament dispensations, being approved of God, gives a proof that it was proper then, which is accompanied by the voice of prophecy, affording evidence that even in periods then future it should no less be proper. The argument for the service that is afforded by prophecy is peculiar, and, though corresponding with evidence from other sources, is independent. Because that God willed to make known truth through his servants the prophets, we should receive it …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Promise to the Patriarchs.
A great epoch is, in Genesis, ushered in with the history of the time of the Patriarchs. Luther says: "This is the third period in which Holy Scripture begins the history of the Church with a new family." In a befitting manner, the representation is opened in Gen. xii. 1-3 by an account of the first revelation of God, given to Abraham at Haran, in which the way is opened up for all that follows, and in which the dispensations of God are brought before us in a rapid survey. Abraham is to forsake …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Discourse on Spiritual Food and True Discipleship. Peter's Confession.
(at the Synagogue in Capernaum.) ^D John VI. 22-71. ^d 22 On the morrow [the morrow after Jesus fed the five thousand] the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea [on the east side, opposite Capernaum] saw that there was no other boat there, save one, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples went away alone 23 (howbeit there came boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they ate the bread after that the Lord had given thanks): 24 when the multitude …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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