Genesis 9:12

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
God	אֱלֹהִ֗ים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
token	אֽוֹת 'ot-	H226	a signal (literally or figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct
covenant	הַבְּרִית֙ ha.be.Rit	H1285	a compact (because made by passing between pieces of fl… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
I	אֲנִ֣י 'a.Ni	H589	I · personal pronoun
make	נֹתֵ֗ן no.Ten	H5414	to give · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
living	חַיָּ֖ה chai.Yah	H2416	alive · adjective, feminine singular absolute
creature	נֶ֥פֶשׁ Ne.fesh	H5315	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
perpetual	עוֹלָֽם o.Lam	H5769	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
generations	לְדֹרֹ֖ת le.do.Rot	H1755	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
Matthew 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall…
Genesis 9:17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
Exodus 13:16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of…
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread…
Joshua 2:12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s hou…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 9:12-17

Articles of agreement among men are usually sealed, that the covenants may be the more solemn, and the performances of the covenants the more sure, to mutual satisfaction. God therefore, being willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his councils, has confirmed his covenant by a seal (Heb 6:17), which makes the foundations we build on stand sure, Ti2 2:19. The seal of this covenant of nature was natural enough; it was the rainbow, which, it is likely, was seen in the clouds before, when second causes concurred, but was never a seal of the covenant till now that it was made so by a divine institution. Now, concerning this seal of the covenant, observe, 1. Th…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 9:6

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.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 9:6

Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood - Hence it appears that whoever kills a man, unless unwittingly, as the Scripture expresses it, shall forfeit his own life. A man is accused of the crime of murder; of this crime he is guilty or he is not: if he be guilty of murder he should die; if not, let him be punished according to the demerit of his crime; but for no offense but murder should he lose his life. Taking away the life of another is the highest offense that can be committed against the individual, and against society; and the highest punishment that a man can suffer for such a crime is the loss of his own life. As punishment should be ever proportioned to crimes, so the hig…

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John Gill on Genesis 9:12

And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you,.... Meaning the bow in the cloud, and which might be formed in the cloud at this time, that Noah might see it, and know it when he saw it again, and seems to be pointed unto: "this is the token"; or sign of the covenant made between God and Noah, and his sons: and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations; which more clearly shows and proves, that this covenant reaches to all creatures that then were, or should be in all ages, to the end of the world.

The Church Fathers

After these things God made a covenant with Noah and with all those who came out of the ark with him, saying, "All flesh shall never again perish in the waters of a flood. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the eternal covenant between God and all flesh that is on the earth."
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 6.15.3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Covenant — A contract or agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word berith is always thus translated. Berith is derived from a root which means “to cut,” and hence a covenant is a…
Rainbow — Caused by the reflection and refraction of the rays of the sun shining on falling rain. It was appointed as a witness of the divine faithfulness (Gen. 9:12-17). It existed indeed before, but it was…
Works, Covenant of — Entered into by God with Adam as the representative of the human race (comp. Gen. 9:11, 12; 17:1-21), so styled because perfect obedience was its condition, thus distinguishing it from the covenant…
Bow · 2. A TOKEN IN THE CLOUDS — 2. A TOKEN IN THE CLOUDS
Deception · General references — General references
Deluge, The · That it shall never again occur: The rainbow a token — That it shall never again occur: The rainbow a token
Noah · General references — General references
Rain · The earth will never again be — The earth will never again be
Rainbow · A sign that the earth will no longer be — A sign that the earth will no longer be
Symbols And Similitudes · Rainbow — Rainbow
Token · Rainbow, that the earth would never be

Genesis 9:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 9:12-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 9:6

Adam Clarke on Genesis 9:6

John Gill on Genesis 9:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 9:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 9:12-17

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 9:6

Adam Clarke on Genesis 9:6

John Gill on Genesis 9:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 9:12

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 9:8-17

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 9:12