And God blessed Noah and his sons — He assured them of his good — will to them, and his gracious intentions concerning them. The first blessing is here renewed, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and repeated, Genesis 9:7; for the race of mankind was as it were to begin again. By vi... [ Continue Reading ]
He grants them power over the inferior creatures. He grants, 1. A title to them; into your hands they are delivered — For your use and benefit. 2. A dominion over them, without which the title would avail little; The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast — This revives a former... [ Continue Reading ]
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you — Hitherto man had been confined to feed only upon the products of the earth, fruits, herbs and roots, and all sorts of corn and milk; so was the first grant, Genesis 1:29. But the flood having perhaps washed away much of the virtue of the earth,... [ Continue Reading ]
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat — Blood made atonement for the soul, Leviticus 17:11. The life of the sacrifice was accepted for the life of the sinner. Blood must not be looked upon as a common thing, but must be poured out before the Lord, 2 Samuel 23:... [ Continue Reading ]
And surely your blood of your lives will I require — Our own lives are not so our own, that we may quit them at our own pleasure; but they are God's, and we must resign them at his pleasure. If we any way hasten our own deaths, we are accountable to God for it. Yea, At the hand of every beast will I... [ Continue Reading ]
Whoso sheddeth man's blood — Whether upon a sudden provocation, or premeditated, (for rash anger is heart — murder as well as malice prepense, Matthew 5:21), by man shall his blood be shed — That is, by the magistrate, or whoever is appointed to be the avenger of blood. Before the flood, as it shoul... [ Continue Reading ]
We have here the general establishment of God's covenant with this new world, and the extent of that covenant.... [ Continue Reading ]
There shall not any more be a flood — God had drowned the world once, and still it is as provoking as ever; yet he will never drown it any more, for he deals not with us according to our sins. This promise of God keeps the sea and clouds in their decreed place, and sets them gates and bars, Hitherto... [ Continue Reading ]
I set my bow in the clouds — The rainbow, 'tis likely was seen in the clouds before, but was never a seal of the covenant 'till now. Now, concerning this seal of the covenant, observe, This seal is affixed with repeated assurances of the truth of that promise, which it was designed to be the ratific... [ Continue Reading ]
And Noah began to be an husbandman — Heb. a man of the earth, a man dealing in the earth, that kept ground in his hand and occupied it. Sometime after his departure out of the ark he returned to his old employment, from which he had been diverted by the building of the ark first, and probably after... [ Continue Reading ]
And he drank of the wine and was drunk — 'Tis highly probable, he did not know the effect of it before. And he was uncovered in his tent — Made naked to his shame.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Ham saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren — To have seen it accidentally and involuntarily would not have been a crime. But he pleased himself with the sight. And he told his two brethren without — In the street, as the word is, in a scornful deriding manner.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father — They not only would not see it themselves, but provided that no one else might see it; herein setting an example of charity, with reference to other men's sin and shame.... [ Continue Reading ]
A servant of servants — That is, the meanest and most despicable servant shall he be, even to his brethren. Those who by birth were his equals, should by conquest be his lords. This certainly points at the victories obtained by Israel over the Canaanites, by which they were all either put to the swo... [ Continue Reading ]
The God of Shem — All blessings are included in this. This was the blessing conferred on Abraham and his seed, the God of heaven was not ashamed to be called their God, Hebrews 11:16. Shem is sufficiently recompensed for his respect to his father by this, that the Lord himself puts this honour upon... [ Continue Reading ]
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem — His seed shall be so numerous and so victorious, that they shall be masters of the tents of Shem, which was fulfilled when the people of the Jews, the most eminent of Shem's race, were tributaries to the Grecians first, and after t... [ Continue Reading ]