Chapter 9:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis 9
Concise Complete
God blesses Noah, and grants flesh for food. (1-3)
Blood, and murder forbidden. (4-7) God's covenant by the rainbow. (8-17) Noah
plants a vineyard, is drunken and mocked by Ham. (18-23) Noah curses Canaan,
blesses Shem, prays for Japheth, His death. (24-29)
Verses 1-3 The
blessing of God is the cause of our doing well. On him we depend, to him we
should be thankful. Let us not forget the advantage and pleasure we have from
the labour of beasts, and which their flesh affords. Nor ought we to be less
thankful for the security we enjoy from the savage and hurtful beasts, through
the fear of man which God has fixed deep in them. We see the fulfilment of this
promise every day, and on every side. This grant of the animals for food fully
warrants the use of them, but not the abuse of them by gluttony, still less by
cruelty. We ought not to pain them needlessly whilst they live, nor when we take
away their lives.
Verses 4-7 The
main reason of forbidding the eating of blood, doubtless was because the
shedding of blood in sacrifices was to keep the worshippers in mind of the great
atonement; yet it seems intended also to check cruelty, lest men, being used to
shed and feed upon the blood of animals, should grow unfeeling to them, and be
less shocked at the idea of shedding human blood. Man must not take away his own
life. Our lives are God's, and we must only give them up when he pleases. If we
in any way hasten our own death, we are accountable to God for it. When God
requires the life of a man from him that took it away unjustly, the murderer
cannot render that, and therefore must render his own instead. One time or
other, in this world or in the next, God will discover murders, and punish those
murders which are beyond man's power to punish. But there are those who are
ministers of God to protect the innocent, by being a terror to evil-doers, and
they must not bear the sword in vain,
romans 13:4. Wilful
murder ought always to be punished with death. To this law there is a reason
added. Such remains of God's image are still upon fallen man, that he who
unjustly kills a man, defaces the image of God, and does dishonour to him.
Verses 8-17 As
the old world was ruined, to be a monument of justice, so this world remains to
this day a monument of mercy. But sin, that drowned the old world, will burn
this. Articles of agreement among men are sealed, that what is promised may be
the more solemn, and the doing of what is covenanted the more sure to mutual
satisfaction. The seal of this covenant was the rainbow, which, it is likely,
was seen in the clouds before, but was never a seal of the covenant till now it
was made so. The rainbow appears when we have most reason to fear the rain
prevailing; God then shows this seal of the promise, that it shall not prevail.
The thicker the cloud, the brighter the bow in the cloud. Thus, as threatening
afflictions abound, encouraging consolations much more abound. The rainbow is
the reflection of the beams of the sun shining upon or through the drops of
rain: all the glory of the seals of the covenant are derived from Christ, the
Sun of righteousness. And he will shed a glory on the tears of his saints. A bow
speaks terror, but this has neither string nor arrow; and a bow alone will do
little hurt. It is a bow, but it is directed upward, not toward the earth; for
the seals of the covenant were intended to comfort, not to terrify. As God looks
upon the bow, that he may remember the covenant, so should we, that we may be
mindful of the covenant with faith and thankfulness. Without revelation this
gracious assurance could not be known; and without faith it can be of no use to
us; and thus it is as to the still greater dangers to which all are exposed, and
as to the new covenant with its blessings.
Verses 18-23 The
drunkenness of Noah is recorded in the Bible, with that fairness which is found
only in the Scripture, as a case and proof of human weakness and imperfection,
even though he may have been surprised into the sin; and to show that the best
of men cannot stand upright, unless they depend upon Divine grace, and are
upheld thereby. Ham appears to have been a bad man, and probably rejoiced to
find his father in an unbecoming situation. It was said of Noah, that he was
perfect in his generations, ch. 6:9; but this is meant of sincerity, not of a
sinless perfection. Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunk in
sober company. Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. We have
need to be very careful when we use God's good creatures plentifully, lest we
use them to excess, Lu 21:34. The consequence of Noah's sin was shame. Observe
here the great evil of the sin of drunkenness. It discovers men; what
infirmities they have, they betray when they are drunk; and secrets are then
easily got out of them. Drunken porters keep open gates. It disgraces men, and
exposes them to contempt. As it shows them, so it shames them. Men say and do
that when drunken, which, when sober, they would blush to think of. Notice the
care of Shem and Japheth to cover their father's shame. There is a mantle of
love to be thrown over the faults of all,
1 peter thrown over the
faults of parents and other superiors. The blessing of God attends on those who
honour their parents, and his curse lights especially on those who dishonour
them.
Verses 24-29
Noah declares a curse on Canaan, the son of Ham; perhaps this grandson of his
was more guilty than the rest. A servant of servants, that is, The meanest and
most despicable servant, shall he be, even to his brethren. This certainly
points at the victories in after-times obtained by Israel over the Canaanites,
by which they were put to the sword, or brought to pay tribute. The whole
continent of Africa was peopled mostly by the descendants of Ham; and for how
many ages have the better parts of that country lain under the dominion of the
Romans, then of the Saracens, and now of the Turks! In what wickedness,
ignorance, barbarity, slavery, and misery most of the inhabitants live! And of
the poor negroes, how many every year are sold and bought, like beasts in the
market, and conveyed from one quarter of the world to do the work of beasts in
another! But this in no way excuses the covetousness and barbarity of those who
enrich themselves with the product of their sweat and blood. God has not
commanded us to enslave negroes; and, without doubt, he will severely punish all
such cruel wrongs. The fulfilment of this prophecy, which contains almost a
history of the world, frees Noah from the suspicion of having uttered it from
personal anger. It fully proves that the Holy Spirit took occasion from Ham's
offence to reveal his secret purposes. "Blessed be the Lord God of Shem." The
church should be built up and continued in the posterity of Shem; of him came
the Jews, who were, for a great while, the only professing people God had in the
world. Christ, who was the Lord God, in his human nature should descend from
Shem; for of him, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. Noah also blesses
Japheth, and, in him, the isles of the gentiles that were peopled by his seed.
It speaks of the conversion of the gentiles, and the bringing of them into the
church. We may read it, "God shall persuade Japheth, and being persuaded, he
shall dwell in the tents of Shem." Jews and gentiles shall be united together in
the gospel fold; both shall be one in Christ. Noah lived to see two worlds; but
being an heir of the righteousness which is by faith, he now rests in hope,
waiting to see a better than either.
Chapter 9:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalm
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation
