Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Genesis 9:12

in Genesis 9

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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:

KJV

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:

⋯

This verse in Genesis 9

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

This is the sign of the covenant

on Genesis 9:12-13

The sign of the covenant is the rainbow. The Hebrew word qeshet is the word for a war bow, hung in the cloud with its arc turned away from the earth. Adam Clarke notes the Greeks and Romans, like the Hebrews, read the rainbow as a sign sent from heaven.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 6.15.3 · Written before 373.

proposed

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.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

It would appear from this sign that the rainbow in the cloud was not part of creation and that now G-d created a new thing by making a rainbow in the heavens on a cloudy day. Now commentators have said. I have found this opinion in Chizkuni.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 9:12:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
MY BOW. Behold, I now set a bow in the clouds. Saadiah Gaon’s interpretation that the rainbow was previously in existence is incorrect.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 9:13:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֱלֹהִ֗יםGod

    ʾelohimH430 →2601 times

  • זֹ֤אתthis

    zotH2063 →603 times

  • אֽוֹת־[is] [the] sign of

    ʾot-H226 →80 times

  • הַבְּרִית֙the covenant

    haberitH1285 →284 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • אֲנִ֣יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • נֹתֵ֗ן[am] making

    notenH5414 →2011 times

  • בֵּינִי֙between me

    beiniH996 →407 times

  • וּבֵ֣ינֵיכֶ֔םand between you

    uveineikhemH996 →407 times

  • וּבֵ֛יןand between

    uveinH996 →407 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • נֶ֥פֶשׁcreature

    nefeshH5315 →754 times

  • חַיָּ֖הliving

    chaiyahH2416 →498 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אִתְּכֶ֑ם[is] with you

    ʾitekhemH854 →929 times

  • לְדֹרֹ֖תfor generations of

    ledorotH1755 →167 times

  • עוֹלָֽם׃perpetuity

    olamH5769 →438 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 17:11You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.10 worksMatthew 26:26–28While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is My body.”3 worksExodus 12:13The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.2 worksGenesis 6:12And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.2 works1 Corinthians 11:23–25For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,1 worksExodus 13:16So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”1 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 9:17So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and every creature on the earth.”1 worksJoshua 2:12Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign0 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Exodus 12:13

    The blood on the houses where you are staying will distinguish them; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will fall on you to destroy you when I strike…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 11:28

      By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch Israel’s own firstborn.

    • Exodus 12:23

      When the LORD passes through to strike down the Egyptians, He will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway; so He will not allow…

    • 1 John 1:7

      But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

    • Genesis 17:11

      You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

    • Joshua 2:12

      Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD that you will indeed show kindness to my family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

  • Through

    Exodus 13:16

    So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

    it leads to

    • Exodus 13:9

      It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the…

    • Deuteronomy 11:18

      Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

  • Through

    Genesis 17:11

    You are to circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

    it leads to

    • Romans 4:11

      And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but…

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Noah Curses Ham and Canaan — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Noah Curses Ham and Canaan — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 9 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 6.15.3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Genesis 9 →