the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Genesis 9:13
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I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
I am putting my rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the agreement between me and the earth.
I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
Y schal sette my bowe in the cloudis, and it schal be a signe of boond of pees bitwixe me and erthe;
My bow I have given in the cloud, and it hath been for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth;
I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
I am putting my rainbow in the cloud — it will be there as a sign of the covenant between myself and the earth.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
I will put my bow in the cloud and it will be for a sign of the agreement between me and the earth.
I do set my bowe in the cloude, and it shall be for a token betweene me and the earth.
I set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
I am putting a rainbow in the clouds as proof of the agreement between me and the earth.
I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth.
I doe set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a couenant, betweene me and the earth.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
I will set My rain-bow in the cloud, and it will be something special to see because of an agreement between Me and the earth.
I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
My bow, have I set in the cloud, - and it shall be for a sign of a covenant, betwixt me and the earth;
I haue set my bowe in the cloude, and it shalbe for a signe of the couenant betweene me and the earth.
I set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
I am putting my bow in the clouds. It will be the sign of my covenant with the world.
I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me and between the earth.
I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of covenant between me and the earth.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the eretz.
My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and between the earth.
I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
My bowe will I set in the cloudes, and it shal be the token of my couenaunt betwene me and ye earth:
I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.
I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
I put My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Ezekiel 1:28, Revelation 4:3, Revelation 10:1
Reciprocal: Genesis 1:14 - and let Genesis 1:17 - General Exodus 31:16 - a perpetual covenant Psalms 89:37 - and as Isaiah 38:7 - General
Cross-References
As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory and brilliance of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell face downward and I heard a voice of One speaking.
And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald.
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed in a cloud, with a rainbow (halo) over his head; and his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire;
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I do set my bow in the cloud,.... Or "I have given", or "have set it" p; which seems as if it was at that instant set; this is the same we call the "rainbow": and so Horace q calls it "arcus pluvius": it is called a "bow", because of its form, being a semicircle, and a "rainbow", because it is seen in a day of rain, and is a sign of it, or of its being quickly over, Ezekiel 1:28 and this appears in a moist dewy cloud, neither very thick nor very thin, and is occasioned by the rays of the sun opposite to it, refracted on it: and this God calls "his bow", not only because made by him, for, notwithstanding the natural causes of it, the cloud and sun, the disposition of these to produce it, such a phenomenon is of God; but also because he appointed it to be a sign and token of his covenant with his creatures; so the Heathen poets r call the rainbow the messenger of Juno. It is a question whether there was a rainbow before the flood, and it is not easily answered; both Jews and Christians are divided about it; Saadiah thought there was one; but Aben Ezra disapproves of his opinion, and thinks it was first now made. The greater part of Christian interpreters are of the mind of Saadiah, that it was from the beginning, the natural causes of it, the sun and cloud, being before the flood; and that it was now after it only appointed to be a sign and token of the covenant; but though the natural causes of it did exist before, it does not follow, nor is it to be proved, that there was such a disposition of them to produce such an effect; and it might be so ordered in Providence, that there should not be any, that this might be entirely a new thing, and so a wonderful one, as the word for "token" s signifies; and the Greeks calls the rainbow the "daughter of Thaumas" or "Wonder" t; and be the more fit to be a sign and token of the covenant, that God would no more destroy the earth with water; for otherwise, if this had been what Noah and his sons had been used to see, it can hardly be thought sufficient to take off their fears of a future inundation, which was the end and use it was to serve, as follows:
it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth; that is, between God and the creatures of the earth; or of a promise that God would no more destroy the earth, and cut off the creatures in it by a flood; for though it is a bow, yet without arrows, and is not turned downwards towards the earth, but upwards towards heaven, and so is a token of mercy and kindness, and not of wrath and anger.
p נתתי "dedi", Montanus; so Ainsworth; "posui", Pisator, Drusius, Buxtorf. q De Arte Poetica, ver. 18. r Nuntia Junonis varios induta colores Concipit Iris aquas--------- Ovid. Metamorph. l. 1. Fab. 7. s אות "signum, tam nudum, quam prodigiosum", Buxtorf. t Plato in Theaeeteto, Plutarch. de Placit, Philosoph. 3, 4. Apollodor. Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 5.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- XXIX. The Covenant with Noah
13. קשׁת qeshet, “bow; related: be bent.”
14. ענן ‛ānan, “cover, cast over; noun: cloud.”
The covenant made with Noah Genesis 6:18 is now formally confirmed. The purpose conceived in the heart Genesis 8:21 now receives significant expression. Not only a new blessing is bestowed, but also a new covenant is formed with Noah. For he that has offered an acceptable sacrifice is not only at peace with God, but renewed in mind after the image of God. He is therefore a fit subject for entering into a covenant.
Genesis 9:8-11
Unto Noah and to his sons. - God addresses the sons of Noah as the progenitors of the future race. “I establish.” He not merely makes כרת kārat, but ratifies, his covenant with them. “My covenant.” The covenant which was before mentioned to Noah in the directions concerning the making of the ark, and which was really, though tacitly, formed with Adam in the garden.
Genesis 9:9-10
The party with whom God now enters into covenant is here fully described. “You and your seed after you, and every breathing living thing;” the latter merely “on account of the former.” The animals are specially mentioned because they partake in the special benefit of preservation from a flood, which is guaranteed in this covenant. There is a remarkable expression employed here - “From all that come out of the ark, to every beast of the land.” It seems to imply that the beast of the land, or the wild beast, was not among those that came out of the ark, and, therefore, not among those that went in. This coincides with the view we have given of the inmates of the ark.
Genesis 9:11
The benefits conferred by this form of God’s covenant are here specified. First, all flesh shall no more be cut off by a flood; secondly, the land shall no more be destroyed by this means. The Lord has been true to his promise in saving Noah and his family from the flood of waters. He now perpetuates his promise by assuring him that the land would not again be overwhelmed with water. This is the new and present blessing of the covenant. Its former blessings are not abrogated, but only confirmed and augmented by the present. Other and higher benefits will flow out of this to those who rightly receive it, even throughout the ages of eternity. The present benefit is shared by the whole race descended from Noah.
Genesis 9:12-16
The token of the covenant is now pointed out. “For perpetual ages.” This stability of sea and land is to last during the remainder of the human period. What is to happen when the race of man is completed, is not the question at present. “My bow.” As God’s covenant is the well-known and still remembered compact formed with man when the command was issued in the Garden of Eden, so God’s bow is the primeval arch, coexistent with the rays of light and the drops of rain. It is caused by the rays of the sun reflected from the falling raindrops at a particular angle to the eye of the spectator. A beautiful arch of reflected and refracted light is in this way formed for every eye. The rainbow is thus an index that the sky is not wholly overcast, since the sun is shining through the shower, and thereby demonstrating its partial extent. There could not, therefore, be a more beautiful or fitting token that there shall be no more a flood to sweep away all flesh and destroy the land.
It comes with its mild radiance only when the cloud condenses into a shower. It consists of heavenly light, variegated in hue, and mellowed in lustre, filling the beholder with an involuntary pleasure. It forms a perfect arch, extends as far as the shower extends, connects heaven and earth, and spans the horizon. In these respects it is a beautiful emblem of mercy rejoicing against judgment, of light from heaven irradiating and beatifying the soul, of grace always sufficient for the need of the reunion of earth and heaven, and of the universality of the offer of salvation. “Have I given.” The rainbow existed as long as the present laws of light and air. But it is now mentioned for the first time, because it now becomes the fitting sign of security from another universal deluge, which is the special blessing of the covenant in its present form. “In the cloud.” When a shower-cloud is spread over the sky, the bow appears, if the sun, the cloud, and the spectator are in the proper relation to one another. 16. “And I will look upon it to remember.” The Scripture is most unhesitating and frank in ascribing to God all the attributes and exercises of personal freedom. While man looks on the bow to recall the promise of God, God himself looks on it to remember and perform this promise. Here freedom and immutability of purpose meet.
The covenant here ostensibly refers to the one point of the absence, for all time to come, of any danger to the human race from a deluge. But it presupposes and supplements the covenant with man subsisting from the very beginning. It is clearly of grace; for the Lord in the very terms affirms the fact that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, while at the same time the original transgression belonged to the whole race. The condition by which any man becomes interested in it is not expressed, but easily understood from the nature of a covenant, a promise, and a sign, all of which require of us consenting faith in the party who covenants, promises, and gives the sign. The meritorious condition of the covenant of grace is dimly shadowed forth in the burnt-offerings which Noah presented on coming out of the ark. One thing, however, was surely and clearly revealed to the early saints; namely, the mercy of God. Assured of this, they were prepared humbly to believe that all would rebound to the glory of his holiness, justice, and truth, as well as of his mercy, grace, and love, though they might not yet fully understand how this would be accomplished.
Genesis 9:17
God seems here to direct Noah’s attention to a rainbow actually existing at the time in the sky, and presenting to the patriarch the assurance of the promise, with all the impressiveness of reality.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 9:13. I do set my bow in the cloud — On the origin and nature of the rainbow there had been a great variety of conjectures, till Anthony de Dominis, bishop of Spalatro, in a treatise of his published by Bartholus in 1611, partly suggested the true cause of this phenomenon, which was afterwards fully explained and demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton. To enter into this subject here in detail would be improper; and therefore the less informed reader must have recourse to treatises on Optics for its full explanation. To readers in general it may be sufficient to say that the rainbow is a mere natural effect of a natural cause:
1. It is never seen but in showery weather.
2. Nor then unless the sun shines.
3. It never appears in any part of the heavens but in that opposite to the sun.
4. It never appears greater than a semicircle, but often much less.
5. It is always double, there being what is called the superior and inferior, or primary and secondary rainbow.
6. These bows exhibit the seven prismatic colours, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
7. The whole of this phenomenon depends on the rays of the sun falling on spherical drops of water, and being in their passage through them, refracted and reflected.
The formation of the primary and secondary rainbow depends on the two following propositions;
1. When the sun shines on the drops of rain as they are falling, the rays that come from those drops to the eye of the spectator, after ONE reflection and TWO refractions, produce the primary rainbow.
2. When the sun shines on the drops of rain as they are falling, the rays that come from those drops to the eye of the spectator after TWO reflections and TWO refractions, produce the secondary rainbow.
The illustration of these propositions must be sought in treatises on Optics, assisted by plates. From the well-known cause of this phenomenon It cannot be rationally supposed that there was no rainbow in the heavens before the time mentioned in the text, for as the rainbow is the natural effect of the sun's rays falling on drops of water, and of their being refracted and reflected by them, it must have appeared at different times from the creation of the sun and the atmosphere. Nor does the text intimate that the bow was now created for a sign to Noah and his posterity; but that what was formerly created, or rather that which was the necessary effect, in certain cases, of the creation of the sun and atmosphere, should now be considered by them as an unfailing token of their continual preservation from the waters of a deluge; therefore the text speaks of what had already been done, and not of what was now done, קשתי נתתי kashti nathatti, "My bow I have given, or put in the cloud;" as if he said: As surely as the rainbow is a necessary effect of sunshine in rain, and must continue such as long as the sun and atmosphere endure, so surely shall this earth be preserved from destruction by water; and its preservation shall be as necessary an effect of my promise as the rainbow is of the shining of the sun during a shower of rain.
