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Bible Dictionaries
Rainbow
Morrish Bible Dictionary
or The 'bow set in the clouds' was given by God to Noah as a token that He would not again destroy the world by a flood. Genesis 9:13-16 . That the rainbow, as is now known, is caused by the refraction of light on drops of rain, need not cause any difficulty. The rainbow may have appeared to Noah before, but it was not appointed by God as a token until after the flood. The word translated 'set' (nathan ) is sometimes translated 'appoint,' as in Joshua 20:2 . Others judge it to be more probable that the rainbow had not been seen prior to the flood, the state of the atmosphere being different from what it became after the deluge.
The rainbow is mentioned in Revelation 4:3; Revelation 10:1 , as a symbol that, notwithstanding all the sin of man, God has been faithful to His promise respecting the earth. The beautiful bow in the cloud should ever call to mind His abiding faithfulness.
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Morrish, George. Entry for 'Rainbow'. Morrish Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/mbd/r/rainbow.html. 1897.
