Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
Ver. 1. AND God bleſſed Noah and his Sons, &c.] The Divine Majeſty appeared now to Noah and his Sons; to aſſure them of his Favour and Protection; and to renew the bleſſing beſtowed upon Adam (as after a new Creation) ſaying, Increaſe and Multiply.
Ver. 2. The fear of you, &c.] He ſeems alſo to confirm to them, the Dominion which God gave to Adam, at firſt, over all Creatures. I. 26.
Ver. 3. Every moving thing that liveth ſhall be meat for you, &c.] Here the firſt Grant made to Mankind concerning Food, is enlarged, as St. Baſil obſerves, foreign, The firſt Legiſlation granted to them the uſe of Fruits; but now of all living Creatures; which they are as freely permitted to eat of, as formerly of all the Fruits of the Garden. For God ſeeing Men to be foreign, contumacious, as Greg. Nyſſ. expreſſes it (Tom. I. p. 157.) foreign, He conceded to them the enjoyment of all things. This is the general fence of the Jews, and of the Chriſtian Fathers, and of the firſt Reformers of Religion. They that would have this only a renewal of ſuch an old Charter, are of later ſtanding; and can ſhew us no Charter, but are led by ſome reaſonings of their own, not by the Scripture: Unleſs we will admit ſuch a Criticiſm upon Gen. I. 30. as ſeems to me very forced. And they would have this alſo underſtood only of clean Creatures: But I do not find any Ground for the diſtinction of Clean and Unclean Creatures, with reſpect to Food, but only to Sacrifice, as was ſaid before.
The reaſon why God now granted the liberty to eat Fleſh, Abarbinel thinks was, becauſe otherwiſe there would not have been Food enough for Noah and his Sons: The Fruits of the Earth which before were abundant, being all deſtroyed; ſo that for the preſent there was not ſufficient for their ſuſtenance. Others think the reaſon of it was, becauſe the Fruits of the Earth, were not now ſo nutritive as they had been, before the ſalt water of the Sea very much ſpoiled the Soil.
Ver. 4. But fleſh with the life thereof, &c.] Here is one exception to the foregoing large Grant, that the Blood of Beaſts ſhould not be eaten: Juſt as at the firſt, one Fruit in the midſt of the Garden was excepted, when all the reſt were allowed. The Hebrew Doctors generally underſtand this to be a prohibition to cut off any Limb of a living Creature, and to eat it while the Life, that is, the Blood was in it: Dum adhuc vivit, & palpitat, ſeu tremit, as a modern Interpreter truly repreſents their ſence. Which is followed by many Chriſtians. See Mercer, Muſculus, eſpecially Mr. Selden, L. VII. c. 1. de Jure N. & G. Who think, as Maimonides doth, that there were ſome People in the old World ſo fierce and barbarous, that they eat raw Fleſh, while it was yet warm from the Beaſt out of whoſe Body it was cut: And he makes this to have been a part of their Idolatrous Worſhip. (See More Nevochim, Par. III. c. 48.) But, ſuppoſing this to be true, there were ſo few of theſe People, we may well think, (for he himſelf ſaith, it was the Cuſtom of the Gentile Kings to do thus) that there needed not to have been a Precept given to all Mankind, to avoid that, unto which Humane Nature is of it ſelf averſe.
St. Chryſoſtom therefore expounds this, of not eating things Strangled: And L. de Dieu of not eating that which died of it ſelf: For Nepheſh in Scripture ſignifies ſometime a dead Carkaſe. But it is manifeſt, it was not unlawful for all People to eat ſuch things; for God himſelf orders the Iſraelites, to give that which died of it ſelf to a Stranger, or to ſell it to an Alien, Deut. XIV. 21. And therefore the ſimpleſt ſence ſeems to be, that they ſhould not eat the Blood of any Creature: Which was a poſitive Precept, like that of not eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And the reaſon of it, perhaps, was, that God intending in after-times to reſerve the Blood, for the expiation of Sin, required this early abſtinence from it, that they might be the better prepared to ſubmit to that Law, and underſtand the reaſon of it: Which was, that it was the Life of the Beaſt, which God accepted inſtead of their Life, when they had forfeited it by their Sins.
And there is another plain reaſon given of this Prohibition, immediately after it; that they might be the more fearful of ſheding the Blood one of another; when it was not lawful ſo much as to taſte the Blood of a Beaſt.
Ver. 5. And ſurely.] Or rather, for ſurely, as the LXX, the vulgar Latin, and a great number of learned Men, expound the particle Van as a Cauſal, not as a Copulative in this place. So that the ſence is this: Therefore I command you to abſtain from the Blood of living Creatures, that you may he the farther off from ſheding the Blood of Men. For that is ſo precious in my account, that I will take care he be ſeverely puniſhed, by whom it is ſhed; yea, the very Beaſt ſhall die that kills a Man. So it follows,
At the hand of every Beaſt will I require it.] Not as if Beaſts were to blame, if they killed a Man; (for they are capable neither of Vice nor Vertue) but this was ordained with reſpect to Men, for whoſe uſe Beaſts were created. For, Firſt, ſuch owners as were not careful to prevent ſuch miſchiefs were hereby puniſhed: And, Secondly, others were admoniſhed by their example to be cautious: And, Thirdly, God hereby inſtructed them that Murder was a moſt grievous Crime, whoſe puniſhment extended even to Beaſts. And Laſtly, the Lives of Men were hereby much ſecured, by the killing ſuch Beaſts, as might otherways have done the like miſchief hereafter. See Bochart in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. I. c. 40.
At the hand of every Man's Brother, &c.] And therefore much more will I require it at the Hand of every Man. Whom he calls Brother, to ſhow that Murder is the more heinous upon this account; becauſe we are all Brethren. Or the meaning may be, (as ſome will have it) that though he be as nearly related as a Brother, he ſhall not go unpuniſhed.
Ver. 6. Whoſo ſheds Man's Blood.] He repeats it over again, to enact this Law more ſtrongly. Or, as the Hebrews underſtand it, he ſpake before of the puniſhment he would inflict himſelf upon the Murderer; and now of the care we ſhould take to puniſh it.
By Man ſhall his Blood be ſhed.] That is, by the Magiſtrate or Judges. For God had kept the puniſhment of Murder in his own Hand 'till now; as we may gather from the ſtory of Cain, whom he baniſhed, but ſuffered no Body to kill him. But here gives authority to Judges to call every body to an account for it, and put them to death. They that would ſee more of the Senſe of the Jews about theſe and the foregoing words, may read Mr. Selden de Jure N. & G. L. I. cap. 5. and L. IV. cap. 1. and de Synedriis, L. I. cap. 5.
I will only add, that they rightly conclude, that as Courts of Judicature were hereby authorized; ſo what was thus ordained againſt Murder, by a parity of reaſon, was to be executed upon other great. Offenders; there being ſome things which are no leſs dear to us than Life; as Virginal Chaſtity, and Matrimonial Fidelity, &c.
For in the Image of God made he Man.] Notwithſtanding the Sin of Man, there remained ſo much of the Image of God in him, as intitled him to his peculiar protection.
Ver. 7. And ye, be ye fruitful, &c.] You need not doubt therefore of the bleſſing I now beſtowed upon you, (Verſe 1.) for you ſee what care I take of the preſervation, as well as the propagation of Mankind.
Ver. 9. I will eſtabliſh my Covenant with you.] Becauſe Beaſts cannot Covenant, moſt underſtand by that Word ſimply a Promiſe; as Jer. XXXIII. 25. But there is no need of this explication; the Covenant being made directly with Noah, including all other Creatures, who were to have the benefit of it.
Ver. 10. From all that go out of the Ark, to every Beaſt of the Earth.] That is, it ſhall extend not only to thoſe which now go out of the Ark; but to all their breed in future Ages.
Ver. 11. And I will eſtabliſh my Covenant with you, &c.] Doubt not of it; for I tell you again, I I will faithfully keep this ſolemn promiſe.
Any more be a Flood to deſtroy the Earth.] That is, the whole Earth; for particular Inundations there have been often.
Ver 12. And the LORD ſaid, This is the Token of the Covenant, &c.] I do not only give you my Word; but a Token or Sign that I will keep it.
Ver. 13. I do ſet my Bow in the Clouds, &c.] Moſt think this doth not ſignifie there never had been a Rain-bow before the Flood; for ſince there was both Sun and Clouds, it is likely, ſay they, there was a Rain-bow alſo: Only now it was appointed for a Sign, which it was not before. But as this Opinion hath nothing in Scripture to enforce it, ſo grounds in Nature there are none to warrant it; unleſs we will aſſert this manifeſt untruth, That every diſpoſition of the Air, or every Cloud is fitly diſpoſed to produce a Rain-bow. They are the words of that great Divine, Dr. Jackson (Book I. upon the Creed, c. 16.) who adds, that if other Natural Cauſes, with their motions and diſpoſitions depend upon the final (as Scripture Philoſophy teaches us) they who acknowledge the Scripture, have no reaſon to think that either the Clouds or the Air had that peculiar diſpoſition before the Flood, which is required to the production of the Rain-bow: When this wonderful effect had no ſuch uſe or end, as it hath had ever ſince. For it was appointed by God, to be a witneſs of his Covenant with the new World; a Meſſenger to ſecure Mankind from deſtruction by Deluges. Now if it had appeared before the Flood, the ſight of it after the Flood would have been but a poor comfort to Noah and his timorous Poſterity: Whoſe fear leaſt the like Inundation might happen again, was greater than could be taken away by a common or uſual Sign. The ancient Poets had a better Philoſophy (though they knew not the original of it) when they feigned Iris to be the Daughter, or (as we would now ſpeak) the Mother of wonderment (foreign) the Meſſenger of the great God Jupiter, and his Goddeſs Juno: Whom Homer (as he obſerves) repreſents as ſent with a peremptory command to Neptune not to aid the Graecians; by the ſwelling, we may ſuppoſe, of Waters which much annoyed the Trojans.
My Bow.] It is called His, not only becauſe he is the Author of all things, which have natural cauſes, as there are of this: But becauſe He appointed it to a ſpecial end; as a ſignification and aſſurance of his Mercy to Mankind.
Ver. 14. When I bring a Cloud over the Earth.] i. e. When there are great ſigns of Rain, which come out of the Clouds.
That the Bow ſhall be ſeen in the Cloud.] Not alway, but at certain times; often enough to put Men in mind of this promiſe, and ſtir up their belief of it. For it doth as it were ſay, I will not drown the Earth again, though the Clouds have thickned as if they threatned it. Common Philoſophy teaches us, that the Rain-bow is a natural ſign there will not be much Rain after it appears; but that the Clouds begin to diſperſe. For it is never made in a thick Cloud, but in a thin: So that if it appear after Showers, which come from thick Clouds, it is a token that now they grow thin. But the God of Nature choſe this to be a ſign, that he would never thicken again to ſuch a degree to bring a Deluge upon the Earth. And indeed the admirable Form or Compoſition of this glorious Circle (as the Son of Sirach calls it, Ecclus. XLIII. 12.) bent by the Hands of the moſt High, doth naturally excite one to look beyond the material and efficient cauſe of it, unto the final (as the fore-named Author ſpeaks) And now that we have Moſes his Commentary upon it, we may ſee in the mixt Colours of the Rain-bow, theſe two things; the deſtruction of the old World by Water, and the future conſumption of the preſent World by Fire; whoſe flaming brightneſs is predominant in the wateriſh Humour.
Ver. 15. And I will remember my Covenant, &c.] Look upon it as a Token of my faithfulneſs to my Word.
Ver. 16. I will look upon it, that I may remember, &c.] This is ſpoken after the manner of Men; the more to confirm their belief, that God would not go back with his Word.
Ver 17. And God ſaid, This is the token, &c.] As the Promiſe is repeated twice, to expreſs its certainty, verſe 9.11. So is the Token of it as oft repeated, for the ſame reaſon, verſe 12. and here verſe 17.
Ver 18. And the Sons of Noah, &c.] They are here again named, with reſpect to what follows: But not in their order, as ſhall be proved in its proper place, (X. 21.) for Japhet was the Eldeſt.
And Ham is the Father of Canaan.] This Son of Ham is here alone mentioned, becauſe he was concerned in the following wicked Fact of his Father: And his Poſterity were thoſe wicked People whoſe Country God gave to the Iſraelites.
Ver. 19. And of them was the whole Earth overſpread.] By this it appears, that though Noah lived above Three hundred years after he came out of the Ark, yet begat no more Children; or if he did, none of them lived to have any poſterity.
Ver. 20. Began to be an Husband-man.] To improve the Art of Husbandry; which was underſtood before, but he much advanced it: There being nothing in old time, which the greateſt Men thought more worthy their ſtudy; as we ſee by the Romans themſelves, 'till they were corrupted by the Luxury which their Conqueſts brought in among them.
And he planted a Vineyard.] There were Vines here and there before the Flood; but Noah ſeems to have been the firſt that made a Vineyard, and put them in order. And the firſt, perhaps, that invented Wine-Preſſes, to preſs out the Juice of the Grapes, and make Wine. If he was not the inventer of theſe two, (planting of Vineyards, and making Wine) yet we may well allow him to be the improver of them, as he was of Husbandry.
Ver. 21. And he drank of the Wine, and was drunken.] Being unacquainted with the ſtrength of the Liquor, (as ſeveral of the Fathers, as well as of the Jewiſh Doctors, think) or elſe being old and unable to bear its ſtrength: As Epiphanius underſtands it. See Haereſ. LXIII. n. 3. For it is manifeſt, from what follows, that this hapned a great while after the Flood; Ham having a Son; nay more than one, for Canaan was not his firſt-born.
And he was uncovered in his Tent.] The heat of the Weather, or of the Wine, perhaps, made him throw off the Clothes: Or he was negligent being not himſelf.
Ver. 22. And Ham the Father of Canaan, &c.] There are ſome circumſtances, which follow, that make the Opinion of the Hebrew Doctors not improbable; that Canaan firſt ſaw Noah in this indecent poſture, and made ſport with it to his Father: Who was ſo far from reproving him, as he ought to have done, that he alſo did the ſame.
And told his two Brethren without.] In the Street, publickly before the People, he proclaimed his Father's ſhame, and mock'd at it. For it is hard to think that God curſed him meerly for his irreverence, but there was ſomething of deriſion joyned with it, and perhaps of prophaneneſs and irreligion: in laughing (we may conceive) at the promiſe of the Meſſiah, which, it is likely, he heard his Father often ſpeak of; but now thought him incapable to beget. For Ham is generally thought to have been an impious Man; and ſome take him to have been the firſt inventor of Idols after the Flood; nay, of Magick, which he learnt of the wicked Cainites before the Flood. Thus Gaſpar Schottus, L. I. de Magia, cap. 3. prolegom. Where he endeavours to ſhow he was the ſame with him whom the Perſians call Zoroaſter.
Ver. 23. And Shem and Japhet took a Garment, &c.] A great argument of their Piety, and dutiful affection to their Father; which God therefore greatly rewarded.
Ver. 24. And knew what his younger Son had done.] Finding himſelf covered with Clothes that were not his own, he enquired, it is likely, how it came about: And was informed how he had been abuſed by one of his Sons, and honoured by the other.
His younger Son.] Some make this an Argument that Canaan was the firſt made himſelf merry with his Grandfather: And is here called his younger or little Son (nothing being more common than to call thoſe the Sons of another, who were his Grand-Children, as Couſin-Germans are called Brothers) for Ham was neither little, nor his younger Son; but the middlemoſt, as he is always placed. Nor doth it ſeem at all pertinent to the matter, to mention the Order of his birth; but very fit, if he ſpake of his Grandſon, to diſtinguiſh him from the reſt. And what follows is a farther proof of it.
Ver. 25. Curſed be Canaan, &c.] If what I ſaid before, (verſe 22, 24,) be allowed, it makes it eaſie to give an account why Canaan is curſed rather than Ham; becauſe he was firſt guilty. Ham indeed was puniſhed in him: But he had other Sons, on whom the puniſhment did not fall, but only on this. For which I can find no reaſon ſo probable as that before named. Which if it be not allowed, we muſt have recourſe to an harſh interpretation; and by Canaan underſtand Canaan's Father, as ſome do.
A Servant of Servants.] That is, the baſeſt and vileſt of Servants. See the next Verſe.
Ver. 26. Bleſſed be the LORD God of Shem.] The LORD, was the God of Shem, after a peculiar manner, juſt as he was the God of Abraham, becauſe of the gracious Covenant made with him: For God ſetled his Church in the Family of Shem; and Chriſt was born of his poſterity; and he himſelf, in all likelyhood, kept up the Worſhip of the true God, and oppoſed Idolatry. In ſhort, to be the God of Shem, was to beſtow all manner of bleſſings upon him; which Noah here propheſies to him, by bleſſing the LORD for them: Whom he acknowledges to be the Author of them, out of his ſpecial grace and favour towards him. For he was the younger Brother of Japhet, as I ſhall ſhew, X. 21. Thus Jacob interprets this Phraſe, XXIX. 19, 20.
And Canaan ſhall be his ſervant.] This was fulfilled eight hundred Years after, when the Iſraelites, (who were deſcended from Shem,) took poſſeſſion of the Land of Canaan; ſubduing thirty of their Kings; killing moſt of the Inhabitants; laying heavy Tributes upon the Remainder; and uſing the Gibeonites (who ſaved themſelves by a wile) though not as Servants to them, yet as mere Drudges for the ſervice of the Tabernacle. Whoſe Name David is thought to have changed into Nethanim, (Ezra VIII. 20.) People who had voluntarily ſurrendred themſelves, (as they did to Joſhua when he had diſcovered their Fraud,) to do what he would with them. Solomon alſo made all the remainders of the People of Canaan ſubject to ſervile Labours, when all the Iſraelites were free, as is plainly ſignified, 2 Chron. VIII. 7, 8, 9. And ſee Joſeph. Antiq. L. VIII. c. 2. Thus, as the Bleſſing promiſed to Abraham, was not fulfilled in his own Perſon, but in his Poſterity, many Generations after his death; ſo this Curſe upon Cham, did not take place till the ſame time: The execution of God's Curſe upon the one, being his conferring of a Bleſſing upon the other.
Ver. 27. God ſhall inlarge Japhet.] i. e. His Habitation; for God gave him, for his Poſſeſſion, all the Iſles of the Sea Weſtward, and thoſe Countries near to them, as Spain, Italy, Greece, Aſia the leſs, &c. as Bochart hath obſerved in his Phaleg, L. I. c. 1. Who further notes, That in the Hebrew word for inlarge there is a plain alluſion to Japhet's Name; as there is to many others in Scripture; Noah, verſe 29. Judah, Dan, Gad, &c. XLIX. 8, 16, 19. They that tranſlate this word perſuade, (as it is in the Margin,) did not conſider, that it is commonly taken in a bad Sence, when it is ſo uſed, for deceiving and ſeducing: And that it governs, as Grammarians ſpeak, an Accuſative Caſe, and not a Dative, (as it doth here,) when it ſignifies to allure or perſuade. In ſhort, this is a Promiſe of a very large Portion to Japhet's Poſterity in the Diviſion of the Earth. Which was but neceſſary; for that part of the World which bends to the North being aſſigned to him, vaſt Regions were requiſite for ſuch a numerous Offspring as were likely to come from him: The fruitfulneſs of People being wonderfully great in cold Climates. And accordingly, beſides all Europe, and the leſſer Aſia, there fell to the ſhare of his Poſterity, Media, part of Armenia, Iberia, Albania, and the vaſt Regions towards the North, which anciently the Scythians, now the Tartars, inhabited: From whom the People of the New World (as we call it) ſeem to be derived; the Scythians going thither by the Streights of Anian. Of which more upon X. 32.
Moſes hath not told us, what were the Names of any of their Wives, but the Greeks have given to Japetus his Wife the Name of foreign, (as Heſiod calls her,) becauſe ſhe was the Mother of ſo many famous Nations. So Voſſius, L. I. De Orig. Idolol. c. 18. And Campanella's Obſervation in this Verſe is, That all Empires deſcended from the Sons of Japhet. L. De Monarchia Hiſpan. c. 4. Which may be true of the great Empires, but the Egyptians ſeem to have been the firſt conſiderable Princes, and Nimrod was of the Race of Ham.
And he ſhall dwell in the Tents of Shem.] i. e. His Territories ſhall be ſo dilated, that in future times he ſhall poſſeſs ſome of his Brother's Countries: Which is alſo propheſied of, Numb. XXIV. 24. where it is ſaid they of Cittim ſhall afflict the Children of Aſſur and Eber: i. e. Afflict the Aſſyrians and the Hebrews, who were of the Poſterity of Shem. And ſo both the Greeks and the Romans did, who invaded and conquered that part of Aſia which belonged to Shem. The Chaldee Paraphraſt gives a Spiritual Interpretation of this Paſſage, which is very apt, That the Gentiles ſhould come into the Church, which was in the Family of Shem. And it is very remarkable, (which is obſerved by our Mr. Mede, B. I. Diſc. 48.) That all the Offspring of Japhet are at this day Chriſtians, Magog only excepted, (i. e. the Turks,) whom God ſeems to have reſerved, as he did ſome of the Canaanites in the Land of Iſrael, to prove and puniſh us withall. Our learned N. Fuller gives a quite different Interpretation from all theſe, making God the Subject of this Speech, not Japhet; and thus tranſlates it: God ſhall dwell in the Tents of Shem; among them ſhall be the Schechinah, or the Divine Majeſty. But this doth not agree with what follows.
And Canaan ſhall be his ſervant.] The Greeks and Romans deſcended from Japhet conquered Canaan: And whatſoever Relicks there were of them any where, (for inſtance at Tyre, built by the Sidonians; at Thebes, by Cadmus; at Carthage, by Dido;) they were all cut off by the Greeks or Romans. It is obſerved by Campanella, That None are deſcended from Cham, but Slaves; and Tyrants, who are indeed Slaves, Cap. IV. De Mon. Hiſpan. But Mr. Mede's Obſervation is more pertinent, (in the fore-named Diſcourſe, p. 358.) There hath never yet been a Son of Cham, that hath ſhaken a Scepter over the Head of Japhet. Sem hath ſubdued Japhet, and Japhet ſubdued Sem: But Cham never ſubdued either. Which made Hannibal, a Child of Canaan, cry out with amazement of Soul, Agnoſco fatum Carthaginis, I acknowledge the Fate of Carthage. Livy, L. XXVII. in fine.
Ver. 28. And Noah lived after the Flood three hundred and fifty Years.] Which was of great Advantage for the certain Propagation of the Knowledge of thoſe things before related, and of thoſe that follow in the next Chapter. For he died not above two and thirty Years before Abraham was born.