P Source - Covenant and Commands (9:1-17)

Genesis 9:1-7 #p-source

“So Elohim blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood…’”

  • Divine Blessing: Formal blessing formula
  • Procreation Command: Fill the earth
  • Animal Fear: Changed human-animal relationship
  • Dietary Expansion: Meat now permitted
  • Blood Prohibition: Life is in the blood
  • Universal Dominion: All animals given to humans

Genesis 9:8-11 #p-source

“Then Elohim spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ‘And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’”

  • Covenant Establishment: Formal covenant language
  • Universal Scope: All living creatures included
  • Flood Promise: Never again by flood
  • Eternal Commitment: Perpetual covenant

Genesis 9:12-17 #p-source

“And Elohim said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth… And it shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant…’”

  • Rainbow Sign: Visible covenant reminder
  • Perpetual Generations: Eternal covenant
  • Divine Remembrance: God will remember covenant
  • Universal Covenant: Between God and earth

Noah’s Drunkenness (9:18-29)

Genesis 9:18-19 #j-source

“Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.”

  • Sons Listed: Shem, Ham, Japheth
  • Canaan Introduction: Ham’s son mentioned
  • Population Source: Whole earth from these three

Genesis 9:20-23 #j-source

“And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.”

  • Agricultural Return: Noah as farmer
  • Viticulture Beginning: First vineyard
  • Human Weakness: Even righteous Noah sins
  • [[Ham’s Disrespect]]: Sees and reports nakedness
  • [[Brothers’ Respect]]: Shem and Japheth cover father

Genesis 9:24-27 #j-source

“So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. And he said: ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.’ And he said: ‘Blessed be the YHWH, the Elohim of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant.’”

  • Prophetic Curse: Canaan cursed for Ham’s sin
  • Tribal Blessing: Shem blessed
  • [[Japheth’s Expansion]]: Dwelling in Shem’s tents
  • Etiological Purpose: Explains Canaanite subjugation

Genesis 9:28-29 #p-source

“And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.”

  • Post-Flood Lifespan: 350 years after flood
  • Total Lifespan: 950 years
  • Death Formula: P’s characteristic ending