Genesis 9:13

I do set my bow in the cloud Better, as marg., I have set. The Hebrew would literally be rendered "I do give," or "have given."

The language is capable of two interpretations:

(1) "I do now, and have just for the first time, set the rainbow in the sky, that mankind may hereafter have a token of the covenant between us."

(2) "I have appointed my bow, which you and mankind have often seen in the heavens, that henceforth it may be for a token of the covenant between us."

The former seems preferable. Hebrew legend explains thus the origin of the rainbow. Of course, it must have been visible from the first, being dependent upon the refraction of the light from the particles of water. The words "my bow" imply either that the bow was a familiar object, or that it was God's gift. The giving of a "token" is not necessarily equivalent to the creation of a feature in nature (cf. Genesis 4:15). Nevertheless, the simplicity of the language favours the most literal interpretation; and the promise in Genesis 9:14 suggests that the rainbow was a new phenomenon.