Genesis 9:13

_I DO SET MY BOW IN THE CLOUD, AND IT SHALL BE FOR A TOKEN OF A COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND THE EARTH._ I do set my bow in the cloud, х_ NAATATIY_ (H5414)] - I appoint, or constitute, since the word is used elsewhere (Numbers 14:4; 1 Samuel 12:13; 1 Kings 2:35). the rainbow, being the natural effect of the refraction and reflection of the sun's rays falling upon drops of water, must have been a phenomenon familiar to the minds of Noah and his antediluvian contemporaries; but it now for the first time had a symbolic signification attached to it, which must have rendered its appearance exceedingly welcome to the first ages after the flood. It was not the covenan

13._I do set my bow in the cloud_. From these words certain eminent theologians have been induced to deny, that there was any rainbow before the deluge: which is frivolous. For the words of Moses do not signify, that a bow was then formed which did not previously exist; but that a mark was engraven upon it, which should give a sign of the divine favor towards men. That this may the more evidently appear, it will be well to recall to memory what we have elsewhere said, that some signs are natural, and some preternatural. And although there are many examples of this second class of signs in the Scriptures; yet they are peculiar, and do not belong to the common and perpetual use of the Church. For, as it pleases the Lord to employ earthly elements, as vehicles for raising the minds of men on high, so I think the celestial arch which had before existed naturally, is here consecrated into a s...

8-17 As the old world was ruined, to be a monument of justice, so this world remains to this day a monument of mercy. But sin, that drowned the old world, will burn this. Articles of agreement among men are sealed, that what is promised may be the more solemn, and the doing of what is covenanted the more sure to mutual satisfaction. The seal of this covenant was the rainbow, which, it is likely, was seen in the clouds before, but was never a seal of the covenant till now it was made so. The rainbow appears when we have most reason to fear the rain prevailing; God then shows this seal of the promise, that it shall not prevail. The thicker the cloud, the brighter the bow in the cloud. Thus, as threatening afflictions abound, encouraging consolations much more abound. The rainbow is the reflection of the beams of the sun shining upon or through the drops of rain: all the glory of the seals...

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

- 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...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 9:8 AND GOD SPAKE—in continuation of the preceding discourse—UNTO NOAH, AND TO HIS SONS WITH HIM, SAYING. GENESIS 9:9 AND I, BEHOLD, I ESTABLISH—literally, am _causing to rise up or stand_;_ _ἀνιìστημι (LXX.)—MY COVENANT (cf. Genesis 6:18) WITH YOU, AND WITH YOUR SEED AFTER YOU. I_.e._ the covenant contemplated all subsequent posterity in its provisions, and, along with the human family, the entire animal creation....

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 whe...

Genesis 9:8. _And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, sayings, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth._ Happy fowls, and happy cattle, and happy beasts of the earth to be connected with Noah, and go to come under a covenant of preservation and we, though only worthy to be typified by these creatures which God had preserved in the ark, are thrice happy to be in the same covenant with him who is our Noah, our rest, our sweet savour unto God. Genesis 9:11. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of

BOW The bow is not said to have come into existence at this time, but only to have been here invested with the character of a sign. Compare (Exodus 31:13). Typically, the bow, seen upon the storm clouds of judgment (Genesis 7:11) has been thought to speak of the cross where judgment, never to be repeated has been visted upon the believer's sins. (Galatians 3:10); (Hebrews 10:14)....

CHAPTER 9 The Earth Replenished _ 1. The divine commission (Genesis 9:1)_ 2. The covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:8) 3. The token of the covenant (Genesis 9:12) 4. The family of Noah (Genesis 9:18) 5. Noah's drunkenness (Genesis 9:20) 6. Noah's prophecy (Genesis 9:25) 7. Noah's death (Genesis 9:28) A new start is made after