And God said, This is the sign of the covenant that I set between me and you and every living soul that is with you, for everlasting generations
God has just brought Noah's family out of the ark into a world washed by judgment. Now He speaks a promise, not a command, and He gives that promise a visible sign. Notice who the promise covers: not Noah alone, but every living creature, and not one lifetime, but all generations to come.
The verse sits at a hinge in the chapter. The opening verses gave Noah a new order for life on earth, and then God turned from ruling to pledging.
In Genesis 9:8-11 God establishes His covenant with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still stands on a merciful pledge that cannot fail. Neither of these applied to the world before the flood. In the verses that follow (12-17) God kindly gives a sign or token of His covenant with the earth. Of a covenant with Noah we first hear in Genesis 6:18.
Noah had offered a burnt offering. God's pledge follows on that.
God makes a covenant with Noah and with the creation, and as the witness of it He gives the rainbow… God gave this covenant to the earth right after the sacrifice of Noah, which is a picture of the sacrifice of Christ.
The verse sets no terms for Noah to keep. God says what He will do.
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. The wording of God's promise clearly implies that mankind had never seen a rainbow before.
A sign answers a fear. Survivors of a flood have every reason to dread the next dark sky. The sign God chose meets that dread: it cannot appear without the very cloud that frightens them.
So the goodness of God pledged in the bow He set in the cloud brings immense comfort. As a rule you do not see the bow unless there is rain. You see it only when the sun shines bright at your back from the opposite quarter of the sky. So no sign could be more fitting. The rain might awaken fears; the glorious bow was fitted to calm them. This was God's own way of assuring man of His unfailing covenant.
Commentators differ on whether the rainbow itself was new. Hole reads the wording as proof that no one had seen one before. The Bible Treasury holds that Scripture leaves the question open, and that God may have taken a familiar sight and given it a new and merciful meaning.
God sets the sign in the sky, above human reach. The following verses say He will look at it and remember.
The Lord God makes a covenant with Noah and with all the creatures around him. He will keep the earth safe from a second flood. As a token of this, He hangs the bow in the cloud, up there under His own eye, that He may look on it, and so remember His promise… The cloud might threaten, and swell itself with water; the bow should control it. The cloud might frown; the bow should smile… And God set the creation on sure conditions, not on conditions that could fail.
The verse names animals alongside people. That reach traces back to the altar Noah built.
Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and every living thing that was with them… The earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, so far the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt… The earth as well as man had a share in the covenant, and the creature will one day rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.
The rainbow does not stay in Genesis.
The bow God set in the cloud long ago, with its many colours and varied beauty, is the token of His covenant with the earth (Gen. 9:9-17)… It is God's object lesson for the human race. It is a public sign hung out in the heavens, so that all may see and learn that God is good. The last mention of the rainbow shows it over the head of the Lord as He claims the earth in power (Rev. 10:1).
- Cause. The covenant follows Noah's burnt offering, a picture of the sacrifice of Christ. The earth's blessing rests on that sacrifice.
- Gift. God adds a sign to His word: not a duty for man, but a promise of God that depends on no faithfulness of the creature.
- Fitness. The bow only appears with the cloud, so the very thing that stirs fear now carries the assurance that calms it.
- Reach. The pledge covers Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. It is the widest covenant God has made, and it still stands.
- Result. God set the bow where He Himself looks at it. It appears again in Revelation, over the One who claims the earth.
I set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
The flood is over, and God gives a promise, not a warning — tied to something Noah could see in the sky whenever rain returned. Three questions follow: what did God "set" there, who is the sign for, and how far does the covenant reach?
The wording puts the act on God's side. He does not just point out something in nature. He gives it a meaning it did not carry before.
The bow is given as the token of the covenant; that does not mean it was created then. God could, of course, have put plenty of clouds above the earth without a rainbow. He says, "I do set my bow."
J. N. Darby (older translations read "I do set my bow in the cloud")
Commentators differ on whether the rainbow itself was new. One writer treats the question as unanswerable and points to the new meaning instead:
It is a pointless question, because Scripture has not given us enough evidence to settle it. Was the rainbow seen then for the first time, or was it well known in the earliest ages?... The least we can draw from the words is that God was now, after the flood, pleased to attach a new and merciful meaning to it.
The sign meets the moment when fear returns — when the sky darkens again.
So there is immense comfort in the bow God's goodness pledged when He set it in the cloud. As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain, and only when the sun shines behind you from the opposite side of the sky. No sign could fit better. If the rain might stir up fear, the beautiful bow had every right to calm it, because God Himself was pleased to assure man of His unfailing covenant.
Another writer holds the two halves together — the cloud God brings, and the bow God sets:
"I bring a cloud... I do set My bow." We may not separate these two, nor look at one apart from the other. It is good for us to remember that man — himself and his works — is only fit for judgment. It is just as good to remember what God is, or the soul must sink into despair.
The sign is not only for human eyes.
The bow in the cloud is man's assurance; but it is more, it is God's memorial of the new relationship into which He has entered with His creatures. His eye is on the bow, and not man's only. So He gives them fellowship with Himself in a sign that speaks of peace in the middle of trouble, and of light in the place of darkness.
The covenant this sign confirms carries no conditions for Noah to keep. This writer also takes the wording as proof that the rainbow itself was new:
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. The words, "I do set My bow in the cloud," clearly imply that no one had ever seen a rainbow before.
The promise rules out one kind of judgment, not every judgment:
Another universal judgment by water will never come again (verse 15). Another judgment is in store for this planet. "The world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly."
The colours themselves carry meaning.
This is a lovely picture of God's glory, for "God is light." Each colour stands for some part of God's many attributes — supremacy, power, authority, grace, righteousness, holiness, love... So all the glory of God is bound up in His promise never again to judge the world by a universal flood.
That same pattern — glory shining out of a storm — appears again at the cross:
There was a cloud indeed — a dark, thick, heavy cloud of judgment pouring itself out on the sacred head of the Lamb of God... But, thank God, faith sees in that heaviest cloud that ever gathered the most brilliant and beautiful bow that ever appeared.
- Set, not found. God takes the bow and makes it His token. The covenant rests on His act of giving the sign, not on where the rainbow came from.
- Cloud, then bow. The sign appears only where there is cloud. God joins the reminder of judgment to the reminder of what He is, so fear does not turn into despair.
- His eye first. The bow is man's assurance, but it is also God's memorial. His own eye is on it, and that is why the promise holds.
- No conditions, wide reach. God makes the covenant with Noah, all creation, and the earth itself, and it depends on no faithfulness from the creature.
- Glory out of the storm. Colour after judgment pictures God showing His own glory — and faith sees that glory most clearly at the cross.
And it shall come to pass when I bring clouds over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
The bow set in the cloud is God's answer to a world that had just watched water swallow everything. So why did God tie the sign to the very thing people would fear most — the gathering cloud?
The promise attached to this sign asks nothing of Noah in return.
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. The words, "I do set My bow in the cloud," clearly suggest that no one had ever seen a rainbow before.
Commentators differ on whether the rainbow itself was new. Others read the verb as appointment rather than creation:
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 think it more likely that no one saw a rainbow before the flood, since the air was in a different state then from what it became after the flood.
The survivors of the flood had a reason to dread bad weather.
Men had good reason to tremble after that terrible disaster. Dark clouds covered the sky, the rain fell in torrents, and tidal waves rose with overwhelming force. An accusing conscience would speak even louder of the disaster they had just lived through. Man naturally expects that what happened once will happen again. He expects it all the more if old sins still ruled and new evils sprang up.
Notice that the verse names the cloud, not the rain — and that detail is exact.
As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain. And you see it only when the sun shines brightly at your back, from the opposite side of the sky. So no sign could be more fitting. If the rain might stir up fears, the glorious bow had every right to calm them. God Himself gladly chose this way to assure man of His unfailing covenant. The accuracy is even more striking. The words run, "When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds." Rain does not seem strictly necessary, but cloud is.
The verse says the bow will be seen. Scripture then adds that God Himself looks at it.
We look at the cloud; God looks at the bow. What grace is here! He says, "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it." The bow tells of God's unchangeable faithfulness and mercy when all is over with man. This is the ground we are on with God.
Cloud and bow appear together again in a scene of coming judgment.
The mighty angel, the angel of judgment, comes down. He is clothed with a cloud, the frightening vessel of wrath and sign of judgment. This is what God said at the beginning: "When I bring clouds over the earth." But even then the rainbow is with Him... It is not simply with a cloud He comes down, but with the cloud and the bow accompanying it. See Gen. 9:14; Rev. 10:1. This tells us that at the very end He remembers His word, and will hold judgment in check. He will say to it, "You may come this far, and no farther." ... The cloud carries out its commission and pours out its waters, or its judgments, again. But it must stop in obedience to the bow that measures and controls it.
Since God brings the cloud, the sign is meant for your own trouble too.
My fellow-believer, in all the trials of the way God would have us see the bow in the cloud. Think of this in your present trial, which He has allowed. Think of the thing that distresses you most of all, which perhaps no other Christian knows anything about. These words are written for you... The cloud may be dark and gloomy, but there is a beauty in it painted by His own hand, and it tells you, despite everything, what He is to you. And remember, whether you see it or not, IT IS THERE.
- Cloud. God fixed the sign to the very thing men feared after the flood: a sky filling with water again.
- Bow. He gives it as an unconditional promise. It rests on His faithfulness, not on anything Noah does.
- Seen. The bow appears only with cloud and with sunlight behind you. No sign could match the words of the verse better.
- Looked upon. Man watches the cloud; God watches the bow, and it is His eye on it that keeps the promise alive.
- Held back. Right to the last judgments, the cloud must stop where the bow says stop — so read your own dark sky the same way.
and I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall not henceforth become a flood to destroy all flesh.
The words of this verse are God's own reason for hanging a bow in the sky: when clouds gather over the earth, He binds Himself to remember what He has promised. Two things stand out. The promise reaches beyond Noah to every living creature. And God is the one who remembers, not man.
The flood had shown what God could do. Would He do it again? This covenant settles the question.
God sets up His covenant to cut off the least fear from every heart that trusted Him. No flood will destroy all flesh again, and God will not deal with the earth in any such way. Without such a covenant, what could guilty man expect but repeated strokes of the same judgment that had just swept them all away? Would not old sins renewed and fresh sins added provoke the same punishment? Not so; God's covenant with man and the earth steps in absolutely.
The verse ties the promise to the moment clouds appear. That is the very moment a flood survivor would fear most. The wording is also precise about what the bow needs.
This is the immense comfort God's goodness pledged in the bow He set in the cloud. As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain. And you only see it when the sun shines at your back from the opposite quarter of the sky. No sign could be more fitting. If the rain might wake fears, the glorious bow was there to calm them; for God Himself in this way assured man of His unfailing covenant. The accuracy is all the more striking. The terms run, "When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant." So "rain" does not seem strictly necessary, but "cloud" is.
The bow is not only for human eyes. God sets it where He Himself will see it, and He says the remembering is His.
The Lord God makes a covenant with Noah, and with all the creatures around him, that He will keep the earth safe from a second flood. As a sign of this, He hangs the bow in the cloud, up there under His own eye, so that He may look on it and so remember His promise. The cloud might threaten and swell with water; the bow would control it. The cloud might frown; the bow would smile.
The promise names every living creature of all flesh. One writer traces that reach back to the sacrifice Noah had just offered.
Because of the sacrifice, God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, and their seed after them. He included every living thing that was with them — birds, cattle, beasts of the earth, everything that came out of the ark. The earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, there the blessed results of the burnt offering would be felt... The covenant took in the earth as well as man, as the creation will one day rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.
The pledge is specific: never again by water. That precision matters, because Scripture speaks of a judgment still ahead.
The rainbow speaks of a judgment now past, of His salvation and His remembrance. Another universal judgment by water will never come again (verse 15). But another judgment is in store for this planet. "The world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 3:6-7).
The same sign appears again in Scripture. Its meaning holds even when judgment falls.
The rainbow was the seal of God's covenant with the earth, an agreement in which He pledged Himself never again to visit the earth with a flood. So the rainbow appears as a complete circle around the throne, alongside all the judgments about to come from that throne upon the earth. It is as if to remind us that God would act according to the terms of that covenant. He will never forget the pledge He has given, and all the judgments of the great tribulation will not wipe it out.
- Cause — a flood had happened once, so survivors had every reason to dread the next dark sky. The covenant cuts that fear off.
- Sign — the bow needs cloud to appear at all. So the very thing that threatens frames the promise: the cloud frowns, the bow smiles.
- Memory — God places the sign where He Himself will look at it; the remembering is His work, not our effort to hold Him to His word.
- Reach — the covenant rests on the sacrifice Noah offered. It stretches as wide as sin's damage went: every living creature, and the earth itself.
- Limit — the pledge is against water, not against all judgment. A day of fire is still coming, and the bow around God's throne shows the promise still standing.
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth.
This verse ends God's covenant with Noah on a striking note. God Himself looks at the bow He set in the sky. That raises two questions. Why would God, who forgets nothing, need a reminder? And how far does this covenant reach?
The key words in the verse are God's own "I will remember." One writer draws out whose memory the world now rests on:
The whole creation rests, as to its exemption from a second deluge, on the eternal stability of God's covenant, of which the bow is the token; and it is happy to bear in mind that when the bow appears, the eye of God rests upon it; and man is cast not upon his own imperfect and most uncertain memory, but upon God's. "I," says God, "will remember." How sweet to think of what God will, and what He will not remember! He will remember His own covenant, but He will not remember His people's sins.
The bow never appears alone. It appears in the cloud, and each of the two says something different about God:
If God has swept man away once in the judgment of the flood, then whatever the cloud may be, it declares again what He thinks of the first man. If mercy has shown itself and we are spared, we must still never forget that His estimate of what we are is on record, and that the same cloud bears witness to it again. And the bow in the cloud declares His faithfulness to His promise... We look at the cloud; God looks at the bow. What grace is here! He says, "When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it."
A rainbow needs both rain and sunshine. One writer shows why that makes it such a fitting sign:
So God's goodness pledged immense comfort in the bow He set in the cloud. As a rule the bow only shows when there is rain, and only when the sun shines behind you from the opposite side of the sky. No sign could fit better. If the rain might stir up fear, the glorious bow had every right to calm it; for God Himself stooped to assure man of His unfailing covenant.
The parties named in the verse are God and "every living creature of all flesh" — not one nation, not even only mankind. That breadth is deliberate:
Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and every creature set under man: the largest covenant God ever made, and still subsisting under a merciful pledge that cannot fail.
God established this covenant on the ground of a sacrifice. One writer traces how far the benefit of that offering reached:
Because of the sacrifice God established His covenant with Noah, his sons, their descendants after them, and with every living thing that was with them... So the earth and all connected with it shared in the benefits of the sacrifice. As far as the consequences of man's sin had reached on earth, so far the blessed results of the burnt offering would reach... The earth as well as man had a share in the covenant, and one day creation will rejoice in the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.
This covenant belongs to the earth as it now stands. One writer traces how long it lasts:
The bow in the cloud is the sign, or token, of this covenant with creation. Under it the earth has continued to the present time, and it will continue all through the millennial (thousand-year) period. Then Christ will hand the kingdom over to the Father, and the heaven and the earth will pass away. They will give place to the new heaven and the new earth — the everlasting state — in which God will be all in all.
The last book of the Bible shows a rainbow encircling God's throne, and readers of Genesis are meant to recognise it:
Here the rainbow is God's remembrance of His covenant with the earth... God is about to pour out judgments on the earth, and on those who had the responsibility of being His people. But He takes pains to show that, before a single judgment falls, there is mercy in store. Before He touches creation, there is the sign of His covenant with the earth... The rainbow was the witness that God had not let go of His ancient word: He could not forget it.
- Sacrifice first. God set this covenant on the ground of a burnt offering, not on better behaviour from man.
- God's memory. God sets the bow and God looks at it; the safety of the world hangs on His "I will remember," not on ours.
- Widest reach. The covenant takes in every living creature and the earth itself, not just Noah and his family.
- Seen in the storm. The bow only appears with the cloud, so the reminder of mercy comes just when fear does.
- Still standing. The bow reaches even to God's throne, showing mercy before judgment falls, and it holds until this earth gives place to the new.
And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
God names the sign of the covenant one last time, and He says how far it reaches: not Noah's family alone, but all flesh on the earth. Why tie a promise to something as fleeting as a coloured arch in the sky? And what does that arch say about God?
The verse closes a section that began in verse 8. One writer measures its scale against every other agreement God has made.
Genesis 9:8-11 give the covenant God established with mankind and with every creature set under man. It is the largest covenant God ever made, and it still holds good under a merciful pledge that cannot fail. Neither the one nor the other applied to the earth before the flood. In the verses that follow (12-17) God chooses to give a sign or token of His covenant with the earth.
Notice who does the establishing. Only one side takes on anything here.
This covenant made with Noah and all creation was unconditional. It was a covenant of promise, not depending on any faithfulness of the creature. It was something new. God's words about setting His bow in the cloud clearly imply that mankind had never seen a rainbow before.
Commentators differ on that last point. Another writer says the text cannot settle it, and holds to what the words will certainly bear:
At the very least, the words mean that God was now, since the flood, pleased to attach a new and merciful meaning to it. For men might well tremble after that terrible disaster. Dark clouds had covered the skies, the rain had fallen in torrents, and tidal waves had risen over everything.
A bow needs both storm and sunlight. That is what makes it the right answer to fear.
So God's goodness pledged immense comfort in the bow He set in the cloud. As a rule you do not see it unless there is rain, of course. And you only see it when the sun shines brightly behind you, from the opposite side of the sky. No sign could be more appropriate. If the rain might awaken fears, the glorious bow was fit to calm them. In this way God Himself chose to assure man of His unfailing covenant.
Man sees the bow. But God says He looks at it too, which turns a reassurance into something shared.
Last of all, God ratifies the covenant and gives a token to confirm it. The bow in the cloud is man's assurance. But it is more. It is God's own memorial of the new relationship He has entered into with His creatures. His eye, and not man's only, is upon the bow. So He gives them fellowship with Himself in a sign that speaks of peace in the middle of trouble, and of light in the place of darkness.
The bow is more than a reminder. Its colours carry a message.
Pure white light divides into seven distinct visible colours. They always appear in the same order, and each colour of the spectrum has a beauty of its own. This is a lovely picture of God's glory, for "God is light." Each colour stands for some particular aspect of God's many attributes: supremacy, power, authority, grace, righteousness, holiness, love, and others. So all the glory of God is involved in His promise that He will not again judge the world by means of a universal flood.
The covenant did not lapse when God turned to other work. One writer applies the bow to the present day.
The Lord is now gathering a people for heaven. He is not filling the earth with glory yet, but gathering out a chosen family to have communion with Himself in heaven. Still He is mindful of His promise. He looks on the bow and preserves the earth. He keeps seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, day and night, summer and winter, in their fixed rounds and seasons.
Scripture mentions the bow one last time, and its message has not changed.
The bow set in the cloud long ago, with its many colours and varied beauty, is the token of God's covenant with the earth. It is God's object lesson for the human race, a public sign hung out in the heavens so that all may see and learn that God is good. The last mention of the rainbow shows it over the head of the Lord, when in power He asserts His claim to the earth.
- Largest. Of every covenant in Scripture this one is the widest, made not with a family or a nation but with all flesh on the earth.
- Unconditional. It is a covenant of promise. Nothing in it depends on man's faithfulness, so nothing man does can cancel it.
- Fitted. The sign needs cloud and sunlight together. The sky that once frightened men now reassures them.
- Shared. God says He will look at the bow too, making it His memorial as much as man's, and giving fellowship with Himself.
- Lasting. The seasons still run their rounds because He remembers. The bow appears again over the head of the Lord when He claims the earth.