Genesis 9:1-7
2006.Nov.09 09:41
Life is in the blood
Read Genesis 9:1-7 | Full Chapter
Apologies, but I really like the feel of this passage in the King’s English
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And let the fear of you and the dread of you be upon every animal of the earth, and upon all fowl of the heavens: upon all that moveth [on] the ground; and upon all the fishes of the sea: into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything. Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat. And indeed your blood, [the blood] of your lives, will I require: at the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of Man, at the hand of each [the blood] of his brother, will I require the life of Man. Whoso sheddeth Man’s blood, by Man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God he hath made Man. And ye, be fruitful and multiply: swarm on the earth, and multiply on it.
(Genesis 9:1-7, Darby)
This is something of an odd passage. I guess in that God’s discourse almost seems rambling. So let’s break it down:
- Have kids.
- Let animals fear humans.
- You can eat animals in addition to veggies.
- You shouldn’t eat the animals’ blood.
- If an animal or human spills the blood of a human, blood will be required from it.
- Why? Because God made humans in his image, duh!
- Have kids.
Okay, let’s take points 1, 2, and (excuse me a moment whilst I change to an ordered list…okay) 7. God’s decision to let humanity continue is broadened by his insistence that the species increase, and, apparently, keep the animals in line. Yes, for those of you checking your cross-references, that’s nearly verbatim what God says to Eve and Adam in Genesis 1:28. I assume that God wants humanity to multiply in order for him to have more friends, sort of a divine, pre-historic, MySpace whoring…
…This blog has been interrupted as I pause for any freak flashes of lightning…
…but as for why he wants us to rule over the animals, I don’t really know, unless maybe it’s to prove to us what a bad job we’d make of it…
In Genesis 1:29-30, God followed in his instructions to Humanity 1.0 with "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food" (Genesis 1:29-30, NASB) . For Humanity 2.0, the instructions differ. They are now instructed that they can eat meat. Why? Beats me.
However, God makes the proviso that they are not to eat the animals’ blood, which is it’s life. There follows a good deal about blood. In the CEV, the blood is translated (I think) as “life”:
I created humans to be like me, and I will punish any animal or person that takes a human life. If an animal kills someone, that animal must die. And if a person takes the life of another, that person must be put to death.
(Genesis 9:5-6, CEV)
I could at this point make references to sacrifices, blood avengers, cleanliness, Jesus, etc, but I think it’s more useful (and, frankly, I’m tired of writing this entry) to simply let it sink in. As best I can remember, this is the first time God has made a big deal about blood. Beyond his promise not to destroy the earth again (although my understanding of the great trib seems at least close), this point to me may be one of the most defining differences between the pre- and post-flood humanity and its relation to God: We are to respect blood and the life that it represents. And that does a lot in setting up, well, the rest of the Bible.
