What Does Genesis 9:17 Mean in the King James?
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The covenant’s sign marks a promise whose reach is not one family, but all flesh upon the earth.
THE MEANING
The covenant stands by God’s act, and its sign makes that commitment visible across all flesh on earth. The reader belongs to that shared earthly life, so the promise’s stated reach extends beyond a single household or people.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The promise is not confined to Noah’s household or one people; the verse names all flesh upon the earth as its reach.
THE ROOT
הֲקִמֹתִי
haqimoti
GROWS FROM
קום
to stand, rise
The word translated “established” carries the sense of causing something to stand. The sign points to a covenant God has set standing; it does not create or hold that commitment together.
ALSO GROWS
qum: to stand, rise
קוּם
This is the root’s basic image: what is established is made to stand.
heqim: to set up, establish
הֵקִים
This related form makes explicit the act of causing something to stand, as in God’s action here.
maqom: place, location
מָקוֹם
The related word for place carries the same root, linking standing with where something has its place.
THE PATTERN
A sign makes a covenant or promise perceptible through a mark in the world, a shared practice, or an embodied seal.
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:THE THREAD
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.The same root קום (qum, “stand, rise”) appears in “I will establish,” showing the covenant as something God causes to stand. Here, as in Genesis 9:17, the promise rests on that act of establishment.
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