Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Genesis 9

 

The Koran was written well after the Old Testament, however I find the latter is more cohesive and rational.  Someone raised as a Muslim would probably disagree, but I feel that even if I hadn't been brought up Catholic, the Bible would still be easier to read and interpret.    

Genesis Chapter 9

1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth [upon] the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

I can just see a tiger fearing a man... cowering in his little corner of the jungle. 


3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
4But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

Don't eat raw food... or still living food.  Is sushi not kosher?

5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
6Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

If an animal kills a man, he should be killed.  If a man kills a man, he should be killed.  I'm for capital punishment, but I don't think I agree with killing an animal if it killed a man.  It depends if the man was being really stupid at the time.
 
7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
8And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10And 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.
11And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
12And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations:
13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Aww, God made the rainbow!  When God makes this promise, is you only talking about a flood of such large proportions that would destroy all life on Earth, or also of smaller ones that destroy some life.  Hurricanes and Monsoons cause so much damage and can have high death tolls.  Why didn't God promise to not have those either? 
 
14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
15And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Funny, I see clouds pretty often, but rarely see a rainbow.  Is God forgetting?  Getting lazy?  
 
16And 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 creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth.
17And 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.
18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham [is] the father of Canaan.
19These [are] the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

Score!  So we have an interbred family interbreeding some more!  No wonder they were all believers.
 
20And Noah began [to be] an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid [it] upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces [were] backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

He's going to curse his grandson because he was drunk and naked?  If he's upset because Ham told his brothers how he found his father, then blame Ham, not Ham's son.  And really, this is Noah's fault.  When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (I don't think it ever said it was an apple), they tried to pass the buck and deflect responsibility.  Now Noah is doing the same. 
 
26And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

And he was probably drunk.

No comments:

Post a Comment