What does Genesis 9:29 mean?
Early men such as Adam, Seth, and Methuselah are credited with lifespans of more than nine hundred years. Noah, however, will be the last to live such a long life. Genesis chapter 11 describes the genealogies of mankind from Noah through to the next major patriarch: Abraham. Over that time period, spanning just eight generations, the length of human lives plummets. Even the great prophet Moses will live to be just 120 years old, while his brother Aaron will live to be 123.This figure of 120 years becomes more or less the maximum lifespan for humanity on the post-flood earth. For this reason, many scholars believe that God's remark about striving with man (Genesis 6:3) was a reference to God purposefully limiting the length of a human life. If so, this was in no small part meant to limit man's ability to inflict evil and violence on the earth (Genesis 6:5).
Genesis 9:18–29 comes immediately after God has established his promise to never again destroy all life with a flood. This includes a sign: the rainbow. The passage reintroduces Noah's three sons as the fathers of all the people of the earth to come. This passage also states that Ham was the father of Canaan. Next, we're told the embarrassing story of when Noah became drunk and lay naked in his tent. After seeing Noah uncovered, Ham went out and told his brothers about it. When Noah woke up, he cursed the descendants of Ham's son Canaan to be subservient to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.
Chapter 9 describes God's interactions with Noah and his sons following the flood. First, God gives blessings and instructions, including the command to reproduce and fill the earth. Next, God makes a unilateral covenant with humanity and animals never to end all life with a flood again. He offers the rainbow as a sign of this promise. Finally, Noah prophesies about the future of his son's descendants after an awkward episode in which Ham talks to his brothers about seeing Noah passed out drunk and naked.
