Genesis 9:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: After the flood Noah lived 350 years.

NIV: After the flood Noah lived 350 years.

NASB: Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

CSB: Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

NLT: Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood.

KJV: And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

NKJV: And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

The years from the beginning of the flood until the death of Noah were 350. That would have allowed Noah to live to see his grandchildren begin to increase in number. Noah would have lived to see their children and grandchildren begin to spread out across the earth. This is part of Noah's blessing in obeying God (Genesis 6:9)—the chance to see those promises fulfilled.

Prior to the flood, God made a remark about mankind, referring to 120 years (Genesis 6:3). Some scholars believe this was a reference to the amount of time left before God planned to send the flood. Others see this as God intentionally limiting the lifespans of human beings. The context of the remark is humanity's pervasive evil (Genesis 6:5); after the flood, lifespans begin to drop dramatically. Patriarchs such as Adam, Seth, and Methuselah live some nine hundred years, as will Noah. Genesis chapter 11, however, will describe a line of descendants whose days rapidly decrease.

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.

Chapters 6, 7, and 8 describe God's destruction of the world in a massive flood. Now, in Genesis 9, Scripture describes God's dealings with Noah and his sons following the flood. First, God blesses them and gives specific instructions, including the command to fill the earth. Next, God expands on His promise to never again end all life on earth a flood. Finally, Noah curses Ham and blesses Shem and Japheth after Ham tells his brothers about seeing Noah passed out drunk and naked. Chapters 10 and 11 will sketch out the history of mankind from Noah to Abraham.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.

Accessed 5/8/2024 5:36:39 PM