Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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:
- KJV And 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:
- BSB And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
- NKJV And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
- NASB God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God gives a sign to mark His covenant for all generations to come. He attaches a visible token to His enduring promise.
Overview
God announces that He will give a perpetual sign of the covenant He has made with Noah and every living creature. Covenant signs are gracious helps, fixing God's promises before our eyes. As the rainbow seals the Noahic covenant, so signs like baptism and the Lord's Supper seal the new covenant secured in Christ's blood.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 17:11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.
- Matt 26:26–28As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”
- Exod 12:13The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.
- Gen 9:17God said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
- 1 Cor 11:23–25For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
- Exod 13:16It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us out of Egypt.”
- Josh 2:12Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true sign;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 9:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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