I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
- KJV I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
- BSB I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
- NKJV I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
- NASB I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
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 appoints the rainbow as the sign of His covenant with the earth. A common feature of the sky becomes a token of divine promise.
Overview
God designates the rainbow in the clouds as the visible sign of His pledge never again to flood the earth. What might be a reminder of judgment instead becomes a reminder of mercy. The bow set in the sky points to a God who turns wrath aside, a mercy fully revealed when judgment falls on Christ in our place.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Ezek 1:28As the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of Yahweh’s glory. When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
- Rev 10:1I saw a mighty angel coming down out of the sky, clothed with a cloud. A rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.
- Rev 4:3that looked like a jasper stone and a sardius. There was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at.
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 9:13 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.