Verse

Genesis 9:10

ESV and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.
NIV and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.
NASB and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every animal of the earth.
CSB and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark.
NLT and with all the animals that were on the boat with you — the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals — every living creature on earth.
KJV And 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.
NKJV and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.

What does Genesis 9:10 mean?

Prior to the flood, God promised to establish a covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18), after Noah demonstrated obedience by building the ark. In the previous verse, God revealed to Noah and his three sons that He was about to establish His part of that covenant. This agreement would apply to all living things, which were descended from those who left the ark. A "covenant" is a special type of contract between two parties. In this case it is between God and all of humanity.

What this verse reveals is that the covenant is also between God and all of animal-kind: every kind of creature that survived the flood aboard the ark. God lists them: birds, livestock, every kind of beast, every living thing. God does not generally make covenant agreements with animals. Yet He gives animals special honor here by including them in this promise. God shows that, though He wiped out nearly all of animal-kind in the flood, He still cares deeply about these creatures He has created. God has said that man will triumph over the animals and that humans may eat anything that moves, but that doesn't mean that God sees animals as worthless or expendable. He makes this promise to them, as well.

The promise, given explicitly in the next verse, is that God will never again destroy all life on earth with a flood.
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