Bible Strands
Genesis 9:16
And whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is on the earth.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks to Noah immediately after the flood narrative, establishing a post-diluvian boundary for all terrestrial life. The words — בְּרִית (be.Rit) translates literally to “covenant,” while עוֹלָם (o.Lam) denotes “perpetuity” or an unbroken duration. The thread — The text anchors this promise in the broader biblical pattern of divine covenants, appearing alongside Jeremiah 32:40 and Genesis 17:13. Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to recognize the rainbow not as a natural phenomenon alone, but as a designated visual marker that triggers God’s active remembrance of a binding preservation promise.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 54:8 In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.
- Jeremiah 32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.
- Genesis 17:13 Whether they are born in your household or purchased, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh will be an everlasting covenant.
- Genesis 17:19 But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
- 2 Samuel 23:5 Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?
- Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
- Genesis 8:21 When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
- Genesis 9:9 “Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you,
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Psalms 89:3 You said, “I have made a covenant with My chosen one, I have sworn to David My servant: