8 And God speaketh unto Noah, and unto his sons with him, saying, 9 'And I, lo, I am establishing My covenant with you, and with your seed after you, 10 and with every living creature which 'is' with you, among fowl, among cattle, and among every beast of the earth with you, from all who are going out of the ark—to every beast of the earth. 11 And I have established My covenant with you, and all flesh is not any more cut off by waters of a deluge, and there is not any more a deluge to destroy the earth.'
12 And God saith, 'This is a token of the covenant which I am giving between Me and you, and every living creature that 'is' with you, to generations age-during; 13 My bow I have given in the cloud, and it hath been for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth; 14 and it hath come to pass (in My sending a cloud over the earth) that the bow hath been seen in the cloud, 15 and I have remembered My covenant which is between Me and you, and every living creature among all flesh, and the waters become no more a deluge to destroy all flesh; 16 and the bow hath been in the cloud, and I have seen it—to remember the covenant age-during between God and every living creature among all flesh which 'is' on the earth.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 9:8-16
Commentary on Genesis 9:8-17
(Read Genesis 9:8-17)
As the old world was ruined, to be a monument of justice, so this world remains to this day a monument of mercy. But sin, that drowned the old world, will burn this. Articles of agreement among men are sealed, that what is promised may be the more solemn, and the doing of what is covenanted the more sure to mutual satisfaction. The seal of this covenant was the rainbow, which, it is likely, was seen in the clouds before, but was never a seal of the covenant till now it was made so. The rainbow appears when we have most reason to fear the rain prevailing; God then shows this seal of the promise, that it shall not prevail. The thicker the cloud, the brighter the bow in the cloud. Thus, as threatening afflictions abound, encouraging consolations much more abound. The rainbow is the reflection of the beams of the sun shining upon or through the drops of rain: all the glory of the seals of the covenant are derived from Christ, the Sun of righteousness. And he will shed a glory on the tears of his saints. A bow speaks terror, but this has neither string nor arrow; and a bow alone will do little hurt. It is a bow, but it is directed upward, not toward the earth; for the seals of the covenant were intended to comfort, not to terrify. As God looks upon the bow, that he may remember the covenant, so should we, that we may be mindful of the covenant with faith and thankfulness. Without revelation this gracious assurance could not be known; and without faith it can be of no use to us; and thus it is as to the still greater dangers to which all are exposed, and as to the new covenant with its blessings.