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Chapter IX. Part I · Commentary on Genesis, Sin, and the Flood

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Section twenty eight off Commentary on Genesis, Volume two Luther on Sin and the
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Flood by Martin Luther, translated by John Nicholaslinker, Conrad Brunod Godis, and
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others. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Jillian Henry,
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Chapter nine, Part one, God blesses Noah and the race a marriage
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state, blessed firsh one, and God blessed Noah and his sons and said
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unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. One. This
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consolation was indeed needed, after the whole human race had been destroyed by the
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flood, and only eight souls were saved. Now no one knew that God
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was truly merciful, since, not content with that first blessing which he had
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bestowed upon mankind in the creation of the world, he added this new blessing
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that Noah might have no misgivings whatever in regard to the future increase of his
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posterity. And the joy brought by this promise was all the greater for God's
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emphatic promise on a previous occasion that he would never again visit mankind with such
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severe punishment. Two in the first place, then this chapter renews the establishment
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of marriage. God, by his word and command, joins male and female
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for the purpose of repopulating the earth. Inasmuch as God had been roused to
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anger before the flood by the sin of lust, it was now needful,
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by reason of that fearful proof of wrath, to show that God does not
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abhor the lawful cohabitation of man and women, but that it is his will
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to increase mankind by this means. Three, the fact that God had expressed
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it as his will that the human race should be propagated through a union between
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man and women, an end which could have been attained from stones had He
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failed to approve such union as lawful after the manner of du Calion, of
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whom the poets be able, this fact tended to furnish. Noah sure evid
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that God loved man and desired his welfare, and that now all anger was
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at an end. Therefore, this passage illustrates the dignity of wedlock, which
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is the foundation of the family and state, and the nursery of the church.
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Four. The objection is here raised that Noah had already reached an age
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no longer fit for procreation in view of the fact that the Bible records no
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incidence of children being born to him afterwards, and therefore this promise was valueless.
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To this, I reply that this promise was given not to Noah alone,
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but also to his sons, even to all mankind, so that the
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expectation of offspring was entertained even by the grandsire Noah. Five. This passage
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furthermore tends to convince us that children are a gift of God and a result
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of his blessing, as is shown in Sam one hundred and twenty seven verse
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three. The heathen, who know nothing of God's word, ascribed the increase
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of mankind partly to nature and partly to chance, in view of the fact
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that those who are evidently most fit for procreation often remain without offspring. Hence,
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they do not thank God for this gift, nor do they receive their
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children as a blessing from God. B man's use off and dominion over animals
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verse two. And the fear of you and the dread of You shall be
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upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens,
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with all wherewith the ground tamoth and all the fishes of the sea into your
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hand are they delivered? Six, It would seem that the dominion of Man
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is here increased for his greater consolation. For though after the creation, Man
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was given dominion over all animals, yet we do not read that the beasts
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feared and fled from him. According to the description of Moses, the reason
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is found in the fact that heretofore the animals were not destined to be man's
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food. Man had been a kind ruler of the beasts, not a killer.
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And seven. Here, however, they are subjected to Man as a
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tyrant with unlimited power of life and death. Since the servitude of the beasts
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is increased and the power of Man over them extended, the animals are harassed
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by terror and fear of man. We see even the tamed ones do not
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readily allow themselves to be handled. They fear the mastery of man and have
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a constant instinct of danger. I do not believe that such was the case
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before this word of God was spoken. Before that time, men used suitable
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animals for their work and for sacrifice, but not for food. This increase
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of power also is a token of God's favor. He confers a privilege unknown
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to the patriarchs as a token of his love and interest in Man. Eight.
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We must not undervalue this spoon authority over the beasts, for it is
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a special gift of God, of which the heathen knew nothing, because they
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lack the word. We are the ones who derive the greatest benefit from this
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gift. When this revelation was given to Noah, and such a privilege granted,
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there was really no need of it. A few men possessed the whole
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earth, so that its fruits were to be enjoyed by them in abundance,
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and it was not necessary to add the flesh of beasts. But we to
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day could not live altogether on the fruits of the earth. It is a
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great boon to us that we are permitted to eat the flesh of beasts,
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of birds, and of fish. Nine. This word therefore establishes the butcher's
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trade. It puts hares, chickens, and geese upon the spit, and
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fills our tables with all manner of dishes. Necessity makes men industrious. Not
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only do they hunt the animals of the forests, but carefully fatten others at
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home for food. God in this passage establishes himself a slaughterer, as it
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were, for by his word he consigns to slaughter and death those animals which
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are suitable for food as recompense to God fearing Noah for his tribulations during the
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flood for that treason? Would God feed Noah with lavish hand Ten We must
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not think that this privilege was not divinely ordered. The heathen believe that this
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custom of slaughtering animals always existed. Such things are established, or rather permitted,
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by the word of God. Beasts could not have been killed without sin
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if God had not expressly permitted it by his word. It is a great
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liberty for man to slaughter all kinds of beasts fit for food and eat them
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without wrongdoing. Had but a single kind of beasts being reserved for food,
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it would still have been a great boon. How much more should we value
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this lavish blessing that all beasts suitable for sustenance are given into the power of
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man. Eleven. The godless and the gentiles do not recognize this, nor
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do the philosophers. They believe that this privilege has always been man's. As
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for us, however, we should have full light on the subject in order
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that our consciences may enjoy both rest and freedom the use of what God has
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created and allowed. There being absolutely no law against such food, there can
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be no sin in their use, though the wicked priests have criminally burdened the
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church on this subject. Twelve. In this passage, then the power of
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Man is increased, and the route beasts are committed to him, even unto
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death. They fear Man and flee him under the new order, running counter
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to the experience of the past, Adam would have been averse to killing even
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a small bird for food. But now, since the promulgation of this word,
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we know that as a special blessing, God has furnished our kitchens with
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all kinds of meat. Later on he will also take care of the cellar
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by showing man how to cultivate the vine. Thirteen. These are sure proofs
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that God no longer hates man, but favored him. This story bears witness
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that as God's wrath, once aroused, is unbearable, so his mercy is
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likewise endless and without measure when it again begins to glow. But his mercy
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is the more abundantly exercised, because it is the very nature of God.
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While wrath really is foreign to God, he takes it upon himself contrary to
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his nature, and forced thereto by the wickedness of men. Verse three,
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Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you, as the green herb
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have I given you all? Fourteen. Here a question arises. In chapter
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seven, verse two, Moses showed the difference between clean and unclean beasts.
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Here, however, he speaks of all animals without any distinction. Did God
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then permit man to use also the unclean animals for food? Fifteen? The
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statement as such is general, every moving thing that moveth upon the earth.
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There are some who believe that men at the time of Noah made no distinction
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between clean and unclean animals as regards food. But I hold a different opinion,
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for since such difference been established before that time and was carefully observed in
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the law afterward, I believe that men used only clean beasts for food,
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that is, such as were offered in sacrifice. Hence, the general declaration
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must be understood with a modification. Everything that liveth and moveth off clean beasts
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is to be food for you. For in general human nature loaths, serpents,
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wolves, ravens, mice, and dor mice, though certain tribes may
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be found who relish even these animals. The fear and terror of man is
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upon all beasts of the earth because he is allowed to kill them. But
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it does not follow that Man uses them all for food. It is probable
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that Noah eight clean beasts only, and only clean beasts seen you were acceptable
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to Jehovah in sacrifice sixteen. But there is another thing hard to understand.
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How can it be that the terror and fear of man is upon all animals?
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When wolves, lions, bears, wild boars, and tigers devour men
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and are rather a terror two men, So with the entire family of serpents
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from which we flee. At a glance, what shall we say? Here
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is the word of God untruthful? I answer, though, we, being
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aware of our danger, flee from such beasts and are afraid of them.
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Yet they, likewise fear man. Even the fiercest beasts become terrified and flee
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at the first sight of man. But when they become enraged, they overcome
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man by reason of their bodily strength Seventeen. But you say, why do
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they fear when they are stronger? I answer, they know that man is
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endowed with reason, which is more powerful than any beast. The skill of
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man masters even elephants, lions, and tigers. Whatever man's bodily strength is
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unable to do, that he accomplishes by his skill and his reasoning powers.
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How would it otherwise be possible for a boy of ten years to control an
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entire herd of cattle, or for man to guide a horse, an animal
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of singular fierceness and strength, to go in whatever direction he desires, now
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urging it forward and then compelling it to a more moderate gait. All these
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things are done by man's skill, not by his strength. Hence we do
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not lack clear proofs that the fear of man remains upon the beasts which harm
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man when they become enraged, and for that reason are feared by him.
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Eighteen. I have no doubt, however, that at the time of Noah
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and the patriarchs immediately succeeding, this fear in the beasts was greater because righteousness
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then flourished, and there was less of sin. Afterward, when holiness of
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life declined and sin increased, man began to lose this blessing, and the
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wild beasts became a punishment for sin. Moses threatens in Deuteronomy chapter thirty two,
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verse thirty four, that God would send upon them the teeth of beasts.
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How fearful, Also was the plague of the fiery serpents in the Desert
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Numbers chapter twenty one, verse six bears tortypieces the lads who mocked the prophet
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Second Kings, Chapter two, verse twenty four. Why did the beasts here
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lose their fear of man? Why did they rage against man? Was not
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sin the cause? Nineteen Therefore, as stated before, when new sins arise,
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new punishments will also arise. So we see that in our day disease
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and misfortunes heretofore rare become general, like the English sweat, the locusts,
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which in the year fifteen forty two devastated great stretches of land in Poland and
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Silesia, and other examples twenty In like manner, God promised seasons of seeding
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and of harvest, of heat and cold. And yet he does not so
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close his eyes to our sins that the seasons both of seeding and of harvest
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are not subject to climatic disturbances such as the fearful draft of the year fifteen
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o four and the almost unending rains of the two following years. Considering the
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wickedness of our age, why should we wonder that the blessing gives place to
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a curse, so that the beasts which would fear us were we not wicked,
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are now a terror unto us and harmful. Twenty one. The country
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of the Sodomites was like a paradise, but by reason of sin it was
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turned into a sea of asphalt. And those who have seen that country tell
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us that most beautiful apples grow there, but when they are cut open,
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they are found to be filled with ashes and offensive odor. The reason for
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this is that the Sodomites did not acknowledge the gifts of God, who blessed
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them, but misused them according to their own will. Furthermore, they blasphemed
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God and persecuted his saints, being haughty by reason of those good gifts.
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Therefore, the blessing was taken away and everything became curse ridden. This is
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the true explanation of the fact that though there are signs of terror and wild
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animals, we are nevertheless afraid of them, and they inflict harm upon us.
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Twenty two. I am quite certain that very wicked men once lived in
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this country of ours. How could we otherwise explain the parched soil and barren
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sands. Names also show that the Jews at one time peopled this country.
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Where bad people live there, the land gradually grows bad by the curse of
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God. Twenty three. The city of Bruges and Flanders used to be a
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renowned port, but from the time when they held King Maximilian captive, the
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sea retreated and the port cease to exist of venice. They say the same
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thing to day. Nor is this very astonishing, since to the numberless sins
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of rulers of the state, defense of idol, worship and persecution of the
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Gospel was added first. Four But flesh with the life thereof, which is
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the blood thereof, shall ye not eat? Twenty four. What we have
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heard so far referred to domestic matters, Now God adds a commandment pretending to
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civil government. Since it was no more a sin to kill an ox or
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a sheep for food than it was to pluck a flower or a herb growing
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in the field, there was some danger that men might misuse this God given
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power over the beasts and go beyond it even to the shedding of human blood.
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Hence, he now adds a new law that human blood must not be
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shed, and at the same time he curtails the liberty of eating flesh.
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He forbids them to eat flesh which has not first been drained of blood.
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Twenty five. The Hebrew text presents many difficulties, and for this reason interpreters
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are at variance. It is needless to recite all renderings of this verse.
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I steadily follow the rule that the words must explain the things, not the
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things the words. Hence I spend no time upon the ideas of those who
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explain the words according to their own inclinations, making them serve the preconceived notions
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which they bring to their literature. Twenty six. Let us first look at
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the meaning of the words bry. Fish properly denotes a body with a soul
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or a living animal, such as the ox, the sheep, man,
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and swan. It denotes not merely the body, but a living body,
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as when Christ says I lay down my life for the sheep John chapter ten,
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verse fifteen. Here the word life means nothing else than the life animating
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the body. Bassar, however, means flesh which is part of the material
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element, and yet has its breath and its energy not from the body,
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but from the soul. For the flesh or the body of itself and without
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the soul, is an inanimate thing, like a log or a stone.
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But when it is filled with the breath of the soul, then its fluids
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and all bodily forces assume activity. Twenty seven. God here forbids the eating
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of a body which still contains the stirring, moving, living soul, as
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the hawk devours chickens and the wolf sheep without killing them, but while still
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alive. Such cruelty is here forbidden by Jehovah, who sets bounds to the
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privilege of slaughtering, lest it be done in so beastly a manner that living
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bodies or portions thereof be divered. The lawful manner of slaughtering is to be
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observed, such as was followed at the altar and in religious rites, where
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the beast, having been slain without cruelty, and duly cleansed from blood,
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was finally offered to God. I hold that the simple and true meaning of
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the text, which is also given by some Jewish teachers, is that we
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must not eat raw flesh and members still palpitating, as did the Lestriganis and
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the cyclope place first. Five And surely your blood, the blood of your
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lives, will I require At the hand of every beast, will I require
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it? And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every
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man's brother, will I require the life of man? Twenty eight. Here
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the Hebrew text is even more difficult than in the foregoing verse. Lyra quoting
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the Rabbins, finds four kinds of manslaughter indicated here. He divides the statement
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into two parts and finds a twofold explanation for each. He understands the first
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part to mean those who lay murderous hands upon themselves. If this is correct,
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then this passage is a witness for immortality, for out would God call
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to account a person who, being dead, no longer exists. Hence,
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punishment of sin after this life could be indicated here. But it seems to
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me that philology militates against this explanation. Though I do not lay claim to
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a perfect knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, yet I am certain that such a
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meaning is not here apparent. Twenty nine. The second kind of murder he
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illustrates by the custom of throwing human beings before wild beasts, as was done
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aforetime in the theaters, truly a barbaric spectacle, repulsive to all human feeling.
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The third kind is murder at the instigation of another, The fourth murder
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of a relative thirty This distinction would be quite satisfactory if it could be proven
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from the words of the text, But it is a Jewish invention, born
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of their hatred of the Roman laws. It is much simpler to understand this
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passage as a general prohibition of murder. According to the fifth commandment, which
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says thou shalt not kill. God desires not even a beast to be killed,
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except for a sacred purpose or for the benefit of man. Much less
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does he permit taking the life of man except by divine authority, as will
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be explained hereafter thirty one. In the first place, then wilful and wicked
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slaughter is forbidden. Culture is opposed to the wanton killing of animals and to
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the eating of raw meat. In the second place, God forbids homicide of
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any description. For if God will require the blood of a murdered human being
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from the beast that slew him, how much more relentlessly will he require it
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at the hand of man. Thus this passage voices the sentiment of the Fifth
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Commandment, that no one shall spill human blood. End of Section twenty eight