Genesis 9:10

Gen 9:10 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.

Ver. 10. And with every living creature, &c.] Note this against Anabaptists, who exclude infants, for that they want the use of reason. And yet that was but a foolish reason of the canonist, that infants are therefore to be baptized, because the disciples brought to our Saviour, not the ass only, but the foal also. {a}

{a} Sphinx Philos., p. 229.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. And with every living creature. Although the favor which the Lord promises extends also to animals, yet it is not in vain that he addresses himself only to men, who, by the sense of faith, are able to perceive this benefit. We enjoy the heaven and the air in common with the beasts, and draw the same vital breath; but it is no common privilege, that God directs his word to us; whence we may learn with what paternal love he pursues us. And here three distinct steps are to be traced. First, God, as in a matter of present concern, makes a covenant with Noah and his family, lest they should be afraid of a deluge for themselves. Secondly, he transmits his covenant to posterity, not only that, as by continual succession, the effect may reach to other ages; but that they who should afterwards be born might also apprehend this testimony by faith, and might conclude that the same thing which had been promised to the sons of Noah, was promised unto them. Thirdly, he declares that he will be propitious also to brute animals, so that the effect of the covenant towards them, might be the preservation of their lives only, without imparting to them sense and intelligence. Hence the ignorance of the Anabaptists may be refuted, who deny that the covenant of God is common to infants, because they are destitute of present faith. As if, truly, when God promises salvation to a thousand generations, the fathers were not intermediate parties between God and their children, whose office it is to deliver to their children (so to speak) from hand to hand the promise received from God. But as many as withdraw their life from this protection of God (since the greater part of men either despise or ridicule this divine covenant) deserve, by this single act of ingratitude, to be immersed in eternal fire. For although this be an earthly promise, yet God designs the faith of his people to be exercised, in order that they may be assured that a certain abode will, by his special goodness, be provided for them on earth, until they shall be gathered together in heaven.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

10. and with every living creature] The Heb. for “creature” is nephesh, cf. Gen_1:20. God’s covenant with the creatures, as well as with mankind, suggests the thought of the interdependence between the animal world and the human race. Goodness and kindness towards man involve a corresponding blessing upon the animal world. Love is all-pervasive.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And with every living creature that is with you,.... This is a further proof that this was not the covenant of grace, but of conservation, since it is made with irrational as well as rational creatures:

of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; the birds of the air, the tame cattle, and the wild beasts:

from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth; which take in the creeping things not mentioned, for these were in the ark, and came out of the ark with Noah; and this covenant not only included all the several kinds of creatures that came out of the ark with Noah, but it reached to all that should spring from them in future ages, to the end of the world.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Soul...in birds, &c. The covenant of God is made with animals, only in as much as they are subservient to man. (Du Hamel) --- The Egyptians adored most of them; and many oriental nations, and even philosophers, pretended they had intelligent souls, and could speak a rational language, which some of them would have the people believe they could understand. (Calmet) --- This was the case of those great impostors Apollonius of Tyena, Mahomet, &c. (Haydock) --- Moses shews sufficiently that beasts were neither divinities nor rational. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To wit, which shall hereafter be in the earth. So they are distinguished from those which were now with them.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. With every living creature — The covenant is made, first, with all creatures which went forth from the ark, and then, with all flesh; “with every living creature… from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.” In the words which relate the establishment of the covenant with the animal creation, Keil remarks, “The prepositions are accumulated, first, ב, embracing the whole, then the partitive, מן, restricting the enumeration to those which went out of the ark, and, lastly, ל, with regard to extending it again to every individual.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And with every living creature literally, every soul (or breathing thing) that liveth, a generic designation of which the particulars are now specifiedthat is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth literally, in fowl, &c.; i.e. belonging to these classes of animals (cf. Gen_1:25, 30 6:20 8:17) with you; from all that go out of the ark, not necessarily implying ("Speaker s Commentary," Murphy), though in all probability it was the case, that there were animals which had never been in the ark; but simply an idiomatic phrase expressive of the totality of the animal creation (Alford)to every beast of the earth. Ie. wild beast, (Gen_1:25) the chayyah of the land, which was not included among the animals that entered the ark (Murphy); or living creature, (Gen_2:19) referring here to the fishes of the sea, which were not included in the ark (Kalisch). That the entire brute creation was designed to be embraced in the Noachic covenant seems apparent from the use of the prepositions B describing the classes to which the animals belong, as in Gen_7:21; mi indicating one portion of the whole, the to minus aquo, and l the terminus ad quem in their enumeration (vide Furst, "Hebrew Lex.," sub l., p. 715; cf. Kell in loco). Kalisch thinks the language applies only to the animals of Noah"s time, and not to those of a later age, on the ground that "the destiny of the animals is everywhere connected with that of the human race;" but this is equivalent to their being included in the covenant.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

חית הארץ אתכם AND EVERY ANIMAL OF THE EARTH WITH YOU or, THAT ARE WITH YOU — those which go about with human beings.

מכל יוצאי התבה OF ALL THAT GO OUT OF THE ARK — These words would include creeping things and reptiles.

חית הארץ [EVEN EVERY] BEAST OF THE EARTH — These words are intended to include dangerous animals which cannot be included in the above description, “every living creature that is with you” — for these do not go about with human beings.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ואת כל הנפש אשר אתכם, the ones which had been in the ark with you; this is spelled out shortly by the words מכל יוצאי התבה, “I will make a covenant with all the species of creatures that came out of the ark. None of these species will again become subject to extinction.” G’d said further: לכל חית הארץ, in order to make the meaning of what had been written before perfectly clear. In Bereshit Rabbah it is pointed out that these words include all the subsequent generations of these animals, just as the subsequent generations of Noach’s sons and their wives were included in the blessing as we know from the words ואת זרעכם אחריכם, “and your offspring after you.”

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.