Genesis 9:11

Gen 9:11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

Ver. 11. Neither shall all flesh be cut off.] {See Trapp on "Isa 54:9"} {See Trapp on "Isa 54:10"}

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.

Gen 9:11. There shall not any more be a flood — God had drowned the world once, and still it is as provoking as ever; yet he will never drown it any more, for he deals not with us according to our sins. This promise of God keeps the sea and clouds in their decreed places, and “sets them gates and bars: Hitherto they shall come,” Job 38:10-11. If the sea should flow but for a few days, as it doth twice every day for a few hours, what desolations would it make! So would the clouds, if such showers as we have sometimes seen, were continued long. But God, by flowing seas and sweeping rains, shows what he could do in wrath; and yet by preserving the earth from being deluged between both, shows what he can do in mercy, and will do in truth.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:11 This promise does not prohibit worldwide judgment, but it restricts the means by which God will do it (see 2 Pet 3:4-13).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11. a flood to destroy the earth] The promise here given, that there shall never more be a flood, is appealed to by the prophet in Isa_54:9-10, “for this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee … for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

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 I will establish my covenant with you,.... This is repeated to denote the certainty of it, as well as to lead on to the particulars of it:

neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither man nor beast, at least not all of them, and especially by water:

neither shall there be any more a flood to destroy the earth; not a general deluge, otherwise notwithstanding this promise there might be, as there have been, particular inundations, which have overflowed particular countries and places, but not the whole earth; and this hinders not but that the whole earth may be destroyed by fire, as it will be at the last day, only not by water any more; and this is the sum and substance of the covenant with Noah, his sons, and all the creatures that have been, or shall be.

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

i.e. A universal deluge; for particular inundations there have been, whereby towns and countries have been overwhelmed with all their inhabitants.

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

And I will establish my covenant with you. Not form it for the first time, as if no such covenant had existed in antediluvian times (Knobel); but cause it to stand or permanently establish it, so that it shall no more be-in danger of being overthrown, as it recently has been. The word "my" points to a covenant already in existence, though not formally mentioned until the time of Noah. (Gen_6:18) The promise of the woman"s seed, which formed the substance of the covenant during the interval from Adam to Noah, was from Noah"s time downwards to be enlarged by a specific pledge of the stability of the earth and the safety of man (cf. Gen_8:22) Neither shall all flesh including the human race and animal creation. Cf. rcBAlK mankind, (Gen_6:12) the lower creatures (Gen_7:21) be cut off any more by the waters of a flood. Literally, the flood just passed, which would no more return. Neither shall there any more be a flood (of any kind) to destroy the earth. Regions might be devastated and tribes of animals and men swept away, but never again would there be a universal destruction of the earth or of man.

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

There shall not any more be a flood - God had drowned the world once, and still it is as provoking as ever; yet he will never drown it any more, for he deals not with us according to our sins. This promise of God keeps the sea and clouds in their decreed place, and sets them gates and bars, Hitherto they shall come, Job xxxviii, 10, 11. If the sea should flow but for a few days, as it doth twice every day for a few hours, what desolations would it make? So would the clouds, if such showers as we have sometimes seen, were continued long. But God by flowing seas, and sweeping rains, shews what he could do in wrath; and yet by preserving the earth from being deluged between both, shews what he can do in mercy, and will do in truth.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

God continues speaking to Noah and his sons.

I hereby confirm my covenant with you

"By saying this, I make my covenant with you." See how similar words are translated in Genesis 6:18.

all flesh

Possible meanings for what "all flesh" represents are 1) all human beings or 2) all physical beings, including humans and animal. See how this is translated in Genesis 6:12. (See: Synecdoche)

Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth

"There will never again be a flood that destroys the earth." There would be floods, but they would not destroy the whole earth.

sign

This means a reminder of something that was promised.

covenant ... for all future generations

The covenant applies to Noah and his family and also to all generations that follow.

translationWords

covenant

flesh

flood

generation

sign

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

והקמתי AND I WILL ESTABLISH — I will give confirmation to my covenant; and in what consists this confirmation? “The sign of the rainbow”, as it goes on explaining at the end.

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.

והקימותי, earlier the formulation had been הנני מקים. At that time G’d had not mentioned the substance of the covenant. Now the Torah spells out what G’d had had in mind with the line (in verse 9) ואני הנני מקים את בריתי. The promise not to wipe out כל בשר is parallel to the promise not to flood the entire universe with water again. In both instances G’d reserves the right to flood part of the earth or to destroy part of mankind. The promise does include the assurance that rain of the dimensions and duration experienced during the deluge will not occur again, ever. The words לשחת את הארץ are an illustration of what would happen if G’d would bring on another deluge.

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.