{And God said, I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me and the earth: And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.} — Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume II

LatineEnglish

{And God said, I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me and the earth: And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.}¹

Dixitque Deus, Arcum meum ponam in nubibus, et erit signum foederis inter me et inter terram: Cumque obduxero nubibus caelum, apparebit arcus meus in nubibus, et recordabor foederis mei vobiscum et cum omni anima vivente quae carnem vegetat: et non erunt ultra aquae diluvii ad delendam universam carnem.

IAM ante Deus Noë et filiis eius, statim ut arca sunt egressi, omnem ademerat metum futuri amplius diluvii, pollicitus nunquam se in posterum (uti fecerat antea) dissipaturum ac perditurum terram generali diluvio. Verum quia videbat eorum animos praeteritae calamitatis horrore confusos atque consternatos non posse timorem penitus abiicere, et quoties cernerent densissimis nubibus obduci caelum et frequentiores solito maioresque de caelo imbres ruere, in metu fore ne simile aliquod eius quod iam experti fuerant orbis exitium accideret: voluit benignus et clemens Dominus, se ad infirmitatem hominis demittens et accommodans, semel atque iterum idem eis promittere, et insuper firmare promissionem suam signo arcus caelestis, cunctis mortalibus conspicuo et usque ad mundi occasum mansuro: scilicet ut quoties homines illum aspicerent, divini promissi memores — etiamsi caeli facies diluvifera videretur totiusque orbis excidium minari — illi tamen, omni dubitatione metuque posito, nunquam ad finem usque mundi venturum diluvium esse persuasissimum et certissimum haberent.

Already before, God, to Noah and his sons, as soon as they had gone out of the ark, had taken away all fear of any future flood, having promised that He would never thereafter (as He had done before) dissipate and destroy the earth by a general flood. But because He saw that their minds, confused and dismayed by the horror of the past calamity, could not wholly cast off fear — and that, as often as they should see the sky covered with thickest clouds and more frequent and greater rains than usual rushing from the sky, they would be in fear lest some destruction of the world similar to that which they had now experienced should happen — the kind and clement Lord willed, lowering and accommodating Himself to man's weakness, to promise them the same once and again, and moreover to confirm His promise by the sign of the heavenly bow, conspicuous to all mortals and to remain until the end of the world: namely, that as often as men looked upon it, mindful of the divine promise — even if the face of the sky seemed flood-bearing and to threaten the destruction of the whole world — they might nevertheless, all doubt and fear laid aside, hold it most persuaded and most certain that a flood would never come, even to the end of the world.²

SED expendamus Dei verba, Arcum meum ponam in nubibus. Arcum caelestem appellat Deus suum, quod praecipua quadam ratione opus eius dici debeat, videlicet propter eximiam pulchritudinem ipsius, quippe qui (ut summus Poëta dixit) Mille trahens varios adverso Sole colores / insigni decorat curvamine caelum. Quamobrem Auctor libri Ecclesiastici, arcus caelestis decorem et admirabilem speciem describens: Vide, inquit, arcum, et benedic eum qui fecit illum: valde speciosus est in splendore suo. Gyravit caelum in circuitu gloriae suae: manus excelsi aperuerunt illum. Sed miror equidem cur hic Auctor inter alia caelestis arcus insignia non et hoc posuerit, quod a Deo constitutus fuerit symbolum misericordiae suae erga homines signumque nunquam in posterum futuri diluvii. Etiam poetae deorum, maxime vero Iovis, nuncium fecerunt Iridem, ut apud Homerum, Hesiodum in Theogonia et Virgilium multis locis videre licet.

But let us weigh God's words, “I will set my bow in the clouds.” God calls the heavenly bow His own, because by a certain special reason it ought to be called His work — namely, on account of its extraordinary beauty, since (as the supreme Poet said) “Drawing a thousand varied colors from the opposing Sun, it adorns the sky with a notable curve.” Wherefore the Author of the book Ecclesiasticus, describing the beauty and admirable appearance of the heavenly bow: “Look,” he says, “upon the rainbow, and bless him that made it: it is very beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory: the hands of the most High have opened it.” But I marvel, indeed, why this Author, among the other distinctions of the heavenly bow, did not set down this also — that it was established by God as a symbol of His mercy toward men and a sign of a flood never to be in the future. The poets too made Iris the messenger of the gods, especially of Jupiter, as may be seen in Homer, Hesiod in the Theogony, and Virgil in many places.³

PRO illo verbo futuri temporis, ponam, Hebraice est verbum praeteriti temporis (posui); apud Septuaginta autem est praesentis temporis (pono); sed apud Hebraeos usitatum est praeterita pro futuris, aut contra, aut etiam haec pro praesentibus usurpari. Nam quod quidam aiunt difficile esse intellectu quomodo Deus dixerit post diluvium, Ponam arcum meum in nubibus, quasi ante diluvium nunquam arcus apparuisset in nubibus — eam vero difficultatem non accidere lectioni Hebraicae quae habet verbum praeteriti temporis (posui) — hoc, inquam, quod isti aiunt, leve est ac pro nihilo ducendum. Licet enim Iris fuerit ante diluvium, non tamen signum divini foederis: itaque post diluvium Iris quae fuerat ab exordio mundi adhibita et constituta est a Deo ut signum non futuri diluvii. Illud vero, Ponam in nubibus, habet emphasim: non enim tantum significat aptissimum esse illud signum ad id significandum cuius significandi causa adhibetur (quod sit conspicuum omnibus ubique terrarum et mansurum usque in finem mundi), verum ob eam potissimum causam, quod unde timeri poterat diluvium, scilicet ex nubibus, inde omnis diluvii metus depellatur apparente in nubibus Iride.

In place of that verb of future time, “I will set,” in Hebrew it is a verb of past time (“I have set”); but in the Septuagint it is of present time (“I set”); but among the Hebrews it is usual for past tenses to be used for future, or the contrary, or even these for present. For as to what some say — that it is difficult to understand how God said after the flood, “I will set my bow in the clouds,” as if before the flood the bow had never appeared in the clouds, but that that difficulty does not befall the Hebrew reading which has the past-tense verb (“I have set”) — this, I say, which those men say, is slight and to be reckoned as nothing. For although Iris existed before the flood, yet not as a sign of the divine covenant; and so after the flood Iris, which had been from the beginning of the world, was applied and constituted by God as a sign of no future flood. But that phrase, “I will set in the clouds,” has emphasis: for it signifies not only that that sign is most fit for signifying that for which it is employed (since it is conspicuous to all everywhere and will remain until the end of the world), but for this cause especially — that from where the flood could be feared, namely from the clouds, thence all fear of the flood is driven away by the appearance of Iris in the clouds.⁴

SEQUITUR: Et erit signum foederis inter me et inter terram. Solet Deus promissa sua variis signis externis confirmare, quo scilicet eorum fidem ac spem altius in hominum animis defigat. Et interdum quidem utitur signis naturalibus, uti est hoc signum Iridis: aliquando signis supernaturalibus, ut Gedeoni promissionem victoriae firmavit signo velleris ac roris, et regi Ezechiae signo retrogradientis Solis: nonnunquam signis voluntariis et ab ipso institutis, quale fuit signum Circumcisionis datum Abrahae. Rursus eorum signorum quibus Deus firmare solet promissa sua, quaedam durant in perpetuum, ut Iris; aut in tempus longissimum, ut Circumcisio; aut in brevissimum, ut illud Gedeonis et Ezechiae.

There follows: “And it shall be a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.” God is wont to confirm His promises by various external signs, namely that He may fix their faith and hope more deeply in the minds of men. And sometimes He uses natural signs, as is this sign of Iris: sometimes supernatural signs, as He confirmed to Gideon the promise of victory by the sign of the fleece and the dew, and to King Hezekiah by the sign of the retrograding Sun: sometimes by voluntary signs instituted by Himself, such as was the sign of Circumcision given to Abraham. Again, of those signs by which God is wont to confirm His promises, some last forever, as Iris; or for a very long time, as Circumcision; or for a very short time, as that of Gideon and Hezekiah.⁵

VERUM dubitabit fortasse quispiam, cum Iris sit res quaedam naturalis, quomodo signum esse potest nunquam futuri generalis diluvii? Siquidem generale diluvium secundum naturam impossibile est, huius autem naturalis impossibilitatis diluvii Iris nullo modo signum est: at vero secundum Dei potentiam possibile quidem est diluvium, est tamen omnino voluntarium, respectu autem naturae penitus supranaturale: quare nullo modo videtur Iris conveniens esse signum non futuri diluvii. Sed hoc solvitur. Non est Iris naturale signum non futuri diluvii, nec id significandi per se vim habet; sed tantum ex Dei voluntate, qui ad id significandum prae ceteris Iridem assumpsit, cum aliam quamlibet rem ad idem potuisset adhibere: sicut ad significandam divisionem agrorum statui solet vel ingens aliquod saxum vel truncus arboris, ex conventione et voluntate eorum qui agros possident.

But someone will perhaps doubt: since Iris is a certain natural thing, how can it be a sign of a general flood never to come? Since a general flood is according to nature impossible, but of this natural impossibility of a flood Iris is in no way a sign; but according to God's power a flood is indeed possible, yet it is altogether voluntary, and with respect to nature wholly supernatural: wherefore in no way does Iris seem to be a suitable sign of a flood not to come. But this is solved. Iris is not a natural sign of a flood not to come, nor has it of itself the force of signifying that; but only from the will of God, who, to signify that, took Iris before other things, although He could have employed any other thing whatever for the same: just as, to signify the division of fields, some huge rock or the trunk of a tree is wont to be set up, by the agreement and will of those who possess the fields.⁶

ET recordabor foederis mei vobiscum. Non egebat Deus signo Iridis cuius aspectu renovaretur in eo memoria promissorum suorum: nulla quippe Deo accidere potest oblivio, cui omnia sunt praesentia, quaeque iam fuerunt quaeque unquam futura sunt. Quid igitur est, recordabor? Hoc nempe: Quoties in caelo videbitis Iridem, recognoscetis promissa mea vobis data, neque eorum memorem haud dubie praestaturum quod promisi. Affinis huius est interpretatio Chrysostomi, qui illud, recordabor, pro eo dictum interpretatur quod est, recordari vos faciam; ut semper certi semperque securi sitis nullo tempore deinceps futurum diluvium. Vel recordabor, id est, re ipsa et factis declarabo me promissorum meorum esse memorem, eaque praestabo. Vel dixit recordabor ad similitudinem hominum: saepenumero enim scriptura de Deo loquitur more humano, non quidem convenienter eius naturae ac maiestati, sed ad hominum tamen humilitatem et infirmitatem intelligendi accommodate. Solent autem homines signis quibusdam externis excitari et in memoriam reduci eorum quae facere constituerunt. Deus igitur dicitur recordari non quantum ad propriam vim recordationis quae in hominibus fere subsequitur oblivionem, aut certe non praesentem et (ut vocant) actualem rerum considerationem: sed quantum ad effectum recordationis, qui est implere id quod quis promiserat aut facere instituerat. Vel denique dixit recordabor pro eo quod est, nunquam obliviscar; nam etsi recordatio proprie dicta minime cadit in Deum, verissime tamen de Deo negatur oblivio.

“And I will remember my covenant with you.” God did not need the sign of Iris, by the sight of which the memory of His promises might be renewed in Him: for no forgetfulness can befall God, to whom all things are present — both what already have been and what ever shall be. What, then, is “I will remember”? This, namely: As often as you see Iris in the sky, you will recognize my promises given to you, and that I — mindful of them, without doubt — will perform what I promised. Akin to this is the interpretation of Chrysostom, who interprets that “I will remember” as said for that which is, “I will make you remember”; that you may be always certain and always secure that at no time thereafter will there be a flood. Or “I will remember,” that is, I will by the very deed and by facts declare that I am mindful of my promises, and will perform them. Or He said “I will remember” after the likeness of men: for very often Scripture speaks of God in the human manner — not indeed agreeably to His nature and majesty, but accommodated to the lowliness and weakness of men's understanding. Now men are wont to be stirred by certain external signs and brought to the memory of those things which they have determined to do. God, therefore, is said to remember, not as to the proper force of remembering, which in men generally follows forgetfulness, or at least not a present and (as they call it) actual consideration of things: but as to the effect of remembering, which is to fulfill what one had promised or determined to do. Or finally He said “I will remember” for that which is, “I will never forget”; for although remembering properly so called by no means falls upon God, yet most truly forgetfulness is denied of God.⁷

VERUM hoc loco lectorem velim duo animadvertere: unum est, Christianis hominibus arcum caelestem, cum in caelo apparet, non tantum more philosophico ut pulcherrimum maximeque admirandum naturae opus esse contemplandum, sed praecipue ut signum divini foederis de non futuro amplius diluvio. Cuius foederis recordatio duas res animis nostris repraesentabit, Iustitiam et Misericordiam Dei: Iustitiam quidem, quod propter scelera hominum generali diluvio universum prope orbem Deus quondam perdiderit. Ex quo castus quidam sanctusque Dei timor in animis nostris exsistet, ut super omnia caveamus sceleribus nostris Deum offendere et ad iram atque vindictam provocare. Et quia diluvii exemplo perspicuum est Deum esse omnipotentem, et in manu eius esse omnem hunc mundum vel puncto temporis disperdere atque in nihilum redigere, ipsum verum et solum Deum omniumque rerum summum dominum perpetuo colamus ac veneremur. Misericordia vero Dei in eo valde eluxit, quod misertus hominum promisit et statuit nunquam deinceps missurum se diluvium — non quod post diluvium non essent futuri homines aut aeque aut etiam magis improbi quam fuerant ii qui diluvio perierunt, sed quia miserationes eius super omnia opera eius. Tot enim tantaque fuerunt post diluvium hominum peccata, ut plusquam millies diluvii supplicio dignissima fuerint. [Itaque]…

But in this place I would have the reader observe two things: one is, that for Christian men the heavenly bow, when it appears in the sky, is to be contemplated not only in the philosophical manner as a most beautiful and most admirable work of nature, but chiefly as a sign of the divine covenant about no flood ever more to come. The remembrance of which covenant will present two things to our minds: the Justice and the Mercy of God. The Justice indeed, in that, on account of the crimes of men, God once destroyed nearly the whole world by a general flood. From which a certain chaste and holy fear of God will arise in our minds, that above all we beware of offending God by our crimes and provoking Him to wrath and vengeance. And because by the example of the flood it is clear that God is omnipotent, and that it is in His hand to destroy this whole world even in a point of time and reduce it to nothing, let us perpetually worship and venerate Him, the true and only God and supreme Lord of all things. But the Mercy of God shone forth greatly in this, that, having pitied men, He promised and decreed that He would never thereafter send a flood — not because after the flood there would not be men either equally or even more wicked than those who perished in the flood, but because His mercies are above all His works. For so many and so great were the sins of men after the flood that they were more than a thousand times most worthy of the punishment of a flood. [And so]…⁸

…Itaque misericordiae Domini (ut dixit Hieremias) quod non sumus consumpti.

…And so it is of the mercies of the Lord (as Jeremiah said) that we are not consumed.⁹

ALTERUM a lectore observandum est, quantum fuerit discrimen iustitiae et misericordiae Dei. Etenim iustitiae vis et rigor vindictae brevissimi temporis fuit, unicum enim fuit diluvium et unius tantum anni: at misericordiae divinae beneficium de non futuro diluvio perpetuum fuit, omne mundi aevum complectens. Itaque verissime Isaias Deum facit ita loquentem: In momento indignationis abscondi faciem meam parumper a te, et in misericordia sempiterna misertus sum tui. Sicut in diebus Noë istud mihi est, cui iuravi ne inducerem aquas diluvii supra terram: sic iuravi ut non irascar tibi et non increpem te. Montes commovebuntur et colles contremiscent: misericordia autem mea non recedet a te, et foedus pacis meae non movebitur. In quibus verbis advertere convenit illud Dei promissum datum Noë de non venturo diluvio appellari eo loco iusiurandum Dei, quod in libro Geneseos nominatur foedus et pactum Dei, ut vocabulo tam iurisiurandi quam foederis significetur immutabilis certitudo ac firmitas divini promissi.

The other thing to be observed by the reader is, how great was the difference between the justice and the mercy of God. For the force of justice and the rigor of vengeance was of the briefest time, for there was a single flood and of only one year: but the benefit of the divine mercy concerning no future flood was perpetual, embracing the whole age of the world. And so most truly Isaiah makes God speak thus: “In a moment of indignation I hid my face a little from thee, and in everlasting mercy have I had mercy on thee. As in the days of Noah this is to me, to whom I swore that I would not bring the waters of a flood upon the earth: so have I sworn that I will not be angry with thee and will not rebuke thee. The mountains shall be moved and the hills shall tremble: but my mercy shall not depart from thee, and the covenant of my peace shall not be moved.” In which words it is fitting to notice that that promise of God given to Noah about no flood to come is in that place called the oath of God, which in the book of Genesis is named the covenant and pact of God — so that by the word both of oath and of covenant may be signified the immutable certainty and firmness of the divine promise.¹⁰

AT enim vero duo quae hic promisit Deus Noë recte debet intelligi: promisit enim non futurum diluvium — non quidem diluvium particulare huius vel illius civitatis aut etiam provinciae (nam talia diluvia post illud promissum Dei non semel evenerunt, ut fuit diluvium Ogygis et Deucalionis), sed generale diluvium inundans et obruens universam terram. Deinde promisit Deus se nunquam deinceps omnem terram et quae in ea sunt dissipaturum ac perditurum. Sed hoc intelligendum est per diluvium: nam per ignem sub finem mundi universam terram disperdet. Loquitur igitur Deus de diluvio et de diluvio generali, quod nullo tempore post illam promissionem Dei timendum fuit hominibus.

But in truth two things which God here promised to Noah ought to be rightly understood: for He promised that a flood would not come — not indeed a particular flood of this or that city or even province (for such floods after that promise of God happened not once, as was the flood of Ogyges and of Deucalion), but a general flood inundating and overwhelming the whole earth. Next, God promised that He would never thereafter dissipate and destroy the whole earth and the things that are in it. But this must be understood of a flood: for by fire at the end of the world He will destroy the whole earth. God therefore speaks of a flood, and of a general flood, which at no time after that promise of God was to be feared by men.¹¹

Translator’s notes

Gen 9:13–15 (lemma). Margin: vv. 13, 14, 15. ↩
§70. Why the rainbow-sign was given: to steady the survivors' fear whenever storm-clouds gathered. ↩
§71. ‘My bow’ — its beauty (Virgil; Ecclesiasticus 43); the poets made Iris the gods' messenger. Margins: Virgil, Aeneid bk. 4; Ecclus. 43. ↩
§72. The tense (Hebrew ‘I have set’) is no problem — the rainbow existed before the flood but only now became a covenant-sign; ‘in the clouds’ has force (fear is dispelled at its source). ↩
§73. God confirms His promises by signs — natural (the rainbow), supernatural (Gideon's fleece, Hezekiah's sun), or instituted (circumcision); some lasting, some brief. Margins: “The variety of signs by which God confirms His promises”; Judg. 6; 4 Kings (2 Kgs) 20; Gen. 17. ↩
§74. Objection: a natural thing can't signify a supernatural promise. Answer: the rainbow signifies it only by God's institution (like a boundary-stone marking a field by agreement). ↩
§75. ‘I will remember’ — said of the changeless God by accommodation: not literal recall (after forgetting), but the effect of remembering — fulfilling the promise. Margins: “How God is said to remember”; Chrysostom, hom. 27 on Genesis. ↩
§76. First lesson: Christians should view the rainbow as the covenant-sign — recalling God's Justice (the flood) and Mercy (the promise). Margin: “That the Christian contemplation of the rainbow surpasses the philosophical.” Continues on p. 344. ↩
§76 (cont.). Jer.: by God's mercy we are not consumed. Margin: Lamentations 3. ↩
§77. Second lesson: justice lasted one year, mercy lasts the world's whole age (Isaiah 54 — the ‘oath’/‘covenant’ marks its immutable firmness). Margin: Isaiah 54. ↩
§78. Two clarifications: the promise covers only a universal flood (not local ones like Ogyges'/Deucalion's), and only flood (not the final fire). ↩