Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 9:1
IX.(1) God blessed Noah.—The blessing bestowed upon Noah, the second father of mankind, is exactly parallel to that given to our first father in Genesis 1:28-29; Genesis 2:16-17, with a significant addition growing out of the history of the past. There is the same command to fill the world with human life, and the same promise that the fear of man shall rest upon the whole animated creation; but this grant of dominion is so extended that the animals are now given to man for his food. But just... read more
John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 9:1-29
The Divine Blessing and Covenant. Noah and the Vine. The Curse of Canaan1-7. The primeval benediction of man (Genesis 1:28) is now repeated and enlarged. Animal food is allowed (cp. Genesis 1:29), but blood is forbidden. The blood makes the life manifest, as it were, to our senses, and the life belongs to God, and must, therefore, be offered to Him.5, 6. The ground of the sacredness of human life here is the existence of the divine image in man. It is not conceived as being wholly destroyed by... read more