Genesis 9:20

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 9:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard:” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard:
Genesis 9:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 9

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
20And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard:

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Noah began to be an husbandman, etc.] Or “a man of the earth” f496, not lord of it, as Jarchi, though he was, but a tiller of the earth, as he had been before the flood, and now began to be again; he returned to his old employment, and which perhaps he improved, having invented, as the Jews f497 say, instruments of husbandry; it may be, the use of the plough, which made the tillage of the ground more easy; he was expert in husbandry, as Aben Ezra observes, and which, as he remarks, is great wisdom; and though he was so great a man, yet he employed himself in this way: and he planted a vineyard; not vines, but a vineyard; there were vines before scattered up and down, here one and there…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“And Noah . . . planted a vineyard--Noah had been probably bred to the culture of the soil, and resumed that employment on leaving the ark.”
Read attributed excerpt →
Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- XXX. The Prophecy of Noah 18. כנען kena‛an, “Kena‘an, bowed down.” 19. נפץ nāpats, “break, scatter, spread.” פוּץ pûts, “break, scatter, flow.” 20. כרם kerem, “orchard, vineyard.” 21. יין yayı̂n, “wine; related: ferment.” After the blessing on the new heads of the human race has been pronounced, and the covenant with them renewed, we are prepared for a new development of human action. This appears, however, in the form of an event which is itself a meet preliminary to the subsequent stage of affairs. The prophecy of Noah, delivered in the shape of a solemn paternal doom, pronounced upon his three sons, sketches in a few striking traits the future history of the separate families of…”
Read attributed excerpt →
Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“9:20-27 The story of Noah begins with him walking in righteousness and obeying the Lord (6:9), but it ends with him lying drunk and naked in his tent and then delivering a curse on Canaan. Even after the great flood, the human race exhibited some of the same sinful characteristics that warranted the judgment in the first place. Special attention is given to the cursed origin of the Canaanites, the corrupt and idolatrous people Israel would later displace from the Promised Land (see also 15:16 and study note; Lev 18:3; 20:23).”
Read attributed excerpt →

Related study paths

Sources and verification