Genesis 9:2

2 "All of the land animals will be afraid of you. All of the birds of the air will fear you. Every creature that moves along the ground will fear you. Every fish in the oceans will also be afraid of you. Every living thing is put under your control.

Genesis 9:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 9:2

And the fear or you, and the dread of you, shall be upon
every beast of the earth
This is a renewal, at least in part, of the grant of dominion to Adam over all the creatures; these obeyed him cheerfully, and from love, but sinning, he in a good measure lost his power over them, they rebelled against him; but now though the charter of power over them is renewed, they do not serve man freely, but are in dread of him, and flee from him; some are more easily brought into subjection to him, and even the fiercest and wildest of them may be tamed by him; and this power over them was the more easily retrieved in all probability by Noah and his sons, from the inhabitation of the creatures with them for so long a time in the ark:

and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the
earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea;
as appears by fowls flying away, by beasts and creeping things getting off as fast as they can, and by fishes swimming away at the sight of men:

into your hand are they delivered;
as the lords and proprietors of them, for their use and service, and particularly for what follows, see ( Psalms 8:6-8 ) where there is an enumeration of the creatures subject to men.

Genesis 9:2 In-Context

1 Then God gave his blessing to Noah and his sons. He said to them, "Have children and increase your numbers. Fill the earth.

2 "All of the land animals will be afraid of you. All of the birds of the air will fear you. Every creature that moves along the ground will fear you. Every fish in the oceans will also be afraid of you. Every living thing is put under your control.

3 "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. I have already given you the green plants for food. Now I am giving you everything.

4 "But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it.

5 You can be sure that I will hold someone accountable if you are murdered. I will even hold animals accountable if they kill you. I will also hold anyone accountable who murders another person.