After the flood, God makes the first explicit covenant of the Bible — and it is with all humanity and every living creature, not one nation. The promise is restraint: never again to destroy the earth by flood, with the rainbow set as its sign. It establishes a baseline of order and value — human life as sacred, the seasons as reliable — under which the rest of the story unfolds.
- The first covenant named as such in the Bible (Genesis 9:8–17).
- Made with all living things, not only humanity — and unconditional.
- Its sign is the rainbow.
What the evidence showsThe text presents a universal covenant with a memorable sign, framing the whole later story as taking place under a promise of preserved order.
Where it stopsIt rests on the flood narrative, whose scale and historicity are themselves debated (see the Flood card in Genesis & Origins); the covenant's meaning does not depend on settling that.
Sources & further reading