Rainbow

The bow in the cloud appears at three points in scripture: as the sign of the post-flood covenant in Genesis 9, as a feature of two prophetic visions of the divine glory (Ezekiel and Revelation), and as a praise-image in Sirach. Each use treats the bow as a visible token of God's settled relation to the earth and to the worshipper.

The Sign of the Noahic Covenant

After the flood, God speaks to Noah and his sons and announces the terms of a perpetual covenant. The covenant is unilateral, extends to every living soul, and sets the limit of any future flood:

"And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, look, I establish my covenant with you⁺, and with your⁺ seed after you⁺; and with every living soul that is with you⁺, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you⁺, from all those coming out of the ark to all the beasts of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you⁺; neither will all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of the flood; neither will there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth." (Ge 9:8-11).

The covenant has a token. The token is the bow:

"And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between [my Speech] and you⁺ and every living soul that is with you⁺, for perpetual generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it will be for a token of a covenant between [my Speech] and the earth." (Ge 9:12-13).

The function of the token is two-sided. It appears whenever the cloud forms, and the seeing-and-remembering belongs to God himself:

"And it will come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between [my Speech] and you⁺ and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow will be in the cloud; and I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between [the Speech of] God and every living soul of all flesh that is on the earth." (Ge 9:14-16).

The Bow Around the Glory: Ezekiel

Ezekiel's inaugural vision describes the brightness around the divine likeness in the same image — the bow in the cloud on a day of rain — and uses it as the closing comparison before the prophet falls on his face:

"As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one who spoke." (Eze 1:28).

The same atmospheric image that names the Noahic token names the visible boundary of God's glory.

The Bow Around the Throne and on the Angel: Revelation

The throne-vision in Revelation 4 ringers the throne with a rainbow whose color is dominated by emerald:

"and he who sat [was] to look at like a jasper stone and a sardius: and [there was] a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at." (Re 4:3).

A second strong angel descends with the same sign on his head, paired with sun-like face and pillar-like feet:

"And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was on his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire;" (Re 10:1).

In both cases the bow accompanies a cloud and a figure of glory — continuous with the Genesis token and Ezekiel's brightness.

Sirach's Praise of the Bow

Sirach pauses on the rainbow as part of an extended hymn to the Maker's works. The bow is itself an object of blessing:

"Behold the rainbow, and bless the Maker of it; It is exceedingly majestic in its glory;" (Sir 43:11).

The same passage describes the bow as encompassing the heavenly vault by the spread of God's hand:

"It encompasses the [heavenly] vault in its glory, And the hand of God has spread it out in might." (Sir 43:12).

In Sirach's praise of Simon the high priest, the bow returns as an image for the priest emerging from the sanctuary — a glory that, like the Genesis token, is read as the bow appearing in the cloud:

"Like the sun shining upon the Temple of the King, And like the bow appearing in the cloud;" (Sir 50:7).