Tafsiran Kejadian 9:13: Chizkuni, Ibn Ezra, Sforno & Radak

את קשתי, My rainbow, etc;” the rainbow is considered as a very significant visible sign directly from the celestial regions. If we needed proof for this, the reader isreferred to Ezekiel 1,28: 'כן מראה דמות כבוד ה.........כמראה הקשת,“just as the appearance of the rainbow.....so is theappearance of the semblance of the glory of Hashem.”If it were My intention to destroy you when the rains intensified in quality and quantity, I would not first show you a semblance of My glory, just as it is not the custom of a mortal king to show himself amongst his subjects when he is angry at them. A different approach to this subject of the rainbow: just as the rainbow does not change its consistency although it reflects both water and fire and provides a greater variety of light than any other phenomenon at the same time, and water and fire do not act as mutually destructive as they do in nature normally, so its very appearance is a reassurance that rain will never again be the precursor to the destruction of the human race. A third interpretation: normally a hunter when aiming the bow (and arrow) aims it inclined upwards, or at least horizontally; the fact that this bow is inclined downwards is proof that it is not the bow used by an antagonist bent on destroying his foe. [For a further study on the significance of the rainbow, and the changes it reflects in cosmic conditions after the deluge, the reader is referred to the commentary byRabbi Elie Munk, in his “The call of the Torah,” Feldheim Publishing. Ed.]

My bow: Behold, I have put my bow in the cloud now. And it's interpretation is not, as the Ga'on said, that it was there from the beginning.

את קשתי נתתי בענן, I have arranged that the rainbow become a natural phenomenon.