In verses 8-11 God establishes his covenant with Noah and his descendants. Verse 8 is introductory. In verses 9-10 the covenant is said to include Noah, his descendants, and all the animals that were on the boat. Verse 11 gives the content of the covenant.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him represents a break in the speech that began at verse 1b. God is still the speaker, and Noah and his sons the listeners.

Then introduces a new sequence and a new discourse in God’s speech. The Hebrew form is “Then God said to Noah and his sons with him saying,” but this is best conveyed in English as “Then God said to Noah and his sons.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .