Genesis Chapter6

Verses 1-8 God Judges Man’s Wickedness

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And Godsaw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.[1]”

Verse 1

And it came to pass – Signifying a certain, unidentified amount of time has passed. In this case, the time passed from creation until this moment in history has been significant, About 1500 years.

When men began to multiply upon the face of the earth – This is the fulfillment of the blessing in chapter one, in which God blesses men and commands him to be fruitful and multiply. This verse speaks of humanity in general, whereas, the following verse narrows humanity down to two specific lines.

Daughters were born unto them – Again, this speaks of daughters in general, and not in one particular line.

Verse 2

That the sons of God – This phrase has caused extreme controversy in the church in terms of interpretation. Who are the sons of God? Are they mortals? Are they created, angelic beings? Are they a particular line from Adam downwards? These questions have caused much debate, and in some, doubt. A proper examination of both scripture and context will be required to answer this problem. There are three main ideas that are supported in the church, of which, only one is reliable.

The first view – The first interpretation, the sons of God are the fallen angelic host. This view is taken from misuse of the Bible and a failure to contextually study the passage.

The support (1) – Those who follow this view rely upon three misuses of the Bible (Catholics rely upon four). The main argument is “any other mentions of the ‘sons of God,’ (OT) refer strictly to the angelic host.” The claim itself, while true, fails to recognize contextual elements of the passage. In the Old Testament, there are three other mentions of the ‘sons of God,’ all of which occur in the book of Job (1:6, 2:1, 38:7). The book of Job introduces the sons of God as an angelic host, a divine counsel and the context of Job allows for the interpretation.

The support (2) - The second misuse of the Bible, Jude 1:6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

The support (3) - The third misuse, Genesis 6:4, attempts to use the giants (Nephilim) to support supernatural, sexual, relations between man and angelic beings. The reasoning comes from the name, Nephilim, which is said (of these supporters) is a noun which means “the fallen ones.”

The support (4, Catholic) - A fourth misuse, used largely by the Catholic faith, and a few others who still use the apocrypha, is the book of 1 Enoch. The primary issue with the book, of the many, lies in the fact that it is not Canonized into the scripture. The book of 1 Enoch has many translation issues and many contradictory issues with the Biblical account, making it untrustworthy.

The problem (1) – The problem with the first support lies in the context of the passage. In Genesis, angelic beings, apart from the cherubim sent to guard the garden, have not been mentioned. This would leave the reader to assume that which has not been introduced. In addition, the immediate context, which begins in chapter four, with the next major division in the book in the first verse of chapter five, does not support the view. Chapters four and five, which together provide the immediate context of the passage, make stark contrasts between two lines through Adam, one godly, and one wicked.

The problem (2) - Jude has no direct connection with the events described in Genesis six, and becomes less unlikely when other contexts are observed.

The problem (3) - The problems with the Nephilim argument are many. The greatest challenge to the argument is the word itself, which is not a translation of Hebrew, but is a transliteration, and is translated from a Hebrew verb which means “to fall,” and not a noun “the fallen ones.” Without a direct translation, and, given only a verb which describes the state of the Nephilim, it becomes problematic to rely upon their existence as your proof of supernatural intermixing. In addition to the problem with the translation, verse four makes no direct connection with the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men to the existence of the Nephilim. It becomes unclear whether they are the result of the interaction or whether they are culprits in the interaction.

Additional problems – There are three additional problems, those who support this view have no Biblically based answer for. The first of which, origination in Genesis one. Creation is designed by God to reproduce after each own kind. Therefore, in God’s creation, inter-kind reproduction is not possible. To further the claim, we have seen in the world around us the impossibility of reproduction outside of like animals, and in some cases, within the same kind, reproduction renders the offspring infertile.

The second issue is that Christ’s words do not allow for this interpretation to hold true. He teaches in Matthew 22:30 that angels are not sexual beings, neither marrying nor given in marriage. We can gather contextually from the Bible that angels were not designed to procreate, and hence, were not given the mechanisms nor capabilities to procreate.

The final problem which stems from the translation is the subject of the punishment. In Genesis Three, when the serpent (a fallen angel being) was involved in the sin of man, the serpent was included in the subject of the punishment. In Genesis six, the only subject of punishment is man. It seems unfitting that man would be taking the fall for the sins of the angels, which are not identified as (a) subject of God’s wrath.

The second view – The second view hold little more Biblical backing, however, still lacks the contextual evidence of the surrounding passages. The view holds that the sons of God are the children of the rulers of the land.

The support – The Hebrew Elohim, refers to more than strictly God or deity. It was used in Psalm 82:1, 6-7, In which human rulers and judges are called gods. In this view, the Nephilim are not the offspring, but are the rulers contemporaries.

“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods.[2]”

“I have said, Ye are gods; And all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.[3]”

The problem – The main issue with this interpretation is the lack of contextual support in the given passage.

The third view – The final view contextually and biblically lends to be the most accurate. The view states (narrowly) that the sons of God are the goldy offspring of Adam through the line of Seth and the daughters of men are the offspring of Adam through Cain. More broadly, the view states all of whom believe and worship the true God are the sons of God, and all of whom disbelieve are the daughters of men.

The skeptical criticism – The skeptics of this view fail to take into consideration textual background. The argument against this view is such, that the phrase sons of God is not used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to human offspring.

The support – The support for the view is wide. Beginning with the contextual background, the larger portion of text the passage belongs to begins in chapter four verse one and continues through verse eight of the current. The larger text gives us two lines of Adam, one godly and one ungodly, wicked. The last verse of chapter four gives us a textual clue to understanding the mystery here - “And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.[4]”

The verse is interesting, when broken down into the root forms, which can give a second reading, “began to be called by the name of the Lord.”

Now we must, if we are to defend the viewpoint, address the concerns of the skeptic “the phrase sons of God is not used elsewhere in the Old Testament to refer to humans.”

In Psalms 82:6, listed in viewpoint two, God calls them children of the most high. While the exact phrase is not the same, the allusion to calling Israel, or Israel’s leaders, is.

Here are just a few other places in the Old Testament, in which people are referred to as the children, offspring of God.

Deut 14:1 “Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. [5]”

Deut 32:5-6 “They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: They are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and established thee?[6]”

Ex 4:22 “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: [7]”

As one can easily see, the references to Israel as the children of God, all written by the same author who penned Genesis, would allow the reader, especially the early reader, to understand the phrase “sons of God” as the godly descendants of Adam. In addition, the word Elohim may also be rendered as a genitive of quality, meaning “godly sons.”

This all fits well with the New Testament understanding as well, in which, believers are called sons of God.

One final supportive arguments is the commandments of the law, which prohibited intermarriage between Israelites and their Canaanite neighbors (Exod 34:16, Deut 7:3).

“And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods. [8]”

“Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. [9]”

Verse 3

Gods concern in verse three is the depravity of man. My Spirit shall not strive may also be rendered shall not abide. The verse gives the allusion that God is withdrawing from humanity. The rendering also alludes to, (it being) God’s Spirit that has allowed such long lifespans, the removal of such an existence.

The other meaning, of which is also possible, is that God shall not much longer withhold judgement.

Because he is flesh – This has been debated and caused doubt among many. For why should one being flesh deserve such a consequence. The idea, rather, is not that men are being punished for being flesh, but that God draws the distinction between that which is Spirit, and that which is flesh (sinful, mortal). The concern is not that one has flesh, but that one is flesh, is depraved, is wicked. *** View verse 5

One hundred twenty years – This verse has two meanings, both of which are possible, even at the same time, and both of which are debated.

The first meaning, one of which is widely accepted – the interpretation that God shall give a grace period, a time for repentance before destruction. Critics of the interpretation believe this to be wrong because it limits the time to one generation, rather than humanity in general. Supporters point out, after the flood account, there were men who still lived to much greater ages than one hundred and twenty (very few exceptions) and with still few exceptions, most never made it past seventy to eighty.

From the time Noah had his first son in chapter five, to the time of the flood was one hundred years. It may be possible Noah received the revelation twenty years earlier.

The second meaning, which is also valid, God shall limit the duration of mans life (with few exceptions as seen in the Bible) to one hundred and twenty years.

Both interpretations are possible to exist together.

Verse 4

*** See notes on verse 2

Verse 5

God saw – These words make a stark contrast to the same words in the creation account in which God saw, and saw that it was very good. This time when God saw, He had seen The wickedness of man, every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually. Men have become extremely wicked. We had seen how quickly this became a problem in chapter four with Lamech.

Verse 6

It repented the Lord – This does not mean, as some have proposed, that the Lord had sinned or done wrong in creating man. Rather, it means the Lord became sorry He created man. Men were not the only ones who received pain in the fall (the pain in childbirth and the pain in labor), but God is hurt and pained by our sin as well. He had become sorrowful.

Verse 7

The result of the wickedness and evil of man is the looming destruction. Notice the punishment goes out, not only to the man, responsible for the actions, but to the creation, of which man was given charge over. The New Testament, especially Romans and Revelation, talks of creation being restored as well.

Verse 8

While verse seven shows us that God doesn’t take sin lightly, we also see the grace of God abounds.

Verses 9-12 Noah Finds Grace with God

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. [10]”

Verse 9

These are the generations of Noah – The verse beings the next major section of the book.

Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations – Since we know that “all men fall short of the glory of God,” we then know Noah was made perfect in faith. Noah believed in, called upon the name of, and worshipped the one God.

Noah walked with God – The same thing is said of Enoch in chapter five.

Verse 10

Noah begat his first son, Shem, at the age of five hundred years.

Verse 11-12

The verses continue the thoughts of verses five through eight, and additionally details to the wickedness – The earth was filled with violence.

Verses 13-22 The Ark is Built

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.[11]”

Verse 13

The end of all flesh is come before me – The phrasing means that the divine King has already made the decision to act and it is irrevocable.

For the earth is filled with violence through them – This is the cause, as has been established throughout the chapter.

Therefore I will destroy them with the earth – This is the net result.

Verse 14

Make thee – Gods instructions to Noah on how he is to survive the ordeal to come.

An ark – The word ark means chest, not ship. It details what it shall do, as it will provide protection and order during the events to come. While we have the general instructions for the ark, it is unlikely this was the full extend of God’s instructions to Noah. Rather, we seem to be given only what is needed to make sense of the flood account.

Gopher wood – Used only here in the OT, we do not know anything about the wood. No tree has been identified as the source.

Rooms thou shall make – Rooms, sometimes in other translations, stalls, reeds, or nests, it serves the purposes of sheltering the family and provide living accommodations for the animals.

Pitch it within and without – The noun and verb for pitch are both closely related to the Hebrew word for atone, However, the word is used based upon the common basic meaning, “to cover.” This is the only place in the OT the word for pitch is used.

Verse 15

Verse fifteen gives the dimensions of the ark.

The length three hundred cubits – That is, the ship shall be four hundred and fifty feet long.

The breadth of it fifty cubits – That is, about seventy five feet wide (broad).

The height of it thirty cubits – That is, forty five feet deep, or high.

Of interest, the scaling (proportions) of the ark are the same or similar to what we use in our modern day ship building.

Verse 16

The word translated “roof” is only used here in the OT. The literal translation is “back,” however, it is often attributed to the covering of the structure.

In a cubit thou shall finish it above – This has been a highly debated verse with multiple meanings. Each of the meanings can be accurate, with no real indication which translation best to use. The two most accepted views hold that God instructs Noah to leave a gap of one cubit (eighteen inches) between the top wall and the roof (which would work well for ventilation), or to overhang the roof over the side of the wall by one cubit.

The door of the ark – The door serves an obvious puporse of getting those in and out of the ark, however, the door also serves a theological purpose. The door into the ark was the only means by which one could be saved from the flood. Theologically, Christ is the only door by which one can enter into salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Lower, second, and third stories – The Biblical ark had three levels, making use of the immense amount of space inside the structure.

Verse 17

Everything in the chapter, until this point, have been general warnings that judgement is coming upon the earth. Though God instructed Noah to build the ark, Noah had not received, initially, the purpose for the structure. God now makes the purpose clear, as He informs Noah the way of which He shall judge the earth. Behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth.

Verse 18

I will establish my covenant – For the first time in the Bible, one of the most theologically important words, covenant, shows up. Noah will enter the ark, not only to escape with His life, but as the bearer of God’s promise. The phrasing involved, “establish MY Covenant,” indicates that God is the sole upholder of the covenant. This parallels nicely with the way Israel sees their relationship with God, which is regularly described in terms of covenants.

Thou, and thy sons, and they wife, and thy sons wives with thee – God instructs Noah on the list of whom shall enter the ark with him. The people who shall enter consist of Noah and his wife, and his three children and their wives. It is presupposed that all eight worked together on the construction of the massive structure.

1 Peter 3:20 says “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. [12]”

Verse 19

And of every living thing of all flesh – We shall see the commandment to bring upon the ark animals will follow after the creation account. Male and female, after their kind, fowl, cattle, creeping thing. Fish, for obvious reasons, are not included in this list.

Two of every sort – The direct translation is two of every kind. This is the phrasing of the account skeptics do not like. One of the most common rebuttals to the flood account is that the ark was not big enough to support two of every species of animal on the earth. But the Bible does not say two of every species, or breed, it says two of every kind. Of the Canine breeds, Noah did not bring two of each breed of wolf, or other dog, but two wolves. Of the feline kind, Noah only brought two felines. He did not need two tigers, and two lions, etc.

To keep them alive with thee – The purpose of bringing the animals is to preserve the line in order to repopulate the earth. For that cause, They shall male and female. The command to bring extra sets of clean animals in the following chapter should not enter in at this point in the account. God, at this point, focuses on the general rule, not the exception.

To deal with the dinosaurs, where they on the ark with Noah as well? Yes. By all accounts, we can make a few assumptions. We can assume God brought unto Noah infant animals, that were smaller, took up less space, and consumed less food. We can also make a generalized assumption that God could have caused many animals to hibernate during the period on the ark.

So what of the disappearance of dinosaurs today? Most simply got smaller. Reptiles grow as long as they live and grow to the environment. The new environment would have not allowed dinosaurs to continue growing to such large sizes. Other dinosaurs would have been hunted to extinction or died of environmental issues.

Verse 20

Verse twenty repeats the command, he shall bring two of every kind onto the ark. Fowls after their kind, cattle after their kind, and creeping things after their kinds.

Verse twenty also tells how Noah will get the animals – two of every sort shall come unto thee. God makes it seem as if they will spontaneously start showing up to board upon the ark.

Verse 21

General instructions to take food for providence upon the ark.

Verse 22

Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he – By Faith, Noah obeyed and built the ark, in preparation for judgement to come upon the earth.

Hebrews 11:7 tells us of Noah “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. [13]”

[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 6:1–8). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [2] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ps 82:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ps 82:6–7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [4] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 4:26). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [5] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Dt 14:1). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [6] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Dt 32:5–6). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [7] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ex 4:22). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [8] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ex 34:16). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [9] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Dt 7:3). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [10] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 6:9–12). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [11] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ge 6:13–22). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [12] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 1 Pe 3:20). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. [13] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Heb 11:7). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.