Genesis 6: The Wickedness of Man and the Ark

Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose. So the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown. (BSB)

Says 6:1 opens as men begin to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters are born to them. “The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose” (6:2, BSB). The Hebrew sets בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, the sons of God, with the article on God, against בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם, the daughters of man, the noun of 6:1. Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7 have the same phrase without the article. Swete 6:1 holds two English verses: 6:1a, Καὶ ἦν Νῶε ἐτῶν πεντακοσίων… τὸν Σήμ, τὸν Χάμ, τὸν Ἰάφεθ, is English 5:32, and 6:1b is English 6:1. At 6:2 Swete prints ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ, the angels of God; the apparatus records, with a query, that angels apparently stands over an erasure in Alexandrinus. At 6:4 the same Hebrew phrase is printed οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, the sons of God. Those are textual facts, not a verdict on the Hebrew. See the Hebrew and Greek notes, and the notes on Job 1:6 and 38:7.

Uncertain Who the sons of God are is open, and no lean is taken here. Three readings are set out by their grounds. (1) Heavenly beings, or angels. Ground: the phrase in Job names heavenly beings who present themselves before the Lord, and Swete prints angels at 6:2. The angelic reading often points to Deuteronomy 32:8, and to Psalm 82 in the same connection; see the notes on those passages, which are not taken up again here. Objection: 6:3 speaks of man, and judges man. This reading cites 1 Peter 3:19–20, 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, where angels sin or leave their proper dwelling; Matthew 22:30 is cited against it, because those raised will neither marry nor be given in marriage but will be like the angels in heaven (Matt 22:30). The New Testament wording is what those texts say; their link to 6:1–4 is open. Augustine, in the City of God, notes that where the sons of God are said to have loved the daughters of men, “they are also called angels of God,” though he himself reads them as the line of Seth. Early readings, including 1 Enoch as reception and not as authority, are set out in the historical note. (2) The line of Seth against the daughters of men, often read as the line of Cain. Ground: chapters 4 and 5 have just set the two lines side by side, and 6:3 judges man. Objection: men in 6:1–2 is the mankind of 6:1, not a narrower group. (3) Rulers or great men, a class or dynastic title. Ground: the first noun can mean a member of a class, and God can be used of rulers. Objection: the phrase does not name human rulers elsewhere. The Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan speaks of “the sons of the Great” at 6:4. These are the views; no lean is taken among them. See the historical note on early readings of the sons of God.

Says “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown” (6:4, BSB). The Hebrew is הַנְּפִלִים, and the children are הַגִּבֹּרִים, the mighty men, אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם, men of the name. Swete has γίγαντες, giants, for both nouns, and ὡς ἂν εἰσεπορεύοντο at the second clause. The word returns in the spies' report at Numbers 13:33. An open mark stands in the Masoretic Text after 6:4. See the Hebrew note and the note on Numbers 13:33.

Uncertain What Nephilim means, whether they are the children of 6:2 or were already on the earth, and how they relate to Numbers 13:33, are open, and no lean is taken. (1) Giants, after the Greek and a common gloss. (2) Fallen ones, from the verb to fall, whose origin in this noun is itself doubtful. The phrase in those days—and afterward as well describes a presence that is not confined to the moment of 6:2. Whether the Nephilim of Numbers 13:33 are the same kind, a name reused, or a spy-report, is not settled by the wording here. The historical note on the Nephilim sets out both giants and fallen ones, and the early readings. Pseudo-Jonathan, at 6:4, names “Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven,” and then “men who are of the world, men of names.” That is a later reading, not a lean on the Hebrew. 1 Enoch is reported in the historical note as reception, not as authority.

Says The Lord says, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years” (6:3, BSB). The verb is יָדוֹן. The BSB has contend; Swete has Οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις, shall not remain in these men, and opens the verse καὶ εἶπεν Κύριος ὁ θεός. Remain is the Greek's sense; τούτοις, these, has no Hebrew counterpart. The hundred and twenty years stand in the Hebrew, in Swete, and in the Samaritan main text. See the Hebrew, Greek and textual notes, and the note on the hundred and twenty years.

Implies As tagged, the verb belongs with judging and contending.

Uncertain What the hundred and twenty years measure is open, and no lean is taken. (1) A cap on the human lifespan. Ground: his days is the ordinary language of a life. Objection: lives after the flood in the next chapters of Genesis are longer than a hundred and twenty years. (2) A period of time until the flood. Ground: the sentence stands at the head of the flood account, as a term set for man. Objection: “After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (5:32, BSB), and “Now Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth” (7:6, BSB), so that those two notices stand a hundred years apart, not a hundred and twenty. Reply: 6:3 is not dated to Noah's five hundredth year, and need not follow 5:32 in time. Early readings of the term, including a time given for repentance, are set out in the historical note on the flood. No lean is taken here.

The persons of the chapter are treated in the note on persons and history.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.6.1-Gen.6.4.sons-of-god-and-nephilim

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.6.1-Gen.6.22.persons-and-history

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.6.3.one-hundred-twenty-years

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (BSB)

Says “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time” (6:5, BSB). The Hebrew has וְכָל־יֵצֶר מַחְשְׁבֹת לִבּוֹ, every form of the thoughts of his heart, only evil all the day. Swete 6:5 opens ἰδὼν δὲ Κύριος ὁ θεὸς. The same judgment of the heart returns after the flood at 8:21. See the Hebrew note and the note on 8:21.

Says “And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” (6:6, BSB). The verb is וַיִּנָּחֶם, a Niphal of נחם; with it stands וַיִּתְעַצֵּב אֶל־לִבּוֹ, a Hithpael, and He was grieved in His heart. In 6:7 the Lord says, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” The Niphal returns in נִחַמְתִּי; the BSB has I am grieved. The Piel of the same root is comfort at 5:29, in Lamech's naming of Noah. Swete has ἐνεθυμήθη … διενοήθη, pondered … considered, at 6:6, and ἐθυμώθην, I was angered, at 6:7. Those are Greek facts, not a softening or a heightening of the Hebrew. See the Hebrew and Greek notes, and the Genesis 5 note on 5:29.

Implies In the Niphal the root runs from regret over one's own deeds to pity and comfort. Here its object is that He had made man, which sets the verb with regret over a deed of one's own. The verbs are not softened, and they are not sensationalized.

Uncertain Hebrew speaks of God's regret, pain and heart as of people's. That is a feature of the language, often called anthropopathism: God is described in human affections. The same root is used of God regretting that He has made Saul king (1 Sam 15:11, 35), and of God, who is not a man, not relenting or changing His mind (Num 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29). Those texts stand together, and neither is cancelled by the other. Either the wording is fitted to human understanding, or it tells a real response to sin within an unchanging purpose. The words of 6:6–7 do not settle a philosophical theory of divine impassibility, or its denial. No lean is taken here. See the historical note on early readings of the flood.

Says “Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (6:8, BSB). The Hebrew is וְנֹחַ מָצָא חֵן בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה. The name נֹחַ and the noun חֵן have the same two consonants in reverse order. Swete has Νῶε δὲ εὗρεν χάριν ἐναντίον Κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ. An open mark stands in the Masoretic Text after 6:8, and the next verse opens a new heading. Pseudo-Jonathan, at 6:8, has “But Noah, who was righteous, found favour before the Lord,” and at 6:6 “it repented the Lord in His Word.” That is a later reading, not a lean on the Hebrew. See the Hebrew note.

Implies The narrative draws a name-play between Noah and favor, as 5:29 drew a name-play between Noah and comfort. The two plays use the same root at 5:29 and the shared consonants of the name and of favor here; they are not used to settle the horizon of 5:29, which remains as it was left in Genesis 5.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.6.5-Gen.6.8.regret-and-favor

Minor variants

Says The printed text of this chapter is the Masoretic Text throughout. Swete's 6:1 holds English 5:32 as its first sentence and English 6:1 as its second; there is no Swete 5:32. The Greek differs in wording at a number of points, set out in the textual note and not repeated as a table here: angels at 6:2 and sons at 6:4 for the one Hebrew phrase; at 6:3 remain, with these added; γίγαντες for both nouns of 6:4; pondered … considered and I was angered for the root of regret; pleased God at 6:9; the time of every man has come at 6:13; squared timbers and nests at 6:14; gathering together at 6:16. The dimensions at 6:15 agree with the Masoretic Text. The Samaritan main text has the same hundred and twenty years at 6:3 and the same three hundred, fifty and thirty cubits at 6:15. At 6:2 Swete's apparatus records, with a query, that angels apparently stands over an erasure in Alexandrinus. Other notes in Swete, in plain words, include another word for before at 6:8 in one manuscript, another word for generation at 6:9 in two, Lord added before God at 6:13 in one, four hundred for three hundred at 6:15 in one, a different order of your wife and your sons at 6:18 in one, omissions at 6:20 in one, and Lord lacking at 6:22 in one. See the textual note and the Greek notes.

Uncertain Whether the Greek differences reflect other Hebrew or the translator is open; the Greek alone does not settle it. No lean is taken here.

This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence. And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways. Then God said to Noah, “The end of all living creatures has come before Me, because through them the earth is full of violence. Now behold, I will destroy both them and the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out. And this is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. You are to make a roof for the ark, finish its walls a cubit from the top, place a door in the side of the ark, and build lower, middle, and upper decks. And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish. But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. And you are to bring two of every living creature into the ark—male and female—to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird and animal and crawling creature will come to you to be kept alive. You are also to take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten and gather it as food for yourselves and for the animals.” So Noah did everything precisely as God had commanded him. (BSB)

Says “This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God” (6:9, BSB). The heading is אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת נֹחַ, these are the generations of Noah, the formula of 2:4 and 5:1; the BSB has account. Noah is אִישׁ צַדִּיק תָּמִים, a righteous man, blameless, in his generations in the Hebrew, singular in the BSB. Then אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים הִתְהַלֶּךְ־נֹחַ, with God walked Noah, the Hithpael said of Enoch at 5:22 and 24, here with the object first. Swete has Αὗται δὲ αἱ γενέσεις Νῶε, and τῷ θεῷ εὐηρέστησεν Νῶε, Noah pleased God, as at 5:22 and 24. 6:10 names the three sons of 5:32 and adds three: “And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (6:10, BSB). Swete has τὸν Σήμ, τὸν Χάμ, τὸν Ἰάφεθ, as in 6:1a. See the Hebrew and Greek notes, the Genesis 5 notes on Enoch's walk and on 5:32, and the notes on 2:4.

Uncertain Whether in his generations means among the people of his time or through the generations of his life is open; no lean is taken here. For the source question raised by a new heading at 6:9, see the historical note on early readings of the flood; it is not re-argued here.

Says “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and full of violence” (6:11, BSB). One root runs through 6:11–13 and on to 6:17: the earth was ruined; God sees that it was ruined, for all flesh had ruined its way; God says that He is ruining them; 6:17 has to ruin. The earth is full of חָמָס, violence. All living creatures in the BSB of 6:12–13 is, by the footnote, literally all flesh. Swete 6:13 has Καιρὸς παντὸς ἀνθρώπου ἥκει ἐναντίον μου, the time of every man has come before me. A closed mark stands after 6:12. See the Hebrew note.

Uncertain Whether all flesh in 6:12–13 is humankind (it ruined its way; Swete has every man in 6:13) or all living things, as in 6:17 and 6:19, where beasts are included, is open; no lean is taken here.

Says God tells Noah to make an ark of gopher wood, to make rooms in it, and to coat it with pitch inside and out. The noun is תֵּבָה, a box or chest; outside the flood account it is used only of the basket in Exodus 2:3 and 5. גֹפֶר is used only here; the BSB's footnote calls it an unknown kind of tree, possibly cypress or cedar. Swete has κιβωτὸν ἐκ ξύλων τετραγώνων, an ark of squared timbers, and νοσσιὰς, nests, for קִנִּים, rooms in the BSB. The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. Those are the figures of the text. The BSB's footnote gives feet and meters; those are a conversion, not the Hebrew. The Samaritan main text has the same three numbers. 6:16 has צֹהַר, a roof in the BSB, a door in the side, and lower, middle and upper decks, and to a cubit it is to be finished from above. Swete has ἐπισυνάγων, gathering together, for צֹהַר. See the Hebrew and Greek notes, and the note on Exodus 2:3.

Implies The noun for the ark names a box or chest; its only other use is Moses' basket. That is a lexical fact, not a typology.

Uncertain What צֹהַר is remains open, and no lean is taken: a roof, as the BSB's main text, or a skylight or window, as its footnote allows. How the cubit from above is meant is also unclear.

Says God is bringing הַמַּבּוּל, the flood, waters, on the earth, to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life; everything on the earth will perish (6:17). Swete has τὸν κατακλυσμὸν ὕδωρ. Then 6:18: God will establish His covenant with Noah, and Noah will enter the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives. The Hebrew is וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת־בְּרִיתִי אִתָּךְ, I will establish my covenant with you, a Hiphil of the verb stand. This is the first use of בְּרִית in Genesis. Swete has στήσω τὴν διαθήκην μου, and this is the first διαθήκη in Greek Genesis as well. The verb and the noun return in 9:9, 11 and 17. No terms of the covenant are stated in 6:18; they are stated after the flood, in 9:8–17, which is pointed to and not treated here. See the Hebrew note and the note on 9:8–17.

Implies The noun is first used here, as my covenant, with the ark command; it is not, in this verse, a finished statement of terms.

Uncertain How far the flood reached is open, and no lean is taken. (1) A flood of the whole earth. Ground: the chapter's own language, all flesh, under the heavens, the face of the earth, and the purpose to destroy. Objection: all and the earth can be used of a land and its people. (2) A flood of the then-known world, or of a region. Ground: that narrower use of the same words. Objection: the chapter repeats its widest terms, and 6:17 places every creature under the heavens. Geology is not imported here. The New Testament speaks of the flood as a past judgment — 2 Peter 2:5, of the flood brought on the ungodly; Matthew 24:39, of the flood that came and swept them all away — and those texts state the New Testament's own usage. They are not themselves a verdict on the geographic extent.

Babylonian stories of a warning, a vessel, and living things kept alive are treated in the historical note, from the pages of Rogers and King cited in the historical note, including the Eleventh Tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic, another recension in which Atra-khasis asks for a plan of the ship, Berossus, and a Sumerian account of Ziusudu. No dependence is claimed in either direction, and that background does not fix the meaning of Genesis 6. See the historical note, and the earlier notes on Babylonian background.

Says Noah is to bring two of every living creature, male and female, to keep them alive; birds, beasts and crawling things, each according to its kind, will come to him; and he is to take food for himself and for them. Swete has δύο δύο, two by two, for the single Hebrew two. “So Noah did everything precisely as God had commanded him” (6:22, BSB). Swete has καὶ ἐποίησεν Νῶε πάντα ὅσα ἐνετείλατο αὐτῷ Κύριος ὁ θεός, οὕτως ἐποίησεν. A closed mark stands after 6:22. “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family” (Heb 11:7, BSB). See the Hebrew and Greek notes.

Genesis 7 is pointed to for the coming of the waters, and is not treated here.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.6.9-Gen.6.22.ark-flood-covenant

New Testament reading

Says The New Testament reads Noah and the flood as history. “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Heb 11:7, BSB). 1 Peter 3:20 speaks of the days of Noah, while the ark was being built, and of eight souls saved through water. 2 Peter 2:5 speaks of Noah as a preacher of righteousness, preserved when God brought the flood on the ungodly. “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:37, BSB). “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark” (Matt 24:38, BSB). “And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt 24:39, BSB). Luke 17:26–27 speaks in the same way of the days of Noah and of the flood. Those texts state the New Testament's own use of Noah and the flood. They treat Noah as a real person. They do not settle how far the waters reached.

Says 1 Peter 3:19–20, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6 and Matthew 22:30 are stated as each side of the question in 6:1–4 cites them. 1 Peter 3:19 speaks of a going and preaching to the spirits in prison, and 3:20 of those who disobeyed in the days of Noah. 2 Peter 2:4 speaks of angels who sinned and were cast down to be held for judgment, and 2:5 of the flood and of Noah in the next breath. Jude 6 says, “And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day” (Jude 6, BSB). “In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matt 22:30, BSB). Each of those texts is given for what the writer says. The Greek forms, including κιβωτός and κατακλυσμός in agreement with Swete 6:14 and 6:17, and the apparatus at 1 Peter 3:20, 2 Peter 2:4 and Matthew 22:30, are set out in the Greek note.

Uncertain Whether 1 Peter 3:19–20, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, or Matthew 22:30 refer to Genesis 6:1–4 is not settled, and no lean is taken. Readers who take the sons of God as angels cite the texts about angels who sinned or left their dwelling; the Sethite reading answers that those texts do not name Genesis 6, and cites Matthew 22:30. Form agreement is not a claim about which text a writer used. No application is drawn.

Note ID: note.exegetical.Gen.6.1-Gen.6.22.new-testament-reading