The flood story in early Jewish and Christian reading
Says “His days shall be 120 years” (Gen 6:3); “the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth” (6:6); “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (6:9), and he “did everything precisely as God had commanded him” (6:22).
Josephus says Noah “persuaded them to change their disposition”, and that God, cutting their years to “one hundred and twenty only”, had him build an ark “of four stories high”. In Jubilees the 120 years follow the sentence on the angels’ sons (5:8), and Noah makes the ark “in all respects as He commanded him” (5:22). Onqelos reads the 120 years as a term given “if they may be converted”; Pseudo-Jonathan, as “a prolongment … that they may work repentance”. Augustine denies that 6:3 limits later lives and takes it as the time left before the flood (Civ. 15.24); calls God’s anger “not a disturbing emotion of His mind, but a judgment” (15.25); treats the ark as “a figure of the city of God”, its dimensions matching a man’s body (15.26); and refuses to set history against figure (15.27). Calvin calls the 120 years “a time of repentance”, and Keil “a respite”. These are their views. For 6:9 as a new heading, see note.historical.Gen.2.4-Gen.2.25.two-accounts-question.
Uncertain Whether the 120 years mark a lifespan or the time until the flood, and how God’s regret is to be read, are open. No lean is taken, and these readings do not fix the meaning of Gen 6.
Claims
- SaysGen 6:3 gives 120 years; 6:6 says the Lord regretted making man; 6:9 calls Noah righteous and blameless; 6:22 says he did all God commanded.
- UncertainWhether the 120 years mark a lifespan or the time until the flood, and how God’s regret is to be read, are open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning of Gen 6.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 6:3, 6, 9, 22
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.3.1 = 1.74, p. 14 (n23); 1.3.2 = 1.75 and 1.77, p. 15 (n24) (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1); read on the page images; quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): Jub 5:8 and 5:21–22, p. 20 (n39); read on the page image; quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Onkelos on Gen 6:3, p. 46 (n58); Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) on Gen 6:3, p. 176 (n188); read on the page images; quoted
- Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 15.24–15.27, pp. 305–307 (n328–n330) (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XV.24, npnf102.iv.XV.25, npnf102.iv.XV.26, npnf102.iv.XV.27); read on the page images; quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 6:3, p. 243 (n252); read on the page image; quoted
- Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 6:3, p. 136 (n139); read on the page image; quoted
2026-11-10
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