Genesis 6

CHAPTER 6

1And when men began to be multiplied on [the] earth, and had begat daughters,

2the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took wives to them of all which they had chosen.

3And God said, My spirit shall not dwell in man without end, for he is flesh; and the days of him shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4Soothly giants were on the earth in those days, forsooth after that the sons of God entered [in] to the daughters of men, and those daughters begat; these were mighty of the world and famous men.

5Soothly God saw that much malice of men was in [the] earth, and that all the thought of their heart was attentive, either given, to evil in all time,

6and it repented him that he had made man in earth; and God was wary before against time to coming [or to come], and was touched with sorrow of heart within;

7and said, I shall do away man, whom I made of nought, from the face of the earth; from man till to living things, from creeping beast till to the birds of heaven; for it repenteth me that I made them.

8Forsooth Noah found grace before the Lord.

9These be the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations; Noah went with God,

10and begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11Forsooth the earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with wickedness.

12And when God saw, that the earth was corrupt, for each flesh, or man, had corrupted his way on [the] earth,

13he said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; the earth is filled with wickedness of the face of them, and I shall destroy them with the earth.

14Make thou to thee a ship#6:14 Throughout Genesis, whenever the “Later Version” refers to Noah’s ‘ship’, the “Early Version” refers to Noah’s ‘ark’. of wood hewn and planed; thou shalt make dwelling places in the ship, and thou shalt anoint it with pitch within and withoutforth.

15And so thou shalt make it. The length of the ship shall be of three hundred cubits, the breadth shall be of fifty cubits, and the highness thereof shall be of thirty cubits.

16Thou shalt make a window in the ship, and thou shalt end the highness thereof in a cubit; soothly thou shalt set the door of the ship in the side beneath; thou shalt make solars or upper rooms, and places of three chambers in the ship.

17Lo! I shall bring waters of deluge, or great flood, on the earth, and I shall slay each flesh in which is the spirit of life under heaven, and all things that be in [the] earth, shall be wasted.

18And I shall set my covenant of peace with thee; and thou shalt enter into the ship, [thou], and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons shall enter with thee.

19And of all living beasts of all flesh, thou shalt bring into the ship twain [or two] and twain, of male kind and female, that they live with thee;

20of birds by their kind, and of work beasts in their kind, and of each creeping beast of [the] earth, by their kind; twain [or two] and twain of all shall enter with thee, that they may live.

21Therefore thou shalt take with thee of all meats that may be eaten, and thou shalt bear together at thee, and those shall be as well to thee as to the beasts into meat.

22Therefore Noah did all things which God commanded to him.

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Genesis 6

The Corruption of Mankind

1Now it happened, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2that the #This phrase has been interpreted as a reference to: (a) royalty or rulers possessed by fallen angels, (b) the descendants of Seth who called upon the Lord (see 4:26), or (c) fallen angels (cf Job 1:6).sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and desirable; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose and desired. 3Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive and remain with man forever, because he is indeed flesh [sinful, corrupt—given over to sensual appetites]; nevertheless his days shall yet be #This may refer to the time given man to repent before the flood, or to the normative human life span after the flood.a hundred and twenty years.” 4There were Nephilim (men of stature, notorious men) on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they gave birth to their children. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (great reputation, fame).

5The Lord saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. 6The Lord #The expressions of regret and grief seen here do not mean that God acknowledged the creation of man as a mistake on His part. God is omniscient, knowing all things (Ps 139:16) and He knew that mankind would come into sin and wickedness. God grieved over the sin of man because it was appropriate for Him to do so.regretted that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was [deeply] grieved in His heart. 7So the Lord said, “I will destroy (annihilate) mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth—not only man, but the animals and the crawling things and the birds of the air—because it [deeply] grieves Me [to see mankind’s sin] and I regret that I have made them.” 8But Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord.

9These are the records of the generations (family history) of Noah. Noah was a righteous man [one who was just and had right standing with God], blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked (lived) [in habitual fellowship] with God. 10Now Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11The [population of the] earth was corrupt [absolutely depraved—spiritually and morally putrid] in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence [desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power]. 12God looked on the earth and saw how debased and degenerate it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way on the earth and lost their true direction.

13God said to Noah, “I intend to make an end of all that lives, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I am about to #Enoch (the descendant of Seth, not Cain) had warned these people (Jude 14, 15); Noah had preached righteousness to them (2 Pet 2:5); and God’s Spirit had been struggling with them (Gen 6:3). Yet they had rejected God.destroy them together with the land. 14Make yourself an #The word “ark” comes from a Latin word (arca) for a box or chest. The design of the ark matched its purpose, which was not to travel through the water efficiently, but to be stable and have the greatest possible capacity for cargo. Also, such a vessel could be constructed relatively quickly, because there would be no need to form the wood used for the hull into efficient curves to maximize speed.ark of #The type of wood is unknown. The name of the wood is a transliteration—not a translation—of the Hebrew, with no connection to the English word “gopher.”gopher wood; make in it rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, compartments) and #This prevented water from seeping into the ark through the seams between the wooden planks, and may also have served to protect the wood from becoming saturated with water. Coating the ark with pitch on the outside as well as the inside was very practical. One of the worst jobs on the old wooden ships was to re-coat the inside bottom of the hull when water had seeped in, because the crewman had to quickly pave hot pitch on the hull under the water, which cooled the pitch as he worked and made the job all the more difficult—thus the nautical saying, “the devil (referring to the seam in the hull planking) to pay (i.e. pave with pitch).” The problem was eliminated or minimized on the ark, but Noah, due to his complete inexperience with sea-going vessels, would not even have known about the potential problem himself. It was imperative for him to have absolute faith in God, and to follow God’s directions word for word.coat it inside and out with pitch (bitumen). 15This is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits (450’ x 75’ x 45’). 16You shall make a #Or roof.window [for light and ventilation] for the ark, and finish it to at least a cubit (eighteen inches) from the top—and set the [entry] door of the ark in its side; and you shall make it with lower, second and third decks. 17For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all life under the heavens in which there is the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die. 18But I will establish My covenant (solemn promise, formal agreement) with you; and you shall come into the ark—you and your [three] sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19And of every living thing [found on land], you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20Of fowls and birds according to their kind, of animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind—two of every kind shall come to you to keep them alive. 21Also take with you every kind of food that is edible, and you shall collect and store it; and it shall be food for you and for them.” 22So Noah did this; according to all that God commanded him, that is what he did.

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