Genesis 6

1 And when men began to be multiplied on [the] earth, and had begat daughters,
2 the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took wives to them of all which they had chosen. (the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and took wives for themselves of all whom they had chosen.)
3 And 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.
4 Soothly 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 (these were the mighty and famous men of the world).
5 Soothly God saw that much malice of men was in [the] earth, and that all the thought of their heart was attentive, either given (over), to evil in all time, (And God saw that there was much malice in people on the earth, and that all the thoughts of their hearts were given over to evil all the time,)
6 and it repented him that he had made man in (the) earth; and God was wary before against time to coming, and was touched with sorrow of heart within; (and he repented that he had made man on the earth; and God was wary about the time to come, and was touched with sorrow of heart within;)
7 and 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 (the) heaven(s); for it repenteth me that I made them. (and he said, I shall do away man, whom I made out of nothing, from the face of the earth; from man to beast, from the reptiles to the birds of the air; for I repent that I ever made them.)
8 Forsooth Noe found grace before the Lord. (But Noah found grace before the Lord.)
9 These be the generations of Noe. Noe was a just man and perfect in his generations; Noe went with God, (This is the story of Noah. Noah was a just, or a righteous, man, and the only good man of his generation; and Noah walked with God,)
10 and begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Forsooth the earth was corrupt before God, and was filled with wickedness. (And the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and filled with wickedness.)
12 And when God saw, that the earth was corrupt, for each flesh, or man, had corrupted his way on [the] earth (for all people had corrupted their ways upon the earth),
13 he said to Noe, 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. (he said to Noah, The end of all flesh hath come before me, for they have filled the earth full of wickedness; and so I shall destroy them all, and the earth with them.)
14 Make thou to thee a ship of wood hewn and planed (Make thou a ship for thyself out of hewn and planed wood); thou shalt make dwelling places in the ship, and thou shalt anoint it with pitch within and withoutforth.
15 And 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. (And thou shalt make it thus. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, and the breadth shall be fifty cubits, and the height of it shall be thirty cubits.)
16 Thou shalt make a window in the ship, and thou shalt end the highness thereof in a cubit (and the distance from the top of it to the roof shall be one cubit); soothly thou shalt set the door of the ship in the side beneath; thou shalt make solars, and places of three chambers in the ship.
17 Lo! 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. (Lo! and then I shall bring in waters of a deluge, or of a great flood, on the earth, and I shall kill all flesh under heaven in which is the spirit of life, and all the things that be on the earth shall be destroyed.)
18 And I shall set my covenant of peace with thee (But I shall make 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.
19 And of all living beasts of all flesh, thou shalt bring into the ship twain and twain, of male kind and female, that they live (along) with thee; (And of all living beasts of all flesh, thou shalt bring into the ship two of each kind, male and female, so that they can continue to live, along with thee;)
20 of birds by their kind, and of work beasts in their kind, and of each creeping beast of [the] earth, by their kind; twain and twain of all shall enter with thee, that they may live. (of birds by their kind, and of work beasts by their kind, and of reptiles by their kind; two of each kind shall enter with thee, so that they will continue to live.)
21 Therefore 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. (And so thou shalt take with thee all kinds of food that can be eaten, and thou shalt carry it all with thee, and this shall be food for thee, and for the beasts.)
22 Therefore Noe did all things which God commanded to him. (And so Noah did everything which God commanded him to do.)

Genesis 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

The wickedness of the world which provoked God's wrath. (1-7) Noah finds grace. (8-11) Noah warned of the flood, The directions respecting the ark. (12-21) Noah's faith and obedience. (22)

Verses 1-7 The most remarkable thing concerning the old world, is the destroying of it by the deluge, or flood. We are told of the abounding iniquity of that wicked world: God's just wrath, and his holy resolution to punish it. In all ages there has been a peculiar curse of God upon marriages between professors of true religion and its avowed enemies. The evil example of the ungodly party corrupts or greatly hurts the other. Family religion is put an end to, and the children are trained up according to the worldly maxims of that parent who is without the fear of God. If we profess to be the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, we must not marry without his consent. He will never give his blessing, if we prefer beauty, wit, wealth, or worldly honours, to faith and holiness. The Spirit of God strove with men, by sending Enoch, Noah, and perhaps others, to preach to them; by waiting to be gracious, notwithstanding their rebellions; and by exciting alarm and convictions in their consciences. But the Lord declared that his Spirit should not thus strive with men always; he would leave them to be hardened in sin, and ripened for destruction. This he determined on, because man was flesh: not only frail and feeble, but carnal and depraved; having misused the noble powers of his soul to gratify his corrupt inclinations. God sees all the wickedness that is among the children of men; it cannot be hid from him now; and if it be not repented of, it shall be made known by him shortly. The wickedness of a people is great indeed, when noted sinners are men renowned among them. Very much sin was committed in all places, by all sorts of people. Any one might see that the wickedness of man was great: but God saw that every imagination, or purpose, of the thoughts of man's heart, was only evil continually. This was the bitter root, the corrupt spring. The heart was deceitful and desperately wicked; the principles were corrupt; the habits and dispositions evil. Their designs and devices were wicked. They did evil deliberately, contriving how to do mischief. There was no good among them. God saw man's wickedness as one injured and wronged by it. He saw it as a tender father sees the folly and stubbornness of a rebellious and disobedient child, which grieves him, and makes him wish he had been childless. The words here used are remarkable; they are used after the manner of men, and do not mean that God can change, or be unhappy. Does God thus hate our sin? And shall not we be grieved to the heart for it? Oh that we may look on Him whom we have grieved, and mourn! God repented that he had made man; but we never find him repent that he redeemed man. God resolves to destroy man: the original word is very striking, 'I will wipe off man from the earth,' as dirt or filth is wiped off from a place which should be clean, and is thrown to the dunghill, the proper place for it. God speaks of man as his own creature, when he resolves upon his punishment. Those forfeit their lives who do not answer the end of their living. God speaks of resolution concerning men, after his Spirit had been long striving with them in vain. None are punished by the justice of God, but those who hate to be reformed by the grace of God.

Verses 8-11 Noah did not find favour in the eyes of men; they hated and persecuted him, because both by his life and preaching he condemned the world: but he found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and this made him more truly honourable than the men of renown. Let this be our chief desire, let us labour that we may be accepted of him. When the rest of the world was wicked, Noah kept his integrity. God's good-will towards Noah produced this good work in him. He was a just man, that is, justified before God, by faith in the promised Seed. As such he was made holy, and had right principles; and was righteous in his conversation. He was not only honest, but devout; it was his constant care to do the will of God. God looks down upon those with an eye of favour, who sincerely look up to him with an eye of faith. It is easy to be religious when religion is in fashion; but it shows strong faith and resolution, to swim against the stream, and to appear for God when no one else appears for him; Noah did so. All kinds of sin were found among men. They corrupted God's worship. Sin fills the earth with violence, and this fully justified God's resolution to destroy the world. The contagion spread. When wickedness is become general, ruin is not far off; while there is a remnant of praying people in a nation, to empty the measure as it fills, judgments may be long kept off; but when all hands are at work to pull down the fences, by sin, and none stand in the gap to make up the breach, what can be expected but a flood of wrath?

Verses 12-21 God told Noah his purpose to destroy the wicked world by water. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Ps. 25:14 . It is with all believers, enabling them to understand and apply the declarations and warnings of the written word. God chose to do it by a flood of waters, which should drown the world. As he chooses the rod with which he corrects his children, so he chooses the sword with which he cuts off his enemies. God established his covenant with Noah. This is the first place in the Bible where the word 'covenant' is found; it seems to mean, 1. The covenant of providence; that the course of nature shall be continued to the end of time. 2. The covenant of grace; that God would be a God to Noah, and that out of his seed God would take to himself a people. God directed Noah to make an ark. This ark was like the hulk of a ship, fitted to float upon the waters. It was very large, half the size of St. Paul's cathedral, and would hold more than eighteen of the largest ships now used. God could have secured Noah without putting him to any care, or pains, or trouble; but employed him in making that which was to be the means to preserve him, for the trial of his faith and obedience. Both the providence of God, and the grace of God, own and crown the obedient and diligent. God gave Noah particular orders how to make the ark, which could not therefore but be well fitted for the purpose. God promised Noah that he and his family should be kept alive in the ark. What we do in obedience to God, we and our families are likely to have the benefit of. The piety of parents gets their children good in this life, and furthers them in the way to eternal life, if they improve it.

Verse 22 Noah's faith triumphed over all corrupt reasonings. To rear so large a building, such a one as he never saw, and to provide food for the living creatures, would require from him a great deal of care, and labour, and expense. His neighbours would laugh at him. But all such objections, Noah, by faith, got over; his obedience was ready and resolute. Having begun to build, he did not leave off till he had finished: so did he, and so must we do. He feared the deluge, and therefore prepared the ark. And in the warning given to Noah, there is a more solemn warning given to us, to flee from the wrath to come, which will sweep the world of unbelievers into the pit of destruction. Christ, the true Noah, which same shall comfort us, hath by his sufferings already prepared the ark, and kindly invites us by faith to enter in. While the day of his patience continues, let us hear and obey his voice.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 6

This chapter gives an account of the wickedness of the old world, both among the profane and the professors of religion, which was taken notice of and resented by God, upon which he determined the destruction of it, Ge 6:1-7 only one man, Noah, is excepted, who found favour with God, and whose character is given, Ge 6:8-10 and to whom was observed by God the general corruption of the earth, Ge 6:11-13 and to whom he gave orders and directions for the building an ark for himself, and his family, being determined to destroy the earth with a flood, and all creatures in it, Ge 6:14-17 only he would preserve him and his wife, his three sons and their wives, and two of every living creature, for which, and for himself and his family, he was to take food into the ark when built, Ge 6:18-21 and the chapter is concluded with observing, that Noah did as he was commanded, Ge 6:22.

Genesis 6 Commentaries

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.