Verse

Genesis chapter 6

English Standard Version

11Now the earth was corrupt in God 's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons ' wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." 22Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
New International Version

New American Standard Bible

13Then God said to Noah, 'The end of humanity has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of people; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with compartments, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and put the door of the ark on the side; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17Now behold, I Myself am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20Of the birds according to their kind, and of the animals according to their kind, of every crawling thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21As for you, take for yourself some of every food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.' 22So Noah did these things; according to everything that God had commanded him, so he did.
Christian Standard Bible

New Living Translation

King James Version

11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13And 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. 14Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15And 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. 16A 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. 17And, 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. 18But 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. 19And 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. 20Of 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. 21And 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.
New King James Version

What does Genesis chapter 6 mean?

Just a few chapters ago, God looked at all He had made on the earth and called it good (Genesis 1:31). Several hundred years after Adam and Eve walked out of Eden, God sees a very different world. Human sinfulness has made it far from good. This trend towards sin is certainly not out of forgetfulness. Adam and his children all live hundreds of years, maintaining a long line of eyewitnesses to God's work on earth. And yet, many terrible things begin to happen in the world of man.

For one thing, the members of a mysterious group described as the "sons of God" begin to take human wives and reproduce. Their offspring became heroic and famous and, apparently, quite powerful on the earth. There is frequent debate over the nature of these men. Some speculate that they were humans of large physical build. Others suggest these were the offspring of humans and demons. Or that they were aliens. While the number of possible interpretations is almost infinite, the Bible devotes very little time to this particular idea. Rather, it seems to be a footnote in the story of the flood.

Powerful humans unchecked in their sinfulness always produce death, destruction, and wickedness. Consider how much damage modern dictators have done with only 30-40 years of active life at their disposal. In this chapter, God points out that every inclination of the thoughts of human beings is only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5). He decides to reduce human lifespans to just 120 years (Genesis 6:3). Much as with confusing languages at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11), this seems to be God's way of limiting the evil man can inflict.

An alternate interpretation of this passage is that God will wipe out all land-dwelling life on the planet in 120 years. However one interprets this remark, it certainly comes to pass.

Very few times in Scripture is God said to experience "regret." The state of mankind prior to the flood produces this emotion in their Creator. This comment has to be understood in careful context, and with a sense of the original Hebrew language. What God experiences here is not a feeling of error, but a sense of anguish. Much like a parent who feels pained when disciplining a child, but has no doubt that it is the right decision, so too can God feel grief over man's sin without concluding that He was wrong to create humans. Some translations use phrases such as "grieved," or even "repented," all carrying the same idea of sorrow (Genesis 6:6–7).

However, the Bible does not indicate that God feels guilt, or doubts about His creation. Rather, this verse expresses God's anguish at seeing the wickedness and violence in the world of men.

In order to preserve His creation, God declares that He will exercise His authority as the Creator and wipe out humanity for its sinfulness and violence, along with the birds, insects, and other animals (Genesis 6:7, 13, 17). In this chapter, as with those that follow, there is often debate over the extent of this flood. Some see this as a truly global event, others as a "local" event which only destroyed all of man, not all of the planet. There are points to be made on both sides, but God's intent—and the effect—is beyond debate: the destruction of the entire human race, with exception of one family.

That exception is Noah. God points out that Noah is a righteous and blameless man who walks faithfully with the Creator. God declares His intentions to Noah: He will destroy all land-dwelling life with a great flood. However, He will not wipe out His creation entirely. He will spare Noah and Noah's family. In addition, He will spare a male and female pair of every kind of bird, "creeping thing," and animal (Genesis 6:19–21).

The means for this salvation are unique. God tells Noah to build a huge box, an "ark." It will be some 450 feet (137 meters) long, almost 5 stories tall, and seaworthy (Genesis 6:14–16). Once it is constructed, Noah and family will board the ark and be saved from the coming flood. In addition, Noah will prepare food for his family and all the pairs of animals who will come to ark, at God's direction, to be saved.

The chapter ends with an amazing statement: Noah did everything, just as God commanded. Faithful Noah would be saved and be the means by which God would save humanity and start again. And, the story of the ark and flood will serve as powerful foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus Christ, many thousands of years later.
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