Genesis chapter 6
The emergence of the Nephilim. God will destroy humans with a Flood. Introduction of Noah. Noah prepares for the Flood.
THE EMERGENCE OF THE NEPHILIM
VERSE 1. When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
VERSE 2. God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
God’s sons. Literally, “the sons of the gods.” These are the celestial beings of mythology.
saw that men’s daughters were beautiful. These celestial entities were attracted to human females.
VERSE 3. The LORD said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”
My Spirit. In the Old Testament, the Spirit is not mentioned often. However, the Spirit was indeed present and interacted with us humans. Read more »
his days will be one hundred twenty years. Until this moment, people lived for centuries. But from this point forward, the human lifespan will be restricted.
VERSE 4. The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Nephilim. The Nephilim are mysterious hybrids of angels and humans. They are giants. And mighty heroes. Read more »
GOD WILL DESTROY HUMANS WITH A FLOOD
VERSE 5. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.
only evil. People had become increasingly corrupt and lawless. They led increasingly depraved lives.
They were not interested in turning their lives around and living uprightly. They would not cooperate in making things wonderful.
Like today.
VERSE 6. The LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
VERSE 7. The LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.”
I will destroy man whom I have created. It was time to for the planet to start over. The world needed a do-over. Everything would be destroyed.
VERSE 8. But Noah found favor in the LORD’s eyes.
Noah and his extended family will be spared. The LORD God is always finding reasons to spare people.
INTRODUCTION OF NOAH
VERSE 9. This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God.
VERSE 10. Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
VERSE 11. The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
VERSE 12. God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
NOAH PREPARES FOR THE FLOOD
VERSE 13. God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth.
violence. The Hebrew word is חָמָ֖ס (“ḥā·mās”). It means violence, violent.
The people of the world had become too violent.
I will destroy them. The only recourse for the LORD God was to exterminate them.
If that was the case back then, what about now? We live in a terribly violent era.
VERSE 14. Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.
Make a ship of gopher wood. Noah was to build a giant ship. It would be called the Ark.
In it, he collected animals and birds and reptiles and all the living things that would be spared.
VERSE 15. This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
three hundred cubits. A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.
Given the above, the Ark was approximately 450 feet long by 75 feet wide by 45 feet high.
VERSE 16. You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels.
VERSE 17. I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.
VERSE 18. But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
covenant. In Hebrew, the word is בְּרִית (“berith”). In Latin, it is rendered as “religio;” that is, “religion.”
The word “religion” means to bind up.
VERSE 19. Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
VERSE 20. Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive.
VERSE 21. Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.”
VERSE 22. Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.
GENESIS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.