18 | Genesis 6:5
chil dren by them. They were the he roes of old, men of re nown.
5
The Lord saw how great the wick ed ness of the hu man race had be come on the earth, and that every in cli na tion of the thoughts of the hu man heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord re gret ted that he had made hu man be ings on the earth, and his heart was deep ly trou bled. 7 So the Lord said,“ I will wipe from the face of the earth the hu man race I have cre at ed— and with them the an i mals, the birds and the crea tures that move along the ground— for I re gret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found fa vor in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah and the Flood
9
This is the ac count of Noah and his fam i ly.
Noah was a righ teous man, blame less among the peo ple of his time, and he walked faith ful ly with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Ja pheth.
11
Now the earth was cor rupt in God’ s sight and was full of vi o lence. 12 God saw how cor rupt the earth had be come, for all the peo ple on earth had cor rupt ed their ways. 13 So God said to Noah,“ I am go ing to put an end to all peo ple, for the earth is filled with vi o lence be cause of them. I am sure ly go ing to de stroy both them and the earth. 14 So make your self an ark of cy press a wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch in side and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hun dred cu bits long, fif ty cu bits wide and thir ty cu bits high. b 16 Make a roof for it, leav ing be low the roof an open ing one cu bit c high all around. d Put a door in the side of the ark and make low er, mid dle and up per decks. 17 I am go ing to bring flood wa ters on
a
14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. b
15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high c
16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters d
16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain. survivors of the flood( compare note on Ge 6:17). Perhaps Noah’ s family did not escape the cohabitation of the sons of God described in 6:2. Some later extra-Biblical Jewish texts, such as 1 Enoch, agree with this view, but Noah and his generations are called blameless( v. 9), which suggests that none of the members of Noah’ s family are Nephilim. This would lend credibility to the view that the flood was localized, not global: The Nephilim survived because there was no flood where they were at the time( see 7:19 and note). heroes This may refer to the Nephilim— which would make them the offspring of the sons of God and human women( see note on 6:2)— or introduce another ancient mighty group spawned by the sons of God.
Genesis 6:4
NEPHILIM Ancient Jewish texts and translations of the OT render the Hebrew word nephilim with terms that describe men of inordinate height. The Septuagint( the ancient Greek translation of the OT) renders the term gigantes(“ giants”). The term is not a synonym for“ sons of God”( see Ge 6:2 and note); the Nephilim could, though, be the offspring of the sons of God from cohabiting with the daughters of humans.
6:6 his heart was deeply troubled Anthropomorphisms— the attribution of human characteristics to God— suggest that God feels emotions as a result of human behavior. 6:7 I will wipe The Hebrew verb used here, machah— which may be translated“ to erase” or“ to remove completely”— often appears in contexts where something is washed away or erased with water( Nu 5:23; 2Ki 21:13). 6:8 Noah found favor God’ s choice of Noah is not necessarily connected to Noah’ s character, although his honorable character is also mentioned in Ge 6:9. Noah finding favor in God’ s eyes means only that God is inclined to help him.
6:9— 7:24 The first half of the flood narrative describes God’ s plan to bring a flood, his instructions to Noah about building an ark, the requirement to bring animals and food, and the flood’ s destruction.
6:9 account of Noah God chose Noah to survive the great flood along with his wife, his sons, and their wives. See note on Ge 5:1. blameless The Hebrew word used here, tamim, refers to being free from defect; it is often used in sacrificial contexts to describe an unblemished animal presented to God( Ex 12:5; Lev 1:3,10; 3:1,6). However, this does not mean Noah was sinless( compare Job 1:1 and note). This phrase is similar to the modern descriptions like wholesome, godly or honorable( compare Ge 17:1; Dt 18:13; Ps 15:2). he walked faithfully with God The OT describes a pattern of personal, divine encounters that precede a calling for divine ser vice. The pattern begins with Adam, who spoke with God face to face and, along with Eve, received the dominion( stewardship) mandate of Ge 1:26 – 28. It appears next with Enoch who, as Noah, walked with God( see 5:22 and note). 6:10 Shem Noah’ s first son is presented as the ancestor of the Semitic people groups, one line of which produces Abraham, Isaac and Jacob( 9:26; 11:10 – 25). Ham This name is either derived from a Hebrew word meaning“ hot” or“ warm” or the Egyptian word khemet, meaning“ black land”— a name for the land of Egypt that describes the black soil produced by the flooding of the Nile. In the Table of Nations( ch. 10), the descendants of Ham occupy the hot lands of the southern Mediterranean and African regions( 10:6 – 20). The name Ham is also used at times in parallel with Egypt( Ps 78:51; 105:23,27; 106:22). Japheth The derivation of this name is uncertain. The Table of Nations( Ge 10) locates Japheth’ s descendants in Greece and the northern Mediterranean region( 10:2 – 5).
6:11 – 22 The account of the great flood has many ancient parallels. These stories— especially the Babylonian flood stories like the Epic of Gilgamesh— have detailed similarities and often sharp differences from the Biblical flood story.
6:11 – 12 As in 6:5, the description conveys totality— a sweeping condition of humanity, not one confined to a small locality.
6:15 ark is to be three hundred cubits long A cubit was roughly 18 inches, so the ark would have been 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet. See the infographic“ Inside Noah’ s Ark” on p. 19. 6:17 destroy all life This language could describe a