God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness, 1-8

6:1 When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 6:3 So the LORD said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”

The contributor to Harper’s Bible Commentary takes a fairly conventional critical view of this passage:- ‘As an introduction to the Flood story, J has used 6:1–4, a fragment of old mythic material with reminiscences of the ancient Near Eastern motif of “rebellion of the gods” in which a younger generation of gods challenges the authority of their divine elders and progenitors. Whatever the origin and history of this fragment, J has included it because it fits so well the narrative of the growth of sin and evil begun in Genesis 3–4.’

The sons of God –

Contend – the Heb word yadon is found only here.  It may mean ‘abide’, ‘remain’, strive’, or ‘contend’.  Walton suggests ‘to sustain’.

“His days will be a hundred and twenty years” – This could refer to:

(a) an age limit.  So Sarna, Walton, Wenham and others.  The difficulty here is that each of Noah’s descendants recorded in Genesis 11:10–32 lived longer than 120 years.  If shortened life-span is meant, then ‘it took centuries for that boundary to be put in place. The only major figure in Genesis whose recorded age at death was less than 120 years was Joseph, who died at 110.’ (Hartley)

(b) a period of grace preceding the flood (cf. 1 Pet 3:20).  So Hamilton and Waltke & Fredricks.

Kidner thinks that either meaning is compatible with what follows.

We are mortal creatures. In this word of judgement there is a contrast between God’s spirit – his life-giving power, and man’s flesh – the person viewed from the perspective of mortality. Cf Isa 31:3. Without the life-giving Spirit, human life decays. If this incident records another attempt to grasp at immortality, God reminds them that they are ‘flesh’. The breath of life will not remain in them for ever, cf Gen 3:19. We cannot achieve immortality: it is God’s gift.

6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.

The Nephilim –

6:5 But the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. 6:6 The LORD regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 6:7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth –

“There is the intensity – ‘The wickedness of man was great in the earth’; there is the inwardness – ‘the imagination of the thoughts of his heart’, and expresssion unsurpassed in the usage of Scripture to indicate that the most rudimentary movement of thought was evil’; there is the totality – ‘every imagination’; there is the constancy – ‘continually’; there is the exclusiveness – ‘only evil’; there is the early manifestation – ‘from his youth’.” (John Murray, ‘Sin’ in NBD; the last trait comes from Gen 8:21.)

Man’s wickedness…his heart was only evil all the time – Of the various ancient Near Eastern accounts, only one offers an explanation of why the gods sent the flood.  In this account, the complaint is of ‘noise’ and ‘uproar’, with the result that the god Enlil was deprived of sleep.  In the biblical account, it is made very clear that the flood was sent as a response to moral degradation.  (See the discussion in DOTP, art. ‘Flood’)

The LORD regretted that he had made humankind – The Heb. word is nacham, translated ‘regret’ Here, and also in NIV, and as ‘repent’ in NASB, NRSV, ESV.

Does God ‘repent’?

On the face of it, texts such as this one appear to contradict those which speak of God’s unchangeableness (e.g. Mal 3:6; Eze 24:14; Num 23:19, 1 Sam 15:29).

For open theists, such as Greg Boyd, God is capable of a change of mind, since he has endowed humans with free will, and therefore does not know for certain what they will do.

Christopher Hays, eager to find support for his notion that God changes his mind, cites this passage as evidence.  He adds that God appears to change his mind again when he vows never to perpetrate such destruction again (Gen 8:21).

For classical theists, the expression is an anthropopathism.  Calvin writes:

‘The repentance which is here ascribed to God does not properly belong to him, but has reference to our understanding of him. For since we cannot comprehend him as he is, it is necessary that, for our sake, he should, in a certain sense, transform himself. That repentance cannot take place in God, easily appears from this single consideration, that nothing happens which is by him unexpected or unforeseen.’

J.I. Packer notes:

‘There is a group of texts, Gen 6:6-7; 1 Sam 15:11; 2 Sam 24:16; Jon 3:10; Joe 2:13-14, which speak of God as repenting. The reference in each case is to a reversal of God’s previous treatment of particular people, consequent upon their reaction to that treatment. But there is no suggestion that this reaction was not foreseen, or that it took God by surprise and was not provided for in his eternal plan. No change in his eternal purpose is implied when he begins to deal with a person in a new way.’  (Knowing God)

Perhaps the simplest answer is also the best: when God is said to change his mind (either in response to human sin or human good) this is simply the reaction of his unchangeable nature to our own changes of heart.

Grudem (Systematic Theology, 2nd ed.) reviews a number of passages where God is said to change his mind, and comments:

‘These instances should all be understood as true expressions of God’s present attitude or intention with respect to the situation as it exists at that moment. If the situation changes, then of course God’s attitude or expression of intention will also change. This is just saying that God responds differently to different situations.’

In Hard Sayings of the Bible, the contributor agrees that this expression is an anthropopathism, and writes:

‘In Genesis 6:6 the repentance of God is his proper reaction to continued and unrequited sin and evil in the world. The parallel clause says that sin filled his heart with pain. This denotes no change in his purpose or character. It only demonstrates that God has emotions and passions and that he can and does respond to us for good or ill when we deserve it.

‘The point is that unchangeableness must not be thought of as if it were some type of frozen immobility. God is not some impervious being who cannot respond when circumstances or individuals change. Rather, he is a living person, and as such he can and does change when the occasion demands it. He does not change in his character, person or plan. But he can and does respond to our changes.’

The Lord…was highly offended –

For an attempt to explain this divine reaction in terms of grief, rather than anger:

‘God appears not as an angry and vengeful judge, but as a grieving and pained parent, distressed over what has happened. The NIV translation says it best: God’s “heart was filled with pain.” These remarkably expressed divine emotions, which issue in a decision to destroy all living things (6:7), are resolved on the side of mercy in God’s choice of Noah and his family.’ (Source)

There may be something in this; but the emotional reaction ascribed to the Lord must be understood in the light of his intention to ‘wipe humankind from the fact of the earth.’

6:8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.

The Judgment of the Flood, 8-22

6:9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a godly man; he was blameless
among his contemporaries. He walked with God. 6:10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6:11 The earth was ruined in the sight of God; the earth was filled with violence. 6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful. 6:13 So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth. 6:14 Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 6:17 I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die, 6:18 but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19 You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. 6:21 And you must take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it together. It will be food for you and for them.

‘In contrast with the ancient Near Eastern flood stories, in which no cause of the flood is given (Gilgamesh Epic) or in which the gods decide to wipe out their human slaves because they are making too much noise (Atrahasis Epic and Eridu Genesis), the biblical account provides a profound theological motivation for the flood: humankind’s moral depravity and sinfulness, the all-pervading corruption and violence of all living beings (“all flesh”) on earth, (Gen 6:1-8,11-12) which demands divine punishment.’ (EDBT)

“Cover it with pitch inside and out” – In this area, oil, gas and bitumen are extracted from sedimentary rock.  This is a problem for flood geologists, who maintain that almost all sedimentary rock was laid down during the (worldwide) flood.  See the discussion in A Worldview Approach to Science and Scripture, ch. 3, by Carol Hill.

The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high – About the size of a modern ocean liner.  This is much bigger than any boats from the period around 3,000 BC.  The maximum length of a wooden vessel would be about 300 feet, because of the inherent instability above this size.  Given the prevalent sexagesimal system, and the fact that the ark’s dimentions are given in multiples of 60 and 10 (300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high), the figures may well be of numerological, rather than numeric, significance.

Earth – The Hebrew word (also occurring in Gen 7:4, 7:10, 7:17, 7:18, 7:19) can equally be translated ‘land’.  If the text wished to signify the entire earth, then a different word – tebel – was available.  In any case, the ancients did not have any sense of the world in its entirety, having knowledge only of a small part of it.  Furthermore, the OT writers frequently uses universal language to describe events of great, though local, significance (such as the Egyptian plagues).  See this discussion.

Two of every kind – We may presume that animal from the immediate Mesopotamian area, are meant, given the hyperbolic use of language and the fact that Noah himself is described as gathering the various pairs of animals.

According to Gen 7:23, seven pairs of bird and clean animals were to be brought into the ark.  This apparent discrepancy may be resolved by regarding the first as a general instruction (two of every kind) and the second as a more specific instruction (seven pairs of certain kinds).  The latter would be required for sacrifice (Gen 8:20) and if only one pair was taken into the ark, each of these species would immediately become extinct.

6:22 And Noah did all that God commanded him—he did indeed.