Genesis 6

People began to grow in number on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them.

1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

Note"On the face of the earth" is a Hebrew way of saying "all across the land": it does not point to any particular region.

2The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives any of them they chose.

2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Note"The sons of God" translates a Hebrew phrase (bene ha-elohim) that elsewhere in the Old Testament usually refers to heavenly beings, but which ancient and modern readers have also taken to mean human rulers, or the male line descended from Seth. The text does not explain who they are, and the rendering leaves the phrase open, as the Hebrew does. "The daughters of men" simply means human women.

3The LORD said, "My Spirit will not keep struggling with man forever, since he is also flesh. His days will be a hundred and twenty years."

3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

Note"LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of God in Hebrew, four consonants usually written YHWH. Jewish readers said "the Lord" aloud in its place, and English Bibles have kept that custom by using the capitalised word. The Hebrew verb behind "keep struggling with" is uncertain; older translators read it as "contend" or "strive," others as "remain in" or "abide." "Flesh" here means a creature that is physical and therefore mortal. "His days will be a hundred and twenty years" has been read two ways: as a new limit on how long a human life may run, or as a countdown of the time left before the flood.

4There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those children became the mighty men of long ago, men with great names.

4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Note"Giants" renders the Hebrew word Nephilim, whose meaning is unknown; the earliest Greek translation guessed "giants" and the King James followed it. The word appears again only in Numbers 13, where scouts use it of unusually large men. "Came in to" is a plain Hebrew idiom for sexual relations. "Men with great names" means famous men, ones people still told stories about.

5The LORD saw that the wickedness of man on the earth was great, and that every thought his heart formed was only evil, all the time.

5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6The LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.

6And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

NoteThe King James "it repented the LORD" does not mean God turned from wrongdoing. The Hebrew verb covers regret, a change of mind, and being moved to grief, a person feeling the pain of how something turned out.

7The LORD said, "I will wipe man, whom I created, off the face of the earth, both man and animal and crawling creature and bird of the sky, because I am sorry that I made them."

7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Note"Found favour in the eyes of" is a standard Hebrew idiom meaning someone regarded him kindly or looked on him with approval. It is the ordinary phrase used of a servant well thought of by a master, or a subject by a king.

9This is the account of Noah. Noah was a fair and honest man, blameless among the people of his time, and Noah walked with God.

9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Note"This is the account of" translates a Hebrew formula ("these are the generations of") that recurs through Genesis to introduce a new section, usually a family record or the story of what came of someone. "Blameless" here does not mean sinless; the Hebrew word is used of an animal without physical defect, and of a person of undivided integrity. "Among the people of his time" translates "in his generations": that is, compared with his contemporaries. "Walked with God" is an idiom for living in close company with God, used earlier of Enoch in chapter 5.

10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

NoteThese three sons are named again in chapter 10, where the peoples known to Israel are traced back to them.

11The earth was also corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Note"Corrupt in God's sight" means corrupt as God saw and judged it, not merely in his presence. The Hebrew word rendered "violence" (hamas) covers cruelty, bloodshed and the kind of lawless wrong that a victim would cry out against.

12God looked at the earth, and there it was, corrupt, because every living thing had corrupted its way on the earth.

12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13God said to Noah, "The end of every living thing has come before me, because the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now look, I will destroy them along with 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.

Note"Has come before me" is court-like language: the matter has been laid before God as judge, and he has reached a decision. "All flesh" is a Hebrew expression for every living creature, people and animals together.

14"Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and coat it with tar inside and out."

14Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

NoteAn "ark" here is not a ship. The Hebrew word (tebah) means a chest or box; the only other place it appears is the basket that carried the infant Moses on the Nile. The vessel has no sail, oars or rudder in the description that follows. "Gopher wood" is a guess at an unidentified Hebrew word that occurs nowhere else; nobody knows which tree is meant. The "tar" is bitumen, a natural black pitch found in the region and used to make baskets and boats watertight.

15"This is how you are to make it. The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high."

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.

NoteA cubit was roughly eighteen inches, about the length of a forearm from elbow to fingertip. That makes the ark about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high, a little longer than a football pitch.

16"Make a window for the ark, and finish it to within a cubit of the top. Put the door of the ark in its side, and make it with a lower deck, a second deck, and a third."

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.

NoteThe Hebrew word rendered "window" (tsohar) occurs nowhere else and is obscure; it has been understood as an opening for light, a roof, or a covering. "Finish it to within a cubit of the top" is equally uncertain in the Hebrew, and may describe a gap of about eighteen inches left under the roof, or the roof being brought to a point.

17"And look, I myself am bringing a flood of water on the earth, to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life in it. Everything on the earth will die."

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.

NoteThe Hebrew word for this flood (mabbul) is used almost only of this event and of nothing else; it is not the ordinary word for a river flood. "The breath of life" is the Hebrew way of describing what makes a body a living creature, the breathing that stops at death.

18"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will go into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you."

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.

NoteA covenant was a formal, binding agreement between two parties, of the kind kings and nations made with each other, sealed with set words and often a sign. The Hebrew phrase "establish my covenant" means to put such an agreement firmly in place.

19"And of every living thing, of all flesh, you are to bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you. They are to be male and female."

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.

Note"All flesh" again means every kind of living creature. In chapter 7 the instruction is given in more detail, with seven pairs of some animals; the two accounts sit side by side in the text as it stands.

20"Two of every kind of bird, and of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creature that crawls on the ground, will come to you, to be kept alive."

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.

Note"Every kind" translates a Hebrew phrase, "after their kind," used through the creation account in chapter 1 for the natural groupings of living things.

21"And take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up. It will be food for you and for them."

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.

22Noah did this. He did everything just as God commanded him.

22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.