Chapter 6

1 The wickedness of the world, which provoked God’s wrath, and caused the flood, 8 Noah findeth grace. 14 The order, form, and end of the ark.

1. And it came to pass. This expression does not imply that the conditions here described arose subsequent to events recorded in previous chapters. The author is simply pointing to the state of society in the days of Noah, when ten generations of increasing corruption reached a climax.

Men began to multiply. The human race increased rapidly not only in wickedness but in numbers as well. Among the manifold dangers for pious Sethites were the beautiful daughters of unbelievers. Wives were taken not because of their virtue but for beauty’s sake, with the result that godlessness and wickedness made heavy inroads among Seth’s descendants.

2. The sons of God. This phrase has been interpreted in various ways. Ancient Jewish commentators, the early church Fathers, and many modern expositors have thought these “sons” to be angels, comparing them with the “sons of God” of Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. This view must be rejected, because punishment soon to be meted out was for the sins of human beings (see v. 3), and not of angels. Further, angels do not marry (Matt. 22:30). The “sons of God” were none other than the descendants of Seth, and the “daughters of men,” of the godless Cainites (PP 81). God later spoke of Israel as His “firstborn son” (Ex. 4:22), and Moses called the people of Israel “children of the Lord your God” (Deut. 14:1).

They took them wives. These unholy alliances between Sethites and Cainites were responsible for the rapid increase of wickedness among the former. God has ever warned His followers not to marry unbelievers, because of the great danger to which the believer is thus exposed and to which he usually succumbs (Deut. 7:3, 4; Joshua 23:12, 13; Ezra 9:2; Neh. 13:25; 2 Cor. 6:14, 15). But the Sethites did not heed the warnings they surely must have received. Guided by sense attractions, they were not content with the beautiful daughters of the godly race, and often preferred Cainite brides. Moreover, the prevalence of polygamy seems to be suggested by the plural expression used, they took “wives.”

3. My spirit shall not always strive. The fact that this statement follows immediately after the reference to these unsanctified marriages would suggest that God’s displeasure was most particularly displayed toward this evil practice. Captive to their passions, they were no longer subject to God’s Spirit. The word “strive” in the Hebrew means “to rule,” and “to judge,” as corollary to ruling. These words indicate that the Holy Spirit could continue working but a little longer, and would then be withdrawn from the unregenerate and unrepentant of the human race. Even God’s long-suffering must end. Peter refers to the work of the Spirit on the hearts of the antediluvians, saying that the Spirit of Christ preached to these prisoners of Satan (1 Peter 3:18–20).

For that he also is flesh. This expression may also be translated, “in their going astray man is flesh,” from shagag, “to wander,” “to go astray.” By following after the lusts of the flesh, says God, men have surrendered themselves to its desires to the extent that they are no longer responsive to the control of the Holy Spirit. Insensibility to divine influence is complete; hence, the Spirit of God is to be withdrawn. There is no further use in “striving” to restrain or improve them.

His days. This divine prediction cannot mean that man’s life span would henceforth be restricted to 120 years. (Compare ages of men after the Flood.) They predict, rather, that God’s patience would come to an end and probation close within the period of time here specified. In the meantime, divine mercy lingered.

Christ compared God’s dealings with the antediluvians to His work for the human race at the end of time (Matt. 24:37–39). Under similar circumstances God may be expected to work in similar ways. However, attempts to determine the time of Christ’s coming on the basis of this are wholly invalid. We are now living on borrowed time, knowing that the destruction of the world will soon occur (see 2 Peter 3:3–7). We know also that God’s Spirit will not endlessly strive with men who do not choose to heed His warnings and prepare for that great event.

4. There were giants in the earth. These “giants,” nephilim, were not the product of mixed marriages, as some have suggested. The LXX translated nephilim by gigantes, from which the English “giant” is derived. In Num. 13:33 the Israelites reported that they felt like mere grasshoppers in the sight of the nephilim, which the KJV translates “giants.” There is reason to believe that this Hebrew word may come from the root naphal, and that the nephilim were “violent” ones, or terrorists, rather than physical “giants.” Since in those days the entire human race was of great stature, it must be that character rather than height is designated. The antediluvians generally possessed great physical and mental strength. These individuals, renowned for wisdom and skill, persistently devoted their intellectual and physical powers to the gratification of their own pride and passions and to the oppression of their fellow men (PP 80, 84, 90).

5. God. To be consistent, the KJV should read “Lord” instead of “God,” as in the Hebrew the word Yahweh, Jehovah, is used. Apparently, KJV translators were influenced by the LXX, which reads, the “Lord God.”

The wickedness of man was great. Human language could hardly provide a more forceful picture of human depravity. There was no more good left in man; he was “rotten to the core.” His “every imagination” was evil. The word “imagination,” from yeser, means “device” or “formation,” and is derived from the verb “to fashion,” “to form,” yas\ar. Therefore “imagination” refers to evil thoughts as the product of an evil heart. Christ said, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,” and observed that they in turn produce “murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt. 15:19). The heart was popularly considered the center of the higher powers of the mind—the conscience and the will. A contaminated “heart” sooner or later infects the entire life.

Continually. Literally “every day” or “all day long.” This brings the sorry description of antediluvian wickedness to a climax. If this is not total depravity, how could human language express it? Here we find evil supreme in the heart, in the “imaginations,” or thoughts, and in the actions. With very few exceptions, there was nothing but evil, not temporarily but always, not in the case of merely a few individuals but in society as a whole. This came about because men were “willingly ignorant” of God’s word (2 Peter 3:5).

6. It repented the Lord. The force of the words “it repented” the Lord, may be gathered from the explanatory statement “it grieved him” to His heart. This shows that the repentance of God does not presuppose lack of foresight on His part or any variableness in His nature or purpose. In this sense God never repents of anything (1 Sam. 15:29). The “repentance” of God is an expression referring to the pain of divine love occasioned by the sinfulness of man. It presents the truth that God, in consistency with His immutability, assumes a changed position in respect to changed man. The mention of divine grief at man’s depraved state is a touching indication that God did not hate man. Human sin fills the divine heart with deep-felt grief and pity. It excites all the fathomless ocean of sympathy for sinning men of which infinite love is capable. Nonetheless, it moves Him also to judicial retribution (see Jer. 18:6–10; PP 630).

7. I will destroy man. The Hebrew expression here translated “I will destroy” means literally “I will wipe off” or “blot out” or “erase” (see Ex. 32:32, 33; Isa. 43:25). Its use in this passage, describing the extinction of the human race in general, by a devastating flood, is most appropriate.

8. Noah found grace. In these words mercy is seen in the midst of wrath. By them God pledged the preservation and restoration of humanity. The word “grace” occurs here for the first time in Scripture, and clearly has the same meaning as in the NT references, where the merciful, unmerited favor of God exercised toward undeserving sinners is described. How deeply God loved man even in his fallen state can be observed from a number of factors. He gave them a gospel of mercy, in the promise of the woman’s seed; a ministry of mercy, by raising up and maintaining a succession of pious men to preach the gospel and warn them against the ways of sin; a spirit of mercy to strive and plead with them; a providence of mercy, by measuring out to them a long probationary period of time; an additional grant of mercy, a reprieve of 120 years; and finally an example of mercy, by saving the righteous when all others were destroyed. This ancient example of grace and mercy is a source of assurance and hope for believers who live at the end of time, a time that Christ Himself compared to Noah’s age (see Matt. 24:37–39). His loyal followers can rest assured that God will accept them as He accepted Noah, will likewise preserve them amid the evil of this day, and provide for their safety in the coming judgment.

9. Noah was a just man. A new subtitle introduces Noah’s history and that of the Flood. The author presents, first, the reasons why Noah had found grace in God’s sight and was spared during the coming destruction. It was not some divine whim that made him the recipient of God’s favor, but a life that was in harmony with God’s will. Noah is characterized by three expressions, each one placing him in a most favorable light in contrast with his contemporaries. He was a “just man.” The word “just” does not imply spotless innocence, but uprightness, honesty, virtue. It is noteworthy that he is not merely called “just,” but a “just man.” To live an exemplary life in Noah’s time required a man who could stand fearlessly and steadfastly against evil inducements, subtle temptations, and vile mockery. He was no weakling, void of judgment or will power; he was a “man,” strong of conviction, straight in thinking and action.

Perfect in his generations. The second attribute points to Noah as being “blameless in his generation,” RSV. This does not mean that he lived in a state of sinlessness, but rather of moral integrity. It refers not only to Noah’s lifetime of piety but also to the constancy of his religion amid the miasma of iniquity in which he lived. To be sure, he was of pure descent, and in that respect also distinct from his contemporaries, many of whom were the offspring of promiscuous marriages between the godly and the ungodly.

Noah walked with God. Third, Noah’s life resembled that of his pious ancestor Enoch (see ch. 5:22, 24), who had been translated to eternal glory only 69 years before Noah’s birth. During his own childhood, when Enoch’s translation was still vivid in the memory of the older generation, Noah must have heard much of that godly man’s life.

But the fact that Noah is thus described does not imply that by his own efforts he had attained unto righteousness. Like all others who are true children of God, he was saved by faith in God (see Heb. 11:7).

10. Noah begat three sons. See on ch. 5:32.

11. The earth also was corrupt. The sinful condition of antediluvian man is represented as corrupting the whole earth. Elsewhere the term “corruption” is applied to idolatry, the sin of perverting and depraving the worship of God (Ex. 32:7; Deut. 32:5; Judges 2:19; 2 Chron. 27:2). They practiced evil publicly, flagrantly, as the expression “before God” implies.

12. God looked upon the earth. Conditions on this earth became the subject of God’s special investigation. Inspiration thus assures man that the coming judgment was not an ill-considered and arbitrary act of Deity. This investigation revealed that there no longer existed a distinction between the God-defying Cainites and God-fearing Sethites. With very few exceptions “all flesh” was corrupt.

13. The end of all flesh. Having concluded that sin could be checked by no other means that the annihilation of the race (save for one family), God announced His plan to Noah. The preceding notices of divine intent to destroy this earth (vs. 3, 7) are presumably the record of words God uttered in heavenly council, rather than to any human ear. Here, however, a communication was made directly to Noah. This probably took place 120 years before the Flood, as suggested in v. 3. God wished to give men the opportunity to mend their evil ways, should they so desire, and accordingly commissioned Noah, a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), to give this message of warning. This was in itself a manifestation of mercy, based upon the divine principle of not acting before men have been advised of what to expect in case of continued sin (Amos 3:7).

The earth is filled with violence. God’s introductory words must have been shocking to Noah, but the reason for His fateful decision follows. Instead of filling the earth with a people who would attempt to live according to God’s will, man had “filled the earth with violence.”

I will destroy them with the earth. Note that God did not announce His intention to destroy man “from” or “on” the earth but “with” it. Though the earth as such can suffer no penal destruction, it must share in man’s destruction, because, as his dwelling place and the scene of his criminal acts, it is one with him. This does not mean, of course, the annihilation of our planet, but rather the utter desolation of its surface.

14. Make thee an ark. Provision must be made to save Noah and his family, hence the command to build a ship. The Hebrew word translated “ark” is from an Egyptian term designating large seaworthy ships used for the transport of obelisks, and also processional barks for carrying sacred statues on the Nile.

Gopher wood. The Hebrew word gopher is from the ancient Sumerian giparu, a tree not yet definitely identified. The ancient Egyptians built their big ships of cedar, and therefore commentators have suggested that gopher wood may have been timber from coniferous trees such as cedar or cypress. Their resinous quality would make them ideal for such use. Ellen G. White states that the timber Noah used was cypress (PP 95).

Rooms shalt thou make. The ark was to be divided into cells, literally “nests,” needed especially for the many animals, and to be caulked within and without. The word translated “pitch” is of Babylonian origin, and designates both pitch and bitumen. Since ancient times such materials have been found in Mesopotamia and used for caulking ships (see on ch. 2:12).

15. This is the fashion. The ship was to be built according to exact divine instructions. Its dimensions as given to Noah show the vessel to be of extraordinary size. Had it not been for these detailed instructions from God, Noah, a man of no previous experience in ship construction or sailing, could never have built it. The largest ancient vessel now known was an Egyptian ship up to 130 cubits long and 40 cubits wide. The ark of Noah was almost three times as long. If the cubit of 20.6 in. is meant (cf. Deut. 3:11), the length of the ark would have been 515 ft., its width 86 ft., and its height 52 ft. It has been generally assumed that the ark was in the form of a chest or box rather than that of a ship, but this is nowhere stated in the Sacred Text. Because of the lack of precise information in regard to the form of the ship, it seems futile to compute the exact cubical contents of Noah’s ark. It is clear, however, from the given description, that it was a vessel of formidable dimensions, with ample space for the animals housed within and for a year’s food for all.

16. A window. Certain Hebrew words and the grammatical construction employed in this verse are the occasion of difficulty in ascertaining what Moses meant. The word translated “window,” s\ohar, may mean either “light,” “light opening,” or “roof.” The translation “roof,” as in the RSV, seems to rest on stronger evidence than the translation “window.” The fact that Noah could not see the surface of the earth until the s\ohar was opened (see ch. 8:6) seems to favor this view. Whatever it may mean, light was admitted from the top (see PP 95).

In a cubit shalt thou finish it above. This sentence is difficult to interpret. If the word sohar means a “light opening,” the sentence may refer to a kind of lattice-work one cubit high surrounding the upper part of the ark to admit light. If s\ohar means “roof,” it may have practically the same meaning, namely that there was one cubit between the roof and the upper edge of the walls.

17. I, even I. The repeated and emphatic “I” is a clear indication that the coming catastrophe was a divine visitation and not a natural occurrence.

A flood of waters. The word “flood,” mabbul, is used throughout the OT only for the Flood of Noah, with the possible exception of Ps. 29:10. Mabbul may be derived from an Assyrian root meaning “to destroy.” The Hebrew construction of the phrase “a flood of waters” would permit the reading, “a destruction, [even] waters.” This passage is the first intimation of the means of destruction to be used.

18. I establish my covenant. The first recorded agreement between God and Noah (see on ch. 15:9–17 for the procedure followed in effecting a covenant). By concluding a covenant with Noah, God strengthened that righteous man’s confidence in the surety of the divine watchcare. Whatever might occur, Noah knew that he and his family would be saved.

And thy sons. These promises included even Noah’s unborn sons and their wives, because at the time Noah was still childless, although already 480 years of age (see on ch. 5:32). Not one of Noah’s ancestors had waited so long for offspring, and he may have given up the hope of being blessed with children. On many occasions God prepared His chosen agents for times of crisis by leading them through long periods of disappointment, that they might learn patience and trust in Him. This very experience came to the parents of Isaac, Samuel, and John the Baptist. The commission to build the ark, then, included indirect assurance that in preserving life, the family line of Noah would not become extinct. The birth of his sons would then be to Noah a sign of the equal certainty of the coming deluge. In faith he went forward, believing “things not seen as yet” (Heb. 11:7).

19. Of every living thing. Animal life, as well as human, was to be preserved through Noah’s faith. Commentators have seen a contradiction between the command to provide for “two of every sort” and the order given later to take seven of certain kinds (ch. 7:2). The first order was meant to inform Noah concerning the provisions that must be made to save the animal world from complete annihilation, and a pair of each would be essential for reproduction. That is all God intended on this occasion.

21. Food. Food for Noah’s family and fodder for the animals would have to be gathered in sufficient quantity to last for more than a year. It had to be not only harvested but stored away in the ark. The talent of a wise organizer was needed to accomplish all this work in an efficient way. Noah had to be not only a shipbuilder and a preacher but a farmer and provider as well.

22. Thus did Noah. The record of instruction given Noah closes with the observation that he had done everything God had asked him to do. He showed no hesitancy in obeying God. His association with relatives, who had become like the cursed Cainites, in no way influenced him. His education, at the hands of devout parents and grandparents, had prepared Noah for implicit faith in God and obedience to His instructions.

This short verse covers 120 years of faithful service. Some of those who believed Noah’s message, like his grandfather Methuselah, died before the dread event took place. He lived out the message he preached, and those who knew him best, his own family, could not avoid his holy influence. His sons not only believed what he preached but actively participated in preparations for that awful event foretold before their birth.

Noah’s experience sets a noble example for Christians who know they are living in the time of the end and are preparing themselves for translation. Their greatest missionary work is to be done in the home.

Ellen G. White comments

1-22PP 90-98; SR 62-64

2 PP 81, 338; SR 62; 5T 93

3 FE 504; GC 338; LS 208; PP 92, 102; 4T 308

5 CH 109; CS 205; DA 633; Ev 567; FE 221, 421; GC 543; MYP 456; PP 79, 91; Te 281

5, 6 SR 62

5-7PP 325

5-8GC 431

7 PK 297; PP 91, 92; SR 58

9 PP 363

11 GC 543; PP 91; Te 25

11-13CH 109

12, 13 PP 363

12-16PP 92

13 FE 504

13, 14 GC 338

14-16PP 92

17, 18 SR 146

18 PP 363