Genesis 6:1-8

“When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.” 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. 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. The Lord regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 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.” But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord.”

— ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭8‬‬

Wow, this is obviously one of the most intriguing texts in the OT. So many opinions on the sons of God, the Nephilim, even the extent of the flood. 

First note is structure of Genesis 1-11 as whole. I’ll have to come back and insert verses/passages, but there’s a repeated pattern. Creation, fall, fraternal division, genealogy, lots of sin. Chapters 6-11 repeat the pattern. Flood story covers world with water again (see 1:2) and there’s recreation of sorts. Similarities between Adam and Eve’s sin and Noah’s vineyard (though only one real Fall situation). Cain and Abel=curse of Ham. Genealogy of ch 10 even though the earth isn’t “scattered” until chapter 11. Then Tower of Babel in some ways mirrors this passage. So God’s blessing through Adam, then Noah, then Abraham. 

God says, “Rather than starting over again with one man, I’ll save the world through one family.” At least that’s what the pattern and the literary style presents.

The narrative at least presents a global flood. We can’t interview the people who lived then or what they perceived or experienced, or if they are exaggerating for affect. There’s really no reason for science and Bible to hate each other here. I’ve read a bunch of scientific article for and against a completely global flood. It depends on what you want to believe. So I really don’t care about the science side. I think it can always be used as a tool to help our understanding. Our problem is we get so scared of it, or what if it disproves something? I have a much more confident (well, some may call it loose), but I just understand the nuances of inerrancy enough to know that the ancient contexts of the original audience matter. We can’t impose our thoughts onto them. Sometimes we can’t get all the way back to what they were thinking, and that has to be ok, but the text is completely reliable. Our interpretation may need to be altered.

I do know that “all” doesn’t always mean all in the Bible (see the conquest). “All the land” and “all the world” are sometimes used for effect. 

Sons of god= We may want to tone this down to mean Seth’s line who married Cain’s line, but there are still other humans referenced. Sons of god pretty much always references angels or divine beings of some sort. It makes us uneasy, but in Gen 18-19 the men of Sodom requested to have sex with the angels who visited Abraham and then Lot. So angels either have physical bodies or can take physical bodies.

120 years: Some still translate and interpret this as humans lived for 120 years, but I agree with the NET that the flood came 120 years after God talked to Noah. He allowed them more time to repent. This gets into the debate of how long people actually lived anyway, which is not appropriate here.

Nephilim: giants. Mentioned in Numbers as well. If you think the entire world was destroyed, then these obviously can’t be descendants. The author doesn’t make the connection explicit that these are descendants of the angel/woman relations. Just says they were around. 

God saw: This is a key phrase of the passage. It counters Genesis 1 where everything God sees everything as “good” and fulfilling its intended purpose. Here, everything is completely out of order and chaotic. Also speaks to God’s nearness to His creation/sovereignty even in its chaos.

May be a good place to insert the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) parallels. Epic of Gilgamesh and Atrakhasis are closest stories from Mesopotamia to reflect flood stories (we also have creation stories and babel stories and famine stories.) People want to argue over who borrowed from whom. There are obvious similarities and differences. The most clear difference is that the secular texts make the gods irrational, annoyed with humans (i.e., they’re too loud). The flood is almost an accident or at least saving them is an accident. One god tells a messenger a secret to go share with the humans how to escape the flood so as to make the other god more angry.

YHWH is not irrational or annoyed. He is responding to sin. He gave commands. Those are being broken, and in His desire for order and justice, He acts. 

God has regret? Lots of different translations here. NET has good note, but Chisholm’s article on God’s character is one of the best I’ve seen. There’s a difference between God’s commands/prophecies and decrees. But this is not that. This is emotion, and may be speaking of God in ways we understand Him. Not saying it’s inaccurate or that God does or doesn’t have emotions. Author is portraying God as grieving. Sorrowful. 

Again, the all inclusive language may be a bit much. Is Noah really the only human that’s nor murdering others or thriving off sin? Could be in that region or maybe just not to a certain extent. Doesn’t really matter. The point is how the author sets this up. 

But Noah…he is the one about to “give rest.” By the way, rest through judgment. And the entire flood story is a fascinating narrative in itself. But that’s more than this passage allows.