CPCC Bible Study: Genesis 6

Chapter 6

      As with many of the passages we've seen in Genesis, an unknown amount of time has passed, remember, by some reckoning, it's now been 1500 years since the lights came on around here. The only clues we have are some human lifespans, some greatly extended human lifespans, but still human lives, in the record to judge things by.
      This chapter begins with a series of the most hotly debated statements in all of Genesis, and their meaning is anything but clear, even when you dig into the Hebrew. Instead clarifying the mystery of exactly who and what it is talking about, the meaning and usage of the terms in the original language only deepen it. We are also dealing with the thoughts and feelings of The Creator and the goings on "up yonder" which we have to accept, on faith, that the writer of the book had some help in both knowing and relating to us. OK? so.... Let's jump right in and see what we can see...
      Don't worry, we're going to make an effort to make some sense of it as we go, and then do a synopsis before we rejoin Noah.

1 and 2
      "hayah" (came / became / was / 'and etc') "ki" (when) "chalal" (begin / began (same word as in 4:26)) humans "rabab" (became many) on the "adamah" (land), and "bath" (daughters (the word is exclusive to a female child)) "yalad" ('born') 'to them'.
      "way raah" (and see / saw) "ben" (son (word can mean 'children', see 3:16)) of 'Elohim - the daughters (same word) of men (same word) that 'they' "towb" (pleasant / good (same word as in 1 : 4, 10 and etc, is only translated as 'beautiful' a few times in Genesis)) - "way" (and) 'they' "laqach" (took (same word used in 5:24)) "ishshah" (wives / woman) "kol" (all / whole) "asher' (which / that / who) "bachar" (choose / chose).

      The chapter opens with a statement about the larger society, and the statement about how girls were being born, even though all through the previous section it notes that "sons and daughters" were born to the patriarchs. But it does specify that these girls were seen as good and pleasant by the 'children of God' (it uses the more generic term in verse 2), who took them, the key to that statement being the word 'took' which implies that the girls didn't have a choice in the matter (for an example see what happened to Enoch, who was also 'taken'), as wives.
      It is worth noting that this story is retold, and fleshed out a bit (all puns at no extra charge) in the third chapter of the First Book of Enoch (and in Jubilees, see links below). In that version, there is no doubt that the one's doing the girl watching were angels in heaven. This passage also points out that this is where the "giants" came from. Don't worry, they turn up a little later in our study.

Sidenote:
      We could spend some time looking at the overall status of women in the ancient culture represented in Genesis. This is even before one could call the culture Jewish or Israeli. And perhaps the time will come for that, but for now we'll have to say that this period of history is very nearly EXCLUSIVELY Patriarchal. Good, Bad, or Indifferent, that's simply the way it was.
      The action in the story is swirling around the named men, and almost without exception (there's a couple of detours, and we'll note them as we go), they are the bloodline to Abraham, who drives his own story later. Even there, his wife and the other women associated with the family, are part of the drama, but they are far from the star of the show.
      Other studies have gone so far as to over-emphasize the role of women in the stories in Genesis. We shall not do that. In some places, such as Genesis 5, they are conspicuous by their absence. One can ask 'what happened to Eve', but other than some ancient legends and a few tall tales, not even Jubilees or Enoch tell us. The tradition that the Grave of Eve is in Saudi Arabia is totally without merit. See link below for a review of the site.
End Note

      Welcome to another poorly understood and seldom studied set of verses from Genesis. But notice where these statements are. Right after the lines about the 'sons of God' looking for a date, and the coming discussion about how bad things were down here. OK? let's take them in order.
3
      "way yomer" (and said) YHWH. "lo" (not) "ya down" ('shall' judge / dispute / quarrel / strive against / etc) "ruach" ('my' Spirit (same word from 1:2)) with "'adam" (humanity) "'olam" ('for a very long time' / ancient), "gam" (also / furthermore / morever / etc) 'he is' "basar" (flesh), "hayah" (become / 'come to pass' / been / etc) "yom" ('his' days) "me'ah we 'esrim" (hundred 'and' twenty) "shanah" (years).

      There's a couple of ways to read this. One is that The Almighty has mandated that the "spirit" that is on loan from GOD to the person, what we call their soul, will return to its original owner when the body assumes room temperature. As to what happens to the consciousness of the person, that bundle of thoughts and emotions that make the person a unique individual, when the physical body doesn't work any more, that is truly a Metaphysical discussion for another time.

4
      "han" (the) "Nephilim" (nephilim) "hayah" (become / been / came / etc) 'on the' "erets" (land (can also mean 'the planet')) 'them' "yom" (days), "gam" (also...) "achar" (following / after) "ken" (so / therefore) "asher" (who / which / when) "bo" (come / go / enter / etc) 'the sons of God' to the 'daughters of men', "yalad" (beget / bear 'children') to them, "hem" (they / those) "gibbor" (strong - mighty 'men' / warrior) "asher" (who / which...) "'olam" ('long time' / ancient), "ish" (men / man) "shem" ('of a' name).

a GIANT tangent
      There were 'giants' in the Bible. Humans, or at least humanoids, that were enormous, and were more than simply an extra large person. That is simply a statement of fact. But other than David's unfortunate encounter with one, we know little to nothing about them. As we'll see in our special look at Adam, there are religious documents that make him a certifiable giant, but the measurements given for him there, and other giants in other texts, are beyond belief.
      The word 'Nephilim' is used three times in the Old Testament. Once here, and twice in Numbers 13 in the report of the spies. While it is assumed that the "Mighty Men of Reknown / great warriors" were giants, that isn't what the Hebrew text says. But we can chase this translation error through history and find where it first occurred.

      How's your Latin? Well, this writer's is pretty lousy, but even it can recognize the first word of the phrase in question from the Vulgate, translated in around 400 AD by the scholar Jerome of Stridon: "gigantes autem erant super terram in diebus"
      The 1560 Geneva Bible renders this part of the verse in tune with St. Jerome's version: "There were gyantes in the earth inthose dayes"
      The 1611 KJV says "There were giants in the earth in those days", see all in the links below.
      Some more recent translations continued the error, such as the New Living Translation from the 1990's using the word "giants". Others ducked the issue by simply transliterating the Hebrew word "Nephilim" without trying to explain it further. Which others have done since, and probably for similar reasons... (insert comment about DC politicians here).
      The only thing we can say for certain is that whoever the Nephilim were, there were a lot of them, and they made an impression on the locals and were remembered in song and story for multiple generations.... Including, perhaps, being the "angels which kept not their first estate" (Jude 6 KJV)... We'll mention them again in a quick recap before it starts raining.

And now we're going to take a giant left turn. (all puns at no extra charge)

"And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones."
First Book of Enoch. chapter 7 (link below)
      Another ancient work names a being called Mastema as either one of the Nephilim, or perhaps an angel (fallen or otherwise) that somehow got mixed up with them. See Jubilees 10 : 8 and other references in that book.

"And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants."
Book of Jubilees, 5 (link below)

      The ancient hero king Gilgamesh is also described as a giant, who by some measures, was over sixteen feet (five meters tall) tall, which is explained by stating that while his father was mortal, his mother was a goddess. His 'friend' Enkidu is said to be "twice as tall as a normal man" on tablet two. See links below. We'll come back and check in with Ol' Gil' later because on one of his adventures he talks to a man that survived the Great Flood, see Tablet 11 of the Epic, linked below, the relevant passage begins on page 45 of the linked text.

Time out for Plato.
      No, really. We've got a quote from Plato.
      A similar story about somebody from 'up yonder' having kids down here, is related by Plato in his dialogue "Critias", see the full surviving work as translated at the Project Guttenberg link below:

"In the division of the earth Poseidon obtained as his portion the island of Atlantis, and there he begat children whose mother was a mortal."

end time out and tangent

5 - 7
      We're just going to look at a couple of key words in these verses and move on. Remember in the opening of this chapter that we said it dealt with the thoughts and feelings of The Almighty? Here it is:
      The word that the NIV has as "wickedness" in Hebrew is "ra'" (bad / evil) and was last seen as describing the tree that Eve picked their snack from. It is used twice in this verse, which is a tool of the Hebrew writers to emphasize that this wasn't just the occasional bit of weekend fun gone bad, these people were professional evildoers... (insert comment about DC politicians here). The emphasis indicates that these people were , to borrow a phrase "bad to the bone" and the thought of doing good for others never entered their head. (hence the reference to politicians)
      Verse six opens by saying YHWH was "nacham" (deeply sorry / regretted) having made man. The word there is also used when one seeks comfort after something unfortunate has happened, and is seen in Genesis 24 with Isaac, and in chapter 27 in a scene with Esau.
      Then it states that He was "atsab" (pained / grieved / 'emotionally' hurt) in His heart. This is profound distress. As when a person realizes that they have done something that will, without a doubt, screw up the rest of their lives, and has a dramatic effect on others as well, and that they can't get out of it or blame anybody else... (insert comment about DC politicians here). (running gags in essays don't count)

      The key word here is "machah" it simply means "to wipe out" / "erase". The list includes every land animal on the planet, but, oddly enough, not the plants, nor does it mention sea creatures. For he was "nacham" (very sorry / regretted) making them.

8
      Noah was mentioned in chapter five as having been the son of Lamech and the father of Shem, Ham, and Japeth when he was five hundred years old. At this point, we don't know anything else about him.
We'll have our synopsis just before he gets a call.

      "Noach" (Noah) "matsa" (find / attain) "hen" (favor / grace / charm) 'in' "ayin" (eye / eyes) of YHWH.

      Pay attention to the Name of the Deity as the story goes forward.

9
      The next Toledoth begins with this verse.
      And now a further character reference for Noach. Repetition, remember?

      "elleh" (these) "toledoth" (generation / genealogy) Noach. Noach "enosh" (a man) "tsaddiq" (righteous / just), "tamim" (blameless / unblemished / whole) "hayah" (become / have / been / etc) "dor" (generation / generations). "'et" (with) "'Elohim" (God) "halak" (walked / went) Noach.

      There are a couple of images at play here. The first is a foreshadowing of the unblemished lamb that is acceptable to God. The second is an almost exact restatement seen with Enoch in chapter 5.

10
      A restatement of the names of Noah's children, with the added reference that was not in chapter 5 indicating that they were, indeed, sons.

11 - 12
      Remember, repetition is done for emphasis. Remember, repetition is done for..... Remember, ....
      "shachath" (ruined / destroyed / corrupted / polluted / spoiled / wasted....) the "erets" (earth (planet) / land) "panim" (face / facing (as in 'in front of')) 'Elohim, and "male / mala" (filled / full) "erets" (earth...) "chamas" ('malicious / wrong' violence).
      "raah" (saw / to see) 'Elohim the "erets" (earth...), "hinneh" (behold!), 'it was' "shachath" (ruined ....) "ki" (because) 'had' "shachath" (ruined ....) "kal" (everything / all) "basar" (flesh / 'living bodies') "derek" (journey / way / etc) "al" (upon) "erets".

1 - 12 recap
      First we'll remind everybody of the Eleven generations listed in chapter five, from Adam to Noah's three sons, covering something on the order of 1500 years, give or take. Then chapter six begins with a flat out statement that humans were breeding on the planet. Which they had been told to do long ago. The problem seems to arise with who was doing the breeding, possibly with some 'guests from out of town', as we saw in verse 2, and that bad things happened because of it, but we've already gone through that.
      The description of the entire population is a level of condemnation worthy one of the Old Testaments Prophets that come later. And that The Creator is about to push the reset button.
      OK, did you get the point there? The entire Earth is a cesspool of corruption, except for one guy and his family....

We now rejoin the story of Noah, already in progress.
13
      "way yomer" (and said) 'Elohim "le" (to) Noach, ....
      In verse 8 the text specifies YHWH. Here, and in the section immediately before it and for the rest of this chapter, the word is 'Elohim. We'll note the verse when it switches back. "is it important?" We'll discuss that then.

      "qets" ('the' end) "kal" (all) "basar" (flesh / living bodies) "bo" ('come before') "panim" (face / 'in front of me') ...
      An almost word for word restatement about the violence on Earth.
      ... "hin" (behold (different form)) 'I will' "shachath" ((active form) ruin / destroy / etc) 'them' "et" (with / including) "erets" (earth...).

14 - 16
      A few highlights.
      "asah" (do / make / accomplish (same word from Gen 1 : 7)) an "tebah" (box / chest (is probably not originally a Hebrew word)) of gopher wood (possibly a type of cypress, although the species of the tree is unknown).

...hang on. time out. wait a minute. WHAT is THIS?
      The word being translated as 'pitch', a known commodity related to asphalt, is, in Hebrew "kopher", which is usually rendered as "a ransom", as is seen in Exodus 21 : 30 and Isaiah 43. It is also translated in other places as "a bribe", see Amos 5. But is seen being called "henna" (a flowering plant with a sap used for makeup) in the Song of Solomon chapter one and four. How does that work out to be a natural substance found in pools in the ground in the Middle East extruding from a crude oil seep? Well, you have to think about it. To seal up a boat, you don't use a cash payment or cosmetics. But you do use asphalt. If ancient Hebrew didn't have a word for the boat, they probably didn't have a word for its waterproofing agent either.
back to the story

      "ammah" (cubit or ell). The classic measurement has changed over time. Today it is thought of as 18 inches or just under half a meter (46 cm). However, in Biblical times, it was not standardized, even though Egypt had a standard for the measurement, it was based on the Pharaoh's arm, and if you changed kings, you changed cubits as well.

An Antediluvian Occupational Tangent
      We saw tillers of the earth and herdsmen early in the story, for examples we can point to the unfortunate brothers from chapter four. Later in that chapter we came across musicians, and craftsmen working with bronze.
      But for most of the Patriarchs named in chapter five, well, for ALL of them, we don't know what they did for a day job, including Seth, the replacement for Abel. Nowhere in the story does it indicate that anybody, including Noah, was a carpenter. For that matter, before the flood, it doesn't say that Noah was a "tiller of the ground" or anything else. The details of his life before he became the caretaker of that famous floating menagerie are amazingly vague. However, it is a reasonable assumption that he had had some experience and expertise with woodworking, if not as a shipwright, but to claim he was "a good carpenter" is an example of wishful thinking that is perhaps being influenced by a carpenter later in Biblical history.
      There is also no description of what sorts of depravity was going on except for the recurring use of words that indicate violence, and imply that it was intentional violent acts against the otherwise innocent or defenseless.
      It appears that everything we thought we know about Noah's early life comes from either legends told much later in history (see Jubilees and other similar works), or movies, or even comedic routines. As for what happened after the flood, including his 'weekend bender' as depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, even that is sketchy. To fill in the details, and, say, make a movie, you need to take a great deal of liberties with the facts relayed in Genesis, and in the Book of Jubilees, and even the First Book of Enoch, and even they leave a lot of gaps. See links below.

Apocryphal, in tangent, disclaimer
      All right. We'll do this, and we'll do it here, in the middle of the Flood Story, and we'll probably have to do it again before we get to that famous "coffin in Egypt".
      No. This writer does not believe for a minute that Jubilees (called 'Little Genesis) and Enoch (named for the patriarch that 'exited stage right' (and if he had written it, it would have had to have been packed in the luggage compartment of the ark!)), and any number of other books that claim to be ... well, claim to be something special, that they really ARE. They are not part of the recognized Jewish scripture, they were not written during the Patriarchal period, nor are they inspired. However, many are indisputably ancient, Jubilees and Enoch were found in the Dead Sea cache, and contain even older oral histories and mythologies, and others, such as the Ethiopian Church, accepts them as canon. See links below.
end disclaimer

17
      This is the first mention of the "mabbul" (flood (of water)).
      The rest of the verse restates the purpose as stated in verse seven.

18
      I will "qum" (stand up / establish / set) 'my' "berith" (covenant / treaty) "eth" ('with' you) ...
      and we have a passenger manifest for the ark. It is interesting to note that we have no idea what anybody else's relationship with GOD was. Also, this is the first "berith" in the Bible. We'll look at that again when it stops raining.

19 - 20
      "two by two", and lunch ... well, we'll look at this in depth when another number comes up in the next chapter, as well as take a look at another aspect of the cargo.
      Now as to whether Noah got the leopards and wolves to eat cornbread instead of the other animals, and the crew of the boat, for the duration of the trip... we don't know. And the word that is usually translated as bird, "oph", includes everything that flies, which would also mean bats and most insects.

21
      paraphrase: Noah did what he was told.

End Chapter Six

Selected resources for this chapter:

The Interlinear: Hebrew - Englishhttps://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/6.htm

The 1560 / 1599 Geneva Bible https://textusreceptusbibles.com/Geneva/1/1

The 1611 King James https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Genesis-Chapter-1/

Saint Jerome of Stridon's master work: "The Holy Bible In Latin Language With Douay-Rheims English Translation" https://vulgate.org/ot/genesis_6.htm

"The canon of the Ethiopic Bible differs both in the Old and New Testament from that of any other churches." https://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html

List of Books of the Hebrew Scripture, full text of each is available in English:
"Though the terms "Bible" and "Old Testament" are commonly used by non-Jews to describe Judaism's scriptures, the appropriate term is 'Tanach', which is derived as an acronym from the Hebrew letters of its three components: Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim." https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-tanakh-full-text

From the Book of Jubilees:
22. And he testified to the Watchers, who had sinned with the daughters of men; for these had begun to unite themselves, so as to be defiled, with the daughters of men, and Enoch testified against (them) all.
http://www.pseudepigrapha.com/jubilees/4.htm
-and- Before the Flood https://sacred-texts.com/bib/jub/jub19.htm
and After: https://sacred-texts.com/bib/jub/jub21.htm

Also see: Chapter CVI: "Fragment Of The Book Of Noah" https://sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/boe110.htm

The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
Book of Enoch https://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.htm

Enoch in Standard English https://ia801001.us.archive.org/19/items/TheCompleteBookOfEnochStandardEnglishVersionJayWinter/The%20Complete%20Book%20of%20Enoch,%20Standard%20English%20Version%20-%20Jay%20Winter.pdf

Plato's Critias Dialogue https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1571/1571-h/1571-h.htm

An encyclopedia article about the Epic of Gilgamesh" target="_blank"> https://www.britannica.com/topic/Epic-of-Gilgamesh

English translation of the text: https://uruk-warka.dk/Gilgamish/The%20Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf

"Eve's tomb in Jeddah - myth or reality?" https://www.arabnews.com/node/1264876/saudi-arabia

Genesis Study Index Page

NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.

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