Genesis 6 · The Lantern

And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters,

The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.

II. (6) "And when the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, they took unto themselves wives of all of them whom they Chose." [Genesis 6:2] Those beings, whom other philosophers call demons, Moses usually calls angels; and they are souls hovering in the air.

"Now, when the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, they took wives for themselves from them all just as they were inclined." Let us study each expression of this statement closely so that nothing of what is hidden below the surface may pass us by.

The first mystery is that of the creation of beings, and there the Antichrist is represented by Lamech who was the first to introduce bigamy and was a transgressor of the natural law and given to extreme lust. Then "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives for themselves, as many as they wished." Because of this came the Flood.

And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.

V. (19) And, in all such matters, it is impossible for the spirit of God to remain and to pass all its time, as the law-giver himself shows.

(Version 3.) And the Lord God said: My spirit will not dwell in these men forever, because they are flesh. In Hebrew, it is written, My spirit will not judge these men forever, because they are flesh: that is, because the condition of man is fragile, I will not subject them to eternal torment; but here I will restore to them what they deserve.

And God said, "My Spirit shall not remain in man forever, because he is flesh; and his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." Saint Jerome, explaining these verses, says, "It is written in Hebrew: My Spirit shall not judge these men forever, because they are flesh; that is, because human nature is fragile, I will not condemn them to eternal torment; but here I will render…

There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.

(92) On what principle it was that giants were born of angels and women? (#Ge 6:4). The poets call those men who were born out of the earth giants, that is to say, sons of the Earth.{11}{the Greek name Gigas is said to be derived from geµ and gennaoµ, "to bring forth."} But Moses here uses this appellation improperly, and he uses it too very often merely to denote the vast pers…

The author of divine Scripture does not wish these giants to be understood, according to the custom of poets, as children of the earth, but rather it asserts that they were begotten of angels and women, and calls them by this name to express the size of their bodies.

There were giants on the earth in those days. Giants are called men with immense bodies and excessive power, of which there were also many after the flood, that is, in the times of Moses or David, who have the name in Greek because, according to the poets' fables, the earth bore them.

And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil.

And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said one to another: 'The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryingst up to the gates of heaven.

After Moses spoke about the mighty men who were born into the tribe of Cain, whose women, even though beautiful, were nevertheless smaller than the sons of Seth, he then said, "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was always evil," for in the years given to them for repentance they had increased t…

But God, seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that every thought of their hearts was only evil continually, regretted that He had made man on the earth.

And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart.

'I will wipe from the face of the Earth,' He said, 'man, beasts, crawling creatures, and birds of the sky' (Gen. VI, 7). What harm had the irrational creatures done? But because these things had been done for the sake of humanity, once humanity was destroyed, the logical consequence was that these things should also be destroyed, since there was no one to make use of them.

God's "anger" implies no perturbation of the divine mind. It is simply the divine judgment passing sentence on sin. And when God "thinks and then has second thoughts," this merely means that changeable realities come into relation with his immutable reason.

Let us consider how both the solicitude and severity of the Lord are shown equally in all these words. First, he said, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great." Second, he said, "He was touched inwardly with sorrow of heart." Third, "I will destroy man whom I have created." In the first statement, wherein it is said that God sees all things, his providential care is s…

And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them.

(94) Why God, after having threatened to destroy mankind, says that he will also destroy all the beasts likewise; using the expression, "from man to beast, and from creeping things to flying creatures;" for how could irrational animals have committed sin? (#Ge 6:7).

When God announces the death of all animals on the earth and in the air, the intention is to declare the magnitude of the coming disaster. There is no question here of punishing with death irrational animals as though they were guilty of sin.

And touched by inner sorrow of the heart, He said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth, from man to animals, from creeping things to the birds of the sky; for I regret that I have made them." For God is said to grieve in a human manner when He considers that the men whom He created cling to a malicious enemy through sin rather than to Him by livi…

But Noah had grace in the eyes of God.

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and without sin in his generation: he went in the ways of God.

Let us steadfastly contemplate those who have perfectly ministered to his excellent glory... Noah, being found faithful, preached regeneration to the world through his ministry; and the Lord saved by him the animals which, with one accord, entered into the ark.

(Verse 9) Noah was a righteous and blameless man in his generation, pleasing to God. Specifically, it says 'in his generation' to show that his righteousness was not according to the perfected righteousness, but according to the righteousness of his generation.

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and perfect man in his generations; he walked with God. Noah is praised with the same commendation as Enoch, namely that he followed the footsteps of the divine command with upright steps of good works, and thus, while the world perished, he was saved in the ark.

And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent ways.

And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the way of all flesh had become evil on the earth.

And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end to them with the earth.

Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and make it safe from the water inside and out.

(Verse 14) Make for yourself an ark of square wooden planks. For the square planks, we read it is coated with pitch in Hebrew.

Undoubtedly the ark is a symbol of the city of God on its pilgrimage in history. It is a figure of the church that was saved by the wood on which there hung the "Mediator between God and men, himself man, Jesus Christ." Even the very measurements of length, height and breadth of the ark are meant to point to the reality of the human body into which he came as it was foretold th…

You shall make little rooms in the ark. All the mansions in the ark were arranged as receptacles for various animals that were to enter it, and in the Church there are many orders of institutions according to the diversity of those who come to the faith.

And this is the way you are to make it: it is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.

You are to put a window in the ark, a cubit from the roof, and a door in the side of it, and you are to make it with a lower and second and third floors.

For truly, I will send a great flow of waters over the earth, for the destruction from under the heaven of all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything on the earth will come to an end.

Hippolytus, the Targumist expositor, said: The names of the wives of the sons of Noah are these: the name of the wife of Sem, Nahalath Mahnuk; and the name of the wife of Cham, Zedkat Nabu; and the name of the wife of Japheth, Arathka. These, moreover, are their names in the Syriac Targum.

Behold, I will bring the waters of a flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall perish, and I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, you and your sons, and the rest.

From the beginning "the spirit of God moved over the waters," and over and again Scripture testifies to the fact that water is purifying. It was with water that God washed away the sin of the world in the time of Noah.

But with you I will make an agreement; and you will come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.

And you will take with you into the ark two of every sort of living thing, and keep them safe with you; they will be male and female.

Two of every sort of bird and cattle and of every sort of living thing which goes on the earth will you take with you to keep them from destruction.

And make a store of every sort of food for yourself and them.

And all these things Noah did; as God said, so he did.

Genesis6