1 Cumque cœpissent homines multiplicari super terram, et filias procreassent,
Book of Enoch · 300 BC And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters.
Clement of Alexandria · AD 215 The mind is led astray by pleasure, and the virgin center of the mind, if not disciplined by the Word, degenerates into licentiousness and reaps disintegration as reward for its transgressions. An example of this for you is the angels who forsook the beauty of God for perishable beauty and fell as far as heaven is from the earth.
Bede · AD 735 And when men began to multiply on the earth and had daughters, the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
2 videntes filii Dei filias hominum quod essent pulchræ, acceperunt sibi uxores ex omnibus, quas elegerant.
Philo of Alexandria · AD 50 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.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "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.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 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.
3 Dixitque Deus: Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in æternum, quia caro est: eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum.
Philo of Alexandria · AD 50 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.
Jerome · AD 420 [Daniel 9:2] "I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Jeremiah, that seventy years would be accomplished for the desolation of Jerusalem." Jeremiah had predicted seventy years for the desolation of the Temple (Jeremiah 29:1-10), at the end of which the people would again return to Judaea and build…
Bede · AD 735 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…
4 Gigantes autem erant super terram in diebus illis: postquam enim ingressi sunt filii Dei ad filias hominum, illæque genuerunt, isti sunt potentes a sæculo viri famosi.
Philo of Alexandria · AD 50 XIII. (58) "And there were giants on the earth in those Days." [Genesis 6:4] Perhaps some one may here think, that the lawgiver is speaking enigmatically and alluding to the fables handed down by the poets about giants, though he is a man as far removed as possible from any invention of fables, and one who thinks fit only to walk in the paths of truth itself; (59) in consequenc…
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 But there were giants in the earth in those days. The author of divine Scripture does not want those giants to be regarded as the children of the earth in the manner of poets, but asserts that they were generated from angels and women, whom he calls with this name, desiring to express their bodily magnitude.
Bede · AD 735 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.
5 Videns autem Deus quod multa malitia hominum esset in terra, et cuncta cogitatio cordis intenta esset ad malum omni tempore,
Book of Enoch · 300 BC 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.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 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…
Bede · AD 735 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.
6 pœnituit eum quod hominum fecisset in terra. Et tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus,
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 '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.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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.
Salvian the Presbyter · AD 500 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…
7 Delebo, inquit, hominem, quem creavi, a facie terræ, ab homine usque ad animantia, a reptili usque ad volucres cæli: pœnitet enim me fecisse eos.
Philo of Alexandria · AD 50 (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).
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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.
Bede · AD 735 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…
8 Noë vero invenit gratiam coram Domino.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 The Scriptures have shown us the gravity of human wickedness and the severity of the punishment that had to be inflicted on it. They then point out to us the one who amid such a multitude had been able to keep a sincere virtue. Virtue in fact is admirable even for itself. If someone cultivates virtue among those who refuse it, he makes it much more worthy of admiration.
9 Hæ sunt generationes Noë: Noë vir justus atque perfectus fuit in generationibus suis; cum Deo ambulavit.
Clement of Rome · AD 99 Noah was found faithful by reason of his service; he proclaimed a new birth to the world, and through him the Lord saved the living creatures who entered in harmony into the ark.
Jerome · AD 420 (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.
Bede · AD 735 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.
10 Et genuit tres filios, Sem, Cham et Japheth.
11 Corrupta est autem terra coram Deo, et repleta est iniquitate.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Somebody may say to me, "Was Adam, created by God as the first man in the original state of the world, condemned for lack of faith or for sin?" It was not incredulity but disobedience that was the cause for his condemnation and the reason why all his posterity are punished. Cain too was condemned, not for lack of faith but because he killed his brother.
12 Cumque vidisset Deus terram esse corruptam (omnis quippe caro corruperat viam suam super terram),
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 Because the sons of Seth were going into the daughters of Cain, they turned away from their first wives whom they had previously taken. Then these wives, too, disdained their own continence and now, because of their husbands, quickly began to abandon their modesty, which up until that time they had preserved for their husbands' sake.
Bede · AD 735 And when God saw that the earth was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted its way. All flesh means all humans, according to the prophet's statement: "And all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Luke 3:6). For neither birds nor quadrupeds had corrupted their way by sinning, just as they will not see the Salvation of our God, that is Christ, but all humans will see.
13 dixit ad Noë: Finis universæ carnis venit coram me: repleta est terra iniquitate a facie eorum, et ego disperdam eos cum terra.
Gregory of Elvira · AD 392 If we should desire to examine with diligent care and careful attention the construction of that ark, through which the righteous man Noah merited to be saved from the shipwreck of the world, undoubtedly we shall find a great sacrament of spiritual grace arranged in its very measures and conjunctions. Thus, this construction of the ark clearly revealed a type of our Church.
Bede · AD 735 He said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before me; the earth is filled with iniquity because of them, and I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of smoothed wood, etc. The diverse form in the construction of the ark and the imminent flood contains a mystery.
14 Fac tibi arcam de lignis lævigatis; mansiunculas in arca facies, et bitumine linies intrinsecus et extrinsecus.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 Let us see, then, what the squared timbers are. That is squared which totters on no side, but, wherever you turn it, stands with faithful and solid stability. These are the timbers which bear all the weight, whether of the animals within or of the waves without.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 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…
Bede · AD 735 Make for yourself, he says, an ark of smoothed wood. Not only the humans who were saved in the ark, but also the animals that entered it together; even the wood of which it was made mystically announces the faithful of the holy Church.
15 Et sic facies eam: trecentorum cubitorum erit longitudo arcæ, quinquaginta cubitorum latitudo, et triginta cubitorum altitudo illius.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 After these things mention is made of the length and breadth of the ark and of the height, and certain numbers are set down in them, consecrated with mighty mysteries. But before we discuss the numbers, let us see what sort of thing it is that it speaks of length and breadth and height.
Gregory of Elvira · AD 392 But the measure of the ark as a length of three hundred cubits evidently shows a figure of the Lord's cross; since three hundred among the Greeks is signified by the letter tau, which letter makes one apex as an upright tree, but the other extended as a yard on the head, and by all means showed the appearance of the cross; by this mystery both the length of life is given to the…
Bede · AD 735 There is, however, another memorable mystery in the shape of the ark, which is found to be formed according to the measure of the human body.
16 Fenestram in arca facies, et in cubito consummabis summitatem ejus: ostium autem arcæ pones ex latere; deorsum, cœnacula et tristega facies in ea.
Gregory of Elvira · AD 392 That the ark, however, is referred to as having a second story and a third story evidently shows the places of the dwellings and the qualities of the habitations that are prepared for the saints in the kingdom of God.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 16.) Assembling, you shall make an ark, and you shall finish it with a cubit from above. As for the reason why it says, assembling, you shall make an ark, in Hebrew it has, 'you shall make the middle of the ark,' which Symmachus interpreted more clearly, saying 'transparent,' that is, making the ark clear, intending for a window to be understood.
Bede · AD 735 You shall place the door of the ark on the lower side. This door, through which men and all the animals to be saved in the ark entered, signifies the unity of faith, without which no one can enter the Church; for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God, which is aptly commanded to be placed on the side of the ark, because it clearly designates that door, which was op…
17 Ecce ego adducam aquas diluvii super terram, ut interficiam omnem carnem, in qua spiritus vitæ est subter cælum: universa quæ in terra sunt, consumentur.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 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.
Bede · AD 735 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.
John Damascene · AD 749 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.
18 Ponamque fœdus meum tecum: et ingredieris arcam tu et filii tui, uxor tua, et uxores filiorum tuorum tecum.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 And therefore, since all earthly things perish in the flood, but the just alone remains forever, it is said to him: I will establish my covenant with thee; for he is the heir of divine grace, he is the heavenly possessor of the inheritance, the sharer in the most blessed goods.
John Damascene · AD 749 When Noah was ordered to enter the ark and was entrusted with the safeguarding of the seed of the earth, he was given this command, which reads: "Come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife and your sons' wives." He separated them from their wives, so that with the help of chastity they might escape the ocean's depths and that worldwide destruction.
19 Et ex cunctis animantibus universæ carnis bina induces in arcam, ut vivant tecum: masculini sexus et feminini.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 A further question asked by the curious concerns those tiny creatures, smaller even than mice and lizards, such as locusts, beetles, flies and even fleas. Were there not more of these in the ark than the number prescribed by God?
20 De volucribus juxta genus suum, et de jumentis in genere suo, et ex omni reptili terræ secundum genus suum: bina de omnibus ingredientur tecum, ut possint vivere.
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 On that same day elephants came from the east, apes and peacocks approached from the south, other animals gathered from the west, and still others hastened to come from the north. Lions came from the jungles, and wild beasts arrived from their lairs.
21 Tolles igitur tecum ex omnibus escis, quæ mandi possunt, et comportabis apud te: et erunt tam tibi, quam illis in cibum.
Bede · AD 735 Therefore, you shall take with you of all food that can be eaten, and gather it to yourself, and it shall be food both for you and for them.
22 Fecit igitur Noë omnia quæ præceperat illi Deus.