Genesis 6 · The Lantern

Corruption on the Earth

And it happened, when man began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them,

that the sons of God saw the daughters of man, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves from all they chose.

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 shall not remain in man forever, for he also is flesh; and his days shall 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.

[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…

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…

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty ones of old, the men of name.

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…

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.

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 evil of man was great on the earth, and that every shaping of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day.

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 regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to 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 wipe out man, whom I created, from the face of the ground — from man to beast, to creeping thing, to the birds of the heavens — for I regret that I 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…

Noah’s Favor with God

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, whole in his generations; Noah walked with 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 fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

And the earth was ruined before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

And God saw the earth — and look, it was ruined, for all flesh had ruined its way on the earth.

Preparing the Ark

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them — and look, I am going to ruin them with the earth.

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make the ark with rooms, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

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.

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…

And you shall cover it inside and outside with bitumen, and you shall make it thus. Bitumen is the hottest and most violent adhesive, whose power is such that the woods which have been coated with it can neither be eaten by worms, nor can they be dissolved by the heat of the sun, or the blows of the winds, or the flooding of the waters; whence what else is mystically understood…

And this is how you shall make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its width, and thirty cubits its height.

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.

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…

The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. The length of the ark signifies the long-suffering patience by which adversities are bravely endured; the width signifies the breadth of charity, which embraces even those who inflict adversities; the height signifies the sublimity of hope, by which the eternal reward in h…

You shall make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top. And you shall set the door of the ark in its side; with lower, second, and third decks you shall make it.

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.

(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.

You shall make a window in the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above. A window is commanded to be made in the ark so that, after the rains ceased and the ark rested, Noah might release a bird through it to ascertain whether the waters had ceased, or whether the earth had dried or sprouted, so that he also, having opened it, might see the light of the sky; hence in…

And I — look, I am bringing the flood, waters over the earth, to ruin all flesh under the heavens in which is the breath of life. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

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 I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark — you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of each into the ark, to keep them alive with you; male and female they shall be.

Of the birds after their kind, and of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind — two of each shall come to you, to be kept alive.

And you — take for yourself of every food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

And Noah did it; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Genesis6

Corruption on the Earth

Noah’s Favor with God

Preparing the Ark