Genesis 6:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

NIV: The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

NASB: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.

CSB: When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,

NLT: The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.

KJV: And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

NKJV: Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

This heartbreaking verse echoes Genesis 1:31. That verse described God seeing all that He had made after the sixth and final day of creation and observing that "behold, it was very good." Now, hundreds of years after human sin had entered the world, God sees that man's wickedness is the thing that is great in the earth. In addition, God sees that every intention of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil continually.

Taking the genealogies of the past chapter literally, this is especially sad. The long lifespans of Genesis 5 imply that there was an almost-unbroken line of eyewitnesses to man's earliest history, right up to the year of the flood. Mankind's sin is not the result of error or drifting or ignorance. It's the result of a deliberate rejection of God.

God's conclusion about the state of humanity is an all-encompassing declaration of human depravity. Left to follow our own way, apart from God, men and women will always choose evil. It's not just what we do; it's who we are without His direct involvement and transformation of our hearts. This goes a long way to explaining God's apparent decision to drastically reduce human lifespans (Genesis 6:3).

This verse offers another clue to the nature of humanity: Our sinfulness, our inclination to do what is harmful, begins in our minds or hearts. In our Godless state, we do not happen into sin. We intentionally plan for it. It's where we want to go. It's not just our actions that are the problem; it is the hearts and minds that produce those actions.

We haven't improved over the centuries. Our natures remain the same. When describing the Day of the Lord in Matthew 24, God's coming judgment for human sin, Jesus declares that it will be as in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:36–39). All these years later, without God's redemption and recreation, the human heart remains inclined to plan for evil continually.

Genesis 6:1–8 introduces us to two mysterious groups: the ''sons of God'' and the Nephilim. Provoked by the wickedness of humanity and, perhaps, by the power of these two groups, God declares that He will reduce human lifespans to 120 years. Alternatively, this same remark might refer to God's plan to wipe out all of humanity in 120 years. In either case, this prediction is fulfilled. God will exercise His authority as Creator and execute justice by ending the world as it was. Human civilization will be forced to start again, through one man: Noah.

God sees. In the first chapter of Genesis, God saw that all He had made was good. Now, many generations after sin entered the world, God sees that all man has made is wickedness and evil. Human beings have used their power for violence and destruction. God declares His plan to wipe out all land-dwelling life on the face of the earth. He will however, preserve humanity and animal life for a new beginning through the one righteous man, Noah, and a huge life-giving structure called an ark.

The previous chapter traced the generations from Adam through his son Seth and all of the way to Noah. This chapter reveals that Noah will be the man through whom God will preserve humanity for a new beginning after wiping out all life on the face of the earth. God tells Noah to build an enormous structure, an ark, and prepare to welcome representatives of all of the animals on earth. Noah does exactly that, setting the stage for the cataclysmic judgment of God to come in chapter 7.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.