Genesis 6:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

NIV: Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.

NASB: Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.

CSB: Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness.

NLT: Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence.

KJV: The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

NKJV: The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

This chapter frequently repeats the reasons for God sending the flood. Verse 5 explained that man, on the whole, thought of nothing but evil. Here, the same idea is brought out again. God sees the earth as it is: corrupt and ruined. What He had made and observed as good in Genesis 1 He now sees as unacceptably disgraced by human sin. A primary evidence of the corruption of the earth was violence. Instead of being filled with good, the earth was filled with human violence to others.

The Hebrew word translated "violence" here is hā'mās'. This implies more than just the kind of brute force attacks we think of when we hear the English word. This can also include injustice, oppression, and cruelty. The term also suggests the effects physical violence has on a person or group which has been violently conquered: oppression, deprivation, and misuse. Men of the pre-flood world are not only disobedient to God, they are harsh and abusive to each other.

Genesis 6:9-22 begins another new section in Genesis called the ''generations of Noah.'' Because of humanity's power and wickedness, the earth had become filled with violence and sinfulness. By contrast, Noah was a righteous, blameless man who walked with God. God chooses to declare to Noah His plan to end all land-dwelling life on earth, but also to save Noah and his family and two of every animal. Noah obeys God's command to build the ark that would preserve the human race from total destruction in the flood.

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.

Accessed 4/27/2024 5:03:27 PM