Genesis 6:3 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

NIV: Then the LORD said, 'My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'

NASB: Then the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not remain with man forever, because he is also flesh; nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.'

CSB: And the Lord said, "My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years."

NLT: Then the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.'

KJV: And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

NKJV: And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

This is another fascinating verse which has been interpreted through several different perspectives over the years. It falls in the middle of a paragraph describing how a group known as the "sons of God" took human wives who gave birth to a generation of famous "mighty men."

Taken in direct context, this verse seems to declare that God will not let humans continue to lead such long lives. Perhaps the children of the "sons of God" and human women would otherwise have gone on living an extraordinarily long time. Or perhaps God is merely saying that even the normal lifespan of humans was too long, given the evil that is taking place on the earth. Considering how much evil man is capable of with a lifetime of less than a century, the capacity for evil over many centuries is immense.

In either case, God says that He will not allow His Spirit to remain in man forever. God's Spirit, in this sense, seems to be His "breath of life." Humans cannot live without God's Spirit or life-force; we are dependent on God to continue to exist. Now God declares that He will place a natural limit of 120 years on that mortal existence. Looking at life spans for those born after the flood, this seems to be the case. While not a literal maximum, life spans after the flood rapidly decrease until few live longer than 100 years.

Some have offered an alternate explanation for this verse: that God is declaring His judgment will come on the earth 120 years from the time of this pronouncement. That could be. It is also true, though, that eventually human lifespans decreased to a maximum of approximately 120 years. Joseph, for instance, lives to be 110. Moses lives to be exactly 120 years old, while his brother Aaron lives to be 123.

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.