A biblical teaching on Giants by Finis Jennings Dake
Chapter 6 Notes For Verse 1
a [when men began to multiply on the face of the earth] This history begins again with the time of Adam and ends with Noah as did Gen. 5. Each of chapters 4,5 and 6 begins with Adam, but only the last two cover the whole Antediluvian Age.
b [daughters were born unto them] It seems that daughters were born before sons (cp. note, Gen. 4:1).
Notes For Verse 2
a [sons of God]
Sons of God
Seth didn't have a son until 235 years after creation, and his son didn't have a son until 325 years after creation (Gen. 5:3,6,9). Where did these sons come from? They couldn't have been sons of Seth, because these marriages took place when men began to multiply -- in the very beginning of the race before Seth had sons of marriageable age. The term "sons of God" proves they were the product of God, not Seth. They were the fallen angels of 1Pet. 3:19; 2Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6-7. See the Septuagint; Josephus, Antiquities Book 1,3:1; Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII, p. 273; and Giants and the Sons of God.
b [daughters of men] The Hebrew is singular -- daughters of the man, Adam; therefore, not the daughters of Cain, Seth, or men in general.
c [fair] Hebrew: towb (HSN-<H2896>). Translated "fair" (Gen. 6:2; 24:16; 26:7; Judg. 15:2; Esther 1:11; Isa. 5:9; Dan. 1:15); "beautiful" (2Sam. 11:2); and "good" (Gen. 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31).
Notes For Verse 3
a [My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years] The 5th prophecy in Genesis (Gen. 6:3). Next, Gen. 6:7. It was fulfilled in Adam, and gave him 120 more years to live before being cut off. This was given when he was 810 years old, making Gen. 6:1-2 refer to the 810 years since Adam's creation, and Gen. 6:4 refer to the days after this to the flood.
b [spirit] Hebrew: ruwach (HSN-<H7306>), wind, breath, life. Here it's the breath of life, or lives -- conscience, life (Gen. 45:27; Josh. 5:1; Judg. 15:19; Job 27:3; 32:8).
c [strive] Hebrew: duwn (HSN-<H1779>), to rule, judge. Translated "strive" only here. Elsewhere, "judge, judgment, contend, execute, and plead." Many versions translate it "remain in," i.e., My breath of life will not always remain in THE Adam.
d [man] Hebrew: 'Adam (HSN-<H120>), with the definite article, the man Adam. The meaning is, "for that he (Adam) is also flesh (as all other men are): yet his (Adam's) days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Gen. 6:3). If man is held to be in the plural, meaning all men in general and not Adam in particular, then who else is referred to by the word also? The fact is, the verse reveals that Adam had corrupted his way upon earth as all other flesh had done, and that God, in His mercy, gave him 120 more years in which to repent and conform his life to the will of his Creator. Whether Adam did this or not is not known.
Notes For Verse 4
a [giant] Hebrew: nephiliym (HSN-<H5303>), plural of nephil (HSN-<H5303>), tyrant, giant. Trans. giant only here and in Num. 13:33. The Hebrew gibbowr (HSN-<H1368>) is translated "giant" in Job 16:14; the seventeen other occurrences of "giant" or "giants" is the Hebrew rapha' (HSN-<H7497>).
Giants and the Sons of God
Proofs that Giants Were the Sons of Angels: 1. The fact that giants have lived on earth is clearly stated in Scripture. The Hebrew nephil (HSN-<H5303>) means "giant" or "tyrant" (Gen. 6:4; Num. 13:33). The men of Israel were as grasshoppers compared to them (Num. 13:33). The Hebrew gibbowr (HSN-<H1368>) is also translated "giant," meaning powerful, giant, mighty, or strong man (Job 16:14). To say these original words refer to their degree of wickedness instead of bodily size is a mistake.
The Anakims were a great and tall people (Dt. 1:28; 2:10-11,21; 9:2; Josh. 11:21-22; 14:12-14). Anak himself was a giant (Num. 13:33). If all Anakims were as big, we can be assured other giants were also. The land of Ammon was "a land of giants," for "giants dwelt therein in old time" (Dt. 2:19-20). The Emims were also "great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims" (Dt. 2:10-11). The same was said of the Zamzummims who formerly inhabited the land of Ammon (Dt. 2:19-21). Og, king of Bashan, is described as a giant whose iron bedstead was thirteen and a half feet long, and six feet wide. This is not a measurement of wickedness, but of a material bed for a giant body measuring nearly thirteen feet tall (Dt. 3:11; Josh. 12:4; 13:12). Bashan is called "the land of the giants" (Dt. 3:13).
A "valley of the giants" is mentioned in Josh. 15:8; 18:16. This is the valley of Rephaim, the name of another branch of the giant races mentioned in Scripture (Gen. 14:5; 15:20; 2Sam. 5:18,22; 23:13; 1Chr. 11:15; 14:9; Isa. 17:5). The Rephaims were well-known giants, but unfortunately, instead of retaining their proper name in Scripture, the translators used dead (Job 26:5; Ps. 88:10; Prov. 2:18; 9:18; 21:16; Isa. 14:8; 26:19); and deceased (Isa. 26:14). It should have been a proper name in all these places, as it is ten times otherwise. See notes on these passages which prove that giant bodies are referred to instead of great wickedness.
Rephaim is translated "giant" in Dt. 2:11,20; 3:11,13; Josh. 12:4; 13:12; 15:8; 18:16; 2Sam. 21:16,18,20,22; 1Chr. 20:4,6,8. The phrase "remnant of the giants" in Dt. 3:11; Josh. 12:4; 13:12 should be "remnant of the Rephaims," becaause there were many nations of giants other than the Rephaims who filled the whole country trying to contest God's claim on the promised land. They are listed as Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaims, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Hivites, Anakims, Emims, Horims, Avims, Zamzummims, Caphtorims, and Nephilims (Gen. 6:4; 14:5-6; 15:19-21; Ex. 3:8,17; 23:23; Dt. 2:10-12,20-23; 3:11-13; 7:1; 20:17; Josh. 12:4-8; 13:3; 15:8; 17:15; 18:16). Og was of the remnant of Rephaims, not the remnant of all other giant nations (Dt. 3:11; Josh. 12:4; 13:12).
All these giant nations came from a union of the sons of God (fallen angels) and daughters of men after the flood. Beings of great stature, some of them even had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot and carried spears weighing from 10 to 25 pounds (2Sam. 21:16-22; 1Chr. 20:4-8). Goliath, whom David slew, wore a coat of armor weighing 196 pounds and was nine feet and nine inches tall (1Sam. 17:4-6). The pyramids of Egypt, the giant cities of Bashan and other huge monuments of construction may remain a mystery until they are accepted as the result of the labor and skill of giants.
The revelation we have of giants in Scripture gives us a true picture of what Greek mythology tries in vain to give. Mythology is but the outgrowth of traditions, memories, and legends telling of the acts of supernatural fathers and their giant offspring -- the perversion and corruption in transmission of actual facts concerning these mighty beings. The fact that giants were partly of supernatural origin made it easy for human beings to regard them as gods.
2. The fact that the Rephaim have no resurrection (Isa. 26:14) proves the reality of giants and that they were not ordinary men. All ordinary men are to be resurrected (Jn. 5:28-29); therefore, giants must be a different class from pure Adamites. Isaiah makes it clear that the dead (Hebrew: Repha'iym (HSN-<H7497>)) are now in hell (Isa. 14:9). Solomon confirms this in Prov. 2:18; 9:18; 21:16 where the Hebrew word for dead is Rephaim. See notes, Isa. 26:14,19.
3. The fact that giants came only from a union of sons of God and daughters of men proves that their fathers were not ordinary men of Adamite stock. No such monstrosities have been produced from the union of any ordinary man and woman, regardless of the righteousness of the father or the wickedness of the mother. Many converted men who are sons of God in the sense of adoption and righteousness through Christ have been married to unconverted women, and no offspring the size of Biblical giants has ever resulted from these unions. If, as some teach, giants were born of such unions both before and after the flood, then why do not such marriages produce that kind of offspring today? Why did this happen in every case then and never today?
4. God's law of reproduction from the beginning has been everything after its own kind. It was not possible then that giants could be produced by men and women of ordinary size (Gen. 1:11-12,21,24-25; 8:19). It took a supernatural element, the purpose and power of Satan and his angels, to make human offspring of such proportion. After giants came into being, they then produced others of like size instead of ordinary sized men (Num. 13:33; 2Sam. 21:16,18,20,22; 1Chr. 20:4-8).
5. Not only is it unscriptural but unhistorical to teach that giants came from the union of ordinary men and women. The great question has been: Where did giants get their start? Gen. 6:4 makes it clear -- from a union of the sons of God and daughters of men. If the sons of God were ordinary men in the same sense that the daughters of men were ordinary women, then we must conclude four things:
(1) Ungodly women have the power to produce such monsters if married to godly men.
(2) Godly men have the power to produce giants when married to ungodly women.
(3) A mixture of godliness and wickedness produces giants.
(4) Extreme wickedness on the part of either parent will produce giant offspring.
All four conclusions are wrong, however, as proven every day by the ordinary offspring of wicked and godly parents. Thus, the theory that giants came from the marriage of Seth's sons with Cain's daughters is disproved.
6. The sons of God could not have been the sons of Seth or other godly men for the following seven reasons:
(1) There were no men godly enough to be saved during the Antediluvian Age except Abel (Gen. 4:4; Heb. 11:4), Enoch (Gen. 5:21-24; Heb. 11:5), and Noah (Gen. 6:8; 7:1; Heb. 11:7), as far as Scripture is concerned. Shall we conclude that these three men were the sons of God who married the daughters of Cain and produced races of giants in the earth in those days before the flood (Gen. 6:4)? We have no record of any marriage or offspring of Abel before he was murdered. Regarding Enoch, are we to believe that Methuselah and his other children were the giants? Are we to believe that Noah's three sons -- Shem, Ham, and Japheth -- were giants? If so, where is our authority for this? Had this been true, there would have been nothing on earth after the flood but giants, for by Noah's children the whole earth was replenished (Gen. 10). That would cause another unsolved mystery -- how giants became ordinary sized men again.
(2) The time of the marriages of the sons of God disproves the theory that they were the sons of Seth. Marriages of Seth's sons could not have taken place during the first 325 years. He had only one son of marriageable age up to that time (Gen. 5:1-8) and he (Enos) was not godly (see The Line of Seth). To say there were no such marriages before Enos contradicts Gen. 6:1-2 which shows that sons of God married daughters of men when they began to be born. Shall we conclude that daughters were not born in the first 325 years? If so, where did Cain, Seth and others get their wives?
Furthermore, such marriages between godly sons and ungodly daughters could not have been during the last 600 years before the flood, because Noah was the only son of God by righteousness during this time (Gen. 6:8-9; 7:1; 2Pet. 2:4-5). His sons were preserved in the ark because of being pure Adamite stock, not because of personal righteousness. The above facts then limit these marriages to the 731 years between the first 325 years and the last 600 of the Antediluvian Age, whereas sons of God actually married daughters of men throughout the entire 1,656 years of that age. Gen. 6:1-2 makes it clear that this happened "when men began to multiply on the face of the earth."
(3) Gen. 6:4 teaches that there were giants on the earth "in those days" (before the flood), "and also after that" (after those days which were before the flood), as a result of the sons of God marrying the daughters of men. If the sons of God were the sons of Seth, we can account for them "after that" (after the flood), for the line of Seth was continued through Noah. But with the daughters of Cain (supposed by some to be the daughters of men) the story is different. Cain's line perished in the flood, which means there were no daughters of Cain after the flood for sons of God to marry.
(4) The Bible gives us no reason to believe that the statement "the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair" should be limited to Cain's daughters. Thousands of families from the many branches of the race both before and after the flood had daughters too. In the 1,656 years before the flood (which is the period in which Seth and Cain lived), there must have been from 150 million to 500 million people. It is unbelievable that so many as half of these were godly and half ungodly; and we know that they were not limited to two lines -- the line of Seth and the line of Cain. Regarding Seth's daughters we have reason to believe that they were as fair as the daughters of Cain -- beautiful enough to attract men as husbands for themselves. The line of Seth alone survived the flood, so we know this is true. Gen. 6:1-2 therefore, cannot be said to refer only to the daughters of Cain; and the term "daughters of men" cannot be limited to the daughters of Cain.
(5) The very expressions "sons of God" and "daughters of men" indicate two different kinds -- one the product of God, the other the product of man. Seth was not God, so why call the sons of God the sons of Seth?
(6) It is a matter of record that Seth's children were as ungodly as Cain's. The firstborn of Seth even started idolatry, as proven in The Line of Seth.
(7) With the exception of Noah and his family all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth before the flood (Gen. 6:12), which means the entire race (besides Noah's family) had become a mixture of fallen angels and men, or giants. Only Noah and his family had kept their lineage pure from Adam, which is really why they were saved in the ark. They were the only ones capable of giving the race a new, clean start after the flood. It is said of Noah that he was a just man and perfect in his generations (Gen. 6:9). The Hebrew for "perfect" is tamiym (HSN-<H8549>), which means without blemish. It is the technical word for physical perfection, not moral perfection. It is so used of the sacrificial animals of the Old Testament which had to be of pure stock and without blemish (Ex. 12:5; 29:1; Lev. 1:3; 3:1-6; 4:3,23-32; 5:15-18; 6:6; 9:2-3; Ezek. 43:22-25; 45:18-23), without spot (Num. 19:2; 28:3-11; 29:17,26), and undefiled (Ps. 119:1). Used of Noah, this word means that he and his sons were the only pure Adamites left, and for such purity, they (regardless of their position in personal holiness) were all preserved in the ark.
Proofs that the Sons of God Were Angels:
Since the sons of God in Gen. 6 cannot be the sons of Seth or the offspring of godly men and ungodly women, they must be fallen angels. This is clear from many scriptures:
1. The expression "sons of God" is found only five times in the Old Testament and every time it is used of angels (Gen. 6:1-4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). It is indisputable that the passages in Job refer to angels. Dan. 3:25,28 calls an angel "the son of God." Is it not possible then, that the sons of God of Gen. 6 could be angels?
2. Some translations (the Septuagint, Moffatt, and others) read, "angels of God" in Gen. 6:1-4, which is the only idea that harmonizes with this passage and many other.
3. Josephus says, "many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength ... these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants" (Antiquities, Book 1,3:1). Again he says, "There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day" (Antiquities, Book 5,2:3).
4. The Ante-Nicene Fathers also refer to angels as falling "into impure love of virgins, and were subjugated by the flesh. Of these lovers of virgins, therefore, were begotten those who are called giants" (vol. 2, p. 142; vol. 8, p. 85,273). Justyn Martyr (A.D. 110-165) says, "But the angels transgressed ... were captivated by love of women, and begat children" (vol. 2, p. 190). Methodius (A.D. 260-312) says, "the devil was insolent ... as also those (angels) who were enamoured of fleshly charms, and had illicit intercourse with the daughters of men" (vol. 6, p. 370).
5. Both testaments teach that some angels committed sexual sins and lived contrary to nature. Gen. 6:1-4 gives the history of such sinning. 2Pet. 2:4-5 says that angels sinned before the flood and were cast down to hell to be reserved until judgment. It doesn't reveal the sin as fornication, but Jude 1:6-7 does, saying, "the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha , and the cities about them in like manner (as did the angels), giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." If Sodom, Gomorrha and other cities lived contrary to nature and committed fornication, as the angels did, then it is clear that the sin of angels was fornication. According to Gen. 6, this sexual sin was committed with "daughters of men." See notes on 2Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6-7.
6. The one scripture used to teach that angels are sexless (Mt. 22:30) doesn't say they are. It states that "in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." The purpose of this verse is to show that resurrected men and women do not marry to keep their kind in existence. In the resurrected state they live forever, but not as sexless beings. The Bible teaches that every person will continue bodily as he was born, throughout eternity. Paul said that everyone will have his own body in the resurrection (1Cor. 15:35-38). Both males and females will be resurrected as such, though their bodies will be changed from mortality to immortality (1Cor. 15:35-54). There is nothing in the resurrection to uncreate men and women. Christ remained a man after His resurrection and so will all other males.
Throughout Scripture angels are spoken of as men. No female angels are on record. It is logical to say then that the female was created specifically to keep the human race in existence; and that all angels were created males, inasmuch as their kind exists without reproduction. Angels were created innumerable to start with (Heb. 12:22), whereas humanity began with one pair, Adam and Eve, who were commanded to reproduce and make multitudes. That angels have tangible spirit bodies, appear as men, and perform acts surpassing those of the human male is clear from many passages. See note, Heb. 13:2.
When Jude states that some angels "kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation" (Jude 1:6), he makes it understandable how a sexual sin could be accomplished by them. The Greek word for "habitation" is oiketerion (GSN-<G3613>). It is used only twice in Scripture: of the bodies of men being changed to spiritual bodies (2Cor. 5:2), and the angels having a bodily change, or at least a lowering of themselves in some way (Jude 1:6-7). Thus, the New Testament helps explain the history of the Old Testament
7. There are two classes of fallen angels -- those loose with Satan who will be cast down to earth during the future tribulation (Rev. 12:7-12), and those who are now bound in hell for committing fornication (2Pet. 2:4; Jude 1:6-7). Had the ones in hell not committed the additional sin of fornication, they would still be loose with the others to help Satan in the future. Their confinement proves they committed a sin besides that of original rebellion with Satan. That it was sexual sin is clear from 2Pet. 2:4 and Jude 1:6-7, which identifies this class of fallen angels as the sons of God of Gen. 6:1-4.
8. In 1Pet. 3:19-20 we see that Christ "went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." Who are these spirits in prison, if not the confined angels who at one time lived contrary to their nature -- in sin with the daughters of men (Gen. 6:1-4)? We read "Who maketh his angels spirits" (Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:13-14). If angels are spirits, we conclude that the imprisoned spirits Christ preached to were angels and the sons of God referred to in Gen. 6, especially since they "were disobedient ... in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." The very purpose of Noah's flood was to destroy the giant offspring of these angels known as the sons of God who "came in unto the daughters of men." See Ten Proofs Spirits Are Angels.
The Purpose of Satan in Producing Giants:
It was the purpose of Satan and his fallen angels to corrupt the human race and thereby do away with pure Adamite stock through whom the Seed of the woman should come. This would avert their own doom and make it possible for Satan and his kingdom to keep control of the earth indefinitely. It was said to Adam and Eve that the Seed of the woman would defeat Satan and restore man's dominion (Gen. 3:15). The only way for Satan to avoid this predicted defeat was to corrupt the pure Adamite line so that the coming of the Seed of the woman into the world would be made impossible. This he tried to accomplish by sending fallen angels to marry the daughters of men (Gen. 6:1-4), thus producing the giant nations through them.
There are two episodes with fallen angels taught in Gen. 6:4. There were giants in the earth "in those days (before the flood), and also after that (after the flood), when the sons of God (fallen angels) came in unto the daughters of men (any daughters of men -- Cain, Seth and others), and they bare children to them (to the angels)."
Satan almost succeeded in his plan during the first episode, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth; of all the multitudes Noah and his sons were the only pure Adamites left to be preserved by the ark (Gen. 6:8-13; 1Pet. 3:19-20). The main object of the flood was to do away with this Satanic corruption, destroy the giants, and preserve the pure Adamite line, thus guaranteeing of the coming of the Seed of the woman, as God planned.
Being defeated before the flood didn't stop Satan from making a further attempt to prevent the coming of the Redeemer who would be his final downfall. It was now to his advantage that God had promised never to send another universal flood upon the earth. Satan therefore reasoned that he should make a second attempt to do away with the Adamite line. If he came within "eight souls" of doing it before the flood, his opportunities were now even greater with the promise that there would be no such flood. This is the reason the second group of fallen angels married the daughters of men. Again the unions produced giants whose races occupied the land of promise -- where the Seed should be born -- in advance of Abraham. Limited by His promise of no flood, God had to destroy the giants another way. This explains why He commanded Israel to kill every one of them, even to the last man, woman and child. It also explains why He destroyed all the men, women and children besides Noah and his family, at the time of the flood it answers the skeptics' question regarding why children were taken away with adults in the flood. God had to end this corruption entirely to fulfill His eternal plan and give the world its promised Redeemer. The Redeemer has come now, so Satan is reserving his forces for a last stand at the second coming of Christ.
Thus, it is clear from Scripture that there were giants in the earth both before and after the flood and that they came from a union of fallen angels and the daughters of men.
b [in those days] The days of Noah before the flood. There were giants "in those days" and "also after that," i.e., after the flood.
c [when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown] This verse reveals three facts:
1. Fallen angels married earthly women twice -- before and after Noah's flood
2. Both times these angels fathered children by the women.
3. All those children were giants.
d [daughters of men] Not the daughters of Cain as supposed, for no daughters of Cain could be on this side of the flood. They were all killed by the flood (Gen. 6:18; 7:7; 8:18; 9:1; 1Pet. 3:20).
e [they bare children to them] Women had children by both fallen angels and men. It wasn't necessary to emphasize children by men, but having children by angels was significant (Gen. 6:4; Jude 1:6-7). Because of this sin "it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth" (Gen. 6:1-6).
f [renown] Hebrew: shem (HSN-<H8034>), men of name, honor, and authority (Num. 16:2; Ezek. 16:14-15; 34:29; 39:13; Dan. 9:15). The giants became the heroes of Greek mythology as Biblical truth became corrupted by transmission. See Giants and the Sons of God.
Notes For Verse 5
a [GOD saw] Divine inspection and dissatisfaction. God learns true conditions the same as man (Gen. 6:5-6; 7:1; 11:5; 18:21; 22:12; 29:31; Ex. 3:4; Dt. 32:19; 2Ki. 14:26; 2Chr. 12:7; Isa. 59:15-16; Jonah 3:10). Compare the same statements regarding men in Gen. 3:6; 8:8; and 37:14.
b [wickedness] Hebrew: ra` (HSN-<H7451>), bad, evil, wicked (Gen. 6:5; 39:9; Dt. 13:11; 17:2; Judg. 20:3,12).
c [great] Hebrew: rab (HSN-<H7227>), abundant, full, exceedingly (cp. Gen. 13:16; 18:20; 1Sam. 12:17).
d [imagination] Hebrew: yetser (HSN-<H3336>), concept, purpose, desire (Gen. 8:21; Dt. 31:21).
Notes For Verse 6
a [repented] Hebrew: nacham (HSN-<H5162>), to sigh, breathe heavily, and be sorry in the literal sense (Ex. 32:14; Judg. 2:18; 1Sam. 15:35; 2Sam. 24:16; Ps. 106:45).
b [grieved him at his] God is capable of all feelings, emotions, and right desires, as we are. See note, Jn. 4:24.
Notes For Verse 7
a [I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air] The 6th prophecy in Genesis (Gen. 6:7, fulfilled). Next, Gen. 6:13. This is the first prophecy of the flood.
b [I will destroy man] The divine purpose stated. God now decided to destroy what He had created (Rom. 9:11-33).
Notes For Verse 8
a [grace] Hebrew: chen (HSN-<H2580>), favor, grace. Translated grace 38 times in the Old Testament, proving that grace is not just a New Testament doctrine. Only the fullness of grace came by Christ (Jn. 1:17; 1Pet. 1:10-12). See Gen. 19:19; Ex. 33:12-17; 34:9; Ps. 84:11; Prov. 3:34; Jer. 31:2; Zech. 12:10.
Notes For Verse 9
a [just man]
Eight Just People
There are many just people in Scripture, but eight are specifically mentioned as being "just":
1. Noah (Gen. 6:9)
2. Joseph (Mt. 1:19)
3. Jesus (Mt. 27:19; Acts 22:14)
4. John the Baptist (Mk. 6:20)
5. Simeon (Lk. 2:25)
6. Joseph of Arimathaea (Lk. 23:50-51)
7. Cornelius (Acts 10:22)
8. Lot (2Pet. 2:7)
b [perfect] Hebrew: tamiym (HSN-<H8535>), bodily perfection, not moral; without blemish; pure stock. It is used 46 times of sacrificial animals, which had to be pure and perfect stock. It means that Noah and his family were the only pure Adamites left. All other men were a mixture of angels and men, or giant stock (Gen. 6:11-12). See Giants and the Sons of God.
c [generations] Hebrew: dor (HSN-<H1755>), period of life, or among contemporaries. Not towledowth (HSN-<H8435>) as at the first part of this verse.
Notes For Verse 10
a [Shem, Ham, and Japheth] Shem, the middle son, is always mentioned first because it was through him that the Messiah should come. Japheth was the oldest (Gen. 10:21; 1Chr. 1:5) and Ham the youngest (Gen. 9:22-24).
Notes For Verse 11
a [violence] Hebrew: chamac (HSN-<H2555>), maltreatment, injustice, cruelty, oppression (cp. Ps. 55:9; Jer. 6:7; 20:8; Ezek. 7:23; 45:9).
Notes For Verse 12
a [looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt] His holiness could not tolerate such wickedness any longer.
Notes For Verse 13
a [The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.] The 7th prophecy in Genesis (Gen. 6:13, fulfilled). Next, Gen. 6:17-18.
b [I will]
The Twelve I Will's of God to Noah
1. I will destroy them with the earth (Gen. 6:13).
2. I will establish My covenant with you (Gen. 6:18).
3. I will cause it to rain upon earth (Gen. 7:4).
4. I will destroy living substance (Gen. 7:4).
5. I will not curse the ground again (Gen. 8:21).
6. I will not smite every living thing again (Gen. 8:21).
7. I will require life for life (Gen. 9:5).
8. I will require blood of beasts that kill (Gen. 9:5).
9. I will require blood of man who kills (Gen. 9:5).
10. I will establish My covenant with you (Gen. 9:11).
11. I will remember My covenant with you (Gen. 9:15).
12. I will look upon the rainbow (Gen. 9:16).
Notes For Verse 14
a [ark] Hebrew: tebah (HSN-<H8392>), vessel. Used only of this boat (Gen. 6:14 -- Gen. 9:18) and of Moses' ark (Ex. 2:3-5).
b [gopher wood] An unknown wood, unless it was the cypress of Assyria which was used in ship-building because it was unlikely to rot or be eaten by worms.
c [rooms] Hebrew: qen (HSN-<H7064>), nest, as translated elsewhere (Num. 24:21; Dt. 22:6; 32:11; Job 29:18; 39:27; Ps. 84:3; Prov. 27:8; Isa. 10:14; 16:2; Jer. 49:16).
d [pitch] Hebrew: kaphar (HSN-<H3722>), to cover. The only word for "atonement" in the Old Testament. Used 69 times (Ex. 29:33-37; 30:10-16; Lev. 16:6-34; 17:11).
e [pitch] Hebrew: kopher (HSN-<H3724>), resin, not the pitch or bitumen of Ex. 2:3; Isa. 34:9, which is zepheth (HSN-<H2203>).
Notes For Verse 15
a [length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits]
The Size of Noah's Ark
The cubit was the distance from elbow to fingertip, about 18 inches. This would make the ark about 450 ft. long, 75 ft. wide, and 45 ft. high. It was easily big enough for all it had to hold. Up to A.D. 1850 there was no ship in the history of the world as large as the ark. Of the world's steamships up to 1932 less than 1 percent were as large, and only 160 were longer, 7 wider and 8 higher than the ark. Only 6 had a greater tonnage. The capacity of the ark was equivalent in tonnage to more than 600 freight cars, which would form a train about 4 miles long, capable of handling over 90,000,000 pounds. It was easily big enough for all it had to hold. Fish and other sea creatures stayed in the sea; insects were small, as were many animals. Birds could easily have lodged in the ceilings or been hung up in cages. An ox is allowed 20 square feet on a modern vessel. If this much room was allowed in the ark for each of the larger mammals there would have been ample room for all including food for one year and 17 days.
Notes For Verse 16
a [A window shalt thou make to the ark]
The Window of the Ark
The Hebrew word for window "here" is tsohar (HSN-<H6672>), which refers to an opening or place for light. This is not the same as challown (HSN-<H2474>) which is translated "window" in Gen. 8:6 and refers to one of the windows in tsohar (HSN-<H6672>), the place for light on each of the three decks. Tsohar (HSN-<H6672>) is also translated "noontide" (Jer. 20:16), "noonday" (Dt. 28:29; Job 5:14; 11:17; Ps. 37:6; Isa. 16:3; Jer. 15:8), and "noon" (Gen. 43:16,25; 2Sam. 4:5; 1Ki. 18:26, 27; 20:16). In no scripture are we told that there was only one small opening in the roof where the foul odors of so many animals would be removed. God didn't require people and thousands of animals to live in a tight place without light, ventilation, and sanitation for one year and 17 days. Recent archaeological findings at Nippur disclose that the ark had an excellent sewage system and that there were openings for light and ventilation in each story.
b [cubit] The theory of only one cubit-sized window in the roof of the ark (just to allow men to look upward to God) is unbelievable in view of facts.
Notes For Verse 17
a [And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is the earth shall die.] The 8th prophecy in Genesis (Gen. 6:17-18, fulfilled). Next, 7:4. The third prophecy of the flood with the additional prediction of the Noahic covenant. See Fifteen Great Covenants of Scripture
b [to destroy all flesh] The purpose of the flood? The cause is given in Gen. 6:1-13.
c [all] A figure of speech (synecdoche) in which a whole is put for a part. See Gen. 41:56, note.
Notes For Verse 18
a [But with thee will I establish my covenant] Noahic Covenant announced (Gen. 9, notes).
b [thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee] This proves that Noah's sons were grown and married when God told him to make the ark. Shem was only 100 years old 2 years after the flood, so Noah couldn't have spent 120 years building the ark (see Gen. 8:18, note).
Notes For Verse 19
a [two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female] This would preserve the species (cp. Gen. 7:2).
Notes For Verse 20
a [after their kind] After 1,600 years the law of reproduction was still in force (see Gen. 1:11, note).
b [every sort] This included both clean and unclean.
Notes For Verse 22
a [Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he] An example of perfect obedience (cp. Gen. 7:5).
Dake's Study Notes
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