Genesis 6:13 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 6:13
And God said unto Noah, 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.
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Noah
לְנֹ֗חַle.No.ach
H5146
Noach · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
end
קֵ֤ץketz
H7093
an extremity · noun, common masculine singular construct
flesh
בָּשָׂר֙ba.Sar
H1320
flesh (from its freshness) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
come
בָּ֣אba'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
me
לְפָנַ֔יle.fa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
earth
הָאָ֛רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
with
מָלְאָ֥הmal.'Ah
H4390
to fill or (intransitively) be full of · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
violence
חָמָ֖סcha.Mas
H2555
violence · noun, common masculine singular absolute
them
מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑םmi.pe.nei.Hem
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
destroy
מַשְׁחִיתָ֖םmash.chi.Tam
H7843
to decay · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
with
אֶת'et-
H854
properly · preposition
earth
הָאָֽרֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hosea 4:1-2 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no trut…
1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Genesis 6:11-12 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Ezekiel 7:2-6 Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2 Peter 3:10-12 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements sha…
Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare chi…
Genesis 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 6:13-21
Here it appears indeed that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God's favour to him was plainly intimated in what he said of him, Gen 6:8-10, where his name is mentioned five times in five lines, when once might have served to make the sense clear, as if the Holy Ghost took a pleasure in perpetuating his memory; but it appears much more in what he says to him in these verses - the informations and instructions here given him.
I. God here makes Noah the man of his counsel, communicating to him his purpose to destroy this wicked world by water. As, afterwards, he told Abraham his resolution concerning Sodom (Gen 18:17, Shall I hide from Abraham?) so here "Shall I hide from Noah the thing…
And God said unto Noah--How startling must have been the announcement of the threatened destruction! There was no outward indication of it. The course of nature and experience seemed against the probability of its occurrence. The public opinion of mankind would ridicule it. The whole world would be ranged against him. Yet, persuaded the communication was from God, through faith (Heb 11:7), he set about preparing the means for preserving himself and family from the impending calamity.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 6:13
I will destroy them with the earth - Not only the human race was to he destroyed, but all terrestrial animals, i.e. those which could not live in the waters. These must necessarily be destroyed when the whole surface of the earth was drowned. But destroying the earth may probably mean the alteration of its constitution. Dr. Woodward, in his natural history of the earth, has rendered it exceedingly probable that the whole terrestrial substance was amalgamated with the waters, after which the different materials of its composition settled in beds or strata according to their respective gravities. This theory, however, is disputed by others.
John Gill on Genesis 6:13
And God said unto Noah,.... This is a proof that he found favour in his eyes, since he spake to him, and told him what he had observed, and what he was determined to do, and gave him directions to make an ark for the security of himself and family, when he should destroy the world:
the end of all flesh is come before me; that is, it was determined to put an end to the lives of all men, and of all cattle, and fowl and creeping things on the earth; all which are included in the phrase, "all flesh", even every living substance on the earth:
for the earth is filled with violence through them; that is, through men, for they are principally intended in the preceding clause, though not only; and…
The Church Fathers
He said to Noah: The end of all flesh has come before me; the earth is filled with iniquity because of them, and I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of smoothed wood, etc. The diverse form in the construction of the ark and the imminent flood contains a mystery. First, as the Lord himself showed by the sudden inundation of the flood, the unexpected hour of the last judgment is signified: "And as it was, he says, in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all" (Matthew 24:38). For the construction of the ark, which took a hundred years, signifies the entire period of this age, during which the holy church is also built and brought to its perfect end. There is no doubt that the hundred-year number signifies perfection, either because it is filled by ten decades, or because it moves from the left to the right, expressing an action which takes place in this life as though on the left, but will be consummated in the future life as on the right. But as the ark was made, and with everything that was to be saved brought into it, the flood came and took away all that was outside it; so, when all those who are predestined to eternal life have entered the church, the end of the world will come and all those found outside the church will perish; and according to this understanding, the ark clearly signifies the church, Noah signifies the Lord who builds the church with his saints, and the flood signifies the end of the age or the final judgment. However, aside from the construction of the ark, even in Noah, because his name means rest, and he was to give rest or comfort to men, it was prefigured that men would rest from the works and labors of their hands on the earth, which the Lord cursed, holding the image of the Lord Savior. For he consoles us through the illumination of his Spirit, who is therefore called the Paraclete, that is, the comforter. He has rescued us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us. He calls the weary to rest: "Come to me, he says, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28). He truly was the just and perfect…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cainan — Possession; smith. (1.) The fourth antediluvian patriarch, the eldest son of Enos. He was 70 years old at the birth of his eldest son Mahalaleel, after which he lived 840 years (Gen. 5:9-14), and was…
Flesh — In the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and…
Mahalaleel — Praise of God. (1.) The son of Cainan, of the line of Seth (Gen. 5:12-17); called Maleleel (Luke 3:37). (2.) Neh. 11:4, a descendant of Perez.
Noah — Rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-29), who was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of Adam’s…
Communion · .Noah — .Noah
Condescension Of God · .Sets forth his rea — .Sets forth his rea
Death · .Upon the Antedi — .Upon the Antedi
Deluge, The · Sent as a punishment for the extreme wickedness of man — Sent as a punishment for the extreme wickedness of man
Depravity Of Man · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Flood · Foretold — Foretold
Ship · .By Noah — .By Noah
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And God said unto Noah. Here Moses begins to relate how Noah would be preserved. And first, he says, that the counsel of God respecting the destruction of the world was revealed to him. Secondly, that the command to build the ark was given. Thirdly, that safety was promised him, if, in obedience to God, he would take refuge in the ark. These chief points are to be distinctly noted; even as the Apostle, when he proclaims the faith of Noah, joins fear and obedience with confidence, (Hebrews 11:7.) And it is certain that Noah was admonished of the dreadful vengeance which was approaching; not only in order that he might be confirmed in his holy purpose, but that, being constrained by fear, he m…
Gen 6:9-12 contain a description of Noah and his contemporaries; Gen 6:13-22, the announcement of the purpose of God with reference to the flood.
Gen 6:9
"Noah, a righteous man, was blameless among his generations:" righteous in his moral relation to God; blameless (τέλειος, integer) in his character and conduct. דּרות, γενεαί, were the generations or families "which passed by Noah, the Nestor of his time." His righteousness and integrity were manifested in his walking with God, in which he resembled Enoch (Gen 5:22).
Gen 6:10-12
In Gen 6:10-12, the account of the birth of his three sons, and of the corruption of all flesh, is repeated. This corruption is represented as corrupting the whol…
See 6:5-7. • violence (Hebrew khamas): Murder had especially corrupted the line of Cain (4:8, 23-24).
Rashi on Genesis 6:13
קץ כל בשר THE END OF ALL FLESH — Wherever you find lewdness and idolatry, punishment of an indiscriminate character comes upon the world killing good and bad alike (Genesis Rabbah 26:5).
כי מלאה הארץ חמס FOR THE EARTH IS FILLED WITH VIOLENCE — Their fate was sealed only on account of their sin of robbery (Sanhedrin 108a).
את הארץ [I WILL DESTROY THEM] WITH THE EARTH — It is similar to מן הארץ "from the earth”; other examples of this use of את are: (Exodus 9:29) בצאתי ‘‘when I go forth” את העיר which means מן העיר “from the city” and (1 Kings 15:23) חלה ‘‘he suffered” את רגליו which means מן רגליו ‘‘from his feet”. Another explanation of את הארץ is: “together with the earth” — for the earth…
