Text: Genesis 6:9-12 (NKJV)
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
"This is the toledoth of Noah..." This is how this section of Genesis is introduced. Unfortunately, the majority of scholars today erroneously believe Wellhausen's Documentary Hypothesis regarding the authorship and authenticity of Genesis, and they write off these four verses as a later and aberrant insertion after the previous eight. Let me provide you with an extended quote that will far better answer this than I could:
Verses 9-12, far from being an alien intrusion on this narrative actually represent a culmination of verbal motifs developed in the first eight verses. "When man began to multiply on the face of the ground"- the first clause of the first verse sets up a verbal play on the relationship of "man" ('adam) and "ground" ('adamah). This play emphasizes man as a creature, and as a creature he is obeying God's will to be fruitful and multiply... However, the good that was multiplying (rbb) in verse 1 has become evil that was becoming great (rbb) by verse 5. "Man" ('adam) is now in this verse presented in connection with a broader term than "ground" ('adamah). Now evil is multiplying in the "earth" ('eres). In the supposedly alien verse 12 this progression is completed. "Earth" is repeated, but now "man" is replaced with the more general term "all flesh". And so the man/soil motif has been developed in three steps: man/ground: man/earth: all flesh/earth... Far from being two different accounts, Genesis 6:1-12 could scarcely be more tightly unified.1In the last ellipsis there, the authors provided roughly another page worth of even more technical arguments for the unity. Again, great book to read about Genesis. Moses wrote this book "with such complete mastery over his materials (whatever their source) that it makes no literary sense to speak of him as an editor."2 While Moses compiled information from his resources, he was accurate and a master of the information. Really though, the thread that holds this together is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (God) revealing His truth through Moses.
Now, moving from the integrity of the text to actually gleaning information from it, let's look at the content of this passage. Verse 9 says, "Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations" (see also 7:1). What exactly does this mean? Jewish rabbis have debated the question since before Christianity existed as a religion. Many of them interpret this passage to mean that Noah was righteous compared to his generation of people (which was the most wicked ever in human history), but he was not actually righteous as compared to, say, Jacob or Abraham. The New Testament does provide some illumination. In 2 Peter 2:5 (NKJV), the Bible states that Noah was a "preacher of righteousness." Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV) lists Noah with other faithful saints of the Old Testament right before Abraham, saying, "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." I suppose that I would say Noah was a righteous man, both compared to his generation and other saints of other times. He withstood what had to be some of the greatest pressure, being the only Godly person really left on Earth. He faithfully preached the truth of God in the face of mockery and built a boat for a flood when no one had ever even really seen rain before. He is listed in the New Testament among that Hall of Fame in Faith (Hebrews 11). However, it really comes back to Romans 3:23 (NKJV), which tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." No one but Jesus Christ is perfect, and when compared to God, everyone else falls short.
Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The traditional view, based on largely on genealogies and their related tales elsewhere in Genesis and the Old Testament, holds that these three men led their families out from the Ark to repopulate in three different directions- Shem toward Asia, Ham toward Africa, and Japheth toward Europe. It was then from these men that the races originated.
Verses 11-12 continue to paint a very bad picture of humanity at this time. The term translated as "corrupt" carries the connotation that mankind had ruined or destroyed what God had originally created. Clearly, the Earth was not actually broken apart in some sort of nuclear holocaust, but humanity had ruined the goodness of Creation. The wickedness of humanity had "became so conspicuous to God, that He could not refrain from punishment."3 The sin was so bad that God could no longer allow it to exist. This toledoth of Noah shows us to the story of the judgment and salvation of humanity through one Godly man. 1 Peter 3:18-22 teaches us that the physical salvation of the righteous few in Noah's ark prefigured the salvation of the righteous, believing few (by percentage, see Matthew 7:13-14) through spiritual baptism given for the righteous answer of a heart and mind toward and through Jesus Christ.
- Before Abraham Was by Kikawada and Quinn, 85-87.
- Ibid., 83.
- Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (2002). Commentary on the Old Testament. (Ge 6:10–12). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
Again, the normal interpretation of the Bible is the best. Don't be dissuaded by those who want to detract from it. Believing the Bible requires belief, but it is not baseless- ours is a credible faith.
As Noah's Ark was the only hope of physical salvation for humanity then, so is Jesus Christ the only hope for spiritual salvation of humanity now. Believe in Him and accept Him as your Savior at once if you have not already!
Other Studies from Genesis
"Herme- what?" How to Understand the Bible
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