Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 6

When men (the adam) began to multiply.—The multiplication of Adam's race was probably comparatively slow. This was because each patriarch reached a great age before his first-born son was born. However, since the name recorded is not necessarily that of the eldest, but of the son who held the birthright, it does not automatically mean that in every case the son named was absolutely the eldest. There may have been other substitutions besides that of Seth for Cain; Noah, born when his father was 182 years old, seems to be a case in point.

He was selected to be the restorer of mankind because of his piety, and may have had many brothers and sisters older than himself. Each patriarch, however, fathered sons and daughters, and since we find Cain building a city, he must have recognized, in any case, the possibility of a considerable population settling around him. It was probably, as we noted earlier, around the time of Enoch that the corruption of Adam’s family began to become widespread.

The sons of God... . — The literal translation of this verse is, And the sons of the Elohim saw the daughters of the adam that they were good (beautiful); and they took to them wives whomsoever they chose. Of "the sons of the Elohim" there are three principal interpretations: first, that of the Targums and the chief Jewish expositors, that they were the nobles and men of high rank; second, that they were angels. Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4 seem to favor this interpretation, possibly as being the translation of the Septuagint according to several manuscripts.

But even if this is their meaning, which is very uncertain, they use it only as an illustration; and a higher authority says that the angels neither marry nor are given in marriage. The third, and most generally accepted interpretation in modern times, is that "the sons of the Elohim" were the Sethites, and that when they married for mere lust of beauty, universal corruption soon ensued. But no modern commentator has shown how such marriages could produce mighty men ... men of renown; or how strong warriors could be the result of the intermarriage of pious men with women of an inferior race, such as the Cainites are assumed to have been.

The Jewish interpreters, who well understood the uses of their own language, are right in the main point that the phrase "sons of the Elohim" conveys no idea of moral goodness or piety. Elohim constantly means mighty ones (Exodus 15:11, see margin). (Compare Exodus 12:12, see margin; Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8–9, where it is translated judges; Exodus 22:28; 1 Samuel 2:25, where it is also translated judge.) In Job 1:6, the "sons of Elohim" are the nobles, the idea being that of a king who at his royal assembly gathers his princes around him; and, not unnecessarily to multiply examples, the "sons of the Elim," the other form of the plural, is rightly translated mighty ones in Psalm 29:1.

Who, then, are these "mighty ones?" Before answering this question, let me call attention to the plain teaching of the narrative as to what is meant by the "daughters of men." It says: When the adam began to multiply, and daughters were born to them, the sons of the Elohim saw the daughters of the adam ... and took them wives, etc. But according to every right rule of interpretation, the "daughters of the adam" in Genesis 6:1 must be the same as the "daughters of the adam" in Genesis 6:2, whom the sons of the Elohim married. Now, it seems undeniable that the adam here spoken of were the Sethites.

The phrase occurs in the history of Noah, just after giving his descent from Adam. Cain is absolutely passed over, even in the account of the birth of Seth, who is described as Adam’s firstborn, as legally he was. The corruption described is that of the Sethites, for the Cainites have already been depicted as violent and lustful, and their history has been brought to an end. Moreover, in Genesis 6:3, the adam with whom God will not always strive is certainly the family of Seth. Though the chosen people and possessors of the birthright, they are nevertheless described as falling into evil ways. Their utter corruption finally is the result of the depravation of their women by a race superior to themselves in muscular vigour and warlike prowess.

Where, then, do we find these men? Certainly among the descendants of Cain. In Genesis 4:17-24, we find Cain described as the founder of civil institutions and social life: the name he gives to his son testifies to his determination that his race should be trained men. They advance rapidly in the arts, become rich, refined, luxurious, but also martial and arrogant. The picture terminates in a boastful hero parading himself before his admiring wives, displaying to them his weapons, and vaunting himself in a poem of no mean merit as ten times superior to their forefather Cain. His namesake in the race of Seth also composes a poem; but it is a groan over their hard toil and the difficulty with which, by incessant labour, they earned their daily bread.

To the simple "daughters of the adam," these men—enriched by the possession of implements of metal, playing sweet music on harp and pipe, and rendered invincible by the deadly weapons they had forged—must have seemed indeed to be the very "sons of the Elohim." The Sethites could not have taken the Cainite women according to their fancy in the way described, protected as they were by armed men. But the whole phrase, whomsoever they would, reeks of that arrogance and wantonness of which the polygamist Lamech had set so notable an example. And so, not by the women corrupting nobler natures, but by these strong men acting according to their lust, the race with the birthright sank to the Cainite level, and God no longer had a people on earth worthy of His choice.

And the Lord said. — As the Sethites are now the fallen race, it is their covenant Jehovah who determines to reduce the extreme duration of human life to that which, under the most favorable sanitary influences, might still be its normal length.

My spirit shall not always strive with man. — The meaning of this much-contested clause is really settled by the main purpose and context of the verse, which is the Divine determination to shorten human life.

Whether, then, God’s spirit is the animating breath spoken of in Genesis 2:7; Genesis 7:22, by which human life is sustained, or the spiritual part of man—his conscience and moral sense, God’s best gift to him—in opposition to his flesh, the struggle from now on is not to be indefinitely prolonged.

In the first case, the struggle spoken of is that between the elements of life and death in the body; in the second, it refers to the moral probation to which man is subject. The versions generally take the former meaning and translate “shall not dwell” or “abide”; but there is much in favor of the rendering “shall strive,” though the verb more exactly means to rule, preside over, sit as judge. Literally, then, it signifies that the Divine gift of life shall not rule in man “for ever”—that is, for a period as protracted as antediluvian life. (Compare to Deuteronomy 15:17 and other such instances.)

With man. — Heb., with the adam: spoken with special reference to the Sethites.

For that he also is flesh. — So all the versions; but many commentators, to avoid an Aramaism which does not occur again until the later Psalms, translate, “in their erring he is (= they are) flesh.”

But no reason for shortening human life can be found in this commonplace assertion. If Abraham brought these records with him from Ur, we have an explanation of the acknowledged fact that Aramaisms do occur in the earlier portions of the Bible.

Man, then, is “also” flesh; that is, his body is of the same nature as those of the animals. In spite of his noble gifts and precedence, he must submit to a life of the same moderate duration as that allotted to them.

Giants. —Heb., Nephilim, mentioned again in Numbers 13:33, and apparently a race of great physical strength and stature. Nothing is more probable than that, at a time when men lived for centuries, human vigour should also show itself in producing not merely individuals, but a race of more than ordinary height. They were apparently of the Cainite stock, and the text carefully distinguishes them from the offspring of the mixed marriages. The usual derivation of the name is from a root signifying to fall; but Lenormant (Origines de l’Histoire, p. 344) prefers pâlâ, which means “to be wonderful,” and compares the Assyrian naptû, “unique in size,” often found in the cuneiform inscriptions as the denomination of an ogre.

The same became mighty men. —Heb., They were the mighty men that were of old, men of name. “Gibborim,” mighty men , has nothing to do with stature, but means heroes, warriors. It is also generally used in a good sense. The children of these mixed marriages were a race of brave fighting men, who by their martial deeds won for themselves reputation.

And God saw. —Really, And Jehovah saw.

Imagination. —More exactly, form, shape. Thus, every idea or embodied thought which presented itself to the mind through the working of the heart—that is, the whole inner nature of man—was only evil continually—in Hebrew, all the day,—from morning to night, without reproof of conscience or fear of Divine justice.

A more forcible picture of complete depravity could scarcely be drawn; and this corruption of man’s inner nature is ascribed to the overthrow of moral and social restraints.