John Calvin Commentary Genesis 6:7

"And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them." — Genesis 6:7 (ASV)

And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, etc. He again introduces God as deliberating, so that we may better understand that the world was not destroyed without mature counsel on God's part.

For the Spirit of the Lord intended for us to be diligently admonished on this point, so that He might remove any opportunity for those impious complaints which we would otherwise be too ready to express. The word said here means decreed, because God utters no voice without having inwardly determined what He would do.

Besides, He had no need of new counsel, as humans do, as if He were forming a judgment about something recently discovered. But all this is said in consideration of our weakness, so that whenever we reflect on the deluge, it will immediately occur to us that God's vengeance was just.

Moreover, God, not content with the punishment of humanity, proceeds even to beasts, cattle, birds, and every kind of living creature. In this, He seems to exceed the bounds of moderation. For although human impiety is hateful to Him, yet to what purpose is it to be angry with unoffending animals?

But it is not surprising that those animals, created for humanity's sake and living for human use, should share in humanity's ruin. Neither donkeys, nor oxen, nor any other animals had done evil; yet, being subject to humanity when humanity fell, they were drawn with them into the same destruction.

The earth was like a wealthy house, well supplied with every kind of provision in abundance and variety.

Now, since humanity has defiled the earth itself with their crimes and has vilely corrupted all the riches with which it was filled, the Lord also intended that the monument of His punishment should be placed there. This is just as if a judge, about to punish a most wicked and nefarious criminal, should, for the sake of greater infamy, command his house to be razed to its foundations.

And all this serves to inspire in us a dread of sin, for we may easily infer how great its atrocity is when its punishment extends even to the brute creation.