Genesis 6:5
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
Then the LORD saw
The phrase begins with the divine observation, emphasizing God's omniscience. The Hebrew word for "saw" is "ra'ah," which implies not just seeing but perceiving and understanding fully. This indicates that God is not distant or unaware; He is intimately involved with His creation. His seeing is active and discerning, highlighting His role as a just judge who is aware of human actions and intentions.

the wickedness of man
"Wickedness" in Hebrew is "ra'ah," which conveys a sense of moral evil and corruption. This term underscores the depth of human depravity at this point in history. The "wickedness of man" suggests a collective moral failure, not just isolated acts of sin. It reflects a society that has turned away from God's righteousness, echoing the consequences of the Fall in Genesis 3.

was great upon the earth
The word "great" (Hebrew: "rab") signifies abundance and magnitude. The wickedness was not only present but pervasive, affecting the entire earth. This phrase suggests that sin had reached a critical mass, influencing all aspects of human life and society. It serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of unchecked sin and the need for divine intervention.

and that every inclination
The Hebrew word for "inclination" is "yetzer," which refers to the formation or framing of thoughts and intentions. This indicates that the very foundation of human thinking was corrupt. The use of "every" emphasizes the totality of this corruption, leaving no room for righteousness or goodness in human intentions.

of the thoughts of his heart
"Thoughts" (Hebrew: "machashavah") refers to the plans, purposes, and imaginations of the heart. The "heart" (Hebrew: "lev") in biblical terms is the center of one's being, encompassing mind, will, and emotions. This phrase highlights that the core of human identity and decision-making was tainted by sin, affecting all actions and desires.

was altogether evil
The phrase "altogether evil" underscores the complete moral bankruptcy of humanity. "Evil" (Hebrew: "ra") here is not just the absence of good but an active presence of moral corruption. This total depravity necessitates divine judgment and foreshadows the coming flood as a means of purging the earth.

all the time
This phrase indicates the constancy and persistence of human sinfulness. It suggests that there was no reprieve or moment of righteousness, but a continuous state of rebellion against God. This relentless sinfulness highlights the need for a savior and points forward to the redemptive work of Christ, who offers a new heart and spirit to those who believe.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal existence and His relationship with humanity. In this context, He is the observer and judge of human actions.

2. Man (Humanity)
Refers to all of humanity at the time, whose collective moral state had deteriorated significantly.

3. The Earth
The setting for human activity and the stage for divine observation and judgment. It is the creation that God once declared "very good" but now sees as corrupted by human sin.

4. Wickedness
The moral corruption and sinful behavior that had become pervasive among humans.

5. The Heart
In Hebrew thought, the heart ("lev") is the center of thought, emotion, and will. It represents the inner life and moral character of a person.
Teaching Points
The Reality of Human Sinfulness
Recognize the pervasive nature of sin in human life and its impact on our relationship with God.

The Importance of the Heart
Understand that God looks at the heart, the source of our thoughts and actions, and calls us to purity and righteousness.

God's Awareness and Judgment
Acknowledge that God sees all human actions and thoughts, and He is just in His judgments.

The Need for Redemption
Realize our need for a Savior to transform our hearts and minds, leading us away from sin.

Living in a Fallen World
Be vigilant in guarding our hearts and minds against the pervasive influence of sin in the world.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Genesis 6:5 help us understand the nature of sin and its impact on humanity?

2. In what ways can we guard our hearts against the evil inclinations described in this verse?

3. How does the description of the human heart in Genesis 6:5 compare to other biblical passages about the heart?

4. What does this verse teach us about God's perspective on human sinfulness and His response to it?

5. How can we apply the lessons from Genesis 6:5 to our daily walk with God, especially in a world that often mirrors the wickedness described?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 8:21
After the flood, God acknowledges that the inclination of man's heart is evil from youth, showing the persistent nature of sin.

Jeremiah 17:9
Describes the heart as deceitful and desperately wicked, reinforcing the idea of inherent human sinfulness.

Romans 3:23
States that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, connecting the universal nature of sin to the New Testament.

Matthew 15:19
Jesus explains that evil thoughts and actions come from the heart, aligning with the Genesis depiction of internal corruption.

Ephesians 2:1-3
Describes humanity's state of spiritual death and disobedience before salvation, echoing the themes of Genesis 6:5.
The Demoralization of the RaceW. Roberts Genesis 6:1-5
The Work of SinR.A. Redford Genesis 6:1-8
A Dark View of SinA. Maclaren, D. D.Genesis 6:5-7
A Degenerate WorldJ. S. Exell, M. A.Genesis 6:5-7
A Degenerate WorldA. Fuller.Genesis 6:5-7
A Fair Scene SpoiledMorlais Jones.Genesis 6:5-7
Evil of Sin in the Sight of GodW. H. Lewis, D. D.Genesis 6:5-7
Evil ThoughtsT. Adams.Genesis 6:5-7
It Repented the Lord that He Had Made ManDean Vaughan.Genesis 6:5-7
Man has Made Himself What He IsT. Guthrie, D. D.Genesis 6:5-7
Man's CorruptionH. J. Hastings, M. A.Genesis 6:5-7
Moral DeclensionGenesis 6:5-7
Sinful DefectionC. Ness.Genesis 6:5-7
The Extent of Man's WickednessC. Simeon, M. A.Genesis 6:5-7
The Flood of EvilDean Law.Genesis 6:5-7
The Sincerity of the Divine CompassionH. Bonar, D. D.Genesis 6:5-7
The Sinfulness and Cure of ThoughtsGenesis 6:5-7
The Sinfulness of Man's Natural StateGenesis 6:5-7
The Universal CorruptionR. S. Candlish, D. D.Genesis 6:5-7
Universal CorruptionJ. C. Gray.Genesis 6:5-7
People
Ham, Japheth, Noah, Shem
Places
Tigris-Euphrates Region
Topics
Abundant, Continually, Evil, Heart, Imagination, Inclination, Intent, Sin, Thoughts, Wickedness
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 6:5

     1466   vision
     5009   conscience, nature of
     5014   heart, human
     5016   heart, fallen and redeemed
     5038   mind, the human
     5065   spirit, fallen and redeemed
     5191   thought
     5219   authority, human institutions
     5769   behaviour
     6023   sin, universality
     6156   fall, of humanity
     6183   ignorance, of God
     6185   imagination, desires
     6200   imperfection, influence
     7227   flood, the
     8244   ethics, and grace
     8710   atheism
     8735   evil, origins of

Genesis 6:1-22

     7203   ark, Noah's

Genesis 6:5-7

     1335   blessing
     1347   covenant, with Noah
     4027   world, fallen
     5020   human nature
     5295   destruction
     5493   retribution
     5561   suffering, nature of
     5568   suffering, causes
     6615   atonement, necessity
     6702   peace, destruction

Genesis 6:5-13

     5004   human race, and sin

Library
An Unheeded Warning
TEXT: "My Spirit shall not always strive with men."--Genesis 6:31. For the truth of this statement one needs only to study his Bible and he will find written in almost every book of Old Testament and New a similar expression. At the same time in the study of God's word it will be revealed to him that God has a great plan which he is carefully working out. We must be familiar with the beginning and the unfolding of this plan and with the conclusion he reached. When after the rebellion of his
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Saint among Sinners
'These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth. 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
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Marriage of Cana
John 2:11 -- "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." I have more than once had occasion to observe, that the chief end St. John had in view, when he wrote his gospel, was to prove the divinity of Jesus Christ, [that Word, who not only was from everlasting with God, but also was really God blessed for evermore] against those arch-heretics Ebion and Cerinthus, whose pernicious principles too many follow in these last
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Our Unrighteousness.
"My Spirit shall not always strive with man."--Gen. vi. 3. Before discussing the work of the Holy Spirit in the sinner's restoration, let us consider the interesting but much-neglected question whether man stood in fellowship with the Holy Spirit before the fall. If it is true that the original Adam returns in the regenerated man, it follows that the Holy Spirit must have dwelt in Adam as He now dwells in God's children. But this is not so. God's word teaches the following differences between the
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Moral Depravity.
In discussing the subject of human depravity, I shall,-- I. Define the term depravity. The word is derived from the Latin de and pravus. Pravus means "crooked." De is intensive. Depravatus literally and primarily means "very crooked," not in the sense of original or constitutional crookedness, but in the sense of having become crooked. The term does not imply original mal-conformation, but lapsed, fallen, departed from right or straight. It always implies deterioration, or fall from a former state
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

The Survival of the Fittest.
THE STORY OF THE GREAT FLOOD.--Gen. 6-8. Parallel Readings. Hist. Bible I, 52-65. Darwin, Origin of Species; Wallace, Darwinism; 3. William Dawson, Modern Ideas of Evolution; Article Evolution in leading encyclopedias. When Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every purpose in the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, it was a source of regret that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart. Therefore Jehovah said, I will
Charles Foster Kent—The Making of a Nation

Difficulties and Objections
"Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal?" (Ezek. 18:25). A convenient point has been reached when we may now examine, more definitely, some of the difficulties encountered and the objections which might be advanced against what we have written in previous pages. The author deemed it better to reserve these for a separate consideration rather than deal with them as he went along, requiring as that would have done the
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

The Sixth Proposition. All the Objections against the Universality of Christ's Death are Easily Solved
According to which principle (or hypothesis) all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous means, which, they say, God makes use of, to manifest the doctrine and history of Christ's passion, unto such who (living in those places of the world where the outward preaching of the gospel is unknown) have well improved the first and common grace; for hence it well follows, that as some
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

According to which principle or hypothesis all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved
PROPOSITION VI. According to which principle or hypothesis all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous means which they say God useth to manifest the doctrine and history of Christ's passion unto such, who, living in parts of the world where the outward preaching of the gospel is unknown, have well improved the first and common grace. For as hence it well follows that some of
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Divine Impartiality Considered.
"For there is no respect of persons with God." The divine impartiality is often asserted in the holy scriptures; and the assertion coincides with our natural ideas of deity. The pagans indeed attributed to their Gods, the vices, follies and weaknesses of men! But the beings whom they adored were mostly taken from among men, and might be considered as retaining human imperfections,--Had unbiased reason been consulted to find out a supreme being, a different object would have been exhibited to view.
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Noah's Faith, Fear, Obedience, and Salvation
We may take pleasure in thinking of Noah as a kind of contrast to Enoch. Enoch was taken away from the evil to come: he saw not the flood, nor heard the wailing of those who were swept away by the waterfloods. His was a delightful deliverance from the harvest of wrath which followed the universal godlessness of the race. It was not his to fight the battle of righteousness to the bitter end; but by a secret rapture he avoided death, and escaped those evil days in which his grandson's lot was cast.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 36: 1890

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Writings of Israel's Philosophers
[Sidenote: Discussions the problem of evil] An intense interest in man led certain of Israel's sages in time to devote their attention to more general philosophical problems, such as the moral order of the universe. In the earlier proverbs, prophetic histories, and laws, the doctrine that sin was always punished by suffering or misfortune, and conversely that calamity and misfortune were sure evidence of the guilt of the one affected, had been reiterated until it had become a dogma. In nine out
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall.
Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall. [182] All Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, as to the first Adam, or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated, and dead; deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed of God; and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent, which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and corrupted estate; from whence it comes, that not only their words and deeds, but all their imaginations, are
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Meditations of the Misery of a Man not Reconciled to God in Christ.
O wretched Man! where shall I begin to describe thine endless misery, who art condemned as soon as conceived; and adjudged to eternal death, before thou wast born to a temporal life? A beginning indeed, I find, but no end of thy miseries. For when Adam and Eve, being created after God's own image, and placed in Paradise, that they and their posterity might live in a blessed state of life immortal, having dominion over all earthly creatures, and only restrained from the fruit of one tree, as a sign
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Departed Saints Fellow Servants with those yet on Earth.
"I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." That the saints do not remain insensible, while their bodies are in the dull, but become angels, * see and serve God and bear his messages, and minister to the heirs of salvation, hath been argued from several considerations, in the preceding discourse; but we chiefly depend on revelation. The text and several other scriptures, we conceive to be our purpose, and sufficient to establish our theory, and that the same is illustrated and confirmed
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Mount Zion.
"For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them: for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Growth of the Old Testament Prophetic Histories
[Sidenote: Analogies between the influences that produced the two Testaments] Very similar influences were at work in producing and shaping both the Old and the New Testaments; only in the history of the older Scriptures still other forces can be distinguished. Moreover, the Old Testament contains a much greater variety of literature. It is also significant that, while some of the New Testament books began to be canonized less than a century after they were written, there is clear evidence that
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

They Shall be Called the Children of God
They shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 In these words the glorious privilege of the saints is set down. Those who have made their peace with God and labour to make peace among brethren, this is the great honour conferred upon them, They shall be called the children of God'. They shall be (called)', that is, they shall be so reputed and esteemed of God. God never miscalls anything. He does not call them children which are no children. Thou shalt be called the prophet of the Highest'
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ.
2 Tim. i. 13.--"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here is the sum of religion. Here you have a compend of the doctrine of the Scriptures. All divine truths may be reduced to these two heads,--faith and love; what we ought to believe, and what we ought to do. This is all the Scriptures teach, and this is all we have to learn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of himself to us? And what have we to do, but what
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Man's Inability to Keep the Moral Law
Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but does daily break them, in thought, word, and deed. In many things we offend all.' James 3: 2. Man in his primitive state of innocence, was endowed with ability to keep the whole moral law. He had rectitude of mind, sanctity of will, and perfection of power. He had the copy of God's law written on his heart; no sooner did God command but he obeyed.
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Doctrine of Angels.
I. THEIR EXISTENCE. 1. THE TEACHING OF JESUS. 2. THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES. II. THEIR NATURE. 1. CREATED BEINGS. 2. SPIRITUAL BEINGS. 3. GREAT POWER AND MIGHT. 4. VARIOUS GRADES. 5. THE NUMBER OF ANGELS. III. THE FALL OF ANGELS. 1. TIME AND CAUSE. 2. THE WORK OF FALLEN ANGELS. 3. THE JUDGMENT OF FALLEN ANGELS. IV. THE WORK OF ANGELS. 1. THEIR HEAVENLY MINISTRY. 2. THEIR EARTHLY MINISTRY. a) In Relation to the Believer. b) In Relation to Christ's Second Coming. THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS. We are not
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

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