3
AndוַYHWHיְהוָהsaid,יֹּאמֶר“My spiritרוּחִיwill notלֹאremainיָדוֹןin the human beingבָאָדָםforever,לְעֹלָםforבְּשַׁheהוּאalsoגַּםisflesh;בָשָׂרandוְhis daysיָמָיוwill beהָיוּa hundredמֵאָהandוְtwentyעֶשְׂרִיםyears.”שָׁנָה
Genesis 6:3
Study it in the app“And YHWH said, “My spirit will not remain in the human being forever, for he also is flesh; and his days will be a hundred and twenty years.””
With the Hebrew beneath
Genesis 6:3, word by word
- YHWHיְהוָהyehva
YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
Where else “yehva” appears- saidיֹּאמֶרyomer
say
To say with the mouth to someone what one thinks or wants, or to answer him.
Where else “yomer” appears- “My spiritרוּחִruchi
Spirit of God
The spirit of Elohim or YHWH: his presence and power.
Where else “ruchi” appears- remainיָדוֹןyadon
remain
To dwell in someone, like YHWH's spirit.
Where else “yadon” appears- in the human beingאָדָםadam
human being
All humankind, men and women, as creatures God formed.
Where else “adam” appears- foreverעֹלָםolam
forever
Time without end, beyond what a lifetime can see.
Where else “olam” appears- fleshבָשָׂרvasar
flesh
The body of a person or animal, the soft part covering the bones.
Where else “vasar” appears- his daysיָמָיyamay
time
Literally "the days": a period, an age, or the span of someone's life.
Where else “yamay” appears- will beהָיוּhayu
be
To be: "I will be their Elohim".
Where else “hayu” appears- a hundredמֵאָהmea
hundred
The amount of one hundred; with other numbers it forms two hundred, three hundred and the rest.
Where else “mea” appears- twentyעֶשְׂרִיםesrim
twenty
Twenty; also "twentieth".
Where else “esrim” appears- yearsשָׁנָהshana
year
Each full turn of the seasons, by which time is counted.
Where else “shana” appears
The context
2that the sons of Elohim saw that the daughters of human beings were beautiful; and they took for themselves wives from all whom they chose.
3 · This verse (above)
4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of Elohim went in to the daughters of human beings and they bore children to them; they were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
To study Genesis 6 in a group
1. What it says
What did YHWH see on the earth, and what did Elohim tell Noah to do (vv. 5, 13-14)?
2. What it means
Why does the text say Noah found favor in the eyes of YHWH (vv. 8-9)?
3. How I live it
What good thing can you keep doing steadily even if those around you do not understand it, as Noah did (v. 22)?