Genesis 6:5-6

6:5 But the Lord saw ¹  that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination ²  of the thoughts ³  of their minds ⁴  was only evil ⁵  all the time. ⁶  6:6 The Lord regretted ⁷  that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. ⁸ 

Genesis 6:12

6:12 God saw the earth, and indeed ⁹  it was ruined, ¹⁰  for all living creatures ¹¹  on the earth were sinful. ¹² 

Job 15:14-16

15:14 What is man that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

15:15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, ¹³ 

if even the heavens ¹⁴  are not pure in his eyes,

15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, ¹⁵ 

who drinks in evil like water! ¹⁶ 

Psalms 14:2-3

14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven ¹⁷  at the human race, ¹⁸ 

to see if there is anyone who is wise ¹⁹  and seeks God. ²⁰ 

14:3 Everyone rejects God; ²¹ 

they are all morally corrupt. ²² 

None of them does what is right, ²³ 

not even one!

Ecclesiastes 7:29

7:29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright,

but they have sought many evil schemes.

Ecclesiastes 9:3

9:3 This is the unfortunate fact ²⁴  about everything that happens on earth: ²⁵ 

the same fate awaits ²⁶  everyone.

In addition to this, the hearts of all people ²⁷  are full of evil,

and there is folly in their hearts during their lives – then they die. ²⁸ 

Ecclesiastes 9:1

Everyone Will Die

9:1 So I reflected on all this, ²⁹  attempting to clear ³⁰  it all up.

I concluded that ³¹  the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;

whether a person will be loved or hated ³²  –

no one knows what lies ahead. ³³ 

Colossians 3:3

3:3 for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Ephesians 2:2-3

2:2 in which ³⁴  you formerly lived ³⁵  according to this world’s present path, ³⁶  according to the ruler of the kingdom ³⁷  of the air, the ruler of ³⁸  the spirit ³⁹  that is now energizing ⁴⁰  the sons of disobedience, ⁴¹  2:3 among whom ⁴²  all of us ⁴³  also ⁴⁴  formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath ⁴⁵  even as the rest… ⁴⁶ 

Titus 3:3

3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another.

[6:5]  ¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.

[6:5]  ² tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).

[6:5]  ³ tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”

[6:5]  ⁵ sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the day.”

[6:6]  ⁷ tn Or “was grieved”; “was sorry.” In the Niphal stem the verb נָחָם (nakham) can carry one of four semantic meanings, depending on the context: (1) “to experience emotional pain or weakness,” “to feel regret,” often concerning a past action (see Exod 13:17; Judg 21:6, 15; 1 Sam 15:11, 35; Job 42:6; Jer 31:19). In several of these texts כִּי (ki, “because”) introduces the cause of the emotional sorrow. (2) Another meaning is “to be comforted” or “to comfort oneself” (sometimes by taking vengeance). See Gen 24:67; 38:12; 2 Sam 13:39; Ps 77:3; Isa 1:24; Jer 31:15; Ezek 14:22; 31:16; 32:31. (This second category represents a polarization of category one.) (3) The meaning “to relent from” or “to repudiate” a course of action which is already underway is also possible (see Judg 2:18; 2 Sam 24:16 = 1 Chr 21:15; Pss 90:13; 106:45; Jer 8:6; 20:16; 42:10). (4) Finally, “to retract” (a statement) or “to relent or change one’s mind concerning,” “to deviate from” (a stated course of action) is possible (see Exod 32:12, 14; 1 Sam 15:29; Ps 110:4; Isa 57:6; Jer 4:28; 15:6; 18:8, 10; 26:3, 13, 19; Ezek 24:14; Joel 2:13-14; Am 7:3, 6; Jonah 3:9-10; 4:2; Zech 8:14). See R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 388. The first category applies here because the context speaks of God’s grief and emotional pain (see the following statement in v. 6) as a result of a past action (his making humankind). For a thorough study of the word נָחָם, see H. Van Dyke Parunak, “A Semantic Survey of NHM,” Bib 56 (1975): 512-32.

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he was grieved to his heart.” The verb עָצָב (’atsav) can carry one of three semantic senses, depending on the context: (1) “to be injured” (Ps 56:5; Eccl 10:9; 1 Chr 4:10); (2) “to experience emotional pain”; “to be depressed emotionally”; “to be worried” (2 Sam 19:2; Isa 54:6; Neh 8:10-11); (3) “to be embarrassed”; “to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself); “to be insulted” (Gen 34:7; 45:5; 1 Sam 20:3, 34; 1 Kgs 1:6; Isa 63:10; Ps 78:40). This third category develops from the second by metonymy. In certain contexts emotional pain leads to embarrassment and/or anger. In this last use the subject sometimes directs his anger against the source of grief (see especially Gen 34:7). The third category fits best in Gen 6:6 because humankind’s sin does not merely wound God emotionally. On the contrary, it prompts him to strike out in judgment against the source of his distress (see v. 7). The verb וַיִּתְעַצֵּב (vayyit’atsev), a Hitpael from עָצָב, alludes to the judgment oracles in Gen 3:16-19. Because Adam and Eve sinned, their life would be filled with pain; but sin in the human race also brought pain to God. The wording of v. 6 is ironic when compared to Gen 5:29. Lamech anticipated relief (נָחָם, nakham) from their work (מַעֲשֶׂה, ma’aseh) and their painful toil (עִצְּבֹן, ’itsÿvon), but now we read that God was sorry (נָחָם, nakham) that he had made (עָשָׂה, ’asah) humankind for it brought him great pain (עָצָב, ’atsav).

[6:12]  ⁹ tn Or “God saw how corrupt the earth was.”

[6:12]  ¹⁰ tn The repetition in the text (see v. 11) emphasizes the point.

[6:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “flesh.” Since moral corruption is in view here, most modern western interpreters understand the referent to be humankind. However, the phrase “all flesh” is used consistently of humankind and the animals in Gen 6-9 (6:17, 19; 7:15-16, 21; 8:17; 9:11, 15-17), suggesting that the author intends to picture all living creatures, humankind and animals, as guilty of moral failure. This would explain why the animals, not just humankind, are victims of the ensuing divine judgment. The OT sometimes views animals as morally culpable (Gen 9:5; Exod 21:28-29; Jonah 3:7-8). The OT also teaches that a person’s sin can contaminate others (people and animals) in the sinful person’s sphere (see the story of Achan, especially Josh 7:10). So the animals could be viewed here as morally contaminated because of their association with sinful humankind.

[6:12]  ¹² tn Heb “had corrupted its way.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “way” refers to the collective “all flesh.” The construction “corrupt one’s way” occurs only here (though Ezek 16:47 uses the Hiphil in an intransitive sense with the preposition בְּ [bet, “in”] followed by “ways”). The Hiphil of שָׁחָת (shakhat) means “to ruin, to destroy, to corrupt,” often as here in a moral/ethical sense. The Hebrew term דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) here refers to behavior or moral character, a sense that it frequently carries (see BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a).

[15:15]  ¹³ tn Eliphaz here reiterates the point made in Job 4:18.

[15:15]  ¹⁴ sn The question here is whether the reference is to material “heavens” (as in Exod 24:10 and Job 25:5), or to heavenly beings. The latter seems preferable in this context.

[15:16]  ¹⁵ tn The two descriptions here used are “abominable,” meaning “disgusting” (a Niphal participle with the value of a Latin participle [see GKC 356-57 §116.e]), and “corrupt” (a Niphal participle which occurs only in Pss 14:3 and 53:4), always in a moral sense. On the significance of the first description, see P. Humbert, “Le substantif toáe„ba„ et le verbe táb dans l’Ancien Testament,” ZAW 72 [1960]: 217ff.). On the second word, G. R. Driver suggests from Arabic, “debauched with luxury, corrupt” (“Some Hebrew Words,” JTS 29 [1927/28]: 390-96).

[15:16]  ¹⁶ sn Man commits evil with the same ease and facility as he drinks in water – freely and in large quantities.

[14:2]  ¹⁷ sn The picture of the Lord looking down from heaven draws attention to his sovereignty over the world.

[14:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “upon the sons of man.”

[14:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “acts wisely.” The Hiphil is exhibitive.

[14:2]  ²⁰ sn Anyone who is wise and seeks God refers to the person who seeks to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him.

[14:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “everyone turns aside.”

[14:3]  ²² tn Heb “together they are corrupt.”

[14:3]  ²³ tn Heb “there is none that does good.”

[9:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “evil.”

[9:3]  ²⁵ tn Heb “under the sun.”

[9:3]  ²⁶ tn The term “awaits” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for smoothness and stylistic reasons.

[9:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “also the heart of the sons of man.” Here “heart” is a collective singular.

[9:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and after that [they go] to [the place of] the dead.”

[9:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I laid all this to my heart.”

[9:1]  ³⁰ tn The term וְלָבוּר (velavur, conjunction + Qal infinitive construct from בּוּר, bur, “to make clear”) denotes “to examine; to make clear; to clear up; to explain” (HALOT 116 s.v. בור; BDB 101 s.v. בּוּר). The term is related to Arabic baraw “to examine” (G. R. Driver, “Supposed Arabisms in the Old Testament,” JBL 55 [1936]: 108). This verb is related to the Hebrew noun בֹּר (bor, “cleanness”) and adjective בַּר (bar, “clean”). The term is used in the OT only in Ecclesiastes (1:13; 2:3; 7:25; 9:1). This use of the infinitive has a connotative sense (“attempting to”), and functions in a complementary sense, relative to the main verb.

[9:1]  ³¹ tn The words “I concluded that” do not appear in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:1]  ³² tn Heb “whether love or hatred.”

[9:1]  ³³ tn Heb “man does not know anything before them.”

[2:2]  ³⁴ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ³⁵ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ³⁶ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ³⁷ tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ³⁸ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ³⁹ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ⁴¹ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[2:3]  ⁴² sn Among whom. The relative pronoun phrase that begins v. 3 is identical, except for gender, to the one that begins v. 2 (ἐν αἵς [en Jais], ἐν οἵς [en Jois]). By the structure, the author is building an argument for our hopeless condition: We lived in sin and we lived among sinful people. Our doom looked to be sealed as well in v. 2: Both the external environment (kingdom of the air) and our internal motivation and attitude (the spirit that is now energizing) were under the devil’s thumb (cf. 2 Cor 4:4).

[2:3]  ⁴³ tn Grk “we all.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “even.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁵ sn Children of wrath is a Semitic idiom which may mean either “people characterized by wrath” or “people destined for wrath.”

[2:3]  ⁴⁶ sn Eph 2:1-3. The translation of vv. 1-3 is very literal, even to the point of retaining the awkward syntax of the original. See note on the word dead in 2:1.