Genesis 6:1

God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 When humankind ¹  began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born ²  to them, ³ 

Genesis 1:6

1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse ⁴  in the midst of the waters and let it separate water ⁵  from water.

[6:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”

[6:1]  ² tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.

[6:1]  ³ tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.

[1:6]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.”

[1:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “the waters from the waters.”