What does Genesis 6:5-9:17 mean?

Genesis 6:5 Direct teaching

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:11 Direct teaching

Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

Genesis 6:17 Direct teaching

For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.

Genesis 6:13 Direct teaching

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 with the earth.

Genesis 6:9 Supporting witness

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:6 Supporting witness

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Genesis 6:7 Direct teaching

So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

Anonymous, Treatise Against the Heretic Novatian Direct teaching

...all the deep springs burst open and the windows of heaven were opened over the earth because of the wickedness that men practiced every day before the Lord. As Moses said, "And the Lord God saw that the wickednesses of men were overflowing on the earth, and that all of them were remembering evil from the beginning of their days; and He said, I will destroy man whom I have made from the face of the earth, from man to cattle, and from creeping thing to the birds of the air." Genesis 6:5-7 Therefore, at the time of the flood, the dove was sent out from the ark, when the waters were rushing violently with all their force over the earth.

Alexander of Alexandria, Epistles on the Arian Heresy Supporting witness

And it is mutable as the Scripture recognises: For when the sons of God saw the daughters of men, they took them wives, Genesis 6:2 etc.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But afterwards God, when He saw the earth filled with wickedness and crimes, determined to destroy mankind with a deluge;

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Background

Finally, also, at the time of the flood, when all flesh had corrupted their way before God, it is recorded that God spoke thus, as of undeserving men and sinners: My Spirit shall not abide with those men for ever, because they are flesh.

Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Supporting witness

God decreed to destroy the whole race of the living by a flood. He had threatened that men should not survive beyond 120 years. Nor should this be thought difficult, because some lived afterward for a longer time than that. For the time meant was 100 years until the flood, in the case of the sinners of that time; for they were 20 years old. God instructed Noe, who pleased Him because of his righteousness, to prepare an ark. When it was finished, Noe himself entered it, and his sons, his wife, and his daughters-in-law, and the firstlings of every living creature, for the continuation of the race. And Noe was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. When the water went down, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, which we know to be in Parthia. But some say they are at Celaenae in Phrygia, and I have seen both places. And the flood prevailed for a year, and then the earth became dry. And they came out of the ark in pairs, as may be found, and not in the way in which they had entered, that is, distinguished according to their species, and they were blessed by God. And each of these things points to something useful for us.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...e Church is one, and that only those who are in the Church can be baptized. He said, “In the ark of Noah, few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water; the like figure to which even baptism shall save you.” 1 Peter 3:20-21 In this way he proves and testifies that the one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism by which the world was expiated and purified, the person who was not in Noah’s ark could be saved by water, then the person who is not in the Church, to which alone baptism is granted, can also now be made alive by baptism. Moreover, the Apostle Paul, showing this same thing even more openly and clearly, writes to the Ephesians and says, “Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water.” But if the Church is one, and it alone is loved by Christ and cleansed by His washing, how can someone who is not in the Church be either loved by Christ, or washed and cleansed by His washing?

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...ot in the ark with Noah not only were not cleansed and saved by water, but at once perished in that deluge. So now also, whoever are not in the Church with Christ will perish outside, unless they are converted by penitence to the only and saving lava of the Church.

Anonymous, Treatise Against the Heretic Novatian Direct teaching

...t law points out to us the one and only Church in the ark that was made, by God's providence, under Noah before the flood. In it—to answer you briefly, O Novatian—we find that not only clean animals, but also unclean ones, were shut up. That ark alone was saved, together with those who were in it, while everything not found in it perished in the flood. From that ark two birds were sent out, a raven and a dove. This raven truly represented impure men, men who would remain in perpetual darkness on the world's broad road, and apostates who would arise, feeding on unclean things and never returning at last to the Church. And as we read, we find that it was sent out and did not return again. Therefore, whoever is found to be like this bird, that is, like the impure spirit, will no longer be able to return to the Church, since the Lord will forbid them, even if they should wish it, as He commanded Moses, saying, “Everything leprous and impure, cast outside the camp.” Numbers 5:2 But the dove that was sent out and returned signifies the man who does not delay, because he would find no rest for his feet. And Noah received it into the ark. And when it was sent out again on the seventh da

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

3. For we find in Genesis also, in respect of the sacrament in Noe, this same thing was to them a precursor and figure of the Lord's passion;

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

..., then, gentlemen," I said, "that God has said in Isaiah to Jerusalem: 'I saved you in the flood of Noah.' What God meant by this is that the mystery of saved people was revealed in the flood. Righteous Noah, together with the other humans at the flood—meaning his wife, his three sons, and their wives, totaling eight people—symbolized the eighth day when Christ appeared by rising from the dead, forever the first in power. Christ, being the firstborn of every creature, became the leader of a new human race, regenerated by Himself through water, faith, and wood, symbolizing the mystery of the cross; just as Noah was saved by wood when he floated over the waters with his family. So, when the prophet says, 'I saved you in the times of Noah,' as I've already mentioned, he is addressing those who are equally faithful to God and bear the same signs. For when Moses had the rod in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe this was spoken only to your nation or to the land. However, the entire earth, as Scripture states, was flooded, and the water rose fifteen cubits above all the mountains, making it clear that this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who o

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at the deluge, i.e., with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, for ever the first in power.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

...eople were kept safe in the ark, which had been prepared by God's command, not by Deucalion, but by Noah. This Hebrew name means "rest," as we have shown elsewhere. Noah, when he announced to the people then living that a flood was coming, prophesied to them and said, "Come here, God calls you to repentance." For this reason he was fittingly called Deucalion. And this Noah had three sons, as we mentioned in the second book. Their names were Shem, Ham, and Japhet. They also had three wives, one wife for each man, each man with his wife. Some have given this man the surname Eunuchus. Therefore, all eight persons who were found in the ark were preserved. And Moses showed that the flood lasted forty days and forty nights. Torrents poured from heaven, and the fountains of the deep burst open, so that the water rose fifteen cubits above every high hill. And so the whole human race that existed at that time was destroyed, and only those who were sheltered in the ark were saved. As we have already said, these were eight. And the remains of the ark can still be seen to this day in the Arabian mountains. This, then, is the summary of the history of the flood.

Clement of Rome, Connection to Genesis 6:9 Supporting witness

Noah, being found faithful, preached regeneration to the world through his ministry; and the Lord saved by him the animals which, with one accord, entered into the ark.

Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians Supporting witness

Noah, being found faithful, preached regeneration to the world through his ministry;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

...e like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding.” “For as it was in the days of Noah, they ate and drank, they bought and sold, they married and were given in marriage, and they didn’t know until Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all; likewise, in the days of Lot, they ate and drank, they bought and sold, they planted and built, until Lot left Sodom; it rained fire from heaven and destroyed them all: so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man.” “Therefore, watch, for you don’t know on what day your Lord will come.” In these passages, He declares the same Lord, who in the times of Noah brought the flood because of man’s disobedience, and who also in the days of Lot rained fire from heaven because of the multitude of sinners among the Sodomites, and who, due to this same disobedience and similar sins, will bring the day of judgment at the end of time; on which day, He declares, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city and house which does not receive the word of His apostles. “And you, Capernaum,” He said, “will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to hell. For if the mighty works done in you had be

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

...path of the Lord. For this reason, four principal covenants were given to humanity: one, before the flood, under Adam; the second, after the flood, under Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that which renews humanity and sums up all things in itself through the Gospel, raising and carrying humans upon its wings into the heavenly kingdom.

Genesis 9:11 Direct teaching

And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

Genesis 9:15 Direct teaching

And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Genesis 9:17 Direct teaching

And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Genesis 9:12 Supporting witness

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:

Genesis 9:13 Supporting witness

I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:16 Supporting witness

And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

Genesis 9:9 Supporting witness

And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...of bread upon it, and send famine upon it, and destroy man and beast in it, though these three men, Noah, Job, and Daniel, were in the midst of it, they shall only save their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 14:13-14. Scripture most clearly shows that a righteous man who associates with a wicked man does not perish with him. For in the present world the righteous and the wicked are mixed together in the common affairs of life, but not in holy communion. In this, the friends and favorites of God are guilty of no sin. For they only imitate their Father who is in heaven, who makes His sun rise on the righteous and unrighteous, and sends His rain on the evil and on the good. Matthew 5:45. And the righteous man undergoes no peril on this account. For those who conquer and those who are conquered are in the same place of running, but only those who have bravely gone through the race are where the garland is bestowed. And no one is crowned unless he strives lawfully. 2 Timothy 2:5. For everyone shall give account of himself, and God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked. For with Him it is a constant rule that innocence is never punished. For neith

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

He, when six hundred years old, built an ark, as God had commanded him, in which he himself was saved, together with his wife and three sons, and as many daughters-in-law, when the water had covered all the loftiest mountains.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

since they were ignorant both at what time the flood happened on the earth, and who it was that deserved on account of his righteousness to be saved when the human race perished, and how and with whom he was saved: all of which are taught by the inspired writings.