God tells Noah that He is going to destroy the world. But the sin that has lead to this decree seems too minor compared to other things going on at that time.
Here are the relevant verses from Genesis 6:
1. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,
2. That the sons of the rulers saw the daughters of men that they were pretty; and they took as wives all those whom they chose.
3. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. …
11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence [Hebrew: hamas, chet-mem-samech].
12. And God saw the the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.
13. And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence [Hebrew: hamas] through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
My main focus in this article is Ramban’s commentary on Genesis 6:2 and 13. But it’s also worth looking at his comments on some of the other verses to get a full picture of his approach.
Genesis 6:1
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth
After the Torah mentioned Noah and his sons (Genesis 5:32), it wanted to take up the subject of the flood. Thus it immediately states “men began to multiply”, they began to sin.
Not only did they begin to sin, but they continued in their sin many years, until Noah was 480 years old.
That is when God decreed on them, “My spirit shall not always strive” (Genesis 6:3) with them. But God granted them additional years until their sin would be full. This is the justice of God to grant the sinner an opportunity to repent.
Genesis 6:2
the sons of the rulers
The Hebrew is “bnei ha’elohim.” This could be translated as “the sons of God” and some do adopt that translation.
However, Ramban quotes Rashi approvingly that this phrase means “the sons of the rulers and judges.”
Ramban points out that judges are supposed to perform justice. But, it was their offspring who practiced violence openly and no one stopped them.
that they were pretty
Ramban explains: when the daughters of men were pretty, the sons of the rulers and judges took them as wives against their will.
The Torah tells of this violence and then states further “all those whom they chose.” Meaning, they even took women who were already married.
Note: The Torah did not use the word violence [Hebrew: hamas] to describe the action of these men. Ramban is introducing the concept of violence to link together verses 6:2 and 6:13.
But, the Torah does not explicitly mention what prohibition these “rulers and judges” violated. And, God only decreed punishment due to the violence mentioned in Genesis 6:13 because that is a logical matter. It doesn’t need to be stated in the Torah to be understood as a transgression.
Genesis 6:3
My spirit shall not always strive with man
In this verse, the word “strive” is the translation of the Hebrew “yadon.” The translation “strive” is based on Rashi’s comment on the verse.
Ramban disagrees with this translation. Rather, he writes yadon means “remain” or “stand” from the 3-letter root dalet-vav-nun.
Ramban explains: My spirit will not always stand in man since he is also flesh, like all flesh that moves on the earth such as birds, domestic and wild animals. It’s not fitting that God’s spirit should be inside him [man].
Now he explains the deeper topic: God made man straight to be like the ministering angels with the soul that God placed in him. But people were drawn after the flesh and their bodily desires and became comparable to animals.
Therefore, God says, The spirit of God will not stand any longer within man because he is a physical body not godly. But He will be patient with them if they will repent.
Ramban appears to be saying that yadon means a sheath or scabbard. Then the sense is that God’s spirit will not be inside the body forever [Techeilet Mordechai, a commentary on Ramban].
Genesis 6:11
The earth also was corrupt before God
This phrase means that everything before Him on the earth was corrupt … since every place is before Him. [Ramban on Genesis 10:11 where he quotes Genesis 6:11.]
Genesis 6:12-13
all flesh
Ramban presents two approaches to understand these 2 verses.
Approach #1: Understand the phrase “all flesh” in its literal meaning. Then the verse is teaching that all animals and birds had corrupted their way and were involved in mating with different species.
Then the phrase in verse 13, “for the earth is filled with violence through them” cannot mean all the animals and birds, because they were not involved in the “violence” of robbery and oppression (as will be explained shortly).
Ramban also suggests, perhaps the animals and birds were involved in the actual “violence” of killing.
It is not clear to me what Ramban means. I can think of several possibilities, but I don’t know if any of these are correct.
- Animals and birds all acted like predators and carnivores and killed for food.
- Animals and birds began killing for sport.
- Animals and birds started killing people.
Approach #2: The simplest understanding is that “all flesh” means people.
In two later verses the Torah uses slightly different phrases:
- Genesis 6:17 – all flesh, where there is the breath of life
- Genesis 6:19 – every living thing of all flesh
Those phrases clearly include all of the animals. But here in Genesis 6:12-13, “all flesh” means only people.
Genesis 6:13 – The End
The end [Hebrew: keitz] of all flesh
Ramban commenting on Deuteronomy 15:1: The word keitz is used to talk about the end of any thing.
The word can be used in 2 ways.
Sometimes it means the extreme end of something, but is still included within that thing. For example, the last member of a set of objects. (He quotes some verses that illustrate this point.)
Other times keitz means something that is later in time but still has not happened. That is it’s meaning in Genesis 6:13, “The end of all flesh has come before Me…” God foresees from the current status of man what will be in the future.
Genesis 6:13 – The Meaning of Violence
filled with violence [Hebrew: hamas, chet-mem-samech]
The “violence” in this verse is robbery and oppression.
God is telling Noah that the violence of robbery and oppression is why the world will be destroyed. But God did not link the destruction to the corruption mentioned in verses 6:2, 11, and 12.
The reason for this is that the robbery and oppression were sins that were known and publicized.
Ramban quotes the relevant Gemara:
“And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me…” (Genesis 6:13). Rabbi Yochanan said: Come and see how great is the power of robbery. Though the generation of the flood transgressed all laws, their decree of punishment was sealed only because they stretched out their hands to rob, as it is written, “for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:13).
As this Gemara states, the decree against that generation of the Flood was sealed only due to the robbery and violence, not the other significant sins they committed (as mentioned in Genesis 6:2 and 12).
Ramban explains this is because robbery is a sin that logic and reason teaches should be forbidden. They did not need one of God’s prophets to warn them not to steal and rob.
He adds that this sin is evil both to heaven and to mankind.
Conclusion – Corruption and Violence
Genesis 6 describes a world where “might makes right.”
Various transgressions are stated and hinted at in these verses.
We might think that of all the sins that are mentioned, men forcing themselves on women could be the most serious.
Indeed, Ramban seems to take that approach.
But, the sin of violence, explained by Rashi and Ramban as robbery and oppression, is what seals the fate of that generation.
Ramban explains that logic should teach people not to commit robbery and oppression. There was no need for the Torah declare them to be transgressions against God and society.
We see here, that what appears to be the seriousness of the sin was not the most important factor, but rather man’s natural understanding of right and wrong.
Further Reading
After God decreed destruction, He commanded Noah to build an ark.
You may also want to see a summary of Parshat Noah.