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The Wickedness of Humans

When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,(A) the sons of God saw that they were fair, and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.(B) Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide[a] in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.”(C) The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

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Footnotes

  1. 6.3 Meaning of Heb uncertain

The World Descends Into Evil

This is what happened when mankind[a] began to multiply on the face of the earth.[b]

When daughters were born to people, the sons of God[c] saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives for themselves any of them they chose. The Lord said, “My Spirit will not struggle[d] with man forever, because he is only flesh.[e] His days will be 120 years.” The Nephilim[f] were on the earth in those days. After that, the sons of God went to the daughters of men, who bore children for them. Those became the powerful, famous men of ancient times.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 6:1 Literally the adam. The rendering of adam may be man, men, or mankind.
  2. Genesis 6:1 The adamah, the soil or ground
  3. Genesis 6:2 The sons of God were the descendants of Seth. They were marrying the daughters of the ungodly line of Cain and of those who followed in Cain’s way.
  4. Genesis 6:3 Or remain
  5. Genesis 6:3 Flesh may refer to both sinfulness and mortality.
  6. Genesis 6:4 Nephilim is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew word. Its meaning is uncertain, but it is explained by the last sentence of the verse. There can be no direct connection with the Nephilim in Canaan after the flood.