Genesis 6:3

[Christine]

3 hours ago, Willa said:

I do believe that men lived much longer prior to Noah than today.  But some say that the patriarch of a family was listed with the generations to mean that his family lasted the 800 some years.  Perhaps Adam lived only the 120 due to his sin.   I don't know, but it is something to consider that might explain the discrepancy.      

Hello @Willa,

Thank you for your input.  I do not believe that there is any discrepancy in Genesis 6:3, the only discrepancy is perhaps in our understanding of it.  As for Adam, in chapter 5:1 we read:-

‘This is the book of the generations of Adam. 
In the day that God created man, 
in the likeness of God made He him;
Male and female created He them; 
and blessed them, 
and called their name Adam, 
in the day when they were created.
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, 
and begat a son in his own likeness, 
after his image; 
and called his name Seth:
And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth 
were eight hundred years: 
and he begat sons and daughters:
And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: 
and he died.’
(Gen 5:1)  

* Perhaps Adam would live 120 years from the point at which the words of God were spoken in Genesis 6:3, I do not know, and it does not matter that I don't know, for God knows.

‘And the LORD said, 
My spirit shall not always strive with man, 
for that he also is flesh: 
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.’
(Gen 6:3)  

May His Name Be Praised!

Within the love of Christ our Saviour,
In Christ Jesus
Chris

Edited July 18, 2018 by Christine

[other one]

keep in mind that when God was speaking this Noah was alive.....      Adam had been dead a bit over 100 years when Noah was born so I don't see how he could have been referring to Adam the individual man.    Adam in the Hebrew language can refer to a single individual or mankind as a whole if I understand what the Lexicons say.

Following the general time flow of the whole chapter it makes more sense that the verse is talking about giving Noah 120 years to build the ark.

Edited July 18, 2018 by other one

[Marilyn C]

I think the key is `shall be,` referring to sometime in the future.

[Christine]

 

Quote

Posted Wednesday at 07:26 PM (edited)

keep in mind that when God was speaking this Noah was alive.....      Adam had been dead a bit over 100 years when Noah was born so I don't see how he could have been referring to Adam the individual man.    Adam in the Hebrew language can refer to a single individual or mankind as a whole if I understand what the Lexicons say.

Following the general time flow of the whole chapter it makes more sense that the verse is talking about giving Noah 120 years to build the ark.

Edited Wednesday at 07:27 PM by other one

Hello @other one

Thank you for your input.

Gen. 6:3, is still part of the genealogy of Adam which began at (Gen.5:1), having got to Noah, we are taken back to the beginning again for what proceeds in chapter 6, which provides the reason for the flood which would take place in Noah's day.

Yes, in the earlier entries the fact that the word, 'Adam', can be used for the man Adam or mankind in general was discussed; but in the case of Gen. 6:3, and other such verses where in the Hebrew the word is accompanied by the accent,'the', it is to be acknowledged as, 'the man Adam', and with a following pronoun, to be emphatically so, as in this case.

In Christ Jesus

Chris

 

Edited July 21, 2018 by Christine
grammatical error

[Christine]

5 hours ago, Marilyn C said:

I think the key is `shall be,` referring to sometime in the future.

Hello @Marilyn C,

What makes you think so?

Thank you for your input.
In Christ Jesus
Chris

[Jayne]

On 7/17/2018 at 6:03 AM, Christine said:

'And the LORD said, 
My spirit shall not always strive with man, 
for that he also is flesh: 
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
(Gen 6:3)  

Hello Michael37,

I thank you for responding, and I agree that Adam is Hebrew for man, either the individual or in general, but I disagree that in Genesis 6:3 it is man in general which is in view. The reference to 'he' and 'his', and 'also', is personal and individual, singular and not plural. Also, how do you explain the reference to 120 years in relation to man, unless it refers to Adam himself, and the length of life he had remaining to him?

Don't give too much thought about the "he" and "his".  In the Bible, Israel and other groups of people are called both he and she.  And God refers to himself as us and our in Genesis.

"Man", "he", and "his" all refer to man as a collective group in this passage.  And a group - such as a nation - can be called he and she.

The 120 years being referred to is the time left before God sends the great flood.

And....look at the whole of the context of chapter six.  Verses 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7,  are speaking of the human race.  Why would verse 3, smack in the middle of that, be talking about Adam, alone?

Edited July 21, 2018 by Jayne

[Christine]

1 hour ago, Jayne said:

Don't give too much thought about the "he" and "his".  In the Bible, Israel and other groups of people are called both he and she.  And God refers to himself as us and our in Genesis.

"Man", "he", and "his" all refer to man as a collective group in this passage.  And a group - such as a nation - can be called he and she.

The 120 years being referred to is the time left before God sends the great flood.

And....look at the whole of the context of chapter six.  Verses 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7,  are speaking of the human race.  Why would verse 3, smack in the middle of that, be talking about Adam, alone?

Hello @Jayne,

The fallen angels  (sons of God) are introduced in verse two, in 6:3 fallen Adam is referred and the years remaining to him. The total being 930 those referred to are the last 12o. There is nothing in 6:3 to intimate that it refers to the years remaining before God's judgment would fall.

My reason for introducing this thread was the grammatical evidence in the original language as to why 6:3 should be seen to be referring to 'the man Adam',  these weigh far more with me as evidence than anything else put forward.  So, I will stand by it.

However, I thank you, and everyone else who has taken part, for the entries you have made.

In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Marilyn C]

19 hours ago, Christine said:

Hello @Marilyn C,

What makes you think so?

Thank you for your input.
In Christ Jesus
Chris

Hi Christine,

We see that the context of Gen. 6: 3 is in regards to God wiping out wicked mankind but saving a family. God is thus proclaiming His intention regarding mankind`s length of life, after the flood - 120 years and not 100`s and 100`s of years.

regards, Marilyn.

[other one]

since there is question in Genesis about whether  it is saying that he would wipe out just about everything in 120 years or that man would only live that long, I would look to other places to see if it is discussed their.

Psalm 90 plainly says that man would live to 70 years and maybe 80 if he/she was strong enough and those days past 70 were a blessing. 

So since I really don't like reading different things in scripture I tend to take Genesis to be saying that he is giving Noah 120 years to build the ark for at that time he would destroy the things on the earth.    He in context from my viewpoint is speaking of how the fallen angels had tainted everything so he was to destroy it all in 120 years.

Life spans before the flood were 900 to 969 years in the line of Jesus until Shem...     even Noah lived 950 years.   Shem a bit over 600.   and as generations went on the life expectance lowered but still at Abraham, he lived to 175 and Isaac to 180.     It appears on the surface that Genesis was talking about the time to the flood and by the time we had gotten to David and Solomon it had dropped down to the 70's.     As I understand history for a while toward the end of the Roman Empire it got down to the average of about 40.   Today it depends on where you live.  Spreads from 44 in Lesotho (wherever that is) to the low 80's in several countries....   USA is 79.   Article I got that from was revised in December of last year.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by other one

[other one]

28 minutes ago, Da Puppers said:

The time until the flood is probably the correct view.   I believe?  that the book of Jasher says that both Noah and Methuselah (who died in the year of the flood)  preached of God's judgment for a period of 120 years leading up to the flood. 

Blessings

The PuP 

I don't know if many here will accept what's written in the Book of Jasher, but it is good to mention it..