The Wickedness and Judgment of Man
1 Now 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 ancestors saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the ancestors (commands of the generations before) taught us, “My Spirit shall not strive[a] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” (man’s flesh is weak, craving for carnal pleasure, but it has a price)
4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward (Giants don’t automatically refer to giant humans, but more likely to immens animals), when the sons of the ancestors came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Now, consider a Asian short person seeing a western, or even indian person. They would be huge. Did the writers of this text fail to include this in their translation correctly? Also, as the magnetic field of Earth might have fluctuated, so might length of man have differed after the last Ice age. The first had to conquer predators and make ‘living space’ for their communities. Those were the ‘mighty men’.)
5 Then the ancestors [b] 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. (The community noticed that many people did wrongful deeds, they needed to address this to keep the community healthy. Evil doesn’t automatically mean ‘external driving force’. It more likely was recognized as such, but was seen as causality of actions where negative for the group.)
6 And the ancestors were sorry that they had made (spread) man on the earth, and they were grieved in their heart.(This had not happened while being nomads as much. Now that the groups settled, there seemed to be more thrive over possession and land. Something that will impact even the writers’ own world. Consider a person seeing that the group without hygene fell to a sickness and was mostly eradicated? Of course this was due to their own doing. But they didn’t know how it happened, so it must have felt like punishment.)
7 So the ancestors (decisions coming from how communities saw that they would remove an dangerous animal from their surroundings) had taught us, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (As saying before: The more simple dealing with ‘crime’ would be to remove the person, ie. kill them)
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the ancestors.(one of the guidelines gave an opportunity for the ‘criminal’. The others feel he has listened to what was taught to him.)
Noah Pleases the ancestors
9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with the ancestors. (again a historian? or a person knowing a lot, learned man. He seemed to know and read exactly what the ancestors had taught him. He seemed to have all the benefit.)
10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before the ancestors, and the earth was filled with violence. (Life as prey wasn’t really much fun. After tribes had started, it still didn’t become better)
12 So the ancestors looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (Wondering if history is refering to the oral and written recollection of all deeds and referring to the ancestors is more of the value of emotion of what has happened.)
The Ark Prepared
13 And the ancestors (emotional bond to the kinship among men) had taught Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (when a person has committed a crime against the ways of the ancestors, he will be killed, but even possibly, the earlier man already recognized the risk of humanity of extincting itself.)
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.(I would think there is a ‘bannishing’ commandment created for ‘criminals’, but in sense of natural disaster, it would be more likely that because someone lives in the value, it is due to happen. It was part of the cycle.)
18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.(this banishing would depend on the knowledgable/judgemental person ‘noah’. The man had learned from his ancestors how to survive, so if he kept to that, there was a good chance of survival.)
19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. (send a ‘criminal’ out with double effect? A list of how to make sure you have enough food, take what you know and hold on the land.)
20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. (Of course birds would just evacuate a dangerous environment themselves, so either the writer didn’t know, or they thought the bird would be useful finding dry land or food)
21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that the ancestors had taught him, so he did. (Noah upholded the law the ones before him had set).