Genesis 6:3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 6:3

This comes in here as a token of God's displeasure at those who married strange wives; he threatens to withdraw from them his Spirit, whom they had grieved by such marriages, contrary to their convictions: fleshly lusts are often punished with spiritual judgments, the sorest of all judgments. Or as another occasion of the great wickedness of the old world; the Spirit of the Lord, being provoked by their resistance of his motions, ceased to strive with them, and then all religion was soon lost... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 6:3

And the Lord said ,.... Not to Noah, as in Genesis 6:13 for, as yet, he is not taken notice of, or any discourse addressed to him; but rather to or within himself, he said what follows, or thus concluded, and resolved on in his own mind: my Spirit shall not always strive with man ; meaning either the soul of man, called the Spirit of God, Job 27:3 because of his creation, and is what he breathes and puts into men, and therefore is styled the Father of spirits; and which is in man, as... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 6:3

My spirit shall not always strive - It is only by the influence of the Spirit of God that the carnal mind can be subdued and destroyed; but those who wilfully resist and grieve that Spirit must be ultimately left to the hardness and blindness of their own hearts, if they do not repent and turn to God. God delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given. Even at this time the earth was ripe for destruction; but God promised them one hundred and twenty years' respite: if they... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 6:3

Verse 3 3.My Spirit shall not always strive. Although Moses had before shown that the world had proceeded to such a degree of wickedness and impiety, as ought not any longer to be borne; yet in order to prove more certainly, that the vengeance by which the whole world was drowned, was not less just than severe, he introduces God himself as the speaker. For there is greater weight in the declaration when pronounced by God’s own mouth, that the wickedness of men was too deplorable to leave any... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:1-5

The demoralization of the race. This was due to— I. THE LONG LIVES OF THE ANTEDILUVIANS . Long life, if helpful to the good, is much more injurious to the wicked. Giants in health and life are often giants in wickedness. II. THE UNHOLY ALLIANCES OF THE SETHITES AND CAINITES . Nothing so demoralizing as marriage with an evil woman. Its bad effects are commonly transmitted to, and intensified in, posterity. III. THE DEPRAVITY INDUCED BY THE FALL , which... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:1-8

The days that were before the flood ( Matthew 24:38 ). I. SIN INCREASING . 1. Licentiousness raging . The special form it assumed was that of sensuous gratification, leading to a violation of the law of marriage. In the seventh age Lamech the Cainite became a polygamist. By and by the sons of God, captivated by the charms of beauty, cast aside the bonds of self-restraint, and took them wives of all whom they chose. 2. Violence prevailing . Those who begin by breaking the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:1-8

The work of sin. The moral chaos out of which the new order is about to be evolved. We find these features in the corrupt state depicted. I. ILL - ASSORTED MARRIAGES . The sons of God— i.e. the seed of the righteous, such men as the patriarchs described in Genesis 5:1-32 ; men who walked with God, and were his prophets—fell away from their allegiance to the Divine order, and went after the daughters of the Cainites, The self-will and mere carnal affections are denoted by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:3

And the Lord —Jehovah; not because due to the Jehovist (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso), but because the sin above specified was a direct violation of the footing of grace on which the Sethites stood— said ,—to himself, i.e. purposed,— My spirit —neither "ira, seu rigida Dei justitia" (Venema), nor "the Divine spirit of life bestowed upon man, the principle of physical and ethical, natural and spiritual life" (Keil); but the Holy Ghost, the Ruach Elohim of Genesis 1:2 — shall not always... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:3

Probation, approbation, and reprobation . "And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man," &c.; The life of man, whether longer or shorter, is a time during which the Spirit of God strives with him. It is at once in judgment and in mercy that the strife is not prolonged; for where there is continued opposition to the will of God there is continual laying up of judgment against the day of wrath. The allotted time of man upon the earth is sufficient for the required... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 6:3

The striving of the Spirit implies— I. THE DOCTRINE OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY . II. THE GRANTING OF GOD 'S SPIRIT TO OUR FALLEN WORLD . III. That God's Spirit is OPPOSED BY MAN . IV. That the effort of God's Spirit for man's salvation, even though not successful, COMES TO AN END . V. That the striving of God's Spirit comes to an end not because God's willingness to help comes to an end, but because HUMAN NATURE SINKS BEYOND THE POSSIBILITY ... read more

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