Genesis 6:9-12

"These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth."

Here once more is the great divisional marker in Genesis, the Hebrew word, [~toledowth]; and, as in all other instances of the use of it, there is recapitulation in that which follows, along with the addition of supplemental information. The names of Noah's sons had already been announced in Genesis 5:32. Some believe that Shem was the oldest, due to his being mentioned first, but Unger thought this was due to his position as head of the Messianic line. It really makes little difference.

"Noah was a righteous man ..." This does not refer to the intrinsic righteousness of Noah but to his status in the eyes of God. In Hebrews we learn that "by faith" he obeyed God and became the heir to the righteousness which is according to faith (Hebrews 11:7). (See more on this under The Covenant, below.)

"Perfect in his generations ..." The last clause is limitive, conveying the sense of relativity regarding Noah's perfection. That is, in comparison with the people among whom he lived, his life was perfect in the sight of God.

"Earth was filled with violence ..." This is supplemental to what was revealed in Genesis 6:5 regarding man's wickedness. Evil, as demonstrated in the life of Cain, the first murderer, always issues at last in unrestrained, vicious violence.

"All flesh had corrupted their way ..." Note that the wickedness and unrestrained lawlessness and violence that marked human conduct were the result of their own actions. They had corrupted their way. It was not, therefore, the result of intermarriages with superhuman beings that produced the debauchery of mankind; it was simply due to their willful choice of evil conduct. There is a vain conceit inherent in the thought of all men that, somehow, man is not really to blame for the scandalous conduct which is exhibited by him in his walk upon earth, but the Bible will have nothing of such a view. When men do wrong, it is not some supernatural evil that is the origin of it, and society is not to blame for it, but the total blame must rest squarely upon the PERPETRATORS of evil deeds. This expression has the utility of placing the blame where it belonged.