Word Biblical Commentary. ], [Pharaoh, for his obstinacy, was given up to a state of hardness that is scarcely to be credited. It is by him that you are to be “sealed unto the day of redemption [Note: Ephesians 4:30. Alas! Jehovah describes the being whose nobler part was made an image of himself, as now wholly flesh. Spiritual Meaning of GENESIS 6:3 previous - next - text - summary - Genesis - BM Home - Full Page. Words in boxes are from the Bible. The doctrine of the carnal mind in the Epistle to the Romans Rom. It repented the Lord, it grieved him at his heart — Properly speaking, God cannot repent, Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:11-29; for he is perfectly wise and unchangeable in his nature and counsels, Malachi 3:6, and James 1:17.Neither is he liable to grief or disappointment, being constantly happy. This commentary has been through Advanced Checking. However, I do not entirely reject the opinion of Luther that God, having seen the deplorable wickedness of men, would not allow his prophets to spend their labor in vain. In this way he had striven already, some centuries, with the world, which, nevertheless, was perpetually becoming worse. The "120 years" are evidently the years that God would give humankind before the flood. 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. Josephus, and most of the old commentators, with Tuch, Baumgarten, Hupfeld, Knobel, Ewald among the modern, consider these words as intimating that the life of man, instead of being, as hitherto, continued to a patriarchal longevity, was to be reduced to a comparatively brief period; that the withdrawal of the vivifying Spirit of God, in consequence of human transgression, would render man a frail, short-lived creature on earth, and hence, the duration of his mortal existence would be limited to 120 years. It "bloweth where it listeth," and will not be at your whistle. Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years — So long will I defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. The verb yathon (from thyn) - which in the qal as here means ‘judge’ or possibly ‘rule’ - is difficult, but it could mean here ‘plead the cause with’ (the ‘with’, present in the hebrew, prevents it simply meaning ‘judge’). And will the Spirit always continue to strive with us? ], [To whom amongst us may not those words of Stephen be applied, (if not in reference to the present moment, yet certainly in reference to some period of our lives,) “Ye stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so also do ye [Note: Acts 7:51. Text Commentaries. My spirit shall not always strive with man. My spirit shall not always strive with man — The spirit then strove by Noah's preaching, 1 Peter 3:19, and by inward checks, but 'twas in vain with the most of men; therefore saith God, he shall not always strive, for that he also is flesh - Incurably corrupt and sensual, so that 'tis labour lost to strive with him. He sent Noah with the message of warning, who preached by his voice, by his walking with God, and also by his long labor and perseverance in the building of the ark. yet his days = yet Adam"s days. It is not any force applied to our bodies. Deuteronomy 15:17, &c.). 1-2 refer to humans trying to become more than normal human “flesh” and live “forever.” Humans were going along with the intermarriage with spirit beings in the quest for immortality. I. But such is the state of the deserted soul: and at the appointed hour, “wrath will come upon him to the uttermost.”], 1. (3) And the Lord said.—As the Sethites are now the fallen race, it is their covenant Jehovah who determines to reduce the extreme duration of human life to that which, under the most favourable sanitary influences, might still be its normal length. ], and when all God’s offered mercies shall be for ever withheld. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with # 6:3 Greek version reads will not remain in. Read Genesis 6 commentary using Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). It was then in the four hundred and eightieth year of Noah’s life that the antediluvian world received its sentence; but it was allowed a respite of one hundred and twenty years, during which, according to 2 Peter 2:8, Noah was a “preacher of righteousness,” “when once the longsuffering of God waited” for the world’s repentance, “while the ark was a preparing.” 1 Peter 3:20. (Challoner) --- He spoke therefore to Noe in his 480th year. xvi., p. 23. (d) Because man could not by won by God's leniency and patience by which he tried to win him, he would no longer withhold his vengeance. This would seem to be a reason why the Spirit should continue to strive, unless, indeed, we understand it as the language of weariness and hopelessness in view of man’s degradation. Here God is, by covenant, giving man one last chance to change. ].” With us also does he strive, both by the ministry of his word, and by his own immediate agency on the hearts of men. Origin of the Nephilim. (8-11) Noah warned of the flood, The directions respecting the ark. Ver. For some explain the passage to mean, that God will no longer deign to govern men by his Spirit; because the Spirit of God acts the part of a judge within us, when he so enlightens us with reason that we pursue what is right. And the Lord said, &c.— On a view of the extreme degeneracy of mankind, God said, i.e.. "He resolved and made known" by the mouth of his prophets, such as Enoch and Noah, by whom the Spirit of Christ preached to the unbelievers and disobedient of the old world, 1 Peter 3:18-20. - "His days" are the days of man, not the individual, but the race, with whom the Lord still strives. Neither indeed did he; for so extreme was the provocation, that he cut them off twenty years of this promised count: that all the earth might "know" to their woe his "breach of promise". My Spirit shall not always strive with man. The wickedness of the world which provoked God's wrath. In which method, Paul declares that the, ‘natural man does not receive those things which belong to the Spirit, and that they are foolishness unto him,’ Genesis 6:3 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Genesis 6:3, NIV: "Then the LORD said, 'My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'" [1 Corinthians 3:3] They should be higher than others by head and shoulders, as Saul was; and all that is in them, or comes from them, should be as the fruit of the trees in Paradise, fair to the eye, and sweet to the taste. and a certain prelude,], [There is a time wherein God may be found, by every living man: but that season may be passed; and a time arrive, when he will no more be found [Note: Isaiah 55:6. 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 some in Aben Ezra observe to be the sense the word used, as a sword in the scabbard; and so the meaning is, it shall not always abide there, but be unsheathed and drawn out; man shall not live always, since he is corrupt, and given to carnal lusts: or else, as Jarchi thinks, God himself is meant, and that the sense is, my Spirit shall not always contend within myself; or there shall not always be contention within me concerning man, whether I shall destroy him, or have mercy on him; I am at a point to punish him, since he is wholly carnal: or rather this is to be understood of the Holy Spirit of God, as the Targum of Jonathan, which agrees with 1 Peter 3:18 and to be thus interpreted; that the Spirit of God, which had been litigating and reasoning the point, as men do in a court of judicature, as the word signifies, with these men in the court, and at the bar of their own consciences, by one providence or by one minister or another, particularly by Noah, a preacher of righteousness, in vain, and to no purpose; therefore, he determines to proceed no longer in this way, but pass and execute the sentence of condemnation on them: for that he also is flesh; not only carnal and corrupt, but sadly corrupted, and wholly given up to and immersed in sensual lusts and carnal pleasures, so as not to be restrained nor reformed; even the posterity of Seth, professors of religion also, as well as the profane world and posterity of Cain: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years: meaning not the term of man's life, reduced to this from the length of time he lived before the flood; but this designs the space that God would give for repentance, before he proceeded to execute his vengeance on him; this is that "longsuffering of God" the apostle speaks of in the afore mentioned place, "that waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing"; and so both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan interpret it of a space of an hundred and twenty years given them to repent: now whereas it was but an hundred years from the birth of Japheth to the flood, some think the space was shortened twenty years, because of their impenitence; but it is more probable what Jarchi observes, that this decree was made and given out twenty years before his birth, though here related, by a figure called "hysteron proteron", frequent in the Scriptures. ],” and has thus caused you to “differ from those around you [Note: l Cor. He is speaking of fleshly mankind here, not angels. Hundred and twenty years — This language is used of man, the race with whom God’s Spirit dwelt, not of individual men. Vleselijke lusten worden dikwijls gestraft met geestelijke oordelen, die van alle oordelen de zwaarste zijn. Both which figures are frequent in the use of Scripture. For since the soul of man is vitiated in every part, and the reason of man is not less blind than his affections are perverse, the whole is properly called carnal. Those who are yet withstanding the motions of the Holy Spirit—, [Little do you think how greatly you offend your God, or what misery you are entailing on your own souls. ].” And what else can we expect, if we continue obstinate in our sins? When the Lord says, ‘I will not contend for ever,’ he utters his censure on an excessive and incurable obstinacy; and, at the same time, gives proof of the divine longsuffering: as if he would say, There will never be an end of contentions unless some unprecedented act of vengeance cuts off the occasion of it. and take not thy Holy Spirit from me [Note: Psalms 51:11.] I therefore prefer to regard it as a plural suffix with the infinitive of shaagah (Hebrew #7686), 'in their erring (that of men) he (man as a genus) is flesh;' i:e., men have proved themselves, by their erring and straying, to be flesh, given up to sensuality, incapable of being ruled by the Spirit of God, and led back to the divine goal of their life. These shew us the very truth that I am insisting on; and declare, with one voice, that the Ethiopian may as well change his skin or the leopard his spots, as they renounce the habits to which they have been given over by their God. The table of the patriarchs has already emphasised that life is withdrawn so that man will not live for ever (‘and he died’), so that if verse 3 means only that it is somewhat innocuous. Genesis 6:5.—J. In Genesis 6:3, God says, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh." iii., p. 161; Clergyman's Magazine, vol. So he drove man away from the tree of life, lest he should secure an immortality of sin. We know that his motions may be resisted, till they are altogether “quenche [Note: 1 Thessalonians 5:19. ].” We may not, indeed, have set ourselves in such hostility to the truth as they did; but have we been more practically obedient than they? И милость настолько преобладает, что им была дана отсрочка на сто двадцать лет. His strivings have a meaning, a message, and a warning to us all. Immediate context. humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. Certain writers of antiquity, such as Lactantius, and others, have too grossly blundered in thinking that the term of human life was limited within this space of time; whereas, it is evident, that the language used in this place refers not to the private life of any one, but to a time of repentance to be granted to the whole world. there has been the same stoutness of heart in us, as in persons of a more profane character; many of whom, perhaps, have “said, I will not, but afterwards have repented, and went” into their Lord’s vineyard; whilst we, perhaps, have said, “I go, Sir,” but have been as far from executing our acknowledged duty as ever [Note: Matthew 21:28-30.].]. For men commonly do not refrain from accusing God of excessive haste; nay, they will even deem him cruel for taking vengeance of the sins of men. Meanwhile he does not leave himself or his clemency without a witness. (12-21) Noah's faith and obedience. God creates the earth. www.easyenglish.bible. What is not intended by the Spirit striving? III. Justice said, Cut them down; but mercy interceded: Lord, let them alone this year also; and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six-score years; and during this time Noah was preaching righteousness to them, and, to assure them of the truth of his doctrine, was preparing the ark. De tijd van Gods geduld en lankmoedigheid jegens tergende zondaren is soms zeer lang maar niet onbeperkt. A terrible judgment this is! Grieve it once, and you may drive it away for ever. What, then, is the significance of these verses to the beliefs of the Hoe schittert hier de goedertierenheid Gods, hoe roemt ook hier nog de barmhartigheid tegen het oordeel! ‘Strive’ would be expected to be the niphal yathin. Genesis 6:3. Have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, calling us to repentance, and to a dedication of our whole selves to him? II. This explanation, however, is objectionable, on the ground that it is not consistent with the facts of the sacred history; because the age of many of the post-diluvian patriarchs exceeded that specified time-namely, Noah and his sons lived much longer after the flood-Arphaxad, 530 years (Genesis 11:13); Salah, 403 (Genesis 11:15); Eber, 430 (Genesis 11:17); Abraham, 175 (Genesis 15:7); Isaac, 180 (Genesis 35:28); Jacob, 147 (Genesis 47:28); and after the time of Moses the life of man was gradually shortened, and reduced further and further, until it was fixed at the normal standard of threescore years and ten. Daarom zegt God, dat Hij niet altijd zal twisten. Justice said, cut them down; but mercy interceded, Lord, let them alone this year also; and so far mercy prevailed, that a reprieve was obtained for six score years. Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years — So long will I defer the judgment they deserve, and give them space to prevent it by their repentance and reformation. The Jews answer, that these years were cut off in consequence of the increasing wickedness of men. The increasing wickedness of mankind might justly hasten their ruin, and forfeit the benefit of this indulgence. Harmony of the Gospels. The former narrative refers to the godly portion of mankind; this to the ungodly remnant. The meaning shall dwell or abide, is more in harmony with the context than strive. Audio & Video Commentaries. From this text arose the Pauline phraseology carnal and spiritual, flesh and spirit, so common in the epistle to the Romans. Niemand verliest het twisten van de Geest, dan zij die het verbeurd hebben. * 1 When human beings began to grow numerous on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God * saw how beautiful the daughters of human beings were, and so they took for their wives whomever they pleased. Some see the use of ‘spirit’ as spirit with a small ‘s’ and as basically meaning man’s life through God’s breath will not abide for ever, thus referring to the fact that after one hundred and twenty years they will die (compare 6:17; 7:22 where ruach is again used with this meaning of breath). a 3 Then the LORD said: My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. During that period his Holy Spirit should continue to strive with them—but no longer: for “he should not always strive with man, who was now become altogether flesh,” and carnal; and who, if he did not repent in the time allotted him, should be left to reap the bitter fruit of his own ways. Genesis 6:3 King James Version (KJV). “In that he also is flesh” or ‘in their going astray’. I. My spirit shall not always strive with man.—The meaning of this much-contested clause is really settled by the main purpose and context of the verse, which is the Divine determination to shorten human life. The term "flesh" is used in the sense which it commonly bears in the New Testament-the nature of man as corrupted and dreaded by the predominance of debasing lusts and unbridled passions (John 3:6; Romans 8:5-7; Romans 13:14). 2. God strives with man in many ways by the working of His blessed Spirit within him: by the working of our own conscience, by various warnings from without, constantly strewn in our paths; but if we grieve and resist the Holy Spirit of God, then He will not always strive with us, but will give us over to a reprobate mind. [Note: However Mathews, p335; Westermann, p376; Wenham, pp142, 146-47; et al. Genesis 5:32. was nevertheless made twenty years before it, for that verse is added there only to complete the genealogy; and therefore, after this narrative of the wickedness of the world, it is repeated here in its due order, in the 10th verse. ", [Note: L. Eslinger, "A Contextual Identification of the bene ha"elohim and benoth ha"adam in, "the long-suffering of God in the days of Noah", ‘natural man does not receive those things which belong to the Spirit, and that they are foolishness unto him,’, John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible, Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Het is een klacht en tevens een verwijt. For that he also is flesh — Or, because of their transgression, he is flesh, (Ewald, Nordh., Furst, Gesen.,) that is, he is all flesh. Therefore, on the day he entered the ark he was six hundred years old. Hebrew. The three most common answers to the identity of the sons of God (or gods) in Genesis 6 have been: 1. the sons of God (or gods) were He intimates, however, this to be an adventitious fault, that man has a relish only for the earth, and that, the light of intelligence being extinct, he follows his own desires. This is according to the now well-known method of Scripture, when it has two lines of events to carry on. In Genesis 6:1,2 this division is clearly recognized by referring to those who followed the Lord as “sons of God” and to the rest of humanity as “men.” But because the exposition is distorted, and savours of the delirium of the Manichees, as if the soul of man were a portion of the Divine Spirit, it is by us to be rejected. strive = remain in, with Septuagint, Arabic, Syriac, and Vulgate; Occurs only here. Therefore, let us know, that the whole man is naturally flesh, until by the grace of regeneration he begins to be spiritual. But as a statement that God’s dealings with man will finalise it is powerful. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man. (Not "men"; if so, as well as what?). Aims at accuracy in interpreting the original text. Genesis 6:3. Or rather, that God would allow men this term of 120 years, for their repentance and conversion, before he would send the deluge. What an awful thought, To be left only to “fill up the measure of their iniquities,” and to ‘’treasure up wrath against the day of wrath [Note: Romans 2:5.] Heb.) They probably do not indicate a reduction in the normal human lifespan to120 years. In the days of Moses, indeed, few exceeded that term. In the first case, the struggle spoken of is that between the elements of life and death in the body; in the second, it refers to the moral probation to which man is subject. It is implied: (1) that the Spirit does sometimes strive with men; (2) that men resist the Spirit. Genesis 6:3.—C. laat hem nog dit jaar!" But let me ask, Is there one amongst you that does not look back upon his past rebellion with regret? Let in dit vers: 1. Not that He will at some period withdraw from among mankind, but that He will withdraw from the individual in question. God has said, “Woe unto them, when I depart from them [Note: Hosea 9:12. T. Lewis somewhat modifies this view, understanding by my spirit not simply the life principle, but the spiritual or rational in man, as distinguished from the carnal — (the πνευμα, as distinguished from the ψυχη,) — and, moreover, considers it a sorrowing prediction rather than a threat. That the Spirit of God, if long resisted, will cease to strive with us. VI. Kingsley, National Sermons, p. 362; J. Therefore God inveighs against the degenerate and corrupt nature of men; because, by their own fault, they are fallen to that degree of fatuity, that now they approach more nearly to beasts than to true men, such as they ought to be, in consequence of their creation. Within himself; {see Psalms 14:1} he determined. Where then will the twenty years be found? My spirit shall not always strive with man — The Spirit then strove by Noah’s preaching, 1 Peter 3:19, and by inward checks, but it was in vain with the most of men; therefore, saith God, he shall not always strive, for that he (man) also is flesh — Incurably corrupt and sensual, so that it is labour lost to strive with him. ].” Seek him, then, for all these gracious ends: and be careful that you “do not grieve him,” by any sinful disposition, or any secret neglect [Note: Ephesians 4:30.]. It is however said that he lived from the time of the deluge three hundred and fifty years. An awful scripture! !” Better were it for a man that he had never been born, than that ever he should live for such an end as that! And this is a mode of speaking familiar to Scripture. Genesis 6:3. I. Commentary on Genesis 6:1-7 (Read Genesis 6:1-7) The most remarkable thing concerning the old world, is the destroying of it by the deluge, or flood. The other interpretation is that given in the King James Version, and it seems most in accordance with the context: "shall not strive," namely, by bringing a charge of guilt against them judicially by the external ministry of His servants, until at length the trial of the world is brought to a close by Noah condemning it through his faith (Hebrews 11:7). It is useless to speculate on the nature of this union. Het is waar: Hij kon de aan de wortel van de onvruchtbare boom gelegde bijl niet terugtrekken; de slag viel; maar hij spaarde een laatste spruit op de afgehouwen tronk. He is speaking of fleshly mankind here, not angels. But now by the fall the flesh has gained the upper hand, and the spirit is in the bondage of corruption. Strive with man, or, contend, or, debate in or against men, as it hath hitherto done, by inward motions and suggestions in the minds and consciences of wicked men, or by the mouths and ministry of that small remnant of holy men, and particularly of Noah, who protested against and contended with the world of the ungodly, and by their doctrines, admonitions, threatenings, and examples, endeavoured to bring them to repentance: 1 Peter 3:19; or dispute with, or concerning, or because of men, i.e. ].” Refuges of lies he shall have in plenty, to administer to his composure: ‘There is no future state: death is but an eternal sleep: or, at all events, God is too merciful to inflict punishment in a future state: or, at any rate, the punishment cannot be eternal. The breath of life (, "The attempt by man to become more than he is results in his becoming less. ].” What more common than to see this very judgment inflicted before our eyes? Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years. Therefore, the 120 years cannot refer to any alteration in the length of human life, but to a respite wanted to mankind from an awful judgment, and to the limitation of the season of grace to that number of years. But there is no need of that subterfuge; when the Scripture speaks of the five hundredth year of his age, it does not affirm, that he had actually reached that point. C. G. Finney, Sermons on Gospel Themes, p. 264. Introductions to the Bible. An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis. It refers, then, to the duration of the then existing race, and not, as some have supposed, to the length of human life. MAN, at first, was created in the image of his God: but when he fell, he begat children in his own fallen image. Genesis, a Commentary. Wells, Bible Echoes, p. 217; J. Natt, Posthumous Sermons, p. 328; J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year, vol. 3) Nog klonk de stem van de engel, "de voorspraak uit duizenden", bij God: "Heer! Is there one who is not persuaded in his mind, that he would have been a far happier man, if he had obeyed the voice of the Lord, and followed, instead of resisting, the dictates of his conscience? Laidlaw, Bible Doctrine of Man, p. 138. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate [Note: Matthew 23:37-38.] is flesh. They who restrict this appellation to the inferior part of the soul are greatly deceived. Hosea 4:17. c. Diegenen rijpen snel voor het verderf, met wie de Geest heeft afgelaten van te twisten. And this mode of speaking, which takes into account the beginning of a period, as well as its end, is very common. Dit wordt hier vermeld als een teken van Gods misnoegen op hen, die vreemde vrouwen hadden gehuwd, Hij dreigt Zijn Geest hun te ontnemen, die Hem hadden gegriefd door huwelijken, welke zo tegenstrijdig waren met hun overtuiging. (22) Verses 1-7 The most remarkable thing concerning the old … And how many, in every age, when forsaken by the Lord, have had “their consciences seared as with a hot iron,” and become altogether “past feeling [Note: Ephesians 4:19; 1 Timothy 4:2.] Справедливость говорит: “Истреби их”, а милость ходатайствует: “Господи, оставь их еще на один год”. Now, as it regards the words of Moses, there is no doubt that they contain a grievous complaint together with a reproof on the part of God. It is here objected, that, on a comparison of Genesis 5:32; Genesis 7:11 this time is found to have been not a hundred and twenty, but only a hundred years. My spirit shall not always strive with man —, Yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years —. Christ, as God, had, by His Spirit inspiring Enoch, Noah, and perhaps other prophets (1 Peter 3:9; 2 Peter 2:5; Jude 1:14), preached repentance to the antediluvians; but, as they had continued incorrigible, He would withdraw the services of His prophetic messengers, who had been sent to admonish and warn them, and would come to employ any further efforts for reclaiming a people who resisted the most powerful means of conviction, giving them over to a reprobate mind (Hosea 4:17; Romans 1:28), and letting merited vengeance take its course (cf. !” “Oh that thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! The reason of the threat, or prediction, is because he is flesh. To the men of that age by the mouth of Noah; or. ", my Spirit shall not always strive with man, yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years, And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive. But they do best, in my mind, that sense it thus: My Spirit - whereby I hitherto "went and preached," by Noah and other patriarchs, to those "spirits" (once in pleasure, now) "in prison," [Ecclesiastes 11:9 1 Peter 3:18-19] but prevailed not - shall not always strive with perverse men by preaching, disputing, convincing, in the mouths of my servants, whom I have sent unto them; nor in their own minds and consciences, by inward checks and motions, which they have made no good use of. How may it be known when the Spirit of God strives with an individual? defended the shortening of life view. But it is supposed that the words which follow are a traditional fragment of Enoch's prophecies (Jude 1:14-15). Luther, according to his custom, applies the term to the external jurisdiction which God exercises by the ministry of the prophets, as if some one of the patriarchs had said in an assembly, ‘We must cease from crying aloud; because it is an unbecoming thing that the Spirit of God, who speaks through us, should any longer weary himself in reproving the world.’ This is indeed ingeniously spoken; but because we must not seek the sense of Scripture in uncertain conjectures, I interpret the words simply to mean, that the Lord, as if wearied with the obstinate perverseness of the world, denounces that vengeance as present, which he had hitherto deferred. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also. Thus the former suggestion that it referred to the period up to the flood would seem much more likely and be more meaningful in context, and that would suggest the verb be translated as ‘plead the cause with’ or ‘strive’ on the basis that God covenants to put a limit on how long He will seek to bring men to repentance.