“And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”
My Notes
What Does Genesis 6:12 Mean?
"And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." God looks at the earth — the same earth he declared "very good" in 1:31 — and sees corruption. The word "corrupt" (shachath — to ruin, to destroy, to spoil) appears twice in one verse: the earth WAS corrupt because all flesh HAD corrupted. The corruption is both a condition (the earth is spoiled) and a cause (the creatures spoiled it). The agent of corruption is "all flesh" — every living creature, with humanity as the primary corrupter.
The phrase "God looked" echoes Genesis 1: God looked at his creation and saw that it was good. Now God looks and sees the opposite. The same eyes. The same creation. Different condition. The looking that produced "very good" now produces a flood.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What has changed between God's 'very good' evaluation (Genesis 1) and his 'corrupt' evaluation (Genesis 6)?
- 2.How does 'all flesh corrupted his way' describe the comprehensive nature of the fall?
- 3.What does God's grief (v. 6) add to his evaluation — and what does it mean that the corruption breaks God's heart?
- 4.Where is the earth reflecting the corruption of its inhabitants in your world?
Devotional
God looked. And saw corruption. The same eyes that looked at creation and said 'very good' now look at the same creation and see devastation. The earth he made hasn't changed. What lives on it has.
God looked upon the earth. The looking is deliberate — the same verb from creation: God saw (ra'ah) what he made and evaluated it. In Genesis 1, the evaluation was: good, good, good, very good. In Genesis 6, the evaluation is: corrupt. The looking hasn't changed. The creation has.
Behold, it was corrupt. The 'behold' (hinneh) carries shock and grief: look at this. See what it's become. The word 'corrupt' (shachath) means ruined, spoiled, destroyed. The earth isn't just sinning. It's spoiled — the way food spoils, the way metal corrodes, the way fabric rots. The corruption isn't an external attack. It's internal decomposition.
For all flesh had corrupted his way. All flesh — kol basar. Every living thing. The corruption is comprehensive: not some flesh, not most flesh, all flesh. And the corruption is of 'his way' — God's designed path for each creature. The way God intended things to function — the order, the purpose, the design — has been corrupted by the very creatures it was designed for.
The double use of 'corrupt' creates a cause-and-effect loop: the earth is corrupt because all flesh corrupted. The environment reflects the inhabitants. The planet mirrors the people. The corruption isn't just moral (though it is). It's ecological: the earth itself is spoiled by the behavior of those living on it. The land groans because the creatures groan.
God's looking in Genesis 1 produced creation. God's looking in Genesis 6 produces de-creation: the flood that will un-make what was made. The same seeing that said 'let there be' now says 'I will destroy.' Not because God changed. Because creation did.
The grief of God (v. 6: 'it repented the LORD that he had made man') is the emotional context for the looking. God looks at the corruption and grieves. The artist examining a masterpiece that's been vandalized. The parent looking at a child who's destroyed everything they were given. God looked. And what he saw broke his heart.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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Cross References
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