Kejadian 6:9

The Judgment of the Flood

6:9 This is the account of Noah. ¹ 

Noah was a godly man; he was blameless ² 

among his contemporaries. ³  He ⁴  walked with ⁵  God.

Kejadian 19:32-36

19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine ⁶  so we can have sexual relations ⁷  with him and preserve ⁸  our family line through our father.” ⁹ 

19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, ¹⁰  and the older daughter ¹¹  came and had sexual relations with her father. ¹²  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ¹³  19:34 So in the morning the older daughter ¹⁴  said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. ¹⁵  Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” ¹⁶  19:35 So they made their father drunk ¹⁷  that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. ¹⁸  But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. ¹⁹ 

19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

[6:9]  ¹ sn There is a vast body of scholarly literature about the flood story. The following studies are particularly helpful: A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels; M. Kessler, “Rhetorical Criticism of Genesis 7,” Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg (PTMS), 1-17; I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; A. R. Millard, “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story’,” TynBul 18 (1967): 3-18; G. J. Wenham, “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” VT 28 (1978): 336-48.

[6:9]  ² tn The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “blameless”) is used of men in Gen 17:1 (associated with the idiom “walk before,” which means “maintain a proper relationship with,” see 24:40); Deut 18:13 (where it means “blameless” in the sense of not guilty of the idolatrous practices listed before this; see Josh 24:14); Pss 18:23, 26 (“blameless” in the sense of not having violated God’s commands); 37:18 (in contrast to the wicked); 101:2, 6 (in contrast to proud, deceitful slanderers; see 15:2); Prov 2:21; 11:5 (in contrast to the wicked); 28:10; Job 12:4.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:9]  ⁵ tn The construction translated “walked with” is used in Gen 5:22, 24 (see the note on this phrase in 5:22) and in 1 Sam 25:15, where it refers to David’s and Nabal’s men “rubbing shoulders” in the fields. Based on the use in 1 Sam 25:15, the expression seems to mean “live in close proximity to,” which may, by metonymy, mean “maintain cordial relations with.”

[19:32]  ⁶ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “and we will lie down.” The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive is subordinated to the preceding cohortative and indicates purpose/result.

[19:32]  ⁸ tn Or “that we may preserve.” Here the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates their ultimate goal.

[19:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:32]  sn For a discussion of the cultural background of the daughters’ desire to preserve our family line see F. C. Fensham, “The Obliteration of the Family as Motif in the Near Eastern Literature,” AION 10 (1969): 191-99.

[19:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:33]  ¹² tn Heb “and the firstborn came and lied down with her father.” The expression “lied down with” here and in the following verses is a euphemism for sexual relations.

[19:33]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he did not know when she lay down and when she arose.”

[19:34]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the firstborn.”

[19:34]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Look, I lied down with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight.”

[19:34]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And go, lie down with him and we will keep alive from our father descendants.”

[19:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “drink wine.”

[19:35]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “lied down with him.”

[19:35]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And he did not know when she lied down and when she arose.”