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Gen 6 V1 V2 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22
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The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
OET (OET-RV) Then Yahweh said, “My Spirit won’t tolerate people forever, because they are physical beings, therefore their remaining time will be 120 years.”
OET-LV And_he/it_said Yahweh not it_will_remain my_breath/wind/spirit in/on_the_humankind to_vanishing_point in/on_that_also he [is]_flesh and_they_will_be his/its_days one_hundred and_twenty year[s].
UHB וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃ ‡
(vayyoʼmer yahweh loʼ-yādōn rūḩiy ⱱāʼādām ləˊolām bəshaggam hūʼ ⱱāsār vəhāyū yāmāyv mēʼāh vəˊesriym shānāh.)
Key: yellow:verbs, red:negative, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT Then Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with mankind forever, because they are indeed flesh. Therefore their days will be 120 years.”
UST Then Yahweh said to himself, “My Spirit will not put up with human beings forever, because they are very corrupt. I will give them 120 years to repent.”
BSB § So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever,[fn] for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
6:3 LXX and Syriac My Spirit will not remain in man forever
OEB But the Lord said: ‘My spirit shall not abide in people forever, because they are flesh; therefore they will live for only a hundred and twenty years.’
WEB Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”
WMB The LORD said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”
NET So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”
LSV And YHWH says, “My Spirit does not strive in man for all time, for indeed, he [is] flesh, but his days have been one hundred and twenty years.”
FBV Then the Lord said, “My life-giving Spirit will not remain in these people forever, because they are only mortal. The time they have left will be 120 years.”[fn]
6:3 That this refers to a new maximum lifespan seems unlikely since many after this time lived much longer than 120 years. The Hebrew says literally, “His days shall be 120 years.” Here “days” can be taken simply as time, or even time remaining, until the Flood would come.
T4T Then Yahweh said, “I will not allow my Spirit to keep people alive forever (OR, the breath of life will not remain in people forever). They will die eventually. They will live not more than 120 years before they die (OR, there will be only 120 more years before they die).”
LEB And Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he is also flesh. And his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
BBE And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.
MOF No MOF GEN book available
JPS And the LORD said: 'My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.'
ASV And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years.
DRA And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
YLT And Jehovah saith, 'My Spirit doth not strive in man — to the age; in their erring they [are] flesh:' and his days have been an hundred and twenty years.
DBY And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not always plead with Man; for he indeed is flesh; but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
RV And the LORD said, My spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he also is flesh: yet shall his days be an hundred and twenty years.
WBS And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
KJB 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.
(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. )
BB And the Lorde sayde: My spirite shall not alwayes stryue with man, because he is fleshe: yet his dayes shalbe an hundreth and twentie yeres.
(And the Lord said: My spirit shall not always strive with man, because he is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundreth and twenty years.)
GNV Therefore the Lord saide, My Spirit shall not alway striue with man, because he is but flesh, and his dayes shalbe an hundreth and twentie yeeres.
(Therefore the Lord said, My Spirit shall not alway strive with man, because he is but flesh, and his days shall be an hundreth and twenty years. )
CB Then sayde ye LORDE: My sprete shal not allwaye stryue with man, for he is but flesh also. I wil yet geue him respyte an hundreth and twety yeares.
(Then said ye/you_all LORD: My spirit shall not allwaye strive with man, for he is but flesh also. I will yet give him respyte an hundreth and twety years.)
WYC And God seide, My spirit schal not dwelle in man with outen ende, for he is fleisch; and the daies of hym schulen be an hundrid and twenti yeer.
(And God said, My spirit shall not dwelle in man without end, for he is flesh; and the days of him should be an hundred and twenty year.)
LUT Da sprach der HErr: Die Menschen wollen sich von meinem Geist nicht mehr strafen lassen, denn sie sind Fleisch. Ich will ihnen noch Frist geben hundertundzwanzig Jahre.
(So spoke the HErr: The Menschen wollen itself/yourself/themselves from my spirit not mehr strafen lassen, because they/she/them are flesh. I will ihnen still Frist give hundertundzwanzig years.)
CLV Dixitque Deus: Non permanebit spiritus meus in homine in æternum, quia caro est: eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum.[fn]
(And_he_said God: Non permanebit spiritus mine in homine in eternal, because caro it_is: eruntque dies illius centum viginti annorum.)
6.3 Dixitque Deus: Non permanebit Spiritus meus, etc. HIER., ibid. Hebr. loiadon. Non judicabit spiritus meus homines in sempiternum, quoniam caro sunt. Hoc est, quia fragilis est hominum conditio, etc., usque ad sed eorum quos erat diluvio deleturus. Eruntque dies illius, etc. STRAB. Ante diluvium, scilicet ad agendam pœnitentiam. Sed quia in malitia perseveraverunt ante præfixum terminum, centesimo anno deleti sunt.
6.3 And_he_said God: Non permanebit Spiritus mine, etc. HIER., ibid. Hebr. loiadon. Non yudicabit spiritus mine homines in sempiternum, quoniam caro are. Hoc it_is, because fragilis it_is hominum conditio, etc., usque to but eorum which was diluvio deleturus. Eruntque dies illius, etc. STRAB. Ante diluvium, scilicet to agendam pœnitentiam. Sed because in malitia perseveraverunt ante præfixum terminum, centesimo anno deleti are.
BRN And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall certainly not remain among these men for ever, because they are flesh, but their days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
BrLXX Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς, οὐ μὴ καταμείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τούτοις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας· ἔσονται δὲ αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτῶν, ἑκατὸν εἴκοσιν ἔτη.
(Kai eipe Kurios ho Theos, ou maʸ katameinaʸ to pneuma mou en tois anthrōpois toutois eis ton aiōna, dia to einai autous sarkas; esontai de hai haʸmerai autōn, hekaton eikosin etaʸ. )
6:3 will not put up with: Many think that this is an announcement of God’s decision to withdraw the restraining influence of his Spirit from human society and allow human wickedness to run its full course. Others think it means that God would withdraw his life-giving breath from humans at an earlier age (ruakh, the Hebrew term for “spirit,” can also mean “breath”; see 6:17; 7:22; see also Ps 104:29-30).
• normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years (literally his days will be 120 years): It is possible that this was a new restriction on the number of years individuals would generally be allowed to live (so the NLT). However, for generations after the flood, humans lived well beyond 120 years (see, e.g., Gen 11:10-26). An alternative interpretation sees this as a 120-year grace period before the arrival of the flood (see Jon 3:4; Matt 24:37-38; 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 2:5).
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה
and=he/it_said YHWH
Only make implied information explicit in your translation if it is necessary to prevent wrong meaning or if your language’s grammar requires it, so that your translation is easier to read and understand. Alternate translation: “So Yahweh said to himself,”
רוּחִ֤י
my=breath/wind/spirit
The Hebrew text is ambiguous here. It could mean: (1) My Spirit or “I”, which is a way of God referring to himself (Gen 1:2 is similar); or (2) “My spirit”, which could refer to God’s breath that gives life (as in Gen 2:7). If the text is not translated literally, the literal text should be put in a footnote.
לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן & בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם
not he/it_will_rule/strive & in/on_the=humankind to=vanishing_point
The Hebrew text is ambiguous here. It could mean: (1) “will not contend with human beings forever,” or “will not put up with human beings forever,” or (2) “will not remain/live with/in human beings forever,” The interpretation that is not used in your translation could be put in a footnote.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר
in/on=that=also he/it flesh/meat
The word flesh is used here as an idiom that means human beings are “mortal” (that is, their bodies will die) and that they are “sinful/corrupt”. The two meanings are interrelated since it is because of sin that their bodies die. In this context, the focus is on their corrupt behavior, which is the reason God will send a flood. Alternate translation: “because they are very sinful” or “because they are only sinful mortals.”
וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה
and=they_will_be his/its=days hundred and=twenty year
The Hebrew text is ambiguous here. It could mean: (1) “So they will have 120 years to repent.” or “I will give them 120 years to repent.” or (2) “From now on, they/people will have/live no longer than 120 years.” The first interpretation seems to best fit the context here of God announcing his plan to judge mankind for their sin (verse 7). This would mean that Noah was 480 years old when God said this (about 20 years before he started having sons; Gen 5:32), since the flood came when he was 600 years old (Gen 7:6); you could put some of that information in a footnote. The second interpretation does not fit with the fact that after God said this, many people lived much longer than 120 years, so it does not seem likely that length of life was his meaning here.