Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 6:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
God tells Noah that the end of all flesh has come before God because the earth is full of violence and announces destruction together with the ruined earth. Human corruption and divine judgment are linked by the repeated word ruin or destroy.
Read It With
- Genesis 6:9–22
Read verses 11–13 together and continue into verses 14–18. The announced end answers the world's violence, but the ark command and covenant promise immediately show that God will preserve life through the judgment.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The repeated corruption language reaches its consequence as God tells Noah the end has arrived, then immediately commands a means of preservation.
Read Genesis 6:13–16 together
Why these verses belong together: God announces the end brought by violence and immediately gives the ark's materials, dimensions, opening, door, and levels.
Verse 13. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Verse 14. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
Verse 15. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
Verse 16. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Follow the Context
- The generations-of-Noah heading introduces Noah as righteous, blameless among his contemporaries, walking with God, and father of three sons (6:9–10).
- God sees an earth ruined by corruption and filled with violence and tells Noah that the end of all flesh has come before God (6:11–13).
- God commands an ark with compartments, waterproofing, set dimensions, an uncertain upper opening or roof, a side door, and three levels (6:14–16).
- God announces the flood but promises to establish a covenant with Noah and preserve his household, animal pairs, and food in the ark (6:17–21).
- Noah does everything God commands, completing the preparation movement before the entry instructions in chapter 7 (6:22).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“the end of all flesh is come before me”
In plain language: The termination of the present living order has reached God's attention and decision.
The announcement follows God's inspection of corruption and violence.
Why it matters: Judgment is presented as a considered response, not arbitrary destruction.
How certain? strong“filled with violence through them”
In plain language: The earth is full of destructive wrongdoing because of its living inhabitants.
Violence supplies the stated reason for the end.
Why it matters: The text places responsibility on the corrupting agents rather than on creation as originally made.
How certain? strong“destroy them with the earth”
In plain language: God will bring ruin on the living beings together with or from the ruined earth.
The repeated Hebrew verb turns their corrupting action back into judgment.
Why it matters: The wordplay ties consequence to the harm already done.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
'The end of all flesh' does not authorize humans to declare whole groups disposable or imitate divine judgment through violence.
The verse does not say that destruction is God's only purpose; the ark and covenant instructions follow immediately.
What Remains True
Entrenched violence brings accountable consequences, yet the story's judgment announcement is immediately joined to a purpose of preservation.
How It Can Shape Life
- Take systemic violence seriously enough to establish accountability and protection rather than minimizing harm or responding with private concern alone.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 6:13's contribution to Genesis 6:9–22. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 6:9–22 — God Warns Noah and Commands the ArkSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The exact force of the preposition in 'with the earth' is disputed, while the corruption-destruction wordplay is clear.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.
Exact location: Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 6:9–22
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Toledot, righteous and blameless, walked with God, corruption-destruction wordplay, violence, ark terms, dimensions, flood, covenant, creature categories, preservation, food, and obedience.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 6:9–22
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Noah's character terms, corruption and violence, all flesh, end of all flesh, repeated shahat, gopher wood, pitch, dimensions, tsohar construction, flood, covenant, preservation, food, and concluding obedience.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 6:9–22 translator notes 31–66
Open NET Genesis 6 ↗modern scholarly open ancient near eastern study
The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context
Shalom E. Holtz
TheTorah.com, 2014; updated 2026
Supports: Ancient Mesopotamian flood parallels, pitch terminology, shared creation-flood-recreation pattern, and Genesis's distinctive focus on violence rather than overpopulation.
Exact location: The Flood Story in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context, sections 'Noah and Utnapishtim,' 'Noah and Atrahasis,' and 'Why a Flood?'
Open source ↗