Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 6:7 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 7. 7And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Because the LORD regrets making humanity, God announces that humans will be blotted from the ground together with land animals, creeping things, and birds. The coming flood is presented as a terrible undoing of the created world bound to human rule.
Read It With
- Genesis 6:1–8
Read verses 5–8 and continue through the flood narrative. Human wickedness and divine grief explain the decision; Noah's favor immediately opens the path toward preservation that the next unit develops.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The announcement turns grief into judgment and makes the coming flood a broad undoing of created life, while verse 8 immediately introduces preserving favor.
Read Genesis 6:5–8 together
Why these verses belong together: The LORD's moral assessment, regret and grief, judgment announcement, and Noah's favor form the complete flood-prologue turn from corruption to preservation.
Verse 5. 5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Verse 6. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Verse 7. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Verse 8. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Follow the Context
- Humanity multiplies; the sons of God see human daughters, take wives from those they choose, and the LORD declares a disputed limit of 120 years (6:1–3).
- The narrator locates the Nephilim in those days and also afterward and connects the unions with ancient mighty men of renown, though the exact relationships remain disputed (6:4).
- The LORD sees comprehensive human wickedness and inward evil, regrets making humanity, and is grieved to the heart (6:5–6).
- The LORD announces the blotting out of humanity together with land creatures and birds, but Noah finds favor in the LORD's eyes (6:7–8).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“destroy / blot out”
In plain language: The Hebrew describes wiping or erasing humanity from the face of the ground.
Creation's populated land is about to be emptied through the flood.
Why it matters: The language signals de-creation, not a minor correction.
How certain? strong“both man, and beast”
In plain language: Humans and land creatures, creeping things, and birds are included in the announced destruction.
The created order placed under human vocation is drawn into the consequences of human corruption.
Why it matters: The text presents broad tragedy without assigning animals human moral guilt.
How certain? strong“for it repenteth me”
In plain language: The LORD repeats regret as the reason for the announced reversal.
The decision remains tied to the grief explained in verse 6.
Why it matters: Judgment is moral and relational response, not caprice.
How certain? strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The inclusion of animals does not say that the animals committed humanity's moral evil or deserved judgment for human motives.
The verse does not make mass death painless, portray God as enjoying destruction, or authorize humans to imitate divine judgment through violence.
The KJV's 'destroy' does not mean humans are permitted to erase people they judge corrupt.
What Remains True
Persistent human evil damages more than its perpetrators; judgment and human corruption can engulf the wider created community.
How It Can Shape Life
- Treat human power as responsibility for other people and creatures, recognizing that entrenched wrongdoing produces consequences beyond the original actors.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 6:7's contribution to Genesis 6:1–8. 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 6:1–8 — Human Corruption Grieves God, but Noah Finds FavorSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 6:1–8
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: Sons-of-God phrase, yadon and flesh wording, 120 years, Nephilim and mighty men, heart inclination, divine regret and grief, blotting out, and Noah's favor.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 6:1–8
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Major translation alternatives for sons of God, yadon, flesh, 120 years, Nephilim, heart, regret, grief, and favor.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 6:1–8 translator notes
Open NET Genesis 6 ↗modern critical open study guide
Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood — Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026
Supports: Critical account of the flood prologues, moral questions, divine speeches, and compositional tensions in the received narrative.
Exact location: Genesis 6–9:17: The Flood study guide and PDF, opening discussion of Genesis 6
Open source ↗peer reviewed modern Hebrew semantic and theological study
Challenging Emotion: Is Divine ‘Regret’ (נחם) an Anthropopathism After All?
Tobias Schmitz
Journal of Biblical Literature 144.2, 2025
Supports: Multidimensional Hebrew semantics of divine regret and a challenge to dismissing the language as merely projected human emotion.
Exact location: Journal of Biblical Literature 144.2 (2025), pp. 197ff.; official abstract and DOI record
Open source ↗