The Meaning of Genesis 6:3 Explained

Genesis 6:3

KJV: 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.

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.

Darby: 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.

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.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Genesis 6:3 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The "120 years" are evidently the years that God would give humankind before the flood. [1] They probably do not indicate a reduction in the normal human lifespan to120 years. [2]
"The judgment is that God will not endlessly and forever permit his life-giving spirit to enliven those who disorder his world. The breath of life ( Genesis 2:7; Psalm 104:29-30) remains his to give and to recall." [3]
"The attempt by man to become more than he is results in his becoming less." [4]

Context Summary

Genesis 6:1-8 - The Wickedness Of Men
When a son was born to Lamech, he named him Noah, which means "Rest."He thought that the boy would grow up to share and alleviate the strain of daily toil. But his hope was premature: rest was not yet: the Deluge would soon sweep over the works of men. The world must await the true Rest-giver, who said, "Come unto Me." It was an age of abounding wickedness, but the language describing it is obscure. Some think that "the sons of God" were fallen angels; others that the seed of Seth became joined in marriage with the daughters of Cain. But God's Spirit strove with man, and though a limit was put to His pleadings, yet He sought men with yearning remonstrance, till His Holy Spirit received the final negative and turned away disappointed and grieved. There was considerable delay. For 120 years the Spirit of God waited. See 1 Peter 3:20. He will not wait for ever, Luke 13:9. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 6

1  The wickedness of the world, which provoked God's wrath
8  Noah finds grace
9  His family line
14  The order, form, dimensions, and building of the ark

What do the individual words in Genesis 6:3 mean?

And said Yahweh not shall strive My Spirit with man forever for indeed he [is] flesh and yet shall be his days a hundred and twenty years
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה לֹֽא־ יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר  And  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְהוָ֗ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
יָד֨וֹן  shall  strive 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דֹּון 
Sense: to judge, contend, plead.
רוּחִ֤י  My  Spirit 
Parse: Noun, common singular construct, first person common singular
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
בָֽאָדָם֙  with  man 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.
לְעֹלָ֔ם  forever 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹולָם  
Sense: long duration, antiquity, futurity, for ever, ever, everlasting, evermore, perpetual, old, ancient, world.
בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם  for  indeed 
Parse: Preposition-b, Pronoun, relative, Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
ה֣וּא  he  [is] 
Parse: Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
בָשָׂ֑ר  flesh 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: בָּשָׂר  
Sense: flesh.
וְהָי֣וּ  and  yet  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person common plural
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
יָמָ֔יו  his  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
מֵאָ֥ה  a  hundred 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: מֵאָה 
Sense: hundred.
וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים  and  twenty 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, common plural
Root: עֶשְׂרִים  
Sense: twenty, twentieth.
שָׁנָֽה  years 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.