The correct translation as per the entire subject matter of Genesis Chapter 6......reads, as follows. The King James Version interprets Before God.....as being clearly seen by God or BEFORE the sight of GOD. The correct translation is better served in a modern format that considers the content (subject matter) and the surrounding context. Such as the ESV or the NASB.The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
H2555 - ḥāmās - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) - Blue Letter Bible
Concordance Results Shown Using the KJV. Strong's Number H2555 matches the Hebrew חָמָס ( ḥāmās ), which occurs 60 times in 59 verses in the WLC Hebrew. Page 1 / 2 (Gen 6:11-Oba 1:10) Tools. Gen 6:11. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. H2555.
Transliteration
ḥāmās
Pronunciation
khaw-mawce'
OK
Blue Letter Bible Search
As per the subject of the Chapter......the translation reads as follows. The subject matter is clearly defined in 6:1..........how mankind continued to multiply and how they were becoming ever more corrupt with the passage of time. Thus the subject matter is the wickedness of man, not the corrupt state of the earth.......as corruption in God's eye means willful (premeditated) Sin.....God's Laws were being corrupted by men. So great was the state of corruption in the mind of men that the Lord "regretted" i.e, was sorry or repentant that He had made man on the face of the earth. (Genesis 6:6)
If you attempt to translate the Hebrew to mean that the earth itself is corrupt that would directly contradict other literal passages in Genesis. "God saw all that He had created and it was good." -- Genesis 1:31. The earth is not a living breathing being that is subject to morality (the earth does not define its function by hate, love, deception...etc., its simply mass and matter.........Corruption is defined as Sin......... Example (1 Cor. 15:33) "........bad company corrupts good morals." Sin cannot be imputed without the ability to comprehend good from evil as it was sin itself that brought about this knowledge of Good and Evil to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:22), "And the Lord God said, Behold the man has become as one of us....to know good and evil........." Thus children cannot sin until they reach the age of reason........no animal can sin, because no animal can comprehend/understand the LAW...animals exist by instinct........the instinct to survive and reproduce. Unlike man that know comprehends his/her actions as being good or evil/wicked.
Back to Genesis 6:11, The correct translation based upon the content and the contextual evidence reads as follows, "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence" The earth was not being violent......it was Men as described (Genesis 6:6).........."...the thoughts of man were EVIL......." -- Genesis 6:5
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