God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
Parallel translations
- KJV And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
- BSB And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.
- NKJV So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
- NASB And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for humanity had corrupted its way upon the earth.
- NLT God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God himself sees that all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth. The verdict comes from God's own all-seeing examination.
Overview
This verse echoes the language of creation, where God "saw" that things were good; now he sees only corruption. The universality of "all flesh" shows that the corruption was pervasive, leaving Noah's family as the lone exception by grace. God's righteous seeing of sin sets up his righteous response in judgment and salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 53:2–3God looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understood, who seek after God.
- Prov 15:3Yahweh’s eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
- Ps 14:1–3For the Chief Musician. By David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.
- Job 22:15–17Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,
- 2 Pet 2:5and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
- Gen 6:4–5The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
- Job 33:27He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me.
- 1 Pet 3:19–20in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,
- Ps 33:13–14Yahweh looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men.
- Gen 7:1Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ship, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation.
- Gen 6:8But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.
- Gen 9:12God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
- Gen 18:21I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
- Gen 7:21All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
- Luke 3:6All flesh will see God’s salvation.’”
- Gen 9:16–17The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 6:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.