Genesis 6:7

So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh speaks a declaration of judgment following the record of divine grief in Genesis 6:6. The statement occurs at the narrative pivot between widespread corruption and Noah’s favor in Genesis 6:8.

The words — אֶמְחֶה ('em.Cheh) literally means "I will wipe" or "blot out," describing the physical removal of creation. הָ/אָדָם (ha./'a.Dam) translates to "the humankind," specifying the primary subject of the decree.

The thread — The text states a sweeping removal of humanity and animals that runs directly to Zephaniah 1:3. The consequence of human failure and the need for grace echoes in Romans 3:20, while the imagery of vanishing aligns with Psalm 37:20.

Why it lands — The text states that persistent rebellion triggers irreversible divine judgment and that creation carries moral accountability. It requires the reader to confront the objective reality of sin’s consequence without minimizing the stated outcome.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Zephaniah 1:3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
Psalms 37:20 But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.
Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.
Psalms 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be cut short.
Proverbs 16:4 The LORD has made everything for His purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster.
Jeremiah 12:3 But You know me, O LORD; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.
Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
Hosea 4:3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.