(95) Why God says, I am indignant that I made them? (#Ge 6:7). In the first place, Moses is here again relating what took place, as if he were speaking of some illustrious action of man, but, properly speaking, God does not feel anger, but is exempt from, and superior to, all such perturbations of spirit. Therefore Moses wishes here to point out, by an extravagant form of expression, that the iniquities of man had grown to such a height, that they stirred up and provoked to anger even that very Being who by his nature was incapable of anger. In the second place he warns us, by a figure, that foolish actions are liable to punishment, but that those which proceed from wise and deliberate counsel are praiseworthy.
(96) Why it is afterwards said, that Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord? (#Ge 6:8). In the first place, the time calls for a comparison; since all the rest of mankind has been rejected for their ingratitude, he places the just man in the place of them all, asserting that he had found favour with God, not because he alone was deserving of favour, when the whole universal body of the human race had had benefits and mercies heaped on them, but because he alone had seemed to be mindful of the kindnesses which he had received. In the second place, when the whole generation had been given over to destruction, with the exception of one single family, it followed inevitably that that remaining household should be asserted to have shown itself worthy of the divine grace, that it might be, as it were, a seed and a spark of a new race of mankind. And what could be a greater grace and mercy than that the man, of whom this is said, should be at the same time the end and beginning of the family of mankind?
(97) Why does Moses enumerate the generations of Noah with reference not to his ancestors but to his virtues? (#Ge 6:9). He does this in the first place, because all the men of that age were wicked: secondly, he is here imposing a law upon the will, because, to an anxious follower of virtue, virtue itself stands in the place of a real generation, if indeed men are the means of the generation of men, but the virtues of minds. And on this account it is that he says, he was a just man, perfect, and one who pleased God; but justice, and perfection, and grace before God, are the greatest of virtues.
(98) What was the meaning of Moses when he says, “And all the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with iniquity?” (#Ge 6:11). Moses himself has given us the reason why he speaks thus, in the sentence in which he asserts that iniquity had arisen by reason of the corruption of the earth; for deliverance from iniquity is righteousness, both in all the parts of the world, in heaven, that is, and earth, and among men.
(99) What is the meaning of his saying, “All flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth?” (Genesis 6:12). In the first place, the sacred historian calls the man who is devoted to the love of himself, flesh; therefore, when he had already said he was flesh, he introduces not the same flesh, but the flesh of the same being, namely, of man, or perhaps he is speaking even of man abstractedly considered; for every one who passes a life destitute of all civilisation, and bewildered by intemperance, is flesh. In the second place, he supposes here the cause of spiritual corruption to be, as in truth it is, the flesh, because that is the seat of desire; and from it, as from a living spring, arise all the peculiar appetites, and passions, and other affections. In the third place, he very naturally says, that all flesh had corrupted his way; for “his” is a partial case, declined from the nominative case of the pronoun “he, she, or it;” for as for the being to whom we refer honour, we scarcely dare to speak of him by his own name, but we call him He. And it is from this that the principle of the Pythagorean philosophers was derived, who said, “He said it,” speaking of their master in a glorious manner, since they feared to speak of him by name. And the same custom has obtained in cities and in private houses; for the servants, when speaking of the arrival of their master, say, “Here he comes;” and so when the prince of any individual city arrives, they use the same form of speech, “He comes,” when they speak of him. But what is the purpose of this prolix enumeration of all these instances on my part? The truth is, that I wished to show that it is the Father of the universe who is spoken of here; since, indeed, all his good qualities, and all his marvellous names, are widely celebrated by the praise bestowed upon the virtues; and, therefore, out of reverence he has used that name more cautiously, because he was about to bring on the world the destruction of the flood; but the case of the pronoun “He” is used by way of honour in these phrases. “All flesh had corrupted His ways,” inasmuch as it is truly convicted of having corrupted the way of the Father, in accordance with the lusts, and desires, and pleasures of the body; for these are the enemies and opposers of the laws of continence, and parsimony, and chastity, and fortitude, and justice; by which the road which leads to God is found out and widened, so that it should everywhere be a beaten and plain road.
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