Terrence L Pounds Study Edition · Developing edition · October 20, 2026
Your Terrence L Pounds Study Edition and commentary remain below. WEB Classic already uses Yahweh. External translations retain their published wording.
Genesis 6
1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2 That the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Compare KJV wording
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
3 And Yahweh 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.
Compare KJV wording
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.
4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of Elohim came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Compare KJV wording
There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6 — The Watchers, Their Offspring, and the Flood
Editor’s interpretation. To me, the King James Version plays down the supernatural side of this account. When I read Genesis 6 alongside Enoch, I understand the sons of Elohim as heavenly beings coming down and having sexual relations with human women. Enoch describes the giants born from those unions and the corruption that followed. That connection is important to how I understand the judgment of the flood. I have also read and taught Jubilees and Jasher, and I want those accounts examined alongside it.
Text and terminology. The opening setting appears in Genesis 6:1; the taking of women is in verse 2 and the unions and offspring are described in verse 4. The Hebrew expression bene ha-elohim is rendered sons of God in the KJV and sons of Elohim here. The KJV retains both that expression and giants, its rendering of Nephilim. It does not explicitly replace sons of God with angels. Identifying them as angels is the editor’s reading, made explicit in the Enoch and Jubilees passages below. The opinion that the KJV understates the supernatural dimension is not presented as proof that its translators intentionally suppressed that reading.
| Primary reading | Contribution to this study |
|---|---|
| Genesis 6:1–13 | Human multiplication, the sons of Elohim taking women, the Nephilim, human wickedness, and an earth filled with corruption and violence. Verses 5 and 11–13 explicitly supply grounds for judgment. |
| 1 Enoch 6–10; 15–16 | Heavenly beings take human women and beget giants. Forbidden teaching, violence, and corruption bring an appeal to the Most High. Chapter 10 connects judgment with Noah’s preservation and the coming deluge. Chapters 15–16 describe evil spirits arising from the giants after their bodily destruction. |
| Jubilees 5:1–11; 7:20–25 | Chapter 5 explicitly describes angels taking women and fathering giants, followed by corruption, judgment, and Noah’s preservation. In chapter 7 Noah connects the flood with the Watchers’ sexual transgression, escalating bloodshed, and the wickedness of living creatures. |
| Jasher 4:16–21; chapter 5 | The identified 1840 English text describes idolatry, violence, rulers taking wives by force, mixing animal species, and warnings before judgment. It contributes to the corruption-and-flood comparison, but this passage speaks of judges and rulers rather than expressly identifying the perpetrators as Watchers. |
Reading the accounts together. The edition presents the editor’s angelic interpretation openly and shows the passages that explain it. Each account keeps its own wording and emphasis. The flood’s causes are not reduced to the offspring alone: Genesis names human wickedness and violence, while Enoch and Jubilees elaborate the heavenly rebellion and its consequences. No New Testament reference is needed to establish this comparison.
Sources. Genesis follows this edition’s identified KJV base, adapted under its name-and-title policy. Enoch and Jubilees references identify R. H. Charles’s translations at CCEL. Jasher references identify the 1840 English translation as reproduced by CCEL. These are source comparisons, not quotations from a licensed Cepher edition. Full additional-book texts remain to be incorporated after source and editorial review.
5 And Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Compare KJV wording
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented Yahweh that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Compare KJV wording
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And Yahweh 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.
Compare KJV wording
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.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh.
Compare KJV wording
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with Elohim.
Compare KJV wording
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.
Compare KJV wording
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 And Elohim looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Compare KJV wording
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And Elohim said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Compare KJV wording
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Corruption, Judgment, and a Preserved Remnant
Editor’s teaching. Wickedness was great in the earth, and the thoughts of the human heart were continually evil. Yet Noah found grace in Yahweh’s eyes. That is a pattern I want readers to follow: judgment does not mean that the Most High has forgotten how to preserve a remnant. Whether we are reading about destruction or scattering, look for those He preserves. I also connect this corruption with my study of the earlier disorder in Genesis. That connection is part of my interpretation; Genesis does not explicitly identify the flood’s corruption as the same event as Genesis 1:2.
The immediate passage. Genesis 6:5–8 places human wickedness beside Yahweh’s grief and Noah’s finding grace. The KJV’s “repented” in verse 6 describes His regret or sorrow over making humanity, reinforced by His being grieved at heart; it does not describe His confessing moral wrongdoing. Verses 11–13 describe corruption and violence and announce the end of all flesh. Read these statements with the actual description of the flood’s deaths in Genesis 7:21–23.
What about life in the water? Genesis 7:22 specifically describes creatures on dry land with the breath of life in their nostrils; verse 23 lists humans, beasts, creeping things, and birds. The passage does not provide an inventory of aquatic deaths or survivors. It therefore does not establish that every aquatic creature died, that every aquatic creature survived, or that a particular sea creature survived the flood. The aquatic question remains a study question rather than a conclusion supplied by the passage.
The sea creature: Leviathan. Job 41 describes Leviathan; Psalm 104:25–26 places Leviathan in the sea. Isaiah 27:1 associates Leviathan with serpent imagery and the creature in the sea that Yahweh will slay. Compare Psalm 74:13–14. Behemoth is treated separately in Job 40:15–24. These passages identify the creature under discussion but do not narrate its survival through Noah’s flood.
Remnant and future judgment. Compare Noah’s preservation with Genesis 45:7, Isaiah 10:20–22, and Ezekiel 6:8: preservation, a returning remnant, and survivors among scattered nations. My belief is that the flood judgment by water will be followed by a future judgment involving fire. Isaiah 66:15–16, Zephaniah 3:8, and Malachi 4:1–3 provide Hebrew Bible passages for studying fiery judgment. These passages should be read in their own prophetic settings; Genesis alone does not give the full water-then-fire formulation. Genesis 9:11–15 specifically promises that a flood will not again destroy all flesh.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.