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.
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. The corruption had not only become universal, it had assumed a colossal character in the two aspects of lust and cruelty; and so intent were the men of that period in devising means of indulging the lowest propensities of their nature, that not only did they commit deeds of wickedness, but the very "imaginations of their thoughts" - those embryo beginnings of emotional mental activity which give moral character to all that proceeds from them - "were only evil continually." The language implies a prodigious excess of depravity. God is described, in the anthropomorphic style, as observing it attentively; and when He "saw it," as "repenting" that He had created man, and being "grieved in His heart." God cannot change (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17), nor be affected with sorrow, like man; but by language suited to our nature and experience, He is described as about to alter His visible procedure toward mankind-from being merciful and long-suffering, He was about to show Himself a God of judgment, by employing the powers and agencies of the system in which they had been placed as the instruments of these punishments; and as that impious race had filled up the measure of their iniquities, He was about to introduce a terrible display of His justice (Ecclesiastes 8:11).