What Does Genesis 6:5 Mean?

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.This is God's formal verdict on the pre-flood world, and its language is absolute. Not some wickedness, not occasional wickedness, but great wickedness. Not some thoughts directed toward evil, but every intention. Not evil sometimes, but continually. The diagnostic is comprehensive and leaves no room for moral optimism about the human trajectory without divine intervention.

The word translated "intention"(Hebrew: yetser) refers to the formative impulse of thought, the inner mechanism of human planning and will.God was specifically describing harmful behavior; He was observing the source of all behavior and finding it entirely corrupted.This is the Old Testament's clearest statement of what later theology would call total depravity, not that every human act is as evil as possible, but that the entire orientation of the human heart had aligned itself against God. There was no naturally remaining island of righteousness to build upon; only a remnant who had received grace.

The fact that God "saw" this is as important as what he saw.He did not receive a report or act on rumors; he observed directly.The same God who looked at creation and declared it "very good" now looked at humanity and saw only evil continually.The contrast with Genesis 1 is exact and painful.What God had made good had become, through accumulated rebellion, thoroughly corrupt, and God's response to what He saw would be the most dramatic act of judgment in human history.