(יא) וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹקִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃ (יב) וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹקִ֛ים אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְהִנֵּ֣ה נִשְׁחָ֑תָה כִּֽי־הִשְׁחִ֧ית כׇּל־בָּשָׂ֛ר אֶת־דַּרְכּ֖וֹ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {ס} (יג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֱלֹקִ֜ים לְנֹ֗חַ קֵ֤ץ כׇּל־בָּשָׂר֙ בָּ֣א לְפָנַ֔י כִּֽי־מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָ֛רֶץ חָמָ֖ס מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם וְהִנְנִ֥י מַשְׁחִיתָ֖ם אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(11) The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. (12) When God saw how corrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth, (13) God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroy them with the earth. (NJPS)
And the earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with outrage. (Robert Alter)
...and the earth had become filled with robbery. (Artscroll)
Now the earth had gone to ruin before God, the earth was filled with wrongdoing. (Everett Fox)
וַתִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹקִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס׃
And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (Koren Jerusalem Bible)
How do the translations struggle?
Does the way we translate hamas change the way we understand the verses?
Nahum Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis on Genesis 6:11
The universal corruption is further defined as hamas. This term parallels "no justice" in Job 19:7 and is elsewhere the synonym of "falsehood," "deceit," or "bloodshed." It means, in general, the flagrant subversion of the ordered processes of law. From the divine enactments for the regulation of society after the Flood, detailed in chapter 9, it may be deduced that hamas here refers predominantly to the arrogant disregard for the sanctity and inviolability of human life.
The Torah: A Women's Commentary on Genesis 6:11
Tikva Frymer-Kensky points out that this Hebrew word, chamas, "in the Bible encompasses almost the entire spectrum of evil."
How would you differentiate between Sarna and Frymer-Kensky's explanations of this word?
(3) VIOLENCE. Theft, oppression and taking women against their will.
How does Ibn Ezra define hamas?
Leon Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom, p. 168
The first beginnings of human life ended in violent chaos. Left to their own devices, human beings followed the inclinations of their hearts, informed only by their ill-formed judgments of good and bad, advantage and harm. Prompted by fear of death and love of glory, driven by greed and anger, lust and vanity, they made endless war upon one another and managed to destroy all hopes of peace, prosperity and happiness. Anarchy bred lawlessness and death. The excesses of life threatened to wipe out the articulated and harmonious order of the earth, created against the primordial chaos only by divine effort.
Which translation/interpretation best fits Kass's description?
כִּי מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס מִפְּנֵיהֶם, אֵיזֶהוּ חָמָס וְאֵיזֶה הוּא גָּזֵל, אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא חָמָס אֵינוֹ שָׁוֶה פְּרוּטָה וְגָזֵל שֶׁשָּׁוֶה פְּרוּטָה, וְכָךְ הָיוּ אַנְשֵׁי הַמַּבּוּל עוֹשִׂים, הָיָה אֶחָד מֵהֶם מוֹצִיא קֻפָּתוֹ מְלֵאָה תּוּרְמוֹסִים וְהָיָה זֶה בָּא וְנוֹטֵל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁוֵה פְרוּטָה, וְזֶה בָּא וְנוֹטֵל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁוֵה פְרוּטָה, עַד מָקוֹם שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיאוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ בַּדִּין, אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַתֶּם עֲשִׂיתֶם שֶׁלֹא כַשּׁוּרָה אַף אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה עִמָּכֶם שֶׁלֹא כַשּׁוּרָה.
Injustice [ḥamas] refers to monetary wrongdoing, so what is the difference between that and stealing? Rabbi Ḥanina said: Injustice involves less than a peruta. A peruta is a small coin of trifling value. Anything worth less than a peruta is considered of negligible value, and there is no legal recourse to retrieve it, as the Midrash goes on to explain. and robbery involves a peruta. This is what the members of the generation of the Flood would do: One of them would take out a basket filled with lupin beans [to the marketplace]. One person would come and take less than a peruta worth [of beans] and another one would come and take less than a peruta worth; less than the amount for which one would be able to collect compensation in court. The Holy One of Blessing said to them: ‘You acted improperly; I, too, will act improperly with you.’
What is so bad about this?
(Rabbi Avraham Saba, Spain, 1460-1510)
This teaches that they were wicked, the opposite of Noah. Noah was good with God and with people, and they were the opposite--they were bad and sinners to God and this is what it means by saying before God. The earth was filled with hamas. That they were bad to (God's) creations... They were bad to the heavens and bad to the creations. There's also a hint that they were sinners in private and in public. Regarding in private, it says before God. Regarding in public, it says the earth was filled with hamas.
How does Tzror HaMor understand hamas differently from the previous interpretations?
What lessons could you teach based on this?
Kol HaTorah on Gen. 6:11 (Rabbi Eli Munk, 20th century, France)
...when the corruption on earth is flaunted before God, no human institution can save the society from its ruin. Indeed, a society will never fall because of gezel, open robbery, for it knows how to protect itself against such crimes, by prisons and penalties. But it is hamas which leads society to its destruction. This word means a crime committed through cunning or malice, a crime which human justice has not the means to pursue, a crime which only the voice of conscience could prevent. When this voice is smothered in a society wallowing in immorality, then nothing can avert the catastrophe.
What moments in history, and Jewish history, does this call to mind?