Genesis6:1

Translation

And it came about that when the adam

began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, (See comment below.)

Paraphrase

Now it so happened that, when the population of mankind on the surface of the earth began to multiply, and girls were born to them as well as boys, although the narrative so far has focused on the males, (See comment below.)

Footnotes

1: "the adam":

This word means “red” and “man.” When used with the article as it is here, “the adam”, it is referring to “mankind.” When used without the article, it referred to the man named “Adam.”

THE BEGINNING OF THE WICKEDNESS THAT NECESSITATED THE FLOOD

It is crucial that we grasp the fact that this passage about the sons of Elohim, the daughters of Adam, and the Nephilim serves as the beginning of the explanation for the reason God found it necessary to destroy almost all living beings and start over. Corruption and violence were rampant, and those things seem to have gotten out of control when a certain mixing began to happen, a mixing which involved marriages between two groups which had not previously agreed to marry. So as you read this passage and consider the possible interpretations, ask yourself which scenario best fits the implied purpose. If it does not fit the purpose of demonstrating the reason for corruption and violence, then it is most likely not the right interpretation.

Gen 6:1-4 reads in such a way as to imply:

1) That there was intermarrying going on between two groups that usually would not join together,

2) That this intermarrying was so widespread as to seem like all of both parties were doing it, thus warranting the language of the passage which speaks in universal terms, not in qualified or restricted terms,

3) God seems to have looked on this intermarrying as a problem, and possibly as a key problem underlying the downward spiral into wickedness which in the end necessitated the world-wide flood. That seems to be the purpose for which this passage is included in the text.