This statement was God's announcement of the end of His tolerance, in view of general human corruption, preliminary to the terrible mass-destruction of the Flood. But this sentence has been problematic in the history of translation and exegesis.

The key word whose implications affect our understanding of what happened is the word ‘ידון’ in the above quote. It is the Hebrew verb 'yadon' and occurs only here in all Holy Scripture. This word has three possible translations, only two of which have usually been used.

It has traditionally has been understood as derived from the verbal root 'to judge' and so translated as "strive" or "contend with" in Medieval Hebrew. But if this word was so derived, then it would have been written as 'yadin', and it is not.

Some translators have understood the word as related to an Arabic cognate which would support the translation "remain with" or "abide". This translation gives rise to ideas which do not fit with the rest of Scripture, notably an intrinsic enmity between God's Spirit and human nature ('flesh'), and so the word 'spirit' is then downgraded to mean divine life-giving breath rather than the Spirit of God. But the word for spirit here is 'ruach' not 'neshamah' (breath), so this is unlikely, and there is also little evidence to conclude that an Arabic term can lead us into understanding a unique word in the earliest text of ancient Biblical Hebrew.

However, this Hebrew word 'yadon' is cognate with an ancient Akkadian word meaning "protect" or "shield". This relationship with the extinct Akkadian language takes us back to the roots of the Hebrew language. The fact of yadon's sole appearance here in all Hebrew Scripture (so we are unable to compare its use elsewhere), and that it also happens to be in Genesis (Genesis being one of the oldest writings in Holy Scripture), supports this Akkadian association. The word "shield" as a translation would then radically change our understanding of the situation which gave rise to the Great Flood.

Given that this third alternative is the more likely meaning of the term 'yadon', how does this affect our understanding?

Well, the verse would then read:

Well, according to our Bible God said it was a creation that needed to be "subdued", and ruled accordingly by those representing its Creator (Gen.1:28). Remember, God also considered it wise to specially prepare a "garden", a separate specially-planted area, for human society in its vulnerable beginning with Adam and Eve. After the moral failure of Adam in choosing to follow his deceived wife's example (1 Tim.2:14) the local situation became worse for humanity with dependence on labour intensive agriculture.

Our universe really is a dangerous place. The first indication of this was the fact that God made this special separate place for the first human couple; a place with boundaries and one entrance; an entrance which, sadly, later needed to be guarded by God's guards armed with a deterrent, "the flame of a whirling sword", to prevent human return to the Tree of Life .

But now, human society has morally degraded to the extent of common mutation (haNephilim*, הנפלים), which signaled the end of divine tolerance. The same Spirit of God who had hovered over the dark water-covered planet (in Gen.1:2) in expectation of the words of Jesus to bring order and life in the six days of Creation, is the same Spirit of God whose withdrawal now allows total catastrophe and destruction of all human life beyond one family.

That the Genesis Flood is associated with a radical change in the human environment is vividly shown in the immediate and drastic drop in human longevity. Excluding exceptions, from the Biblical data it is a drop from about 900 to an average of 400 years: a more than 55% reduction in average human lifetime! No matter what arguments are raised as to whether these were normal years or not, the biblical data teaches a radical and sudden more-than-halving of human longevity. Something had changed with huge effects on longevity and on agricultural output (Gen.9:3).

Our solar system gives a clue to past events that may have some bearing on earth's history. Saturn has rings of matter in permanent orbit about that planet. The composition of these rings conforms largely to the known composition of comets that occasionally visit our solar system. The orbital stability of the rings indicates an origin other than the planet Saturn. There is no known mechanism for their origin other than the loss of material from a passing comet. The significant presence of ice in the rings and comets may be a clue to the mechanism which reversed the act of God on Day Two of Creation:

"God said, 'Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water'.
So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.
God called the expanse 'sky'. There was evening, and there was morning, a second day."

The sudden condensation of a vast water-mass from above our atmosphere (sky) may explain the Bible's description of the windows of heaven opening. Not only this, but the near pass of such an astronomical body would have caused a tidal surge in the molten interior below our earth's crust, which being at its thinnest under our oceans would have created a world-tide of unprecedented proportions - drowning continents in a destructive tearing mass of water.

Noah's ark had no propulsion as it was not designed to go anywhere but only to wait-out the event. On this deluge therefore it would most likely strand where water-movement was slowest, such as where continents meet and mountain ranges impede movement. Thus, where Africa, Asia, and Europe come closest, in the Caucasus mountain range on the peak Ararat the ark stranded – after 143 days adrift on a nightmare tide. But even then another 220 days would need to pass, according to the Biblical data, before the land was stable and dry enough for human society to begin again.

No wonder that first family of the new beginning needed rainbow reassurance every time it began to rain!

the Throne of God is surrounded by a rainbow, in the Revelation given to John on Patmos in the Bible's climactic conclusion; and the four 'Living Beings' around the Throne represent in their faces the four life-forms guaranteed preservation under the covenant of Noah.