Did Human Beings Die In The Flood?

Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days and also after this, when the sons of God came to the daughters of man and beget to them. They were the mighty ones that were from eternity, men of the name.

I recently encountered a very interesting view that no human beings were killed in the Flood of Noah. Proponents of this viewpoint argue that since these “sons of God” were angels, then the children that they bore with the “[human] daughters of man” must have been half-angels and not human beings. They assert that the purpose for which God sent the Flood was to wipe out these half-angels, and therefore no human beings died in the Flood.

Furthermore, in verse 9, where it is written: “Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations”, they insist that the expression “perfect in his generations” means that Noah was the only pure human being, and that is why God spared him from dying in the Flood. However, this is based on a flawed understanding of the Hebrew words for “perfect” and “generation” in this verse:

The Hebrew word for “generation” is the noun dōwr, which refers to a period of time, much like how we refer to “our generation” or “our parents’ generation” in English. It has nothing to do with one’s genealogy or genetic makeup.

The Hebrew word for “perfect” is the adjective tāmiym, which can mean “perfect; complete; pure”. However, when tāmiym is used in the context of describing persons, it means to be blameless in character:

Genesis 17:1 ESV When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless [tāmiym],

Deuteronomy 18:13 ESV You shall be blameless [tāmiym] before the Lord your God,

Psalm 37:18 ESV The Lord knows the days of the blameless [tāmiym],
and their heritage will remain forever;

Proverbs 2:21 ESV For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those with integrity [tāmiym] will remain in it,

Proverbs 11:5 ESV The righteousness of the blameless [tāmiym] keeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

Proverbs 28:10 ESV Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way
will fall into his own pit,
but the blameless [tāmiym] will have a goodly inheritance.

Hence, the best way to understand the expression “perfect in his generations” is that Noah was blameless in character among his contemporaries. This interpretation better fits the context of what God said to Noah in the next chapter:

Genesis 7:1 And Jehovah said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your house, for I have seen you righteous before me in this generation.”

Probably the best evidence that human beings were indeed killed in the Flood comes from the biblical text of the narrative itself:

Genesis 6:5–7; 7:23 And Jehovah saw that the evil of the man [ʾāḏām] was great in the earth, and every form of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day. And Jehovah repented that he made the man [ʾāḏām] in the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. And Jehovah said, “I will erase the man [ʾāḏām] that I created from upon the face of the ground, from man [ʾāḏām] unto beast, and unto bird of the heavens, because I repented that I made them!” ... And he erased every standing thing which was on the face of the ground, from man [ʾāḏām] unto beast, unto creeping thing and unto bird of the heavens, and they were erased from the earth. And only Noah remained, and those which were with him in the ark.

Notice that the Hebrew word ʾāḏām, meaning “human being; human-kind”, is used to refer to a class of creatures killed by God in the Flood: Half-angels are never referred to as ʾāḏām throughout the Bible.