Or HaChaim on Genesis 6:3/אור החיים על בראשית ו׳:ג׳

1 ויאמר השם לא ידון רוחי. G'd said: "My spirit will not abide in man permanently." This verse needs someone to explain it. Our sages have given numerous explanations to it without explaining the plain meaning of the verse. It appears that the Torah wishes to tell us that a change occurred in G'd's dealing with man. During the lifetime of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, G'd personally had rebuked man for any misdemeanour. When man's deeds became increasingly repulsive to G'd, He decided not to deal with them on such an intimate basis.

2The word רוחי in our verse therefore means "My Presence." Man had forfeited the privilege of proximity to G'd's Presence. G'd's Presence withdrew from man in direct proportion to his deeds. As long as G'd had confronted man directly whenever He had reason to rebuke them they were on the spiritual level of prophets. When man began to profane himself (meaning of החל in 6,1), he no longer enjoyed that status. In the course of time outstanding individuals, צדיקים, appeared on earth. These individuals succeeded in restoring a closer relationship between man and G'd. After the destruction of the Temple there were no more prophets; the most that remained were individuals who possessed a degree of what our sages describe as רוח הקודש, a measure of holy spirit. Ever since Israel's eyes closed, we no longer have even ריח הקודש, a holy fragrance, not to mention רוח הקודש. The absence of this line of direct communication from G'd is the greatest misfortune for those of us who thirst for at least a fragrance of the holiness of our Father in heaven in order to revive our spirits. The curse we speak about originated with the generation of the deluge. G'd supplies the reason for this in our verse. בשר בשגם הוא, man added to his abominations by adding the sin of בשר, adultery to his other sins. G'd hates sexual permissiveness more than anything else. As a result G'd resented having to communicate directly with such people.

3The characteristic of the righteous is that they refine the body to give it spiritual content. The characteristic of the wicked is that they do the reverse. They degrade the spirit making it the tool of the body. This leads to the destruction of the universe. G'd referred to this when He said: "My spirit will not find satisfaction in them forever more," not even in the world of eternity. This is because they have turned even their spirit into a tool of the flesh. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 108) states that the people who were destroyed by the deluge do not enjoy a life in the Hereafter.

4Another way of understanding our verse is based on the use of the term רוחי. Whereas G'd frequently cancels an evil decree due to considerations of His attribute of Mercy, in this case G'd announced that the decree was irrevocable. Normally, G'd applies the attribute of Mercy because He keeps in mind that man is a mixture of flesh and spirit. In this particular case G'd gave notice בשגם הוא בשר, that the decree was final although man is also flesh.

5Still another meaning addresses G'd's practice of paying the reward or punishment in the Hereafter, the righteous receiving his share in that world and the wicked descending to Gehinom. In this case, G'd gave notice to the wicked that they would not be judged after death but that since they had tainted their spirit as much as their flesh their spirit would also undergo the afflictions normally reserved only for the flesh. The 120 years G'd speaks about is the period needed to allow the righteous of that generation such as Methuselah to live out their allotted lifespan in full. The Zohar on Genesis 7,22 explained: "all that had a soul of living spirit in its nostrils, of all that were on dry land died," as a reference to the righteous who died on dry land, before the onset of the deluge.

6Another message contained in our verse is that henceforth G'd would never again apply the attribute of Mercy exclusively. The verse is introduced with G'd speaking in His capacity of the attribute of Mercy, ויאמר השם. It switches immediately to tell us that His spirit, i.e. that of mercy would not anymore abide in this world completely. G'd attributed part of the corruption in His world to His having exercised too much mercy. He had allowed man to indulge his greed too much. From now on G'd reserved more of His mercy for the Hereafter. As a result of this change of emphasis, even such a righteous man as our patriarch Jacob was not allowed to enjoy the benefits of this world in tranquillity. As soon as Jacob set out to so so, he experienced all the trouble with his favourite son Joseph (compare Rashi on Genesis 37,2).