Талмуд к Берешит 6:3

Rebbi Jehudah ben Pazi said, the Holy One, praise to Him, took a spoonful from the place of the altar and created Adam from it. He said, he shall have been created from the place of the altar so that he should be able to stand up¹⁰¹Gen. rabba 14(9), R. Berekhiah and R. Ḥelbo in the name of R. Samuel ben Naḥman. The altar, with definite article, is the altar in the Temple courtyard in Jerusalem which by tradition [Gen. rabba 34(8)] is the altar used by Adam, Noah, and Abraham.. That is what is written: “The Eternal Omnipotent formed Adam the first of dust from the earth¹⁰²Gen. 2:7.”, and it is written: “You shall build for me an altar of earth¹⁰³Ex. 20:24..” Since “earth” there means an altar, here also [it means] an altar. “His days should be a hundred and twenty years.¹⁰⁴Gen. 6:3.” Adam the first lived close to a thousand years and you say, “his days should be a hundred and twenty years”! But after 120 years he returns to be a spoonful of decay. That is difficult. For Og, the king of Bashan, 120 years, and for a newborn baby 120 years? Og [becomes] a spoonful of decay, and a newborn baby becomes a spoonful of decay. “¹⁰⁵Tosephta Ahilut 2:2; Kelim Baba Meṣi‘a 7:1, as legal principle independent of the story of 120 years. Quoted in the Babli, 50b, but there the rabbis derive the decay from the body of the hand, without the fingers. The spoonful of decay which they mentioned is from his finger joints and upwards, the words of Rebbi Meïr, but the Sages say, from a fully developed hand.” Rebbi Ze‘ira, Rebbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rebbi was illustrating that of Rebbi Meïr one way, that of the rabbis in another way.

MISHNAH: The generation of the Deluge has no part in the World to Come and they do not stand in judgment, as it is said²⁹⁶Gen. 6:3.: My Spirit shall not judge man forever. The people of Sodom have no part in the World to Come but they stand in judgment. Rebbi Neḥemiah says, neither of them stands in judgment, as it is said²⁹⁷Ps. 1:5.: Therefore, evildoers shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the company of the just. Therefore, evildoers shall not rise in judgment, that is the generation of the Deluge, nor sinners in the company of the just, these are the people of Sodom. They said to him, in the company of the just they will not rise; they will stand in the company of evildoers.

³⁰¹Babli 108a, Tosephta 13:6, Gen. rabba26(6),28(3). It was stated: Rebbi Neḥemiah says, one understands it from what was said²⁹⁶Gen. 6:3. My Spirit shall not judge man forever. Rebbi Jehudah says, My Spirit shall not judge him, for I shall not give My Spirit into them when I shall give My Spirit into people³⁰²At the resurrection. The interpretations differ in formulation, not in meaning.. Rebbi Simeon says, My Spirit shall not judge him, for I shall not give My Spirit into them when I shall distribute the rewards of the just. Others say, My Spirit shall not judge him, I shall not bring it back into its sheath³⁰³In the container where souls are kept to be born or resurrected.. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, mainly their³⁰⁴The generation of the flood. scalding was parboiling. What is the reason? At the time when they were scalded they shrank; in its heat they disappear from their place³⁰⁵Job6:17.. What is in its heat? In their boiling. Rebbi Joḥanan said, every single drop which the Holy One, praise to Him, rained on them, He brought to a boil in Hell and rained it on them³⁰⁶Gen. rabba 28(9) [M. Sokoloff, The Geniza Fragments of Bereshit Rabba(Jerusalem 1982) p. 120].. That is what is written, in its heat they disappear from their place. Jehudah ben Rebbi Ḥizqiah and Rebbi³⁰⁷Probably one should read “Jehudah and Hizqiah, the sons of R. Hiyya”, or a name in missing here. In Mishnah Idiut2:10, the Babli, Šabbat 33b, and Thr. rabba1(42), the statement is anonymous. In Gen. rabba 28(7) it is attributed to R. Johanan, a student of Hizqiah.
The statement is the basis of the rule that prayers for deceased parents may be said only for 11 months, so as not to declare one’s parents as evildoers. said, the Holy One, praise to Him, judges the evildoers in Hell for twelve months. First He brings the itch on them; then He brings them into fire and they say woe, woe; after that He brings them into snow and they say wai, wai. What is the reason? He brought me up from the noisy pit, from miry mud³⁰⁸Ps. 40:3.. What is from יָוֶן mud? From a place where one says woe. Why could they not receive their punishment³⁰⁹This refers to the statement of the Mishnah that the people of the Deluge have no part in the World to Come, i. e., that their souls were destroyed. and then take part in the World to Come? Because the scoffer will not hear rebuke³¹⁰Since the goal of punishment is reform, punishment of scoffers is useless. Their souls, instead of being punished, must be destroyed..

There were ten generations from Adam until Noah.
And why was it necessary to bring all those people into the world? This teaches you that even as all those generations continued to anger the Holy Blessed One, He did not bring the flood upon them because of the righteous and saintly among them. And some say that as long as Methuselah was alive, the flood did not come upon the world; and even when Methuselah died, it was still held off for another seven days, as it says (Genesis 7:10), “And it was seven days, [and the waters of the flood were on the earth].” What was happening during those seven days? These were the [seven] days of mourning for that righteous man, who had prevented the punishment. That is why it says, “And it was seven days.”
Another interpretation of, “And it was seven days”: This teaches that the Holy Blessed One fixed a specific time, after 120 years, hoping that they might repent. But they did not, and so it says, “And it was seven days” [i.e., the final seven days of the countdown].
Another interpretation of, “And it was seven days”: This teaches that the Holy Blessed One changed the order of the world [which was created in seven days] for them, and had the sun rise from the west and set in the east, hoping that maybe they would understand and become afraid and repent. But they did not, and so it says, “And it was seven days.”
Another interpretation: This teaches that the Holy Blessed One set a table for them, and gave them a taste of the World to Come, so that they would gather together and say to one another, “Oy, for we have lost all this goodness, and we have caused the destruction of our descendants (from the earth), as it says (Genesis 6:12), “And God saw the earth, and it had been destroyed.”

Rabbi Elazar ben Parta would say about the verse (Genesis 6:3), “My spirit shall not judge human beings forever,” that the Holy Blessed one said: I will not judge them until I double their reward, as it says (Job 21:13), “They spend their days well (and their years pleasantly), and they calmly go down into Sheol.” Rabbi Yosei HaGalili would say: See, it says, “My spirit shall not judge”; the Holy Blessed One said: I do not equate those with evil intentions to those with good intentions. Until when? Until their final judgment has been sealed. But when it is sealed, then both are judged equally (for their sins).

He would also say: The righteous have their desire for evil taken away and are given a desire for good, as it says (Psalms 109:22), “My heart has been hollowed out inside of me.” The wicked have their desire for good taken away and are given a desire for evil, as it says (Psalms 36:2), “Sin speaks to the wicked in his heart. There is no fear of God in his sight.” Those who are not entirely righteous or entirely wicked [beinomim] are given both, and those who move toward their evil desires are judged by them, while those who move toward their good desires are judged by them, as it says (Psalms 109:31), “For he who stands at the right of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul.”
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar would say: See, it says, “[My spirit] shall not judge,” for the Holy Blessed One said: ([I will not judge [the wicked] until I pay the righteous their reward. How long will this last? During the time [of the wicked] in this world. But in the World to Come, the verse says (Psalms 146:46), “His spirit leaves him, and he returns to the ground.”
Rabbi Akiva would say: See, it says (Genesis 6:3), “My spirit shall not judge human beings forever,” for the Holy Blessed One said:]) They cannot judge themselves, for they are just flesh and blood. Rather, their spirit is taken upward and says to God, Turn away from this one.
Rabbi Meir would say: See, the verse says, “[My spirit] shall not judge,” for the Holy Blessed One said: They have declared in this generation that God will not judge them, that there is no Judge in the world, for God has abandoned the world.
Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi would say: See, it says, “[My spirit] shall not judge,” for the Holy Blessed One said: They did not institute a court for themselves on earth, so I will institute a court for them on High.”