Genesis 6:5

of man Literally, "the man," ha-adam, used generically, as in Genesis 6:1.

"The unity of the race is a consistent doctrine of the O.T. It was האדם, man, when created as a single individual. It spread over the earth, and was still האדם, man. It was כלבשר, -alt flesh," that had corrupted its way before the Flood. Mankind is, as a whole, corrupt; and, corresponding to this, each individual is unclean.… Probably the O.T. does not go the length of offering any rationale of the fact that each individual is sinful, beyond connecting him with a sinful whole." (Davidson, Theology of the O.T.pp. 218, 219.)

every imagination of the thoughts of his heart An elaborate description. The word rendered "imagination" means "form," "formation," or "shape," and, as applied to the region of thought, denotes "an idea," or "the concept of thought," cogitatio, cf. Genesis 8:21.

continually Literally, "all the day." Man's sinfulness is thus described as universal and unintermittent. The beginnings of "sin" are seen in the picture of the Fall, chap. 3, its propagation in the murderous act of Cain, chap. 4; we have reached in this passage its complete and unrestrained expansion.

The LXX translating the word for "imagination" as a verb, gives καὶ πᾶς τις διανοεῖται ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἐπιμελῶς ἐπὶ τὰ πονηρὰ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, Lat. quod … cuncta cogitatio cordis intenta esset ad malum omni tempore.