The Sons of God – Genesis 6:1-4

The Book of Enoch, 6:1-6, says, “And it came to pass, when the sons of men had increased, that in those days there were born to them fair and beautiful daughters.  And the Angels, the sons of Heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another: “Come, let us choose for ourselves wives, from the children of men, and let us beget, for ourselves, children.”  And Semyaza, who was their leader, said to them: “I fear that you may not wish this deed to be done, and that I alone will pay for this great sin.”  And they all answered him and said: “Let us all swear an oath, and bind one another with curses, so not to alter this plan, but to carry out this plan effectively.”  Then, they all swore together, and all bound one another, with curses, to it.  And they were, in all, two hundred, and they came down on Ardis, which is the summit of Mount Hermon.”  This book leaves no doubt that it believes the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were angels who cohabitated with human women.  Is that really possible?

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.  3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.  (Genesis 6:1–2, ESV)

Few passages in Scripture have drawn as much controversy as this one.  Who are the sons of God, why does their taking daughters of men draw such a decision from Yahweh that life on earth would end in 120 years, and who are the Nephilim who resulted from this union of sons of God and daughters of men?  Three main views have been proposed:

(1) Intermarriage between godly and ungodly people.  In this view the sons of God are followers of Yahweh who make the bad decision of marrying those who do not worship Yahweh, the marriage of saved to unsaved.  This would easily explain Yahweh’s judgment as the unsaved lead the saved astray and the resulting sinfulness of all mankind results.  But it does not make sense that only male believers would marry unbelieving women (the opposite would happen also, saved women marrying unsaved men), and it does not do well at explaining the resultant Nephilim and men of renown coming from these unions.

(2) Intermarriage of fallen angels and human women.  In this view the sons of God are angels, a term used of angels elsewhere in Scripture (for example, Job 1).  Their sexual union results in a kind of half-breed offspring called Nephilim, who become mighty rulers in the earth.  Often attached to this view is the idea that when these offspring die, their spirits become demons.  The problem with this view is the compatibility of angels with humans to reproduce (not after their kind).  An alternative explanation is that these unions were not physically consummated, that their marriages were spiritual, and conveyed an authority of the “god” (the angel) over the woman so joined and her people.  Such ceremonial marriages are attested in the Ancient Near East, but they were sometimes made with men (usually kings), not just women.  In either case, Yahweh would be upset because of the willingness of mankind to enter into such a union.

(3) Taking of multiple wives by kings.  Sons of God in this view were mighty men who felt it their right to take multiple wives (like Lamech, chapter 4), and whose offspring became mighty kings and leaders, as well.  It is this arrogance that spurs Yahweh’s anger and judgment.  This view seems to me to answer more of the data of the text.

Moses reason for including this in his text is to show how much the world of men is declining into unrighteousness and godlessness.  A showdown is coming with Yahweh taking decisive action to deal with this rebellion.