Controversy surrounds the phrase “the sons of God.” Three different basic positions have been stacked out regarding the identity of these “sons.”
Genesis 6: 1-2 — Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
Holman Study Bible
Controversy surrounds the phrase “the sons of God.” Three different basic positions have been stacked out regarding the identity of these “sons.” They have been understood as heavenly beings (an ancient Jewish position, still accepted by many today), as kings or men of high social status, or as men from the line of Seth.
Heavenly Beings
Favoring their identity as heavenly beings – likely angels – is the fact that elsewhere in the OT the phrase “sons of God” refers only to heavenly creatures (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7) and that the NT refers to fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6).
Those who accept this view hold that the sin that prompted God’s anger in the passage was a violation of Genesis 2:24, brought about by sexual relations between human and angelic beings, resulting in the creation of the Nephilim. But this view has its difficulties, for instance, Jesus indicated that angels do not marry (Matthew 22:30) and Paul used the phrase “sons of God” to refer to godly people, not angels (Galatians 3:26).
Kings or Aristocrats
The view that the “sons of God” are kings or aristocrats is supported by the fact that the common Hebrew word for God is sometimes applied to persons who have great social power (Psalms 82:6-7; John 10:34-35). Advocates of this position say that the “daughters of men” were people of lower social status. Thus, the passage is thought to indicate possible abuse of lower-class women by licentious men of privilege. Interpreters who take this view do not necessarily connect the Nephilim with these marriages.
Descendants of Godly Seth
The third position is the most popular among evangelical Christians. It assumes that the “sons of God” were descendants of godly Seth, while the “daughters of men” were descendants of ungodly Cain. Assuming the descendants of both men followed the moral examples set be their respective forefathers, the union of these two spiritually incompatible lines was contradictory to God’s will (2 Corinthains 6:14) and resulted in the total corruption of humanity, represented by the Nephilim.
The Jon MacArthur Study Bible
The sons of God, identified almost exclusively elsewhere as angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7), saw and took wives of the human race. This produced an unnatural union which violated the God-ordained order of human marriage and procreation (Genesis 2:24). Some have argued that the sons of God were the sons of Seth who cohabited with the daughters of Cain; others have suggested they were perhaps human kings wanting to build harams. But the passage puts strong emphasis on the angelic vs. human contrast.
The NT places this account in sequence with other Genesis events and identifies it as involving fallen angels who indwelt men (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6-7). Matthew 22:30 does not necessarily negate the possibility that angels are capable of precreation, but just that they do not marry. To procreate physically, they had to possess human male bodies.
Chuck Smith — Verse by Verse Study on Genesis 6-7 (C2000)
Who are the sons of God? Now there are those who will make the sons of God the descendants of Shem. So, they are Shemites, say some. The daughters of men were the Cainites, the descendants of Cain, according to the theory. And that the godly line of Shem began to intermarry with the ungodly line of Cain. And the product -it’s hard to explain how it was giants, but that’s the theory.
The term “sons of God” in the Old Testament is used elsewhere but only of angels, never of man. In Job, the sons of God were presenting themselves to God and Satan also came with them, angels. It would appear that these are angels and that in Genesis they actually began to intermingle and intermarry. You say but wait a minute. Jesus said the angels neither marry nor are given in marriage in heaven. That is true. But Jesus did not say that they were sexless; He just said there was no marriage nor given in marriage. And it is interesting that angels are always referred to in a masculine form.
There are difficulties with this verse, if you try to make it the godly line of Seth and the ungodly line of Cain. There are also difficulties if you try to make it angels intermarrying with man.
Blue Letter Bible — Bible Verses
Job 1:6 — Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan[fn] also came among them.
Job 2:1 — Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 38:7 — When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
2 Peter 2:4 — For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Jude 6-7 — And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Genesis 2:24 — Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Matthew 22:30 — “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God[fn] in heaven.
Galatians 3:26 — For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Psalms 82:6-7 — I said, “You are gods,[fn] And all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.”
John 10:34-35 — Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? “If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
2 Corinthians 6:14 — Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
Genesis 6:4 — There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Holman Study Bible
Two major questions arise in this verse: who are the giants and what if anything is their connection to the “sons of God” and “the daughters of men?” the word “giants” comes from the Hebrew word Nephilim, which means “fallen ones.” A phrase that could mean morally or physically degraded individuals, or possibly angels who fell from heaven. (Isaiah 14:12).
It is impossible that these are the same race as the “giants” in Numbers 13:33, since none would have survived the flood (Genesis 7:22‑23) and thus could not have lived during the post flood events narrated in Numbers. Plus, the Nephilim are never mentioned as one of the groups to be wiped out by the Israelites when they entered Canaan. Their mention in Numbers probably came from the lips of a fear-crazed spy who misinterpreted what he had seen in Canaan.
Were these giants products of the marriages between the sons of God and the daughters of men (Genesis 6:2)? Possibly, but in the Hebrew text there is no explicit connection between them. Moreover, the fact that they were on the earth in those days, before and during the sinful unions, leads some to suggest that their origins are elsewhere. Whatever their ancestry, as mighty men and men of renown they played a significant role in preflood society.
The Jon MacArthur Study Bible
The word Nephilim is from a root meaning “to fall,” indicating that they were strong men who “fell” on others in the sense of overpowering them (the only other use of this term is in Numbers 13:33). They were already in the earth when the “mighty men” and “men of renown” were born. The fallen ones (Genesis 6:1-2) are not the offspring from this union.
Chuck Smith — Verse by Verse Study on Genesis 6-7 (C2000)
Some kind of a super race of giant men as a result of this (vs.1-2).
In the New Testament, we read that those angels, which kept not their first estate are reserved in the chains of Tartarus awaiting the day of judgment (Jude 1:6). It seems that there were certain angels, perhaps, that did not keep the first principle or first estate. Maybe they were these angels who came down and began to intermingle and intermarry with women. There are a lot of interesting things that we don’t know all of the answers to, this being one of them.
Blue Letter Bible — Bible Verses
Isaiah 14:12 — “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,[fn] son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
Numbers 13:33 — “There we saw the giants[fn] (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Genesis 7:22-23 — All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit[fn] of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
Jon Courson’s Application Commentary Old Testament Volume 1: Genesis-Job
The Hebrew word translated “giants” is nephalim, which literally means “fallen ones.” These “fallen ones” are the legendary figures spoken of in many cultures – the giants.
Where did these giants come from? There are two schools of thought.
Some suggest that the term “daughters of men,” refers to the descendants of Cain. But because a union of the ungodly daughters of Cain and the godly sons of Seth would not inherently produce giants, others – myself included – believe the origin is due to something else.
The phrase “sons of God” is benai elohim. Every time “benai elohim” appears in the Old Testament, it is in reference to angels. Angels are divided into two groups; the exalted angels around the throne of God who do the work of the Lord, and the fallen angels, or demons. Lucifer was an exalted angel who led a rebellion against the Lord in heaven. When he fell Lucifer became the devil.
Revelation tells us one-third of the angelic host joined his rebellion and became demons.
I believe it is to these demons that Genesis 6:4 refers. Some of these demons, evidently, had sexual relations with human women, resulting in nephalim – giants, legendary men, men of renown. That is why every culture contains stories of giants similar to those found in Greek mythology and Roman folklore.
The best explanation for these nephalim, however, isn’t found in mythology or folklore, but in the Word. We know that certain demons are held in prison (1 Peter 3:19) because their deeds were so diabolically dark. I believe the demons who “left their own habitation” (Jude 1:6). Are the “benai elohim” through whom Satan futilely attempted to pollute the seed of woman to such a degree that the promise of Genesis 3:15 would be thwarted.
Pastor Tim Brown – Calvary Chapel, Fremont California
There are 5 reasons I believe that the sons of God of Genesis 6 are angels.
Reason #1
Jude 3 1:6-7. These angels did not keep their proper domain (heaven before God). They shed their angelic bodies (abode) in order to take on human bodies and procreate with women.
The comparison is not in the matter of judgment itself. Jude does not say, “in a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah were judged…” the comparison/similarity is rather in the area of the sin that occasioned the judgment – sexual sin of a particular kind.
Jude says, there were angels who gave themselves to gross immorality by going after strange flesh.
These angels did something similar to what the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah did. Those cities indulged themselves in gross sexual immorality, going after “strange flesh.” Just so, Jude says, there were angels who gave themselves to gross immorality by going after strange flesh. They abandoned their proper habitation and gave themselves over to a gross kind of sexual evil. For that, God has incarcerated them in a special dungeon (not Hades/Gehenna), but hell/Tartarus (2 Peter 2:4).
These are not just run-of-the-mill fallen angels, but a special category of angels. Ones who sinned in a certain way. If not, all demons would be in Tartarus.
Whenever angels appear to men, they always appear in human form (the angels who appeared to Abraham, Lot, etc.). Angels are always spoken of in the masculine. They always take on the form of men, not women. In some cases, they eat and interact in a way that is very human. If our food is attractive to them, why not our women? If they hungered for food, what of other appetites? If they can take on human form, it doesn’t appear beyond the range of reason to consider that they might also be able to procreate with women.
Reason #2
The phrase “sons of God” is used only 3 other times in the OT — Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7. In each case it clearly means spirit being. This is so clear that the translators of the NIV drop the longer phrase (“sons of God”) and simply substitute the word angels.
Blue Letter Bible — Bible Verses
Job 1:6 NKJV — Now there was a day when the sons of God
Job 1:6 NIV — One day the angels[fn] came
Reason #3
Jewish interpretation / LXX / early church fathers adopt angel view.
Reason #4
The Nephilim of Genesis 6:4. The Jebusites, Geshurites, Hittites, etc. are divisions of the Nephilim (also called Rephaim) who were already in the land when Abraham arrived.
“…and also afterward…” This 2nd invasion resulted in the presence in the land of Canaan of certain giant races of men. It is interesting that archaeologists have now discovered the giant-cities of Bashan, and they confirm the fact that there did exist in this area races of big men whose beds are 10-12 feet long. It was these people that the Israelites were commanded to exterminate completely/wipe off the face of the earth – the whole populace and their animals.
Cities Of Bashan Were Built by Ancient Giants – Archaeological Evidence Exists but Is Ignored
Reason #5
Spiritual Warfare. Satan was in the garden when the promise of a deliverer was given. Satan knew that the seed of the woman would bring his destruction (Genesis 3:15). He thought that Cain was the deliverer, so he corrupted Cain by getting Cain to murder his brother, Abel. But God continued to develop the godly line.
So, Satan then conceived the plan of corrupting the entire human race by the intermarriage of angels and human beings. The Savior could not be born of a polluted mother.
Blue Letter Bible — Bible Verses
Revelation 12:4 — His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.
1 Peter 3:19 — by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
Jude 6-7 — And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Genesis 3:15 — And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
2 Peter 2:4 — For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;