Who are the sons of God in Genesis 6?
Genesis 6 tells of the sons of God taking wives from the daughters of men, and of the wickedness that followed. The phrase elsewhere in the Old Testament names heavenly beings who stand before Yahweh, and the New Testament ties the days of Noah to angels who sinned. Whatever we conclude about the details, the weight of the passage falls on human corruption, God's grief, and one man who found favor.
This question arose from studying What went wrong in Eden?.
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What the Scripture says
The phrase normally names heavenly beings
Outside Genesis, the sons of God are the heavenly court: they present themselves before Yahweh in Job, they shout for joy when the foundations of the earth were laid, and the psalmist asks who among the heavenly beings can be compared to Yahweh. A Hebrew reader would hear the phrase the same way here, which is why the oldest reading of Genesis 6 takes them to be angelic beings rather than a godly family line.
Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them.Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
Again, on the day when the God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan came also among them to present himself before Yahweh.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.
when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like Yahweh,For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?
The New Testament ties the days of Noah to angels who sinned
Peter and Jude both reach back behind the flood to angelic rebellion, and both use it as a warning. Jude says the angels who did not keep their first domain are kept in everlasting bonds for the judgment of the great day, and immediately compares them to Sodom. Peter joins the same three together: angels who sinned, the ancient world preserved through Noah, and the cities of the plain. That is not proof by itself, but it shows how the earliest Christians read the passage.
For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them, having, in the same way as these, given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Another reading is possible, and the passage does not turn on it
Many faithful readers have taken the sons of God to be the line of Seth intermarrying with the line of Cain, and the text can bear that reading. Genesis does not explain the phrase here and spends no time on the mechanics. It tells us what happened to the world, not how to satisfy our curiosity about the visitors.
When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.” The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The point is judgment, grief, and grace
The verses that follow are the heart of the chapter: 'every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was continually only evil', and 'Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.' Then the whole story turns in one sentence: 'But Noah found favor in Yahweh's eyes.' The chapter is not a puzzle to solve but a mirror, and the only exit it offers is grace.
Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
As you read, you may wonder…
Scripture raises the next question
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What does the flood show us about God's judgment and mercy?→“Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil. Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”What happened at Babel?→“They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”Explore further
How do I find Christ in the Old Testament?→The Word of God trail““You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me.Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”Who is Satan, and what does he do?→The Unseen Realm trail“Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”Hold onto these
Verses to meditate on
God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
Now on the day when God’s sons came to present themselves before Yahweh, Satan also came among them.Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
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