Question:
Who are the “sons of God” who were given in marriage with the “daughters of men” according to Genesis 6? Were they angels?
Answer:
No, these were not angels, as supposed by many. Here is the passage being questioned:
“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.” (Genesis 6:1-4).
To properly understand these verses, one must go back to the division of the family of Adam in Genesis 4. Cain separates himself and his lineage from the Lord and His people: “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.” (Genesis 4:16-19). Now separate from the influence of truth, polygamy was introduced into the human family. Instead of following the example of marriage instituted by the Lord in Genesis 2:23, 24, the descendants of Cain began to follow their hearts’ desires.
Then the line of Seth, Adam’s third son, is described: “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” (Genesis 4:25-26).
The marginal reading is, “Then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord;” signifying that in the time of Enos, the followers of God began to distinguish themselves and to be distinguished by others by the moniker sons of God; those of the other branch of Adam’s family, the line of Cain among whom the worship of Jehovah was not observed, being differentiated by the name, children of men.
For some time, the two classes remained separate, and as long as this separation continued, they maintained the worship of God in its purity. But in the lapse of time, they ventured, little by little, to mingle together, and this association was productive of the worst results. “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” (Genesis 6:2). Mingling with the depraved, they became like them in spirit and deeds, and the restrictions of the seventh commandment were disregarded. The children of Seth went “in the way of Cain.” (See Jude 11).
Renown Bible scholar Adam Clarke in his commentary on Genesis 6, relates the following:
“It was not at this time that men began to multiply, but the inspired penman speaks now of a fact which had taken place long before. As there is a distinction made here between men and those called the sons of God, it is generally supposed that the immediate posterity of Cain and that of Seth are intended. The first were mere men, such as fallen nature may produce, degenerate sons of a degenerate father, governed by the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. The others were sons of God, not angels, as some have dreamed, but such as were, according to our Lord’s doctrine, born again, born from above, John 3:3, 5, 6, etc., and made children of God by the influence of the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:6. The former were apostates from the true religion, the latter were those among whom it was preserved and cultivated. Dr. Wall supposes the first verses of this chapter should be paraphrased thus: “When men began to multiply on the earth, the chief men took wives of all the handsome poor women they chose. There were tyrants in the earth in those days; and also after the antediluvian days powerful men had unlawful connections with the inferior women, and the children which sprang from this illicit commerce were the renowned heroes of antiquity, of whom the heathens made their gods.”
Adam Clarke’s Bible Commentary
The abuse of the marriage institution kindled God’s wrath and called for destruction by the Flood. If the men of that age had married “only in the Lord,” instead of taking “wives of all which they chose,” Heaven would have smiled upon them instead of giving them a watery grave. And we would suggest that if those who knew the true God at that time had repudiated polygamy and intermarrying with the worshipers of idols, and the glory and honor of God ruled in their marriages, they would have been sufficient salt to save the world from the Flood. But with their abuses of the original design of the marriage institution, they were not only guilty of a wrong that separated them from God but they were brought into close connection with the powers of darkness so that they could not retain purity and holiness of life. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
“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.” (Genesis 6:4). Who were these “giants in the earth in those days?” The word “giants” is the Hebrew word nephı̂yl/nephil (nephilim) from naphal, “he fell.” Signifying those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion.
Again, quoting Adam Clarke:
“The Septuagint translate the original word by γιγαντες, which literally signifies earth-born, and which we, following them, term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word, which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word when properly understood makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God; those were the nephilim, the fallen earth-born men, with the animal and devilish mind. These were the sons of God, who were born from above; children of the kingdom, because children of God. Hence we may suppose originated the different appellatives given to sinners and saints; the former were termed γιγαντες, earth-born, and the latter, ἁγιοι, i.e. saints, persons not of the earth, or separated from the earth.
“The same became mighty men – men of renown – גברים gibborim, which we render mighty men, signifies properly conquerors, heroes, from גבר gabar, “he prevailed, was victorious.” and אנשי השם anshey hashshem, “men of the name,” ανθρωποι ονομαστοι, Septuagint; the same as we render men of renown, renominati, twice named, as the word implies, having one name which they derived from their fathers, and another which they acquired by their daring exploits and enterprises.
“It may be necessary to remark here that our translators have rendered seven different Hebrew words by the one term giants, viz., nephilim, gibborim, enachim, rephaim, emim, and zamzummim; by which appellatives are probably meant in general persons of great knowledge, piety, courage, wickedness, etc., and not men of enormous stature, as is generally conjectured.”
Adam Clarke’s Bible Commentary
So, the “giants” spoken of were not the offspring of women and angels, but those of believers who had become “unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” (See 2 Corinthians 6:14-16).
Our minds are almost involuntarily directed to the loose conditions of society in our own time by these statements. So, it will not be a surprise that the Lord says the last days will be as the days before the Flood when men “took them wives of all which they chose.” (See Genesis 6:2; Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27). When we consider the ease with which divorce may be obtained, the pleasure that is taken in reading the details of scandal, as indicated by the prominence given them by the press, and the readiness with which men of known licentiousness are received in “good society,” we see strong evidence that the end is near at hand.
