Sons of God (Genesis 6:1-4) Part 1 of 3

Genesis 6:1-4 is one of the more interesting passages of Scripture because of the interpretive challenge that it poses. Please read the passage now. Go ahead… I’ll wait.

If you are like most Bible readers, some questions came immediately to mind: (1) who are the Nephilim? (2) who are the “sons of God”? and (3) who are the “daughters of man”? Basically, who is this passage talking about? What’s going on here?

These questions have caused no end of discussion and are one of the thorniest issues in Old Testament interpretation. Throughout the history of Christianity and Judaism, there have been three primary solutions to these problems:

(1) the sons of God are fallen angels who had sexual relations with human women, and the Nephilim are their descendants;

(2) the sons of God are descendants from the godly line of Seth and the daughters of men are descendants from the ungodly line of Cain; 

(3) the sons of God are rulers or kings of the ancient world and the daughters of men are just regular women whom they take for their wives, without regard for God.

This issue is too long to cover in one blog post, so we are going to spend the next three days analyzing the evidence, weighing the pros and cons of each solution, and coming to our own conclusions. I encourage those of you who have already come to a conclusion on this issue to keep an open mind as you analyze the evidence. I further encourage those of you who come to a different conclusion than I do to remember that this is all secondary or even tertiary doctrine, and good Christians can agree that the Bible is the inspired Word of God while disagreeing on how to best interpret this particular point.

To start, let’s review basic interpretation skills, especially in light of our particular interpretive issue here. This is the process that I use when preparing sermons, especially if I come to a difficult issue like the one that we face in Genesis 6:1-4. You don’t have to take these steps in the following order, but I suggest you do, and we will do so for the next three days.

1. It is always good to interpret Scripture with Scripture, so when we come to a difficult phrase, like “sons of God,” we should see how it is used in other parts of Scripture.

2. It is always best to read a passage of Scripture in context, so we need to make sure that our solution fits the immediate context of Genesis 5-6 and the larger narrative of Genesis 1-11 as a whole.

3. Other Scriptures that do not use the exact phrase, but use similar topics or words, may be able to shed light on the issue.

4. After looking at Scripture as the first and primary source of information, it can be useful to look at other contemporary texts, and the use of language elsewhere to better understand what it means in this particular passage.

5. Finally, after you have done your own analysis, it is useful to look at the analysis of other people, and the interpretation of others throughout history. If you are the only person who has come to your conclusion in the thousands of years of the existence of the text, you… just… maybe… might… happen to be wrong!

Lastly, while it isn’t a specific step in the process, we should always bathe our interpretation with prayer to make sure that the Holy spirit is guiding us every step of the way. While this means spending a few dedicated moments in prayer before studying the text, it also means listening, and talking to God while you study. You’ll be amazed what God can teach you if you’ll only listen! 

Today, we are going to cover the first step in the process. Tomorrow, we will look at steps 2 and 3, and Wednesday, we will finish with steps 4 and 5 and our conclusion on which solution best interprets the passage. Let’s get started:

(1) It is always good to interpret Scripture with Scripture, so when we come to a difficult phrase, like “sons of God,” we should see how it is used in other parts of Scripture.

The simple fact is that the exact phrase “Sons of God” is only used a few other times in Scripture (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalms 29:1; 89:7; Daniel 3:25). In the Book of Job, the phrase is used three times, each exclusively of angels. In Psalms and Daniel, the phrase is used an additional three times, and each probably refers to angels, but some disagree on this point.

Basically, whenever the phrase “sons of God” is used outside of Genesis 6, it is either definitely or probably used to refer to angels, which provides strong evidence for our first solution, but these instances also refer exclusively to unfallen angels, which is emphasized by proponents of the other positions. They argue that unfallen angels would never commit the sin described in Genesis 6, and fallen angels would never be described as sons of God.

Furthermore, while “sons of God” (bene Elohim) is only found in those passages cited above, part of the phrase, Elohim, is used in reference to human leaders, magistrates, or administrators of justice (Exodus 21:6, 22:8, 9, 28; Psalms 82:1, 6), and in an elative sense (meaning “mighty, great, or exceeding”) in passages such as Genesis 23:6, Genesis 30:8, Exodus 15:15, and John 3:3, all of which lend support to the third solution.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t lead us to any conclusion yet. You’ll have to come back tomorrow! Until then… God bless!