Who Are The Sons Of GOD Mentioned In Verse 2 Of Genesis 6 ?

As I was reading Genesis 6, I came across a verse that has been the source of much debate among biblical scholars. In verse 2, it says that the sons of God saw the daughters of men and took them as wives. There are several different interpretations of this verse, and I wanted to investigate them further to see which one made the most sense. We are told in 2 Timothy 2:15,

¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[a] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

With that in mind, I’ll show you the numerous interpretations that exist, along with some supporting evidence, and conclude with the one that I believe best suits the narrative.

Identity Of The Sons Of God

Fallen Angels

As far as we know, the first view, accepted unanimously until the second century A.D., was that the “sons of God” were angelic beings. According to this viewpoint, there is a substantial divide between the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men” (mankind), and the outstanding offense is boundary violation. In other words, the angels ( shall I refer to them as demons) were not supposed to mingle with mankind in that manner ( marrying and having sexual intercourse with women). This is why the passage makes the distinction between the “sons of God” and the daughters of men ( mankind).  The strength of this interpretation is that in the three other instances in the Old Testament where the exact phrase “sons of God” is mentioned, it refers to angels. See the passages below

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan^[a] also came among them. Job 1:6

1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. Job 2:1

7 when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:7

Clearly, the term “sons of God” refers to the entire angelic realm in all three verses. In Job 1:6 and Job 2:1, all the celestial realm, including Satan, comes to bow before the Lord, and it is at this point that God grants the devil permission to sift Job. In Job 38:7, God begins to ask Job a series of questions. I’m not sure if the fallen angels (including Satan) were also shouting for delight when God laid the earth’s foundation. Nonetheless, we can see that the phrase refers to angels in these three verses. We also know that angels can assume a human body, and there are several passages that show instances were this happened. Let me give you an example as well as the apostle Paul’s confirmation.

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth ² and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” ³ But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. ⁵ And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them. Genesis 19:1-5

We can clearly see from the passage above that these angels assume a human body because they were referred to in verse 5 as “men” and in verse 3, the Scripture tells us that they ate. I’m sure none of us would dare to stand before an angel and speak boldly as Lot and the men of Sodom did if we saw them in their natural state. When Zechariah saw Gabriel the angel, we are told that fear fell upon him and he was troubled ( Luke 1:11-13)

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2

Now, there is an objection to this view that I’d like to present to you. In Matthew 22:23-30, we read the following,

²³ The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, ²⁴ saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ ²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. ²⁶ So too the second and third, down to the seventh. ²⁷ After them all, the woman died. ²⁸ In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

²⁹ But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven

This is the instance where Sadducees came to test Jesus about the resurrection. Jesus in his response to their inquiry makes a statement in verse 30 that in the resurrection, we ( humans) will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels in heaven. Now we can make some strong inferences here. It is obvious that angels are not allowed to marry. Many scholars cite this text to reject the notion that the “sons of God” are angels. They have a good point, but Jesus doesn’t claim angels can’t cross this line; He merely says they aren’t intended to marry. Most biblical scholars, I believe, reject the interpretation that the  sons of God in Genesis 6 are angels because they do not want the Bible to be viewed as Greek mythology, in which gods and humans can produce seeds. I’ll get back to this later, now let’s move to the next possible interpretation.

Rulers Or Descendants Of Seth

Some Jewish commentators in the second and third centuries saw the “sons of God” as rulers, people with authority. Meanwhile, some Christian writers argued that the “sons of God” were men of the Seth line, while the “daughters of man” were women of the Cain line. Both Jewish and Christian variants were based on avoiding the linguistic conclusion that “sons of God” must refer to angels. Each group proposed alternative suggestions for how the “sons of God” could be distinguished from the daughters of men.

The rulers’ option found passages where human rulers were classified as elohim ( ruler) to argue their position. One of the  main scriptures used was Psalm 82:6.

“My decree is: ‘You are elohim [gods, judges],
sons of the Most High all of you.

They proposed a social divide between the two groups ( attributing the role of judges to the  sons of God and that of regular folks of lower class to the daughters of man). According to this viewpoint, the crime of sons of God ( rulers or judges) was polygamy and promiscuity.

The Sethites option on the other hand found passages where those who were spiritual were designated as God’s children, Deuteronomy 14:1

14 “You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.

They basically posited a spiritual distinction between the daughters of man ( fleshly carnal women) and the sons of God ( spiritual Godly children). In this view point, the offense being spiritual exogamy ( marriage outside the group, or being unequally yoked).

I’ve basically shown you the main interpretations of the phrase “sons of God,” and now I’ll tell you which one I believe fits the narrative. I don’t want to be dogmatic about my stance, so I’ll encourage you to look into it further. One thing is certain: there can only be one correct reading of this verse, the one intended by the Holy Spirit for the readers.

What’s My Position?

We must allow Scripture to be its own translator or interpreter, and one method to do so is to search the entire Bible for anything  similar to the chapter under consideration. In our case, the only passage that I found that related to Genesis 6:2 was Jude 1:6-7,

⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— ⁷ just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,^[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

In this passage, Jude was warning us about ungodliness and living with no moral restraint. He mentions angels who committed a crime, and our task is to figure out the nature of the crime. ?The first thing these angels did was violate God’s restriction by not staying inside their assigned borders. What exactly did these angels do according to the passage? In verse 7, Jude says that Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire. And Jude uses the word “likewise” to describe the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, he had previously discussed the angels and a breach that they had committed.  Jude compares the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (sexual immorality and homosexuality) to those of the angels. So, if I read this verse correctly, the angels committed sexual crimes with the daughters of man, transgressing the boundaries set by God. Although Jesus stated that angels are not permitted to marry or be given in marriage, I do not believe He (Jesus) stated that they were incapable of doing so. We know that they can assume a human body, it leads me to believe that they probably did that to engage in sexual immorality in Genesis 6:2.

After looking at all of the evidence, I have come to the conclusion that the most likely interpretation is that the sons of God refers to angels. This seems to be the most straightforward reading of the text, and it is also supported by other verses in Scripture. Whatever the case may be, this passage is sure to continue to be a source of debate for many years to come. And like I said earlier, I don;t want to be dogmatic about it so I’ll encourage you to do your own investigation and let the Bible speak for itself.

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