The enigmatic tale in Genesis 6:1-4 about the “sons of God,” the “daughters of men,” and the “giant heroes of old” is obviously not a central text in biblical exegesis or theology. Because of its puzzling content, however, this short story has challenged the imagination of exegetes throughout the ages. Consequently, an otherwise incidental text became the starting point of a worldview in which fallen angels and demons play a central role.
In my new book, I examine the different ways this passage about these elusive “sons of God” has been explained. By doing so, I try to find new perspectives on how to interpret this narrative.1 I briefly summarize those findings here.
Crucial to the understanding of Genesis 6:1-4 is the question: Who are these “sons of God”? The history of interpretation shows two main approaches: They are either human or non-human. This has resulted in four different explanations: the “sons of God” as fallen angels, mighty men, descendants of Seth, or divine beings.
Probably the oldest explanation is that the “sons of God” are angels. The Book of Enoch elaborates on this interpretation. First Enoch is basically a narrative expanding upon Genesis 6:1-4: Angels descend to earth in order to marry human women; their children turn out to be giants, and the world almost descends into total chaos. God ultimately intervenes by imprisoning the fallen angels until the final judgment.
The earliest Christian exegetes essentially took over this view. It is around the fourth century C.E. that the tide turns. The “sons of God” are reinterpreted as humans, specifically, godly Sethites (descendants of Adam and Eve’s son Seth), who mingle with the daughters of the godless tribe of Cain (another son of Adam and Eve).
Already from the second century C.E. on, Jewish exegesis had also exchanged the angels interpretation for an explanation of the “sons of God” as judges, rulers, or the elite who marry morally inferior women. Interestingly, whatever the group, exegesis always appears to be tightly connected to the group’s historical context. The concept of “fallen angels,” who became demons leading people astray, helped to explain the pagan world full of idolatry in which persecuted Christians found themselves. Yet when Christianity became the accepted worldview, the view of God-fearing Sethites mixing with the godless Cainites fit well into a new context in which Christians had to be warned not to assimilate to a non-Christian way of living. Similarly, the rabbis would have liked to prevent assimilation of Jewish people living in the diaspora.
Although the interpretation of “sons of God” as angels was never completely forgotten, it was only in the 20th century that mainstream exegesis returned to a non-human explanation. Based on the same or similar expressions in the Old Testament and in—at that time—newly discovered texts from the ancient Near East, exegetes concluded that the expression “sons of God” refers to divine beings or deities. This newer solution is most probably the correct one.
Is it possible to discover an historical kernel of this narrative about marriages of divine beings and human women resulting in the birth of giant heroes? The origin of such a story can possibly be connected to archaeology. Perhaps the presence of megalithic tombs, mainly in the Transjordan region—the so-called dolmens, dating from the end of the third and the beginning of the second millennium B.C.E.—gave rise to tales about fallen giant warriors. In one way or another, one of these tales made its way into the biblical narrative to be placed within a theological framework elucidating humanity’s fate with all its trial and error.
This may be one of the functions of the narrative in Genesis 6:1-4. The storyline overarching Genesis 0651–11 addresses two basic problems: alienation from God and fracturing of the human community. It seems that people seek a kind of do-it-yourself solution for both of these problems. According to Genesis 11:1-9, they build a city and a tower to avoid being scattered over the earth, thus “making a name” for themselves. As to the problem of being alienated from God, a physical connection to beings from the heavenly realm seems to offer a solution, perhaps even aimed at obtaining lost immortality (see Genesis 3:22). These efforts result, similarly, in a “name” for humans: the “mighty men of old, the men of renown” (Genesis 6:4).
In both cases, however, God intervenes. By confusing language, people are dispersed over the earth (Genesis 11:1-9). By reducing lifespan, it is clear that humans remain mortals and cannot become gods (Genesis 6:3).
It is only in the calling of Abraham that God himself provides a new solution (Genesis 12:2-3): God promises Abraham to “make his name great” and bless him, thus ending alienation between God and humanity. Moreover, through Abraham, “all the families of the earth” will be blessed, thus ending the fracturing of the human community.
The enigmatic tale in Genesis 6:1-4 about the “sons of God,” the “daughters of men,” and the “giant heroes of old” is obviously not a central text in biblical exegesis or theology. Because of its puzzling content, however, this short story has challenged the imagination of exegetes throughout the ages. Consequently, an otherwise incidental text became the starting point of a worldview in which fallen angels and demons play a central role. In my new book, I examine the different ways this passage about these elusive “sons of God” has been explained. By doing so, I try to find […]
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