In the previous post we looked at the genealogy in Genesis 5, leading from Adam to Noah. In it we saw the relentless march of death with the repeated refrain “and then he died.” Though the first humans did not die immediately after they had sinned, their expulsion from the garden meant that they no longer had access to the tree of life. Hence, they were forbidden from eating of the fruit that would have kept death at bay. Now we move to a passage that is both controversial and intriguing. 

Hebrew text:

1 וַֽיְהִי֙ כִּֽי־הֵחֵ֣ל הָֽאָדָ֔ם לָרֹ֖ב עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה וּבָנ֖וֹת יֻלְּד֥וּ לָהֶֽם׃

2 וַיִּרְא֤וּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם כִּ֥י טֹבֹ֖ת הֵ֑נָּה וַיִּקְח֤וּ לָהֶם֙ נָשִׁ֔ים מִכֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּחָֽרוּ׃

3 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה לֹֽא־יָד֨וֹן רוּחִ֤י בָֽאָדָם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ם בְּשַׁגַּ֖ם ה֣וּא בָשָׂ֑ר וְהָי֣וּ יָמָ֔יו מֵאָ֥ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֖ים שָׁנָֽה׃

4 הַנְּפִלִ֞ים הָי֣וּ בָאָרֶץ֮ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵם֒ וְגַ֣ם אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר יָבֹ֜אוּ בְּנֵ֤י הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־בְּנ֣וֹת הָֽאָדָ֔ם וְיָלְד֖וּ לָהֶ֑ם הֵ֧מָּה הַגִּבֹּרִ֛ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר מֵעוֹלָ֖ם אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַשֵּֽׁם׃ פ

5 וַיַּ֣רְא יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכָל־יֵ֙צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבּ֔וֹ רַ֥ק רַ֖ע כָּל־הַיּֽוֹם׃

6 וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם יְהוָ֔ה כִּֽי־עָשָׂ֥ה אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיִּתְעַצֵּ֖ב אֶל־לִבּֽוֹ׃

7 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה אֶמְחֶ֨ה אֶת־הָאָדָ֤ם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָ֙אתִי֙ מֵעַל֙ פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה מֵֽאָדָם֙ עַד־בְּהֵמָ֔ה עַד־רֶ֖מֶשׂ וְעַד־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם כִּ֥י נִחַ֖מְתִּי כִּ֥י עֲשִׂיתִֽם׃

8 וְנֹ֕חַ מָ֥צָא חֵ֖ן בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ פ

Transliteration:

1 way·hî  kî- hê·ḥêl  hā·’ā·ḏām, lā·rōḇ  ‘al- pə·nê hā·’ă·ḏā·māh;  ū·ḇā·nō·wṯ yul·lə·ḏū lā·hem.  

2 way·yir·’ū  ḇə·nê- hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm  ’eṯ- bə·nō·wṯ hā·’ā·ḏām,  kî ṭō·ḇōṯ hên·nāh; way·yiq·ḥū  lā·hem nā·šîm, mik·kōl ’ă·šer bā·ḥā·rū.  

3 way·yō·mer  Yah·weh lō- yā·ḏō·wn  rū·ḥî ḇā·’ā·ḏām lə·‘ō·lām,  bə·šag·gam hū ḇā·śār; wə·hā·yū  yā·māw, mê·’āh wə·‘eś·rîm šā·nāh.  

4 han·nə·p̄i·lîm  hā·yū ḇā·’ā·reṣ bay·yā·mîm  hā·hêm wə·ḡam ’a·ḥă·rê- ḵên,  ’ă·šer yā·ḇō·’ū bə·nê hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm  ’el- bə·nō·wṯ hā·’ā·ḏām, wə·yā·lə·ḏū  lā·hem; hêm·māh hag·gib·bō·rîm ’ă·šer mê·‘ō·w·lām  ’an·šê haš·šêm. p̄  

5 way·yar  Yah·weh, kî  rab·bāh rā·‘aṯ  hā·’ā·ḏām bā·’ā·reṣ;  wə·ḵāl yê·ṣer maḥ·šə·ḇōṯ  lib·bōw, raq ra‘ kāl- hay·yō·wm.  

6 way·yin·nā·ḥem  Yah·weh, kî- ‘ā·śāh  ’eṯ- hā·’ā·ḏām bā·’ā·reṣ;  way·yiṯ·‘aṣ·ṣêḇ ’el- lib·bōw.  

7 way·yō·mer  Yah·weh ’em·ḥeh  ’eṯ- hā·’ā·ḏām ’ă·šer-  bā·rā·ṯî mê·‘al pə·nê hā·’ă·ḏā·māh,  mê·’ā·ḏām ‘aḏ- bə·hê·māh, ‘aḏ- re·meś  wə·‘aḏ- ‘ō·wp̄ haš·šā·mā·yim; kî ni·ḥam·tî  kî ‘ă·śî·ṯim. 

8 wə·nō·aḥ  mā·ṣā ḥên bə·‘ê·nê  Yah·weh. p̄ 

NIV:

1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 

2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 

3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 

6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 

7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Study:

The term ‘sons of God’ in verses 2 and 4 has given rise to some fanciful interpretations. One view proposes that these ‘sons of God’ were angelic beings who took corporeal form and had sexual intercourse with women.¹ This is the traditional Christian view. However, Jesus, in Mark 12.25, clearly indicates that procreation is not something that angels are capable of. Hence, this view seems to be going against Jesus’ words. Further, inter species relations in the animal kingdom are rarely fecund. So it seems quite implausible to think that corporeal beings like humans and spiritual beings like angels could actually have any sort of sexual union that would result in offspring. Another view proposes that we view ‘sons of God’ as the descendants of Seth, while the ‘daughters of men’ are descendants of Cain.² However, there is no indication that the text is drawing such a distinction before this. In fact, if this were the case, then this view will have to explain why God decides to punish all ‘men’ (v. 3) rather than only the Cain’s line. 

It seems to me that the text is being facetious. The ‘sons of God’ refers to those ancient near eastern rulers who attributed the title ‘son of God’ to themselves.³ The text is using the term tongue in cheek. These humans are the ones who thought themselves to be of divine origin, while the rest of humanity were just mere mortals. According to the text ‘they married any of them they chose’. This refers to the violent subjugation of women by ruling men. These ‘sons of God’ violated women, choosing whoever they wished rather than giving the women any say in the matter. This violence against women by men in power is what the text is getting at. This is the reason why God becomes angry with humans. Women, who were supposed to be ‘helpers as mirrors’ for men were now subjugated to such an extent that men in power proved their ‘divine origin’ by taking any woman they chose.

The text also speaks of the Nephilim. The King James Version unfortunately translated this word as ‘giants’ giving further unsubstantiated support to the angelic view of the ‘sons of God’. However, the word נְפִילָא (nephila) in Aramaic referred to the constellation Orion, the hunter. And it is likely that this is the source of the word. Indeed, against the Strong’s Concordance is seems more likely that the verb נָפַל (naphal), meaning ‘to fall’ derives from נְּפִלִ֞ים (nephilim) via the Aramaic than vice versa. In describing the Nephilim, the text once again takes on a facetious tone. They were ‘the heroes of old, men of renown’. In other words, they gained their renown through their violence. The text is claiming that they were nothing of the sort. They were those who were renowned and considered to be heroes. But their reputation was built on violence that was more aligned with Cain’s descendant Lamech than God.

The human experiment was failing. Humans were becoming more violent and considering their violence as a diving gift. They were completely repudiating their original vocation, refusing to care for creation, while violating each other. And they were taking pride in this. Then we read the shocking words, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” Things had become so evil that God actually considered a wholesale purge.

Thankfully, though, we then read, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” A single person! That’s all it took for the calamity to be averted. But the shocking revelation in the statement is that there was surprisingly only one!

Prayer:

Our heavenly Father. We are guilty of not knowing how to use the authority given to us. We use it to violate and subjugate others. But we pray that you would, with the power of your Spirit, empower us to refuse the paths of evil and violence and to embrace and promote the paths of grace and peace. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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^{1. Zachary Garris. Who were the “Sons of God” and the Nephilim? (Genesis 6:1-4) (Accessed on 6 October 2019). See a brilliant discussion of this view at Don Stewart. Were the Sons of God Fallen Angels? (Accessed on 6 October 2019)↩}

^{2. R. C. Sproul. Who Are the Sons of God and Daughters of Men in Genesis 6:1-5? (Accessed on 6 October 2019)↩}

^{3. For evidence of the widespread use of the title in the ancient near east, see Gary V. Smith. The Concept of God/the Gods as King in the Ancient Near East and the Bible (Accessed on 6 October 2019)↩}