Sons of God

The question, “who were the sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6:2 has been the topic of much speculation among Christian circles. Does the Bible teach in this verse that angels had sexual relations with humans and produced giants? The Scripture contains enough information for us to reach a logical conclusion on this matter.

The view that the “sons of God” were fallen angels is an ancient view that dates back to the last two centuries B.C. There are two main arguments for those who hold to this view. First, the phrase “sons of God” is used exclusively in the Old Testament in regards to angels. Second, two New Testament passages appear to identify angels with the incident described in Genesis 6:1-4. In II Peter the sin of the angels is mentioned before the judgment of the world and in Jude the sins of the angels is identified with the sexual sins of Sodom and Gomorrah (Davis 111).

J. Vernon McGee makes a very logical point to show that this verse is not referring to angels. In his Bible commentary he says, “if these were good angels, they would not commit this sin and Evil angels would have never been referred to as the “sons of God”. The offspring between the sons of God and the daughters of men were not monstrosities they were men” (McGee).

One of the more popular interpretations among conservatives is that the sons of God are the lineage of Seth who called upon the name of the Lord. They believe that the “daughters of men” refers to the excommunicated race of Cain. “That which proved of such bad consequence to them was that they married strange wives, were unequally yoked with unbelievers, 2 Cor. 6:14. This was forbidden to Israel, Deut 7:3, 4” (Matthew Henry). Those who call upon the name of the Lord are often referred to in scripture as being the sons of God.

Just because the phrase “sons of God” is often used in the Bible when referring to angels this is certainly not the case here. Jesus taught in Matthew 22:30 that angels do not “marry or give in marriage.” Since those who believed in God intermarried with unbelievers, the earth became filled with wickedness. In verse 3, man was given hundred and twenty years before the flood came and destroyed man for his sin (King James Study Bible).