“The Sons of God” in Genesis 6 Were Men, Not Angels: Part 2 of 2

Last updated on: April 3, 2019 at 5:20 pm by Kermit Zarley

“The Sons of God” in Genesis 6 Were Men, Not Angels: Part 2 of 2 2019-04-03T17:20:27-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

To see Part 1, click here.

There are so many compelling objections to the fallen angels interpretation of Gen 6.1-4 that I think their overwhelming sum renders this erotic view fallacious, if not absurd!

First, Gen 6.2 says “the sons of God” took women “as their wives.” Wives necessarily presupposes a domestic life together. Yet advocates of the fallen angels interpretation ignore this concept by only positing angels having sexual intercourse with women.

Second, this fallen angels interpretation is a male chauvinistic view of angels. How so? It presumes that all angels have male sexual organs that produce (physical?) sperm compatible with human procreation. Yet the Bible never says this. Moreover, the Bible repeatedly identifies “angels” as “spirits,” sometimes interchanging these two terms. And the Bible never says angels procreate their own species.

Third, while the Bible often describes angels appearing visibly to humans as men, such texts likely only mean that angels appear human generically, not that they are human.

Fourth, the Bible’s first creation account—in which God tells a select group of angels he will make human beings in “our” image—adds that he will make them “male and female” (Gen 1.26-27; 5.1-2). This suggests a contrast in which God and angels are sexless. The primary divine purpose for making humans male and female, not to mention animals, was for them to copulate and thereby reproduce their own species to populate the earth (Gen 1.27-28). Trinitarians interpreting “us” in these texts as support of their doctrine is eisegesis rather than exegesis.

Fifth, Jesus indicated that angels are sexless when he said of God’s people, “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mt 22.30; cf. Mk 12.25; Lk 20.35-36; cf. Gal 3.28). Jesus clearly meant angels cannot propagate. Many NT scholars rightly claim that this saying of Jesus is the foremost biblical text that dispels the fallen angels interpretation of Gen 6.1-4.

Sixth, Gen 6.1-7 blames only humans, thus not angels, for this wickedness. For we read, “the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually” (Gen 6.5). And twice the text says all flesh was “corrupt,” and “the earth was filled with violence” (vv. 11-13). Thus, God was going to destroy both men and women with the flood since both had sinned. This exclusive blame of humans may be the second strongest counter to the fallen angels interpretation of Gen 6.1-4.

Seventh, it is unjust for men to suffer the judgment of the flood if they were not involved in the transgression committed, in which only women copulated with angels.

Eighth, this fallen angels interpretation is presented as though the women could not resist the angels impregnating them, which makes the women blameless as well.

Now, the New Testament has three mysterious texts that have rightly been connected to Gen 6.1-13. First, the Apostle Peter says in his first epistle that Jesus “was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah” (1 Pt 3.18-20). Second, Peter similarly writes in his second epistle, “God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment” (2 Pt 2.4). (The word “hell,” here, translates tartarosas in the Greek text. It is a place in the underworld that Greeks called Tartarus.) Peter then connects this with Noah’s Flood and mentions God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (vv. 5-8). Third, Jude writes of “the angels who did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling, he [God] has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). Jude next mentions Sodom and Gomorrah as other examples of God’s judgment against immorality (v. 7).

Although Genesis 6 only blames humans for the wickedness that caused God to destroy the earth by a flood, 1 Pt 3.18-20, 2 Pt 2.4, and Jude 6 fix the underlying cause of it on the influence of angels. It resulted in God casting them into the underworld’s Tartarus to await their final judgment. These verses are obscure to us moderns since their authors treat a matter unknown to us that raises questions. This suggests that these matters were known to most first century Jews or else these authors likely would have said more about it. If so, they may have used common oral, if not written, tradition that afterwards became non-extant. This is supported by (1) the last two passages fitting the same order of the destruction of the earth with a flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, (2) angels deemed partly to blame for the evil, and (3) similar language or concepts are used. These texts help interpret each other, such as the spirits in prison being angels cast into hell, and these angels disobeying God since they “did not keep their own position, but left their proper dwelling.”

To sum, although “the sons of God” in Gen 6.1-4 were men, thus not angels, who took women as wives and procreated with them to produce Nephilim, three NT texts seem to blame some angels for influencing these antediluvian humans in committing this wickedness which caused God to judge the entire world by sending a great flood that destroyed them all except for righteous Noah and his family.

Previous Post

May 8, 2016

James Hahn Wins 2016 Wells Fargo Championship

Next Post

May 13, 2016 Second Day of 2016 PGA Tour Players Championship

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

I saw a river flowing from the temple threshold, getting deeper until it became a river no one could cross. What grew along its banks?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Trees Flowers Vines Grass

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »