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genesis 6:4 the sons of God went to the daughters of men
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Permalink Reply by David Velasquez on
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Great article about the topic. Many will have different opinions and that is ok.
THE SONS OF GOD
GENESIS 6:1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (NKJV)
There has been much speculation about who these "sons of God" mentioned in the sixth chapter of Genesis were. Three basic interpretations of this passage have been advanced.
The first, and oldest, belief is that "the sons of God" were fallen angels who consorted with human women, producing giant offspring called nephilim (Heb. נפלים). This view was widely held in the world of the first century, and was supported by Flavius Josephus, Philo, Eusebius and many of the "Ante-Nicene Fathers," including Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Athenagoras and Commodianus.
The second view is one which was first suggested by Julius Africanus and later advocated by Saint Augustine, the Catholic Bishop of Hippo. Augustine rejected the concept of the fallen host having committed fornication with women. In his early fifth century book The City of God, he promoted the theory that "the sons of God" simply referred to the genealogical line of Seth, who were committed to preserving the true worship of God. He interpreted Genesis 6 to mean that the male offspring of Adam through Seth were "the sons of God," and the female offspring of Adam through Cain were "the daughters of men." He wrote that the problem was that the family of Seth had interbred with the family of Cain, intermingling the bloodlines and corrupting the pure religion. This view has become the dominant one among most modern biblical scholars.
The third view is that "the sons of God" were the sons of pre-Flood rulers or magistrates. This belief became the standard explanation of rabbinical Judaism after Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai pronounced a curse in the second century CE upon those Jews who believed the common teaching that the angels were responsible for the nephilim. This interpretation was advocated by two of the most respected Jewish sages of the Middle Ages, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) and Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Nachmanides), and became the standard explanation of rabbinical Judaism. However, it is not widely accepted by modern scholars.
To determine who these "sons of God" were, we'll first examine what various outside sources have to say about this topic. Then we'll examine the ultimate authority, the Bible, to see its position.
Let's start with a quotation and footnote from William Whitson's translation of the respected first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus' history of the Jewish people:
Now this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers, and did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed to them, nor had they any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness; whereby they made God to be their enemy, for many angels* of God accompanied with women and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians called giants. But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and, being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better; but, seeing that they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land. (p. 32, bk. 1, ch. 3, §§72-74, The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whitson)
* This notion, that the fallen angels were, in some sense the fathers of the old giants, was the constant opinion of antiquity.As you can see, Josephus believed and recorded that "the sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6 were fallen angels. As Whitson's footnote acknowledges, this belief was standard in the ancient world.
Another well-known first century Jewish writer, Philo of Alexandria, shared Josephus' views on this topic. In his work "On the Giants," Philo wrote:
"And when the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were beautiful, they took unto themselves wives of all them whom they chose." Those beings, whom other philosophers call demons, Moses usually calls angels . . . (p. 152, The Works of Philo, "On the Giants," translated by C.D. Yonge)
As you can see, each reference above is to angels. There are no instances in the Old Testament where the phrase "sons of God" refers to men.
http://www.herealittletherealittle.net/index.cfm?page_name=Genesis-...
Like the article ends up affirming, I too believe there is a great deal revealed in the Bible about angels. Angels could and did assume human form and even eat men's food (Gen. 18-19). Although the Bible doesn't tell us how, Jude 6 shows that some angels left their proper abode (heaven or/and their spiritual bodies) and took on fleshly bodies so as to marry and produce offspring by the daughters of men.
Blessings
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Permalink Reply by margaret on
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to really get in deeper to this subject check out tom horn and steve quayle on youtube, especially tom horn. shalom
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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Margaret,
Let's say this Horn guy is correct. I don't believe it, but for the sake of the discussion, let's say he is. What does his strange view add to you life in Christ? Of what benefit is his view to you?
Lord Bless,
LT
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because its biblical and we should be aware and alert to whats going on in the spiritual world. its part of exposing evil which scripture says to do. know thine enemy as well as the Lord. also, Jesus taught alot about not being decieved, as most of the world is already decieved by ufos aliens and such. also we are to put on the whole armor of God. i also believe satan has a big plan in the end of times cause he knows his time is short. shalom
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hey v, i watched a five hour video just the other day with tom horn and steve quayle on miesternices channel . it was really good, super informative
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When looking at what this man teaches we need to separate what is known regarding Gen. 6:4 and what is speculated about today and the future. His approach to prophecy and the concept of what is taking place in the spiritual realm is not based on fact, but speculation. He believes, he thinks, as I understand it are statements he uses to avoid claiming they are fact and yet people will listen to the videos and read his books and walk away as if this man has just spoken for God and this is exactly how it will come to pass.
His view is based on speculation, hear-say, spiritism, extra-biblical truth, old world tradition and some truth. After all is said and done he is giving an opinion, but it is being received by some as fact. He would have us believe that angels and demons travel through stargates (wormholes). That the Bible reveals one possible stargate location in Babylon. There has been witnessed a fleet of alien ships parked on the far side of the moon. Biogenetics is all part of this and that the Nephilim will return and that an army shall come through a stargate in the end times to do battle on the earth. Why should anyone believe his view? Where is the evidence? The question is not could he be right, but could he be wrong? If we cannot be sure he is right, and that means he could be wrong, of what real value is his view to us as we live for Jesus today seeking to reach the lost before the end does come in the manner that God has determined. Should we not walk in truth rather than speculation? Be wary of new teaching that is not able to be verified or projects into the future.
People have for centuries tried to figure out prophecy and identify every aspect of it. That is simply not going to happen. Much of it is understandable, but there are parts that will not be understood until the prophecy is being fulfilled.
Lord Bless,
LT
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Excellent post LT. I am in agreement 100% with you.
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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The scripture Hosea 4:6 is often quoted in discussion to promote knowlege...being aware etc.. I believe this scripture is being misundertood. In context, this scripture is referring to God's Laws that people have no knowledge of.
Hosea 4 (New Living Translation)
The Lord’s Case against Israel
1 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!
The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:
“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
no knowledge of God in your land.
2 You make vows and break them;
you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
one murder after another.
3 That is why your land is in mourning,
and everyone is wasting away.
Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.4 “Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
is with you.[a]
5 So you will stumble in broad daylight,
and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.
And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
6 My people are being destroyed
because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
I will forget to bless your children.So we see above this scripure is about lack of knowledge of God's Laws. This is important because a person is convicted by the Holy Spirit when they are aware of God's Laws.. They become aware of God's Righteousness and that they have none on their own.. God is Holy and they are not. If they have no knowledge of God's perfect Law, His perfect character, and His perfect standards, they will perish, because they will not know that they have fallen short---because they are perishing for lack of knowledge.
If anyone is concerned with this type of information (re: this post), i suggest you may better spend your time evangelizing people so that they are not caught in the strong delusion that is coming. I feel that this would be a better use of our time as believers. The point of our faith is to be 'other' centered. Tell others about Jesus more and more.. Let them know the commandments of God so that the Holy Spirit may work in their hearts, and convict them of their sin. Tell them so that they will not perish for lack of knowledge. We must tell them so that they crave for God's righteousness as they learn that judgement will one day come to the whole earth. Also, they will begin to know about God's Grace....they will see that they need a Saviour.. and then they will understand what it means to fear the Lord. When that happens there will not be a lack of knowledge. They will then learn of God's Law, and God's wrath, and also of His Grace.
If we go around telling people anything else we will only sound very odd... This type of message will not convict people, only the Holy Spirit can do that. Tell them about God's Law and judgement...then they will be convicted as the Holy Spirit moves and works. I am not at all talking about a works salvation---Scripture says (and we know) we are saved by faith---i am only trying to keep this Hosea verse in context.
Blessings, Carla
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Peace and Blessings Veronica,
2 Corinthians 2 is referring to church discipline. We are to be forgiving when a repentent sinner who is a believer wants to be reinstated and return to the church. The devils devices that Paul is referring to here is satan attempting to harm the church by using discipine in an unforgiving way. We must be aware that satan will try to condemn God's children when they make mistakes, rather than embracing them and returning them to the fold when they repent. It's not talking about the end times...or alien deception.
Blessings, Carla
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