Genesis 6:1-4 says:<\/p>\n
“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God\u00a0saw the\u00a0daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.\u00a0 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.’\u00a0 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. \u00a0Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.<\/em>“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
People often refer to this text as one of the most difficult in the Bible; there is much disagreement about what the verses mean.\u00a0 They speak of a time before the flood when the sons of God married the daughters of men.\u00a0 A commonly held position is that the “sons of God” are angels, as this phrase is sometimes used to refer to them (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Psalms 29:1-2).\u00a0 Rebellious angels, they say, came to the earth in human bodies and married “the daughters of men” (humans) because of their beauty.\u00a0 (Some argue that these “sons of God” were lesser gods instead of angels.\u00a0 Others explain the verses by saying that evil spirits took over the bodies of wicked men.)\u00a0 Even though they were heavenly, spiritual beings, according to some, these angels had sexual desires.\u00a0 This union produced children who became “giants,” resulting in the earth’s wickedness that led to the flood.\u00a0 (II Peter 2:4 and Jude 6, which speak of angels who sinned, are tied into this viewpoint.)\u00a0 This position is very ancient, with many believing it today.<\/p>\n
First, the interpretation that “sons of God” are angels contradicts Jesus’s teaching in Luke 20:35-36, which says angels do not marry.\u00a0 Next, if this position is true, it is interesting that only humans, not angels, are condemned.\u00a0 One writer put it like this:<\/p>\n
“Even more serious is the problem of why judgment should fall on the humans and on the earth if the angels of heaven were the cause of the trouble.\u00a0 God should have flooded heaven, not earth.\u00a0 The culprits came from above; the women seem to have been doing nothing except being beautiful!”\u00a0 [Kaiser et al., p. 107].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As noted, some passages refer to angels as the “sons of God.”\u00a0 However, the Bible uses this description in another way – it can refer to followers of God, and there are many more cases of this use in the Scriptures.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For instance, in the Old Testament, Israel is called the\u00a0sons of God<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0Deuteronomy 14:1 says, “You are the\u00a0<\/em>children<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(“sons” ESV)\u00a0of the Lord your God<\/em><\/strong>.”\u00a0 When Moses returned to Egypt, God told him to tell Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: Israel is\u00a0My son<\/strong>, My firstborn<\/em>” (Ex. 4:22).\u00a0 In Jeremiah 31:9, He also said Israel is His\u00a0firstborn son<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Speaking to restored Israel, Hosea 1:10 says, “You are\u00a0sons of the living God<\/strong><\/em>,” and Proverbs 14:26 reveals, “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and\u00a0His children<\/strong>\u00a0will have a place of refuge.<\/em>“<\/p>\n
Passages abound in the New Testament where this description occurs.\u00a0 Consider them:<\/p>\n
\n
- Galatians 3:26 – “For you are all\u00a0sons of God<\/strong>\u00a0through faith in Christ Jesus.<\/em>“<\/li>\n
- Romans 8:14 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are\u00a0sons of God<\/strong>.<\/em>“<\/li>\n
- Romans 8:19 – “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the\u00a0sons of God<\/strong>.<\/em>“<\/li>\n
- Matthew 5:9 – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called\u00a0sons of God<\/strong>.<\/em>“<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
With this in mind, to help us understand these verses, it is important to consider the context.\u00a0 Chapters 4 through 5 list the descendants of Cain (who murdered his brother) and Seth (Adam and Eve’s third son).\u00a0 Cain’s descendants, listed in Genesis 4:16-24, say little about whether they were righteous or unrighteous, except for one, Lamech, a murderer.\u00a0 In contrast, after the birth of Seth, verse 26 of chapter 4 says, “And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. \u00a0Then men began to call on the name of the Lord<\/strong>.<\/em>” It says nothing like this of Cain’s descendants.\u00a0 Chapter 5 gives the descendants of Seth; among them were Enoch (“who walked with God<\/em>“),\u00a0 Methuselah, and Noah.\u00a0 Thus, it might be concluded that the descendants of Seth were generally righteous, and those of Cain were generally unrighteous.\u00a0 After having spoken of sons and daughters being produced upon the earth, the verses then mention the “sons of God<\/em>” (descendants of Seth) marrying the “daughters of men<\/em>” (descendants of Cain) in Genesis 6:1-2.\u00a0 This union resulted in wickedness upon the earth, which brought on the flood described in chapters 6-8.\u00a0 If marrying between the two lines is not meant, the Scriptures could still be speaking of the righteous marrying the unrighteous, regardless of lineage. \u00a0Nevertheless, this verse does not teach that angels came to earth and married women.<\/p>\n
Some interpret Genesis 6:4 to mean that giants (NKJV) were born of the union of angels with women. \u00a0But, first, we must understand that the first part of the verse discusses something which happened before<\/em>\u00a0the sinful marriages of Genesis 6:1.\u00a0 It says, “There were giants on the earth\u00a0<\/em>in those days,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men<\/em><\/strong> . . .”<\/p>\n
Next, we will look more closely at the word “giant” (NKJV).\u00a0 Most modern English translations render the original word as “Nephilim” instead of “giants.”\u00a0 This word is a transliteration of the original Hebrew word and means “to fall upon or attack.”\u00a0 Another definition is a person who is a bully or tyrant.\u00a0 Consider the following comments from the Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary:<\/p>\n
“But although the idea of gigantic power does underlie the language of the sacred historian, the term Nephilim seems to bear a deeper significance; and if etymology may guide us, it describes a class of men of worthless and at the same time of violent character. \u00a0It is commonly traced to fall, and considered to signify either fallen ones, apostates, or falling upon others. \u00a0In the first sense many of the fathers applied it to designate fallen angels. \u00a0But it evidently describes a particular class of men, and hence, the latter meaning is preferable, intimating that the Nephilim were marauding nomads-men of a violent, overbearing, lawless character-who abused their bodily powers to obtain their selfish ends; who were constantly roving from place to place in quest of plunder, and, emerging suddenly from their retreat, made attacks both on the property and the lives of men.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Mike Willis, in his commentary, points out, “The text does not emphasize their physical size (which has nothing to do with moral degeneracy) or that these were a hybrid race (which again says nothing about their moral conduct), but their violence” (p. 306).<\/p>\n
The last part of Genesis 6:4 reveals the aftermath of the marriages (Genesis 6:1):\u00a0 “Afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. \u00a0Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.<\/em>”\u00a0 These were “mighty men,” generally a positive description; however, in this context, it describes people who used their strength for tyranny and oppression and became well known for it. \u00a0The world was full of violent people.\u00a0 All of this set the stage for the flood soon to come.<\/p>\n
Again, this is a difficult passage.\u00a0 But, the most plausible position seems to be that the sons of God (descendants of Seth, being righteous men) chose to marry the daughters of men (descendants of Cain, being unrighteous women). \u00a0They chose physical beauty over character, leading to wickedness on the earth and the resulting flood.<\/p>\n
Works Cited and Consulted<\/h2>\n
\n
- Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. \u00a0Copyright \u00a9 1997-2014 by Biblesoft, Inc.<\/li>\n
- Kaiser, Walter C., et al. \u00a0Hard Sayings of the Bible<\/em>. \u00a0Intervarsity Press, 2010.<\/li>\n
- Willis, Mike. \u00a0Truth Commentaries Genesis 1 Genesis 1-25a<\/em>. \u00a0Vol. 1, Truth Publications Inc., 2021.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Mike Johnson via Seeking Things Above Genesis 6:1-4 says: “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God\u00a0saw the\u00a0daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1502,189],"class_list":["post-92413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-angels","tag-genesis"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19379,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/your-argument-that-the-nephilim-came-first-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":92413,"position":0},"title":"Your argument that the Nephilim came first is wrong","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your argument\u00a0that the Nephilim came first after the sons of God had children is wrong. It is one sentence. The Nephilim were in the earth in those days when the sons of God came and had children with the daughters of men. If it was two sentences then you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8574,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-were-the-sons-of-god-in-genesis-64\/","url_meta":{"origin":92413,"position":1},"title":"Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6:4?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please explain Genesis 6:1-8. Who were the sons of God? Answer: \"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89659,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-are-the-sons-of-god-in-the-book-of-job\/","url_meta":{"origin":92413,"position":2},"title":"Who Are the Sons of God in the Book of Job?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Author Unknown Almost every reference in the Bible to \"sons of God\" refers to men who live in harmony with the will of God. However, I believe the three instances of the sons of God found in Job (Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7) refer to angels. I would be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85191,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/evil-continually-genesis-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":92413,"position":3},"title":"Evil Continually (Genesis 6)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chuck Richardson via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 1, January 2015 Genesis chapter 6 opens with the revelation that man was desperately evil, and God responded with a complete destruction of all living persons and things, save Noah and his household. The reason: Noah found grace in the eyes of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-there-be-nephilims-after-the-flood-if-the-flood-wiped-out-all-but-noahs-family\/","url_meta":{"origin":92413,"position":4},"title":"How can there be Nephilims after the flood if the flood wiped out all but Noah’s family?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, In Genesis 6:4 we are introduced to the Nephilims for the first time and it says that \"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days - and also afterward.\"\u00a0 Then we had Noah's flood.\u00a0 After that, the Nephilims were mentioned again in Numbers 13:33, where they were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47981,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-nephilim\/","url_meta":{"origin":92413,"position":5},"title":"The Nephilim","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton (Short Talk) Text: Genesis 6:1-4 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are three groups mentioned in our reading: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Nephilim \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The sons of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The daughters of men II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is frequently claimed that the Nephilim were beings who resulted from fallen angels having sexual relations with humans \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But angels are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}