Genesis 6 vs 1-5

[GramdpaMunster]

I like Genesis because there is a lot of interresting material. The sons of God mated with the daughters of men and produced the nephilim. I wonder if the fall of man was further corrupted by this becouse God responds by limiting man’s life expectancy to 120 years and the next vwerse

5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

The sons of God in question would be fallen angels if this is the case. The nephilim should have been destroyed in the flood, if it was universal. But they still could have further corrupted man by the knowledge they gave.

 

[Nita]

I like Genesis because there is a lot of interresting material. The sons of God mated with the daughters of men and produced the nephilim. I wonder if the fall of man was further corrupted by this becouse God responds by limiting man’s life expectancy to 120 years and the next vwerse

5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

The sons of God in question would be fallen angels if this is the case. The nephilim should have been destroyed in the flood, if it was universal. But they still could have further corrupted man by the knowledge they gave.

I think “sons of God” refers to those who tried to please God (this is the meaning elsewhere in Scripture). “Sons of men” would refer to those who did not seek and follow God. You can see the two lines in the geneologies given in the two preceding chapters: Cain’s descendents Gen 4:17-24 and Seth’s descendents Gen 5:1-32.

The passage you refer to (6:1-5) follows immediately after the giving of those geneologies.

 

[Dan_Parker]

I think “sons of God” refers to those who tried to please God (this is the meaning elsewhere in Scripture). “Sons of men” would refer to those who did not seek and follow God. You can see the two lines in the geneologies given in the two preceding chapters: Cain’s descendents Gen 4:17-24 and Seth’s descendents Gen 5:1-32.

The passage you refer to (6:1-5) follows immediately after the giving of those geneologies.

On the other hand, the term Sons of God only occurs here and in Job where the sense can only mean angels:

NAB Job 1:6 (1 )One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them.
NAB Job 2:1 Once again the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
NAB Job 38:7 (1 )While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Also, if these Sons of God were merely god-fearing men, how does that explain why the resulting offspring are the Nephilim ?

 

[Nita]

On the other hand, the term Sons of God only occurs here and in Job where the sense can only mean angels:

NAB Job 1:6 (1 )One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them.
NAB Job 2:1 Once again the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
NAB Job 38:7 (1 )While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Also, if these Sons of God were merely god-fearing men, how does that explain why the resulting offspring are the Nephilim ?

Deut. 32:8-9 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of men, He fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the LORD’S portion is His people, …

Isaiah 1:2 “**Sons **have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against Me”. (God chastising His Chosen People.)

Psalms 82:6 I (God) say, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;”
[Jesus references this Psalm in John 10:34-35 to show that it referred to God’s Chosen People
John 10:34-35 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came…”

Also, if you do a search on “sons of men”, you will see that it is often (but definitely not always) used to denote those who are not God’s people, those who are wicked, those who persecute God’s people.

You mention the “Nephilim”. It sounds like they were some sort of tribe or race present on the earth – both before the “sons of God” bore children fathered by the “sons of men” and afterward. There is nothing in my translation that indicates it was a name given to the offspring of that union. Assuming the last sentence in Gen 6:4 refers to the Nephilim, all we know is that they “were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.” Perhaps they are the ones referred to as the “sons of men”.

 

[Dan_Parker]

Deut. 32:8-9 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of men, He fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the LORD’S portion is His people, …

Dan:
I think what you have here is a textual problem. Some bibles have a different reading, such as the DR.
DRA Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel.

Isaiah 1:2 “**Sons **have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against Me”. (God chastising His Chosen People.)

Psalms 82:6 I (God) say, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you;”
[Jesus references this Psalm in John 10:34-35 to show that it referred to God’s Chosen People
John 10:34-35 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came…”

Nita
Also, if you do a search on “sons of men”, you will see that it is often (but definitely not always) used to denote those who are not God’s people, those who are wicked, those who persecute God’s people.
[COLOR=“Red”]
Dan:
I agree with that statement.

Nita
You mention the “Nephilim”. It sounds like they were some sort of tribe or race present on the earth – both before the “sons of God” bore children fathered by the “sons of men” and afterward. There is nothing in my translation that indicates it was a name given to the offspring of that union. Assuming the last sentence in Gen 6:4 refers to the Nephilim, all we know is that they “were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.” Perhaps they are the ones referred to as the “sons of men”.

Dan:
There also appears to be a textual variant regarding Ge 6:2 in the LXX:
LXE Genesis 6:2 {06:3} that the <1> sons of God having seen the daughters of men that they were beautiful, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose.** {1) Alex. angels of God}**

There does appear to be a relationship between the children born and the Nephilim. The Nephilim (men of renown) are mentioned at the beginning and end of the verse with a clause with the word “when” showing cause and effect.

NJB Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on earth in those days (and even afterwards) **when **the sons of God resorted to the women, and had children by them. These were the heroes of days gone by, men of renown

 

[Nita]

I used the RSV for all the quotes I gave.

I think what you have here is a textual problem. Some bibles have a different reading, such as the DR.
DRA Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel.

Checked the Greek LXX on this and it says “angels” of God (not “sons”). “Israel” is not in the Greek text. It seems to me “children of Israel” would be an interpretive translation rather than a literal one. The passage definitely is about the Israelites, God’s people, and not about angelic spirits.

Re Genesis 6:2:
Checked the Greek LXX and the word there is “sons” - not “angels”. I don’t have the LXE - nor do I know what it is.

 

[Dan_Parker]

I used the RSV for all the quotes I gave.

Checked the Greek LXX on this and it says “angels” of God (not “sons”). “Israel” is not in the Greek text. It seems to me “children of Israel” would be an interpretive translation rather than a literal one. The passage definitely is about the Israelites, God’s people, and not about angelic spirits.

Re Genesis 6:2:
Checked the Greek LXX and the word there is “sons” - not “angels”. I don’t have the LXE - nor do I know what it is.

The LXX is frequently not merely translated but also an interpretation of the text. The LXX is evidence that the Jews had a tradition that these sons of God were angels.

LXE is an English translation of the LXX by Brenton.

 

[Nita]

The LXX is frequently not merely translated but also an interpretation of the text. The LXX is evidence that the Jews had a tradition that these sons of God were angels.
.

It also shows that there was a tradition of calling some humans (God’s people, the Israelites) “angels of God” and “sons of God”

 

[Nita]

LXE is an English translation of the LXX by Brenton.

So the LXE is English then and not Greek? What would be special about that translation over others based on the Septuagint? I’m not familiar with Brenton. Is he a Jehovah’s Witness?

 

[Nathan_Wagar]

The Jews did have a tradition of these sons of men to be fallen angels known as “watchers,” who corrupted the world of men before the flood. References are made in 1 Enoch 6-21; Jubilees 5, 1-11.

The Catholic Church has, in my understanding, traditionally understood them to refer to the line of Seth.

 

[Nita]

Did some googling and found answers for most of my questions.
LXE is in English. Very, very little about Brenton. (Couldn’t find any sort of a biographical article on him.) One site did say he was a member of the Plymouth Brethren. If I’m correct, it’s also thought that he did the translation alone.

 

[Dan_Parker]

So the LXE is English then and not Greek? What would be special about that translation over others based on the Septuagint? I’m not familiar with Brenton. Is he a Jehovah’s Witness?

No, Brenton is the English translation that comes with Bibleworks.

 

[Peter_Dawson]

I personally think that the Genesis 6 “sons of God” are fallen angels who had sex with human girls in an ancient version of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon.

I know that that sounds completely nuts, but I am convinced that I am correct.

The evidence is substantial.

 

[JAGCath28]

Does the Catholic Church teach that the fallen angels are described in this chapter of Genesis? I find it strange that the USCCB website uses the NAB with footnotes indicating this thought if the Church disagreed with this teaching.

 

[Peter_Dawson]

I like Genesis because there is a lot of interresting material. The sons of God mated with the daughters of men and produced the nephilim. I wonder if the fall of man was further corrupted by this becouse God responds by limiting man’s life expectancy to 120 years and the next vwerse

5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

The sons of God in question would be fallen angels if this is the case. The nephilim should have been destroyed in the flood, if it was universal. But they still could have further corrupted man by the knowledge they gave.

IMO, the Genesis 6 material referred to is an ancient prediction of the UFO Abduction Phenomenon currently impacting humanity.

 

[JAGCath28]

New advent.com doesn’t speak clearly (at least for me to understand) what the Church’s position is on this subject. Does the Church (or any writings of the early Church Father’s) teach that the sons of God in Gen 6:1-5 refer to fallen angels or the sons of Seth? With Job also referring to sons of God as the angels it just gets very confusing. I know everyone has a different opinion, but what does the Church teach? That is what I want to know.

Thank you.