The Sons of God, Nephlim and the book of Genesis

[Wandile]

Any simple reading of the passage concerning the Sons of God mating with the daughters of men shows that the Fallen angels mated with man and created Giants (Nephlim, the historical basis for the Greco-Roman pantheon?). The Nephlim were champions of their time and even were taken as gods.

With regard to the Dead Sea Scrolls :

The copy of the Genesis Apocryphon discovered at
Qumran dates back to the 2nd century B.C., but it was
obviously based on much older sources. When
discovered in 1947, it had been much mutilated from the
ravages of time and humidity. The sheets had become
so badly stuck together that years passed before the text
was deciphered and made known. When scholars
finally made public its content, the document confirmed
that celestial beings from the skies had landed on
planet Earth. More than that, it told how these beings
had mated with Earth-women and had begat giants.
Is this story myth or history, fable or fact? Specialized
research has revealed that many ancient legends have
a basis in fact. But to answer the question, let us consult
the most authoritative document known to man–the
Bible.

In Genesis 6:1-4 the “sons of God” are captivated by the
beauty of the “daughters of men.” They subsequently
marry them and produce an offspring of giants known as
the Nephilim. Genesis goes on to say that these
Nephilim were “mighty men” and “men of renown.”
“Sons of God”? “Daughters of men”? What sort of beings
were these? Were they human or did they belong the Angelic species?

The early Church father Origen also held this view as well as many others.(He was deemed a heretic partly because of this)

Why do some say then, that the Sons of God are the Sons of Seth?

 

[IggyAntiochus]

Why do some say then, that the Sons of God are the Sons of Seth?

Because the idea of fallen angels mating with human women is ridiculous. Much less impregnating them. Angelic beings, fallen or otherwise, are spirit beings and do not marry, or mate with anyone (as Jesus confirms).

They are the sons of Seth because the early chapters of Genesis display two lines of humanity from Adam, one godly (the line of Seth) and the other ungodly (the line of Cain). The godly are elsewhere in Scripture called the sons of God.

 

[campeador]

From Haydock’s Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859 edition:

Ver. 2. The sons of God. The descendants of Seth and Enos are here called Sons of God, from their religion and piety: whereas the ungodly race of Cain, who by their carnal affections lay grovelling upon the earth, are called the children of men. The unhappy consequence of the former marrying with the latter, ought to be a warning to Christians to be very circumspect in their marriages; and not to suffer themselves to be determined in choice by their carnal passion, to the prejudice of virtue or religion. (Challoner)

 

[truthsave]

Yes it is true, the son of Seth.
Nevertheless this passage leave inside you a deep sense of not completation.
The son of God, (the son of Seth) are normal humans. The Nephilim are not normal human beings. In a certain way their exceptional nature testimony of some exceptional mating. If you see it in this way then the idea of the Watchers (the after fallen angels) having a bodily desire can be considered if not believed.
It is for this same reason God (in the book of Enoch) condemn these angels. Since He made man capable of reproduction since he had to die, but the angels didn’t have to die so their desire was really terrible since deprived of any reason not even secondary if not lust. In the same book of Enoch we read God made hell as a prison for these angels.

I think it is an interesting topic that doesn’t influence our christian faith or behaviour. It is more like an historical curiosity.
The Book of Enoch if I am not wrong it is still canonical for the Ethiopian Orthodox