The sons of God

Once again, this was an odd strange Jahwist story about the sons of Elohim, in Genesis, chapter 6:1-7.  These sons of Elohim were enamored over the daughters of men.  Who were these sons of the Elohim God?  Apparently, they could be divine beings who belonged to the heavenly court, maybe related to the cherubim.  Perhaps, it was something like the various Greek and Roman gods who had intercourse with humans.  Maybe it was the line of Cain marrying with the line of Seth.  Most of the early biblical sources refer to the “sons of heaven” as angels.  From the third century BCE onwards, there were non-canonical references to the “sons of heaven” being enamored by human women, like some kind of superhumans.  Likewise, a long-held view among some Christians was that the “sons of God” were the formerly righteous descendants of Seth who rebelled, while the “daughters of men” were the unrighteous descendants of Cain.  Orthodox Judaism has taken a stance against the idea that angels could marry with humans. They have suggested that this text should read “the sons of noble lords”.  Jesus said that angels did not marry, but these may have been fallen angels.  Who are the sons of God?

Advertisement