0 - Bible Commentary | Karuna Sadan

Who were the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6?

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. (Genesis 6:1-2)

The three primary views on the identity of the sons of God are:

1. They were godly descendants of Seth intermarrying with wicked descendants of Cain.

2. They were powerful human rulers

3. They were fallen angels

However, the oldest, and likely the most widely held, interpretation is that the “sons of God” are fallen angels. This was the interpretation most favoured in ancient Judaism and the early church.

Also, the Hebrew phrase translated “sons of God is bene ha Elohim which clearly refers to angels. The same phrase can be found in Genesis 6:4, Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7.

The epistle of Jude clearly refers to what happened in Genesis 6:1-4

And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 6-7)

This idea is also repeated in 2 Peter 2:4

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment (2 Peter 2:4)

So, the view that Genesis 6:1-4 involves fallen angels (sons of God) mating with human females has a strong contextual, grammatical, and historical basis.

Who or what were the Nephilim?

There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterwards when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Genesis 6:4)

One of two words translated as giants in Genesis 6:4 is Nephilim, from the root naphal, meaning to fall. The Nephilim (“fallen ones, giants”) were the offspring of sexual relationships between the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1–4. When the fallen angels intermingled with the earthly women they produced a race of giants.

The New Testament tells us that these fallen angels are now bound in the lower compartment of hell (KJV), which in Greek is Tartarus—the lowest hell—where they await the final judgment (see 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6).

Long-standing beliefs of gods falling in love (or lusting after) human women and giving birth to "god-men" of superhuman height, strength, and power were prevalent across the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean countries, according to historians. According to ancient Greek mythology, the hero Heracles (in Roman mythology) was fathered by the beautiful human Alcmene after having a tryst with her.

"Mighty men of old" and "men of renown" were the demi-god figures referred to in Genesis, and they were well-known to the ancient writers and readers of the Hebrew Bible at the time they appeared. This short mention in Genesis 6:4 provides a passing explanation of how they came to exist.

What happened to the spirits of the Nephilim after they were killed by the flood?

God told Noah, “I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.” (Genesis 6:17)

The global flood that God brought upon the earth, destroyed the Nephilim (the hybrid offspring of the union between the fallen angels and human women).

Numerous Bible scholars tell us that the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim remained on the earth and became what we now refer to as demons. These disembodied spirits traverse the surface of the planet in search of human bodies through which to manifest through. These disembodied spirits do not make their headquarters in the atmospheric realm. They desire to possess human bodies. They vary in form, shape, height, appearances and power, among other characteristics.

In the instance of the man with the legion of demons, which is possibly six thousand demons, there was only one ruler of darkness heading them. When Lord Jesus asked him for his name, he (singular) answered that his name was Legion (Mark 5:9). Those who understand this truth will not take long in delivering people who are possessed by multitudes of demons. All we have to do is deal with the key demon, who is the leader of the team, and the rest will come out.

….and also afterward (Genesis 6:4)

Scripture clearly indicates that there were giants even after the flood. How could this happen when all the giants were killed in the global flood?

Nowhere in scripture does it say that those angels ever cohabited and/or had relations with human women after the flood. Genesis 6 was the only instance of this. So how did the Nephilim return? How could this have happened? The Bible holds the answer:

And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. (Genesis 7:6-7)

While Noah and his sons were 100% human, we are not told the same about the wives of his 3 sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. What is clear is that one or more of these women were carrying the Nephilim gene. According to many bible scholars, this is the source of the post-flood Nephilim.

The first time Nephilim giants are mentioned by name after the flood is in Numbers 13 after the Exodus in which Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to go to God’s designated Promised Land. Moses sent 12 spies to scout out the land in advance. 2 of the spies, Caleb and Joshua spoke of the land in glowing terms and urged the Israelites to enter and rightfully claim the land God had promised them. But the other 10 spies had a different opinion:

And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. “And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:31-33)

First off the giants living there were descendants of a specific person named Anak. This description, where a Nephilim is referred to as “[name] who was born of the giant..” shows that the Nephilim hybrids after the flood were the offspring of other giants and not angels.

Additionally, these giants had special agricultural knowledge that they knew how to grow grapes so large that it took two Israelite men using poles to carry a cluster!

But Noah (rest) found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8)

This is the first mention of grace in the bible.

Notice, God’s grace was found, not earned!

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)

The word perfect refers to being complete and without blemish. However, in this context, it emphasizes that Noah was undefiled by the corruption surrounding him.Being “perfect” indicated that Noah’s bloodline, going back to Adam, had not been corrupted by the DNA, or seeds, of the giants.

So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. (Genesis 6:12)

Notice the phrase ‘all flesh’ - meaning both men and beast, was corrupt, or in a decaying process (especially in a moral sense).

While the Genesis account does not elaborate on this corrupted flesh, it is mentioned in the book of Jasher—a book referred to twice in the Bible (Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18). A copy of the book of Jasher was discovered and translated in 1840. The writer, commenting on the flood narrative, gave a hint of the manipulation involving animals:

“And the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order wherewith to provoke the Lord; and the Lord saw that the whole earth was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals.” (Jasher 4:18)

We see a prophetic parallel with today’s genetic manipulation of DNA. Researchers have used the DNA of both animals and humans as they attempt to clone an exact replica of animals or humans.

Dimensions of the Ark that Noah built

And this is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits [that is, 450 ft. x 75 ft. x 45 ft.].

You shall make a roof or window [a place for light] for the ark and finish it to a cubit [at least 18 inches] above—and the ]door of the ark you shall put in the side of it; and you shall make it with lower, second, and third stories. (Genesis 6:15-16)

There were three decks or three levels on Noah’s ark

Why did God send the Flood?

And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. (Genesis 6:17)

The flood served these chief purposes:

1) To destroy the Nephilim giants.

2) To punish the angels who committed the illicit relations with women and make an example of them so that no other angels would ever attempt this again and

3) to save humanity from certain destruction.

4).To bring the promised seed (the Messiah)

Interestingly enough, the destruction of marine life is not mentioned.

What about the Mermaids?

Mermaids are mythical sea creatures with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Their male counterparts are called mermen.

Images of the ancient Philistine god Dagon (1 Samuel 5:2) could easily pass for modern conceptualizations of a merman. Even Christopher Columbus documented seeing mermaids while exploring the Caribbean.

Noah’s Ark displays many similarities to Jesus Christ

1.By entering the Ark, Noah ensured the physical survival of himself and his family from the flood. When we enter into saving faith through Jesus (John 10:9), we ensure our spiritual survival through eternal life with Christ.

2.When the destruction of the world was close, God called out to Noah saying: “Come . . . into the Ark” (Genesis 7:1). God was with Noah and his family throughout

3.The Ark had only one door through which Noah had to enter in order to be saved from the Flood. Likewise, salvation in Christ has only one door (John 10:9).

Chapter 6