Gen 6:1-4
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INTRODUCTION
Mythical stories of gods and humans mating and producing semi divine children run rampant in ancient literature. The idea that celestial creatures could come down to Earth and copulate with human beings has inspired many a romantic fairy-tale over the years. The children created from these affairs became the heroes of the day. Whether evil or good, these families have been the characters in the legends parents have told their broods for centuries. One of the most well known instances of such a tale is the myth of Hercules: the young man who was half god and had extraordinary strength. Surprisingly enough, there is such a story to be found even in Scripture. Genesis 6:1-4 is the true narrative from which all of the aforementioned tales most probably drew their ideas. It is argued, however, if these verses can be taken in such a manner or if that is reading too much into it. The goal of this paper is to research whether or not either side of the argument can be fully proved.
GENESIS 6:1
Mentioned in verse one is a population explosion, which comes to be connected with the increase of human iniquity. A Babylonian myth (Atrahasis circa 1600 B.C.) tells a similar story of the growth in number of humans correlating to the downfall of the race. In this story the god, Enlil, becomes irritated at the noise of expanding humanity and he plots their annihilation. In Genesis, the threat to humanity lies in their moral decay. A flood that wipes out most, if not all, of the inhabitants of Earth follows both of these population explosions directly. It is not surprising that as the population of Earth grows so does its evil ways. God blesses procreation, but this is not the sole means to survival. There must be a relationship with God for the human family to prosper and be blessed.
GENESIS 6:2
FABRICATION
The way this verse is interpreted decides the meaning of the rest of the passage. The main problem here is the identification of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”. Many see this entire passage as an ancient myth, in relation with other such stories of demigods. This was simply the authors way of including a story that was included in every culture. This was simply an attempt at explaining the origin of this race of giants. In that case, the interpreters cut the entire passage out as mere fabrication. It is a legend or fairy-tale of antiquity and the only thing missing is the local dragon or ogre.
SONS OF SETH AND DAUGHTERS OF CAIN
Some Christians try to make this passage more believable by explaining that the “sons of God” are the sons of Seth and the “daughters of man” are of the line of Cain and other non-Sethites. The idea is that by the union of these two lines, morality breaks down. The Cainites, being an evil and godless race and the Sethites, being the true believers, marriage between the two is expressly forbidden. This idea was latched onto and first explained by early Church Father Augustine and later the Reformers. Chapters four and five contrast the two lines descending from Adam, so it is a natural rationalization that chapter six explains the consequences of their intermarriage. The statement that these “sons” took from all the “daughters” whoever they chose accentuates the failure to be discriminating in whom they married. Forsaking their previously godly ways, they married for lustful reasons only.
There are problems with this interpretation, however. The sons of Seth were obviously not godly men; they all died in the flood. Also there is the point that Adam had many sons besides Seth and Cain. In which category would these children fall: spiritual “sons of God” or defiled evil men and how could that decision be made? In addition this verse, if taken this way, only stresses the marriage between godly men and ungodly women. Were the daughters of Seth not marrying the sons of Cain?
Furthermore, in as far as linguistics goes, the term “sons of God” is used only three other times in the Old Testament. All three of these incidents are in the book of Job when referring to spirit beings, twice being specifically the angels that accompanied Satan to the throne of God. A very similar form of this phrase is used to speak of the fourth inhabitant of the burning furnace in the book of Daniel. Although some object and say that the phrase “sons of God” is used in the New Testament to describe true believers, this only serves to prove the point. The distinguishing character of both the born again believer and angels is that they were not born of humanly means, but created by God.
FALLEN ANGLES AND HUMAN WIVES
This leads the expositor to a third and more often discussed proposal, the theory of fallen angels spreading their seed among the human race. In fact, the Hebrew account corrects the false belief that there was, in the ancient times, a Herculean race of partially divine beings. In truth, the perpetrators were not gods but degenerate angels whose progeny were just sinful men of popularity, subject to the same devastation of Gods just anger as any corporeal creature. Jewish historians and even the Septuagint agree and uphold this interpretation. In the Septuagint the translation comes across as “angels of God” rather than “sons of God”. This dominant Old Testament version of the apostolic period would have been the one read by Christ and His disciples.
This idea is the oldest opinion known, being advocated among the Jews as early as the second century B.C. as evidenced in the book of First Enoch. Although it is not canonized or recognized as the inspired word of God, it is, however, important to the research of this topic. The author of First Enoch writes in chapters six through eight:
“And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: Come, let us choose us wives from amount the children of men and beget us children They were in all two hundred [They] took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and encharments… And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells… And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways”
First Enoch also tells of the punishment