Sons of God - Humans or Angels (Update 6-28)

            Who are the “Sons of God” that Genesis chapter six refers to? There are two main theories concerning this phrase. The first idea is that this chapter is talking about the good or Godly sons of Seth, the replacement child of Adam after the death of Able. The second idea is that this phrase is referring to fallen divine angelic beings that were originally supposed to watch over humans. According to the book of Enoch, this class of angels was known as the Watchers. I plan to give evidence that supports the second idea and casts doubt on the Sethite view. I will use biblical, extra biblical and outside sources to prove my point.

 Genesis 6: 1-2, 4

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

            The Hebrew used for Sons of God is Ben-ha-e-lo-him. This phrase is used five times in the Old Testament. The first two occur in Genesis chapter six. The next three occur in the book of Job.

Job 1: 6

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

Job 2:1

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. 

Job 38: 4-7

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
⁵ Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
⁶ To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38 is clearly discussing the creation account when it then states that the “sons of God shouted for joy.” How could this be the sons of Seth, if humans had not even been created? Many Christians believe that this phrase is Job is describing angels, but the same phrase in Genesis is not. This represents inconsistent hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible or literary texts. Translating the same phrase as two different meanings is setting yourself up for a misunderstanding of the text.

One of the main reasons that the Sethite view is pushed is based on a verse from Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4: 26

And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.

            First I would like to point out that the word “men”, does not appear in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew for “Then men began to cal on the name of the LORD” is “Chalal qara shem YHWH”. Chalal: to pierce, defile, desecrated, this is Strong’s H2490. Qara: call, summon, proclaim (Strong’s H7121). Shem: name. YHWH: the Hebrew name for God. So this would be appropriately translated as “Then the name of God began to be desecrated or defiled.” This translation of this verse does not lend itself to the suggestion that the sons of Seth were holy by any means.

Leviticus 19: 12

And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

            The word profane is the same word Chalal used in Genesis 4: 26.

            The book of Jasher actually comes right out and says what I am claiming.

Jasher 2: 2

And Seth lived one hundred and five years, and he had a son; and Seth called the name of his son Enosh, saying, Because in that time the sons of men began to reproduce, and to afflict their souls and hearts by disobeying and rebelling against God.

            Dr. Chuck Missler has this to say about the meaning of the name Enosh.

“Seth's son was called Enosh, which means mortal, frail, or miserable. It is from the root anash, to be incurable, used of a wound, grief, woe, sickness, or wickedness. It was in the days of Enosh that men began to defile the name of the Living God.”

            According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia,” Some commentators hold that by “sons of God” is to be understood the pious race descended form Seth, and by “daughters of men” the daughters of worldly men. These commentators connect the passage with Genesis 4: 25 where the race of Seth is characterized as the worshippers of Yahweh and is designated as a whole seed.” However, if this was the case, why doesn’t the text just state that to be the case? It is my reasoning that leads me to believe that some of these men have mistranslated words and come to this false conclusion based on these erred translation. 

            Now I want to talk a little bit about the angels themselves. First of all, it is my belief that many of the ancient rulers. Kings, and judges, were in deed these “fallen” angels themselves. The biggest arguments that I have heard is that they do not have physical bodies, and therefore are unable to procreate. This is actually two arguments, the first being they have no physical bodies, and the second, if they do then they don’t have the proper equipment to procreate. Let’s take a look at what the bible says concerning angels and physical bodies first.

Psalms 78:25

Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.

If angels did not have physical bodies, why would they have physical food that even man can eat? Angels are both spiritual and physical. Angels have the ability to take on human form as we can see from this passage from Genesis.

Genesis 18: 1-8

 The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground. 3 “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. 4 Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. 5 And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.”

“All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”

6 So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures[a] of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.” 7 Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. 8 When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees.

The three men mentioned here are YHWH, and the two angels that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. We can see several things from this. First, they take the form of humans, second we see them eating and third we can imply that they are also drinking.

Hebrews 13:2

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

            This verse clearly is stating that angels have the ability to appear in the flesh, so much so that men cannot tell the difference between them and other humans. How else can you explain the idea of entertaining angels without being aware that they ARE angels? This just further shows one of two things. Either angels are created and naturally look similar to men, or they have the ability to change forms or “shape shift” if you will.

 Genesis 19: 1, 5

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

            This verse seems to indicate that men and angels both had the proper parts and ability to physically see and copulate with each other.  All these verses put together should show that the angels do in fact have the ability to manifest into physical human-like bodies. As far as the angles not being able to procreate, I don’t see anything in the bible that specifically states that claim. However, I do see that the men in these two cities long for the chance to have sex with these angels. Whether they knew they were angels or not I cannot be sure.

Matthew 22: 30

For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

            This does not mention having sex, or procreating at all. Having everlasting life would indicate that a marriage would never be allowed to be broken considering you would be bound to a single person until death.

Luke 20: 34-36

And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

            It seems more likely that marriage is what is being discussed here. There is nothing in these two verses that indicate that angels do not have the proper equipment to procreate. These verses also do not specify whether or not there will be sex or procreation in heaven, or whether the angels procreate themselves.

2 Peter 2: 4

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment

            There are obviously a group of angels that God himself did not spare once they sinned. The idea that I am putting forth is the ONLY one that I see mentioned in the bible, anywhere. I do not see any evidence mentioning the Sons of God being humans, there does not seem to be any scriptural evidence to support that claim.

Jude 1: 6-7

 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

            Again we see that there were a group of angels that left their own habitation. This literally means that they left their own home or place of existence in order to live somewhere else. Where else do we see any mention of angles going off to live apart from God?

            In verse 7 we see that these angels are compared to Sodom and Gamorrha, and then Jude immediately references their sexual sin. If we are to believe that the fallen angels could not exists, and even if they did, couldn’t have sex, then what is Jude talking about? Why would he mention the angels in a comparison to the sexual immoral Sodom and Gomorrha? That seems to make little sense. Contextually, there MUST be some link between the two in order to make this statement make sense.

Whether they do or do not is beside the point that I want to make. Because we know that angels CAN and DO take on the physical bodies of humans, we must also consider that in that form they are able to have sex and procreate. It is my personal belief that if angels take human form and stay in that form for an extended period of time, they may begin to be tempted by the flesh. The same temptations that all of mankind feel on a daily basis.

Galatians 5: 19-21

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

            This verse seems to play directly into my theory that taking on the flesh for extended time periods caused the angels to take on the sins of the flesh as well. I also believe that being in human form also pulled the veil that covers the heavens from our site, over their eyes as well, causing a separation from God.

Romans 8: 5

Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

            As we can read in the book of Enoch, the Watchers were no longer able to please God. He would not even allow them to stand before Him to plead their case. They chose to ask Enoch to be their “lawyer” of sorts. YHWH allowed Enoch to be the mediator for the fallen, but told Enoch to tell them they would not be forgiven for their sin.

            All in all I do not see that angels do not have the ability to procreate, and I do see evidence that shows they can at LEAST manifest into a physical body.

            Let’s take a moment to look into what angels are like according to the bible. Doing this I think we will see that not only would it be plausible for them to take wives, but even be worshiped by man.

Luke 20: 36

and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels…

            Angels are immortal. Living several generations and never changing in appearance surely would convince people that you are a god and deserve to be worshiped as such.

Luke  15: 10

In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

            This verse seems to indicate that angels have emotions.

2 Samuel 14: 20

He did it to place the matter before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of God, and you understand everything that happens among us!”

            It seems from this verse that angels are quite wise and have the ability to understand the things that God is doing. This too would make them appear much more intelligent than humans. Being of a higher intelligence, it would seem somewhat easy for them to convince man to worship them as gods. I believe we can see this all throughout the ancient mythologies. We continually read about how the gods came down and procreated with humans and created “Demigods”. The bible calls these things nephilim. The book of Enoch talks about how the nephilim fought against each other, we see this in Greek mythology as well.

            There are several verses in the bible that show some of the amazing abilities that angels possess. The book of John gives us a glimpse of some good an angel can do.

John 5: 4

 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

            It is amazing that they have the ability to heal man. To put this in the context of one of them attempting to be looked upon as a god, showing this type of miracle would certainly convince people that not only were they gods, but they were good.

            Now they also had other abilities as well

Genesis 19:11

And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Luke 1:19-20

And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

            These two passages show that they had the ability to make men blind, and also to cause men to become mute. Both of which can be viewed as godlike abilities. Many of the ancient mythologies describe men being blinded as punishments for deeds that went against the gods or in our case the fallen angels.

            A few examples of this are Erymanthos being blinded after he saw Aphrodite bathing. Poseidon put a mist before Achilles’ eyes causing temporary blindness in order to stop him from killing Aeneas. Metope is punished by her father Echetus with blindness and must work to regain her sight. It seems that many of the same abilities that the ancient gods possessed were similar to those abilities that the bible claims angels have. I feel that this is just one more little bit of proof that there were fallen angels on earth posing as gods and having sex with humans in our ancient past.

            The origin of the Sethite view came from Augustine of Hippo during the 4^th century current era. John Calvin later fed into this theory during the 17^th century CE. Douglas Hamp, an author of several Christian books including “Corrupting the Image”, had this to say concerning the invention of the Sethite theory.

“Augustine says, ‘By the daughters of men the scriptures designated those who sprang from the race of Cain,’ (Augustine as quoted in Summa Theological Aquinas). We must ask the important question – where in scripture does it say such a thing? Augustine makes the claim above that scripture designates those daughters as coming from the race of Cain, but just where do we see that? The answer is that we simply do not. It was first tentatively considered by Julius Africanus and then completely invented by Augustine and then repeated by all who would follow in his footsteps ever since. If the term “sons of God” refers to the “sons of Seth” as so many suggest, then why does the text not simply state it?”

            Prior to the sons of Seth theory, the common view held was the “sons of God” were the fallen angels. There really seems to be no argument left as to why anyone would continue to suggest anything other than the term “sons of God” refers to the angels that left their first estate.

            Unless you are able to explain how the sons of Seth and the daughters of Cain can create giants, along with explaining how there were more nephilim AFTER the flood in which killed all the descendants of Cain, then you have no argument. There is no need to go any further until those two points are addressed. If, by some miracle, you are able to come up with a legitimate argument for those two things, then try to disprove everything else I have written here that surely proves that not only were fallen angel on the earth, but that they were fathering children and being worshipped as gods.

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