The second reason a Second Temple Jew would have thought the world was so corrupt comes from Genesis chapter six. This passage is unusual because it has divine beings taking human wives and having children by them. If a divine being is going to procreate with human women, we assume they would have to take corporeal form. There are different interpretations of this account but if we accept the supernatural world view of scripture and we accept the testimony of New Testament authors, then we are compelled to accept this passage for what it claims to be.
1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
Genesis 6:1–4 (ESV)
The text is short and fragmentary. It doesn’t tell us much about how or why the events took place. Where this passage is placed is important. The previous chapter contains the genealogy from Adam to Noah, from creation to the flood. Beginning at Genesis 6:9 we have a continuation of Noah’s genealogy. So Genesis 6:1-8 forms a bridge between chapter five and the flood story. It seems to offer an explanation for the continual wickedness, or corruption, that the Lord saw (vs. 5) and the reason for the flood.
One thing is obvious. The contrast between “sons of God” (bene ha’elohim) and “daughters of man” (bat ha’adam) is intended to distinguish between divine beings and human beings. The Hebrew phrase, bene ha’elohim, and similar phrasings (bene elohim and bene elim) are used elsewhere in the OT only of heavenly beings.
Sons Of God
There are basically three views of who these “sons of God” are. The first view sees them as the godly descendants of Seth. Augustine was a proponent of this view but this was partly due to his disagreement with a group called the Manichaeans. The second view sees the “sons of God” as human rulers. These two views can be found in modern commentaries of the Bible. The third view sees the “sons of God” as divine beings. (See the link at the end of this post.)
Prior to the end of the fourth century AD, ancient interpreters considered the “sons of God” to be heavenly beings based primarily on the influence of this perspective in Second Temple Jewish literature and early Christian texts (e.g., 1 Enoch 6–11; Jubilees 4–5; 2 Pet 2:4–5; Jude 6).
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ge 6:2.
New Testament References To Genesis 6
There are two direct references to Genesis 6 in the New Testament and other indirect references.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV)
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day;
Jude 6 (ESV)
We should note that the only place in scripture where angels “sinned” is in Genesis 6:1-4. Peter and Jude both reference the same episode. Both indicate that Genesis 6 involved “angels,” or divine beings, who made a decision to cross a boundary established by God. They went from living in the unseen, supernatural realm to living in the natural realm and violating God’s created order.
Effects Of The Sin Of The Watchers
This event recorded in Genesis 6:1-4 is known in Second Temple literature as the rebellion or sin of the Watchers. It has parallels in Mesopotamian literature. A Second Temple Jew would have considered this episode the biggest reason for sin and corruption in the world. Adam and Eve almost get a pass because they were deceived. The transgression of the Watchers, however, resulted in the proliferation of evil in the world and the further corruption of mankind. It involved corrupting both the hearts and minds of humans and corrupting the human race by creating a hybrid race.
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD (Gen 6:8).
For Further Consideration
A refutation of the Sethite view.
Questions
- What do you think? Is the idea of divine beings leaving the spiritual realm, taking on corporeal form and then having offspring with human women believable?
- One of the ways in which theologians say we are created in God’s image is that we possess free will. Do you think that the angels, divine beings, have free will? If so, why?
- In the New Testament Jesus is called the Son of God. What contrasting ideas can you see between the corrupt sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4 and what the New Testament tells us about Jesus?
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