Sons of God

It is clear from the text that the sin humanity committed that led to Yahweh wiping them out (Gen. 6:3) was that the “sons of God” were marrying the daughters of men (Gen. 3:2); this is the only thing mentioned before the Yahweh’s judgment is pronounced. The sin in Gen. 6:5 is additional explanation to the one mentioned in Gen. 6:2.

Though this may be shocking to some, the “sons of God” are, in fact, the demonic angels. (See Sons of God excursus for more explanation.) Every time the First Testament mentions the title “Sons of God,” it always refers to the angels (Job 1:6). Since the action of these angels was evil and not good, it is clear that they are the fallen angels. Probably the strongest evidence for this view is 2 Pet. 2:4-6 and Jude 6, which state that there are demons in the abyss because of a sexual sin they committed during the days of Noah.

Understanding the “Sons of God” title as fallen angels not only stays true with its meaning everywhere else in the Bible, but it also explains why this sin was so unique that it has not happened since, warranting a wiping out of humanity. The product of this unholy union was the Nephilim, a word that is translated into the Greek to refer to the Greek titans who were half human and half god.

So what is the point? Gen. 3 demonstrates that humanity’s first sin was an attempt to gain wisdom outside of Yahweh’s will and to become gods. In this following chapter, humanity is comingling with demons in attempt to become gods. The tower of Babel will repeat the same thing. Understanding this lets us see how evil and prideful humanity had become, that they were willing to do this. Yahweh seems more interested in emphasizing the sin of humanity in this event than how this was even possible in a supernatural way.