Troublesome Topic: WHO WERE THE “SONS OF ELOHIM”?

WHO WERE THE SONS OF ELOHIM?

This is one of the most disputed passages in the Bible, and it revolves around the question, Who were the “sons of Elohim?” The phrase can refer to one of the following:

1 The descendants of Seth in contrast to the descendants of Cain

2 The righteous followers of God 

3 The “mighty ones”

4 Angels

5 A combination of options 2 and 3

            First of all, it is important to note that giants were very common before the flood. There were people who were very large and strong without having any physical problem associated with their size.

Let’s look at these in more detail.

I. The phrase “sons of elohim” refers to the sons of Seth. If this interpretation is to be adopted, Gen 6:2 would read like this: “The male descendants of Seth saw that the female descendants of Cain were desirable, and they took as wives for themselves whomever they chose.”

How did such unions bring about the ruthless giants called Nephilim? The only possible answer is that these men who had previously been good, began to seek power and control and they found it by using extreme size to forcibly get what they wanted. In order to maintain that size in their families they had to seek wives who were also very large, hence they looked outside of their “group” to wherever they could find that size. This is the only way that this interpretation can bring about the Nephilim. The lesson in this case is that their corruption brought about the need for a world-wide flood.

II. “followers of God.” The phrase “sons of Elohim” has usage elsewhere in Scripture with the meaning “followers of God.”

 Here the emphasis would be on the heart, not on blood lines.

If this interpretation is to be chosen, Genesis 6:2 would be rendered: “The sons of the righteous saw that the daughters of the rest of humanity, i.e. the wicked, were desirable, and they took as wives for themselves whomever they chose.”

Interpretations 1a and 1b, which are close to being one and the same, fit the purpose and context better than any other. That is a huge element in their favor. They teach the following lesson. If this is the correct meaning, then the problem arose when followers of God began to want power and control just like they saw others had, and thus became corrupted and began seeing the women that practiced ungodly lifestyles as desirable for their size and likely for their lascivious practices. They may have felt that they had no other choice, they “had to” marry giant women in order to keep up with others and not be pummeled into submission by the wicked giants. But in the process, they gave up their godly principles. The lesson is to follow God even if it seems to ruin our chances of gaining an advantage among the humans we live with.

III. The word “elohim” means “mighty ones.” There are a few times in Scripture when Elohim is used of entities other than God. Because it means “mighty one(s),” the term can refer to any entity that is mighty. God fits that description best, but a few others can, and are called mighty. It is sometimes used of angels, as we shall see under point #4, but it is also used of mighty men. Psalm 82:6 uses the term elohim of wicked, powerful men whom God will judge, showing himself to be the true judge, the true ruler. See also Ex 21:6 and Ex 22:9, where the word elohim is often translated “judges.” In Psalm 29:1 it is translated “mighty ones,” although in this case it is unclear whether the mighty ones are angels or men. I prefer to think of it as men, that is why I have placed this Psalm in this category.

If we take this interpretation, the passage means that powerful, ruthless men, probably among the descendants of Cain, or among the ungodly, liked what they saw among the daughters of Seth, or among the righteous, and they began to take them by force to be their wives. When we read later about their offspring being the Nephilim we realize that it is likely that their power came from their size. There was nothing the righteous men could do to protect their daughters because these men were so powerful. This brought about a mixing of the two groups which previously had remained separate, and the mixing ended up producing a widespread corruption even in those who had been faithful to God.

If this interpretation is chosen, Genesis 6:2 could read like this: “The sons of the mighty ones saw that the daughters of the rest of humanity were good, and they took as wives for themselves whomever they chose.”

Why would the wicked giants want to forcibly take wives from the pious families. Why would the wicked giants want to take wives from others who were not like them, i.e not giants?

If this interpretation is the right one, the spiritual lesson here is that we need to resist evil even if it is a difficult task and even if there is great risk. The mixing by marriage of these two previously separated groups fomented the increase in corruption which necessitated the world-wide flood.

Genesis 6:4 ends with the words, “Those were the mighty men of old, the men of renown.” I take this to refer to the large, powerful leaders of the righteous, who were primarily descendants of Seth and his siblings. The winnerssurvivors write the history books. All we have today is the stories passed on by Noah. Since these were the ancestors of Noah, there was no logical reason for them to record or retell the exploits of the leaders and heroes of the wicked, only those of their own heroes. Their exploits were either recorded in writing or told in oral tradition to future generations of the sons of Noah.

V. The phrase “sons of elohim” refers to angels. There are several passages of Scripture where the term “elohim” is used of angels. For instance, Job 1:6; and Job 38:7.

If this interpretation is followed, Genesis 6:2 would read like this: “The angels saw that the daughters of men were desirable and they took as wives for themselves whomever they chose.”

This method of interpretation is fraught with several serious problems which I will explain two lessons from now.

Next go to WHAT ROOT DOES THE WORD NEPHILIM COME FROM?