Genesis 6:1 Now when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose. 3 So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward as well—when the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men. And they bore them children who became the mighty men of old, men of renown. BSB
So far the story has been about male children who were born. Now we are introduced to the daughters. These women attract the attention of the sons of God who took them as wives (although the Hebrew word used is also translated in other parts of the Old Testament as “woman”). Nevertheless, “daughters of men” is clear while “sons of God” is less so. The two schools of thought are that sons of God can refer to humans such as Adam or that it can refer to angels (see Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7).
The modern view is that “sons of God” refers to the male descendants of Seth marrying the female descendants of Cain. So we have two lines, a godly and a worldly, who are intermarrying with these wives from the Cain side of the family leading their husbands away from God. They produce offspring who are strong with the implication made that they are also adversarial.
During their time in captivity, many of the Jewish men had taken wives and married their children to people from the nearby areas. Upon their return to Jerusalem, they are instructed to get rid of these foreign wives (and children) who are not Jewish as these non-Jewish wives are turning their husbands away from Judaism. (See Ezra 9 and 10 and Nehemiah 13). This is the dark side of the story but there is also the story of Ruth who is a Moabite and part of the genealogy of Jesus.
Our favorite pastor tells the story of going to a Christian college located across the street from a major university. The two schools had nicknames for each other – the “angel factory” and “Sodom and Gomorrah”. Students at the Christian college were warned not to walk across the street as they might end up dating and/or marrying someone from the major university. The problem, not unlike those Jews returning from exile, was of being unevenly yoked, i.e., you cannot have a Godly marriage if not married to a believer.
The problem with the viewpoint of “sons of God” referring to the male descendants of Seth is that this isn’t how the people of Jesus’ time or the early church understood the reference as “sons of God” can also refer to angels (see Job 1:6, 2:1 and 38:7). This earlier thought is that fallen angels are what is being talked about as “sons of God” who then impregnate human women. (There is some disagreement as to whether these angels are able to have children with the human women or did they, as demons are wont to do, possess a human male for their purposes here). This view of the Jews and early Christians was heavily influenced by the Book of Enoch which failed to be included in Scripture either by the Jews or Christians. These early people had a much greater understanding of both the material and spiritual world as they were not contaminated by the materialism of the Enlightenment. In our day we tend to shy away as we are uncomfortable about the spiritual world. What turned the church away from this position is the question asked of Jesus by the Sadducees regarding the woman who ended up as the widow of seven brothers with no children.
Mark 12:18 There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take the wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 20 There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. 21 The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise; 22 and the seven left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? 25 For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. NHEB
The assumption made by the church based upon this text (and similar ones in Matthew and Luke) is that angels cannot have sex. While a logical thought, the Bible never says that angels can’t have sex nor does it tell us that angels are genderless. (It also does not tell us that angels are compatible with human women in terms of reproduction). Note too that Jesus qualifies His statement by referring to the “angels of heaven” which is a little different than fallen angels.
2Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the lower parts of hell, and committed them to chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; NHEB
Jude: 5 Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all) that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 You also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up for the judgment of the great Day. 7 So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire. NET
1Corinthians 11:10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. NET
The verses above from the New Testament offer support for this this older view:
Genesis 6:5 And the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And God was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. 7 God said, “I will destroy humankind whom I have created from the face of the earth; humankind, along with animals, crawling creatures, and flying creatures of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” NHEB
No matter how you look at verses 1 through 4, verse 5 is the bottom line as it zeros in on the depravity to which man has sunk. Verse 5 is the clearest declaration of original sin and total depravity in the Old Testament. At this point in the narrative, there is nothing that hasn’t been touched by sin. It’s not that humans can’t do some good things but things have become so disordered and tainted that the old order has to be stopped and then started anew.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the sight of God. NHEB
Greek philosophers have an understanding that God is apathetic which we hear as God not having any feelings (from the Greek apathos). Their thought is how reliable is an emotional God who loves you today but perhaps not so much tomorrow? In other words, if God has feelings and we can impact God’s heart then we aren’t as secure as we think we are. (This idea works its way into some branches of Christian theology). What is missing from their thought process is the idea of a covenantal relationship where God loves us because He chose to love us. That love is unaffected by what we do.
These verses show God expressing sorrow and regret implying that something is happening that God didn’t intend to happen or that perhaps God is saying that He should have done something differently. This opens the door for some rather un-Biblical thinking such as the idea that God isn’t in control or that He is always changing. The reality is that God has granted us freedom and in that freedom, humanity has driven things into a ditch. We see in the New Testament that we can grieve the Holy Spirit therefore the choices we make affect God. Here He decides to blot out the image bearers that He has created but like the earlier stories, there is a token of grace in verse 8 as one guy has found favor with God.