This is a scriptural commentary submitted by a volunteer or a volunteer translator. It’s not an official view of the 2001 Translation project. We are not a religion and we do not establish doctrine. These commentaries reflect a variety of views and some disagree with each other. Anyone can submit a commentary (see requirements).
The Greek expression uioi tou Theou literally means sons of/the God.
Notice that this term was originally used only when speaking of Adam or of heavenly messengers that are God’s direct creations, never as the progeny of men, who are referred to as uioi tou anthropois – sons of/the men.
Although the term ‘sons of God’ was later applied to those that will be adopted by Him (as mentioned in Hosea and in the writings of Paul), ‘The sons of The God’ referred to at Genesis 6:2 must be speaking of God’s spirit sons, since the only fleshly son of God up to that time was Adam.
Also, notice how the women it speaks of there, whom they took, were not called ‘the daughters of/the God,’ but ‘the daughters of/the men,’ or humans (Greek: Tas thygateras ton anthropon).
This raises a question: Do God’s heavenly messengers have libidos that would be aroused by seeing beautiful women?
No, for Jesus indicated at Matthew 22:30 that sexual reproduction isn’t a part of heavenly life. So, why would ‘sons of God’ want to come to earth and take ‘all that whom they chose’ to be their women? Perhaps the motivation was the same as the Slanderer’s, a lust for power.
It is generally assumed that they materialized human bodies and fathered children, who may have been the same as those that the account says grew to be ‘giants’ and ‘famous men,’ in their time (See Genesis 6:4).
The fact that Greek mythology (which seems to be loosely based on events of this period) tells us of great men that were born from the gods, suggests a possible connection of the ‘gods’ to the power and size of their offspring. Such men as Hercules come to mind.
On the other hand, ‘giants’ that were ‘sons of men’ were later mentioned as living in the Promised Land from the time of Moses to the time of King David. So we can’t say that giants were all offspring of ‘the sons of God.’
Just a side point:
The hybrid offspring of ‘the sons of God’ and ‘the daughters of men’ (‘giants,’ or ‘nephilim’ in other Bibles), may not have been mortal and forced to age and die like natural humans. Why not?
They were not descendants of Adam through their male line. Thus, they may not have been under the curse of death that God placed upon Adam and his descendants.
If this is true, then the existence of these ‘famous men of that age’ may well have been a major reason for God bringing the Downpour, and to force death upon this unnatural race. Indeed, such ‘immortals’ could have eventually displaced mortal humans and ruined God’s purpose of ‘watching for the head’ of the evil one.
Some say that since they were ‘hybrids,’ they couldn’t reproduce offspring (like mules), but there nothing in the Bible that says this, so it’s all just speculation.