Genesis 6:1-4 is one of those passages that has given readers a headache for centuries, especially because of these figures called the “Nephilim.”
I just want to say from the jump that I’m not an expert in the literature regarding these figures. One of the most influential scholars in my understanding of this text is the late Dr. Michael Heiser. Check out his work if you want to do a deeper dive into Genesis 6:1-4 than we will explore here.
But for now, let’s dive in.
Genesis 6:1 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.
In verse 1, humans were doing what God commanded them to do in Genesis 1 — being fruitful and multiplying. But things went LEFT beginning in verse 2.
Here We Go Again
Genesis 6:1-4 details a second “fall” narrative in the biblical story thus far. When many of us think of a “fall” narrative, we solely think of what happened in Genesis 3. But the Garden of Eden tragedy begins a cycle of rebellious calamity.
In Genesis 3, we have a tale about a simultaneous rebellion of a spiritual being and two human beings against God. Now, in Genesis 6:1-4, spiritual beings are rebelling against God by forcefully taking humans as wives.
The reason I understand the narrative to be hinting at a forceful encounter is due to the language used:
Genesis 6:1 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives for themselves.
The highlighted words are sampled from Genesis 3, where Eve saw the forbidden fruit as good (Hebrew: tov) and took the fruit and ate it. Now, we read that the sons of God saw that human daughters were beautiful (Hebrew: tov) and took them as wives.
Just as Eve crossed a boundary and took what was forbidden, the sons of God do the same. The human daughters fill the narrative role of the forbidden fruit, and the sons of God fill the role of Eve.
Who are the “Sons of God?”
The identity of the Nephilim cannot be detached from the identity of the “sons of God.” There are a few interpretations regarding these beings, but I’ll summarize two popular views. Feel free to align where you may.
Sethite view: the sons of God are descendants of Seth who wrongfully intermixed with the descendants of Cain.
Supernatural view: the sons of God are spiritual beings who wrongfully cross a divine boundary by intermixing with women.
During the Second Temple period, many Jews held to the supernatural view, which eventually led to a literary work later called 1 Enoch. The first section of 1 Enoch is called, “the Book of the Watchers”, and it expands the story of Genesis 6:1-4. The “Watchers” are synonymous with the “sons of God.”
Here are a couple of passages from 1 Enoch that embody the supernatural interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4:
1 Enoch 6:1 And when the sons of men had multiplied, in those days, beautiful and comely daughters were born to them. 2 And the watchers, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another, “Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the daughters of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.”
1 Enoch 7:1 These and all the others with them took for themselves wives from among them such as they chose. And they began to go in to them, and to defile themselves through them, and to teach them sorcery and charms, and to reveal to them the cutting of roots and plants. 2 And they conceived from them and bore to them great giants. And the giants begat Nephilim, and to the Nephilim were born Elioud. And they were growing in accordance with their greatness.
Both passages build off of Genesis 6:1-4, yet add their own flavor to the details. Regardless of one’s views of 1 Enoch, it helps us understand the theological traditions that influenced many of the Jews in the Second Temple period, in which Jesus and the Apostles lived (***Wink wink, read 2 Peter 2:4-5 and Jude 6).
The Giants
Really? Half-human, half-divine beings?
Remember, Genesis wasn’t written in a cultural vacuum. If we look at the literature of ancient Israel’s neighbors, we’ll see that they also have tales about spiritual beings producing offspring with humans…before a flood.
For example, in ancient Mesopotamian religion, the Apkallū were demi-gods who shared divine knowledge with humans. Not only that, but they intermixed with humans to produce giant, quasi-divine children. The Mesopotamians held both the Apkallū and their giant offspring in high esteem.
However, the biblical author is poking a hole in this ancient Mesopotamian tradition in Genesis 6:1-4. The Nephilim are portrayed in an extremely negative light in Genesis because they are the offspring of a rebellion against God. As Dr. Heiser states, “The point of Genesis 6:1-4 was to express contempt for the divine Mesopotamian apkallus and their giant offspring.”1
Moral of the story: these four verses invite us to explore the minds of ancient Israelites who uplifted their God as the Most High and used common cultural storytelling in the ancient Near East to do so.
Michael S. Heiser. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), 107.
Brother Paul. I’m loving these questions.
I think an important question to raise is if Tartarus and Sheol are meant to be understood as the same realm or not. It seems that they’re different. Tartarus seems to be specific to the judgment of the rebellious spirits (the sons of God). Sheol seems to be the general realm of the dead, to which Jesus descended to and threw down! So, I don’t think the sons of God repented in that case. Even still, all that is above my pay grade lol.
Even more above my pay grade is the connection between demons and the disembodied Nephilim. I know Dr. Heiser made that case, and it’s a compelling argument for sure. I have no idea though.
The Enochic traditions would definitely credit much of the “knowledge” and violence to evil spiritual beings. But as I understand they would say that humans can become co-laborers with the spirits to create the chaos as well. It’s the idea of twin rebellions. Whenever we see humans participating in violence and destruction, we can bet they’re are spiritual powers at play, too.
I wish I could give more Paul lol. Love you bro.
So who did Jesus visit in Hell/Tartarus? Spirits of conquered Nephilim? If He preached to them, did they hear the good news and repent?! Or was it a victor speech and more of a trash talk that they have been ultimately defeated? Are demons just disembodied Nephilim?!
Was it the sons of God/watchers that brought technology (like weapons, etc) to earth and we aren’t necessarily the creators of mass murder and genocide but solely beneficiaries of it through the “fall” of some of the super natural?
The readers need MORE!
Great article. Thanks for putting it out!