SONS OF GOD (בְּנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִימ׃֙; LXX οἱ υἱοί τοῦ θεοῦ). The meaning of this phrase in Genesis 6:1-4 is the center of one of the difficult exegetical problems of the OT. To whom does this title refer, to pagan deities, to pagan rulers, to angels or to descendants of the lineage of Seth? Among pagans there are mythological stories which go back to the Hurrians (c. 1500 b.c.) which tell of nature deities who engage in illicit relations among themselves and in some instances with humans. Is this passage a small remnant of such a story? Most OT scholars admit that erotic mythology is not a normal feature of the OT lit., yet claim that this is such a story. In this case, the OT writer altered an ancient myth and, with embarrassment, set it forth as a basis for God’s judgment in the form of a flood. If so, this method is contrary to procedure elsewhere in the OT. There is some evidence that pagan rulers were called “sons of God” in ancient times. There is no way to prove or disprove such a meaning was attached to this phrase in Genesis 6:1-4.

In several OT passages, such as Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; and Daniel 3:25, the term seems to denote angels or “heavenly beings.” (Cf. Pss 29:1 KJV; 89:6; where “heavenly beings” refer back to God.) The argument is that fallen angels married women and begat children. Nowhere else in Scripture are heavenly beings depicted as corrupting mankind. Jesus said that a married state did not apply to angels (Matt 22:30).

Those who argue in favor of the descendants of Seth point out that the term hā’ elôhîm (God) elsewhere in the OT regularly means “the one true God” and rules out the pagan orientation for this phrase. They argue that the concept of a son relation between God and His worshipers is not alien to the OT. It is a concept as well as a phrase. Note that in Deuteronomy 32:5; Psalm 73:15 and Hosea 11:1 the word “children,” Heb. “sons” or “son” relates men with God. In Hosea 1:10 the statement, “You are...sons of the living God” has the same thrust. In the NT the phrase, “children” or “sons of God” occurs in John 1:12; Romans 8:14; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 3:1; and Revelation 21:7, in each instance relating men with God. These references would be based on the OT rather than on the ideas of paganism. Understanding “sons of God” as of the Seth lineage would tie the previous genealogies with the Flood in a natural way.

Bibliography E. G. Kraeling, “The Significance and Origin of Genesis 6:1-4,” JNES 6 [1947], 193ff.; A. Bustanoby, “The Giants and the Sons of God,” Eternity [Oct. 1964], 19, 20; M. G. Kline, “Divine Kingship and Genesis 6:1-4,” WTJ [1962], 187-204.