Subject: The Sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4 |
Bible Note: Dear Hank, You say," I come not to debate either side of the issue, but to observe," and yet you bring another issue of debate to the table. This thread is about Gen 6:1-4 and I think we should stick to the topic, but to answer your question I have copied something Kalos wrote today and I agree with it as follows, "Consider this. Any doctrine that depends solely on one verse of Scripture -- especially if it depends on only one verse in only one particular translation -- any such doctrine that is so inadequately supported isn't much of a doctrine to begin with." That was by Kalos today and in agreeance with him, not only have I listed that the NIV says in Job, that the sons of God are angels, but also the fact that The Septuagint calls the sons of God, angels in Gen 6:2. Two examples are supplied to his request. Are the translators of the NIV and the Septuagint wrong? Jesusman asked for a verse where it says sons of God are angels, and he was shown. I find that I need to utilize as many versions as I can, especially for a deeper understanding in my search for the love and truth. Bless you, Love Fountain Regarding the Hebrew, SONS OF GOD (Old Testament) (bene ha-'elohim, "sons of God" (Gen 6:2,4; Job 1:6; 2:1); bene 'elohim, "sons of God" (Job 38:7); (from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 SONS OF GOD (2) Most scholars now reject this view and interpret "sons of God" as referring to supernatural beings in accordance with the meaning of the expression in the other passages. They hold that Deut 14:1, etc., cannot be regarded as supporting the ethical interpretation of the phrase in a historical narrative. The reference to Jer 32:20, etc., too, is considered irrelevant, the contrast in these passages being between Israel and other nations, not, as here, between men and God. Nor can a narrower signification (daughters of worldly men) be attached to "men" in verse 2 than to "men" in verse 1, where the reference is to the human race in general. This passage (Gen 6:1-4), therefore, which is the only one of its kind, is considered to be out of its place and to have been inserted here by the compiler as an introduction to the story of the Flood (verses 5-8). The intention of the original writer, however, was to account for the rise of the giant race of antiquity by the union of demigods with human wives. This interpretation accords with Enoch chapters 6-7, etc., and with Jude 6 f, where the unnatural sin of the men of Sodom who went after "strange flesh" is compared with that of the angels (compare 2 Peter 2:4 ff). (See Havernick, Introduction to the Pentateuch; Hengstenberg on the Pentateuch, I, 325; Oehler, Old Testament Theology, I, 196 f; Schultz, Old Testament Theology, I, 114 ff; Commentary on Genesis by Delitzsch, Dillmann, and Driver.) But see ANTEDILUVIANS, 3; CHILDREN OF GOD; GIANTS; NEPHILIM; REPHAIM. (from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 |