Sons of God (Angels) Took Wives For Themselves – Genesis Chapter 6:1-4 – Lesson 37 2025
Genesis 6: 1-2 KJV 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
The book of Job helps us understand that the descriptive phrase “sons of God” is referring to angels. The Hebrew term in the Old Testament translated as “sons of God” in English clearly refers to heavenly beings. Many versions of the Bible have changed the wording from sons of God to read angels in the books of the Old Testament. But not in Genesis 6 nor in the book of Job.
From Job:
Job 2:1 (KJV) 2 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 38:7 (KJV) 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
These “fallen” angels who took wives of all whom they chose from the daughters of men demonstrated sinful pride. They chose to abandon their position and leave their proper dwelling. They are now being “kept in everlasting chains” until the Day of Judgment.
Scripture References:
Jude 1: 6 (KJV) 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
2 Peter 2:4-5 KJV 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Genesis 6:3 KJV 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
According to scripture, Noah spent about 100 years building the Ark. God may have been pointing to the number of years mankind had left before the flood would come when only a total of eight people were spared. Or, possibly, it means that man’s lifespan would be decreased to 120 years. We do see lifespans decrease after the worldwide flood.
Genesis 6:4 KJV 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The human daughters of men bore children with these sons of God (fallen angels). The question generally asked is how angels could bear children with humans since scripture does tell us that angels ‘in heaven’ do not marry. We do know that angels have taken on the form of men. We also know that evil spirits can take over the bodies of people.
While angels are spiritual beings (Hebrews 1:14), they can appear in human, physical form Mark 16:5 KJV 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
The men of Sodom and Gomorrah 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the (two) men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. (see Genesis 19:1-5 KJV).
It is plausible that angels are capable of taking on human form, even to the point of replicating human sexuality and reproduction.
The giant offspring between the fallen sons of God and the daughters of men were called nephilim, a term that means “giants.”
The practice of the “fallen” sons of God bearing children with the daughters of men came to an end when “God did not spare the angels who sinned … (He) delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;”
There are other interpretations of what Genesis 6:1-4 is describing. I believe this to be the accurate interpretation – the “sons of God” is referring to “angels”.