Sons of God
The use of 'sons of God' in the Old Testament is usually translated from the Hebrew 'beney 'Elohim', 'beney ha 'Elohim' and 'beney 'Elim'. Examples of the usage can be seen in Genesis 6:1-4; Job 1:6 and 2:1 for 'beney ha 'Elohim'; Deuteronomy 32:8 and Job 38:7 for 'beney 'Elohim' and Psalms 29:1 and 89:6 for 'beney 'Elim'. They do not mean exactly the same although many translations use 'sons of God' for all of them. Some translate the terms to mean the heavenly court, gods, the holy ones etc. We may say that all those references were to the angels and the phrase is usually not used for human beings in the Old Testament. Angels could take human form and even eat food prepared by the humans (Genesis, chapters 18 and 19) or could function as guardians and even appear in human form (Tobit,12:15). Daniel 3:25 has been translated to mean 'son of God', 'son of the gods' or 'god' referring to the superhuman powers of the fourth young man walking in the fire where king Nebuchadnezzar had thrown only three of them.
The Old Testament uses the word 'son' to mean not only the relationship between father and son, but any intimate relationship. A warrior was called ' a son of strength', a wicked man was ' son of wickedness', a hostage was 'son of pledging', a swift bird was 'son of lightning' and one doomed to death was 'son of death'. An arrow was 'son of a bow', an evil man was 'son of Belial' and the disciples of prophets were 'sons of prophets'. Similarly, anyone with a special relationship with God was used to be called 'a son of God' in the Old Testament as we have seen in the examples given above. The wicked people do not approve of the dealings of a just man who calls himself "the servant of the Lord" and wait for seeing if God would rescue him if he is God's son (Wisdom, 2:13-18). Just men, angels, descendants of Seth etc. were called 'sons of God'. Already when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt under Pharaohs, God considered them to be His first-born son (Exodus, 4: 22-23).
The controversial passage in Genesis 6: 1-2 about the sons of God (sons of the gods) marrying the daughters of men is interpreted to mean fallen angels, descendants of Seth, etc. Since angels are spirits without body, it is understood that they cannot marry as is vouchsafed by Jesus in his arguments with the Sadducees ( Matthew, 22:30). If we, however, go along with the spirit of the times referred to in the Book of Genesis, we will have to resort to mythologies of the times to explain the passage. When angels were said to take human forms and converse with men, eat and drink, etc., there is nothing repugnant if they were said to marry women on earth. In order to make it more palatable, attempts have been made to ascribe it to ascribe it to the fallen angels. In our view, it is enough to consider the description as mythological as an excuse for explaining the presence of Nephilim or giants in those days. Although the Nephilim are not mentioned as the direct result of the union of angels and women on earth, they are shown to be intimately connected with it and whose existence is sought to be explained by it. Since angels are considered to be closer to God than human beings, sons of God in the above instances are angels. (to be cont'd).
The use of 'sons of God' in the Old Testament is usually translated from the Hebrew 'beney 'Elohim', 'beney ha 'Elohim' and 'beney 'Elim'. Examples of the usage can be seen in Genesis 6:1-4; Job 1:6 and 2:1 for 'beney ha 'Elohim'; Deuteronomy 32:8 and Job 38:7 for 'beney 'Elohim' and Psalms 29:1 and 89:6 for 'beney 'Elim'. They do not mean exactly the same although many translations use 'sons of God' for all of them. Some translate the terms to mean the heavenly court, gods, the holy ones etc. We may say that all those references were to the angels and the phrase is usually not used for human beings in the Old Testament. Angels could take human form and even eat food prepared by the humans (Genesis, chapters 18 and 19) or could function as guardians and even appear in human form (Tobit,12:15). Daniel 3:25 has been translated to mean 'son of God', 'son of the gods' or 'god' referring to the superhuman powers of the fourth young man walking in the fire where king Nebuchadnezzar had thrown only three of them.
The Old Testament uses the word 'son' to mean not only the relationship between father and son, but any intimate relationship. A warrior was called ' a son of strength', a wicked man was ' son of wickedness', a hostage was 'son of pledging', a swift bird was 'son of lightning' and one doomed to death was 'son of death'. An arrow was 'son of a bow', an evil man was 'son of Belial' and the disciples of prophets were 'sons of prophets'. Similarly, anyone with a special relationship with God was used to be called 'a son of God' in the Old Testament as we have seen in the examples given above. The wicked people do not approve of the dealings of a just man who calls himself "the servant of the Lord" and wait for seeing if God would rescue him if he is God's son (Wisdom, 2:13-18). Just men, angels, descendants of Seth etc. were called 'sons of God'. Already when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt under Pharaohs, God considered them to be His first-born son (Exodus, 4: 22-23).
The controversial passage in Genesis 6: 1-2 about the sons of God (sons of the gods) marrying the daughters of men is interpreted to mean fallen angels, descendants of Seth, etc. Since angels are spirits without body, it is understood that they cannot marry as is vouchsafed by Jesus in his arguments with the Sadducees ( Matthew, 22:30). If we, however, go along with the spirit of the times referred to in the Book of Genesis, we will have to resort to mythologies of the times to explain the passage. When angels were said to take human forms and converse with men, eat and drink, etc., there is nothing repugnant if they were said to marry women on earth. In order to make it more palatable, attempts have been made to ascribe it to ascribe it to the fallen angels. In our view, it is enough to consider the description as mythological as an excuse for explaining the presence of Nephilim or giants in those days. Although the Nephilim are not mentioned as the direct result of the union of angels and women on earth, they are shown to be intimately connected with it and whose existence is sought to be explained by it. Since angels are considered to be closer to God than human beings, sons of God in the above instances are angels. (to be cont'd).
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