Giants—Revisited Part 2, “Sons Of God”—The Line Of Seth?

Biblegems #266

Note: Bible Gems post #264, “Giants—Myth or History,” generated some excellent questions. Giants—Revisited Part 2 continues to explore these questions. While Bible Gems is not a debate forum, questions and comments are welcome and will be posted at the moderator’s discretion.

Question: Could the reference to the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:1-4 (v.2) refer to the line of Seth instead of disobedient angels, and the daughters they married refer to the line of Cain? Wouldn’t that better explain God's grief over their inter-marriage because the line of Cain’s unrighteous descendants compromised Seth’s righteousness line?

This was the position taken by John Calvin, among others, who wrote: “It was, therefore, base ingratitude in the posterity of Seth, to mingle themselves with the children of Cain” —EBC, in loc.

This interpretation assumes that Scripture has clearly defined Seth’s family tree as a “holy line” and Cain’s family tree as an “unholy line.” While it is true that Genesis 4:25 through 5:32 develops the ancestry of Noah (5:29-32) all the way back to Adam and Eve’s son, Seth (Gen. 4:25), nothing is taught in these verses concerning a “holy” / “righteous” line versus an “unholy” / “unrighteous” line.

More importantly, the wording in Genesis 6:1-2 is intended to convey an obvious contrast between the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men” that resulted in the appearance of the “Nephilim” (a race of giants, as we saw in Biblegems #264) — “the heroes of old, men of renown” (v.4). The phrase “sons of God” is never used in the Old Testament of the line of Seth, before or after Genesis 6. “Sons of God” is consistently used in the Old Testament, however, in reference to angels, beginning with the book of Job—arguably one of the oldest books of the Old Testament:

Job 1:6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.

“Sons of God” here in Job, typical of Old Testament usage, clearly refers to angels. Not only so, but the wording of Genesis 6:1-2 in Hebrew conveys a sharp contrast between the “sons of God” (Heb. “benei ha elohim”) and “the daughters of humans” (Heb. “benot ha adaham”). A tightly literal translation of Genesis 6:1-2 reads:

         “When Adamites began to increase on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of Adam were pleasant and they took (Heb. yiqchu) any of them they chose.”

The most natural, straightforward reading of the text contrasts the “sons of God” with the “daughters of men” as those representing two different lines of origin, not two lines of Adam.

Both the context and terminology strongly favor the interpretation of “sons of God” as referring to angels, not descendants of Cain. And while this creates other issues scientifically and theologically, those issues also find their answer in God’s Word. We will explore some of these difficulties in future posts. And as we do, we will keep before us this guiding principle: biblical interpretation is not the handmaiden of science.  Science ceases where observation cannot go and experimentation is no longer possible. God’s Word reveals the truth. At times, the truth and scientific understanding seem at odds. When that is the case, the truth will always win out and science may catch up…or not.

         Deut. 29:29  The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Who Was Cain Afraid Of?

Biblegems #118

Question: After God banishes Cain for killing his brother Abel in Genesis 4, Cain complains that others on the earth will kill him for his crime when they find him (Gen. 4:13-14). Who are the others on the earth at that time that Cain is afraid of? Where did these other people come from?

Adam and Eve, the ancestors of the human race, and their children, Cain and Abel, were real, historical people. In addition to Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve had many other children  (Gen 5:4). And in the 930 years of Adam’s life (Gen. 5:5), these children grew up, intermarried, and had children of their own, resulting in a population of at least one hundred and twenty thousand people by the time of Adam’s death. We know from Scripture that these descendants of Adam and Eve spread out and established settlements all over the ancient Near East. 

Reading Genesis 4 -5 can be deceptive when it comes to following the passage of time. But a careful reading can be very revealing. For instance, chapter 4:1-2 takes us from the conception and birth of Cain and Abel right into their adulthood. By the end of verse two they are both living independent of their parents and working at their respective occupations. Abel is murdered in verse eight; and by verse sixteen Cain is in exile in “the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Then, in the very next verse, Cain has found a wife, who gets pregnant and has his child, Enoch—all while Cain is building a city, which he names after his son.

The point is, the account of Cain and Abel moves quickly from one key event to another. This is to show that within the first thousand years of human history God’s command to Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28) was already well under way. Thousands of people—the descendants of Adam and Eve—populated the earth, farmed the land, tended livestock, constructed cities, and brought with them the plague of sin and death.

So it is clear that Cain and Abel had many brothers and sisters, most of whom had hundreds of years of separation between them. In fact, in the “written account of Adam’s line” (Gen. 5:1) Cain and Abel are not even mentioned, nor are any of their siblings except Seth. Why? Because Seth represents the ancestral line of Noah (Gen. 5:28-29), who played a principal role in God’s plan of salvation. All the descendants of all the other siblings of Cain and Abel were lost in the Flood, except those who married into Noah’s family and were aboard the ark.

So who was Cain afraid of when he went into exile? His own brothers and sisters and their extended families. The same is true for all of us, for we are all related to one another, only separated by time, distance and multiple layers of intermarriage. We are one family—the human family—and each person’s sin impacts the rest of the family. That’s why salvation from sin and death had to come through a human being, but one who was without sin.

         1 Cor. 15:21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

The death and resurrection of Jesus has reversed the curse of Adam and Cain!