This should be the most extensive examination of Gen. 6 available, where you will be able to see every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 6:

Introduction

         vv.     1–4           The Corruption of Mankind on Earth

         vv.     5–7           God Observes This Corruption and Regrets Making Man

         vv.     8–10         Noah Is the Exception to the Corruption

         vv.    11–13         The Earth is Completely Corrupt and God Pronounces Judgment on It

         vv.    14–16         God Tells Noah to Build an Ark

         vv.    17–18         God Says He Will Destroy the World with a Flood, Yet Establish a Covenant with Noah

         vv.    19–21         The Animals Noah is to Preserve

         v.       20           Noah Obeys God

Addendum

Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines:

         Introduction         L. S. Chafer on Satan and Cosmos Diabolicus

         Introduction         Biblical States of the Earth

         v.       2              Testimony to the Historical Accuracy of the Old Testament (An Integral Study)

         v.       2              What did Jesus say and what do the Apostles say? (Part of the Integral Study)

         v.       2              Amazing Things in Gen. 1–6

         v.       2              The Testimony of Jesus Concerning the Old Testament

         v.       2              Testimony of an historian of ancient history

         v.       2              Chief philosophical difference between evolution and the Bible

         v.       2              Additional reasons why the Bible is not filled with fables

         v.       2              Concluding remarks (Concludes Integral Study)

         v.       2              Why the Sons of God in Gen. 6 are Angels

         v.       3              The Principle of Grace Before Judgment

         v.       3              Satan’s Counterfeits

         v.       4              Bits and Pieces of Ancient Mythology

         v.       5              The Structure of Gen. 6:1–5

         v.       6              Definition of an anthropomorphism and an anthropopathism

         v.       6              The Doctrine of Anthropopathisms

         v.       6              Civilizations

         v.       8              The Doctrine of Sanctification

         v.       9              The Basic Mechanics of the Christian Life

         v.      12              The Parallel of the Days of Noah

         v.      13              The Organization of Genesis 6:1–13

         v.      14              What the Ark of Noah Represents

         v.      14              The Doctrine of Ark in the Bible

         v.      15              The Dimensions of the Ark/Picture of Ark with Other Ships

         v.      15              The Ark Proportions

         v.      17              Miracles in the Bible

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 6

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 6

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An Introduction to Genesis 6

I ntroduction: Gen. 6 has caused a lot of confusion in Christendom, but, from the very beginning, the Bible speaks of humankind as being part of a much greater struggle, namely as being right in the middle of the Angelic Conflict. We find this back in Gen. 3, Job 1–2 and here in Gen. 6. These sons of God are fallen angels; and the children they will sire will be born to women of the earth, the result being a population of half-breeds, half angels/half man. God allows both fallen angels and fallen man to consider one another and to be able to have sexual unions which result in children.

Our lives are but a drop in human history. Man is arrogant to believe that as it has been in his life, it always has been and forever will be. Eccles. 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun (ESV). Eccles. 3:15 That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away (WEB). The first few chapters of Genesis introduce us to an world which is much different from our own and people who are much different from us today and circumstances which are far stranger than we can imagine.

Communism and socialism are great political systems which are related to Satanic philosophy. There is an attempt to make everyone equal, and to remove those who are so foolish as to believe in God (they are removed from society, reeducated, or simply killed). You cannot suddenly impose a socialistic system without killing millions of people. However, you can slowly inundate society with socialistic trends and socialistic philosophy, which has happened in most of Europe, Canada and currently in the United States.

Back to Genesis 6: there are a great many good Christians who do not believe that angels ever were allowed to copulate with mankind, and, as J. Vernon McGee used to say, on this one point we can allow them to be wrong. We can still fellowship with them and spend eternity with them. However, since Satan took over the rulership of the earth, it is only logical to allow him a certain amount of autonomy in ruling it. Furthermore, the angels came from a lifestyle of celibacy. They did not procreate; there were not male and female angels; they do not marry or give in marriage. What occurred on the earth with the woman was a new thing. Satan’s plan was to corrupt all mankind by having angels fornicate with women. This viewpoint must be substantiated and it will be shown that every reference to angelic activity during Noah's time will indicate that more than demon-possession took place.

There is a second reason that angels cohabited with mankind (I should say womankind); fallen angels are destined for the Lake of Fire. They will spend eternity there in suffering and in separation from God. The harshness of God’s sentencing is explained in human history. God has allowed the redeeming of fallen man, but not of fallen angels. So, why can’t God just allow Satan some little corner of the universe to hang, separated from all else? First of all, God will give Satan that little corner of the universe; we call it hell, but it is properly the Lake of Fire. Secondly, Satan and his angels are doing everything possible to see that we do not choose Jesus Christ, but that we spend our eternity with him instead. However, I am deviating from the point I would like to make. Mankind can be redeemed and angels cannot. So what is God going to do when He is faced with some half-man, half-angelic beings? Won’t God have to save them if they choose to believe in Jesus Christ? And God had Moses preach the gospel for 120 years, with the only converts coming from his own family, who were uncontaminated flesh. Therefore, that remains a moot question.

The first term which we must examine is sons of God found here and in Job 1:6 2:1 and 38:7. Both Hebrew words are the common words for sons and for God. However, they are only used in conjunction in these four portions of OT Scripture. In Job, it is fairly clear that we are dealing with a convocation of angels, both fallen and elect, and Satan in the courtroom of God. This is why it is that sons of God in Genesis refers to angels. The use of Son of God in the New Testament is used only of Jesus Christ in His incarnation and sons of God in the New Testament refer to us as believers in union with Jesus Christ.

The New Testament has more to say on the subject of the times of Noah, however. In the little book of Jude, the writer is making a point by quoting several parallel judgements found in the Old Testament. In fact, the time period covered is the same as that in Genesis and Exodus (Jude mentions Cain, Enoch, Moses, Sodom and Gomorrah and the Exodus generation). In the midst of these things, Jude writes: And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, [those] He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. (Jude 6) These are the angels who left their celibate state and cohabited with the daughters of men; the same were buried under the raging waters of the flood and held in bonds under darkness until the day of judgment. Even Jesus Christ, in his Spirit, immediately following his death by crucifixion, carried a victorious proclamation to these angels. In which [Spirit] He also went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison who once were disobedient (or unyielding) when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. (1Peter 3:19–20) This was not Peter's last word on this subject: For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them in pits of darkness, reserved for judgment, and did not spare the ancient [antediluvian] world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. (2Peter 2:4–5)

So it is clear that something occurred with some angels during the time of Noah, causing them to be put under chains of darkness, reserving them for later judgement and this transgression involved leaving their own principality or position. Our most logical conclusion is that they cohabited with the daughters of men. Remember, that women were a brand new thing on the earth. No such creature had ever existed before like this. And it is logical to have one period of time where angels could directly intervene upon human history, to reveal that they do not have the ability to correct the fallen state of man, which was caused by Satan.

The last, and weakest witness to this viewpoint is the history of man. If something like this occurred, even though the post-diluvian civilization began with believers only, the sons of Noah would certainly remember the incredible half-human half-angelic creatures that lived upon the earth and they would, tell about these beings. Stories about half man, half-god beings would certainly find its way to almost every major ancient culture. This is precisely what we find. Mythology exists for the Celts, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Scandinavians and Hindus (among others). There are a great many parallels between these various myths. They had the same source material; each culture just embellished these myths. See the Mythology Table (PDF version). It is not unlike a rumor which has gotten out of control. In the myths which I have examined, there is parallel after parallel between God's Word and these myths, from the creation of the earth and the creation of man to the tribulation and the millennium. Recall that Satan is the great counterfeiter and he will counterfeit the truth and, whenever possible, glorify himself in the process. Most of these mythologies have a trinity of sorts; they all have Satanic figures (and usually many Satanic figures); there is a lot of marriage between brothers and sisters and nephews, and other close relatives, similar to the antediluvian civilization. There is cohabitation between gods and men and there are races of half-mortal/half-gods in these myths. The parallels between the truth and myth are amazing. As I read through various myths and synopses of various mythologies, I am amazed by the clear bastardization of the truth which is found in everything from the creation myths, to the underworld, to the chains of darkness, to even the end times.

God has sentenced Satan and the angels that fell to the Lake of Fire. Certainly, Satan objected to this sentence and brought forth many reasons why this sentence was unjust or too harsh. Human history reveals the absolute catastrophe of God allowing the coexistence of sin. However, so that there is no later objection that God stacked the deck, human history occurs in a number of environments, in a number of scenarios. We have man in innocence in perfect environment in the garden; but we also have fallen man in perfect environment in the millennium. We have man faced with signs and miracles and prophecy and we have a period of time where there are a dearth of signs and miracles and no prophecy. Throughout these various epochs of history, we also have a change in the relationship of the angels and demons to man. Whereas, angels have often been involved in our history as servants of God for our benefit and protection, the demonic role in history has changed. In the garden, Satan was allowed to indwell a serpent (or possibly even cohabit with a serpent, producing the serpent that lied to the woman). In the period of time when our Lord came to this earth, demon-possession was fairly common and almost universally acknowledged. That is, it appeared that in almost every town there were cases of demon-possession. Furthermore, this demon-possession resulted in very radical behavior. Today, there are likely many cases of demon-possession, but, for the most part, the behavior is less radical and more civilized. The multiple personality syndrom could be partially attributable to demon activity. This does not mean that all multiple personality types are demon-possessed; but it is likely that some are. In a similar vein, it is likely that some mass-murderers, with their sexual deviance and aberrant behavior beyond the murder of strangers, are demon-possessed. It is not beyond the field of logic to imagine that some world leaders, notably Stalin and Hitler, were demon-possessed, given the huge number of people whom they callously had killed. Demon-possession does not have to result in behavior which is clearly bizarre. Demons are far more intelligent than we are and their social skills would be close to perfect, if they so chose to act. This is why some mass-murderers can find so many victims and seem so normal to their victims to the point of actually seducing them to a point.

The purpose of all this introduction is to make you understand that after the fall, things could have been different than they are now in more respects than we realize. Demon activity could have been different than it is now. It is my opinion that (1) demons actually were allowed to have their own bodies and were able to copulate with mankind and produce offspring; (2) these offspring were half-demon and half-human, a counterfeit of the hypostatic union of Jesus Christ; and (3) that mythology is based upon this period of time. When Satan seduced Adam and the woman to fall, mankind and the earth underwent some dramatic changes. Had Satan not the ability to intervene in human history, he could have objected that even though he caused man to fall, he could have straightened out the earth, given the opportunity. Therefore, Satan and his demon army have always played a part in human history in one way or another. We always think of Satan as a force for sin, but he also operates in the field of good and evil. Man's many attempts for a human utopia are not continually thwarted by Satan, but a result of Satan's attempts to show that he can run the world and the world system. He is the ruler of the earth and he is in charge. The fact that there are wars, poverty, sickness, and all types of evils on this earth are not necessarily the result of Satan's direct action but a result of his ineptitude to provide a suitable environment for the inhabitants of the earth. There is a marvelous quote from Chafer which Thieme was wont to use at this point which I cannot find in my abridged Systematic Theology.

The key to this chapter is the Angelic Conflict; the key that fallen angels have corrupted all of mankind. The key result that the fallen angels want is, God cannot redeem mankind without redeeming angels as well.

Over a period of nearly 1700 years, where man’s lifespan is approximately 900 years, there would have been a significant population boom on this earth. There could have been easily a billion people. According to Robbie Dean, there were probably 6 or 7 billion people, a figure based upon each family having 6 children. Recall that men lived about 900 years, so even if they waited until age 100 to start having children, that gave them quite a bit of time to raise up a brood. In our own lifespan, 100 years ago, having 10 children was not unusual (I have found this in my own family line). There is at least one family that I am aware of which 19 or 20 children (and I am sure there are more than that). We also know that Noah had 3 children around age 500. So if a family has at 400–500 years during which they can have children, then 6 children in a family is a very conservative estimate.

What about the genealogies that we studied? There is no reason to assume that each family had 1 or 2 children and that was it. We followed specific genealogical lines, and, since we followed the genealogical line leading to Jesus, there can only be one son per family who is named to lead to the correct line. This means that the population before the flood could be the same as our population today—mathematically, that would make perfect sense. However, out of several billion people, the writer of Genesis knows which genealogical line to follow.

The weather in antediluvian times was dramatically different. The Bible has already pointed out that God watered the Garden of Eden by the 4 rivers which flowed around or through it; and we are also told that there were few plants outside the garden because God had not yet caused rain to fall upon the earth (Gen. 2:5, 10–14). This is based upon the Bible, and some people reject this because they believe there have been no dramatic changes on this earth apart from slow, gradual ones. This is called a belief in uniformity. A person might be 20 years old or 50, but they look around them and determine that the changes to the earth during their lifetimes are gradual, and therefore conclude, that there have been few grand changes to the earth (apart from an ice age or two).

It is fascinating that men simultaneously believe in uniformity and evolution. In their own minds, the earth is unchangeable yet from the earth, man evolves. Taken to an extreme, this can represent deifying the earth or some sort of earth-worship, which manifests itself in hyper-ecological movements. Man is seen as subservient to the earth or as a cause of the troubles of the earth. What is most important in the mind of the hyper-ecologist is the ability to enforce a set of ecology laws which the general public must follow (changing one’s light bulbs; driving small, fuel-efficient cars; etc.). This is also known as “Gaia (earth) worship” or “Green religion;” and those who are true believers are every bit as passionate as any Christian, if not more so.

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The Corruption of Mankind on Earth

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation ; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. Take from http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/ and first published in 1862.

Targum of Onkelos                And it was when the sons of men began to multiply upon the face of the earth, and fair daughters were born to them;...

Latin Vulgate                          And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them,...

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he is that begun the man to multiply upon faces of the ground and daughters were born to them.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    AND it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them,...

Septuagint (Greek)                And it came to pass when men began to be numerous upon the earth, and daughters were born to them,... This is actually v. 2 in the LXX (which bumps the subsequent verses in this chapter as well).

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           Ancient heroes

When the number of people started to increase throughout the fertile land, daughters were born to them.

Contemporary English V.       More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted.

Easy English                          Everybody was very evil, 6:1-8

Men had large families on earth and they had many sons and daughters.

Easy-to-Read Version            The number of people on earth continued to increase. There were girls born to these people.

Good News Bible (TEV)         When people had spread all over the world, and daughters were being born,...

The Message                         When the human race began to increase, with more and more daughters being born,...

New Berkeley Version           WHEN THE EARTH BEGAN TO BE populated and daughters were born to the people,...

New Century Version             The Human Race Becomes Evil

The number of people on earth began to grow, and daughters were born to them.

New Living Translation           A World Gone Wrong

Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Now, as the population of men grew on the earth and they fathered daughters,...

Beck’s American Translation When the people on earth were getting numerous and they had daughters,...

God’s Word™                         The number of people increased all over the earth, and daughters were born to them.

New American Bible              Origin of the Nephilim.*

When human beings began to grow numerous on the earth and daughters were born to them,... [6:1-4] These enigmatic verses are a transition between the expansion of the human race illustrated in the genealogy of chap. 5 and the flood depicted in chaps. 6-9. The text, apparently alluding to an old legend, shares a common ancient view that the heavenly world was populated by a multitude of beings, some of whom were wicked and rebellious. It is incorporated here, not only in order to account for the prehistoric giants, whom the Israelites called the Nephilim, but also to introduce the story of the flood with a moral orientation-the constantly increasing wickedness of humanity. This increasing wickedness leads God to reduce the human life span imposed on the first couple. As the ages in the preceding genealogy show, life spans had been exceptionally long in the early period, but God further reduces them to something near the ordinary life span.

New Jerusalem Bible             When people began being numerous on earth, and daughters had been born to them,...

Revised English Bible            The human race began to increase and to spread over the earth and daughters were born to them.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Humans had began to abound over the face of the earth, and they begot daughters.

Bible in Basic English             And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and had daughters,...

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The Corruption of Mankind

But when corrupt Men increased upon the surface of the Earth, and sons and daughters were born to them,...

NET Bible®                             God's Grief over Humankind's Wickedness

When humankind [The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם ('adam): "humankind."] began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born [This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, "with daughters being born to them." For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayehiki, "and it came to pass when"), see 2Sa_7:1.] to them [The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent "humankind" is collective.],... When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV, ©2011                             Wickedness in the World

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And coming is it that humanity starts to be multitudinous on the surface of the ground, and daughters are born to them.

English Standard Version      Increasing Corruption on Earth

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,...

exeGeses companion Bible   SONS OF ELOHIM TAKE DAUGHTERS OF HUMANITY

And so be it,

humanity begins to abound by myriads

on the face of the soil;

and they birth daughters:.

NASB                                     The Corruption of Mankind

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,...

Syndein/Thieme                     Now it came to pass, when mankind {literally 'adam - came to be used for 'mankind'} had begun to 'become numerous'/multiply on the face of the ground {adamah}, and daughters/'beautiful women' had been born unto them... {Satan's attack on the Promise of Genesis 3:15 - The Promise of God to Satan that He would bring a human - a seed of woman to defeat him. Therefore in Genesis 6, Satan tries to destroy all 'pure humanity'}

A Voice in the Wilderness      Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,...

World English Bible                It happened, when men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them,...

Young’s Updated LT             And it comes to pass that mankind have begun to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters have been born to them,...

The gist of this verse:          There was a population explosion, which included daughters who were born into the human race.

Translation: And it is... The wâw consecutive followed by to verb to be without any subject or object simply refers to something that will come to pass or something which has come to pass over the course of time. It may be more idiomatically rendered subsequently, afterwards, later on, in the course of time, after which.

Translation: ...when man began to multiply on the face of the earth... There is a definite article in front of man and the idea is, Adam had children and his children had children, and they had children. Given the state of being, the number of men began to increase significantly.

Translation: ...that daughters were born to them. Obviously, male and female children were born, but Gen. 6 focuses upon the females who are born.

Things are going to get quite weird in this chapter. The Bible treats these matters in a very matter–of–fact way. When we compare the Bible to mythology, you will see that the Bible is much more subtle. Things which would catch our eyes or capture our imagination (the persons of this chapter and their exploits) are not recorded in the Bible, although these things appear to be the basis for mythology—and nearly every culture has mythological traditions.

The word usually translated men is actually the Adam. However, we know that this refers to mankind in general because the end of this verse reads and daughters were born to them. That is a 3^rd person masculine plural suffix, but the only thing is can point back to is the Adam, which can also be reasonably translated mankind. We use our word man in the same way. The evolutionist says, man has been on this earth for a million years. Even though evolutionists are is wrong about this, we immediately understand this to refer to mankind.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                ...and the sons of the great saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and painted, and curled, walking with revelation of the flesh, and with imaginations of wickedness; that they took them wives of all who pleased them.

Latin Vulgate                          The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so see sons of the Elohim daughters of the man that pleasing they [are] and so they take wives to themselves from all that they chosen [or, approved, selected].

Peshitta (Syriac)                    That the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; so they took them wives of all whom they chose.

Septuagint (Greek)                ...that the sons of God, having seen the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, took to themselves wives of all whom they chose.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           The divine beings saw how beautiful these human women were, so they married the ones they chose.

Easy English                          Then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were pretty. The sons of God chose some daughters and they married those daughters.

Good News Bible (TEV)         ...some of the heavenly beings saw that these young women were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked.

The Message                         ...the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful. They looked them over and picked out wives for themselves.

New Berkeley Version           ...it developed that the sons of God took notice of the daughters of men, admired their looks and married all those of them whom they chose. Some have it that this refers to fallen agnels, but there is no Scripture evidence that they could become men with body and soul; nor, if they could, would wicked men be called “sons of God.” We believe that the sons of Seth’s family married the daughters of Cain’s family; that the home thus became ungodly and children grew up without relating life to God.

New Living Translation           The sons of God saw the beautiful women [Hebrew daughters of men; also in 6:4.] and took any they wanted as their wives.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ...the sons of God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful; so they took all whom they chose as their women. The Greek expression uioi tou Theou literally means sons of/the God. The term was originally only used when speaking of men or heavenly messengers who are God's direct creations, never as the progeny of men, who are referred to as uioi tou anthropois - the sons of men. However, the term was later applied to adopted sons of God in Hosea and in the writings of Paul. Therefore, 'the sons of God' referred to at Genesis 6:3 must be speaking of God's heavenly sons, since the only earthly son of God up to that time was Adam. Also notice that the women it speaks of there were not called 'the daughters of God,' but 'the daughters of men.' This raises the question: Do God's heavenly messengers have sex organs that would be aroused by seeing beautiful women? No, for Jesus indicated (at Matthew 22:30) that sexual reproduction isn't a part of heavenly life. So, why would 'sons of God' want to come to earth and take 'all that they chose' to be their women? Apparently, the motivation was the same as the Slanderer's - lust for power. So they likely materialized human bodies (with sex organs) and fathered children that grew to be 'giants' and 'famous men' in their time. Apparently, unrighteous men were still recounting the exploits of these hybrid giants in Moses' time, making them (as Moses wrote) 'famous' (see Genesis 6:4). The Greek Gods and fabled strong men, such as Hercules, come immediately to mind.

Beck’s American Translation ...the sons of God saw how beautiful the daughters of men were, and they married the women they liked best.

God’s Word™                         The sons of God saw that the daughters of other humans were beautiful. So they married any woman they chose.

New American Bible              ...the sons of God [The sons of God: other heavenly beings. See note on 1:26. That note reads: Then God said: Let us make* human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. ] saw how beautiful the daughters of human beings were, and so they took for their wives whomever they pleased. Mt 24:38; Lk 17:26-27.

New Jerusalem Bible             ...the sons of God, looking at the women, saw how beautiful they were and married as many of them as they chose.

New Simplified Bible              The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. They married any of them they chose.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      The sons of God saw good in the daughters of Adam. They took and chose them from all the women.

Bible in Basic English             The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to them.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...and the sons of God admired the daughters of Men who were beautiful; and they took to themselves wives from all they desired.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               ...the divine beings [Others “the sons of God.”] saw how beautiful the daughters of men were and took wives from among those that pleased them.—

Judaica Press Complete T.    That the sons of the nobles saw the daughters of man when they were beautifying themselves, and they took for themselves wives from whomever they chose.

NET Bible®                             ...the sons of God saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. The Hebrew phrase translated "sons of God" (בְנֵי־הָאֱלֹהִים, beneha'elohim) occurs only here (Gen. 6:2; Gen. 6:4) and in Job. 1:6; Job. 2:1; Job. 38:7. There are three major interpretations of the phrase here. (1) In the Book of Job the phrase clearly refers to angelic beings. In Genesis 6 the "sons of God" are distinct from "humankind," suggesting they were not human. This is consistent with the use of the phrase in Job. Since the passage speaks of these beings cohabiting with women, they must have taken physical form or possessed the bodies of men. An early Jewish tradition preserved in 1 En. 6–7 elaborates on this angelic revolt and even names the ringleaders. (2) Not all scholars accept the angelic interpretation of the "sons of God," however. Some argue that the "sons of God" were members of Seth's line, traced back to God through Adam in Genesis 5, while the "daughters of humankind" were descendants of Cain. But, as noted above, the text distinguishes the "sons of God" from humankind (which would include the Sethites as well as the Cainites) and suggests that the "daughters of humankind" are human women in general, not just Cainites. (3) Others identify the "sons of God" as powerful tyrants, perhaps demon–possessed, who viewed themselves as divine and, following the example of Lamech (see Gen. 4:19), practiced polygamy. But usage of the phrase "sons of God" in Job militates against this view. For literature on the subject see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:135.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired and chose.

Concordant Literal Version    And seeing are sons of the elohim the daughters of the human, that they are good, and taking are they for themselves wives of all whom they choose.

English Standard Version      ...the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and the sons of Elohim

see that the daughters of humanity are goodly;

and they take women of all they choose.

LTHB                                     The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were good, and they took wives for themselves from all those whom they chose.

Syndein                                  ...that the {fallen} angels {beni ha Elohiym idiom: literally sons of 'Elohim/gods} kept watching the daughters of mankind . . . that they were very beautiful . . . and they took/'seized passionately' to them women {'ishshah} {here is a masculine plural suffix signifying 'it happened but was irregular'} of all whom they examined and selected. {Note: 'Beni ha Elohiym' literally means 'sons of Gods'. 'Beni' means sons or children. Ha is 'of the'. And Elohiym is the Plural of God - Gods - meaning the Godhead. One in essence . . . three in personalities. 'Beni ha Elohiym' is used four times in the Old Testament and it always refers to angels - Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7 and here.} {SideNote: This is before the flood. The Earth has not turned on its Axis. The environment all over the world was perfect and very good for the complexion of the women - never too wet or too hot! There were many beautiful women who were overwhelmed by the strength and beauty of the angelic class. Virtually all the women were seduced by the angelic men and procreated a mixed breed of children. This eventually resulted in the corruption of the human race. This was a genetic attack of Satan on the human race - his plan being that no 'real' human could come to the cross'.}.

A Voice in the Wilderness      ...that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasing; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

World English Bible                ...that God's sons saw that men's daughters were beautiful, and they took for themselves wives of all that they chose.

Young's Literal Translation     ...and sons of God see the daughters of men that they are fair, and they take to themselves women of all whom they have chosen.

The gist of this verse:          The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were attractive, so they took them to themselves.

Translation: And the sons of the Elohim saw the daughters of men,... The sons of God here refer to angels; and, based upon what happens, fallen angels. All angelic creation is observing mankind, as if watching a great feature film with billions of cast members, with a runtime of 6000+ years.

The angels are called sons of God because God created them; they do not procreate or give birth. They do not have a male or female sex. As Jesus said, "The angels do not marry nor are they given in marriage." However, man does procreate and they began to have daughters as well as sons. Women are often impressed by foolish things, such as power, exterior beauty, fame and riches, and these fallen angels had all of these attributes, making them far more desirable than puny man. Therefore, the angels were able to chose as they so desired. God allowed this for a time to illustrate that angelic infiltration of the human race was not the answer and that Satan could not solve the problems of the fallen world in this way. This also indicates that God created the woman as a creature of great beauty, which we still see today. Only a man with real character can see beyond this tremendous exterior beauty.

We do not know exactly what access God gives angels (elect and fallen) today. They can apparently influence our thinking (doctrines of demons), and it appears as though God allows some demons to indwell some limited number of men. However, during the time of Gen. 6, God allows the angels to intermingle with mankind.

In Gen. 3, it was clear that Satan could either change forms and become a snake or that he indwelt a snake (I opt for the former, as snakes do not have vocal cords).

Throughout the Bible, we have angels appearing to man as if they are men (for instance, Gen. 18–19), with normal physical attributes (they are able to grab Lot and his two daughters). In this chapter, it is going to be apparent that these angels are not just capable of having sex with human females, but they are able to impregnate the women as well (v. 4).

In this verse, we have, literally, the sons of God. In the Hebrew, that is bene hâ Elohim (האלהים בני), which is, literally, sons of the God, but properly translated the sons of God. I have heard many theories about who these sons of God are, but only one makes sense to me: these are angels—more specifically, fallen angels. We find this phrase, the sons of God in the following passages: Gen. 6:2, 4 Job. 1:6 2:1 38:7 and similar phrasing in Psalm 29:1 Psalm 89:6 Dan. 3:25. The passages in Job unquestionably refer to angels (the scenario is Satan going before God). This would lead us to understand the other passages in the same way.

We find evidence of this understanding in the book of Jude: And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He [God] has reserved in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the Great Day (Jude 1:6). The verb to keep also means to attend to carefully, take care of; to guard; metaphorically to keep one in the state in which he is; to observe; to reserve: to undergo something. What they did not keep was their beginning, origin; the person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader; that by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause; the extremity of a thing; of the corners of a sail; the first place, principality, rule, magistracy [of angels and demons]. What these angels did not guard or keep appears to be their original state. Whatever these angels did not guard or keep, they forsook or deserted their own habitation (dwelling place). Therefore, God has placed these angels into some form of bondage and He is guarding them until the great day of judgment. There are no other specific incidents in the Bible to which this could refer other than this chapter of Genesis.

Peter also talks about this same thing: For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into Tartarus and committed them to chains of thick darkness to be kept until the [final] judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;... (2Peter 2:4–5). The overall context is, Peter is assuring his readers that God will judge the wicked and that He will deliver the righteous (compare 2Peter 2:1, 3, 7, 9). Fallen angels had sinned from the beginning, when they went with Satan. This is not a reference to all fallen angels, as they play a prominent part in the Scriptures from beginning to end. So we are not talking about all the angels who fell with Satan, as putting all of them into chains of darkness would eliminate many of the problems we have here on earth and virtually end the Angelic Conflict. Therefore, we are speaking of a particular subset of the fallen angels. Let me submit to you that the angels spoken of here and in Jude 1:6 refer right back to this chapter of Genesis. Again, there is no other reasonable alternative.

Here is what is going on: fallen angels are somehow able to take on themselves a human form, and they are able even to impregnate women. The Bible does speak of angels coming and speaking to man, and rather than on some magnificent form, they appear to be men (e.g., Gen. 18).

Translation: ...that they [are] pleasing,... This is interesting. You see many translations saying that they observed that the women of men were beautiful—but that is not the word that we find here. There are words used to describe human physical beauty in the Bible, and they are applied to Saul, David and to David’s granddaughter, Tamar. But that is not the word used here. Here, the woman are seen as pleasing, pleasant, agreeable, and/or good. The idea is, they will do. This is fine.

Translation: ...so they took wives for themselves from all that they chose. The Hebrew word for take can mean to take in marriage and this is what it means in this context. It is in the Qal imperfect, which means they continued to take these women as wives, that it did not all occur at once but a few of them tried it and made it work so other fallen angels decided to join in. Chose is in the Qal perfect; they made the initial choice, stuck with it, and then took these women as wives. Their choice is in the perfect tense, because it was a completed action with results that continued.

When you compare an angel to a mere mortal, there is no comparison. First of all, they offer great protection. A woman might marry a big, strong, husky guy, but, when facing an angel, that big strong, husky guy is rather impotent. Angels are smarter than men, better looking, and much stronger. So, it was not difficult for angels to simply choose the women that they wanted.

Let’s say that George Clooney knocked on your front door and said, “Honey, I”m ready to settle down.” (I am assuming that you are a female); many woman would jump at this chance. He has numerous qualities in addition to his good looks; and that is what the women saw with these angels. They were not just strong, they were powerful; they were not just intelligent, they were genius; and they were not just attractive, they were exceptionally attractive.

The angels, on the other hand, thought that the women were attractive. They were okay. They were suitable.

We do not know if angels could enjoy sexual pleasure, but, as mentioned, they could impregnate these women. And, there are a variety of pleasures in addition to or instead of sexual pleasure. Even if the angels did not enjoy pleasure as we do, this gave them a feeling of power and control, which these angels exploited.

What came from these relationships between the sons of men (angels) and the daughters of men are super-humans, for lack of a better term. If there was a period of time when something like this really did happen, doesn’t it seem reasonable that somehow, in some way, we would know about it today? Don’t you think that such a fantastic occurrence, that angelic beings bred with women, and the result were these super-humans, that we might have some history of this?

Think about mythology for a moment. No matter what mythology is studied, these are often gods who have relationships with women on this earth. There are a lot of stories and a lot of different names, but the basis for mythology is almost always the same: male gods (which would be angels) have sex with human women, and the result are these super- human creatures; and none of these super humans are noble and just and righteous; they mostly chase women and they fight.

Now, let’s to back to that passage in Jude: And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the Great Day (Jude 1:6). God allowed some freedom to even the fallen angels. Let me remind you that it appears as if the earth was in some sort of limited anarchy at this time. That is, there does not appear to be any set of laws laid out with clear-cut consequences. God directly dealt with Cain; and it appears as if no one dealt with Lamech (who killed 2 people and then wrote a song about it).

However, after the flood, these same angels are now in everlasting bonds of darkness, until the Great White Throne Judgement (Rev. 20). Again, the words of Peter: For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood on the world of the ungodly (2Peter 2:4–5). In the Greek, these verbs are primarily aorist tenses, which refers to a point of time, generally in the past. There is a one perfect tense, which refers to an action which takes place in the past and has results which continue into the future, and that is reserved. So they are reserved, set aside, for judgment in the past, with the result that they will be judged in the future.

So, what we have are angels which have sinned whom God cast down into Tartarus, which Thayer tells us is the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds; it answers to Gehenna of the Jews. And from out of all this, God delivers 8 people: Noah and his wife, and his 3 sons and their wives. In other words, Peter associates the angels who sinned with Noah. These angels are cast into Tartarus and Noah and his family are delivered, while a flood is brought upon a world of the ungodly (the angels who sinned and the women they fornicated with and the man-angel race which resulted from these unions).

Several pages ago, you will recall that we determined that the sons of God in Gen. 6 (during the time of Noah) are fallen angels and that the daughters of men represent the female population of the earth.

Gen 6:1–2 And it happened, that men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasant; and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose.

Gen 6:1–2 And it happened, that men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasant; and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose.

There is one more thing which I find fascinating here, and that is how the sons of God found the daughters of men to be. They did not look upon these women with great lust. They did not see these women as being incredibly beautiful. The word found here is ţôwb (טוֹב) [pronounced toh^bv], which means, pleasant, pleasing, agreeable, good; approved. Strong’s #2896 BDB #373. This is not a word used to describe the incredible beauty of a woman. We might use this word to say that Jennifer Lopez is a good businesswoman or that she has good taste in clothes; but we would use other words if we wanted to better describe her physical charms (and there are many common Hebrew words in the Bible used to describe incredible physical beauty; but not this word). And the Bible is not shy about identifying men or women as being particularly handsome or beautiful (e.g., Saul, David or Tamar or Tamar, her niece—1Sam. 9:2 16:12 2Sam. 13:1 14:27). So describing these women as good or pleasant is not exactly a glowing review (it is like saying, “Yeah, that was a good movie; I mean, it was okay.”).

Remember, these are angelic creatures, who are incredibly beautiful themselves. So when Satan tells his demon corps to go down to earth and to fornicate with human women, they look them over and decide, “They’re alright; they’re pleasant. I can live with that. They are attractive enough.” Because these are angels, they are not looking upon these women with incredible and uncontrollable sexual lust.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And the Lord said by His Word, All the generations of the wicked which are to arise shall not be purged after the order of the judgments of the generation of the deluge, which shall be destroyed and exterminated from the midst of the world. Have I not imparted My Holy Spirit to them, (or, placed My Holy Spirit in them,) that they may work good works? And, behold, their works are wicked. Behold, I will give them a prolongment of a hundred and twenty years, that they may work repentance, and not perish.

Jerusalem targum                  And the Word of the Lord said, The generations which are to arise shall not be judged after (the manner of) the generation of the deluge, (which is) to be destroyed, and exterminated, and finally blotted out. Have I not imparted My Spirit to the sons of men, because they are flesh, that they may work good works? But they do works of evil. Behold, I have given them a prolongment of a hundred and twenty years, that they may work repentance; but they have not done it.

Latin Vulgate                          And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says Y^ehowah, “Will not judge My Spirit in the man to forever, in that also he [is] flesh, and will be his days a hundred and twenties a year.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    Then the LORD said, My spirit shall not dwell in man forever, because he is flesh; let his days be a hundred and twenty years.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall certainly not remain among these men forever, because they are flesh, but their days shall be one hundred and twenty years.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       Then the LORD said, "I won't let my life-giving breath remain in anyone forever. No one will live for more than one hundred twenty years."

Easy English                          Then the *Lord said, `My Spirit shall not struggle with people for always because they are human. They shall live for 120 years.'

Easy-to-Read Version            Then the LORD said, "People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years." People...120 years Or "The spirit from me will not live in people forever, because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years." Or "My Spirit will not judge people forever, because they will all die in 120 years."

Good News Bible (TEV)         Then the LORD said, "I will not allow people to live forever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than 120 years."

The Message                         Then GOD said, "I'm not going to breathe life into men and women endlessly. Eventually they're going to die; from now on they can expect a life span of 120 years."

New Berkeley Version           Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever remain in man since he has gone astray; he is flesh [Flesh, as Adam spoke of it, was untainted. Now the word suggests weakness; in time it will mean human nature without God’s Spirit.], I will allow him another 120 years.

New Life Bible                        Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not stay in man forever, for he is flesh. But yet he will live for 120 years."

New Living Translation           Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not put up with [Greek version reads will not remain in] humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years."

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then Jehovah God said: 'I won't allow My Breath to stay with these men through the ages, for they are fleshly. So their [lives] will only last one hundred and twenty [more] years.'

Beck’s American Translation Then the LORD said: “My Spirit will not forever struggle with people for what is right [Greek shall not abide forever in these people], because they are flesh. But they will still have a hundred and twenty years.”

Christian Community Bible     Yahweh then said, “My spirit will not remain in man for ever, for he is flesh. His span of life will be one hundred and twenty years.”

God’s Word™                         Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not struggle with humans forever, because they are flesh and blood. They will live 120 years."

New American Bible              Then the LORD said: My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. Their days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years.

NIRV                                      Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not struggle with man forever. He will die. He will have only 120 years to live until I judge him."

New Jerusalem Bible             Yahweh said, 'My spirit cannot be indefinitely responsible for human beings, who are only flesh; let the time allowed each be a hundred and twenty years.'

New Simplified Bible              Jehovah said: »My Spirit will not contend (judge) (plead) with man forever, for he is mortal and corrupt. Therefore his days will be a hundred and twenty years.«

Revised English Bible            But the Lord said, ‘My spirit will not remain in a human being for ever, because he is mortal flesh, he will live only for a hundred and twenty years.’

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Yahweh said, "My spirit-wind will not plead forever with ignorant humans. He is flesh: his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.

Complete Jewish Bible           ADONAI said, "My Spirit will not live in human beings forever, for they too are flesh; therefore their life span is to be 120 years."

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Consequently, the Ever-living said, “My spirit shall not call to man for ever, for he is sinful flesh; but they shall have one hundred and twenty years.”

HCSB                                     And the LORD said, "My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years."

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               The Lord said, “My breath shall not abide [Meaning of Hebrew uncertain.] in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years.”—

New Advent Bible                  And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

NET Bible®                             So the LORD said, "My spirit will not remain in [The verb form יָדוֹן (yadon) only occurs here. Some derive it from the verbal root דִּין (din, "to judge") and translate "strive" or "contend with" (so NIV), but in this case one expects the form to be יָדִין (yadin). The Old Greek has "remain with," a rendering which may find support from an Arabic cognate (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:375). If one interprets the verb in this way, then it is possible to understand רוּחַ (ruakh) as a reference to the divine life-giving spirit or breath, rather than the LORD's personal Spirit. E. A. Speiser argues that the term is cognate with an Akkadian word meaning "protect" or "shield." In this case, the LORD's Spirit will not always protect humankind, for the race will suddenly be destroyed (E. A. Speiser, "YDWN, Gen. 6:3," JBL 75 [1956]: 126-29).] humankind indefinitely ["forever."], since [The form בְּשַגַּם (b^eshagam) appears to be a compound of the preposition בְּ (beth, "in"), the relative שֶ (she, "who" or "which"), and the particle גַּם (gam, "also, even"). It apparently means "because even" (see BDB 980 s.v. שֶ).] they ["he"; the plural pronoun has been used in the translation since "man" earlier in the verse has been understood as a collective ("humankind").] are mortal ["flesh."]. They [“he”] will remain for 120 more years ["his days will be 120 years." Some interpret this to mean that the age expectancy of people from this point on would be 120, but neither the subsequent narrative nor reality favors this. It is more likely that this refers to the time remaining between this announcement of judgment and the coming of the flood]."

NIV – UK                                Then the Lord said, `My Spirit will not contend with [Or My spirit will not remain in] humans for ever, for they are mortal [Or corrupt]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

American KJV                        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.

Concordant Literal Version    And saying is Yahweh Elohim, "Not abide shall My spirit in the human for the eon, in that moreover, he is flesh. And come shall his days to be a hundred and twenty years.

English Standard Version      Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years."

exeGeses companion Bible   THE SHORTENED LIFE SPAN

And Yah Veh says,

My spirit pleads not eternally with humanity,

for in his erring inadvertently, he is flesh:

yet so be his days, a hundred and twenty years.

NASB                                     Then the Lord said, " My Spirit shall not strive [Or rule in; some ancient versions read abide in] with man forever, because he also is flesh [Or in his going astray he is flesh]; nevertheless [Or therefore] his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

Syndein                                  And Jehovah/God {God the Father} said, "My Spirit {Ministry of the Holy Spirit in making the gospel real to the human women and their half-breed offspring} shall not convince {in a courtroom type setting - diyn/dun} man inside forever. For that {in the reversionism of man} he also is flesh {human with an Old Sin Nature} . . . yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years {from this point to the coming of the flood}." {Note: Diyn/dun means convict, convince, judge, rule, govern, and contend. Here it refers to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit making the gospel clear to those with positive volition at the point of God consciousness. They have this opportunity to do so every day they are still alive in time. In this case, until they die or the flood comes - 120 years.} {Note: God is stating that all the humans and half-humans on the Earth would be evangelized strongly for 120 years - grace before judgment. At the end of the 120 years, the flood would come. The sign that the flood was soon to come was the death of Methuselah. Methuselah means 'when he is dead it shall be sent'. 'It' is the flood! RBT says Methuselah lived until the year of the flood.}.

A Voice in the Wilderness      And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not continually strive with man, for indeed it is in flesh to sin; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.

World English Bible                Yahweh said, "My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years."

Young’s Updated LT             And Jehovah says, “My Spirit does not strive in man—to the age; in their erring they are flesh:” and his days have been an hundred and twenty years.

The gist of this verse:          God warned that His Spirit would not continue to condemn man internally, because man is also flesh, but that He would give man 120 years before the judgment.

Translation: And Y^ehowah said, “My Spirit will not always contend [the Greek has abide in] in mankind forever,... First of all, just who is God speaking to? He is not speaking to man, as He speaks of man in the 3^rd person. Therefore, it is logical that God is speaking to the angels, and making a pronouncement about mankind.

Although the Greek has a different verb here, it is possible that verb is a result of trying to figure out what God is saying here. However, in order for a person to be saved, they need spiritual information. Fallen man has no place where this spiritual information can be discerned, because fallen man does not have a spirit (where information about God is stored), but only a soul. So, in order to reveal the gospel to man, the Holy Spirit acts as man’s human spirit temporarily and reveals to gospel to man. Man either chooses to believe or not.

Translation: ...in that he [is] also flesh. This verse has a couple of slightly different renderings, mostly because the translators do not know what is going on in this passage, therefore the actually translation does not make sense to them. The first verb in the quote is dîyn (דּין) [pronounced deen]; and it can mean to judge, to exercise judgement, to punish and it can mean plead (the cause) or to strive. The latter translation is found in Gen. 30:6 Jer. 5:28 30:13. Then there is the elusive preposition shel (שֶל) [pronounced shehl], and it means on account of, because, whatsoever, whichsoever. Man is in the singular masculine meaning that it stands for mankind; and is followed by the relative pronoun in the singular masculine. Gam (םַ) [pronounced gam] is an adverb denoting addition and it can be translated also, moreover, yea or even.

God will continue to witness to mankind below, even though most of man is half-angel, half-man at this point; but God will still plead the gospel with them, because man is also flesh. God has also given man a cutoff time. For 120 years, Noah will proclaim the gospel to the masses for 120 years, regardless of their origins, and he will have but seven converts, his wife, his three sons and his three daughters-in-law, (who wisely chose to marry into Noah's family). An additional purpose fo the line of Noah is now more obvious: this line shows that Noah was descended from 100% homo sapiens. There were no angels in the woodpile for Noah. Noah's father and grandfather both died prior to the flood and the means of their death is not told to us.

There are certainly other theories on what this means. The most common theory is that the two lines represent the line of Seth and the line of Cain intermarrying; another is that the sons of God refer to kings who could choose whatever women they wanted because they were kings. It is true that Israel often became corrupt due to intermarriage with people of other religions but this is not Israel that we are speaking of here. God has said nothing about who can marry who. Furthermore, whether we have the line of Cain mixed with the line of Seth (who have the same father), does that require God to wipe them off the face of the earth with a flood? Can Cain's line really be that bad? Further, it is possible that there were kings at that time, but we must remember that we are less than a dozen generations from Adam and Eve. They have certainly populated the earth quickly, as lifetimes tended toward the millennial mark and cities began to be built, but this does not mean that man has banded into separate nations as of yet (or city-states). God seems to encourage this type of separation later in Gen. 9. The point is, these theories come very short of dealing with the passage in context, with the quotations from Jude and Peter, and when it comes to dealing with Noah being perfect and all flesh being corrupt, these theories will also prove to be inadequate.

In the previous two verses, man has been corrupted by angels, which were allowed to cohabit with man. The angels married and had sex with human females, and those females had children which are the basis for our mythology which has come down to us today from many sources. Although we tend to study Greek and Roman mythology (and sometimes Norse mythology), this is found in many ancient cultures. Wikipedia writes: The main characters in myths are usually gods, supernatural heroes and humans. As sacred stories, myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion or spirituality. In the society in which it is told, a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past. As we have already studied, there are a number of creation myths, many of which have some Biblical elements within them.

What we have on earth are angels, which have bred with women, and their offspring, where are half-angel/half-man, just as we find in mythology. Apparently, we have come to a point in history where the only people who are 100% human are Noah, his family and the wives of his sons.

So far, we have: And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always contend with mankind forever, in that he is also flesh.” So, what is on the earth are beings which are part man, and they have free will. God has to take them into consideration. It will be important to note that no corrupted soul will appear to choose for God or choose to believe in the Revealed Member of the Trinity.

It is interesting to note that, our faith must always be directed toward the Revealed Member of the Trinity, Whom we know as Jesus Christ. Faith in God the Father is not enough; faith in the Holy Spirit is not considered enough. Only faith in the Person of Jesus Christ, whether in His preincarnate form, His incarnation or as testified to in the pages of Scripture.

There are some real problems with this verse, and an alternate reading is, And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man in his going astray, for he is flesh.” Although most translations are similar to the former translation, there are some problems with each translation.

The difference between the texts is in the pointing. The original text of the Old Testament was written with only consonants, and it was read so often that, most learned Jews knew how to pronounce the text, even though it lacked vowels. However, some time around the incarnation of Christ or before, the Masorites determined that, in order to preserve the text and the correct pronunciation of the words, along with the Hebrew language (which was not being used any more), vowels needed to be inserted. They did not want to simply add to the text, as this was revered as the Word of God, so they placed dots, and hyphens, and jots and tittles above and below the consonants. This way, the text was retained exactly as originally written, if one ignored the markings above and below the text itself. This is one of the few passages where the vowels are in question, and a different pointing (a different set of vowels) gives us a slightly different understanding of this verse.

I think that there is a textual error here, and that perhaps there should have been the repetition of the same consonants, but with different vowel points, yielding, And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh.” It is not out of the question for a passage like this to be missing some letters which were repeated. This is a common copyist error which is found elsewhere in the Bible, and easily explained (the copyist looks up to a specific set of letters, and then looks down and begins to copy them; when he looks up again he finds these same set of letters, and he copies what follows, leaving out one set of repeated letters).

Like almost all textual problems found in the Bible, the difference in the text is minor and has no effect upon any major or minor doctrine of Scripture. We do not find, for instance, one set of manuscripts from one part of Israel, which tout one set of doctrines, and another set of manuscripts where many passages are changed in order to reflect a different perspective from another part of Israel. There are a lot of theories out there, e.g., various people or groups of people changed or modified passages in the Old Testament, which would have resulted in dramatically different manuscripts. However, what we find, from the year 100 b.c. on up to 1400 a.d. are remarkably accurate and consistent manuscripts with very minor differences such as this particular one. And, most importantly, the ancient Hebrew manuscripts upon which we depend, do not reflect any set of doctrinal differences related to a particular family of manuscripts. Although the Bible was not as ubiquitous in those days as now, the idea of changing a passage in the Bible back then, would have been nearly impossible, as there were too many texts. The Dead Sea Scrolls are essentially the remains of a library. It would be foolish to think that this was the only ancient collection of books in the Judæan area. For much of ancient history, various books of the Old Testament no doubt existed in dozens of libraries, if not hundreds. My point in this digression is, although there are several people who say that this or that group made wholesale changes to the Bible, making such changes would have been impossible to do.

On the other hand, doctrinal differences can certainly be a part of any translation of the Hebrew and Greek (far more than any supposed changes made to the Old or New Testaments). There are particular slants and approaches which guide many English translations. A common doctrinal slant is, some English Bibles use a vocabulary which favor the charismatic movement and speaking in tongues; other English translations use a different English vocabulary which yields a text which does not support the views of the charismatic movement (one translation might use the words ecstatic utterances while another might use the word dialects). Wholesale doctrinal differences can be imbedded within an individual translation, but it is something which is not found in ancient families of manuscripts (a family of manuscripts would be manuscripts which appear to be associated with a particular city where such manuscripts were made).

What may surprise you is, the Catholic Bible, apart from the inclusion of the Apocrypha, is not dramatically different from the Protestant Bible. A Catholic Bible is a translation of a translation (Jerome translated the Hebrew and Greek into Latin—an excellent translation, might I add—and his Latin text is used as the basis for many Catholic Bibles). However, more modern Catholic-approved translations, e.g., the Revised English Bible or the New Revised Standard Version, make use of all ancient texts.

I have spent a long time on just a couple of letters in the text of Gen. 6:3, and went on quite a tangent. You may be thinking, well, then, just pick a translation of Gen. 6:3 and go with it; because, you can see that the differences are fairly insignificant. This is the case throughout the Old Testament. Human errors crept into the copying process; but they are so few and so minor, as to be remarkable. However, they ought to be pointed out, so that you realize just how trivial most of these manuscript problems are (this passage is actually a fairly significant textual problem, comparatively speaking).

Gen 6:3a And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always plead a cause for [or, strive with, vindicate] man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh.”

The verb translated to strive in many translations has several meanings associated with the judicial system. It can also mean to plead a cause. Although there are several theories about this particular word (Dr. Robert Dean says that recent scholarship suggests that this word means to remain, stay, or abide), it is found 25 times in the Bible, always with a judicial connotation. God is making a case with man—even with corrupted mankind—to believe in Him. I think the most accurate understanding here is, God will not permit man to have an open-ended offer of vindication in this state of being half-man/half-angel.

God has allowed, for a time, angels to have relationships with man. In fact, this antediluvian period of time appears to be a time of no specific law or government. It is not quite anarchy, as God specifically judged Cain; but judgment appears to be God’s. In the Garden of Eden, God allowed Satan to indwell a serpent. Satan could not allow the man and the woman to simply live in a peaceful existence in the Garden of Eden. We are very aware of how large this earth is, and how much larger the universe is, so even though Satan was allowed some modicum of freedom of movement, he chose to interfere with mankind very early on rather than to isolate himself.

Have you ever been to a beach and witnesses a smaller child build a sand castle, and, as soon as it is finished, a larger child comes along and wreaks havoc on this creation? This is what the fallen angels did. Satan observed the man and the woman, for days, and possibly for years, and formulated a plan to bring them down and to destroy their idyllic existence.

This is an important fact of sin. Rarely do we choose to just sin alone, and leave all others unaffected. Our sins almost always impact other people. A person in the illegal drug business, as an obvious example, is dependent upon ruining the lives of 100's or 1000's of other people, in order to be successful. Sin and rebellion against God do not just exist in a vacuum.

We isolate criminals from society by putting them in jail; and yet, most of them, when released, go back to doing the same things with their lives, which involves the corruption of many others.

In Gen. 6, we find the same thing. Fallen angels are given some leeway in their ability to interact with man, and their desire is to corrupt mankind. God had promised Adam and Eve is that they would be delivered (saved) through Eve’s childbearing. The fallen angels heard this and, when given the opportunity, attempted to corrupt that process. They were allowed to take on a physical form to interact with mankind, and their purpose in this was to woo women and to corrupt their children by a sexual union between angels and women.

Note how consistent this is with the psyche of women. Women tend to like men they see as intelligent, strong, and powerful; they are attracted to men with whom they feel some measure of inferiority. What could be more impressive and attractive to a woman than an angel, in the form of a man? If I was at a party with Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Jude Law, I would suspect that the women at that party would pay much more attention to these guys than to me.

Man’s erring or going astray refers to this corruption of the seed of the woman. One of Satan’s consistent aims is to take a promise of God and try to corrupt it, nullify it or distort in some way. Satan, who is the father of lies, treats all truth in this manner—he corrupts it, distorts it or attempts to nullify it.

Translation: Therefore, his days will be 120 years.” Although many of the translations suggest that man had his life in general shortened, that does not really appear to be the thrust of this passage (particularly since many people prior to the flood lived for way more than 120 years). What makes much more sense is, this is the countdown to the worldwide flood. At the time that God spoke, there would be 120 years remaining.

The first 3 verses of Gen. 6 read:

Gen 6:1–3 And it was that men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God [i.e., fallen angels] saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasant; and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose. And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always plead a cause for [or, strive with, vindicate] man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years.”

We have already studied and confirmed that these are fallen angels who have taken human females as their sexual partners, producing offspring which are half-man/half-angel, which is an attempt to corrupt the Seed of the Woman. All flesh on the earth, apart from Noah’s immediate family, had been so corrupted.

There are only 2 other theories which have been offered up to explain this passage, and, as we studied, neither theory holds water.

You may wonder, how could women allow themselves to be violated by demonic beings? We may reasonably assume that the fallen angels were allowed to take some sort of human form just as we will see angels who come to deliver messages to man seem to have a human form as well. Furthermore, women are drawn to men who are strong and powerful and intelligent. We mortals are nothing compared to angels. So when a woman was to choose between an angelic creature and a human male, the choice was easy. Besides, these fallen angels would simply kill any man who challenged them.

Gen 6:3 And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always plead a cause for [or, strive with, vindicate] man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years.”

The one primary mistake made with this verse is to think that it assigns a life expectancy of 120 years to man; it does not do that. This would make no sense, as in previous passages and future passages, in this same book, men will show a gradual decrease in their lifespan, from over 900 years down to about 70 years.

Let’s first of all touch on life expectancy. In working with the isolation of genetic traits in animals (e.g., with cats and dogs), we have, in a very short amount of time (in less than 1000 years), been able to develop breeds with specific physical and personality traits. We have also found that, such breeding generally reduces the lifespan, strength or other positive aspects of the dog (or cat). Therefore, if we take the line of Adam and Eve, but continue to restrict this line, to remain within certain families of this line, then we would expect to also negatively impact man’s lifespan, which is exactly what has occurred.

This 120 years simply means that, from that point, God gave this generation 120 years to believe in Jesus Christ (i.e., Jehovah Elohim). As we have seen in the study of the previous chapter, when Noah was about 480 years old, God started him on this mission. About 20 years later, in this midst of all this, Noah sires 3 sons. Before the ark was completed and the rains came, these 3 sons found wives who were also uncorrupted. It is even possible that these wives are their sisters, as incest was not forbidden until the Mosaic Law.

God allows 120 years during which mankind, such as it was, would be given the chance to change their minds and turn to God. This sort of thing is found throughout the Bible and throughout human history. God is going to judge a group of men (e.g., a nation), but there is a period of grace where man is allowed to turn toward Him (e.g., Nineveh during the time of Jonah; [northern] Israel before being militarily defeated and dispersed in 721 b.c.; or Judæa during the incarnation of Jesus).

Noah would have been in one place building this ark with his sons. So Noah probably did not travel about proclaiming the coming of the flood (although this is possible). Half-angel/half-man creatures probably came to Noah. Remember, those who sin cannot leave those who do not sin alone (this is a principle; I am not asserting that Noah is sinless). Sin has an innate desire to corrupt others. Just as a drug user will try to encourage others to use drugs, just as an atheist will try to convert believers, so would corrupt humanity come to Noah’s project to alternately ridicule or dissuade him. This is how fallen man and fallen angels operate. Noah would, at their arrival, answer their jibes and proclaim the coming flood, which would be God’s judgment on this world.

An interesting theological question is, what if some of these half-angel/half-man creatures believed in Jehovah Elohim? That is, trusted in Him for their salvation? I have pondered this from time to time and I don’t really have an answer, apart from saying, God would be just in His actions in such a case. However, none did, so this question is moot. We do know that God gave corrupt mankind 120 years to believe in Him, and no one did, apart from Noah’s uncorrupted family.

A better question is, why didn’t any of these half-angel/half-men believe in Jehovah Elohim? Here, I have a theory. Angels and fallen angels are brilliant. Fallen angels have chosen to take a stand against God. They would be persuasive enough to either convince their young that they could not be saved; or that there was no loving God out there. Is it possible for extremely intelligent creatures to convince inferior intellects of things which are false? Of course. That is what some aspects of public education are all about. That is how you can have intelligent, educated people believe in evolution or man-caused global warming; and argue for it as if their lives depended upon it. Both theories are being taught to our children as fact in our schools today without any opposing evidence being presented (and there is a lot of scientific evidence out there which calls both theories into question).

Gen 6:3 And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always plead a cause for [or, strive with, vindicate] man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years.”

There was probably a very practical aspect to this 120 year time period: this gave Noah enough time to design the Ark; build the ark; to establish a zoo of sorts, so that animals may be collected and kept on his land; and to gather the food and water necessary for the animals and for his family Although the Bible devotes a lot of time to the flood itself (from Noah’s perspective), it tells us precious little about the preparations which Noah and his family made. At the suggestion of Dr. Dean on his Genesis series, I have been reading a book called Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study by John Woodmorappe. Quite frankly, it is not the most entertaining book that tI have ever read; Woodmorappe goes through every conceivable detail of an undertaking such as we have here. He determines how many animals there were; what their sizes would have been; what their food and water needs would be (to the point of discussing the diets of these animals); and he even deals with the waste made by these animals and the smell. Woodmorappe takes nothing as being accomplished supernaturally, apart from the flood itself. He considers far more details than ever occurred to me, and shows how these things could have been accomplished. There are 5 or 10 citations on each page to back up the assertions that he makes (that is, actual studies which have been done in animal husbandry as related to each aspect of the ark). He goes as far as to examine decomposing excreta—its odor and the hazardous gas it produces. I don’t necessarily recommend this book as a good and interesting read; but, if you doubt that the situation to be herein described could occur, then you need to get Woodmorappe’s book to see that it is entirely possible and even reasonable. One additional point on Woodmorappe’s book—he always looks at the worst case scenario; the maximum number of animals; the assumption that there is no hibernation which takes place; the assumption that there is nothing supernatural about this endeavor (apart from the actual flood itself, which is certainly not completely supernatural).

This chapter and this passage open up a Pandora’s Box of questions. If you have something which is born of man (with a sin nature) and from a fallen angel (which do not procreate among one another), can this person/demon be saved? We really do not know, but, we do know that none of them trusted in Jehovah Elohim. Even at this time, Noah was offering up animal sacrifices, and yet, he was only able to evangelize his own immediate family.

Today, we are impressed by numbers. When a mega-church has a membership of 10,000 and there are hundreds added to the rolls each month, we see this as being a successful and blessed ministry. When Billy Graham would go out to evangelize, and thousands of people would show up, and hundreds and even thousands would come forward, we see this as being successful. However, success is not in numbers. A large church may or may not teach accurate doctrine. An evangelist may speak to large crowds or small crowds, and the response might be large and it might be small (and it might be nonexistent)—that is immaterial. The key is, are you faithful to God’s calling? Are you faithful to the Word of God?. A pastor may preside over a handful of people and he may preside over several thousand. No matter what the numbers are, the pastor needs to faithfully and accurately teach the Word of God.

Here, Noah is given the responsibility to evangelize the earth, and he does this by the building of an ark and offering up animals. People knew about this ark. And when they asked Noah, he would tell them, “God is going to judge this earth and cover it with water. You need to believe in Jehovah Elohim.” And, for 120 years, Noah ended up with a total congregation of 7. And, he probably made his sons come and participate when they were young (they were apparently born after God gave this warning).

You need to contemplate these numbers: there could have been as many as several billion people on the earth (half-fallen angel, half-person); and Noah evangelized for 120 years, and he ended up with 7 regular congregants. This indicates great faithfulness to the plan of God on the part of Noah. How many pastors are out there with a congregation of 20, and they are holding down a second job in order to make ends meet, and this congregation does not ever seem to grow in numbers, whereas, the mega-church down the street seems to grow by leaps and bounds? Such an experience can be difficult for a pastor to endure, but if that is your spiritual gift, then you go with it. If you have a congregation of 10 or 20, and you are accurately teaching the Word of God, then you are doing the will of God. Noah here is a great man of God, and he proclaims the Word of God daily, and his congregation reaches a grand total of 7 and stays right there. For all we know, his son’s wives might even be their sisters, which would indicate that all Noah was able to evangelize as his own family (and not necessarily every member).

In your life, you may impact a very small number of people. You might lead 3 people to Jesus Christ and you might start 1 or 2 other people on the road to spiritual growth. The key is not numbers, it is your faithfulness.

So that there is no confusion, faith is meaningless without an object. There is no substance to some ethereal, unfocused faith. Faith needs an object, and that object is first Jesus Christ, and then Bible doctrine, the Word of God. It is only through the Bible that we have a direction for our faith. It is only in the truth of the Word of God which gives meaning and substance to our faith. This is why the believer must begin to know the Word of God after salvation.

Noah, in order to act, will have to exercise faith. It cannot be some undirected faith toward the undefined; he had to place his faith in something very specific. Being divinely warned by God about the things not yet having been seen, moved by reverence and fear, by faith Noah prepared an ark for the salvation of his house; through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness according to faith (Heb. 11:7). Noah had a faith toward God and toward God’s Word. He acted based upon his faith in what God told him.

There has to be more to your life that simply believing in Jesus Christ and then exercising a nebulous, unfocused, directionless faith in whatever happens. Faith in Jesus Christ is very specific, and that faith in Christ is the door to your salvation. Faith in what God says (the Bible) is the key to the rest of your life on earth. And you must know the Word of God in order to have faith in the Word of God.

The first 3 verses of Gen. 6 read:

Gen 6:1–3 And it was that men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God [i.e., fallen angels] saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasant; and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose. And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always plead a cause for [or, strive with, vindicate] man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years.”

We have studied these verses quite thoroughly, and I have shown that this is a demonic corruption of humanity. I believe that, even at this time, Satan had some understanding of the redemption of mankind as well as some knowledge of the Seed of the Woman (and possibly the Hypostatic Union?), and that this was his response to those doctrines.

You will recall in Gen. 3 that God covered up the nakedness of Adam and Eve, something which God did not do for Satan and the fallen angels; so that indicated from the beginning that God’s dealings with fallen man would be different than His dealings with fallen angels. Satan noticed this.

Satan was also aware of the importance of the Seed of the Woman (Gen. 3:15), so that, even if Satan did not have a rudimentary understanding of the Hypostatic Union (Jesus Christ being the God-man), he at least understood that the Seed of the Woman was a threat to him; so Satan sought to corrupt the seed of all women.

Satan also wanted his earth back, so corrupting all mankind was his way of taking it back and establishing his dominion over the earth.

Recall that Satan has already been judged (along with the fallen angels), but that judgment has not been carried out yet. Satan is out on appeal, and he will continue to condemn himself and damn himself to the Lake of Fire based upon all of his subsequent acts (subsequent to his own fall).

We find out from Job 1–2 that there is a lot which goes on behind the scenes, some of which we are privy to and some which we are not. Most of us understand the concept of power-lust, even though only a few of us are stricken with that defect of the soul. Given all that we know about Satan from the Bible, we may reasonably assume that he suffers from great power lust and would like to rule over the earth. First leading man to fall and then corrupting mankind is no doubt a part of Satan’s plan to take control of the earth along with all mankind.

We do not know all that goes on behind the scenes. However, it is clear that God gives Satan great latitude in his function. This may seem wrong to you, but remember, God gives both you and I a great deal of latitude on our own lives as well. It is not unreasonable to suppose that Satan was organizing a kingdom of sorts on earth at this time. That would be Satan wanting to be like God.

If you want to understand Satan, outside of the Bible, study Mao, Stalin or Hitler. These men were probably demon-possessed, if not Satan-possessed. They did not want disorderly, chaotic societies. They had a vision for their nations and their people. These men were both feared and beloved by their people, and, amazingly enough, despite the fact that Mao killed more innocent people than any other single person on this earth, he is still held in high regard by many Chinese (I personally know one of them who will fervently argue for the goodness of Mao). It is not a coincidence that both Mao and Stalin forbade evangelism and all 3 men killed millions of Christians and Jews. This is both a practical approach to their tyranny, as well as a clear signature of Satan, who desires fame and will nearly always make his presence known. Killing millions of Christians and Jews, while, at the same time garnering the devotion of the masses, is a clear signature of Satan.

However, the governments that these men set in place were doomed to fail. Paraphrasing what L. S. Chafer said decades ago, “Poverty, war and chaos are not necessarily the intention of Satan but the natural result of his inability to establish a millennial-type rule over this earth.”

The resulting chaos of sin and the intermingling of fallen angels and man resulted in great chaos and violence. This is not necessarily Satan’s objective but the natural result of his inability to establish order and civility.

One of Satan’s great platitudes is that of equality, and the mixture of fallen angels with mankind accomplishes some sort of equality (although all rulers who seek to impose equality, always see themselves as far above those who are made equal). Recall Satan’s lie to the woman, “You will be like God.” He was simply trying to establish an equality of sorts, even though, in no way, did he see himself as low as this lowly creature.

Satan never actually establishes any sort of lasting order, but he polarizes a society, and even if Satan is able to exert the goal of some sort of equality over a country, that leaves a lot of very unhappy people (who are then jailed, reeducated, and/or killed). The few early verses of this chapter give us a glimpse into Satan’s intentions and shortcomings.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                Schamchazai and Uzziel, who fell from heaven, were on the earth in those days; and also, after the sons of the Great had gone in with the daughters of men, they bare to them: and these are they who are called men who are of the world, men of names.

Latin Vulgate                          Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        The Nephilim were in the earth in the days the those and also following then, that came in sons of Elohim unto daughters of the man and they bore to them. These [were] the mighty men who [were] from long duration, mortals of the name.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    There were giants on the earth in those days; and also after that, for the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, and they became giants who in the olden days were mighty men of renown.

Septuagint (Greek)                Now the giants were upon the earth in those days; and after that when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, they bore children to them, those were the giants of old, the men of renown.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Contemporary English V.       The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later.

Easy English                          The Nephilim (giant people) were on the earth at that time. They were also there afterwards. The sons of God lay with the daughters of men. And so the sons of God had children. Those children became the famous men that lived a long time ago. They were famous because they were very strong and brave.

Easy-to-Read Version            During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.

Good News Bible (TEV)         In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago.

The Message                         This was back in the days (and also later) when there were giants in the land. The giants came from the union of the sons of God and the daughters of men. These were the mighty men of ancient lore, the famous ones.

New Berkeley Version           There were giants on the earth in those days, and later, too, when the sons of God used to cohabit with the daughters of men, who bore them children, those mighty men of old who made a name.

New Century Version             The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of human beings. These women gave birth to children, who became famous and were the mighty warriors of long ago.

New Life Bible                        Very large men were on the earth in those days, and later also, when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, who gave birth to their children. These were the powerful men of long ago, men of much strength.

New Living Translation           In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Well, there were giants on the earth in those days; for the sons of God were [having sex] with the daughters of mankind, fathering for themselves [children] who were giants and the famous men of that age.

Beck’s American Translation In those days, as well as later, there were tyrants [Or giants; meaning of Hebrew word uncertain; see Num. 13:33] on the earth when the sons of God had intercourse with the daughters of men and they had children. These were the heroes who were famous in the old days.

God’s Word™                         The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, as well as later, when the sons of God slept with the daughters of other humans and had children by them. These children were famous long ago.

New American Bible              The Nephilim appeared on earth in those days, as well as later [As well as later: the belief was common that human beings of gigantic stature once lived on earth. In some cultures, such heroes could make positive contributions, but the Bible generally regards them in a negative light (cf. Nm 13:33; Ez 32:27). The point here is that even these heroes, filled with vitality from their semi-divine origin, come under God's decree in v. 3.], after the sons of God had intercourse with the daughters of human beings, who bore them sons. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.

NIRV                                      The Nephilim were on the earth in those days. That was when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. The Nephilim were the heroes of long ago. They were famous men. Nephilim were also on the earth later on.

New Jerusalem Bible             The Nephilim were on earth in those days (and even afterwards) when the sons of God resorted to the women, and had children by them. These were the heroes of days gone by, men of renown.

New Simplified Bible              The NEPHILIM were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God had sexual intercourse with the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

Revised English Bible            In those days as well as later, when the sons of the gods had intercourse with the daughters of mortals and children were born to them, the Nephilim were on the earth; they were the heroes of old, people of renown.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Ancient Roots Translinear      Barbarians were in the land in those days, and also afterwards. So the sons of God came into the daughters of Adam, and they begot to them their ever mighty men of name.

Bible in Basic English             There were men of great strength and size on the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these were the great men of old days, the men of great name.

HCSB                                     The Nephilim were on the earth both in those days and afterwards, when the sons of God came to the daughters of man, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               It was then, and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on the earth—when the divine beings cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown.

NET Bible®                             The Nephilim [The Hebrew word נְפִילִים (nÿfilim) is simply transliterated here, because the meaning of the term is uncertain. According to the text, the Nephilim became mighty warriors and gained great fame in the antediluvian world. The text may imply they were the offspring of the sexual union of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of humankind” (v. 2), but it stops short of saying this in a direct manner. The Nephilim are mentioned in the OT only here and in Num 13:33, where it is stated that they were giants (thus KJV, TEV, NLT “giants” here). The narrator observes that the Anakites of Canaan were descendants of the Nephilim. Certainly these later Anakite Nephilim could not be descendants of the antediluvian Nephilim (see also the following note on the word “this”).] were on the earth in those days (and also after this) [This observation is parenthetical, explaining that there were Nephilim even after the flood. If all humankind, with the exception of Noah and his family, died in the flood, it is difficult to understand how the postdiluvian Nephilim could be related to the antediluvian Nephilim or how the Anakites of Canaan could be their descendants (see Num 13:33). It is likely that the term Nephilim refers generally to “giants” (see HALOT 709 s.v. נְפִילִים) without implying any ethnic connection between the antediluvian and postdiluvian varieties.] when the sons of God were having sexual relations with [Heb "were entering to," referring euphemistically to sexual intercourse here. The Hebrew imperfect verbal form draws attention to the ongoing nature of such sexual unions during the time before the flood.] the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children [Heb “and they gave birth to them.” The masculine plural suffix “them” refers to the “sons of God,” to whom the “daughters of humankind” bore children. After the Qal form of the verb יָלָד (yalad, “to give birth”) the preposition לְ (lÿ, “to”) introduces the father of the child(ren). See Gen 16:1, 15; 17:19, 21; 21:2-3, 9; 22:23; 24:24, 47; 25:2, etc.]. They were the mighty heroes [The parenthetical/explanatory clause uses the word הַגִּבֹּרִים (haggibborim) to describe these Nephilim. The word means “warriors; mighty men; heroes.” The appositional statement further explains that they were “men of renown.” The text refers to superhuman beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside the Bible. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 45-46; C. Westermann, Genesis, 1:379-80; and Anne D. Kilmer, “The Mesopotamian Counterparts of the Biblical Nephilim,” Perspectives on Language and Text, 39-43.] of old, the famous men [Heb "men of name" (i.e., famous men).].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    Now the distinguished come to be in the earth in those days, and, moreover, afterward, coming are those who are sons of the elohim to the daughters of the human, and they bear for them. They are the masters, who are from the eon, mortals with the name.

Context Group Version          The Nephilim { or giants } were in the land { or earth } in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man, and they bore [ children ] to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

Darby Translation                  In those days were the giants on the earth, and also afterwards, when the sons of God had come in to the daughters of men, and they had borne [children] to them; these were the heroes, who of old were men of renown.

English Standard Version      The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

exeGeses companion Bible   There are Nephilim in the earth in those days;

and also thus:

when the sons of Elohim

come in to the daughters of humanity

and they birth to them, mighty ones;

originally men of name:...

Green’s Literal Translation    The giants were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore to them; they were heroes which existed from ancient time, the men of name.

LTHB                                     The giants were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore to them; they were heroes which existed from ancient time, the men of name.

Syndein                                  And there were Nephilim/'fallen ones' {from Numbers 13:33 we learn they were Giants in size but 'fallen' may mean 'less than human here'} in the earth in those days {the 120 years before the flood}. Also after that the {fallen} angels {beni ha Elohiym idiom: literally sons of 'Elohim/gods} came in unto the daughters of men and they {the women} gave birth to those same {also half-breed creatures} Nephilim to them . . . {now the Nephilim include half human race that is more powerful than regular mankind - half angelic} the same ones {angelic-human offspring} became mighty men of old . . . men of renown. {Note: RBT indicated that the first half of the sentence indicates that before the flood bestiality may have resulted in creatures less then human - like 'half-man/half -horse' type of creatures. The second half of the sentence then adds that the angels did their cross-species breeding with human women. From that time on, the Nephilim/N@phiyl included half-angelic and half-human children as part of Satan's attack on pure humanity.} {SideNote: It is possible that many of the 'super-human' myths of false religions were based on the qualities that both of these half-breeds possessed. Many of the myths were based on the procreation of human women and animals and women and the fallen angels. These fallen angels are imprisoned in Tartarus today.}.

A Voice in the Wilderness      There were giants on the earth in those days. And also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them, these were the mighty men from antiquity, men of renown.

Young's Literal Translation     The fallen ones were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when sons of God come in unto daughters of men, and they have borne to them--they are the heroes, who, from of old, are the men of name.

The gist of this verse:          The Nephilim, which are called both giants and fallen ones, lived on the earth at this time. And the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men, producing the men and women of mythology.

Translation: The Nephilim were on the earth in those days;... We have two logical applications of this name, Nephilim: this can either be applied to the sons of God or to their offspring via the women of earth. Because of the phrase which follows, I would say these are the fallen angels, also called sons of God.

ISBE: Nephilim, which is nef´i–lim (נפילים, nephīlīm): This word, translated “giants” in the King James Version, but retained in the Revised Version (British and American), is found in two passages of the Old Testament – one in Gen. 6:4, relating to the antediluvians; the other in Num. 13:33, relating to the sons of Anak in Canaan. In the former place the Nephilim are not necessarily to be identified with the children said to be borne “the daughters of men” to “the sons of God” (Gen. 6:2, 4); indeed, they seem to be distinguished from the latter as upon the earth before this unholy commingling took place (see SONS OF GOD). But it is not easy to be certain as to the interpretation of this strange passage. In the second case they clearly represent men of gigantic stature, in comparison with whom the Israelites felt as if they were “grasshopers.” This agrees with Gen. 6:4, “the mighty men that were of old, the men of renow.” Septuagint, therefore, was warranted in translating by gígantes.

There was a time period when angels and man coexisted on the earth, prior to the flood, during the antediluvian era. As a part of the appeals process, angels were allowed to have direct and open contact with mankind, although there were certain limitations placed upon them (it is likely that an angel would not be allowed to kill a human—Job 1:12).

Again, examine the other two, incorrect theories of the mixture of the two lines (whether kings and women or Cain's line and Seth's line); if these are men of renown, heroes of the past, why do we not know anything about them today? However, if they are a mixture of angels and man, then almost every ancient culture knows about these men and this information has been brought down to us even to today. A mixture of Seth's line and Cain's line is not going to account for men who are looked back upon as heroes or as men of renown. Properly interpreted, God's Word makes perfect sense at this point. Being that we are in an age where miracles and signs and wonders are rare, people tend to want to remove any hint of supernatural from the Bible. Critics for centuries have tried to discount the miracles of Moses, Elijah and Jesus Christ, claiming that these are but myths. Some fundamentalists get caught in the same trap and more subtly persuaded that since there is no cohabitation between women and angels today, that it therefore never took place before. There are a lot of things in the antediluvian state which is different from our present age. This allowance by God is but one of many drastic dissimilarities between our age and that age.

The Hebrew word for giants is Nephilim. We only find this word used one other time, and this is where the size and power of the people living in Canaan are exaggerated (Num. 13:33). This word is probably taken from the verb nâphal (נָפַל) [pronounced naw-FAHL], which means to fall, to lie, to die a violent death, to be brought down, to settle, to sleep deeply. Strong's #5307 BDB #656. There is also the related word nêphel (נֵפֶל) [pronounced NAY-fell], which means miscarriage, untimely birth, abortion; premature birth. It does not mean an unnatural birth; but a related word might mean that. Strong’s #5309 BDB #658. So, by tradition and use, Nephilim means giants; but etymologically, it means fallen; untimely birth; and possibly, unnatural birth.

It's meaning of N^ephîlîym (נְפִלִים) [pronounced n^ef-eel-EEM] is disputed, which is why it is often transliterated. It is found only elsewhere in Num. 13:33 where a patrol sent out by Moses to the land of Canaan comes back, one of them, Caleb, desiring to overtake the peoples in the land, the majority report was afraid to attack because the people were nephilim and the Jews, by comparison, were grasshoppers in their sight. It is for this reason, the word is sometimes translated giants. This is probably a technical term for these half-angel/half-human beings. They are related to an untimely birth; they are probably larger in stature and much stronger than the Jews; the are fallen creatures. The use in Num. 13:33 could have been an exaggeration based upon this passage. The spies in those circumstances were so nervous and afraid, that they saw these people as not the mythological people of old but similar to these gods. That is, the word was used to incite fear among the Jews (which it did).

The Bible is quite straightforward here: the sons of God (fallen angels) had sex with the daughters of men, and the resultant children were mighty men, warriors; and these men were well-known, even to this day. They were called the Nephilim, a word found nowhere else except as where it is used as an exaggeration. Even though the text of this verse is not decisive in this approach, there is no other that makes sense.

Translation: ...and furthermore, after that,... This little phrase has caused all kinds of confusion. If place with the previous phrase, it appears that, during this time period, angels (Nephilim) were on the earth; and, sometime after that. However, the next word after this phrase is a relative pronoun, which would naturally refer back to this phrase. Therefore, it is proper to associate this phrase with what follows rather than with what came before.

Translation: ...the sons of Elohim went into the daughters of man... First, there are angels on the earth; then these angels find that they are able to have sexual unions with human women.

Although we clearly have male and female people; it appears as though we only have male angels (Matt. 22:30).

Translation: ...and they bore (children) to them. Not only did God allow sexual intercourse between angels and women, but He allows for their unions to bear fruit.

Translation: These [were] the mighty men who [were] from long ago,... The plural personal pronoun would reasonable refer back to the result of these angel/female unions. So they produced a race of beings, half angel and half man, whose exploits were known from long ago.

This suggests that the words recorded here, whether written down or spoken and memorized, looks back on antediluvian history.

Translation: ...mortals of renown. These half-angelic creatures were known for centuries after they had died—in fact, millenniums later.

As you can find out with a google or dogpile search, there is lot out there about mythological figures. All of our greatest ancient cultures have stories about these mythological creatures. What is most often the case, gods come down, have sex with the women on earth, and then children are born to them—men of great renown, just exactly as the Bible tells us.

You may wonder, why are these myths so dramatically different from one another? At the time of Noah, there was a population on earth of perhaps several billion people. Therefore, there were billions of man-angels to speak of. No doubt, one of Noah’s sons (and perhaps all 3) remembered these men, their exploits, and told these stories of the antediluvian era to their own sons. Furthermore, unlike the Bible, these stories became distorted, skewed and embellished as time went on.

If you spend any amount of time examining the myths of other cultures, they are often very weird and supernatural. The person who tries to convince you that they are no different from the narratives in the Bible is the same kind of person who treats Islam and Christianity as morally and functionally equivalent. No doubt, you have spoken to someone who truly believe that Christianity and Islam are no different, and they might make reference the Crusades, the killing of abortion doctors, and Tim McVeigh in order to make their case. However, there is a great difference both in scope and acceptance. Both Catholic and Protestant groups have nearly universally condemned the Crusades and the killing of abortion clinic workers all the way from the congregations to the highest levels of the denominations (I don’t know of any exceptions; but there are crazies, even in Christianity). There is not this same universal condemnation from Islam concerning, say, suicide bombers. Even in the United States, 8% of the Muslim population believe that suicide bombings of citizens is sometimes justified when in the defense of Islam. For U.S. Muslims under 30, this rises to 15%. Quite obviously, surveys to determine how many Christians approve of the Crusades or Tim McVeigh are non-existent, because the answer would be uninteresting. I could not locate numbers for Christian approval of killing abortion clinic workers, but surely it is far below 1%. There is a difference in scope as well. Throughout the 1990's and the first decade of 2000, 6 abortion doctors or workers have been killed in the United States and Canada. On any given day of the year, that would be considered a very slow day for Islamic extremist killings (typically, Muslim extremists kill 5–30 people every single day of the year, including on Ramadan—and most of their victims are civilians and/or fellow Muslims). Even in war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of innocent civilians killed by Muslim extremists is about 20x those killed by the establishment military forces there (the United States, its allies, and the establishment military and police force in those countries), as these extremists intentionally target civilians.

Please remember that the Crusades occurred hundreds of years ago with a very corrupt religious institution. The last Muslim attack occurred within the past hour or two. There are more killings by Muslims any given year than during the entire 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition.

Please bear in mind that Satan has a great ego, and when he takes control, he wants you to know who he is. So, even though Hitler, for instance, inspired and moved his nation; we know that he killed millions of Christians and Jews—that is Satan telling us who he is. That is his ego at work.

Back to our topic—the Biblical narrative and mythology: choose any ancient mythology and compare it to the first 10 chapters of Genesis, and it will be clear, even from a cursory reading, that there is a dramatic difference between them. If you maintain that there is no difference between them, you are simply being intellectually dishonest. You might as well set the writings of William Shakespear next to the written howlings of Alan Ginsberg and claim that they are identical.

Our passage reads:

Gen 6:1–4 And it was that men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them. The sons of God [i.e., fallen angels] saw the daughters of men, that they were pleasant; and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose. And Jehovah said, “My Spirit will not always plead a cause for [or, strive with, vindicate] man in his going astray, in that he is also flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years.” There were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore to them, these were the mighty men of old, men of renown.

——————————

God Observes This Corruption and Regrets Making Man

Most writers of fiction (or even of history), at this point, would have talked about some of these men; about the gods, about the women, about their children, and exploits of their superhuman children. Instead, this is what the writer of Genesis says:

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and all the imagery of the thought of his heart was only evil every day.

Latin Vulgate                          And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so sees Y^ehowah that great [is] evil of the man in the earth and every imagination of his heart [is] only evil all the day.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the Lord God, having seen that the wicked actions of men were multiplied upon the earth, and that everyone in his heart was intently brooding over evil continually.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           The Lord saw that humanity had become thoroughly evil on the earth and that every idea their minds thought up was always completely evil.

Contemporary English V.       The LORD saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil.

Easy-to-Read Version            The Lord saw that the people on the earth were very evil. The Lord saw that people thought only about evil things all the time.

Good News Bible (TEV)         When the LORD saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time,...

The Message                         GOD saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil--evil, evil, evil from morning to night.

New Berkeley Version           God saw that human wickedness was growing out of bounds on earth; that the intention of all human thinking produced nothing but evil all day.

New Living Translation           The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.