Sons of God

There are several theories concerning the identity of the sons of God (b'nei elohim, בני האלהים, contrasted with "daughters of men") identified in the book of Genesis.

:"When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose." ()

Theories

One theory is that the sons of God are the descendants of Seth, the pure line of Adam. The daughters of men are then seen as the descendants of Cain. This is the view put forth by the pseudepigraphical work: Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan.

A second theory is that the sons of God are angels who came to earth and had children with the daughters of men. This view is supported by the Epistle of Jude::"And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." ()This view is also the basis for much of the Book of Enoch.

A third theory revolves around the fact that "elohim" literally means "powers" and is, at times, used in the Bible to refer to powerful human rulers. In the Hebrew "Elohim" is God's name but it is a plural word.

A fourth theory relates the "sons of God" to the 70 sons of El and Athirat in the Canaanite tradition of Ugarit, from whose marriage with a race of titanesses (the daughters of man), the 70 nations of the earth were born. Each city or people thus had its own divinity, with whom they had a special covenant (i.e. Ba'al Be'rith = Lord of the Covenant). This marriage of the divinity with the city would seem to have Biblical parallels too with the stories of the link between Melkart and Tyre; Yahweh and Jerusalem; Chemosh and Moab; Tanit and Baal Hammon with Carthage, and may have been celebrated annually after the new year with a hieros gamos or sacred marriage, in which a Qadeshtu (Holy One) took the role of the God's consort, representing the city [ [http://www.studybibleforum.com/spages/Song%20of%20Solomon.htm Song of Solomon Study Bible Forum studybibleforum ] ] [Moscati, Sabatino (2000), "The Phoenicians" (Rizzoli International)] [Delcor, Matthias (1976), "Religion D'Israël Et Proche Orient Ancien: Des Phéniciens Aux Esséniens" (Brill International Publications)] .

One belief is that God provided wives to "all" men (as he created Eve for Adam), or at the very least appointed one woman to one man. Man, impatient for his wife, pursued other mens daughters instead and/or chose multiple wives instead of one. It is believed that the "sons of God" are not Angels due to the punishment of man for this iniquity ( [http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Gen/6/3.html Genesis 6:3] ), as well as many biblical references to humans as children of GOD ( [http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Isa/43/6.html Isaiah 43:6] : "...my sons...").

Also, the "sons of God" are not believed to be the same as the nephilim due to [http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Gen/6/4.html Genesis 6:4] , which is perceived to state: 'there were giants walking the earth "while" the "sons of God" came in to the daughters of men...'

Finally, [http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Jud/1/6.html Jude 1:6] is considered to be unrelated, as no direction is given to the Angels descent. This scripture is perceived (in this belief) to merely touch on the Angels who followed Satan. Also, the verse gives no time frame for the Angels to pursue women. It does not say they abandoned their home to live in frivolity on earth. Instead it is believed to state they abandoned their positions and (seemingly) were immediately punished. Notably, this final belief seems to provide solution to the conflict of early procreation without incest.

Other Uses of the term

*Sons of God (MC)
*Jesus bloodline

See also

* Nephilim
* Grigori
* Divine filiation

References

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14142b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Son of God]
* [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=964&letter=S&search=Son%20of%20God Jewish Encyclopedia: Son of God]
* [http://epologetics.org/sonsofgod.php Who Are the Sons of God? | epologetics]