Genesis 6:2

THE SONS OF GOD AND THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN

This verse stands among the most debated passages in all of Scripture, presenting interpretive challenges that the Church Fathers addressed with considerable attention. The identity of the “sons of God” (bene ha-elohim) has generated three primary interpretations within the Orthodox tradition.

The Patristic Consensus: The dominant patristic interpretation, championed by Saints John Chrysostom, Ephrem the Syrian, Augustine, and Cyril of Alexandria, identifies the “sons of God” as the righteous descendants of Seth, while the “daughters of men” represent the lineage of Cain. Chrysostom emphatically argues in his Homilies on Genesis that Scripture often calls righteous men “sons of God” by virtue of their godly conduct, not their nature. This interpretation preserves the distinction between the faithful line through which the Messiah would come and the worldly line that had departed from God.

The Angelic Interpretation: Some earlier writers, including certain readings found in Jewish tradition and referenced by some Fathers, understood the “sons of God” as fallen angels. However, this view was largely rejected by the mainstream patristic tradition, particularly because our Lord teaches that angels neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Christological Significance: This passage illuminates the progressive corruption that necessitated divine intervention, pointing forward to the ultimate intervention in Christ. The mingling of the holy with the profane, the sacred with the worldly, demonstrates humanity’s persistent tendency toward spiritual compromise. Christ, the true Son of God, enters human history not through such illicit union but through the pure Virgin, reversing the pattern of corruption with sanctification.

Spiritual Application: The Orthodox spiritual tradition draws from this passage a warning against the soul’s marriage to worldly passions. The Philokalia and ascetic literature frequently employ marital imagery to describe the soul’s relationship with God or its corruption through attachment to created things. When the soul, created for divine union, instead pursues fleshly desires, spiritual giants become spiritual dwarfs.

Liturgical Echoes: During Great Lent, the Church reads extensively from Genesis, and this narrative of pre-flood corruption serves as a sobering reminder of sin’s consequences. The theme resonates with the Lenten call to repentance and separation from worldly entanglements.

The passage ultimately testifies that righteousness cannot be preserved through mere biological descent but requires active faithfulness—a truth fulfilled in the New Covenant, where we become sons of God not by flesh but by adoption through baptism into Christ.