EOB: Official Site of the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible (Old and New Testament)

Genesis 6:4

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes of old, warriors of renown.

EOB Footnote:

The MT includes the phrase “and also afterward” following “in those days,” indicating the Nephilim were present both before and after the events described. The LXX omits this phrase. The MT reads “the sons of God” where the LXX reads “the sons of God” (agreement), but the MT adds “these were the mighty men of old, men of renown” at the verse’s end, which the LXX renders similarly but with slight variation in word order. The phrase “when they came in to” renders the Greek idiom for sexual relations in a manner appropriate for liturgical reading while preserving the meaning.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

WEB (World English Bible):

The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

There were giants in the earth in those days; and after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

“There were giants in 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.”

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

The giants were 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 who were of old, men of renown.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when sons of God came in to daughters of men, and they bore to them; they are the mighty ones, who are from of old, the men of renown.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and even afterwards, when the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and had children by them. These were the great men of old days, the men of great name.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

The Nephilim and the Mystery of Fallen Nature

This enigmatic verse has generated extensive patristic discussion and carries significant theological weight for Orthodox understanding of human nature, the consequences of sin, and the necessity of divine intervention in human history.

Patristic Interpretation: The Church Fathers offered two primary interpretations of the “sons of God” (bene elohim). The more widely accepted Orthodox reading, championed by Saints John Chrysostom, Ephrem the Syrian, and Augustine, identifies the “sons of God” as the righteous descendants of Seth who intermarried with the morally corrupt descendants of Cain (“daughters of men”). This interpretation emphasizes that the mingling of the godly line with the ungodly resulted in universal corruption, necessitating the Flood. Chrysostom explicitly rejected the notion of angelic-human unions as incompatible with the nature of angels and the teaching of Christ that angels neither marry nor are given in marriage.

A secondary patristic tradition, found in some earlier writers influenced by Jewish apocalyptic literature, understood the passage as referring to fallen angels. While this reading appears in certain texts, the Orthodox Church has generally favored the Sethite interpretation as more consistent with the broader scriptural witness.

Christological Significance: This passage illuminates the depth of human fallenness that required the Incarnation to remedy. The corruption described here—where even the boundary between righteous and unrighteous lineages collapsed—demonstrates that humanity could not save itself through maintaining a pure line. Only the New Adam, born of the Virgin without the corruption of fallen human generation, could restore human nature. The “mighty men of old, men of renown” (giborim) represent humanity’s attempt at self-glorification apart from God, a project that culminates in Babel and stands in stark contrast to Christ’s kenotic self-emptying.

Liturgical and Spiritual Connections: The Orthodox funeral service and prayers for the departed acknowledge the universal corruption of human nature inherited from Adam, a corruption intensified in the pre-Flood world described here. The Lenten Triodion draws typological connections between the Flood and Baptism, with Noah’s ark prefiguring the Church as the vessel of salvation from a corrupted world.

For Orthodox spirituality, this verse serves as a sober reminder of how quickly spiritual compromise leads to complete moral collapse. The intermarriage represents the danger of allowing worldly values to infiltrate the life of faith—a theme emphasized in monastic literature and the writings on spiritual vigilance (nepsis). The passage calls believers to maintain clear boundaries while living in a fallen world, finding their true identity not in earthly renown but in union with Christ.

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