“That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”
Genesis 6:2, KJV
You may have heard this verse explained as angels coming to earth, marrying women, and producing a race of giants called the Nephilim. That explanation is often presented with such confidence that you might assume the verse specifically identifies these men as angels.
Read it again. Where does it say that?
Here, I have deliberately presented an isolated verse. You have not yet read the account leading up to it or followed the explanation that comes afterward. Before deciding who these “sons of God” were, you need that surrounding Scripture.
A cherry-picking culture has become far too comfortable in the modern church. Sometimes a person establishes a belief and then gathers individual verses that appear to support it. Other times, someone assigns a meaning to one intriguing verse and builds an entire doctrine around it. Repeating the explanation can eventually make it feel inseparable from the Scripture itself.
But familiarity is not the same as understanding. You need to be able to examine how an explanation was reached.
💡Questions to consider
What does Genesis 6:2 actually say about the identity of the sons of God?
What details have you heard added to its explanation?
Have you read the surrounding account for yourself?
Start Before the Chapter Begins
Chapter and verse numbers help you find your place, but they were added long after Genesis was written. The account did not originally stop at the end of chapter 5 and begin an unrelated subject at chapter 6.
Before continuing, read Genesis 4–5 and Genesis 6:1–13 as one developing account.
Genesis 4 follows Cain after he murders Abel. Among his descendants, you meet Lamech, who takes two wives and boasts about killing a man. The account shows human achievement developing alongside violence and pride.
Then the focus returns to Adam and Eve. Seth is born, followed by his son Enos. Genesis 4:26 connects that time with people beginning to call upon the name of Yehovah.
Genesis 5 follows Seth’s family through the generations. Enoch walks with Yehovah. The genealogy eventually brings you to Noah.
These chapters establish family lines and give you examples of different spiritual directions. A family name did not automatically make every descendant righteous, but the account has already introduced worship, violence, and the choice to walk with Yehovah before you reach the marriages in Genesis 6.
💡Questions to consider
Which family lines are introduced before Genesis 6?
What examples of faithfulness and wickedness appear?
How does reading these chapters change the setting in which you understand Genesis 6:2?
Keep Reading Until Noah
Genesis 6 begins with humanity multiplying. The sons of God see that the daughters of men are beautiful and take wives according to their choosing. The account then mentions giants, mighty men, and men of renown.
Keep reading. What problem does Yehovah identify?
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Genesis 6:5, KJV
The explanation centers on human wickedness. By verses 11–13, the earth is corrupt and filled with violence. Humanity has corrupted its way.
Against that background, Noah stands out:
“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
Genesis 6:8, KJV
Verse 9 describes Noah as a just man who walked with Yehovah. That description connects him with Enoch in the preceding genealogy. Through the developing corruption, the account continues to distinguish those who walk with Yehovah.
The surrounding story gives you a serious spiritual problem to examine: people’s relationships, choices, and increasing departure from righteousness.
💡Questions to consider
What reason does Scripture give for Yehovah’s coming judgment?
What fills the earth?
How is Noah’s life different from the world around him?
Does “Sons of God” Automatically Mean Angels?
Scripture uses the language of divine sonship for human beings.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Romans 8:14, KJV
John 1:12 calls those who receive Him and believe on His name sons of God. First John 3:1–2 also applies that language to believers. Long before those New Testament writings, Deuteronomy 14:1 identified Israel as the children of Yehovah their God.
Those verses establish that “sons of God” is not an expression reserved for angels.
The expression also appears in Job, where the heavenly setting—particularly the rejoicing at creation in Job 38:4–7—supports understanding the subjects as heavenly beings. That comparison deserves consideration, but it does not remove the need to examine Genesis in its own setting.
In Genesis, you have just followed human families, including people who called upon Yehovah and walked with Him. Understanding the sons of God as men from the line associated with worship of Yehovah therefore has a foundation in the preceding account. The marriages describe those men choosing women on the basis of attraction, with no mention of faithfulness to Yehovah guiding their choice.
And that just might be the point. In the larger spiritual picture, those women represent the world and its attractions. Men associated with worship of Yehovah were choosing the things of the world over the things of Yehovah. Something appealing to their flesh was being given greater weight than their devotion to Him.
Later, Romans 8:14 describes the sons of God as those who are led by His Spirit. That helps illuminate the significance of the choices described here. A life submitted to Yehovah requires His direction in the relationships you pursue and the desires you follow. Read this way, the marriages reveal a departure of the heart that reaches beyond the wedding itself, affecting homes, children, and generations.
Sin had already entered the world, but the account follows its spreading corruption until humanity is consumed by wickedness and violence. Against that darkness, Enoch’s and Noah’s walks with Yehovah become especially precious. Their lives show that faithfulness was possible, even as the world around them turned away. The growing corruption reveals humanity’s need for a Messiah, while their devotion reminds you that the world’s choices do not have to become your own.
💡Questions to consider
Who is called a son or child of God in the supporting Scriptures?
How do the preceding family accounts support a human understanding of Genesis 6:2?
How can choosing what appeals to your flesh lead you away from devotion to Yehovah?
What Does Scripture Say About Angels?
The angelic explanation also requires you to consider what angels are.
“Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire.”
Psalm 104:4, KJV
Hebrews 1:7 quotes that Scripture concerning angels, and Hebrews 1:14 describes them as ministering spirits. Yeshua also teaches that angels in heaven do not marry (Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25).
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
John 3:6, KJV
Yeshua makes a distinction here between flesh and spirit. He is explaining the new birth to Nicodemus: being born of the Spirit is a spiritual birth, not a spirit physically fathering a child – and provides a clear distinction between the two. Now read it alongside Romans 8:14; this also helps you understand how human beings can be called sons of God. Their sonship describes their relationship with Yehovah and the work of His Spirit in their lives. It does not describe a biological union between a spirit and a human being.
We see this pattern at creation as well.
Genesis 1:11-12 Fruit trees bears fruit according ot its own kind
Genesis 1:24-25 Beasts of the earth after their own kind
Genesis 1:21 Sea creatures and birds after their own kind
Yehovah is a God of order.
Angels can appear to people in human form. But appearing as a man does not establish that a spirit possesses the biological means to father a human child. Natural human conception requires physical reproductive processes. Where does Scripture give those capabilities to angels?
Nor does Scripture describe angels reproducing with one another. The claim that rebellious angels could reproduce with women therefore requires an explanation of abilities the Bible has not established.
For me, this also touches something deeply sacred. Yehovah’s miraculous work in Mary, through which He came among us in Yeshua, should inspire awe. The eternal Word was made flesh. I believe assigning human reproductive powers to created spirits risks making that extraordinary work sound like something spiritual beings could ordinarily accomplish. Mary’s conception was a miraculous act of Yehovah, not a model of angelic reproduction.
💡Questions to consider
How do Psalm 104 and Hebrews 1 describe angels?
How does John 3:6 help you distinguish physical birth from being born of the Spirit?
What is the difference between appearing human and possessing human reproductive abilities?
Which parts of the angelic explanation come from Scripture, and which require additional assumptions?
So, Who Were the Nephilim?
Nephilim is the Hebrew word translated “giants” in Genesis 6:4 in the KJV. Some translations retain the Hebrew word because its precise meaning is uncertain. The verse associates them with mighty men of old, men of renown—figures remembered for their strength, power, or reputation.
The word also appears in Numbers 13:33, where the spies connect the sons of Anak with the Nephilim and describe themselves as grasshoppers beside them. Read Numbers 13:27–33 carefully: this description comes within the spies’ fearful report. That setting matters when considering their claims.
Putting these references together, I understand the Nephilim as formidable human giants associated with extraordinary strength and reputation. Their size and power did not make them part angel. Neither the word Nephilim nor the description “mighty men” establishes supernatural parentage.
Genesis does not give their measurements or explain the biological reasons for their stature. Then again, Scripture does not explain the biological reasons for Goliath’s height or that of King Og of Bashan, either. Their extraordinary size does not establish angelic ancestry. You can recognize the existence of unusually large, powerful people without supplying an explanation the biblical account does not give.
💡Questions to consider
How does Genesis 6:4 describe these figures?
Who makes the claim about the Nephilim in Numbers 13, and what is happening when they say it?
Does extraordinary size or strength establish that someone has a supernatural parent?
Return to the Verse
Now read Genesis 6:2 again, remembering the account surrounding it.
I understand the sons of God here as men from the human line associated with worship of Yehovah, taking wives without preserving that spiritual distinction. The account moves from those choices into a world overwhelmed by evil and violence, while Noah continues to walk with Yehovah.
My conclusion comes from reading the family accounts, following the explanation of human corruption, comparing biblical uses of sonship, and considering what Scripture says about angels.
You should examine that reasoning, too. The purpose of this study is to encourage you to open your Bible and follow the account carefully enough to understand why you believe what you believe.
💡Questions to consider
How does the human intermarriage explanation fit the account from Genesis 4 through Noah?
What evidence most influenced your understanding?
What questions do you still need to study?
A compelling explanation can capture your attention. Confidence can make it sound like truth. But a confident delivery does not automatically mean irrefutable truth.
You have permission to ask, “How did you reach that conclusion?” And as a devoted believer, a diligent student who studies the Word of Yehovah, it is your responsibility. Read before the verse, read after it, and compare what you find with the rest of Scripture. Let the Word shape your understanding as you prayerfully seek Yehovah’s guidance.
Stephanie A. Mayberry is a pastor’s wife, author, and encourager of women called to ministry and deeper spiritual growth. Raised in Baton Rouge and now living in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, she serves alongside her husband, Pastor C.W. Mayberry, at Torah Observant Apostolics, where they minister together to a diverse and growing body of believers.
Stephanie has authored several books on faith, women in ministry, spiritual growth, prayer, and living a Spirit-filled life—even (and especially) for Christians on the autism spectrum, including those with Asperger’s. Her passion is helping believers discover that Yehovah’s calling is bigger than their (perceived – self, world, or otherwise) limitations, labels, or past.
A mom and grandma, Stephanie balances Bible studies, writing deadlines, and family life with a strong cup of coffee and a healthy sense of humor. Whether she is speaking, writing, chatting with someone after service, or praying for a stranger in a parking lot, her heart is to encourage others to hear Yehovah’s voice, embrace their unique calling, and walk boldly in the gifts He has placed within them.
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