Gen 6:1-4 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Gen 6:1-8: 6:1-8 Human wickedness reached a climax, prompting God to send the flood to destroy all living things. A glimmer of hope appears in God’s favor toward Noah (6:8 ). Summary for Gen 6:1-2: 6:1-2 The sons of God have generally been understood as fallen angels (cp. the same Hebrew phrase in Job 1:6 ; 2:1 ; 38:7 ; Pss 29:1 ; 89:7 ). This interpretation is prominent in ancient Jewish and Christian literature (e.g., 1 Enoch 6:1–7:6; Justin Martyr, Apology 2.5) and is apparently supported by the New Testament (see 1 Pet 3:18-20 ; 2 Pet 2:4 ; Jude 1:6-7 ). Some interpreters do not believe that God would permit angels to procreate with humans and doubt that the above New Testament texts should be read in this way. Another possibility is that sons of God refers to the righteous descendants of Seth, while the beautiful women were female descendants of Cain’s wicked line. This interpretation is in harmony with Gen 4:17–5:32 but is weakened by the language of 6:1-2 , which seems to refer to the daughters of humanity in general, not the daughters of Cain specifically. Others believe that sons of God refers to tyrannical human kings (possibly demon-possessed) who took Lamech’s polygamy (4:19 ) to a new height of wickedness by seizing the daughters of the righteous. Language reminiscent of 3:6 ( saw ... took ) shows the rebellious nature of this act.

Summary for Gen 6:1-8: 6:1-8 ^a Human wickedness reached a climax, prompting God to send the flood to destroy all living things. A glimmer of hope appears in God’s favor toward Noah (6:8 ^b).
Summary for Gen 6:1-2: 6:1-2 ^c The sons of God have generally been understood as fallen angels (cp. the same Hebrew phrase in Job 1:6 ^d; 2:1 ^e; 38:7 ^f; Pss 29:1 ^g; 89:7 ^h). This interpretation is prominent in ancient Jewish and Christian literature (e.g., 1 Enoch 6:1–7:6; Justin Martyr, Apology 2.5) and is apparently supported by the New Testament (see 1 Pet 3:18-20 ⁱ; 2 Pet 2:4 ^j; Jude 1:6-7 ^k). Some interpreters do not believe that God would permit angels to procreate with humans and doubt that the above New Testament texts should be read in this way. Another possibility is that sons of God refers to the righteous descendants of Seth, while the beautiful women were female descendants of Cain’s wicked line. This interpretation is in harmony with Gen 4:17–5:32 ^l but is weakened by the language of 6:1-2 ^m, which seems to refer to the daughters of humanity in general, not the daughters of Cain specifically. Others believe that sons of God refers to tyrannical human kings (possibly demon-possessed) who took Lamech’s polygamy (4:19 ⁿ) to a new height of wickedness by seizing the daughters of the righteous. Language reminiscent of 3:6 ^o (saw ... took) shows the rebellious nature of this act.
6:3 ^p will not put up with: Many think that this is an announcement of God’s decision to withdraw the restraining influence of his Spirit from human society and allow human wickedness to run its full course. Others think it means that God would withdraw his life-giving breath from humans at an earlier age (ruakh, the Hebrew term for “spirit,” can also mean “breath”; see 6:17 ^q; 7:22 ^r; see also Ps 104:29-30 ^s).

• normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years (literally his days will be 120 years): It is possible that this was a new restriction on the number of years individuals would generally be allowed to live (so the NLT). However, for generations after the flood, humans lived well beyond 120 years (see, e.g., Gen 11:10-26 ^t). An alternative interpretation sees this as a 120-year grace period before the arrival of the flood (see Jon 3:4 ^u; Matt 24:37-38 ^v; 1 Pet 3:20 ^w; 2 Pet 2:5 ^x).
6:4 ^y giant Nephilites (Hebrew nepilim): The term may mean “fallen ones.” The context implies that they were the offspring of the “sons of God” and would be destroyed in the flood. Numbers 13:31-33 ^z uses the same term to describe other giants who were hostile toward God’s people and would also be destroyed (see also Deut 2:11 ^aa, which connects the Anakite nepilim with another group called the repa’im).