Bible verses interpretations

[True Gabriel]

Genesis 6: 1 - 4
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4There 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.

Verse 1-2 seem to be clear that it is talking about the children's of Adam and Eve as they multiply the sons begun to cohabit with the daughters to further expand the numbers of humans.

Verse 4 seem to be referring to another group of sons of God not of Adam and Eve because of the way it is phrase "the sons of God came unto the daughters of men" daughters of men IMO are those of Adam and Eve, but who are the sons of God are they the angels that impregnated the daughters of men producing extra ordinary or unusual humans such as giants, extra powerful men, intellectual humans, other races of humans etc. ?

 

[wil]

adam, spirit, male, intellect, material nature

eve, spirit (both consciosness, in G!ds image) female, love, feeling nature


Their offsrping are children of consciousness, ideas, desires, hence the repeated defintitions of the meanings of the names in the bible.

The giants from (h)ebron represent frontal lobe, intellect and personal based, carnal mind, ingrained race consciousness, seperate from or ignoring spirit.

 

[Gatekeeper]

Genesis 6: 1 - 4
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4There 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.

Verse 1-2 seem to be clear that it is talking about the children's of Adam and Eve as they multiply the sons begun to cohabit with the daughters to further expand the numbers of humans.

Verse 4 seem to be referring to another group of sons of God not of Adam and Eve because of the way it is phrase "the sons of God came unto the daughters of men" daughters of men IMO are those of Adam and Eve, but who are the sons of God are they the angels that impregnated the daughters of men producing extra ordinary or unusual humans such as giants, extra powerful men, intellectual humans, other races of humans etc. ?

I think that's the most common view. It could be interpreted differently though. For example, it could be that sons of God refer to those who were were not fallen, but blessed with the power of God, whereas the daughters of men could refer to those who were completely fallen from God's grace.


Could the merging of the two produce mighty men such as Jesus? He referred to himself as both the son of God and the son of man after all. I suppose the mighty men described in Genesis could have yielded to their fallen nature instead of the power of God in them.


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.


Good question! I myself don't know, but I'd sure like to see what others might think.

 

[NiceCupOfTea]

Genesis 6: 1 - 4
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4There 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.

Verse 1-2 seem to be clear that it is talking about the children's of Adam and Eve as they multiply the sons begun to cohabit with the daughters to further expand the numbers of humans.

Verse 4 seem to be referring to another group of sons of God not of Adam and Eve because of the way it is phrase "the sons of God came unto the daughters of men" daughters of men IMO are those of Adam and Eve, but who are the sons of God are they the angels that impregnated the daughters of men producing extra ordinary or unusual humans such as giants, extra powerful men, intellectual humans, other races of humans etc. ?

The off spring were those the Nephilim ?

I think there is more detail in the Book Of Enoch.

 

[True Gabriel]

The off spring were those the Nephilim ?

I think there is more detail in the Book Of Enoch.

apparently there are several interpretation base on different sources.
1. Seth
2. Enoch
3. mainstream Christian view
4. none mainstream view

Base on the verses actual wordings "Genesis 6: 1 - 4
1And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4There 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".

All these begun after Adam and Eve sinned and taken out of paradise therefore the only people or couple that were around to populate the world was Adam and Eve this would mean that sons and daughters of men are those of Adam / Eve and their children, children, children's there's basically nobody else around unless God created some other humans on earth which I doubt.

The other sons of God are IMO the rebel angels of Lucifer just like Satan was able to enter paradise and tempt Eve to sin the same group of angels would be able to enter earth and start to corrupt it. Because angels are immortals the humans that they have produce must have inherited some of their immortality that include living for long years. That is when God decided to put an age limit to human life 120 years. IMO also some of the angels that rebel must have also repented and return to the heavens the off springs that they have left behind on earth would become the great men with extra ordinary wisdoms, strength and intellectual capacities. But as there are the good ones there are also the evil ones that did not repent but were cast back to hell and their ability to physically take human form has been remove (Satan took a snake form in paradise)

To say that it is about Seth's descendants cohabiting with that of Cain or vis versa is IMO weak because both are children of Adam and Eve, if there are any corruption of the sons of men it would probably involve angelic interferences "sons of God came unto the daughters of men" either to the Seth or Cain lineage.

 

[seattlegal]

The ancient Greek mythos also talked about gods mating with humans and producing mighty offspring. Hercules is one example--son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene.

In the Hebrew, "son (or daughter) of man" means a human being, whereas "sons of God" usually means spirit creatures. Compare Job 1:6

Satan’s First Test of Job

6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan[b] also came with them. 7 The LORD asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the earth,” Satan answered Him, “and walking around on it.”
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”
9 Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”
​

...and Job 38:

1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind. He said: 2 Who is this who obscures My counsel
with ignorant words?
3 Get ready to answer Me like a man;
when I question you, you will inform Me.
4 Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell Me, if you have[a] understanding.
5 Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 What supports its foundations?
Or who laid its cornerstone
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors
when it burst from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its blanket,[b]
10 when I determined its boundaries[c]
and put its bars and doors in place,
11 when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther;
your proud waves stop here”?​

This is obviously from the time before humans came into existence.

Perhaps one of our Jewish members would like to help us out?

 

[seattlegal]

Oh, there is also a backhanded reference to this in 1 Corinthians 11, regarding women covering their heads, "because of the angels." (verse 10) It goes on to talk about how women and men are supposed to be interdependent. However, "because of the angels" could refer to Genesis 6 when women were having children independent of men, (with the angels.) Therefore, women are supposed to have a "sign of authority" on their heads to keep them from wandering off, independent of men again, or should have their heads shaved if they won't cover them to shame them.

Guess they didn't have "Locks for Love" back then.

 

[wil]

sons and daughters of men are those of Adam / Eve and their children, children, children's there's basically nobody else around unless God created some other humans on earth which I doubt..

Genesis is metaphorical. A metaphysical garden and Adam and Eve. Trying to make sense of metaphor as you would something that litterally happened doesn't work.

Who do you think A&E's sons had sex with to create their babies? Had to be Eve, or unamed sisters....or was it Lilith? Anyway you look at it, trying to create a civilization literally from two to start with is quite incestual.

Literal interpretations of metaphysical stories is just trouble, like trying to figure out how everything got on the ark.....

 

[A Cup Of Tea]

I have ask a really stupid question, wouldn't it be of interest to study the text in it's original language? Unless one, for some reason, believe the bible was written in English. Or do we believe that the translation is flawless?

 

[wil]

It would if I spoke the hebrew of 3000 years ago...

 

[seattlegal]

Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. Lexicon / Concordance for Genesis 6:2

6:2
וַיִּרְאוּ בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים אֶת־בְּנֹות הָֽאָדָם כִּי טֹבֹת הֵנָּה וַיִּקְחוּ לָהֶם נָשִׁים מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר בָּחָֽרוּ׃

​

English (KJV)

Strong's Root Form (Hebrew) Tense That the sons h1121 בן ben

of God h430 אלהים 'elohiym

saw h7200 ראה ra'ah

the daughters h1323 בת bath

of men h120 אדם 'adam

that they h2007 הנה hennah

[were] fair; h2896 טוב towb

and they took h3947 לקח laqach

them wives h802 אשה 'ishshah

of all which they chose. h977 בחר bachar

of interest:

laqach

a) (Qal)
1) to take, take in the hand
2) to take and carry along
3) to take from, take out of, take, carry away, take away
4) to take to or for a person, procure, get, take possession of, select, choose, take in marriage, receive, accept
5) to take up or upon, put upon
6) to fetch
7) to take, lead, conduct
8) to take, capture, seize
9) to take, carry off
10) to take (vengeance)
b) (Niphal)
1) to be captured
2) to be taken away, be removed
3) to be taken, brought unto
c) (Pual)
1) to be taken from or out of
2) to be stolen from
3) to be taken captive
4) to be taken away, be removed
d) (Hophal)
1) to be taken unto, be brought unto
2) to be taken out of
3) to be taken away
e) (Hithpael)
1) to take hold of oneself
2) to flash about (of lightning)​

It suggests that the women might have been abducted!

'ishshah



1) woman, wife, female
a) woman (opposite of man)
b) wife (woman married to a man)
c) female (of animals)
d) each, every (pronoun)​

The same words ben 'elohiym are used in the verses from Job 1 and Job 38 referenced earlier.

 

[iBrian]

Verse 4 seem to be referring to another group of sons of God not of Adam and Eve because of the way it is phrase "the sons of God came unto the daughters of men" daughters of men IMO are those of Adam and Eve, but who are the sons of God are they the angels that impregnated the daughters of men producing extra ordinary or unusual humans such as giants, extra powerful men, intellectual humans, other races of humans etc. ?

There is a rich amount of Jewish lore on this - to understand the basics of an originally Jewish text, you'll really need to read up on original Jewish interpretations.

I know Ben Elohim (Sons of God) come up, as do the Nephilim and other aspects of angellic orders. The only information I've come across tends to be non-Jewish though - I know the Theosophists have archived a lot of information on their interpretation of their subjects online, though, and could be worth exploring.

 

[A Cup Of Tea]

It would if I spoke the hebrew of 3000 years ago...

Ok, but if we really wanted to know what is being said wouldn't any true Christians goal be to learn as much about that language as possible?

 

[wil]

Ok, but if we really wanted to know what is being said wouldn't any true Christians goal be to learn as much about that language as possible?

As I see it we have to pick and choose.

I look at the idioms and definitions of words less than 100 years ago. In 1929 the dictionary said "Democracy - also known as mobacracy" as it was well known that no truly democratic country could stand as eventually people would vote all the money to the citizenry and effectively collapse the gov't.

Definitions change definitions vary (as SG alluded to) there is soo much going on, to do effectively what you say I'd have to devote my life to it.

I prefer to stand on the shoulders of those that have gone before me, read the various interpretations from KJV to the Message, to Manga and some various theoligists and see what resonates...which has a ring of truth, and which is just so abhorrent, that I'm not gonna buy into.

And then I happily live in not knowing, but understanding. Where as I could spend my life attempting to know, as thousands have, and still not know, (although many have claimed to, those that claim to know are nearly diametrically opposed to others that claim to know)

I see this life, this existence as having more purpose than that. How could we be given all this wonder without rolling in it. Rather than spend eternity trying to decipher ancient hebrew...I'll snorkle in coral reefs, play with children, make snow angels, have a snowball fight, drink a hot toddy,....and on and on.... and continue to read books by those who have spent their life trying...and honor them in their efforts.

 

[A Cup Of Tea]

I know well how you look at it, but from the point of view of someone who believe 'the truth' is in the bible, wouldn't dedicating their life be acceptable?

I was expecting people to say that there are only fragments of the original texts or that they are locked away indefinitely. maybe there's something in the Christian tradition I'm missing. I hope Thomas comments on this.

 

[True Gabriel]

It is normally interpreted like that because of the way the text is written it seem to be very straight forward especially if we compare it to actual situation wherein there exist giants (Goliath), mighty men (Samson,), wise men (great prophets, philosophers, scientist, astrologist, great kings), evil men (dictators, tyrants, killers, psychopath, etc.)

If not because of the time difference it could also mean the dinosaurs, cave men and other pre historic creatures. The disappearance of those pre historic creatures could be related to God’s punishment for all these corruptions?

Genesis 6 : 11 - 12 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

Noah probably took with him only creatures that were not corrupted just like he took only his family? Still, because of the time difference it is difficult to relate this to the pre historic era the sudden disappearance of those dinosaurs.

Looking at the very text itself and the interpretation that others have provided, I understand that both Seth and Cain are children of Adam and Eve the only difference is that Seth was the holy one that worship the One God while Cain follow his own pagan practice especially after he was reprimanded by God for murdering Abel.

Genesis chapter 4 the curse to Cain and his descendants.
Genesis 5 the family tree and lineage of Adam and Eve.
Genesis 6 The growth of human population and eventually the cause of the corruption of the world.

Genesis 6:
1. And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
2. That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
4. 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.

Looking at chapter 6:1; “when men begun to multiply and daughters were born unto them” this would seem to be referring to all the descendants of Adam and Eve that include the lineage of Seth and Cain that their children began to multiply as seen in Genesis 5.

Then, on Genesis 6:2, Daughters of men it did not say the daughters were of Cain, family line or Seth’s at the same time to say that the daughters refers to the children of Cain does this mean that Seth families did not have any or many daughters fair or not? “sons of God saw the daughters of men were fair and they took unto the daughters of men and they bare children to them”.

If the interpretation is that the “sons of God” refers the the children of Seth this would mean that Seth’s children’s did not have fair looking daughters and that they were attracted to the women of Cain, it was not the daughters of Cain who came after them but it is the men of Seth’s that came after the daughters of Cain. Not withstanding that both Seth and Cain are children of Adam and Eve, thus the sons and daughters of men should mean children of Adam and Eve. It would seem the text is separating the two sons of God the first ones are the angels and the second one are the humans or men “That the sons of God (IMO angels) saw the daughters of men (IMO Adam and Eve children that multiply)”.

I am having difficulty in accepting that Genesis 6: 1 – 4 refers to Seth children and Cain children intermarrying each other especially since it did not mention anything that Seth lineage should not have anything to do with Cain people, because even if they intermarry they shouldn’t be able to produce giants because both Seth and Cain are from the same ancestors unless one of them somehow got mutated?

 

[radarmark]

Hey ACOT! There are ususally three ideas behind claims of "the truth" of the bible: inerrancy, literalism, and sola scriptura. The belief that the are no errors in the Bible (inerrancy). The belief that no interpretation is needed (literalism). The belief that it is by obeying the scriptures alone that one gets into heaven (sola scriptura).

In the old days they were all collected as one body of belief. However, I do not know if that is still true. Some groups (Lutherins and Presbyterians) still hold sola scriptura (that was the big break Luther and Calvin had with the Catholics), but sometimes their doctine is not so literalist anymore.

Literalism and inerrancy still go hand in hand (the basis for most Fundamentalist groups). How can I explain it.

Okay, the Greek Orthodox are a very well-read and very ancient group. But their old testament conflicts in many places with the Hebrew (now realize their earliest version of the textdate from the first century, however they claim it was completed in 132 BC and the earliest Hebrew copy is from the 9th century--and they admit it was only given Masoretic form only about that same time--800 AD or so).

The Greek version (the septaugint) by Church degree is perfect and the 70 scribes who compiled it, if changes were made, did so only with Divine instruction. So, you see, when difference is found is is automatically correct by "Divine Instruction".

Those who hold the truth in in the bible, the same process is at work. There is no error, there is no alternative explanation (a whale did not swallow Jonak, for the book says a big fish or bats are birds because the old testament lists them among the fowl of the sir). It is literally true in all cases verbatim. Period.

None who believe this would defend either of your alternatives (fragments or locked away). Those of us who defend the fragments or locked away thesis (I kinda fit in here) are seeking alternatives so that things like "pi = 3" or the parable of the fig tree just go away.

wil has that part pretty right.

 

[A Cup Of Tea]

Thanks, for some reason this is hard for me to grasp, the whole concept of a flawless text is far from my reality. And these text are interpreted in so many ways on so many levels at the same time, it's all very human.

 

[True Gabriel]

So, how do we relate or reconcile the Genesis story with the dinosaur and caveman era?

 

[wil]

So, how do we relate or reconcile the Genesis story with the dinosaur and caveman era?

Genesis

Story

Genesis

Story....not History

Metaphor