Genesis Chapter 6 verse 2 Holy Bible

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) The sons of God. . . . --The literal translation of this verse is, And the sons of the Elohim saw the daughters of the adam that they were good (beautiful); and they took to them wives whomsoever they chose. Of the sons of the Elohim there are three principal interpretations: the first, that of the Targums and the chief Jewish expositors, that they were the nobles, and men of high rank; the second, that they were angels. St. Jude, Jude 1:6, and St. Peter, 2 Ep., 2Peter 2:4, seem to favour this interpretation, possibly as being the translation of the LXX. according to several MSS. But even if this be their meaning, which is very uncertain, they use it only as an illustration; and a higher authority says that the angels neither marry nor are given in marriage. The third, and most generally accepted interpretation in modern times, is that the sons of the Elohim were the Sethites, and that when they married for mere lust of beauty, universal corruption soon ensued. But no modern commentator has shown how such marriages could produce "mighty men . . . men of renown;" or how strong warriors could be the result of the intermarriage of pious men with women of an inferior race, such as the Cainites are assumed to have been.The Jewish interpreters, who well understood the uses of their own language, are right in the main point that the phrase "sons of the Elohim" conveys no idea of moral goodness or piety. Elohim constantly means mighty ones (Exodus 15:11, marg.). (Comp. Exodus 12:12, marg., Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8-9, where it is translated judges; Exodus 22:28, 1Samuel 2:25, where also it is translated judge.) In Job 1:6 the "sons of Elohim" are the nobles, the idea being that of a king who at his durbar gathers his princes round him; and, not unnecessarily to multiply examples, the "sons of the Elim," the other form of the plural, is rightly translated mighty ones in Psalm 29:1. . . . Parallel Commentaries ...Hebrewthe sonsבְנֵי־ (ḇə·nê-)Noun - masculine plural constructStrong's 1121: A sonof Godהָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)Article | Noun - masculine pluralStrong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlativesaw thatוַיִּרְא֤וּ (way·yir·’ū)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine pluralStrong's 7200: To seethe daughtersבְּנ֣וֹת (bə·nō·wṯ)Noun - feminine plural constructStrong's 1323: A daughterof menהָֽאָדָ֔ם (hā·’ā·ḏām)Article | Noun - masculine singularStrong's 120: Ruddy, a human being[were] beautiful,טֹבֹ֖ת (ṭō·ḇōṯ)Adjective - feminine pluralStrong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, goodand they tookוַיִּקְח֤וּ (way·yiq·ḥū)Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine pluralStrong's 3947: To takeas wivesנָשִׁ֔ים (nā·šîm)Noun - feminine pluralStrong's 802: Woman, wife, femalewhomeverאֲשֶׁ֥ר (’ă·šer)Pronoun - relativeStrong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order thatthey chose.בָּחָֽרוּ׃ (bā·ḥā·rū)Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common pluralStrong's 977: To try, selectJump to PreviousBeautiful Chose Chosen Daughters Fair God's Married Pleasing Themselves Whomever Whomsoever Wife Wives Women