The Sons of God in Psalms 82 and Genesis 6: Part Two
The sons of God and the Nephilim of Genesis 6:
Many in the Christian community believe that the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6 are supernatural sons of God and not human sons of God. It is believed that these sons of God were angels that came from the heavenly realm to have marital relations with the daughters of men. It is believed that the men born of these relationships were the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:4.
While author Michael Heiser is seen in his book “The Unseen Realm” as believing this to be the correct interpretation of Genesis 6, author Ryan Pitterson takes this perspective to a whole new level in his recent books “Judgement of the Nephilim” (2017) and “The Final Nephilim” (2021).
Pitterson writes in the introduction to his book “Judgement of the Nephilim” that “These fallen angels (“sons of God”) took human wives (“daughters of men”) and had children with them. Their offspring-hybrid half-human, half-angel beings known as the Nephilim-were superhuman giants who waged war against humanity and corrupted the human gene pool.” Pitterson sees these hybrid humans as a blood line of the seed of Satan who have been historically and presently at war with what he calls the blood line of the Messiah. Pitterson has written some 928 pages of material in his two books in an effort to prove his position.
I will not attempt in this essay to evaluate Pitterson’s conclusions as to the role of the Nephilim in world history. I will instead evaluate the foundational belief upon which he bases his conclusions. That belief is that the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6 are angels that came from the heavenly realm to have marital relations with the human daughters of men which resulted in the birthing of the Nephilim. Let’s begin by looking at Genesis 6:1-4.
Genesis 6:1-4: When men (Hebrew: hā·’ā·ḏām [man/mankind]) began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (Hebrew: bÿne-ha’elohim) saw that the daughters of men (hā·’ā·ḏām) were beautiful (Hebrew:towb), and they married (Hebrew: laqach [to take] any of them they chose. Then the LORD (YHWH) said, "My Spirit will not contend with man (hā·’ā·ḏām) forever, for he is mortal (Hebrew: ḇā·śār); his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim (Hebrew: han·nə·p̄i·lîm) were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God (bÿne-ha’elohim) went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes (Hebrew: hag·gib·bō·rîm [mighty]) of old, men of renown (Hebrew: haš·šêm [men of name]) (NIV). Most translations of Genesis 6:4 render hag·gib·bō·rîm as "mighty" as that is what the word means. The Hebrew word towb rendered "beautiful" has the basic meaning of pleasant, agreeable or good. It is the word used in the creation account were God sees what he has created as being very good. This word, in its various tenses, appears 562 times in the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Hebrew bÿne in Genesis 6:1-4 appears 280 times in the Old Testament (OT) and is a tense of the Hebrew word “ben.” This word, in its various tenses, appears 4,931 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. Hebrew Lexicons show this word has the basic meaning of “son/male child, “son of a woman.” The Hebrew ben, in its various tenses, is seen throughout the OT to overwhelmingly be used to identify human sons of human woman. However, bÿne as in bÿne-ha’elohim (sons of God) is rendered 5 times in the OT as “sons of God.” Three of these times are in the Book of Job where bÿne-ha’elohim appears to identify supernatural sons of God. The other two times is in the Genesis passage quoted above where bÿne-ha’elohim may or may not be referring to supernatural beings.
Job 1:6: One day the angels (Hebrew: bÿne-ha’elohim) came to present themselves before the LORD (YHWH), and Satan also came with them (NIV).
Job 2:1: On another day the angels (bÿne-ha’elohim) came to present themselves before the LORD (YHWH), and Satan also came with them to present himself before him (NIV).
Job 38:7: while the morning stars sang together and all the angels (ḇə·nê-) shouted for joy? (NIV).
The NIV translators render bÿne-ha’elohim as “angels” in the Book of Job. However, the Hebrew in these passages is not the word for angels (mal'akh) but the words bÿne-ha’elohim which mean “sons of God.” It is apparent the NIV translators were assuming the beings referred to here are angels and were interpreting rather than translating. Most English translations render bÿne-ha’elohim as “sons of God.”
The New English Bible (NET), in footnotes to Job 1:6, points out that “In the pagan literature, especially of Ugarit, “the sons of God” refers to the lesser gods or deities of the pantheon. Is it “lesser gods” that are being referred to in Job?
The “sons of God” spoken of in Job appear to be supernatural beings as the scene is the heavenly realm where God resides. Many interpreters believe they are angels. In Job 38:7: morning stars are seen as singing together and the sons of God shouting for Joy which appears to be a Hebrew parallelism. In Revelation 1:20 angels are called stars and therefore it is believed the “morning stars/sons of God” spoken of in Job 38 are angels.
Since Satan is commonly believed to be an angel and Satan is seen as appearing with “the sons of God” in the Job passages, the “sons of God” appearing with Satan are believed to be angels as well. It must be pointed out, however, that while Satan is seen as having angels (Revelation 12:9), nowhere in Scripture is Satan directly identified as himself being an angel. The passages in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 that are usually seen as identifying Satan as an angel do not mention Satan. These two passages are discussed in detail at http://theologicalperspectives.com/origin-and-significance-of-satan-part-one.
Whether or not the “sons of God” spoken of in Job are angels is uncertain. However, it does seem apparent that these beings are supernatural entities of some kind. Does this mean the “sons of God” spoken of in Genesis 6 are also supernatural entities? It is instructive that on the heels of the text saying that "the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans (hā·’ā·ḏām) were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose" (Genesis 6:2), it is recorded that "Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans (hā·’ā·ḏām) forever, for they are mortal (Hebrew: ḇā·śār); their days will be a hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). The Hebrew word rendered "mortal" is ḇā·śār. Hebrew Lexicons show ḇā·śār to mean flesh. Here God appears to be saying that both the sons of God and daughters of humans referred to in 6:2 are flesh which means that the sons of God are not supernatural Beings from heaven.
The Hebrew han·nə·p̄i·lîm rendered Nephilim in Genesis 6:4 is found in only one other place in the OT and that is in Numbers 13:33.
Numbers 13:33: And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak (descendant of Canaan), who come of the Nephilim: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Nephilim is a transliteration of the Hebrew han·nə·p̄i·lîm. While the exact meaning of Nephilim is unknown, the word is seen as referring to giants and mighty men because of how it is characterized in both Genesis 6 and Numbers 13. In Genesis 6, Nephilim are seen as heroes and men of renown. In Numbers 13 they are seen as giants. The Septuagint renders Nephilim with a Greek word that means “giants.”
The Hebrew word rendered “heroes” in the NIV rendering of Genesis 6:4 is hag·gib·bō·rîm which is a tense of the Hebrew gibbor which has the general meaning of “mighty.” This word appears in its various tenses 159 times in the OT. While it is used to refer to the Nephilim in Genesis 6, it is often used to refer to fighting men. Here are several examples.
2nd Samuel 10:7: And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty (hag·gib·bō·rîm) men.
2nd Samuel 23:8: These be the names of the mighty (hag·gib·bō·rîm) men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. Much of 2nd Samuel 23 is about the exploits of the mighty men in David's army.
1st Chronicles 11:11: And this is the number of the mighty (hag·gib·bō·rîm) men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.
1st Chronicles 19:8: On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting (hag·gib·bō·rîm) men.
Joshua 10:7: So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting (hag·gib·bō·rîm) men.
In 1st Chronicles 7 is listed the sons of Issachar, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. One of these sons is Tola. During the reign of David, the descendants of Tola are seen as fighting (hag·gib·bō·rîm) men numbering 22,600.
The Nephilim are seen in Genesis 6:4 as the hag·gib·bō·rîm (mighty) men of old. It should be apparent that there were many hag·gib·bō·rîm of old. Were all these men descendants of the Nephilim? I would think not. Men in David's army are seen as hag·gib·bō·rîm men. Yet I see no reason to conclude these men were born of supernatural beings having sexual relations with human women.
While it is generally believed that the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6 are the offspring of sexual relations between the “sons of God” and human woman, the text doesn’t explicitly say this. The text only says the “Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them.” The text does not say these Nephilim are the result of the offspring produced by the sons of God having sexual relations with the daughters of men mentioned in Genesis 6:1-2. These Nephilim may have been present on the earth before Genesis 6:1-2.
In Numbers 13:33, the Nephilim are simply seen as the giant sons of Anak. The fact that Nephilim are seen both before and after the flood raises some questions.
The Scriptures indicate all land dwelling organisms were wiped out by the Noachian flood except for those in the ark. We must assume the flood wiped out the Nephilim that lived before the flood. The humans in the ark were Noah and his wife along with his three sons and their wives. If the Nephilim where the offspring of sexual relations between supernatural beings and human women before the flood, from where did they originate after the flood? Were supernatural beings called “sons of God” once again having sexual relations with human women resulting in Nephilim? There is nothing in Numbers or anywhere else in Scripture that indicates this.
In his 2017 book entitled Judgement of the Nephilim, author Rayan Pitterson writes that the Nephilim identified in Genesis 6 came to be through sexual intercourse between angels and human women and the Nephilim seen in Numbers came about as the result of DNA carryover through the wife of Ham, son of Noah. Pitterson sees a mixing of angelic and human DNA occurring in the birthing of the Nephilim.
Since there is no evidence that angels or other supernatural beings called “sons of God” had sexual relations with human women after the flood. Pitterson has concluded that Nephilim DNA passed on through the wife of Noah’s son Ham who with his wife survived the flood by being in the ark. Pitterson believes it was through Canaan, the son of Ham and His wife that new Nephilim appeared after the flood. Pitterson sees Canaan and his descendants possessing supernatural sons of God DNA.
The belief that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 are supernatural beings is based on the belief that these are the same type of beings seen as “sons of God” in Job where it appears evident that the “sons of God: mentioned there are supernatural beings. Since the phrase “sons of God” is nowhere else found in the OT narrative, it is believed the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6 is defined by the “sons of God” mentioned in Job where “sons of God” appear to be supernatural beings.
Therefore, in both Genesis and Job, the “sons of God” are seen as supernatural beings. Since mention of the Nephilim immediately follow the account of the “sons of God” having relations with human women, it is presumed the Nephilim are the product of those relations and are therefore hybrid humans.
Assuming the “sons of God” of Genesis 6 are angels, it must be also assumed that these angels can take on the physiology of human men in order to have sexual relations with human women. It must also be assumed that angels have some kind of DNA and are able to mix such DNA with human DNA in order to produce hybrid humans. While there are Scriptural examples of angels appearing as human men, there is nothing in Scripture indicating angels have DNA. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is a human biological component. There is nothing in Scripture indicating supernatural beings have this or anything similar. This is pure speculation.
We have seen that the “sons of God” in Job appear to be angels. If the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 are of the same nature as the “sons of God” in Job, the Genesis 6 “sons of God” would be angels. Some believe the angels spoken of in Jude and 2nd Peter are the angels of Genesis 6.
Jude 6: And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
2nd Peter 2:4: For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (Greek: tartarus) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
It is believed the angels of Jude 6 and 2nd Peter 2 are the angels of Genesis 6 because they are seen as having left their assigned abode. It is believed they did this in order to take up an abode on earth so they could have sexual relations with human women. This is seen as the sin for which they are now being punished by being sent to tartatus. Tartarus is a Greek word which appears only this once in the NT and is generally translated hell in English Bibles. It is defined in Greek as a subterranean region where the wicked dead are being punished. In Greek mythology it is seen as located below Hades and a place where rebellious supernatural beings were confined.
One objection to the idea that angels cohabited with human women is that angels are seen as gender neutral and not engaging in marriage relationships. Matthew 22:30 is referenced where Jesus said “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.” Angels in heaven are seen as not marrying so it is assumed they could not have married human woman. However, while angels may not marry in heaven, this doesn’t mean they couldn’t have transformed themselves into becoming humans capable of human procreation on planet earth.
As already discussed, the phrase “sons of God” is only found in Genesis 6 and in Job. In Job it is evident the “sons of God” are supernatural beings and probably beings called angels. It is believed that to be consistent in our exegesis of Scripture, the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6 must be the same kind of beings mentioned in Job.
The Book of Enoch:
There is an extant non-canonical document entitled the Book of Enoch (Also known as 1st Enoch and/or The book of the Watchers). The Book of Enoch appears to have been written many years after the death of Enoch but a number of years before the Christian era. Second century BC fragments of this book were found among the Dead Sea scrolls. While this book is non-canonical, Jude quotes from it in Jude 14-15 (Enoch 1:9) and the non-canonical/apocryphal book of Barnabas quotes from it three times (Barnabas 4:3, 16:5,6).
Jude 14-15: Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
1st Enoch 1:9: And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgement upon all, and to destroy all the ungodly: And to convict all flesh Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
In Enoch chapter 3, the writer speaks of angels having sexual relations with human women.
Enoch 3:1-2: And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels (Watcher angels, Greek: bene haelohim), the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: "Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children."
The writer goes on to say that these angels swore an oath that they would all stick together and do this thing.
Enoch 3:5: Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared (father of Enoch) on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it.
The writer goes on to name the leaders of these angels and how they all took unto themselves wives and went in unto them to defile themselves with them. The writer proceeds to speak of these angels teaching the women charms and enchantments, knowledge about plants and how to cut roots. The writer says the women became pregnant and gave birth to giants who "consumed all the acquisitions of men and when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind" (Enoch 3:7-9). The writer further speaks of the angels sinning against birds, beasts, reptiles and fish, and devouring one another's flesh, and drinking the blood (verse 10).
Most scholars believe the book of Enoch was written well after the book of Genesis and therefore the writer is not the Enoch mentioned in Genesis 5:21-24. This apparently being the case, from where did this writer obtain his information? Did the writer of 1st Enoch have valid information about the Genesis 6:1-4 account? Was this writer drawing on extant accounts/traditions of the events described in Genesis 6:1-4 and building his narrative on such accounts/traditions. Was he bowering from ancient literature outside the Bible that deals with supernatural Beings interacting with flesh and blood humans? Was he simply expanding upon the events of Genesis 6:1-4 and fictionalizing these events? As can be seen above, the narrative becomes somewhat aberrational in nature and therefore raises questions about the validity of what is recorded in 1st Enoch 3.
The Book of Jubilees:
The Book of Jubilees (AKA “Lesser Genesis,” “Little Genesis,” or “The Testament of Moses,”) is believed to have been written in the second century BC. The only extant copy of this Book is an Ethiopic manuscript from the sixth century AD. Fragments of this book written in Hebrew were discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. This Book is included in the Biblical Canon of some Ethiopian and Coptic (Egyptian) Christian churches.
This Book gives an account of the creation of the world to the time of Moses. It divides this time of Biblical history into periods called “jubilees” (49-year periods). It provides accounts of the names of Adam’s daughters and the creation of angels. It reports that Adam and Eve were in The Garden of Eden for a period of seven years and did not engage in sex during that period of time. The Book introduces a 364-day solar year as opposed to a 360-day lunar year. The Book teaches that the feasts of the Lord were observed by the patriarchs long before the time of Moses and expands the Law of Moses beyond what is recorded in the Biblical narrative. This Book says the following as to the Genesis 6:1-4 events:
Jubilees 5:1-2: And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the angels of God saw them on a certain year of this jubilee, that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons and they were giants.
As is true with the Book of Enoch, the narrative of Jubilees records the Genesis 6 events but makes certain changes as to how these events occurred as compared to the Genesis account. Jubilees identifies the sons of God of Genesis 6:1-4 as angels and the sons they bore as giants. The same questions can be asked about the Jubilees account as can be asked about the Enoch account as shown above. As with Enoch, we are seeing here a particular perspective on the Genesis 6:1-4 account expressed in writings far removed from the time of the events. Therefore, we must question whether such writings provide a valid account of what happened.
Josephus: Antiquities 1:73:
For many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants. But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better: but seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land.
Here we have the 1st century AD historian Josephus appearing to comment on the Genesis 6:1-4 event. It is interesting that he uses the word “tradition” when speaking of the behavior of the giants. We know Josephus wrote a complete history of the Jews from the time of creation to his time. This history was largely a commentary on the OT Scriptures. He included in his commentary information from other literature extant at the time. It would appear this included Jubilees and Enoch. In so doing, he included what had become a traditional interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4. In this essay I am questioning this traditional interpretation by allowing the whole of Scripture along with word analysis to dictate the meaning of Genesis 6:1-4.
Jude, 2nd Peter, Genesis 6:
While the passages in Jude and 2nd Peter are often seen as supporting the proposition that angels had marital relations with human women, it must be pointed out that the sin the angels committed is seen as they leaving their positions of authority and appointed abode. Nothing is revealed as to why they did this or where they went or what they did. We must be careful not to assume the thing to be proved. The thing to be proved is that these angels left their positions of authority and appointed abode in order to have sexual relations with human women. The passages in Jude and 2nd Peter don’t tell us this is the reason they are being punished.
Returning to Genesis 6, some who argue against the “sons of God” of Genesis 6 being supernatural beings point to the chronology in Luke 3 where in verse 38 the human Adam is identified as a son of God. It is argued that since the male Adam is seen as a son of God in Luke 3, all male humans born subsequent to Adam can be seen as sons of God as opposed to female humans who are simply seen as daughters of men. This is seen as congruent with the patriarchal society of the time and is felt to adequately explain the “sons of God” phrase in Genesis 6 as pertaining to human males and not supernatural sons of God.
However, Adam was a direct creation of God as it is believed angels and other heavenly beings are. Therefore, even though Adam is not of the heavenly realm, it is because Adam was directly created by God that he is called a son of God, a title that would not necessarily apply to those born of men subsequent to Adam.
This being said, it is to be noted that humans being seen as sons of God is common in Scripture. God is seen as seeing himself as a father to Solomon and calls Solomon his son (See 2nd Samuel 7:14 and 1st Chronicles 17:13, 22:10, 28:6). In these passages a tense of the Hebrew ḇə·nê- is rendered as “son,” the same Hebrew word rendered “sons” in Genesis 6 and in Job. In Hosea 1:10 the people of Israel are seen as being called the “sons (bə·nê) of God” (el). The same is true in Deuteronomy 14.
Deuteronomy 14:1: You are the sons (Hebrew: bā·nîm) of the LORD (YHWH) your God (elohim). You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead (ESV, NASB). The Hebrew bā·nîm is a tense of the Hebrew ban and appears 96 times in the Hebrew Scriptures and is mostly rendered “sons.”
In Isaiah 43:6-7 God refers to the Israelites as sons and daughters. In a letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes, “"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2nd Corinthians 6:18). In Matthew 5:44 Jesus is quoted as saying “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
In the above passages, the word son’s is in every case applied to biological humans and not to supernatural entities. Therefore, it can be argued that the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6 could very well be biological sons of God and not supernatural sons of God. It must be further pointed out that biological humans are called sons of God a number of times in the NT.
Matthew 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God.
Luke 20:36b: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection (ASV).
Romans 8:14: because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Romans 8:12: The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Galatians 3:26: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Luke 6:35: But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
The Greek word rendered “sons” in these passages is the Greek huios which is defined in Greek Lexicons as “a son, male offspring.” The passages in Matthew, Romans 8 and Galatians 3 can be seen as man being a son of God in a spiritual sense. The passage in Luke appears to identify human beings becoming like angels in the afterlife and therefore sons of God in the same manner angels are. The passage in Romans 12 is a looking forward to the sons of God becoming a reality.
Summary:
Genesis 6:2 records that “the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and married any of them they chose.” It is claimed that since the term “the sons of God” is found only here and in Job where the phrase “the sons of God” appears to clearly apply to supernatural beings, it must be that the phrase “the sons of God” in Genesis 6 must also be referring to supernatural beings.
However, as noted above, in Deuteronomy 14:1: humans are clearly called the sons of the LORD (YHWH) God (elohim). We see the same thing in Isaiah 43:6-7 where God refers the Israelites as His sons and daughters. So while the “sons of God” in Job are supernatural beings, the sons of God in Deuteronomy 14 are human beings. This shows the term sons of God can be applied to humans as well. Therefore it could be human sons of God that are seen in Genesis 6.
As it turns out, Genesis 6 and Job are not the only passages in the OT were we see sons of God mentioned. I believe the analysis of Psalms 89:5-7 seen in part one of this series provides strong reasons to believe that “the sons of the mighty” in Psalms 89:6 are human sons and not supernatural sons. This passage provides additional evidence showing humans are identified as sons of God in the OT.
It is to be also noted that the focus of Genesis 6:1-7 is mortal humankind and not supernatural kind. The writer speaks of man increasing in number on the earth and having daughters born to them. In verse 3, God is quoted as saying “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal.” After speaking of the Nephilim in verse 4, verses 5-6 show YHWH speaking of man’s wickedness on the earth and how he was grieved that He had made man. Verse 7 speaks of God’s plan to wipe mankind off the face of the earth.
Nothing is said here about the wickedness of supernatural sons of God who supposedly had sexual relations with human women. Nothing is said here about God being grieved that He had made these supposed supernatural sons who became corrupt and came to earth to marry human women. Nothing is said about God wiping out these corrupt supernatural sons. The entire focus is on the wickedness of human mankind. I feel this is an important consideration in arriving at any conclusions as to the identity of the "sons of God" in Genesis 6.
The contention that the Nephilim of Genesis 6 and Numbers 13 are giants and mighty men because they are hybrid humans having a mixed human and angelic DNA is problematic to say the least. Nephilim are described in Genesis 6 as hag·gib·bō·rîm which has the general meaning of “mighty.” We see hag·gib·bō·rîm in David's army (2nd Samuel 10, 23 and 1st Chronicles 11,19) with no reason to believe they are the product of human women having marital relations with angels. The Nephilim could simply be a class of mighty men born to human women having normal sexual relations with human men just as apparently is the case with the mighty men in David's army
Conclusion to this series:
In view of the observations made in both part one and part two of this series, I feel it scripturally tenuous to conclude that the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis 6 are supernatural beings that facilitated the birthing of human hybrids called Nephilim whose descendants are still active in the world today as Ryan Pitterson contends in his books. In reading through his two books, I saw many speculations and unproven assumptions being made including a number of non-sequitur arguments presented where the conclusion does not necessary follow from the premise.
The contention of the authors of “The Unseen Realm” and “The Gods of the Bible” is that the gods (elohim) and sons of the Most High God mentioned in Psalm 82 are supernatural lesser gods. I believe I have provided sufficient evidence in this two-part series that the gods and sons of the Most High God in Psalms 82 are human rulers and not supernatural rulers as the authors of these books believe.
This being said, it is clear from the Scriptures that there are supernatural beings in the heavily realm that interact with each other and with whom the Most High God interacts. it is also clear from the Scriptures that the Most High God and other supernatural entities at times interact with humans. As to Psalm 82, the Scriptural evidence points to the Most High God interacting with human elohim and not supernatural elohim.