The term “sons of God” in the Bible has a different meaning in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. God uses the term “sons of God” in exactly eleven verses in the Bible. It is necessary to refer to the context of this phrase to determine the appropriate and correct meaning. The term “sons of God” also has a vastly different meaning than the singular “son” or in some cases “Son” of God.
Sons of God in the Bible — Genesis Chapter 6
The first use of the phrase “sons of God” is in Genesis chapter 6. The setting to this verse is the ancient world in the days of Noah, before the worldwide flood. The reason why God sent this worldwide deluge is hinted in the verses mentioning the “sons of God.” Here is the Bible passage which first mentions the mysterious sons of God.
“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
And 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.
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.” Genesis 6:1-4 (KJV)
These four verses are a bit peculiar. Some Bible scholars believe that the sons of God mentioned here are descendants of Seth. Seth was a son of Adam and Eve who was born after Cain murdered his brother Abel. Those who hold to this viewpoint believe that Seth’s descendants were godly, at least when contrasted with the family line of his murderer brother, Cain.
According to this thinking, the godly line of Seth married women from the line of Cain who bore giant humans. This theory indicates that all of the offspring of Seth were godly, i.e. calling them “the sons of God,” while it gives the idea that all of the offspring of Cain were evil.
But logic dictates that despite good or evil ancestors, all of the descendants of both lines are neither all righteous nor all bad. Also, this theory also does not address the ominous phrase “yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
It would seem that God is saying that within the time frame of one hundred and twenty years, He would bring the flood of Noah and destroy all life on Earth. If this interpretation is correct, then there would be nothing wrong with the descendants of Seth having children. It would seem at first glance that God blessed these unions with unusually great men.
Another, and perhaps the more popular way of interpreting this Bible passage, even if it is a bit mind stretching, but which also gives a clue as to the reason why God brought the flood of Noah, is to identify the sons of God in this context as angels, specifically, rebellious angels, like Satan. Spiritual beings who interacted in an sexual way with human females.
Sons of God in the Bible — Book of Job
The Book of Job also mentions the “sons of God” and gives more insight into who were these specific individuals. Job 1:6 gives a glimpse into the throne room of God. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.” (KJV).
The term, “sons of God” is repeated in Job 2:1. “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.” (KJV)
Reading these verses, it appears to be clear that the sons of God are angels, specifically, holy angels. But among the holy angels of God, Satan, originally created as the covering cherub, a perfect, sinless creation of God who sinned and then became Satan, also joined the group.
The term “sons of God” is also repeated in Job 38:7. “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (KJV)
The context of this verse is God speaking to Job. He is questioning Job and asked him if he was at the creation when God laid the foundations of the earth. God said in this verse that the sons of God (referring to angels) shouted for joy.
Comparing the phrase “sons of God” from Genesis with the mention of it in Job gives credibility to the theory that the sons of God who mated with the daughters of men were, indeed, angels.
Sons of God in the Bible — Fallen Angels Fathered Giants
According to this otherworldly, but very popular belief, angelic beings looked upon and lusted after human women and mated with them. The result of these angelic/human sexual relations were giants. The Hebrew word for “giants” in this Bible passage is naphal, from which we get the English word “nephilim.” The word nephilim literally means “the fallen ones.” These giants were supernatural, demigod beings that the Bible calls “mighty men” and “men of renown.” Some Bible scholars believe that these giants, mighty men which were of old, are the factual basis for the gods of mythology.
At first glance, it seems that the verses in Gensis that introduces these giants, God has nothing but praise for them. However, it was never God’s will for His angels to leave heaven and mate with human females, i.e. terrestrial beings. Such creatures would have unusual, if not unhuman DNA. Also, it may give reason as to why, according to Genesis 6:11, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” (KJV)
Sons of God in the Bible — Extrabiblical Accounts
To get further insight into who the sons of God mentioned in Genesis were, there are several extra-biblical but historical accounts. These accounts are historical writings and are not God-inspired Bible facts. Nevertheless, these historical writings can help us understand some obscure Bible wording. Here are some passages from the extra-biblical Book of Enoch, which was attributed to the man who walked with God before the flood of Noah and whom God took to Paradise without dying.
The Book of Enoch
1 Enoch 6:2–3 “And the angels, 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.’”
1 Enoch 7:1–3 “And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bore great giants…”
1 Enoch 15:3–10 “Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of earth, and begotten giants (as your) sons?
And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth.
But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling. And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling.
Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called.”
The Book of Jubilees
Jubilees 7:25–26 “For owing to these three things came the flood upon the earth, namely, owing to the fornication wherein the Watchers against the law of their ordinances went a whoring after the daughters of men, and took themselves wives of all which they chose: and they made the beginning of uncleanness.”
The Historian Josephus
In Josephus’s work Antiquities of the Jews, he says in 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.”
Sons of God in the Bible — The Man Noah
If the phrase “sons of God” referred to Godly men, then it should have been applied to Noah, but it wasn’t. In the world in which Noah lived, where it was normal for giants to be part of the population, Noah was different. Not only did he walk with God, according to Genesis 6:8-9, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (KJV)
Not only was Noah of a high moral character, in order to rebuild the human race his own DNA needed to be uncorrupted by fallen angel DNA. The Bible specially says “Noah was…perfect in his generations.” The Hebrew word for “perfect” is tamiym, which means “without blemish, without spot, undefiled.” God said that from the majority of the corrupted human race at that time, He found Noah to be without any trace of fallen angel DNA. Therefore, Noah and his sons could safely repopulate the Earth.
“And 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.” Genesis 6:3 (KJV)
This verse gives both God’s warning and His promise of His coming judgment on the world by way of the worldwide flood because of the actions of these rebellious angels. God had to destroy almost all of the human race, but He still willed it to continue, and He did so with a clean vessel — Noah.
Sons of God in the Bible — The Punishment of the Fallen Angels
The New Testament Book of Jude gives a bit more information concerning these specific rebellious angels and their punishment for intruding upon and corrupting the human race.
“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 1:6 (KJV)
The “first estate” of angels, and their “own habitation” is the spiritual realm, not the human realm. These angels who saw the human women and desired them had to leave their spiritual habitation in order to interact with the human women. The result of this trespassing was God’s destruction of the entire world with a flood to wipe out the human/angelic genetics, as well as to destroy the great wickedness of man. Had God allowed the world to continue with the fallen angel genetics intact, eventually, the entire human race would be corrupted.
Also, those fallen, rebellious angels who were not content to be in their spiritual state, God reserved a special and severe punishment for them. They were to be bound in “everlasting chains under darkness.” The chains that God used on them has kept them from ever again interacting with human beings. Not only are they chained, but they are also in darkness of hell until the day of judgment.
This fact is repeated in 2 Peter 2:4, again referring to these specific evil fallen angels. “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (KJV)
The very next verse, Jude 1:7, gives the reason for their severe punishment. “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (KJV)
The reference here in Jude is the sin of fornication, which the King James Version words as “strange flesh.” Fornication is sin, but “going after strange flesh” is an even greater sin. Jude was referring to the incident of Lot, the angels, and the men of Sodom as recorded in Genesis 19:4-5. “But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” (KJV)
The “men” who visited Lot that evening were identified in Genesis 19:1 as being angels. The men of Sodom must have realized that these visitors were not human, and this increased their lust for them.
The angels’ response to the men of Sodom is recorded in Genesis 19:10-11. “But the men [angels] put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.” (KJV)
Sons of God in the Bible vs. Son of God
There is a distinct difference between the phrase “sons of God” and “Son of God.” The first mention of the term “Son of God” in the Bible is in Daniel 3:25. “He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (KJV)
King Nebuchadnezzar spoke this verse after he had sent the three Hebrew men into the fiery furnace because they refused to worship the idol he had constructed.
The capital “S” in this phrase indicated deity, namely, an Old Testament appearance of the Jesus Christ. This heathen king recognized the Son of God!
To fast forward to the New Testament, “Son of God” is also a name of the Lord Jesus Christ. His name mentioned in this context is part of what is commonly known as the Christmas story. The angel Gabriel was sent by God to the virgin Mary to tell her that God had chosen her to bring the human body of His Son, His only begotten Son, into the world. This is recorded in the Gospel of Luke 1:35.
“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” (KJV)
The angel explained that God, through the Holy Ghost, would place in her womb a “holy thing” that would be “the Son of God.” The Lord Jesus Christ was called a “holy thing” because there were other holy men. He was different. No other birth was like His. He and His birth were unique. Therefore, He was reverently called a “holy thing.”
In the New Testament, there was another man other than Jesus, called “the son of God.” This man also was unique. Although mentioned in the New Testament, he was also a prominent figure in the Old Testament as well. This man, this son of God, was not born, he was not begotten, he was not conceived by God’s Holy Spirit, but, rather, he was formed by God Himself. This man was Adam. The Bible records this in Luke 3:38. “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” (KJV).
Adam, unlike Jesus Christ, was not a begotten son of God. Only Jesus Christ was the begotten Son of God, both physically and spiritually “fathered” by God.
Sons of God in the Bible — Children of God
There is a difference between sons and children. All sons are children of their father, but not all children are sons. For practical reasons, male children, at least in Bible times, received a greater inheritance than daughters. It was customary for female children to receive very little, if anything, as an inheritance from their father, especially if their father had sons. In a practical sense, the sons received more “stuff” than their sisters. The women could only hope to marry a man whose father gave him a large inheritance, since the daughters knew they would not receive an inheritance for themselves.
But the Bible does mention “children of God.” This use of the word “children,” rather than “sons,” refers both to the fact that God accepts both genders as His children. Both men and women can be, and are, “children of God.” The first mention of “children of God” is Jesus speaking in Matthew 5:9 when He states, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (KJV).
It is an honor to be included in this large group of God’s children. God’s children are a special group of people who have the privilege of calling God their heavenly Father. It is a wonderful thing to be a child of God because He has made provision for His children to have eternal life with Him! He wants His children to be with Him forever and ever.
The Apostle Paul, when writing to the children of God in Rome, explained to them the privilege of being children of God.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Romans 8:15-18 (KJV)
Since Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God, in His grace, made provision that all of His children have the opportunity to be considered a “son of God.” However, Paul also adds a warning and the encouragement that, just as Jesus suffered, so, too, should the “children of God” suffer. And as Christ Jesus was glorified, so, too, will God’s other children be glorified also.
Sons of God in the Bible — New Testament
The phrase “sons of God” is used often in the New Testament. The first mention of this phrase is in the Gospel of John 1:12-13. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (KJV)
This clarifies the definition of “the sons of God” in New Testament usage. The phrase “sons of God” refers to those who received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior from hell.
Romans 8:14 further clarifies who the sons of God are when it says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (KJV)
The phrase “sons of God” also contains the idea of an inheritance. If an earthly father desires and works to give his son a great inheritance, how much more does God have to give to His sons?
The Apostle John marvels at the fact that God wants humans, both men and women, to be His sons.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” 1 John 3:1 (KJV)
Philippians 2:15 instructs how people who are the “sons of God” should conduct themselves, since their daily activities reflect upon their Father. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (KJV)
Sons of God in the Bible — Conclusion
The Bible makes a marked difference between the two vastly different meanings of the phrase “sons of God.” In the Old Testament, “sons of God” refers only to angels. These created beings had no choice about their origin, but they did have a choice about their behavior. Some used their God-given free will to rebel against their Creator and the result was total separation from their “parent.”
In the New Testament, “sons of God” refers only to humans who have made a conscious, rational decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, according to John 1:12. Unlike the Old Testament angels, sons of God today chose God. To them, God not only accepts each human who has done so, but immediately gives them the power of adoption, which makes them sons of God, complete with all of the rights and benefits of having God as their Father!
Present-day sons of God made their initial choice to be permanently adopted by God, and to be eternally part of His family. But these individuals still have another choice, and that is how they choose to conduct themselves as members of their new family. In any family, there are degrees of goodness and disobedience with all of the children, as children make and act upon their own choices. Yet, despite their behavior, good or evil, the children are still a part of that family.
If you are a son of God because you have chosen God as your Heavenly Father, congratulations! But allow me to challenge you. Unlike the sons of God mentioned in Genesis chapter 6, purpose daily to bring honor, not shame, to your Heavenly Father as you try to reflect Him and His goodness.
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