“That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”
My Notes
What Does Genesis 6:2 Mean?
This verse introduces one of the most mysterious and debated passages in Genesis — and the mystery begins with identity. "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair" — the "sons of God" (bene ha'elohim) is the contested phrase. Three main interpretations exist: (1) fallen angels who took human form, (2) the godly line of Seth intermarrying with the ungodly line of Cain, or (3) ancient kings or rulers who claimed divine status. The phrase "sons of God" in Job (1:6, 2:1, 38:7) clearly refers to angelic beings, and the New Testament references to this passage (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6) support the angelic interpretation.
"That they were fair" — the word "fair" (tovot) means good, beautiful, desirable. The daughters of men were physically attractive. The seeing led to desire. The desire led to taking. The progression mirrors Eden: saw that the tree was good (Genesis 3:6) → desired → took. The same pattern of seeing, desiring, and seizing that defined the fall now operates across a cosmic boundary.
"And they took them wives of all which they chose" — "took" (vayyiqchu) is the language of acquisition. "Of all which they chose" — the selection was unconstrained. No prohibition stopped them. No boundary held. They saw. They wanted. They took. Whatever they chose. The verse describes a catastrophic boundary violation — the crossing of a line between heaven and earth, divine and human, that was never meant to be crossed.
The context matters: this passage leads directly to Genesis 6:5-7, God's decision to destroy the earth with a flood. The boundary violation of verse 2 is part of the corruption that provoked the flood.
Reflection Questions
- 1.The pattern is see → desire → take. Where do you see that progression operating in your own life without sufficient boundaries?
- 2.They took 'of all which they chose' — unconstrained desire. What boundaries are you ignoring because 'I want it' feels like sufficient justification?
- 3.This passage leads directly to the flood. How does unchecked desire, on a societal scale, lead to the kind of corruption that provokes God's judgment?
- 4.The same pattern appears in Eden and here. Why is the see-desire-take progression so persistent in human nature — and what breaks it?
Devotional
They saw. They wanted. They took. Whatever they chose. And the world unraveled.
Genesis 6:2 describes a boundary violation so severe that it contributes to God deciding to destroy the world. Whatever the "sons of God" are — and the debate has raged for millennia — the pattern is unmistakable: seeing led to desiring, desiring led to taking, and the taking was unconstrained. They chose whoever they wanted. No boundary held. No limit was respected.
The pattern echoes Eden. Eve saw the tree was good. She desired it. She took. Now, on a cosmic scale, the same three-step progression operates: see, desire, take. The sin that started with one piece of fruit has metastasized into the violation of the most fundamental boundary in creation — the line between the human and the divine.
"Of all which they chose." That phrase is the alarm. The problem isn't desire itself. It's desire without restraint. The moment "whatever I want" becomes the operating principle — the moment choice has no ceiling, no boundary, no "you shall not" — everything collapses. The flood follows. Not because God overreacted. Because unconstrained desire, left to run, destroys everything it touches.
This verse is ancient. The characters are mysterious. But the pattern is as current as your phone screen. See something attractive. Desire it. Take it — because you can, because nothing stops you, because you choose whatever you choose. The progression from seeing to taking, without any boundary of holiness between them, is the engine of every catastrophe in Scripture. And it starts here, six chapters into the human story, already bad enough to provoke a flood.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair,.... Or "good" (k), not in a moral but natural sense;…
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For the glory of God's justice, and for warning to a wicked world, before the history of the ruin of the old world, we…
that the sons of God, &c. This is one of the most disputed passages in the book. But the difficulty, in a great measure,…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture