12. Divine Transgression · 13. The Bad Seed

Genesis 6:1-4 is brief, strange, and easy to rush past. It names the sons of God, the daughters of man, the Nephilim, and mighty men of old. Before deciding what every phrase means, notice what the passage actually says: the sons of God see, take wives, and have children; the account places the Nephilim in that time and also afterward. The next verses turn toward human wickedness and the flood. The short passage raises questions the text does not answer in detail.

Heiser’s Chapter 12 argues that the sons of God are divine beings crossing a boundary into the human realm. Other readings identify them as the line of Seth or as human rulers who claimed divine status. Each begins with a different way of understanding the phrase and the marriages. The Sethite reading sees a contrast between godly and ungodly human family lines. The ruler reading points to powerful men taking women as they choose. The supernatural reading takes “sons of God” as heavenly beings, a phrase also used for divine beings elsewhere in the Bible. None of these observations ends the discussion by itself. Compare the readings with the wording and the wider biblical context.

Chapter 13 adds a particular ancient background. Heiser places Genesis 6 alongside Mesopotamian stories about apkallu, antediluvian sages associated with divine-human heritage, and later Second Temple writing such as 1 Enoch. He argues that Genesis may be pushing back against Babylonian claims that revered figures possessed divine ancestry. In this proposal, the biblical story does not celebrate the mighty men as heroic culture-bringers. Heiser also reads “Nephilim” as an insult, a way of undercutting the prestige attached to such figures. Treat these as his proposed connections, then ask how well they fit the biblical passage. Genesis itself does not name apkallu or 1 Enoch, so keep the ancient comparison distinct from what the verses directly state.

The difference between a story that glorifies powerful beings and one that exposes rebellion matters. In Genesis, the scene belongs to an account of growing human evil, not a praise song for the mighty. The text immediately moves toward God’s grief over human wickedness. Whatever reading you find strongest, the passage does not invite readers to admire power without regard for God’s boundaries. Scripture’s wider witness consistently calls people to humility and obedience rather than self-made greatness.

Try to give each interpretation its strongest fair point before choosing. The supernatural reading must explain the unusual phrase and boundary crossing. The Sethite reading must explain why the text uses “sons of God.” The ruler reading must account for the passage’s cosmic-sounding language. Then assess Heiser’s proposed Babylonian polemic: does the contrast between divine heritage claims and a story of rebellion help explain the passage, or do you see a better account? Careful study can end with a considered view and a few honest unanswered questions.