Sons of God

[4] In the Pentateuch, the Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm form the Divine council, comparable to the "sons of God" in Canaanite religion.

Here, Satan is both one of the Bənē hāʾĔlōhīm in the heavenly court, as well as a mal’āḵ expressing God's interaction with humanity.

[20] Elsewhere in the Ugarit corpus it is suggested that the bn ilm were the 70 sons of Asherah and El, who were the titulary deities of the people of the known world, and their "hieros gamos" marriage with the daughters of men gave rise to their rulers.

[25] This reading of Angels is further confirmed by Augustine in his work City of God where he speaks of both variants in book 15 chapter 23.

[42] That the "sons of God" were separate enough from the "daughters of men" that they warranted such a distinction, has spawned millennia's worth of debate regarding the meaning of the term.

Here are three: Christian writers such as Justin Martyr, Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Commodianus believed that the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:1–4 were fallen angels who engaged in unnatural union with human women, resulting in the begetting of the Nephilim.

Rabbinic sources, most notably the Targum, state that the "sons of God" who married the daughters of men were merely human beings of exalted social station.

Other variations of this interpretation define these "sons of God" as tyrannical Ancient Near Eastern kings who were honored as divine rulers, engaging in polygamous behavior.

[1] No matter the variation in views, the primary concept by Jewish rationalists is that the "sons of God" were of human origin.

[46] Most notable Jewish writers in support for the view of human "sons of God" were Saadia, Rashi, Lekah Tob, Midrash Aggada, Joseph Bekor Shor, Abraham ibn Ezra, Maimonides, David Kimhi, Nachmanides, Hizkuni, Bahya Ashur, Gersonides,[48] Shimeon ben Yochai, and Hillel ben Samuel.

[49] Ibn Ezra reasoned that the "sons of God" were men who possessed divine power, by means of astrological knowledge, able to beget children of unusual size and strength.

[47] Jewish commentator Isaac Abrabanel considered the aggadot on Genesis 6 to have referred to some secret doctrine and was not to be taken literally.

The physical decline of the younger generations continued until the Flood, to the point that their days were numbered as stated in Genesis 6:3.

[43] Jacob Anatoli and Isaac Arama viewed the groups and events in Genesis 6:1–4 as an allegory, primarily for the sin of lust that debased man's higher nature.