sons of God

In part one of this series we studied the question of who the “sons of God” are as it pertains to Genesis 6:1-4. In part two we questioned if the book of 1 Enoch is a reliable interpretation of the events in Genesis 6. In this article, we’ll examine Peter and Jude’s quotes from 1 Enoch.

Didn’t Peter and Jude quote from 1 Enoch?

Jude and Peter either directly quote or allude to passages from the apocryphal book of 1 Enoch. However, their references do not constitute an endorsement of 1 Enoch as inspired any more than Paul quoting ancient Greek philosophers meant that he considered them to be inspired. When Paul quoted the Greek philosophers Aratus and Epimenides in Acts 17:28 and Titus 1:12, he in no way considered their writings inspired or authoritative. Their well known writings helped him make his point to the audience he was addressing. In other words, Paul adapted his communication so that it was relatable to his listeners and readers.

Passages from the Second Temple Period book of 1 Enoch offer an interpretation of Genesis 6:1-4. It claims that the sons of God were rebellious spiritual beings who married human women and that these marriages produced a race of giants called the Nephilim. What do we know about books such as 1 Enoch and can we trust it for shedding light on the Scriptures?

First of all, the books of Enoch are not inspired and were never considered to be a part of the canon of the Hebrew Scripture. Works such as 1 Enoch are religious fiction loosely comparable to Dante’s Inferno or Paradise Lost. While they are based on real events recorded in the Bible and may contain certain truths, they are works of fiction, are not inspired, and are not authoritative. 1 Enoch was a fictional interpretation of the events recorded in Genesis 6. Not only is it mere fiction, it was fiction influenced by pagan stories the Jews had been exposed to during their exile in Babylon. Surprisingly, some Bible students are allowing this work of fiction to influence their interpretation of the inspired Scriptures.

Imagine a time in the distant past, not long after the creation of mankind, when humans began to multiply across the surface of the Earth. It was during these times that the lesser gods began to take notice of human women; these divine beings burned in their lust for the beautiful daughters of mankind. The leader of these lesser gods said, “Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.”

Two hundred of these gods, in defiance of Yahweh, bound themselves together with an oath to journey to Earth and take human wives. They descended to the top of Mount Hermon and there took human form. They all took human wives, each one as he chose, and went into them defiling both themselves and the wives they had taken. They taught their women the secret knowledge of charms, and enchantments and how to beautify the eyelids and adorn themselves with jewelry and precious stones. Their wives became pregnant and bore offspring who became great giants.