Who are the “benei ha-elohim?”

I agree with Timothy Unruh's comments on Genesis 6:1-9: “The first matter of understanding regarding this amazing portion of Scripture beyond its plain contextual intent turns quite obviously to the Hebrew meaning of the phrase "sons of God" (bene elohim).”[1] With this in mind, I would like for us to do an etymological study of the phrase “Sons of God” so that we might come to a better understanding of just who these individuals were.

We will start with the original Hebrew word translated “son.”[2] According to Jeff Brenner, the Hebrew word for “son” is (ben) and appears as in the pictographs of the ancient Hebrews. Here, the first letter[3] is ; which is the symbol for “b.” This is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is named “beyt,” and is pronounced like the "b" in ball. The pictograph () is a picture of a Hebrew tent looking down from above.  The tent is divided into two parts, one side for the males of the household and the other for the females. A wall separates the two sides with an opening in the back allowing for passage between the two sides. The entrance into the tent is on the male side, as seen at the top left of the pictograph. The meaning of this letter is “tent,” “house” and “family.”

The second letter, (n) is a picture of a germinating seed. This is the Hebrew letter "nun" which is pronounced "n" as in no. A seed is the offspring of the previous generation, which grows producing seeds for the next generation. This concept of perpetuit, or continuance is the meaning of this letter. When these two letters are combined the parent root “nb” (ben) is formed, with the original Hebraic meaning being “the house that continues.” The function of a “son” is to continue the family line to the next generation.[4]

The Hebrew word “ben” is often prefixed to other words to render “the son of…” For example, “Ben-hesed,” which means the "son of kindness" is found in 1 Kings 4:10 where it is translated “The son of Hesed.” Jacob’s youngest son was named Benjamin, which is a combination of “Ben” (son) and “Yamiyn” (hand) and means “son of (the) right hand.”

Jeff Brenner commenting on “ben” says that, “In the plural form this word is written as Mynb (beniym).” He adds that a “grammatical rule when dealing with possessives is if the word in the possessive [as is “sons of God”] is written with the masculine plural suffix, My (iym), the M (m) is dropped.” So we would expect that “sons” would be “beniy” or “beni” (pronounced “bā'nē”) and in fact, Answers.com tells us that “Beni Israel” is Hebrew for “sons of Israel.”[5] Likewise, Bible Wiki, in thier on-line article, titled “Tribes of Israel,” document Israel’s captivity in Egypt. They say that the tribes of Israel were called "Beni Israel” that is the “sons of Israel.”[6] The word “beni” is sometimes rendered “bene” for reasons that I am not able to explain other then this rendering more accurately represents the English pronunciation. Again, for reasons that I am unable to explain, Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries provides the singular “ben” as the translation of “sons”[7] And never appears to address the plural. If you understand the reason for this, please let me know.

We turn now to “elohim.” We have looked at this Hebrew word in a previous study. But we will briefly recap now. In our study of Genesis 1, we saw that the word “God” was the translation of the Hebrew word “elohiym.” We said that “elohiym” is the plural form of “el'oah.” Recall that “iym” is a masculine plural suffix. “El'oah” means “one of power and authority who yokes himself to another.” The word "el" simply means “one of power and authority”[8] and is really a generic term often, but not always, translated “God.”

Recall that, in Hebrew thought, plurality is not always indicative of quantity, as it is in English, but can describe quality.[9] It is incorrect to understand “elohiym,” as used in Genesis 1, to mean “gods” as some have translated it. Rather, in the Hebrew mind “elohiym,” as used in Genesis, means “the one of the greatest power and greatest authority which yokes himself in the most significant way to another.” There is none greater; none more powerful; none higher; none mightier; none more excellent then the One, the Only, “Elohiym.”

The Hebrew form of the phrase “sons of God” is actually “benei ha-elohim” though many commentators have the variation “bene elohim.” However, the latter rendering leaves out an important little word. It is the word “ha.” This is the Hebrew definite article[10] similar to our “the.”[11] So in Genesis 6:2, these are not merely the sons of any god but the sons of “the God.” The definite article is used before both singular and plural nouns and refers to a particular member of a group. So we are not talking about just any god but “the God.”

The actual expression "sons of God," (“benei ha-elohim”), occurs explicitly three other times, all in the very ancient book of Job (1:6; 2:1; 38:7), and in each case the term refers indisputably to angelic beings.[12]

Many scholars believe the phrase “benei ha-elohim” is a technical term used of those who could be said to be a direct creation of God. For example, James Montgomery Boice says that what distinguishes Adam (but not Eve) and the angels from all other beings in the universe “is that each is directly created by God. Adam clearly was. So were the angels.”[13]

Timothy Unruh points out that the concept of a spiritual relationship like that of children to a father is found in the Old Testament (Psalm 73:15; Hosea 1:10; Deuteronomy 32:5; Exodus 4:22; Isaiah 43:6). He goes on to say that, “However, none of these examples use the same phrase as Genesis 6:2, 4; furthermore, in each case the meaning is not really parallel to the meaning given in Genesis…In context, such a meaning would be strained, to say the least…”[14]

The phase “sons of God” is in contrast to “the daughters of men.” As Unruh says, “the ‘sons of God’ are plainly distinguished from the generations of Adam.” If God had intended to reference “the sons of men” He would have used that phrase. He did not. Instead, he used a phrase that clearly identified a different group who were not the prodigy of men as the daughters were but were, instead, a direct creation of God as was Adam.

Some have pointed to the fact that in John 1:12, the Apostle wrote that “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God…” In Romans 8:14 Paul makes a similar reference.  However, Pastor Jeff Brown points out that “John 1:12 is simply stating that receiving the Messiah results in life from God.” This does not involve being “directly created by God.” Albert Barnes says that in John 1:12 “as many as received him” become “Children of God by adoption.”[15] So, what John is saying is that “as many as received him” were redeemed from their sins resulting in life. That is, the penalty for sin which is death was paid for by the Messiah. Therefore, “as many as received him” were freed from the penalty, adopted into the family with the privileges of a son, and thus became “sons of God.” This is different from being “directly created by God. Adam clearly was. So were the angels.” (Boice)

In Luke 3:38 we are told that Adam only was “the son of God.” While Adam was a direct creation of God and made in God’s image (Gen 1:27; 2:7), when Adam “begat a son” that son was “in his own likeness, after his image.” (Gen 5:3) Cain, Able and Seth were not “sons of God” rather they were “sons of Adam.” All of the men born after Adam were the “sons of men” and not the “sons of God.” As Timothy Unruh points out “Such a description, of course, would apply only to Adam (Luke 3:38) and to the angels, whom God had directly created (Psalm 148:2-5: Psalm 104:4; Colossians 1:16).”

There are terms similar to “benei ha-elohim” used in Scripture. Again, Timothy Unruh writes that a phrase very similar to “benei ha-elohim” of the “form bar elohim is used in Daniel 3:25, and refers either to an angel or to a theophany[16]. The term ‘sons of the mighty’ (bene elim) is used in Psalm 29:1 (“ye mighty”) and also Psalm 89:6 (“the sons of the mighty”), and again refers to angels. The sons of Elohim the mighty Creator are confined to those creatures made directly by the Divine hand, and not born of other beings of their own order. Hence, in Luke's genealogy of our Lord, Adam is called a son of God (Luke 3:38), and, so also Christ is said to give to them that receive Him power to become the sons of God (John 1:12).”

Some commentators point to Hosea 1:10 to claim that Israel was refereed to as “the sons of God.” Hosea 1:10 reads: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” However, the phrase in Hosea is “sons of the living God,” which in the Hebrew is "benei chay el." I contend, as do others, that the phase “benei ha-elohim” is a technical term used of the direct creation of God and not of the metaphorical “sons” such as Israel.  Commenting on this same verse, John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible say that Israel became “the sons of God, not by nature, as Christ; nor by creation, as angels…”  Well, in what way did they become “benei chay el?” The Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament commenting on this verse answers the question: “the whole nation was called and elevated into the position of sons of Jehovah, through its reception into the covenant with the Lord.” Note they became “sons of Jehovah” through “reception into the covenant” and not through any divine creative act.

The phrase “benei ha-elohim” is a technical term used of those who could be said to be a direct creation of God. This term can only be applied to angles and to Adam. No one claims that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 is Adam. Therefore, all reasonable doubt insofar as the context, language, and plain exegesis of Genesis 6:1-4 is concerned, is removed regarding the intent of God to convey the concept of angels, fallen angels no doubt, acting in opposition to His will. This understanding was the meaning placed on the passage by the Greek translators of the Septuagint, by Josephus, by the writer of the ancient apocryphal book of Enoch, and by all the other ancient Jewish interpreters and the earliest Christian writers. Who were the “benei ha-elohim?” They were the fallen angels of Jude 1:6 and 2 Peter 2:4.

Allen