[votivesoul]

Originally Posted by Amanah

What theory do you think is correct:

Various scholars have proposed that the “sons of God” are either:
(1) fallen angels (cf. À 1:6; some, however, suggest that this contradicts Mark 12:25, though the reference in Mark is to angels in heaven; see also 2 Pet. 2:4–5; Jude 5–6); or
(2) tyrannical human judges or kings (in the ungodly line of Lamech, possibly demon-possessed); or
(3) followers of God among the male descendants of Seth (i.e., the godly line of Seth, but who married the ungodly daughters of Cain).
Though it would be difficult to determine which of these three views may be correct, it is clear that the kind of relationship described here involved some form of grievous sexual perversion, wherein the “sons of God” saw and with impunity took any women (“daughters of man”) that they wanted.
The sequence here in Gen. 6:2 (“saw … attractive [good] … took”) parallels the sequence of the fall in 3:6 (“saw … good … took”). In both cases, something good in God’s creation is used in disobedience and sinful rebellion against God, with tragic consequences. Only Noah stands apart from this sin. (See note on 1 Pet. 3:19.)
(From my ESV Study Bible)

In the Hebrew Scriptures, there is a taxonomy of divine entities, as follows:

- bene elohim/bene elim or sons of God, members of the the Divine Council, though some have fallen and are now bound in chains of everlasting darkness
- seraphim or fiery flying serpents, which fly over the throne of YHWH, crying "holy, holy, holy", or are sent as judgments against the people of God
- cherubim or throne-room guardians, which stand watch over the cosmos from before the throne of YHWH
- malakim, or angels, as we understand them, always appearing in human form. Some are given names, some are merely given titles
- elohim called “the host of heaven”. Paul frequently refers to them as “thrones or dominions or rulers of authorities”, while both Simon Peter and Jude, each in their respective epistles, called (at least some of) them “glorious ones”
- ha-satan, the adversary. In one instance, even the Angel of YHWH is called a satan. In the Holy Scriptures of the New Covenant, ha-satan of the Old Testament becomes Satan, also known as the Dragon, the Deceiver of the Whole World
- sheddim, or evil spirits
- nephilim, or fallen ones
- rephaim, also called zamzummim, or shades of the dead
- gibborim, or giants

As such, it doesn't behoove us to call the Sons of God from Genesis 6:4 "fallen angels", because they are not angels. They are in a different category of spiritual being.

Angel, from the Greek term angelos, meaning messenger, is a term denoting a job description, i.e. what a spiritual being does, not what a spiritual being is. Further, due to the influences of the LXX, the term "angel" became a catch-all terms denoting all spiritual beings, hence its use in texts from 2 Peter and Jude.

Notes:

For bene elohim/bene elim, see, e.g. Genesis 6:2, Deuteronomy 32:8, and Job 1:6.

For seraphim, see, e.g. Numbers 21:6, Deuteronomy 8:15, and Isaiah 6:2.

For cherubim, see, e.g. Genesis 3:24 and Ezekiel 10:1

For malakim, see, e.g. Psalm 8:5 with Hebrews 2:5-8.

For named malakim, see, e.g. Daniel 8:16 and Luke 1:19 for Gabriel, Daniel 10:21 and Revelation 12:7 for Michael. Cf. Psalm 147:4, which reads “He determines the number of stars; he gives to all of them names”.

For those merely given titles, examples include Azazel (e.g. Leviticus 16:8), the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia (e.g. Daniel 10:13), and Archangel (e.g. 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

For generic elohim, i.e. the "host of heaven", see, e.g. Deuteronomy 4:19, 1 Kings 22:19, Nehemiah 9:6, Isaiah 24:21, Jeremiah 33:22, Daniel 4:35, and Luke 2:13.

For "thrones, dominions," etc, see, e.g. Colossians 1:16.

For elohim which have which have given themselves over to wickedness, Paul calls those “the rulers…the authorities…the cosmic powers over this present darkness…the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. Or, like James and John the Revelator, he sometimes simply calls them “demons” (See, e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:20-21, 1 Timothy 4:1, James 2:19, Revelation 9:20, and Revelation 18:2), the term most often used by the authors of the Gospels and by the Lord Jesus Himself (For a complete listing, see: Matthew 4:24, Matthew 7:22, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:31, Matthew 9:34, Matthew 10:8, Matthew 12:24, Matthew 12:27, Mark 1:32, Mark 1:34, Mark 1:39, Mark 3:15, Mark 3:22, Mark 5:18, Mark 6:13, Mark 9:38, Mark 16:9, Mark 16:17, Luke 4:41, Luke 8:2, Luke 8:27, Luke 8:30, Luke 8:33, Luke 8:35, Luke 8:38, Luke 9:1, Luke 9:49, Luke 10:17, Luke 11:15, Luke 11:18, Luke 11:19, Luke 11:20, and Luke 13:32.

For "glorious ones", see, 2 Peter 2:10 and Jude 1:8.

For ha-satan, see, e.g. Job 1:6.

For the Angel of YHWH as a satan, see Numbers 22:22.

For Satan/Dragon/Deceiver, see Revelation 12:9.

For sheddim, see, e.g. Deuteronomy 32:17 and Psalm 106:37.

For nephilim, see, e.g. Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:33.

For rephaim/zamzummim, see, e.g. Deuteronomy 2:20, Proverbs 9:18, and Isaiah 26:14.

For gibborim, see, e.g. Genesis 6:4, and as a post-mortem description of Goliath, see 1 Samuel 17:51.