The sons of God is Hebrew bene ʾelohim, an expression whose meaning has been greatly disputed. As a Hebrew idiom sons of God is to be understood as beings who share God-like qualities or who belong to the category or class of “gods.” The Good News Translation footnote shows that this expression may be translated as in Revised Standard Version, and also as “heavenly beings,” or “sons of the gods.”
Scholars have argued that sons of God means “angels” and cite such passages as Job 1.6; 2.1; Psa 29.1; 89.6; Dan 3.25. (See also 2 Peter 2.4-5 and Jude 6.)
Some ancient Jewish authorities interpreted this expression to refer to persons who came from aristocratic families, since sons of God was used as a royal title in 2 Sam 7.14; 1 Chr 22.10; 28.6; Psa 2.7; and 89.26-27.
Because 6.1-4 follows the list of Cain and Seth’s descendants (4.17-24 and 4.25–5.32), some interpreters have concluded that sons of God refers to these people.
To sum up, sons of God refers either to heavenly beings or to humans. Nearly all translations are agreed that the reference is to some kind of heavenly beings, and many versions call them “angels.”
English translations handle this expression in a number of ways: “sons of God” (Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, New Jerusalem Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch), “heavenly beings” (Good News Translation), “sons of the gods” (New English Bible), “the heavenly inhabitants” (Bible en français courant), “divine beings” (New Jerusalem Bible, Anchor Bible), “sons of heaven” (New American Bible), “angels” (Moffatt).
When translating this expression it is necessary to keep in mind that sons of God is used in a figurative sense. These sons are not male descendants of the following generation from ʾelohim, although in the ancient myths they could come closer to being literal sons. However, most of the expressions cited above from the various English versions are either difficult to translate, or if they are translated they remain extremely obscure in many languages.
In some languages sons of God or “sons of the gods” will only be understood literally. In such cases it may be necessary to avoid the use of “sons” and say something like “men who were like gods.” In languages in which there is no hierarchy of gods, and there are only spirits that reside in people, trees, streams, or rocks, it may be necessary to speak of “sons of strong spirits,” or “men who have powerful spirits,” or “men who were like strong spirits.” Living Bible has “beings from the spirit world.” Among some people there is the concept of “spirit men,” that is, spirits who take on the form of human beings and act as human beings; the term or expression for such “spirit men” may be suitable in this context.
In deciding on a suitable equivalent expression, translators should avoid giving the idea that these sons of God were ghosts. In some languages whatever term is used may be identified with “angels,” and in the end the translator may be able to do no better.
Saw that the daughters of men were fair: daughters of men are literally female offspring of people. As suggested in the introduction to this section, daughters emphasizes the kinship link between the people and their female descendants. However, the reference is not to just one descending generation but to many, and so Good News Translation makes this more general with “young women.”
These daughters are assumed to be mature and capable of reproduction, an important fact in some languages that designate such young women by a different term than that used for young, immature girls. The fact that the daughters grew up may have to be made clear in many cases; for example, one translation concludes verse 1 with “… and [baby] girls were being born,” and opens verse 2 with “As these girls grew up….”
Men again refers to people in general, and since this expression has been used in verse 1, it may not be necessary to repeat it here. For example, we may say “their daughters.”
Some interpreters understand the expression daughters of men to mean “sinful daughters,” since they are not called “daughters of God.” However, there is no basis in the text for this interpretation, and translators are advised to avoid it. Depending upon the way this may be expressed in a particular language, we may say, for example, “their daughters,” “the daughters of these people,” or with Good News Translation “these young women.”
Fair translates a word having the general sense of “good,” but in connection with the senses it refers to something pleasant or attractive, and in reference to women it means lovely or beautiful.
They took to wife: after having seen the beauty of these young women, the sons of God take them as their wives. Such of them as they chose is the second step in the process. In some languages it may be necessary or desirable to preserve the natural order of events: they saw that the women were beautiful, chose some of them, and then took them as wives. The text does not make clear whether each took one wife or more than one. Took to wife in this context refers to having sexual relations with these women in order to produce the “giants” referred to in Gen 6.4.
A significant point is that these sons of God took what they wanted. There is nothing said about making marriage arrangements with the fathers or relatives of these young women, as in the cases, for example, of Isaac and Jacob. In the light of this, some translations use the term for “married” here; but others avoid using it, and instead use a term like “took,” either in a general sense or in the sense of illicit sex. In translation it is important to use expressions that can be read in public.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .