The "Sons of God" and the Corruption of the Generation
The powerful take women by force, and "the earth was filled with violence": the pre-Flood generation collapses not through idolatry but through robbery and abuse.
Genesis 6 opens with a difficult text: "The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and took wives of all whom they chose." Then come the "nephilim", the mighty men of renown—and then the verdict: "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every inclination of his heart's thoughts was only evil all day."
The tradition names the offence precisely. "Took wives of all whom they chose" means they took other men's wives, and took them by force, because they were stronger. To this is added "chamas", robbery—and robbery is what seals the decree: not idolatry, not licence in itself, but the daily seizure of what belongs to another. The sages note they stole cleverly, in amounts too small to sue over.
Who the "sons of God" were is disputed. One midrashic reading: fallen angels. Rashi and the Targum read instead: sons of nobles and judges, men with power and rank—which turns the story from myth into a portrait of a society where law no longer shields the weak.
How we know
Sources
Tanakh
- Bereishit 6:1–7 — the “sons of Elohim”, the nefilim, and the verdict “every inclination only evil”
- Bereishit 6:11–13 — “the earth was filled with chamas” — with robbery
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Bereishit Rabbah 26:5 — who the “sons of Elohim” were: the sons of judges and nobles
- Sanhedrin 108a — the generation’s fate was sealed only because of robbery
- Yoma 67b — the angelic reading of bnei haElohim: Uzza and Azael
Rishonim
- Rashi on Bereishit 6:2 — the reading “sons of the judges” and what “they took from all” means
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.