Genesis 6:2 describes a moment before the flood when beings called “the sons of God” looked at human women and took whichever ones they wanted as wives. The verse is narrative description rather than instruction, and it is one of the most debated passages in the early chapters of the Bible. Its words come from the narrator of Genesis, who is recording events in the period just before God sends the flood, and the people it concerns are the ancient human population, especially its women.
God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
Genesis 6:2 (WEB)
What Genesis 6:2 Means
The phrase “sons of God” is the central puzzle. In the Old Testament this expression usually refers to heavenly beings or angels (compare Job 1:6 and Job 38:7), so many readers take it to mean a group of spiritual beings rather than human men. Others have read it as a reference to the line of Seth, the godly family mentioned earlier in Genesis 4 and 5. Both readings have a long history in the church, and the verse itself does not settle the question beyond doubt. What it does make clear is that something went wrong in the relationship between these figures and humanity.
The verb “saw” and the phrase “were beautiful” show that the choice was driven by desire rather than by any wise or holy purpose. “Took any that they wanted” describes an act of self-willed appropriation, not a covenant or a marriage made in faithfulness. The verse does not promise anything to the reader. It reports what happened and sets the stage for the verses that follow, where God reacts to the spreading corruption.
The Context of Genesis 6:2
The book of Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses, and it was written to a people who needed to understand where the world came from, why evil had entered it, and how God would keep his promises. Chapter 6 sits inside the larger account of the early human story: the creation, the fall, the murder of Abel, and the genealogies that trace the line from Adam to Noah. Just before verse 2, the chapter opens by noting that human population was growing, which frames the events as part of a widening human world.
Verses 3 to 5 follow immediately and explain the result. God limits the lifespan of humans, describes the Nephilim as the mighty men of old, and says that human wickedness had become great across the earth. Read this way, verse 2 is the first step in a sequence that shows how far human society had drifted from God. The verse therefore carries weight as a sign of moral collapse, not as an isolated mystery.
Key Phrases in Genesis 6:2
Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.
(WEB)
This verse follows directly after the passage and describes the depth of human wickedness that prompted God’s response. Reading it alongside verse 2 shows that the troubling events of the sons of God were part of a wider pattern of corruption across the earth.
1 Peter 3:19-20
19 In which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
(WEB)
Peter refers back to the days of Noah and the people who disobeyed God before the flood. Reading this passage helps you see how New Testament writers understood the early chapters of Genesis as a real account of human rebellion and divine judgment.
A Short Prayer From Genesis 6:2
Lord, you see the desires of our hearts more clearly than we do. When we look at the people around us, guard our eyes and our choices so that we honor them as your image bearers. Keep us from taking what we want without regard for your will, and give us patience to wait for what you have prepared. Teach us to love with self-control and humility, and to trust that your ways are better than our impulses. Amen.
