Explore Sources
A database of excerpts from ancient documents that
retell the story of the Nephilim & the ‘sons of God’.
BEFORE CHRIST
Excerpts from ancient documents pre-dating Christ…
FIRST CENTURY
Jewish philosophers, historians, and New Testament authors referring to the Genesis 6 story during the first century AD.
EARLY CHURCH
Early church fathers and others who reference and comment on the story of disobedient angels and their sons before the flood.
MEDIEVAL WRITERS
Your Title Goes Here
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Procopius of Gaza | Sethite View | 465 to 528 AD
It is also written ‘Angels of God’. Some say that this is said about fallen powers; the mingling of angels with women, however, is impossible and against nature… Scripture calls the chosen race ‘angels’ or ‘sons of God’, namely the ones who originated from Seth and Enosh, and they are called such because of their holiness.
Procopius of Gaza
Book of the Cave of Treasures | Sethite View | c. 600 AD
And the sons of Seth had intercourse with the daughters of Cain; and they conceived by them and brought forth mighty men, the sons of heroes, like towers,
Hence early writers have erred and written, “The angels came down from heaven, and had intercourse with mankind, and from them were born mighty men of renown,”
But this is not true; they have said this because they did not understand,
Now see, my brother readers, and know that this is neither in the nature of spiritual beings, nor in the nature of the impure and evil-doing demons who love adultery;
for there are no males nor females among them, nor has there been even one added to their number since they fell. If the devils were able to have intercourse with women, they would not leave one single virgin undefiled in the whole human race.
Book of the Cave of Treasures 18
George Syncellus | c. 800 AD
Interesting because he retells both the Sethite intepretation AND the angelic one in great details. Basically quoting the book of Enoch in detail and ascribing it to Enoch.
Here is the full text of the Chronology but in Latin and Greek.
https://archive.org/stream/georgiussyncell01nikgoog/georgiussyncell01nikgoog_djvu.txt
Al Tabari | Angel View | c. 839 - 923 AD
The angels were astonished at the acts of disobedience committed by the human beings on earth, claiming they would do better than them.
Therefore, God challenged the angels to choose two representatives among them, who would descend to earth and be endowed with bodily desires.
During their stay on earth, they fell in love with a woman named Zohra (often identified with Venus). She told them she would become intimate with them if they joined her in idolatry and tell her how to ascend to heaven.
The angels refused and remained pious.
Later they met her again and the woman this time stated she would become intimate with them if they drank alcohol. The angels thought that alcohol could not cause great harm and therefore, they accepted the condition.
After they were drunk, they became intimate with her and after noticing a witness, they killed them.
On the next day, Harut and Marut regretted their deeds but could not ascend to heaven anymore due to their sins, as their link to the angels was broken.
Thereupon, God asked them, either their punishment shall be in this world or in the hereafter. They chose to be punished on earth and therefore were sent to Babel as a test, teaching humans magic but not without warning them that they were just a temptation.
DIG DEEPER
Learn more about these writers and what they wrote. Understanding why they wrote what they did is key to finding reliable answers to giant questions.
Greg Lanier
Greg Lanier surveys the Watchers and Seth–Cain interpretations of Genesis 6, presenting the Watchers view as the earliest and most abundant Second Temple reading without clearly endorsing either tradition.
Wes Huff
Wes Huff views Genesis 6 as ambiguous about the Nephilim and treats the Book of Enoch as non-canonical Jewish expansions, rejecting Ethiopian canon myths.
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch were 19th‑century conservative Lutheran Old Testament scholars whose multi‑volume Commentary on the Old Testament has shaped generations of interpreters. In their exposition of Genesis 6:1–4, they argue that the “sons of God”...






























