Sons of Men, Daughters of God

In his recent Trinity House lectures on Genesis, James Jordan argues that the sons of God (that is, the faithful line of Seth) are attracted to the “good” daughters of men (women from Cain’s line) not because of their beauty but because of the social and cultural advantages of allying with Cain. Cainites have made all the cultural advances, and allying with Cainites is the way to get ahead.

Over the course of the book of Genesis, that begins to reverse. Sons of men (that is, those from unfaithful nations and peoples) begin to want the daughters of God (that is, faithful women). Pharaoh wants Sarah, partly for her beauty but partly because he sees the advantages of allying with a powerful sheik like Abraham of Ur. The same happens with Abimelech of Gerar.

Even when you have a son in God and a daughter of men, the pursuer and pursued have traded places. Joseph, a “son of God” out in the world, doesn’t seek out Potiphar’s wife, a daughter of men if there ever was one. Rather, Potiphar’s wife pursues Joseph, and, unlike the original “sons of God,” Joseph refuses.

The location of cultural advancement moves over the course of Genesis from the Cainites to the Sethites, Semites, and Hebrews.