HistoricalChristian.Faith
HistoricalChristian.Faith
Dates: c. 444 Summary: Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444) reads the "sons of God" of Genesis 6 as the godly human line of Seth and Enosh, not as angels. He appeals to the alternative Greek translations of Aquila ("sons of the gods") and Symmachus ("sons of the rulers") to argue that the title is honorary, marking out the pious Sethite generation that kept itself unmixed with the cursed descendants of Cain and Lamech.
That we rightly understand this passage is also very much confirmed by the interpretation of the other translators. Aquila says: 'When the sons of the gods saw the daughters of men'. On the other hand, instead of 'sons of the gods', Symmachus rendered the expression as 'sons of the rulers'. They called the descendants of Seth and of Enosh sons of the gods, or better, sons of the rulers, because of the piety and godliness which was in them, and because they could defeat all adversaries: while God, I suppose, in all likelihood came to their aid, and made known all around this pious and holy generation, which was not mixed with that other one, that is to say, with the descendants from Cain and, what is more, from Lamech.
— Glaphyra on the Penteteuch, page 84, source. Cyril marshals the rival translators (Aquila and Symmachus) as evidence that the phrase honors the godliness of the Sethite line rather than designating angelic beings.