Who Are the 'Sons of God'? — Three Readings
Genesis 6:2, 6:4
Jewish and Christian interpreters have never agreed. Three readings dominate, and each solves one problem while creating another.
Reading 1 — heavenly beings (angelic)
The oldest attested reading. Elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, bene ha-elohim clearly means heavenly beings (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). Second Temple literature, Josephus, and most early Christian writers before the fourth century read Genesis 6 this way. Strength: consistent vocabulary. Difficulty: Matthew 22:30 is often read as ruling out angelic marriage.
Reading 2 — the Sethite line
The godly line of Seth intermarries with the ungodly line of Cain. Popularised by Julius Africanus, Augustine and others, and dominant in Western Christianity for over a millennium. Strength: keeps the passage human and moral. Difficulty: nothing in the text mentions Seth or Cain, and it does not explain why the offspring are notable.
Reading 3 — human rulers / divine kings
'Sons of God' as royal or judicial titles — despotic kings taking women by right, echoing ancient Near Eastern royal ideology where a king is called a god's son. Strength: fits the language of tyranny and 'men of renown'. Difficulty: it is a comparatively modern reading with thinner ancient support.
Where this leaves the case
The archive holds all three open. Anyone who tells you the question is settled is telling you about their tradition, not about the text.