Reference: Children (Sons) Of God
Hastings
There are a few passages in the OT in which the term 'sons of God' is applied to angelic beings (Ge 6:1-4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; cf. Da 3:25 RV). Once the judges of Israel are referred to as 'gods,' perhaps as appointed by God and vested with His authority (but the passage is very obscure; may the words be ironical?), and, in parallel phrase, as 'sons of the Most High' (Ps 82:6, cf. Joh 10:34; also, Ps 29:1; 89:6 Revised Version margin).
With these exceptions, the term, with the correlative one of 'Father,' designates the relation of men to God and of God to men, with varying fulness of meaning. It is obvious that the use of such a figure has wide possibilities. To call God 'Father' may imply little more than that He is creator and ruler of men (cf. 'Zeus, father of gods and men'); or it may connote some phase of His providence towards a favoured individual or nation; or, again, it may assert that a father's love at its highest is the truest symbol we can frame of God's essential nature and God's disposition towards all men. Similarly, men may conceivably be styled 'children of God' from mere dependence, from special privilege, from moral likeness, or finally from a full and willing response to the Divine Fatherhood in filial love, trust, and obedience. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Scripture facts present a varying and progressive conception of God as Father and of men as His children.
I. In the OT.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And it happened [that], when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground, daughters were born to them. Then the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they [were] beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose. read more. And Yahweh said, "My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he [is] also flesh. And his days [shall be] one hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim [were] upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them.
And you must say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, "Israel [is] my son, my firstborn."
and [just as he did] in the wilderness when you saw that Yahweh your God carried you, just as someone carries his son, all [along] the way [that] you traveled until {you reached} this place.'
And you should know with your heart that as a man disciplines his son, [so] Yahweh your God [is] disciplining you.
"You [are] children of Yahweh your God; [therefore] you must not gash yourself, and {you must not make your forehead bald} for [the] dead. For you [are] a people holy to Yahweh your God, and you Yahweh has chosen to be a treasured possession from [among] all [of] the peoples that are on the surface of the earth.
They [have] behaved corruptly toward him; [they are] not his children; [this is] their flaw, a generation crooked and perverse. [Like] this do you treat Yahweh, foolish and {unwise} people? [Has] he not, your father, created you? He made you, and he established you.
He found him in a desert land, and in a howling, desert wasteland; he {encircled him}, he cared for him, he protected him like the {apple} of his eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads out its wings, takes them, carries them on its pinions, read more. [so] Yahweh alone guided him, and {there was no foreign god accompanying him}. And he set him on the high places of [the] land, and he fed [him] the crops of [the] field, and he nursed him with honey from crags, and [with] oil from flinty rock, [With] curds from [the] herd, and [with] milk from [the] flock, with [the] fat of young rams, and rams, the offspring of Bashan, and with goats [along] with the finest kernels of wheat, and [from] the blood of grapes you drank fermented wine. And Jeshurun grew fat, and he kicked; you grew fat, you bloated, and you became obstinate; and he abandoned God, his maker, and he scoffed [at] the rock of his salvation.
[The] rock who bore you, you neglected, and you forgot God, [the one] giving you birth. Then Yahweh saw, and he spurned [them], because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. read more. So he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what [will be] their end, for they [are] a generation of perversity, {children in whom there is no faithfulness}. They annoyed me with [what is] not a god; they provoked me with their idols. So I will make them jealous with [those] not a people, with a foolish nation I will provoke them.
Joshua rose early in the morning, and they set out from Acacia Grove. And they came up to the Jordan, he and all the {Israelites}, and they spent the night there before they crossed [over]. At the end of the three days the officers passed through the midst of the camp,
And Joshua said to the {Israelites}, "Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God." Joshua said, "By this you will know that [the] living God [is] in your midst, and he will certainly drive out the Canaanites {from before you}, and the Hittites, Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.
At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, "Make for yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the {Israelites} a second time."
And it happened {one day} {that} the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst.
{And then} one day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh.
when [the] morning stars were singing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
I will tell the decree; Yahweh said to me: "You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of God, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
A father to orphans and a judge for widows [is] God in his holy habitation.
Surely God is good to Israel, to those pure of heart.
If I had said, "I will speak thus," behold, I would have acted treacherously against your children's generation.
I have said, "You [are] gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you.
For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh? [Who is] like Yahweh among the sons of God,
He will call out [to] me, 'You [are] my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.' I will also make him [the] firstborn, [the] highest of [the] kings of [the] earth.
As a father pities [his] children, [so] Yahweh pities those who fear him.
I will say to the north, 'Give!' and to [the] south, 'You must not withhold!' Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the end of the earth--
For you [are] our father, although Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh [are] our father, Our Redeemer from [of] old [is] your name.
Yet now Yahweh, you [are] our father; we [are] the clay and you [are] our {potter}, and we all [are] the work of your hand. You must not be exceedingly angry, Yahweh, and you must not remember iniquity forever! Look! Behold, now! We all [are] your people! read more. {Your holy cities} have become a wilderness; Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. {Our holy and beautiful temple}, where our ancestors praised you has {been burned} [by] fire, and all our precious objects have become ruins. Will you control yourself because of these, Yahweh? Will you be silent? And will you oppress us exceedingly?
As a man whose mother comforts him, so I myself will comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
With weeping they will come, and with pleas for mercy I will bring them; I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path. They will not stumble in it, for I have become to Israel a father, and Ephraim, he [is] my firstborn."
Indeed I heard Ephraim pitying themselves, 'You disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like a calf that is not trained. Bring me back and let me return, for you [are] Yahweh my God. For after my turning back I repented, and after coming to understand I struck [my] thigh. I was ashamed and also humiliated, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.' read more. [Is] Ephraim my dear son, or [the] child of [my] delight? For {as often as} I have earnestly spoken against him, I still remember him. {Therefore} my bowels are turbulent for him, surely I will have compassion on him," {declares} Yahweh.
{He answered}, saying, "Look, I see four men unbound walking in the midst of the fire and there is no damage to them, and the appearance of the fourth [man] resembles the son of a god."
{At the beginning when Yahweh spoke} through Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife and children of whoredom, because the land commits great whoredom {forsaking Yahweh}." So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
And he said, "{Name him} Lo-ammi, for you [are] not my people and I am not your [God]. The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea that cannot be measured or counted; and in the place where it is said to them, "You are not my people," it will be said to them, "Children of [the] living God."
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
"A son honors [his] father, and a slave his master; but if I [am] a father, where [is] my honor, and if I [am] a master, where [is] my reverence?" says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, {who despise} my name. "But you say, 'How have we despised your name?'
{Do we not all have} one father? Has not one God created us? Why [then] are we unfaithful {to one another}, profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
Blessed [are] the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'Hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, read more. in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust.
in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? read more. And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same? Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
"And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; {otherwise} you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or reap or gather [produce] into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they [are]?
At that time Jesus answered [and] said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these [things] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to young children.
At that time Jesus answered [and] said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these [things] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to young children.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears, let him hear!
And going forward a little he fell down on his face, praying and saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you [will]."
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive [him], so that your Father who [is] in heaven will also forgive you your sins."
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting back nothing, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful!
All [things] have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son, and [anyone] to whom the Son wants to reveal [him]."
And he said to them, "When you pray, say, "Father, may your name be treated as holy. May your kingdom come.
Therefore if you, [although you] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
And Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit!" And [after he] said this, he expired.
But as many as received him--to those who believe in his name--he gave to them authority to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God. read more. And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.
No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father--that one has made [him] known.
Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born [when he] is an old man? He is not able to enter into his mother's womb for the second time and be born, [can he]?" read more. Jesus answered, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born of water and spirit, he is not able to enter into the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'It is necessary for you to be born from above.' read more. The wind blows wherever it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."
No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
And he said, "Because of this I said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father."
They answered and said to him, "Abraham is our father!" Jesus said to them, "If you are children of Abraham, do the deeds of Abraham! But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who spoke to you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. read more. You are doing the deeds of your father!" They said to him, "We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!" Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I have come forth from God and have come. For I have not come from myself, but that one sent me.
and not for the nation only, but also that the children of God who are scattered would be gathered into one.)
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
On that day you will know that I [am] in my Father, and you [are] in me, and I [am] in you.
Jesus said to her, "Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
but these [things] are recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that [by] believing you may have life in his name.
for in him we live and move and exist, as even some of {your own} poets have said: 'For we also are {his} offspring.'
who was declared Son of God in power according to {the Holy Spirit} by the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ our Lord,
For all those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery [leading] to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!" read more. The Spirit himself confirms to our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, also heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer together [with him] so that we may also be glorified together [with him]. For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy [to be compared] with the glory that is about to be revealed to us. For the eagerly expecting creation awaits eagerly the revelation of the sons of God. For the creation has been subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of the one who subjected [it], in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its servility to decay, into the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans together and suffers agony together until now. Not only [this], but we ourselves also, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves [while we] await eagerly [our] adoption, the redemption of our body.
Not only [this], but we ourselves also, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves [while we] await eagerly [our] adoption, the redemption of our body. For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? read more. But if we hope for what we do not see, we await [it] eagerly with patient endurance.
because [those] whom he foreknew, he also predestined [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.
because [those] whom he foreknew, he also predestined [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, so that he should be the firstborn among many brothers.
who are Israelites, [to] whom [belong] the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the [temple] service, and the promises,
That is, [it is] not the children {by human descent} [who are] children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.
As he also says in Hosea, "I will call those [who were] not my people, 'My people,' and those [who were] not loved, 'Loved.' And it will be in the place where it was said to them, 'You [are] not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
And it will be in the place where it was said to them, 'You [are] not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'"
For [there] is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same [Lord] [is] Lord of all, who is rich to all who call upon him. For "everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved."
But I say, Israel did not know, did they? First, Moses says, "I will provoke you [to jealousy] by [those who are] not a nation; by a senseless nation I will provoke you [to anger]."
But before faith came, we were detained under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
Now I say, for as long a time [as] the heir is a child, [he is] no different from a slave, [although he] is master of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the time set by [his] father. read more. So also we, when we were children, we were enslaved under the elemental spirits of the world. But when the fullness of time came, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those under the law, in order that we might receive the adoption. And because you are sons, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba! (Father!)," so that you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, also an heir through God.
so that you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, also an heir through God.
But you, brothers, are children of the promise, just as Isaac.
having predestined us to adoption through Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace that he bestowed on us in the beloved, read more. in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, that he caused to abound to us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in him, for the administration of the fullness of times, to bring together all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth, in him in whom also we were chosen, having been predestined according to the purpose of the One who works all [things] according to the counsel of his will, [that] we who hoped beforehand in Christ should be for the praise of his glory, in whom also you, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also when you believed you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory. Because of this I also, hearing of {your faith} in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, read more. do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, {the glorious Father}, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him (the eyes of your hearts having been enlightened), so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what [are] the riches of the glory of his inheritance among the saints,
in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world,
For to which of the angels did he ever say, "You are my son, today I have begotten you," and again, "I will be {his father}, and he will be {my son}"?
but we see Jesus, for a short [time] made lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that apart from God he might taste death on behalf of everyone. For it was fitting for him for whom [are] all [things] and through whom [are] all [things] in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the originator of their salvation through sufferings. read more. For both the one who sanctifies and the ones who are sanctified [are] all from one, for which reason he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, "I will proclaim your name to my brothers; in the midst of the assembly I will sing in praise of you." And again, "I will trust in him." And again, "Behold, I and the children God has given me." Therefore, since the children share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these [same things], in order that through death he could destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and could set free these who through fear of death were subject to slavery throughout all their lives. For surely he is not concerned with angels, but he is concerned with the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he was obligated to be made like his brothers in all [respects], in order that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in the things relating to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people. For in that which he himself suffered [when he] was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
You have not yet resisted to the point of [shedding your] blood [as you] struggle against sin. And have you completely forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons? "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, or give up [when you] are corrected by him. read more. For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves, and punishes every son whom he accepts." Endure [it] for discipline. God is dealing with you as sons. For what son [is there] whom a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, in which all [legitimate sons] have become participants, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had {our earthly fathers} who disciplined [us], and we respected [them]. Will we not much rather subject ourselves to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined [us] for a few days according to what seemed [appropriate] to them, but he [does so] for our benefit, in order that [we] can have a share in his holiness. Now all discipline seems for the moment not to be joyful but painful, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by it. Therefore strengthen your slackened hands and your weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change. [By his] will he gave birth to us through the message of truth, so that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep oneself unstained by the world.
With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
And if you call on [him] [as] Father who judges impartially according to each one's work, conduct yourselves with fear during the time of your temporary residence,
[because you] have been born again, not from perishable seed but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Therefore, ridding yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn infants long for the unadulterated spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, read more. if you have tasted that the Lord [is] kind, to whom you are drawing near, a living stone rejected by men but chosen [and] precious in the sight of God. And [you] yourselves, as living stones, are being built up [as] a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a chosen [and] precious cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame." Therefore the honor [is] for you who believe, but for those who refuse to believe, "The stone that the builders rejected, this one has become {the cornerstone}," and "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense," who stumble [because they] disobey the word to which also they were consigned. But you [are] a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God's] possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once [were] not a people, but now [are] the people of God, the ones [who were] not shown mercy, but now are shown mercy.
who once [were] not a people, but now [are] the people of God, the ones [who were] not shown mercy, but now are shown mercy.
because everything [that is] in the world--the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance of material possessions--is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father [either]; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.
Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and [he is] not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves {the father} also loves the [child] fathered by him.
because everyone who is fathered by God conquers the world.
The one who conquers will inherit these [things], and I will be {his God} and he will be {my son}. But [as] for the cowards and unbelievers and detestable persons and murderers and sexually immoral people and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their share [is] in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.